Ruin's Lot (Reaper's Hollow Book 1)

by ID Johnson

  He’d missed his opportunity, and he knew it. She’d been so close, only a hand’s breadth away. Why hadn’t she trusted him? There was no reason for her to think he would harm her, none at all.

  He set his goblet aside and rested his head back, wondering if it was even worth it to try again that same night. By now, the Keepers likely had her and were initiating their brainwashing techniques, resolute on turning her against him. If only he’d been successful when he’d had his opportunity.

  A sound at the door caught his attention, and he turned to see Raven slinking in. “What is it?” he asked, turning away from her. As usual, she wore a revealing black bodysuit, with sheer elements teasing at her best features, with a flurry of feathers shooting out from the front and back seams like a sewn-in boa.

  “Sorry to disturb you, Nat,” she said, sarcastically, dropping onto a nearby sofa. “I thought you should know that Zu has been successful in his collecting, and the soul has been spirited off accordingly.”

  “That’s good to know,” Nat replied, picking up his goblet and taking another drink. “Anything else?”

  “No, I was only wondering if you would make another attempt this evening at the girl.”

  It was as if she’d been reading his mind, though he knew she hadn’t been. He’d have recognized it if she were. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Perhaps we should give it a day or two.”

  “By then, the Keepers will have her, and we will have no chance.” She crossed her legs seductively, and Nat reminded himself that this was her way with everyone. He had no attraction to Raven or any of the other beings that occupied this realm.

  “We shall see,” Nat replied, exhaling. “I think there must be a different way, a better way to reach her. What I tried last night was unsuccessful.”

  “But you said she knew you.”

  “She did. Now, I must make her trust me.”

  “Should you take your fully human form? Introduce yourself to her as a person, as the Keepers have done?”

  Nat pondered the possibility, one that had occurred to him before. “Perhaps,” was all he would say at this point.

  “Well, I should hope you will make your mind up soon. I’m tired of living underneath this tree.” With that, Raven stood and crossed back out of the door.

  Nat watched her go, not willing to argue with her that they weren’t actually beneath the tree; but she knew that already. She was just being… difficult. He closed his eyes for a moment, reaching out, hoping to see if he could touch her—the lost one. The night before, he had gotten lucky when she had reached out for him. Now, however, he had a feel for her, and he instinctively knew he could find her whenever he wanted to. Perhaps he would try again tonight after all.

  Ru wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. “What do you mean everything I know about my past is a lie?” She glanced down at the paper again, and finding it offensive tossed it onto the coffee table. She could feel herself becoming very defensive now, so she tried breathing deeply through her nose. It wasn’t working.

  “Your mother’s name was, as you can see, Seraphina Raphaels. She is a Keeper. A descendant of Raphael’s.

  “Great. Now I’m related to a Ninja Turtle,” Ru mumbled.

  “Ru, please. This is serious.”

  With a loud humph, she said, “I’m sorry. Who is Raphael?”

  “An Archangel. We use our names to trace our lineage. So you are also a descendant of Raphael’s—not the cartoon character, or the artist, but the Archangel.”

  Ru licked her bottom lip, trying to imagine what it would be like if she could believe him, but since she couldn’t, she said nothing, only stared into his blue eyes and waited.

  “Your father, however, is a different story,” Cutter continued, looking away.

  “What? He wasn’t a Keeper? What was he? A human?”

  Shaking his head, Cutter said, “No, he was a descendant of Ronobe.”

  “And who is that?” Ru asked, bracing herself, though she still couldn’t believe any of it. That didn’t stop her heart from racing as she awaited his answer.

  “Ronobe is a demon. His descendants are Gibborim.”

  Ru remembered hearing that word in her research the night before. “Isn’t that the same thing as Nephilim?” she asked, her forehead knit together.

  Once again, Cutter was shaking his head. “No, similar but one major difference.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Nephilim are the offspring of the daughters of Earth and the sons of God; Gibborim are the offspring of demons from Hell and the daughters of Earth.”

  “I don’t think the Bible says that,” Ru interjected, remembering what he had mentioned earlier about believing everything the Good Book said.

  “It doesn’t exactly, but it’s true. And Gibborim now go by another name.”

  Ru arched an eyebrow. “Reapers?”

  “Charged to walk the Earth and collect the souls where demons could no longer dwell… yes.”

  “But I thought demons still walked around causing trouble all the time, like on The Exorcist.”

  “You sure have a pop culture reference for everything. You and Rider will get along smashingly,” Cutter mumbled. “They do, but it’s much more difficult for them to escape Hell and return here. Reapers, however, have permission, so long as they do their jobs accordingly.”

  “Which you say they’re not doing.”

  “Right.”

  “So you think I’m some sort of half-angel, half-demon hybrid?” Ru asked, the weight of the words more disturbing than she’d imagined they would be before she let them escape her mouth.

  “No, I don’t,” Cutter clarified. “You’re a Keeper. I’m sure of it.”

  “How is that possible?” If what he said was true, and she didn’t believe a word of it, her mother was a Keeper, but her father was a Reaper.

  “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never heard of this happening before. But you look like us. You have the same skills that we do—though untrained at this point—and you certainly don’t act like a Reaper.”

  Ru took her head in her hands and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “So… you’re really not sure what I am, even in your little made up supernatural world.”

  “It’s not made up, Ru, and I can prove it to you.”

  “How?” she asked, dropping her hands and turning her attention back to him. “How can you prove any of this is real?”

  “Lots of ways,” Cutter replied, “but easiest of all… there’s this.” He held up his hand, and within a nanosecond, a blue light began to emanate from his fingertips. He touched his fingers together, forming the electrical currency into a spinning blue orb.

  Unable to believe her eyes, Ru scooted back on the sofa. “How are you doing that?” she asked, her words just a whisper.

  “I’m a Keeper of the Light. I can collect energy out of the air and form it into light, heat, electricity, whatever I need. This is how I was able to fix the copier, your phone, and move your car.”

  Tentatively, Ru leaned forward to have a closer look. There had to be some sort of a mechanism, a device of some sort, generating the dancing blue light, but she couldn’t see anything. “What would happen if I touched it?”

  “Nothing, unless I wanted it to,” he said with a shrug. “This is just light. I haven’t added anything to it. Here, touch it.” He held his palm out so that the light was balanced right in the middle of his hand, still spinning.

  Carefully, Ru lifted her hand, and with one finger, she approached the orb. It was about the size of a clementine orange. She looked at Cutter for reassurance and could see in his eyes, which were glowing more brightly now, almost the shade of the ball of light, that it was okay. She hesitantly poked at the light with her pointer finger, which slipped right through it. There was no pain or warmth. It was almost like touching a hologram, though she did feel a slight electrical charge. The light continued to dance around her finger. Ru pulled her hand back, and Cutter extinguishe
d the orb by closing his hand.

  Ru wasn’t sure what to say, so she just stared at him in silence for a few moments. Eventually, she said, “That was impressive.”

  “You can do it, too,” Cutter said, quietly, as if he didn’t want to excite her by being overly enthusiastic, like he was approaching a crouching tiger.

  “I can do that? No, I don’t think so.” She was shaking her head adamantly. There was no way she could ever do anything like that.

  “Yes, you can, Ru. That’s why you keep shorting things out. You just don’t know how to control it. We all know how to use our powers appropriately because we were raised using them. You’ve had no guidance. Once we start your training, we’ll show you exactly how to keep it under control and use it however you need to.”

  “My training?” she echoed, looking at him like he’d really lost his mind. “My training for what?”

  “As a Keeper,” Cutter replied, his voice still serene. “Now that you know who you are, you’ll be able to join us.”

  “Join you?” Ru scoffed. “Are you kidding? Even if I believed a word you just said, there’s no way I’d want to chase Grim Reapers around the world and try to send them back to Hell.” Her voice grew louder with each word.

  “Ru…” Cutter began, attempting to calm her, but it wasn’t working.

  “And another thing. What makes you think I know who I am now? Just because you gave me a piece of paper that may or may not have been fabricated doesn’t tell me who I am. It still doesn’t explain why my mother would’ve left me, given me up. You say that my name is Rune, not Ruin, but that doesn’t change the fact that my mother didn’t want me, that she abandoned me!”

  “She didn’t abandon you,” Cutter interjected, his voice raising to meet hers. “She was trying to hide you. From Ronobe and the Reapers.”

  Shaking her head, Ru stood. “This is… ridiculous. I’m not the daughter of an angel. Or a demon. You’ve lost your mind!” She pulled her phone out of her purse, determined to get out of this house full of crazy people that very instant.

  The sound of footsteps drew her attention to the doorway. “So how’s it going?” Rider asked, the expression on his face one of sarcasm coupled with defeat.

  “Not well,” Cutter admitted. He was standing next to her now, as Ru fumbled with her phone and her clutch. “Who are you calling?”

  “Uber. I’m done listening to your nonsense!”

  “You can’t call Uber,” Cutter said, though he didn’t reach for her phone. “They’ll never find the house.”

  “Fine. I’ll drop the pin on the road and go out and meet them.”

  “Come on, Ru. Don’t be silly. I’ll drive you home.”

  She looked him in the eyes, and for a moment, she saw the old Cutter, the one she knew at work, the sweet, helpful one. But then a few of his words found their way to the forefront of her mind, and she remembered he was insane. “You need help. Mental help.”

  “How about if I drive you home?”

  Ru shifted her eyes to see that Lyric and Ivy had joined them. The offer came from Lyric, who looked calm and friendly, her hands shoved into the pockets of her blue jeans. Ru flickered from face to face. While Ivy looked concerned and Rider looked angry, Cutter just looked defeated.

  Realizing that Cutter was right, it would be hard to catch a ride share this far out of town, she returned her gaze to Lyric. “Fine,” Ru replied, tartly. “But you should know I’m an expert in martial arts. I could break you in half with my little finger if I wanted to.” She wasn’t sure where the lie had come from, probably out of fear, but she wasn’t about to get into a vehicle with a stranger who didn’t at least question whether or not she knew how to protect herself.

  “I’ll remember that,” Lyric replied, though Ru was pretty sure she didn’t believe her. “Can I borrow your truck?” she asked Cutter, who tossed her the keys. Lyric easily caught them. “Let’s go,” she said, turning toward the door.

  Ru didn’t even look at Cutter. What was there to say? She heard him sigh loudly behind her as she headed toward the door. Ivy and Rider stepped aside as she stormed through, rushing to catch Lyric and escape.

  “It was lovely to meet you,” Ivy called after her, and Ru knew she was being exceptionally rude by not saying anything back, but she continued on her way, assuming all four of them were equally loony at this juncture.

  She climbed into Cutter’s truck, wishing they could’ve taken any other vehicle, and Lyric, who was already in the driver’s seat, started it. Ru clicked her seatbelt and crossed her arms, hoping some distance and deep breaths would clear her mind, thought she didn’t feel any calmer now that she was outside.

  Lyric turned the truck around and headed back down the winding, nearly invisible lane. She pulled out onto the country road that snaked through the forest and eventually caught the highway that headed to Reaper’s Hollow. She didn’t say a word until they were nearly to town. “I like your bracelets,” she said quietly. “You’re a lot edgier than I would have thought, considering you’re a teacher.”

  Ru glanced down at her bangles. “Thanks. I guess.”

  Lyric snickered. “What do you listen to?”

  Ru glanced at her for the first time, realizing that, with a name like Lyric, she must like music. “Uh, mostly punk. Some grunge.”

  “Cool. I like all music, but I listen to a lot of punk. I really love “Happy Being Miserable” by New Found Glory. Have you heard it?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Ru said. “It’s one of my favorites right now. I like “Get By” by Real Friends, too.”

  “Oh, yeah. The lyrics to that one are awesome. And I should know,” she joked, leaning over toward Ru just a bit, as if she were telling an inside joke.

  Despite her foul mood, Ru couldn’t help but giggle. Lyric seemed like the kind of girl Ru could hang out with, under other circumstances. She was funny, had good taste in music, and she seemed pretty laid back, compared to everyone else. But she couldn’t let herself think about that just now. “Turn here,” she said as they approached the first of a few turns that would take them to her house. Ru waited for her to say something about Cutter’s farce, but she was quiet again, running her free hand through her hair so that some of it was practically standing up straight.

  Ru turned her attention out the window. It was dark and gloomy out, as it usually was this time of year. She couldn’t help but feel the same way on the inside. “It’s the next left, and then my house is the third one on the right,” she said as Lyric flipped her turn signal on.

  A few moments later, they pulled to a stop in front of her small, white house. “Thanks for the ride,” Ru said, turning to face her.

  “Sure thing,” Lyric replied, smiling.

  Waiting to see if she’d say more, something about Cutter being nuts—or not—Ru continued to stare at her. “Will you please tell Ivy I’m sorry I was so rude.”

  “Yeah, I’ll tell her. But I’m sure she understands. You’ve had quite the night. Sorry it didn’t go better for you.”

  Ru raised an eyebrow, surprised at those words. She wasn’t sure what to say, so she only muttered, “Thanks.”

  “Take care, Ru,” Lyric said.

  “Yeah, you, too,” Ru replied, pushing the truck door open and hopping out. She wasn’t sure whether or not Lyric was implying something with those words, but the tone seemed ominous.

  Ru grabbed her keys out of her purse and headed for the door. She noticed Lyric didn’t pull away until after she had the door open and was standing inside. She gave the girl a small wave and watched her pull away. Once inside, she scooped up Piper, who was clearly happy to see her, and shut the door behind her, flipping the lock for good measure. “We don’t need any more craziness tonight,” she mumbled as she headed for the sofa.

  Checking her phone, she saw that she had several more texts from Candice. She sent her a quick message to let her know she was home and there was nothing to report; she definitely wasn’t going to tell her what Cutter h
ad talked about all night. There was no reason for both of them to avoid him at work, though she was quite certain she’d have to find a way to do just that.

  “See, this is why you don’t date coworkers,” she said to Piper as she stroked her head. “They might turn out to be crazy people who think they’re angels and that you’re the half-angel, half-demon daughter of a Ninja Turtle.” Piper only purred in response.

  Ru’s phone buzzed again, and she assumed it was Candice telling her goodnight, but when she looked down, she saw it was from Cutter. “Sorry tonight was so awful for you. Everything went wrong. Anyway, whatever you do, Ru, don’t go with Thanatos, no matter what he says to you. He’s dangerous. Even if you think you’re dreaming.”

  With a sigh, Ru set her phone down on her lap. Even when she was home, she couldn’t fully escape his crazy. She couldn’t decide whether or not to acknowledge she’d received the text or ignore him, but remembering that she had experience with crazy in the form of Liddy Brown, she picked up the phone and typed, “Okay. I won’t. Now leave me the hell alone.” She would’ve never tacked on that part at the end if she were sending it to Liddy, but this was different. She didn’t have to live with Cutter for the rest of her life.

  “But I do have to work with him,” she remembered. “Ugh.” Things would be so awkward on Monday. Hopefully, he would just leave her alone.

  She thought about grabbing her laptop and Googling that light trick he’d done with his hands. There had to be some sort of a device that made a hologram like that. But she was too tired to look it up now. “Come on, Piper, let’s go to bed,” she said. Piper answered with a meow, and Ru headed toward the bedroom, hopeful that she wouldn’t have any dreams at all that night.

  Cutter sat on the porch reflecting on what he’d done wrong. Clearly, it had been nearly everything, but he had no idea what he could’ve done differently. He had tried being direct, being completely honest, even letting her see for herself what they were capable of, but none of that seemed to matter. Now, she was out there alone, and he knew Nat had to have found her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dreamt of him. Whether Ru realized it or not, that dream wasn’t what she thought it was. He hoped his text was warning enough to keep her safe, but somehow, he didn’t think so.