Deadly Kisses

Five





I tapped the stairs of the crypt at the edge of the town cemetery with my scythe. It opened. My gondola rocked as I sat down, picking up a rag and some wax. My thoughts felt like cutting through fog with a knife.

“Hey. I’ve been waiting for you.” A dark shadow moved toward me. The squeaky voice pierced my ears. “It looks like you could use a good party to lighten up.” Reina pulled down her hood.

“You know I don’t like those sorta things. Not my thing, you know? My day has gone from bad to hellish.” I put some wax on the rag and started to rub it into the wood of my gondola.

“What is your thing? Do you have a hobby; do anything for fun, or you going to waste your afterlife waxing that hunk of wood? Or maybe you wish you were floating on clouds sipping lemonade?” Reina asked.

I looked up in a cold stare, feeling my blue eyes turning to icicles. “No! I don’t wish that. I wouldn’t fit in there! Stop messing with me.”

“I get it, you want to fry in Hell and get tortured for all eternity. Hmm, that can be arranged.” She smiled and winked at me. Her brown hair was streaked with blue stripes. She was only trying to cheer me up. Reina was the closest friend I had. “All right, truce.”

I moved on to another section of the gondola satisfied with the shiny gloss to the wood. “Does being a Grim Reaper make you feel like you’re alive again?”

Reina tapped her foot up and down with a steady motion. “Yes it does, and there is nothing wrong with wanting that. I don’t know why you choose to live on your gondola. The city is nice, and you could get your own place. Abe would be ecstatic to have his other Reaperling living close to him.”

“Ecstatic, eh?” The thought of Abe and I as neighbors would send him in a mad dash to the nearest psychiatrist. “Let’s hope Freud became a Grim Reaper.”

Reina laughed, but it was more of a high pitched screech. “Do you like being a Grim Reaper?”

“Most days. Seeing a soul walk through the Golden Gate makes it worthwhile.”

“I feel the same way, but enough about work. Will you come with me to the party? Bob will hook you up with some firewater from down under, and some of those demon chicks are performing tonight. They put on a hell of a show if you’re into death rock.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Reina. I’m not the crowd type, but the thought is nice.”

“Sheesh, you seriously need to lighten up. When’s the last time you went on a date, had some fun? I bet that’s what you need.” Reina untwisted her lipstick, puckered her lips, and coated them with a blood red color. Her mouth began making kissy noises.

“Are you offering?” Another section of my gondola shiny, I put the rag away, wiping my hands on my cloak.

“Maybe I am, and if you come to the club with me, who knows what could happen. Are you afraid to have some fun?” She winked and lifted the cloak to her femur, exposing a hot pair of red boots, as she stepped into her gondola.

Reina was pretty, but not as pretty as Bee. Feeling Bee’s warmth was addictive, but maybe I could forget Bee if I went with Reina. “All right, I’ll follow. What the heck.”

I wasn’t thinking, just doing. I stood up and cast off the bottom of the river sending the gondola forward. The further I went from Bee, the less I could feel her warmth.

We moved our gondolas side by side down the murky water of the River of Lost Souls. I wasn’t sure where this Grim Reaper hangout was and I didn’t care. Reina was fun to hang out with and I needed to forget Bee. I needed to keep it impersonal.

The half of Bee’s soul that lingered free inside of me, and warm, made it hard to forget her. I would go back for her tomorrow.

“Ad, you’re daydreaming. Bear right or we’ll end up in Vermont,” Reina said. Her blue-streaked hair shimmered as she looked at me. “You still breaking and entering? I think you’re the only Grim Reaper that carries around a paperclip.”

“It’s not a paperclip. I got a cop’s little black kit on one of my reaps.”

“Have you been practicing on materializing? Abe isn’t going to give you all the cushy reaps for long. I’ve been taking the brunt of the Hell assignments, you know.”

“Yeah, I’m working on it. Every time I concentrate on where I want to go, everything fades and it falls apart.”

“You have to back the location up with emotion,” she said.

I grunted. We came to a spot on the river where boulders protruded along the bank, making it impossible to dock. Reina threw a rope around a smaller rock. I took her lead and did the same. “So, where’s this club?”

“It’s just a hole in the wall.” She jumped into the water, high-heeled red boots and all. Water splashed. She kicked and smashed down bony hands in the river and jumped up to the edge. I opted for jumping rock to rock. I couldn’t bring myself to smash remains of other fallen Grim Reapers anymore. What if that was me in there someday?

The club was a cave with a small opening for an entrance. I yelled at Reina, my voice echoing, “Love how they decorated the place. Their use of rocks and moss is very creative.”

The place crawled with Reapers. The sight of death dogs roaming freely gave an eerie vibe that threatened to splinter my bones into fragmented shards. I rubbed my crooked nose, thinking about my last encounter with them.

Reina grabbed my arm, and my body stiffened. “Stop being a bore and let’s go have some fun. If you’re going to be like this for an eternity, forget my offer, bud.”

Two Reapers came through the door and brushed past me. Music blared and Reina swayed. I backed up and she kept pulling. I would have gone back to Bee if there wasn’t a death dog behind me growling.

“Go to the back of the club where it’s less crowded,” Reina said.

I stayed close to Reina because I couldn’t stand the thought of all these bodies crammed together in such a small place. “Do you come here often?” I yelled.

“Most nights. Eternity is a long time to be alone, Ad.”

On the stage, colored lights flared and a red-skinned girl with a long black braid that hung over her shoulder was singing. I couldn’t help but smile. I knew a good band when I heard one. My fingers twitched as if I was strumming the guitar myself.

“Who’s the band?” We stopped in the back of the dark cavern. There was a couple making out against the wall. Reina rocked in place and then waved to a small group who walked by.

“Lucinda and the Hellfires. Rumor is she came straight through the dark door from the pit of Hell,” she said, and actually cringed. Her head shook, sending her hair in disarray.

“No one comes back from the point of no return! That’s a crazy rumor.” I winced. I was scared to death when my assignments were destined for Hell. I think Abe knew I purposely avoided learning about demons so I could elude the place—well that, and learning about history sucked.

“Is it? You’d be surprised the dirty politics that go on down here.” She waved her arm in the air. “Bob, hey Bob. Two please.”

A short, stout Reaper nodded and walked toward the bar. Reina twirled and danced while I leaned up against the wall watching the band on stage. The only time I had danced was in middle school when I promised to dance with Sabrina to get Dan Frey’s attention. It worked, and I was stuck sipping juice alone in the back of the gymnasium while Sabrina was off with Dan.

I closed my eyes and felt the beat of the drums hum through me. Bee stirred in her sleep and then became frantic. Her soul reached out like invisible hands grasping thin air. I inhaled a deep musty breath and let my emotions reassure her that I was far away. A tepid stream of warmth flushed my cheeks. She was addictive.

Shouting broke through my trance. I opened my eyes. Reina was dancing close to some guy, and she had an angry scowl on her face. Her brows crunched together as she hollered into his ear. I took a step to rescue her, but the guy let go.

He handed her a thick envelope. Reina slipped it into her cloak, pushing the guy away. He had a devious smile and when he turned the flesh on his face was peeling like paint on a wall. He had to be a really old Grim Reaper. The bartender approached Reina and gave her two cups. The liquid slopped over the sides as she walked toward me.

She smiled as if nothing had happened and handed me a cup with thick red liquid that swirled with orange. “What was that all about? The guy looked as if he was going to bite your head off and then some.”

“That? Just an old flame bent on making my life miserable. He’s a sweet talker, nothing more.”

Unease settled over me. “I was in a band and saw a lot of sweet talk from the guys, and that was not sweet talk. Whatever it was, it was intense. Are you in trouble?”

She took the cup and brought it to her lips. The liquid flowed out smooth and disappeared. “No! I told you, an old flame. Nothing more.”

“Just because I’m a newbie doesn’t mean I’m dumb. Did you forget I’m bonded to Abe and Abe is bonded to you? So, all his Reaperlings are also bonded and so on and so forth. Shall I continue, or do you get the point that I can feel your emotions? I want to help you.”

“And let’s get off the subject of me. What about you? You’re at a crossroads, Ad. Are you going to go through with your assignment? You’re sending out vibes like a Mack truck. I could track you from another continent.”

I remained calm, afraid my fury would send the sleeping girl into a nightmare. “What’s in the envelope? Hmm, maybe Abe would like to research the matter thoroughly.”

“Don’t worry about what Abe knows, wonder boy. If you don’t want to dance, fine, but you can’t scare me off. Don’t worry, I still like you. Maybe next time kay?

Reina kissed my cheek with her icy lips. When she pulled away, I noticed the black of her eyes now covered the brown. I clasped her arm. “What’s this drink?” My nerves jittered. I didn’t want problems of the dependent nature again.

She stiffened. “It’s firewater. It makes you tipsy, but there’s a preservative agent in it. I’m sick of rotting like a corpse; it’s the only drawback to getting to walk amongst the living.”

“You don’t need that. You’re not decaying that much yet, and you look nice the way you are.”

“Yeah right.” Reina flipped her hair. “Have fun waxing your gondola. Maybe if you do a real nice job it will hug you back.”

“Come on Reina, come back. I’m sorry. I can’t help it. You know crowds make me crazy! And you do look nice!”

“Call me when you get over your claustrophobia.” Reina walked further into the crowd.

“You call me if you need a lift home,” I hollered.

I left the dingy club and returned to my gondola. Bee’s warmth was gone, and I wanted it back. So much for fun.