Winged Reaper

by Shelley Russell Nolan

  ‘I’m tired too. Must have been all that walking Connor and I did this afternoon.’

  I pretended not to notice when she once again blushed on mentioning my half-brother’s name. Having Emily fall under Connor’s spell could lead to disaster.

  10

  Dead bodies lay everywhere, most with souls missing, while dark reapers swirled in the astral plane above them. Wraiths lurched between the dead and as I hovered in the air one slid out of a body with a face mottled so bad the features were unrecognisable. A gun lay discarded next to the decaying corpse.

  The Wraith worked its way into another motionless body and forced it to sit up, a grotesque grin forming on the dead man’s face as the first sign of mottling appeared.

  The call to reap had come as a painful shock, ripping me out of a deep sleep with a blast of cold from my necklace, cold so intense I was sure the skin under the necklace would never defrost. Now I understood why the call had been so strong.

  The dead had blood leaking out of what I guessed were bullet holes. Wraiths continued to take over the bodies of the fallen, reanimating them, shuffling forward to form a line that stretched across the hall. On the other side of the line huddled the survivors of the initial massacre, a disco ball sending patterns of light across their terrified faces. There were no doors or windows at this end of the hall, nowhere for them to hide or escape.

  Blue and pink streamers hung around the hall and balloons bobbed about on the floor. A large banner wished Amy and Jack a happy 18th Birthday.

  Sprawled on the floor in front of the line of Wraiths were two bodies with bullet holes between their eyes. He wore a sparkling gold hat, and for her it was a silver crown studded with pink stones.

  I floated over to them, my backs to their family and friends, and faced the silent Wraiths. A dozen sets of empty eyes stared back at me.

  What were they waiting for?

  As a group they took a step forward, some of them grabbing hold of their neighbour to steady themselves as they forced the body they had stolen to move.

  I lowered myself to the floor and placed a hand on Amy’s and Jack’s throats. Tears fell down my cheeks, and I gave a start when they hardened, and shattered on the floor around me. Normally my tears were as diaphanous as my astral form, dancing around me like iridescent butterflies. I pushed my surprise aside as the twins’ souls answered my call. I placed Amy’s in my necklace, but kept Jack’s out so I wouldn’t be dragged back to my body.

  The Wraiths lunged forward, and I rushed towards the one closest to me. I ripped out his soul and moved on to the next one.

  I could hear yelling, screams of pain and people cursing as the other Wraiths attacked the partygoers, but I didn’t break off my own attack.

  Two, three, four Wraiths fell, their souls stuffed into my necklace after each reaping. Now it was hard to separate the Wraiths from their victims, as they had forced their way into the press of people. The Wraiths trampled over the bodies of the fallen, showing no reaction to the blows from those they were trying to kill.

  Pounding on the front doors from outside didn’t appear to faze them, but it did buoy up the spirits of the remaining survivors. They rallied, creating a circle with the youngest in the middle, hiding under the present table, and the strongest on the outside. They fought with whatever they had, fists, belts, high heels, desperate to ward off the nightmares stalking them. Gifts for the unlucky twins flew through the air and slammed into the Wraiths.

  I harried the Wraiths from behind, but could not get close enough to reap any of their souls. Two dark reapers had left their bodies when the residual psychic energy had been used up and kept darting at me from either side. One of them snatched Jack’s soul out of my hand.

  I harnessed my anger and clasped my necklace, focusing on its heartbeat, drawing in aether. I filled myself with it, astral body quivering as I sought to contain it. Light flared all around me as I pointed at the reaper and released a concentrated burst of energy. It hit her in the middle and she shrieked, an ear piercing scream of agony, before she exploded into thousands of shards of black glass. Jack’s soul floated back to my hand and I turned around to face the rest of the Wraiths, my astral form still glowing.

  They broke off their attack on the survivors and stepped towards me just as the front doors of the hall burst open at my back. I ignored the newcomers, my hand still gripping my necklace. I called forth another burst of energy, bracing myself against the intense vibration in my body. I fired at the biggest Wraith, squinting at the blinding light that accompanied it. His body hit the ground even as more dark glass exploded out of it to strike the Wraiths on either side, shredding dead flesh.

  The light emitted by my astral body faded and I struggled to keep myself in the air as I raised my hand a third time.

  The bodies the Wraiths had inhabited collapsed as they fled, their dark astral forms passing through the roof of the hall, roaring in anger over being forced to retreat.

  I lowered my hand and sank to the floor, barely able to move as I brought Jack’s soul closer to my necklace. I cast my eyes over the hall one last time.

  Police with guns drawn spread themselves around the hall, checking the bodies of those they came across, while others hurried to help the living.

  Sam knelt beside the body of the Wraith I had just killed, inspecting the gaping hole below his neck where the soul had exploded outwards. He used a pair of tweezers to pick up a shard of black glass and put it in an evidence bag. He spotted the remnants of my tears and rummaged among them, finding a teardrop that hadn’t broken. He stared at it for a long moment before placing it in another evidence bag.

  I sighed as I said his name, and his head swung around.

  He looked over at where I was, brow furrowed. His eyes scanned the hall, and I held my breath lest I make another noise and betray my presence. Slowly, the weight of my diaphanous arm impossibly heavy, I placed Jack’s soul in my necklace and allowed the call of my body to carry me home.

  Shapes floated in the air around me and I tensed, sure they had to be dark reapers come to punish me for killing their own. But these shapes were colourless, virtually invisible as they followed me back to the flat and I sensed no menace from them. They came to a halt when I reached the flat, watching as I slipped through the roof.

  I landed in my body and gasped as pure ecstasy enveloped me, setting my body on fire. I writhed on the bed, moaning as intense pleasure robbed me of thought. I shuddered as again and again my body found release, my dignity shredded.

  Then came the pain. It slammed into my body and I couldn’t move, couldn’t cry out as it blasted my spirit into pieces.

  The last thought I had, before oblivion came to claim me, was that this must be what it felt like for my mother when Grimm tortured her. I welcomed the dark, cheeks wet with tears, and didn’t resist as it pulled me under.

  11

  Sunlight crept through a crack in the curtains. I rolled over and groaned.

  My body throbbed, remnants of the penalty for reaping the souls of the Wraiths lingering in the muscles and nerve endings. I struggled into a sitting position, out of breath and dishevelled.

  This was more than pain. It was a deep seated weariness that had me questioning my ability to think let alone walk. Not that I wanted to think. I didn’t want to contemplate the extra souls added to the amount I would need to reap before I no longer had to be a reaper.

  The deaths of the ones I had killed by channelling aether through my necklace shouldn’t have added to my soul count. But, as effective as it was, the toll it took on me meant I could only use it as a last resort. I needed to come up with another way to stop them that didn’t wipe me out or require me to be a reaper for the rest of eternity.

  I dragged myself out of bed, stumbled down the hallway and entered the kitchen. The flat was quiet as I put the kettle on and spooned coffee and sugar into my mug. I was rummaging in the fridge for the milk when Emily appeared.

  ‘Morning,’ I said in a mumble, s
prightly conversation beyond me.

  Emily didn’t respond. She sat at the table, hands held in front of her face, seemingly inspecting her nails. I shrugged and carried my mug over to the table and sat opposite her. I wanted food to go with my coffee but didn’t feel like standing to make something. Maybe Emily would like to use some of our new groceries to whip up another delicious omelette?

  I brushed aside my fringe to peer hopefully at her and she stopped staring at her nails to give me a quizzical look. ‘What?’

  ‘Nothing.’ I sighed and took a sip of my coffee, relishing the caffeine and sugar hit to my sluggish system. I gulped down half the cup and forced myself to get up to fill a bowl with cereal and milk. On auto pilot, I grabbed a banana, peeled it, and then chopped it into slices before adding it to the bowl.

  Emily raised her left eyebrow at me as I sat back down in front of her. ‘Where is my food?’

  I frowned, but pushed my bowl across the table to her and got up to make myself another bowl. She did make me breakfast the day before, so I guess it was only fair I return the favour.

  When I returned to the table her face screwed up and her eyes narrowed. ‘Surely you have something better to eat than this?’

  ‘Sorry, but unlike you I can’t whip up a feast with four ingredients or less. Cooking really isn’t my thing.’ I spooned cereal into my mouth.

  ‘What is your “thing” then?’

  I shook my head. ‘My brain hasn’t woken up yet so I’ll have to get back to you on that one.’ I puffed out a laugh. ‘Right now I just want another ten hours sleep and a bucket load of caffeine.’

  ‘There is no time for sleep. I want you to take me to visit your family.’

  ‘Seriously? After the reception Dad and Rhonda gave you yesterday I’d have thought they’d be the last people you wanted to see.’ I peered at her and she dropped her gaze. Ah, maybe it wasn’t Dad and Rhonda she was hoping to see. ‘I doubt Connor would be there, not on a Saturday morning.’

  ‘Connor?’ Her forehead wrinkled. ‘Oh, your brother.’ She shook her head. ‘I want to speak to your stepmother, and your father, of course. We are family, and it’s important to me that I establish a closer relationship with your loved ones.’

  Loved ones wasn’t a term I would use to describe Dad and Rhonda, and I doubted Emily’s friendly overtures would be well received, but if that was what she wanted.

  ‘Sure, I’ll take you over there. Just let me finish my breakfast and fortify myself with another cup of coffee.’

  Emily pushed her untouched food across the table, slopping milk over the side of the bowl, and stood. ‘I’ll get dressed.’

  My eyebrows lifted as she sashayed down the hall. Instead of going into her room she went into mine and I heard my wardrobe door being opened. I gulped down the last of my breakfast, washed it down with cold coffee, and strode to my room.

  My eyes bulged. She stood in front of my wardrobe, completely naked, the white dress from the void held up in front of her body. She smiled at me. ‘You don’t mind if I wear this, do you?’ Without waiting for an answer, she slipped it over her head.

  I blinked several times as she bent down and rummaged through my collection of shoes. She tossed those she didn’t want on the floor behind her and finally settled on a pair of silver stilettos.

  ‘Perfect.’ She sat on my bed to put the shoes on and then stood. ‘You had better hurry up and get dressed, Tyler. I’ll wait for you outside.’

  I hurried into the hall after her, mouth hanging open. She wobbled for the first few steps, a hand on the wall steadying her. She soon got the hang of the heels and made her way confidently down the hall, hips swaying from side to side.

  ‘Emily, are you feeling okay?’

  She opened the front door and threw a sly smile over her shoulder at me. ‘I have never felt more alive.’ She walked outside, closing the door behind her.

  I stared at the door, blinking rapidly. What had happened to my bubbly, effervescent cousin? She was acting like a completely different person. Eyes wide, I gripped the door.

  What if she was a different person?

  I ran back to my bedroom and pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a shirt. I stumbled on the pile of shoes Emily had left on the floor and slipped on a pair of flats. I bolted into the bathroom and splashed water on my face. I peered into the mirror, staring into haunted eyes with dark shadows underneath, hoping my mother would appear and dispel the horrible thought that hammered its way into my head.

  But she didn’t appear and I swallowed heavily, willing my cereal and coffee to stay in my stomach. I struggled not to panic, to think about it rationally. If Mum had somehow managed to get her soul into Emily’s body, I doubted she’d be acting like a femme fatale. And Mum wouldn’t kill someone, just to get a second chance at life. So the horrible direction my thoughts had taken me had to be wrong.

  I looked at the reflection of my necklace, still not used to its new shape. The black winged skull had morphed into a white winged woman’s head after I’d bonded with it and used it to blast Grimm. Now that I thought about it, that hadn’t been the only change. Before, whenever Mum’s soul had been near, the necklace had sent tiny shocks into my body. That hadn’t happened the two times she’d appeared in my mirror.

  I dragged a brush through my hair and brushed my teeth, hands shaking. No, this was crazy. What I was thinking was crazy.

  A sick feeling in my stomach, I grabbed my bag and keys and rushed out the door. Emily stood beside the car, running her hands up and down the sides of her body as she admired her reflection in the window. She turned as I approached.

  ‘About time you showed up.’

  I shook my head. ‘Are you sure about this?’ I waved a hand at the dress, the silk making it abundantly clear she wasn’t wearing underwear, clinging to the hope this was all a stunt to get Connor’s attention. ‘If you want to convince Rhonda you’re daughter-in-law material this might not be the best way to go about it.’

  ‘She should be so lucky as to have me marry her son, but I have other plans for him.’ She gave a throaty laugh. ‘Don’t worry, Tyler, I know exactly how to handle your stepmother.’

  I gulped down my nerves as I got into my car, and waited for Emily to slide into the passenger seat. She did so with a surprising amount of hesitation, watching while I buckled my seatbelt before she did the same. But once she was secure she tapped her fingernails on the dash.

  ‘Hurry up and get this thing moving.’

  I switched on the ignition, watching out of the corner of my eye as she gripped the dash with one hand and the armrest with the other. She sat up straight, eyes closed, as I backed out of the driveway, almost as if she was afraid of being in a car.

  Oh my God.

  ‘Mum?’

  She opened her eyes and glared at me. ‘Did you just call me Mum?’

  I stared at her, unable to speak.

  She gave a harsh laugh. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Tyler. I’m not your mother.’

  ‘But you’re not Emily, are you?’

  She just smirked at me, eyebrows raised.

  I sucked in a breath, both relieved and horrified. ‘Who are you? What have you done with Emily’s soul? I want her back, now.’

  ‘That’s not the way it works. You ever want to see your little cousin again, take me to your stepmother.’

  A hard knot in my stomach, I did as ordered. I didn’t speak the entire way, and neither did the stranger wearing Emily’s body. Whoever sat beside me had to be a relative of mine as well, but who was she? Or he?

  And where was my mother’s soul? Grimm must have tortured her to make her reveal the secret to getting a new body.

  I gulped down tears. Emily was dead, her body taken over, and I hadn’t been there to save her. It was like Sarah all over again, but this time Emily had every right to blame me for her death. If I’d kept my mouth shut, Grimm would never have come after her.

  I pulled into the driveway and parked behind Rhonda’s car. I turned
off the engine while the person beside me fumbled at the seatbelt and the door handle. She awkwardly got out of the car and smoothed the dress down over her hips. I climbed out and followed her to the front door, convinced by the sway in her walk that she was a woman, one who revelled in her sexuality.

  It was painful, and monstrous, to see my sweet and bubbly cousin’s body being used this way. I wanted to rip out the impostor’s soul, smash it into thousands of pieces, but first I had to find out what they had done with Emily’s soul. Maybe if I could find it, I could return her to her body before this woman had a chance to do any damage.

  She rapped on the front door and stood back, hands on her hips.

  Rhonda opened the door and cast a disgruntled glare at me. ‘What do you two want?’

  ‘Is that any way to greet an old friend, Rallani?’

  Rhonda’s tanned face went pale and she sagged, gripping the door for support. The woman in Emily’s body pushed passed her and entered the house. Rhonda stared after her and then pulled herself up straight, her eyes meeting mine with a snap.

  ‘You stupid bitch. What have you done?’

  I took a step back, stunned by the hatred in Rhonda’s eyes. She shot another glare at me and stormed inside. I followed a moment later, even more confused than before.

  I stepped into the lounge and found Rhonda and the stranger facing each other. Rhonda had her arms crossed in front of her and looked guilty. The stranger was smirking, chin lifted, clearly amused by Rhonda’s discomfort.

  ‘I’ll deal with you in a moment,’ the stranger said to Rhonda. She sashayed over to me and grabbed my necklace, tugging on it. A loud crack came from my necklace and a burst of energy shot out of it. The air crackled, like the aftermath of a lightning strike and she snatched her hand back.

  Pain etched on her face, she cradled her hand against her chest. ‘What have you done to my necklace?’

  ‘Your necklace?’

  ‘Oh for God’s sake. You don’t even know who she is, do you?’ Rhonda threw her hands in the air.