'Til Death We Meet Again (A Grim Awakening Book 3)

by Michelle Gross

  My eyes widened. “And we are going to be prepared,” Killian tried to calm Ryan.

  “You’re not leaving me here while my sister’s in trouble.” For the first time since everything had happened to Ryan, I saw real panic stir in his eyes. I thought that seeing him crack in front of me would bring out my own fear… it didn’t. Instead, I wanted to be what kept him from breaking any further… the person he had always been for me.

  Honestly, I was afraid. If Denver was Fear’s destination with the portal he planned to open, then Ryan was right… we couldn’t do anything, but unlike Ryan, I had enough faith in Killian to know that he was already planning.

  “Ryan, everything’s going to work out,” I started out.

  He squinted his eyes at me and shook his head. “You can’t say that. You don’t even know what might happen.” His hands were in his hair and he was pacing frantically.

  I went to him and gripped his shoulders. “Ryan.” I forced him to look at me.

  His face broke and I knew he was falling apart. “Oh God, Melanie. Our families are going to be placed in danger. OUR FAMILIES!”

  “I know,” I told him. “I’m scared too, but we have to keep them safe.”

  “She’s right. He plans to open the portal on Halloween, that’s still months away down here. We have time to stop him before he even gets a chance to open it.”

  I didn’t know which of us calmed him down but he visibly relaxed. “Killian’s been keeping Reapers at our houses to keep our families safe already. He was already prepared if Fear tried to use someone I cared about against me again. This time is no different.”

  “His death is on Halloween,” Killian finally revealed the day Fear would die.

  “It’s weird that you know that.” Ryan gave him a strange look. “So, you knew I would die that day as well?” I looked back at Killian.

  “Yours was different, one minute it was clear and you were meant to live a long life, then it would change again—it was constantly back and forth. I could never get an accurate feeling with you. I tried to tell you to stay away from Melanie because I figured she was the reason.” Killian raked his hand through his hair. “I think the day you touched Melanie’s mark, it altered your death so that it could go two different ways and because of that, it was always shadowed for me… I see every death perfectly and what I encountered with yours has never happened.”

  “I won’t regret my choice. Whether it was when I was nine and saw her on the floor of the classroom or my recent choices now that led to my death… if you are trying to imply that I should have stayed away from her.”

  “It was for your own good,” Killian tone was dark. “But I do understand what you mean. I would have never stayed away either.” They were glaring at each other like morons.

  “If you think hearing you two talk like this will make me happy, think again. It doesn’t make me happy that you died Ryan.” I looked to Killian. “And it doesn’t make me happy to know that if put in the same situation, you would have done the same thing.” I sighed. “Idiots,” I muttered before walking off.

  _______

  “Are you safe to approach?” Killian walked a step behind me as I toured his castle.

  “If you keep saying things like that, you’re going to make it very unsafe for you,” I answered with a smile as I turned around.

  “Come on, let’s go to the key room,” he said as he grabbed my hand.

  “Do I get to use the key?” I asked.

  “This time I’m in charge of the key. I’d like to show you something other than food.” I grunted in response.

  “Maybe I should have stayed with Ryan. He wasn’t taking it well and honestly, neither am I. We can’t let Fear open that portal in our small town.”

  “No words are going to make either of you feel at ease, not until Marcus and Fear are out of the picture.” He grabbed my hand as we walked. “I’ll do everything I can to protect that town and everyone in it.”

  “I know you will.” I squeezed his hand and smiled.

  It took us a couple of minutes to get to the “key room” as he called it. I would have added the word magical in there somewhere to the name, but that was me…

  He stood in front of the door with a goofy grin on his face. “Don’t get me wrong, Love. You can use the key whenever you want, just not right now. It’s my turn to show you something.” I arched my eyebrow at him.

  When he opened the door, I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “I can’t even see anything in there. It’s completely dark.” I tiptoed beside him trying to get a better look at what was in the dark.

  He had to know I disliked the dark…

  He shoved me forward with a grin. “Stop stalling and go inside. You’ll never be able to see what I’m trying to show you unless you go in.”

  I had an uneasy feeling right before I stepped through the door. I gasped and staggered forward, but Killian was there to hold me steady. I had no momentum or sense of gravity in this room, considering it didn’t look like a room at all, that wasn’t surprising. It looked like I was standing right in the night sky. Stars surrounded us. Bright, beautiful, and right at my fingertips.

  If I reached out my hand… it looked like I could touch one. Only the stars were huge despite how they looked in the sky, so I knew this little one that I could reach out and touch wasn’t real. “Okay, I’ll admit. This is beautiful,” I told him.

  He let go of my shoulder and I didn’t dare move. I still felt a little off. It felt like I was standing in a galaxy. “You gonna get down here with me?” I turned my head very slowly and saw that he was lying down on a blanket with his hands behind his head. He looked like he was floating on a blanket in the stars.

  I smiled and joined him. It was easier to look around when I wasn’t standing. “What made you want to show me the stars?”

  The stars were moving all around us and new stars were taking their place. I gasped. Was that the Milky Way? “What? I thought humans enjoyed this type of thing… like it gave you all the chance to wonder if there was something more out there.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, it does, but in my case wondering if something more was out there was terrifying. I mean, I saw ghosts… looking at the stars,” I tried to think of what I thought of them. “I actually don’t think I ever looked at the stars. I was too busy being afraid and too concentrated on the fact I saw things others didn’t. I probably did as a kid.” I sighed. “I didn’t mean to get all gloomy,” I told him quickly. He was watching me from the corner of his eye. “Thanks for giving me a chance to appreciate something that I should have already.”

  “You’re welcome.” A screen formed above us. Mom and Alex were sitting on our couch. They weren’t moving, though. “What is that?” I asked.

  “It’s what those two are doing right now,” he answered.

  I squinted my eyes at the screen. “But they aren’t even moving.”

  “Because time is that different between our worlds. Time in the Underworld moves so much faster that it looks like they aren’t moving when really they are.”

  I was quiet for a long time then I moved my head to look at him. “Why are you showing me this?” My stomach knotted with anticipation. He was making me hope for things that might not ever happen. Would I get to stay here with him until I died? For some reason, the thought was both sad and happy.

  When he didn’t answer my question, I asked another one, “Doesn’t it bother you?”

  “Does what bother me?”

  “That I’m going to age. You even know the exact date that I will die… doesn’t that bother you?” I asked. I found it cruel.

  He moved one of his hands out from underneath his head and brought it into my hair. He said nothing until he raised up. Now he was looking down at me, running his hand across my stomach with a sad smile. “It looks like I shouldn’t have said anything to you,” he told me before sighing and raking his hand through his hair. “I don’t plan on losing you, and I won’t. There are plenty of
ways to keep you by my side. I just have to choose the right one. The one that makes sense.” His words warmed my stomach but at the same time, the unknown reality of it all seemed terrifying.

  “What do you mean?”

  His fingers trailed up my ribs and along my chest. Goosebumps broke out over my skin. He stopped above my breast. “I’m not sure if I’m willing to cross that line yet,” was his answer and I decided not to pry him for any more. I figured I would know soon enough when he had made his own decision.

  __________

  Another day at school was another day of Reapers keeping ghosts away from me and the ones that got close enough were dissolved into the light that bounced off the necklace Killian had given me.

  But one thing I noticed was Tess. She seemed a little less sad and a lot more like the girl I grew up with. Penny wasn’t the Reaper that was watching over her today and Tess had asked me if I wanted to visit Ryan’s grave with her after school. His tombstone had been delivered.

  I called and made sure Mom was picking up Alex before we left after school. She followed me in her Mustang and it took us about twenty minutes to get to their family’s cemetery. It was on their grandparents’ property and wasn’t very big, but was well taken care of over the years. I knew their grandma was buried up here, but I wasn’t familiar with any of the others.

  Tess was stepping out of the car when she said, “It’s weird that we were here last week burying him.”

  I nodded and we walked up the hill together. The male Reaper that was with her was silent as he followed behind us. I kind of felt bad for the Reapers that had to constantly watch over us. Protecting us wasn’t their actual job, yet none of them complained. Except Penny.

  We were panting by the time we reached the top of the hill and it was easy to spot the new tombstone that wasn’t there before. It was black, different than the normal ones and I found that it suited him.

  Ryan Jones

  Beloved Son and Brother

  Followed by his birthdate and death.

  Surprisingly, no ghost had followed me here, but they were still a huge problem at school and home. The grass still hadn’t grown, it wouldn’t until next year. Looking at his tombstone, knowing his body was six feet below me…. it made me sad all over again. Ryan’s body was here, but his soul was stuck in a new one created by Fear. The gold bands were keeping him safe right now and I wanted to believe it would continue doing so.

  When I spotted Tess in the corner of my eye, I saw her tears. “I bet you’re doing great wherever you are,” she whispered to the grave and I swallowed my feelings. “I bet you’re causing trouble, too.” She wiped her eyes and looked over at me. “Do you think he can hear me?” she asked.

  No. Only I couldn’t tell her that, so I prayed my silence would be enough for her.

  “I also talked to Mike and we ended things on good terms and I feel good about it,” she continued like that for several minutes. Rambling on to his tombstone, telling him everything she would have if he was here. I would tell him everything she couldn’t.

  I placed my arm over her shoulder and we stood there silently until we could no longer handle the cold. I wrapped my jacket around me as we walked back down the hill. “Are you going to bring Killian to the Halloween party?” she asked.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I wasn’t aware I was going,” I told her. Now that I knew Fear planned to open the portal on that day… unless Killian stopped him beforehand, there was no way I was going.

  “Come on, you have to. I’m going as Batgirl.” I could see Tess’s version of Batgirl already.

  “I might have plans already,” I told her so maybe she would stop asking, but this was Tess I was talking about…

  Tess and I went separate ways after leaving the cemetery. When I got home, Mom and Alex were watching TV together. “You’re back?” Mom called to me while I was still in the hallway.

  “Yeah, it’s freezing,” I replied, rubbing my arms.

  “Killian stopped by but left before you got here,” she mentioned, and I felt my forehead wrinkle up with wonder. He always knew exactly where I was, so I wasn’t sure why he stopped by.

  “Oh?” When I entered the living room, Miles was sharpening his knife leaning next to the doorway. He greeted me with a nod and walked into the hallway with the Reaper that came in with me.

  A couple of ghosts already arrived since I got here. They only seemed to find me at the places I was most likely to be at.

  “Yeah, he stayed and chatted for a few minutes with us,” Mom added softly, almost like she was pleased with him for doing so.

  “Did he?” I asked. “I’m going to head on upstairs.”

  “Foods on the stove,” she yelled as I was going on the stairs.

  I wasn’t surprised to find Killian waiting for me in my room. I smiled and shut the door behind me. “You ready?”

  I nodded. “Of course.” He took my hand and we faded to his castle.

  I could only stare as Ryan sat at a table with Penny. He looked pale as she laughed about something. “Don’t worry, it’ll grow back,” she told him. He stood up quickly when he saw me. Cards were laid out on the table and the butler, Ralph, was bringing out drinks, but what I was most curious about was what Penny was talking about… something told me I probably didn’t want to know.

  Ryan looked guilty about something as he looked at me. He was even messing with his shirt, looking down at it as he did so. It was very odd. Ryan was never an awkward person. That was my job. “Oh hey, Penny was just telling me the rules of poker in the Underworld and I believe I’ll stick to the human way,” he said too quickly.

  Even Penny was watching him strangely. Killian was silent next to me. I arched my eyebrow at him. “Are you okay?” I asked him.

  “Yeah,” Penny added, “I haven’t even cut anything off yet.”

  My eyes widened. “What kind of poker do you sickos play?” I looked to Killian for an answer and he shrugged his shoulder.

  “I’m not.” He fidgeted with his shirt again.

  “He’s hiding something,” Killian said.

  Ryan was tense. “I’m not,” he denied again.

  “You didn’t want her to see you hanging out with me?” Penny teased and he looked at her like she was crazy. I couldn’t blame him. I had seen Ryan date countless girls over the years and it never bothered him. It was something else. “Well, you weren’t acting weird until she showed up,” Penny went on.

  “What’s that on your neck?” Killian pointed at his own neck to make his point. Ryan looked away and hid his neck from our view.

  “It’s nothing.” Now I was afraid. The clues were there and yet, I didn’t want to acknowledge them.

  “Stop putting up a front, your odd behavior the moment we got here is enough to prove that something is wrong,” Killian practically ripped the words out of his chest.

  “Piss off.” Ryan headed for the front door.

  I looked at Killian hopelessly and he tilted his head forward for me to follow Ryan. I took off after him. He was already out the castle doors before I caught up. The doors shut behind us and he stopped but didn’t turn around to face me.

  “How long?” I whispered. My palms were sweaty and I squeezed them shut.

  “How long what?” he mumbled, still not turning around.

  “Ryan!” Tears were in my eyes and I grabbed him by the shoulder and jerked him around.

  “Don’t cry, Melanie…” his voice was pleading, desperate.

  I saw the blackness on his neck, disappearing into his shirt and lost my breath. I cupped my mouth and brought my hand out to his shirt and pulled it up. I gasped at what I saw. Starting at his chest, the charred blackness was vining out in every direction. Three jagged marks were trailing up his neck. Most of his chest was already covered and the vines were spreading over his ribs.

  He pulled his shirt down and brought his hands out to wipe my tears which only made it worse, but when I looked up I could see the tears forming in his own. “Don�
��t cry,” he said, even though he was on the verge of doing so himself. “I knew this was going to happen. You were the only one that couldn’t accept it.”

  I thought I had saved him. I looked down at the gold bands on his wrist and it was the first time I noticed that they weren’t as bright now… they were fading…losing the battle against his demon.

  I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I only realized the reality of the truth I refused to accept. I breathed in so hard my voice was terrifying coming out of my throat as I said to him, “I can’t save you… can I?”

  His arms were around me before my crying got worse. I hugged him back and it didn’t take me long to feel the tremor in his own back and I knew that he was crying too. “It’s okay, your tears are enough for me… it was enough that you tried to save me,” his voice was muffled as he spoke into my shoulder.

  “There’s a lot I have to tell you, your sister spoke to you at your grave today.” His shirt was soaked with my tears.

  “Tell me everything,” he said.

  And I did.

  ________

  Lincoln inspected Ryan’s chest and sighed. “I’ve never dealt with anything like this before, so it’s hard to say how fast it’ll spread.”

  Killian and I stood next to the couch where Ryan sat. I talked him into letting Lincoln look at it. “Will I still be me on Halloween?” he asked.

  Lincoln tilted his head and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “That’s all I’m asking… I just need to know that Fear is taken care of and Melanie and everyone are gonna be safe before I… I can’t lose who I am before I see him destroyed.” He clenched his fists and shook his head.

  Lincoln nodded. “I’ll see if there’s anything to slow down the spreading, but don’t get your hopes up.”

  Ryan grabbed his shirt and put it back on. “Fine.” He looked at me. “I’m okay, Melanie, so stop looking at me like that.”

  “I wasn’t—” Was I?