Deadly Kisses

Twenty-Seven





I was halfway to the stone wall near Bee’s house, where the wilted rose bush was, when a bony hand touched my shoulder. I saw the mud-rimmed, black cloak and looked up to see Abe’s black top hat.

“Come on, boy. Steady yourself. I have you.” I held Abe’s hand tight, the other still held to my chest.

“Bee, Abe. Bee . . . can touch my scythe without getting zapped. She can also hear them if they are on.” I choked out.

“Really? Well that’s interesting.”

“Shouldn’t you be a bit more surprised?” He wasn’t giving away any emotions as his face stayed statue still.

“Nothing surprises me when you’ve been around as long as I have.” He laughed under his breath, looking straight ahead.

“Where’s Reina?” My legs shook still feeling Bee’s soul in a hibernation mode. She was tuned out to reality, and I wanted her to come back. I missed her already.

“She went off on a reaping spree. She told me what was going on with your situation. Another reason why there should be no young Reapers.”

We reached the cemetery. I leaned against an eroded statue at the bottom steps of the crypt.

“Boy, you have bargained with your soul, and unless you want the Ancients to torture you to do their bidding for eternity, I advise you to ascend. You’re out of options, and even I can’t help you now.

“Did you come just to tell me this?” I pulled away from him and brushed off my cloak.

“No, I came to sever our bond. I can’t help you anymore, and I can’t risk having Ivar find me when I am a rebel to his cause. His soul is in you now also, so I need to take my soul back. I used it to keep track of you, like all bosses do with their Reaperlings. It’s important that Ivar doesn’t know I’ve done this.”

“You mean, I’m on my own? You won’t be my boss?”

“Yes.” He smoothed his beard and it ran between bony fingers. “But you’re technically not alone, are you?”

“Well, no. You know Bee’s soul is partly in me.”

“You see what the Flynts are. If they succeed in destroying Ivar, do you understand what one of them would become?”

“Does this have to do with the blood stone and breaking the curse on Bee’s property?”

Abe smiled and took my hand. “Bee or Jaleb Flynt would bring order to this plane.” I winced and tried to pull away when he brought his scythe across my palm. It sliced through ligaments that hung free without skin to hold them in place. No blood drained from the wound. I didn’t sense Abe anymore. Our bond was severed. I was no longer his Reaperling; he was no longer my boss. “It’s done. You’re now your own boss.”

“Easy as can be, Top Hat,” I lied.

“You will be responsible for your own assignments now.” Abe’s lips went into a frown.

“I’ll miss you as a boss, Abe.”

“I wish you well, boy. Whatever you do don’t let the darkness overtake you. It’s what Ivar wants. It will put you at your weakest and make you easy to control.”

I rubbed my hands together, trying to make the sting fade. “Why do you stay as a Grim Reaper?”

“Someone has to stay and fight for the cause. I have to stop the Ancients from making families off-balanced. We need true Grim Reapers and a way to get rid of the evil ones.”

“I can help you, Abe, just give me a chance. I won’t ever ascend unless Bee comes with me. That place is not for me. Please.”

I ran after him into the crypt. “Abe, where are you going?”

He waved his scythe twice to me before tapping it, disappearing into a plume of black smoke.

Abe was gone and I no longer felt him or Reina. I started to walk back to Bee’s house. The maple trees that lined the stone wall to the forest had lost almost all of its leaves, and the weather was changing. It was just another sign that time went on.

I entered the yard. Sabrina’s house looked just as old as Bee’s except there was no new addition attached to it. Old stone steps led up to a porch where carved pumpkins were lined up in a straight row. I looked through each of the four windows until I found Bee. She sat on the floor with a child in her lap. They cut fabric and glued while her aunt sewed. Jaleb held the other child. He was pale, but he hid his pain.

I smiled, always wanting to feel like I belonged in a family like that. Watching them was like viewing a happy family on Christmas, opening presents. She looked up and saw me staring through the window with my hand held up to the pane of glass.

She turned white, stood up, and pointed.

Erik the Red, and Leif Ericson’s image were reflected on the window pane.

They grabbed my arm, and dragged me down the stairs of the house.