John marched around the bed to come chest-to-chest with Ethan. “You are not family. You’re a friend. And a questionable one at that.”
“You keep wanting to lead our son into sin!” Bev lamented.
A nurse stuck her head into the room. Her frown looked to be permanently glued to her face. “You all need to tone it down or leave. The patient needs quiet.”
“Sorry,” Ethan said, lowering his voice. Then, to David’s parents, he added, “I am not going.”
John glowered at him. “Then I’ll make you.” He nodded at the nurse in the doorway. “Call security and have this man escorted out. He’s not welcome here.”
Cara gasped. Ethan’s hands clenched into fists. So that’s the way they were going to play it. He should have guessed. “He’s my boyfriend,” he said evenly.
“You’re not related?” the nurse asked. “If not, then you need to leave, Sir. Or I will call security.”
“I am family!” Ethan had to grit his teeth to keep from shouting.
“I’m calling security,” the nurse said, and hurried off.
“Ethan, I hate to say this, but you better leave,” Cara whispered. “That nurse is right; you’re not immediate family. They can kick you out. In fact, they can prevent you from coming up at all.”
“Seriously?” Ethan demanded, outraged. David was his boyfriend! Did straight couples have to endure this crap? Then he looked at the smug smiles on David’s parents’ faces. They knew they’d won this round. There was no doubt that they would have him permanently banished.
“Fine,” Ethan said. He pushed his way to David’s bedside. “I’ll be back,” he promised. He gave David a kiss on the lips, and when Bev gasped in horror, he smiled. They might have won the battle. He would win the war.
Chapter Nine
Ethan was too jazzed up to go back to his empty apartment. He needed company, but Cara was on duty, and David of course was…don’t think about it. In times of stress, he usually went jogging or turned to his guitar, but right now, neither of those things appealed to him. What he really needed were answers. He had to know if Sophie’s ability to see Death had somehow been passed on to him. Or if, God forbid, he was responsible for David’s accident.
With a great deal of misgiving, he dialed Christian’s number.
“Ethan.” Christian sounded pleased. “What’s up?”
“Are you busy? I need to talk.”
“Sure. You have the address, right? When you get here, take the back stairs to the second floor.”
Fifteen minutes later, Ethan pulled up to an industrial-looking, cinder block building. A sign out front advertised a heating and cooling repair place. As Christian had instructed, Ethan used the outside stairs to access Christian’s apartment.
“Good God, what happened to you?” Christian asked when he answered the door. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” Ethan said dryly. He entered the apartment, surprised by how comfortable it looked. It was a large, open space, industrial in nature. The bare brick walls complemented the scarred, wooden floor and the black, granite countertops of the small, kitchen area. The leather couches looked new, as did the immense television hanging on the wall. Ethan wondered if Christian had a partner, or if this was a single man’s domain.
“I didn’t mean to insult you,” Christian said. He took Ethan’s coat and hung it on a hook next to the door. “But you have the same look Sophie used to get when she’d been thinking too much. She looked - I don’t know - hollow.”
It was exactly how Ethan felt. Hollow. Like David’s accident had scooped out his essence. He plopped down uninvited onto one of the couches and put his head in his hands. “My boyfriend fell off of a roof last night. He’s in a coma.”
“My God! I’m sorry.” Christian sat next to him.
“His parents came this morning and wouldn’t let me stay with him. They refused to believe that we’re a couple.”
Christian scratched the back of his neck and muttered a swear word under his breath. “Do you want me to talk some sense into them? I can be pretty convincing.” He flexed his biceps.
Despite everything, Ethan laughed. The image of Christian throwing John and Bev across the hospital room was just too entertaining. “Not right now,” he said. “But I’ll hold you to that.”
“You can count on me,” Christian said. He got up from the couch and went to the kitchen. “As for right now, I’ll do for you what I used to do for Sophie when she got that hollow look.” He took a loaf of bread from the cupboard and a deli bag of ham from the refrigerator. “My guess is that you haven’t eaten in the last twenty-four hours. Am I right?”
Ethan thought of the scrambled eggs and toast Cara had ordered for him. Right now, he guessed that John was enjoying them. “You’re right,” he admitted.
“I thought so. Mustard? Mayonnaise?”
“Both,” Ethan said. His stomach rumbled when Christian brought the food over. His host had added pickles and a side of chips to the plate as well as an ice-cold can of Coke.
The food strengthened him more than he’d thought it would. Christian sat on the couch opposite Ethan. “So what brings you here? I’m sure it’s not my charming personality.”
“I need answers,” Ethan admitted. Where to begin? “When did Sophie’s death obsession start?”
Christian looked away. “It’s hard to say.”
Ethan could tell that this was a story Christian didn’t want to talk about it, but he was determined to get the answers he needed. “Tell me,” he insisted.
“I guess you deserve some answers,” Christian said. His eyes grew distant. Talking about Sophie must be hard, but Ethan was determined to get to the nub of it. “She was my cousin, but my parents took her in when she was a kid, so she felt more like my little sister. When I moved out of the house, we grew apart.” He shrugged. “I guess I was so caught up in my own shit that I didn’t realize what was going on with her. Last year, she shows up on my doorstep looking for protection.” Christian’s face darkened. “An ex-boyfriend was stalking her and making threats.”
Ethan murmured sympathetically.
“She’d left my parents’ house and had moved out on her own,” Christian said. “Trouble was, she suffered from severe anxiety. Was depressed as hell.”
“So you helped her out?”
Christian offered a grim smile. “I had a word with the boyfriend, yeah. Like I said, I can be pretty convincing. When I finished the job, Soph was so grateful. But I could tell she didn’t have anywhere to go. I offered her a job as an assistant. I couldn’t pay much, but room and board was included. She cleaned up after me, fielded phone calls, that kind of thing.”
“You saved her,” Ethan said.
Christian glared at the floor. “No, I messed her up. If it wasn’t for me, I don’t think she would have…” He abruptly stopped.
“Would have what?” Ethan prompted.
Christian raked his fingers through his hair and forced a laugh. “This is getting pretty heavy.” He stood up. “Want another sandwich? Or maybe a cookie? I make a mean oatmeal raisin.”
“Tell me,” Ethan insisted. Being honest was the least Christian could do for him seeing as he’d kidnapped and stalked him.
As if purposely putting more space between them, Christian went to the kitchen and got a glass cupboard. He filled it with water from a pitcher in the fridge. “You probably know from reading her journal that she was death obsessed.”
“Just a little,” Ethan said dryly.
Christian drank down the water. “That book was just part of it. Death occupied her mind 24/7. I tried everything to distract her: exercise, work, even shopping. Nothing did the trick. Then she found this website…”
“What website?”
Christian’s back and shoulders drooped, as if just talking about the topic was a load too heavy to carry. “It’s a site on the dark web called the Final Cut.” He refilled his glass. “Did you know that there are thousands of unsecured web cameras al
l over the world? Nanny cams, home security systems, it’s all there. You can watch everyday people through the cameras on their own computers without them ever knowing.”
Appalled, Ethan made a mental note to cover his computer camera with tape at the first opportunity. Especially since it sat open on his desk most of the time.
“Anyway,” Christian continued, “The Final Cut is a site where you can watch people die in real time. Hospital rooms, hospice care facilities, even bedsides, you can watch people die. And that’s what Sophie did. She watched people die.”
Ethan stared at Christian, horrified. His mental profile of Sophie had made her out to be a homeless waif. Now, a darker image emerged.
“I tried to stop her,” Christian said. His eyes grew distant, as if he was seeing Sophie again. “But she was an adult. I couldn’t take away her phone or computer. Those were hers. That site, though, nearly destroyed her. Or maybe it did destroy her, I don’t know.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ethan said. “She was an addict.”
Christian gave him a sharp look before turning away. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I hate to think of her that way, but she was an addict. But her addiction was how we found out about the Reaper.”
Ethan had been so absorbed in the story that he’d nearly forgotten about the Reaper. “The Reaper was on the same website?”
Christian nodded. He rinsed out his water glass and set it in the drainer. “There are chat rooms on that site, and the Reaper started reaching out to Sophie.” He returned to the living room and sat across from Ethan once more. “I believe the Reaper was targeting Soph. Trying to figure out who she was and what she knew. Once Sophie started having those visions, we turned tables on the Reaper and started stalking him. Er, it.”
Christian spread his arms across the back of the couch and tipped his head up to look at the ceiling. “What’s with all of the questions?”
Ethan set his plate on the coffee table. He wasn’t sure how much he trusted this man. On the other hand, Christian was one of the few people who believed that Ethan could see spirits. “I saw Death yesterday,” he confessed.
“At the fairgrounds. You told me.”
“Also on the roof of a house, seconds before my boyfriend fell.” Ethan clenched his jaw as he remembered the sickening thud David had made upon landing on the ground. “I can’t help but think that I conjured it. Like maybe the accident was really my fault.”
“Hold up,” Christian said, lifting his hand like a cop stopping traffic. “You saw the Angel of Death in real life?”
“It looked exactly like it did in my vision.”
“Shit, man. That’s intense.” A worried crease appeared in Christian’s forehead. “But even if you did see it, you can’t think that the accident was your fault. If you do, you’ll drive yourself crazy.”
“I’m halfway there already,” Ethan said miserably. The event had played over and over in his mind, all night long. Every time he shut his eyes, he could see it.
“If Death really wanted your boyfriend, then he’d be dead,” Christian said firmly. “I believe in predestination.”
Ethan wanted to believe Christian, but he wasn’t sure he could let himself off the hook. If he hadn’t climbed that ladder, David might not have fallen. Or was Christian right? Was this kind of thing predetermined? Would David have fallen off that roof with or without him? Unfortunately, Ethan was too tired to play philosophical games.
“I spent most of last night and all of this morning going over the messages between Sophie and the Reaper,” Christian said.
“And?” Ethan was curious in spite of himself.
“And I cannot believe that whoever she was talking to was the literal Angel of Death. I mean, the angel is nearly godlike. Why would it use a computer to talk to her? Why not just show up in person?” Christian asked.
Ethan shrugged. “To trick her? Or to mess with her?” Though, he didn’t believe it. Christian was right. The Angel was nearly godlike. Its power had awed him. It was hard to imagine that awful, magnificent shadow doing anything as mundane as sitting down at a laptop.
Christian took a pair of reading glasses from his shirt pocket and put them on, transforming his rugged appearance into a more intellectual one. He took a notebook from the coffee table and flipped it open. “I think the Reaper, the one that Sophie and I were chasing, is human.” He ran a finger down the page, reading from the notes he’d taken. “And I also think that the reason you saw Death when you were channeling Sophie is because she saw it when she died.” He looked at Ethan over the tops of his glasses. “I know it sounds crazy.”
“No, it makes sense,” Ethan said. Sophie had died, and the Angel showed up to do its job and help her cross over. It made sense that in those moments, the Reaper - the human Reaper - had gotten away.
“Is there anything else that you can remember from channeling Sophie’s spirit?” Christian asked.
Ethan rubbed his forehead. He was starting to get that woozy feeling from too much adrenaline and too little sleep. “I can’t think.”
“You look ready to pass out,” Christian said. He grabbed a fleece throw from the other couch and tossed it at Ethan. “Lay down. I’ll search on-line and let you know what I find out.”
As Christian worked, Ethan grew sleepier. His head felt like a heavy sunflower on the thin stalk of his neck, and he couldn’t keep himself from dozing. Finally, he gave up and lay down. He fell asleep immediately.
He was back at the fairgrounds, reliving Sophie’s final moments. The sounds, the smells, even the rat were all so realistic that he swore he could feel the vibrations from the Scrambler under his feet. Although this time, it wasn’t Sophie standing there, but David. David’s back was to the ride, and he was grinning and holding an elephant ear in one hand. “Want a bite?” he asked.
Metal ground against metal as one of the arms of the Scrambler broke free. Screams from the riders drowned out the music pumping in from the midway. Ethan sensed the danger before he saw it and yanked David out of the path of the broken machinery. The moment he thought he had saved his boyfriend, however, David slipped from his grasp, falling into a deep chasm that had suddenly opened behind them.
“David!” Ethan screamed. He fell onto his stomach, reaching down into the pit to rescue David. But it was too late. David was beyond his reach.
The shadow rose up before his eyes, stretching higher and higher up towards the night sky, blotting out stars and eventually, the moon. Instinct demanded that he flee for his life, but there was no way he was leaving David behind. “Bring him back!” he demanded.
It’s his time, the Angel of Death replied.
Before Ethan could argue, another figure caught his attention. It was the older woman that he’d seen in Sophie’s vision. The one kneeling over her. Her eyes were flat, and her face worn, as if her life had been one disappointment after another. As he looked on, the Angel of Death embraced her from behind, leaving only her face visible among its shadows.
Sophie materialized by Ethan’s side. Her wide eyes looked too large in her narrow face. “Ethan, you have to stop it. You and Christian have to make it go away!”
“I’m trying,” Ethan said.
“It’s coming closer,” she said. Her voice was feverish with fear. “You have to stop it!” she begged.
Ethan jerked awake, Sophie’s warning still ringing in his ears. As things fell into place, he realized that he was still at Christian’s. Everything looked the same, yet there was a lingering trace of Sophie in the air. She wasn’t quite a ghost, though. More like a suggestion of a ghost. As if she was watching from a distance.
Ethan yawned so wide that his jaw cracked. The lowering sun outside the windows told him that he’d been asleep for hours.
“Want some coffee, sleepyhead?” Christian teased. When Ethan accepted, Christian brought over a mug.
“Thanks.” Ethan doubted that he could ever express how truly grateful he was. He never could have gotten through the day witho
ut Christian. He checked his phone for messages, but nothing showed. Damn! He’d hoped that Cara, at least, would have texted with a David update. No doubt, she was busy on her shift. Instead, he sent her a message, asking that she check on David.
“I remembered something from Sophie’s vision,” Ethan said. He explained about the woman. “She said she was a nurse.”
“I don’t remember her in all the chaos,” Christian admitted. “If she was there helping Sophie, though, I want to thank her.”
Ethan thought of Sophie squirming away from the woman. “I’m not sure she helped. There was something going on that Sophie didn’t like.”
“She was dying. Of course she didn’t like it,” Christian said flatly.
“No, something more.” Ethan wished he could put his finger on it.
“In any case, I want to talk to her,” Christian said. “She might have seen something. What did she look like?”
“Five foot three, maybe four. One-hundred-forty pounds.” He searched his brain for more details. “I wish David was here,” he said. “He’s a great artist, and he could have sketched her for me.”
“Not to worry.” Christian grabbed a tablet from the coffee table. “There’s an app for that.”
Curious, Ethan set his empty plate on the coffee table and took a seat next to Christian. “That’s pretty cool,” he said, looking at the tablet.
“We PIs have plenty of cool toys,” Christian agreed. “But this will work best if you don’t watch what I’m doing. When I’m done, I’ll show you the finished result and we can compare.”
Ethan turned sideways on the couch with his back facing Christian. “Okay. She was older. Maybe early fifties. Short, brown hair. Heavy eyebrows…”
Working with Christian was a welcome relief from the worries that had taken over his mind. He was still terrified for David, but the fears were more contained now. As infuriating as their first meeting had been, Christian’s calm nature soothed him. In fact, Ethan guessed that was what had drawn Sophie to him as well. As they continued to develop the sketch, Ethan allowed himself to relax and let Christian take control.
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