by S. L. Baum
“What do we do?” Willa started to panic, but she tried hard to reel in that feeling. She would be strong for her daughter.
“You should set her comfortably on the couch,” Krista said. “She’ll be in this state for a little while, until my body can grab hold of her death and pull it out of her.”
Willa blinked her eyes, holding back the tears. “What happens if you can’t grab it?”
“She dies,” Krista answered truthfully. “But I will get it. I always do.”
“Should I get Klaus? I probably should. Shouldn’t I? Part of me feels like I should panic, but then part of me thinks I should be calm. I just don’t want to leave her side.”
“There is no need to panic, this is a normal part of the process. I promise,” Krista told Willa, trying to ease her worry.
“I’ll go get him,” Eva volunteered.
Willa smiled at the girl. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
While Eva was out, Willa and Krista settled Anna on the couch. Krista sat in the reclining chair nearby and concentrated on catching the death that was attempting to take Anna. She felt the beastly thing growing stronger inside of the girl and she managed to grab the tiniest part of it. It was enough. It was a start.
Klaus burst into the house and rushed into the room. He ran to Anna’s side and knelt down beside the couch. “Baby, AnnaBanana, it’s Daddy, darling girl. Can you hear me?”
“She can’t,” Krista said softly.
“Oh, God. No. Don’t take her yet. Please.” Klaus raised his daughter’s hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. He pushed the tiny wisps of hair that had poked out from her cap back in place, as she would want them, and he stared at her lovely face. Her breaths were so shallow and her face stark white. “Is she dying? How can she recover from this?”
“This is the moment of what would have been her death, my presence has induced a deep sleeplike state,” Krista explained.
“Do you mean if you weren’t here right now, she wouldn’t be alive?” Willa asked.
“Yes. Death would have consumed her by now, but I’ve grabbed onto the tail end of it and soon I will pull the entire thing into my body.”
A small sob came from Willa as she processed Krista’s words. Her daughter would be dead at that moment, if there wasn’t this magical thing. If Krista wasn’t a Deathtaker, Anna would be gone. She said a thankful prayer that Krista was keeping Anna alive. Krista was keeping her lungs breathing, her heart pumping, and her brain functioning.
Klaus reached a hand back and grabbed onto his wife, and Willa clung to his side. Krista leaned back in the recliner as a searing pain raced through her body. Eva gasped and went to her mother.
“Does it hurt, Momma?”
“It does, sweet girl. But it’s only for a little while and I am happy to take this pain into myself. You’ll learn that the pain will make you feel strong.”
“Because it is doing something good?”
“That’s exactly right.” Krista closed her eyes for a moment and breathed through the pain. “Willa, Klaus, as soon as she wakes, the very second her eyes open, you need to run her out of here. Don’t let her touch me, just leave. Pack your things and go. Remember, she needs to keep a safe distance away from me.”
Klaus nodded in understanding. “I remember. I’ll do exactly as you said,” he promised.
Willa went to Krista’s side and leaned over her. She kissed her new friend on the cheek and gave her a small hug. “Thank you. You’re giving me back my world. I’m so sorry this gives you any sort of pain. I wish it didn’t. When we are home, I’ll call you. Just know, I plan to keep in touch.”
Krista smiled at the woman. “Please do. I’d be so happy to hear how you all are doing.” She sucked in a sharp breath through gritted teeth.
“Momma?” Eva cried out.
“It’s about to happen. Look at Anna, Eva. Watch how her eyes will open and mine will close. I’ve got a good grip on Death. It’s coming to me easier than it usually does. I’m taking it out of her. Now,” Krista whispered and her eyes fluttered closed.
Anna’s groggily opened.
“Anna? Anna, sweetie. How do you feel?” her mother asked.
“Fine. Sleepy. What happened?”
Klaus picked her up from the couch and started walking toward the door. “You’re fine now.”
“Is Krista okay?” she asked.
“Krista is good. She’s done it. She’s saved you. She’s an angel,” Willa told her.
As Klaus raced Anna back to the guesthouse, Willa sniffed the air and glanced at the oven. Trails of smoke were coming from the door. “Damn, the cookies!” She opened the window in the kitchen before opening the oven door. She waved at the smoke and then extracting the pan of blackened oatmeal circles. “I’ve turned the oven off. Just let that cool down before you throw them away. I’m going to call your dad, Eva. I’ll tell him to get home to you. We’ll be right next door.”
“Thank you.” Eva gave Willa a sad smile. She wasn’t sure what to do; she just knew that she should stay by her mother’s side. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine until Daddy gets here.”
Anna gave Eva a quick hug and then rushed out the door. She dialed Sam’s number as she climbed the steps to the guesthouse.
“Hello?”
“Sam, it’s Willa. You need to come back home. It’s happened, Krista took the death. We are going to be packing up to go, and Eva’s in the house with Krista. We won’t leave the property until you get here.”
“I’m on the road, right around the corner. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes,” Sam told her and then he looked at Abe. “It’s done. Krista’s out. Eva’s with her.”
“Should I go back to wait with her?” Willa asked him. “I left the house without thinking. Ugh. I can’t believe I did that. Maybe I should go back.”
“It’s fine. We’re seriously only two minutes away,” Sam assured her. “We’ll get to her quickly.”
“Damn right we will,” Abe mumbled.
“Alright. I’m going to hang up and pack our things now.” Willa nervously turned off her phone. Her whole body was shaking; her heart was racing. Joy, fear, apprehension, and relief surged through her; she couldn’t grab on to just one emotion. They all swirled around inside of her.
Anna was going to live! She wanted to shout it out for the world to hear.
Sam sped down the road and turned the truck onto the gravel drive that would lead him to his wife and daughter. “I hate this part.”
“Which part?” Abe asked.
“The part where she doesn’t look either alive or dead. The part in between, when fear and doubt creep in, even though I know everything will end up fine. Eva is probably thinking those same thoughts right now.”
“Well, you go in there and let her know that her momma is going to wake up sometime tomorrow and will be no worse for wear. You tell her that Krista will be good as new.”
“I will,” Sam said as he parked the truck.
Eva had pulled a kitchen chair over to the recliner and sat quietly holding her mother’s hand. “Hi, Daddy,” she greeted her father when she heard them walk in the house. “Hi, Uncle Abe. She did it. She’s recovering now, and I think we should move her to a bed.”
Sam squatted down next to her chair. “That’s a good idea. I can carry her into the guestroom.”
“Oh, could you, Daddy?”
“Yes. I’ll pick her up right now. Do you want to go and make sure the bed is ready for her? Maybe pull back the blanket and fluff the pillow.”
“I should do that. Bring her in two minutes. I’ll have the bed ready,” Eva said and then ran off to the guestroom to prepare the bed.
“I have every confidence that our girl will wake up tomorrow, and you should too. But I think Eva may need some reassuring. I’ll let you two talk about this by yourselves,” Abe said, excusing himself from the room. Sam should be alone with his wife and daughter for a little while.
Sam pulled Krista into his arms and gen
tly lifted her up from the chair. He cradled her and hugged her close to his body. “Good job, baby,” he whispered against her forehead and placed a kiss against her cool skin. “Our poor girlie was here with you alone,” he continued speaking even though he knew his wife couldn’t hear him. “But it seems like she’s handling it just fine, for the first couple of minutes anyway. Hopefully she’ll handle the next twenty-four hours just as well. Let’s get you to a bed.”
“It’s ready,” Eva called out to her father.
Sam brought Krista into the room and gently set her on the bed, holding her head until it rested on the soft white pillow.
“Do you think she’s comfortable?” Eva asked.
“I do. She’ll have a nice rest on a very soft bed. Do you want to put the covers on her?”
She nodded her head. “Momma might get cold.”
Sam knew Krista wouldn’t be aware of the temperature in the house while she was processing Anna’s death, but he also knew his daughter would feel better if she thought she was helping to make her mother more comfortable. It was an easy way to keep Eva at ease while Krista recovered. She was in stasis, as Doctor Baker had put it, neither dead nor alive. Sam liked to think of it as transitioning.
Eva pulled the blanket up and covered her mother’s still body. She smoothed the material until it was without wrinkles and then placed her hair neatly around her head. “There. She looks like she’s sleeping peacefully.”
“Yes. She does. A beautiful sleeping angel. Are you freaked out? Worried? Scared? All of the above?”
“Probably a little of each, but I’m also very sure that she will wake up. It doesn’t make much sense that I feel scared and confident and confused, all at the same time.” Eva pulled at her bottom lip
Sam rubbed his daughter’s back. “Feelings don’t have to make sense. You’re allowed to have feelings that are all over the place. They are your feelings, you just need to think about them and try to make some sense of them. I will be right here to talk to you whenever you need someone, but I won’t try to force you to figure it all out right now. Take all the time you need.”
“I have this weird feeling inside of me, like a tingling in my brain. It’s telling me that Momma is peaceful, that she is fine, and that she’ll wake up when she’s ready.”
“That’s good to hear, because I always worry about Momma too. Thank you for letting me know.”
Eva leaned back into her father. “You’re welcome. Can I sleep in the bed with her tonight?”
“Of course you can. I’ll probably set up one of Abe’s cots in here for myself.”
The sound of a car horn quickly beeped outside and they heard the side door open and close. Abe had gone outside.
“I bet they’re leaving. Should we go say goodbye?” Sam asked Eva.
“Yes, but only for a minute. I don’t want to leave Momma alone.”
Anna waved from inside the car and Eva ran out to say farewell to her friend. “Send me an email when you get home,” Eva told her.
“I will. Thank your mother for me,” Anna said with a contented sigh. She was delighted by the feeling of strength that was growing inside of her. She just knew that all the sickness that had been there before was now completely gone. “Tell her I’m all fixed up now. Somehow, I just know it.”
Willa extended her arm out of the car to grasp Sam’s hand. “Please let her know how much we will always love her. What a gift she’s given to us…”
“Thank you, all of you, for everything,” Klaus added. “We should go now,” he told his wife. “I’d like to get Anna out of here.”
Abe gave Klaus a look that told the man they understood his hurry. “Safe travels.”
And then they were gone.
“You okay, Eva?” Abe asked his niece.
“I’m A-okay,” she told him.
Abe gave a single nod of his head. “Good to hear. What do you want for dinner?”
Eva thought for a moment before she answered. “Soup, or stew, or chili. Something warm and in a bowl.”
“Come on, Samuel. We have a dinner to make,” Abe said as he climbed the steps into the house.
“I’ll see what we have in the fridge,” Sam stated, glad for the distraction.
“Okay. I’ll sit with Momma while you guys make dinner,” Eva suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” Sam told his daughter.
“Maybe I should read to her.”
“Another excellent idea.”
Eva was true to her word; she rarely left her mother’s side other than to use the restroom, which she put off until the last possible moment, and occasionally to get something to eat, but only if she couldn’t get Abe or her father to get it for her. She wanted to absorb every moment of the process, and she wanted to be there when Krista woke up. Sam had told her about the time he’d witnessed the end of Marlene Richardson’s Deathtaking. Not the actual act, but when Krista had been recovering in Doctor Baker’s house afterward. So she had heard his story. And her mother had told her about when she’d been there for her own grandmother. But those were stories from someone else, and even though Eva thought she knew what to expect, she needed to see it all with her own eyes.
Abe had pulled a kitchen chair into the guestroom so he could sit with Sam and Eva as they waited for Krista to wake. He’d glimpsed Chai on the two different occasions she’d been in her stasis state, but he’d never seen Krista that way. It was different to witness someone you loved looking so helpless, so unresponsive. Hell, the poor girl looked dead, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“How long is she going to be this way?” he asked them.
“Until sometime this afternoon.” Eva answered Abe’s question with confidence.
“If an easy connection was made between the two, which it was, then the whole process should take approximately twenty-four hours,” Sam elaborated.
Abe rubbed the sides of his face with both hands. “Krista said she had a good one of those? A connection?”
“Yes,” Sam and Eva answered together.
“Then it won’t be long. What will she need when she wakes up?”
“Water. Her body heats up at the end,” Sam told him.
“She’ll probably need a good dinner later tonight. I’m going to start on my beef stew.”
“Momma would like that.”
Abe stood up with determination. He liked having a task to perform. “Do you want to help your Grumple?”
Eva shook her head. “I’m going to stay here. Maybe put some extra garlic in it. She likes garlic.”
“I can do that. And that’ll keep the Vampires away,” he said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.
“Who knows if that is even a thing? I’ll have to ask a Vampire one day, if I ever meet one,” Eva said with all sincerity. After meeting Barbie, she had decided there might be all kinds of storybook creatures out there. And if Barbie was a Witch, then that meant the storybooks were probably wrong about what they all were like.
Abe and Sam looked at her as though the thought had yet to occur to them both. Their eyes flashed with the truth of her statement. “Let’s hope you never do,” Abe told her.
Eva shrugged at them and then turned back to look at her mother. She had her computer in her lap and she was watching cat videos with the sound turned off. It was something she liked to do with her mother. The two of them could get distracted for hours watching those cute, silly videos.
It was the temperature change that finally made Eva close the laptop and pay attention to what was happening in front of her. The room had been quite cool before, but it had suddenly warmed up. It wasn’t just warm; the air radiated. Eva looked at her mother and saw that there were waves in in the air, and they were coming from her. “Are you seeing this?” she whispered to her father.
“I am. I do. She’s going to wake up soon. But she’ll be real tired, so don’t get worried when she wants to fall back asleep for a little while. She’s not going to die, like Chai did. She’s just needs to rest.�
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“Alright, I’ll try not to worry.”
Abe stood in the doorway with his mouth hanging open. “That’s a sight I’ve never seen. How does she make the air do that?”
“Magic, I guess,” Eva said and tilted her head to look at her mother from a different angle. “Someday I’ll do that. It’s so weird.”
“It’s special,” Sam told her. “It means you have a gift that can do so much good, and you used it to help someone.”
“I guess so. Will you watch over me the first time, Daddy, to make sure I wake up okay?”
Sam went to stand next to his daughter. He ran his fingers through her hair. “I will, baby girl. If you want me to be there, then I’ll be there.”
“How long now?” Abe asked.
Sam looked at his uncle. “Seconds.”
Krista’s eyes popped open and she took in a shallow ragged breath. Sam immediately went to her side with the glass of water they had kept beside the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for her to tell him what she wanted. Eva ran toward her mother, but Sam stopped her.
“Give her a moment to breathe, Eva. She’s not sure of her surroundings at first. Remember?”
Krista tried to focus on the three blurry figures that were in the room with her. What room? she wondered. Someone must have moved her. She blinked several times, trying to get the three bodies in front of her to come into focus. She gasped for her next breath. The air will come, she reminded herself. It was something she always made herself think about, so the momentary panic she always felt wouldn’t set in. Breathe slowly.
“Momma,” Eva whispered and held onto Krista’s hand.
Krista coughed, and Sam held the glass of water to her lips. She took a slow sip. It was nice to have her family in the room to help her when she woke up. When she was on her own she had to wait until her strength returned; sometimes she didn’t want to even lift her arms at first.
“Hello, my lovely,” Krista whispered to her daughter. “Was I asleep very long?”
“Twenty three hours and twelve minutes, exactly.”
Sam and Abe laughed. Krista managed to draw her mouth into a smile.
Sam set the glass on the table. “How are you feeling?”