“This is impossible,” the man on the ground croaks, and somehow I hear him over the rain and thunder. I turn to see him propped up on his elbow, staring at me with a look of disbelief—which he shouldn’t be able to do. How in the human realm does he have the strength to sit up, much less talk? “You shouldn’t be able to—whatareyou?”
The demon, realizing its prey has escaped, turns on its hoof to face me. It lets out a bellow of rage as it charges me, but I dart out of the way, evading it easily. Cassandra, finally free of the demon’s hold, disappears just as the demon crashes into the storefront.
“Go for the head!” the man on the ground screams as the demon struggles to free itself. “You have to sever the head from the body!”
“Right,” I mutter as the demon pulls itself from the wreckage of the café. My palms grow sweaty against the scythe’s handle as the demon turns to face me once more, looking completely unscathed. You’d think there’d be a crack in its skull or something, but aside from the deep gouge in its torso, it looks unharmed.
I guess that means the scythe is the only thing that can hurt it.
The demon charges me again, but this time, I don’t run away. Following some instinct, I run toward it, then push off the ground and launch myself into the air. The laws of physics tell me that I should only be able to jump a few feet off the ground, but the power humming through my body tells me a different story as I rocket toward the demon’s head. I pull the scythe back like a baseball bat and swing it around, and the scythe slides through its massive neck as smooth as butter.
For a moment, I’m suspended in the air, the demon’s gaze wide with shock. Then its head slides off its shoulders, and we both plummet to the ground with a crash.
“Addy!” Cass rushes over to me as I lie face up, staring at the dark sky. She drops to the ground and leans over me, peering into my eyes. “Addy, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” I smile and clasp her hand. For some reason it feels warm, nothing like the usual icy sensation I get from touching ghosts. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“Right.” She pulls me to my feet, glancing nervously at the man on the ground, who seems to have fallen unconscious again. “Now let’s get you back into your body before—”
“Wait, what?” I dig my heels in, forcing us both to a halt. “What do you mean, my body?”
Cassandra jabs a finger toward a figure lying on the sidewalk. “That scythe is a spiritual object,” she explains. “When you touched it, it forced your spirit out of your body, which is all well and good, but now you need to get back into it—”
“No, she doesn’t.”
We both whirl around as the man gets to his feet. He still looks battered and unsteady, but much better than earlier, which seems crazy considering the amount of damage he’s taken. His ocean-blue eyes blaze with determination as he locks gazes with me. “You’re a reaper.”
“A what now?” I say, nonplussed.
“A reaper.” He gestures to himself, to the scythe he holds in his hand. He must have picked it up when I dropped it. “Soldiers of the angel of death. We help spirits—”
“Addy,” Cassandra says in a hurried voice, tugging on my sleeve. “Get back in your body,now.”
“—cross over to the afterlife, and kill demons like the one you killed tonight. No one else can kill a demon except for a reaper.No one.”
I fold my arms across my chest, annoyed at his know-it-all tone. “Well I killed one,” I say, perhaps a little more snidely than I should have, “and I’m not a reaper.”
“Again,” the man says, sounding exasperated now, “youhaveto be a reaper. I don’t know how you ended up in the human realm in a human body, but you can’t stay here. You have to come to the afterlife with me—I mean, to the academy,” he says hastily as a look of horror comes over my face.
He begins to advance on me, and I take a step backward, my sense of self-preservation finally kicking in now that my friend’s soul isn’t in danger. “The afterlife?” I say nervously as Cass begins tugging me toward my body. “Er, isn’t that where people go when they’re dead?”
“Yes,” the man says impatiently, “but you’re a reaper, so—”
“She’s not a reaper,” Cass says furiously, letting go of me so she can chew the man out. “She’s a human girl, a college student with her whole life ahead of her, and I amnotletting you take that away from her!”
The man glowers at her. “It doesn’t matter what she wants—she has to go.” He raises his hand, and a blue glow fills his palm, taking the shape of a rune. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but if you won’t come willingly—”
He lunges at me, grasping for my forearm, but before he can make contact, Cass jumps in front of me. “No!” he yells as his hand closes around her shoulder. I throw an arm over my face as a flash of light envelops them, then lower it once it fades away. My heart plummets as I stare at the empty space in front of me.
They’re gone. Both of them.
2
“All right, class,” my history professor says as the bell rings, signaling the end to my last class of the day. “Your homework is in the back of Chapter 29, Page 304-312. We’ll be having a test on the material on Monday, so make sure to study hard over the weekend!”
I raise my head blearily from the desk as the rest of the students hustle to pack up their bookbags. The usual Friday afternoon excitement buzzes in the air, but I can’t bring myself to get swept up in it. Ever since Cassandra disappeared with that strange man four nights ago, I’ve sunk into a depressed funk I can’t seem to claw my way out of. Besides, it’s not like I’ve got any fun plans. I’m working until close at the shop tonight, and I amsonot looking forward to it.
Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I force myself out of my chair and sling my messenger bag over my shoulder so I can head out. The sun is shining as I walk outside, the sky a blue so gorgeous it’s insulting. How can the day be so bright and wonderful when my best friend is dead and gone?
