Deadly Kisses

Twenty-Six





The drab weather last night had washed away with the rain. I looked right into the sun, but felt no warmth from it. The only warmth I could feel was from Bee. I watched as she pulled the curtains back and went to the bird’s cage. Sharp whistling was muffled by the walls of the house.

I loved the way she cared so deeply for even the smallest creatures. Talking to the bird had her aura glowing in a bath of white light.

I closed my eyes, concentrating on Bee’s face and materialized into her room. My eyes remained on her, glaciers moving slow to meet their watery doom into the ocean.

She knew what I wanted her to do and she stomped toward me. “Did you find proof?”

“Not even a hello from that pretty little mouth of yours.” I grinned, placing the scythe by the door.

“Not when I know what you want me to do.” She came to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I enveloped her in my arms and stood straight so her feet left the floor. I twirled her around before I leaned over, letting her feet touch the ground again. “I missed you.”

“Missed you more.”

I looked at the bird Bee had rescued. It only had a small limp now and its wing looked healed. “Tell me if my scythe is on full power.”

“Oh, it’s on. Full power. I could hear that buzz a mile away.”

I lowered the power. “And now?”

“All clear,” she winked.

Reina materialized behind us. Bee scowled. Reina waved, smiling, with her green striped hair.

“I asked Reina here to make sure everything goes as planned. We’re confident the theory will be correct.”

“I guess I have no choice but to touch the darn thing. So, what’s the plan? Should I just go and pick it up?” she asked.

I amped the scythe’s power just a hair. “Yup, but we’ll do it in small doses. Anytime you’re ready.”

Bee went up to my scythe, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Slowly she brought her hand out and made contact with my scythe, releasing it as fast as she touched it.

We continued like that until it was at full power. Reina relaxed, doing her nails. If Bee didn’t get a jolt by now, she wouldn’t get one no matter how high the scythe was turned up.

With one more deep breath, Bee touched my scythe. Instead of releasing it right away, she picked it up. Her mouth was open and her hair was wild.

She brought it to me, placing it in my hand. “What does this mean?”

I was relieved it was over, and it was true. “It means you technically can use my scythe even though you’re not dead.”

She couldn’t breathe, bent over, and clutched her chest. “I can use a garden tool?”

I nodded and her soul became fuzzy, then gray, and went black. Bee fainted, falling to the ground. I didn’t get a chance to tell her we could try to unravel our souls if we both touched it together.

“Stop fixing your nails and help me, Reina.” I ran to her, feeling for a pulse. It thudded steadily under my fingertips.

Reina grabbed one of Bee’s arms and I took the other. “Easy, don’t yank her arm.” I didn’t think telling her would make her faint, seeing she already knew she could touch it.

“Calm down, I won’t hurt your girlfriend. I’ll be here when she’s still a mortal and maybe you’ll let me make you happy instead. You need me more than you know.” We lifted Bee onto the bed.

“She’s not my girlfriend, and neither are you. Sorry, it’s not you, it’s me. I thought we had an understanding?”

“Oh, lame one. Real lame. Whatever. Maybe I should just leave you to it then to screw up even more. You’re going down in the Grim Reaper history books for this. The Grim Reaper community is small and word has already spread about your girlfriend’s gift. They will come and take her away from you. Can you fight them off? No. Why? Oh, because you don’t train with us at Grim City. You had a crash course on using your scythe and now you’re an expert. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years, and there are powers I can’t even begin to use, but hey, do your thing. I’m outie here. You need me, then leave me a message telling me how right I was, and I’ll try to come and save you.”

She vanished and black shadows turned like a small tornado before disappearing. I sat next to Bee smoothing her hair. I picked up her hand, kissing it, pulling away when the ice started to spread over her skin.

Her hand twitched, her shoulders moved, then her head. She whispered something. I bent my head low to hear. She was barely audible. “I love you, Aiden.” She went still again.

My heart skipped a beat. This couldn’t be happening. She had to be saying those words to keep me from killing her. How could a girl love someone like me? I was nothing but a loner, a person who had loved his guitar more than people. Now I was just a dead sack of bones.

“Bee, wake up. I need you to wake up.” I shook her gently. Her eyes opened darker than usual.

She sat up quick, curling into herself, holding her knees. “I thought seeing Grim Reapers was bad and now I can use a scythe. How can this be?”

“I don’t understand it either.” I took her in my arms, holding her to my chest, and wiped her tears away.

She rubbed her face with the sleeve of her shirt and pulled away from me. “I know why my mother told me she needed a break from death. I need a break. I need a couple of hours to be alone. Please leave.”

“We can talk about this more. I can show you how to use the scythe,” I pleaded.

“I need to come to grips with this on my own. Just a couple of hours.” Bee reached under her pillow, taking out her mp3 player. She shoved the buds into her ears and lay back, closing her eyes.

I sulked, feeling the sadness that came from her soul while walking out the door.

Lost in the music she drifted to another place, and she pulled her energy out of me like a warm ocean breeze to a stinging blizzard wind. I felt my skin retracting. Ligaments pulled away and decayed on sight. Cold air stiffened my bones to the tips of my bony fingers. I tucked them in the cloak. Her soul sat dormant inside me. Fresh pain seared to my chest. I fell to my knees and a new flashback began. It was an impression of what life would be like without Bee.