Dead Girl Walking

by Silver, Ruth

  Her fingers burned and her arms twitched. A spasm coursed through her body, causing her knees to buckle and she collapsed onto the wooden floor. Her chest hurt. She found it difficult to breathe. Wheezing she asked, “What’s happening to me?”

  With flushed cheeks and sweaty hair, her head bent forward and her eyes shut. She felt as though she were dying all over again. A muffled voice answered her question. Whatever was said, she didn’t hear.

  The erratic pounding in her chest slowed. Her ears rang, and she blinked twice waiting for her vision to come into focus.

  Hesitantly, she stood and her head jerked toward Edon. Something felt different. She felt different. Her hand shot up to her cheek; the skin was smooth but her nose—smaller. She frowned, trying to understand what was happening to her.

  “You’re one of us now. You’ve changed,” Edon said.

  She felt alive again. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, her stomach in knots. “Changed, how?” A small part of her was afraid of the answer.

  “You no longer look like Princess Ophelia.” Edon handed her the now blank scroll. “All contracts are binding. This one's yours. Violetta will follow you around for your first reap. Be punctual; death isn't late.” He opened the door and walked out of the room.

  “Welcome to the family.” Wynter wrapped an arm around Leila's shoulder as they all rushed for the door. Apparently, no one wanted to spend another minute in the asylum.

  The Mistake

  Chapter 2

  The ride back was much more uncomfortable now that Leila was in a physical body again. She rode on the back of a horse, holding onto Wynter. Violetta refused to share a ride, and Emblyn had tried to get on her own horse before being thrown off twice. Leila wasn't too keen on sharing a ride with her. She'd likely be eating dirt before they got to their house.

  After three hours on horseback, Wynter slowed to a stop in front of a small gray cottage with a green door. “This is it.”

  “Thanks for the ride.” Leila climbed off the horse and watched Emblyn and Violetta walk the horses around back. “Do we get paid for our services?”

  “We’re provided room and board, along with a small stipend,” Wynter said. “It’ll take some getting used to, not living like royalty, but I imagine you’ll do fine.”

  Leila chewed her bottom lip raw. Just because she was a princess didn’t mean she couldn’t live like a commoner. She decided it was best not to argue with him. She needed an ally. “Do you live around here?” She hoped it wasn't too far out of his way.

  “We're neighbors.” He pointed toward a small hill. Leila could barely see a building, but nodded anyhow. “I live just over that hill with Jasper. I'm sure I'll see you around. If you need anything, don't be a stranger.”

  “Thanks.” Leila watched as he rode off toward his home. She pulled out the scroll, relieved that it was still blank. She didn't have an assignment yet, but that didn't mean she wouldn't have one soon.

  “What have you got there?” Violetta asked. She and Emblyn walked around to the front of the cottage.

  “Just the scroll.” She showed it to them.

  “Still blank. Consider it a good day.” Violetta unlocked the front door and led Leila inside. “Your room is the last door on the right.”

  Leila quietly approached the bedroom. Opening the door, she poked her head inside. At least it was furnished. There was a bed nestled against the wall and a dresser on the opposite side of the room. She didn't have any clothes with her, other than the ones she wore. She'd have to find out if reapers were paid a stipend. Leila closed the door and walked into the hallway, stopping in front of a mirror. She didn't recognize her reflection.

  “It takes some getting used to,” Violetta said. “No more curly hair. I'm surprised it's still red. I guess you got lucky. Or maybe not so lucky?” Violetta called for Emblyn. “Come here, grab the clippers!”

  “What?” Leila's eyes widened in horror.

  “Trust me.” Violetta waited for Emblyn to return with the scissors. She led Leila into the kitchen and pushed her down onto the chair. “Sit still. We're going to make you beautiful.”

  Leila was terrified. Violetta was pretty, but she hid behind a mountain of darkness. Was she trying to reveal to the world that she was a reaper? Perhaps this was her way of sticking her middle finger up at the heavens and saying 'screw you for ending my life early.' Either way, Leila was nervous about Violetta cutting her hair. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the clippers beside her ear. It didn't take long. Violetta trimmed the ends and a little extra on the sides, then had Emblyn bring in a clip. Violetta twirled the hair at the back, pinning it up and out of Leila's face.

  “I like it.” Violetta grinned. “Now we just have to do your makeup.”

  “You've both already done so much for me,” Leila said, her breathing hitched. She could feel the rapid pounding in her chest. Wynter was right; she was alive again. Leila tried to stand up, but Violetta gently pushed her shoulders back down.

  “You can thank us later. In the meantime, you need to learn to look more like a commoner than a princess.”

  “I know how to go in disguise.” It was what she'd done twice a week for over a year, sneaking off with Larkin.

  “Well, your disguise sucks. Don't get me wrong. It's a better one now with that new face.” Violetta pointed at Leila. “No one will believe you were ever going to be queen, but I assure you, you won't blend in unless we teach you how to act, dress, and behave like a commoner.”

  Leila glanced down at her bloody attire. She still had the same outfit she'd been reaped in. Violetta was right; she needed to change clothes. “All right. I'll accept your help.”

  “Don't seem so ungrateful.” Violetta gestured for Emblyn to grab a fresh change of clothes from the wardrobe. After Leila changed, Violetta added a touch of makeup and then looked her over. “Perfect.”

  Leila examined her new self in the mirror. Stunning. She wasn't a princess anymore and hardly looked like royalty, but she still found herself feeling beautiful. Perhaps that was what Violetta had been attempting to accomplish all along.

  “Any questions?” Emblyn asked.

  Leila stared at her new reflection in the mirror. It was peculiar to see a different set of eyes staring back at her. “A thousand.”

  “Well, I'm not sure we have time for all of them,” Emblyn said, “but come and have a seat.”

  Leila glanced at her new reflection one last time before coming to sit on the sofa with Emblyn. Violetta took a seat across from the couch. “What do I do exactly? I mean as a reaper. How does it work?”

  “Well, your scroll works specifically for you and no one else. It will give you the name of the person going to die, their age, location, and time of death. The information helps us narrow down the reap. The last thing you want to do is reap the wrong person. Trust me, Edon gets mad if you do that.”

  Violetta chimed in, “Once you have a name, you have to physically touch the person to reap them, like Edon touched you.”

  Leila remembered him touching her hand. “What if someone is wearing gloves?”

  Emblyn answered. “It doesn't matter. We can reap through a fur coat in winter if we have to. Our reaps aren't always in our vicinity. Although we're always given adequate time to get there.”

  “How far do we have to travel?” Leila asked.

  “No more than a day by horse,” Emblyn said. “Wynter and Jasper had to go by boat once for a reap across the Jade Sea. It's pretty rare to travel that far. We get enough deaths in our own vicinity; we don't need to travel very far to reap a person's soul.”

  Leila sighed. It was still a lot to take in. She needed to check on Mara and make sure her sister was all right. She wouldn't be able to do that with Emblyn and Violetta watching her every move.

  “Vacation's over.” Violetta flashed her scroll toward Leila. “I've got a reap and you get to watch how it's done.” Violetta stood up. “Lucky for us, it's not too far from here. Twenty-three-year-old
Adam Losenko will drown in the Jade Sea off the coast of Morro.”

  Leila was familiar with Morro. She’d visited once or twice with her father. Morro was a kingdom east of Casmerelda where Astin Stafford resided. Along the Jade Sea, its land was nothing like Casmerelda. Beaches lined the eastern coast with mountains to the north. “It gives that much detail?”

  “Not always. Beginner’s luck, I guess.” Violetta saddled up and waited for Leila to ride with her. “We're teaching you to ride a horse first thing tomorrow.”

  “Why can't we get a carriage?” she fussed.

  “Only the royal and wealthy have carriages, which neither of us are. You'll learn to ride, just like the rest of us.” Violetta took off with Leila gripping her from behind.

  Approaching the ocean, they slowed. Violetta climbed off the horse. “Can you swim?”

  “No.”

  “One more thing to teach you. Stay here and watch the horse. She's our ride home.” Violetta left Leila and the horse on the beach while she swam out into the sea. Against the horizon, Leila could see a small fishing boat. Violetta climbed aboard and animatedly talked with the sailor.

  If only he knew it was his last few minutes. Would he have done anything different? Leila's skin tingled, and she lifted the hem of her dress. She reached up for the scroll at the top of her stockings. As she unraveled it, the scroll revealed her first reap. “Absolutely not.” She was not ready for this; she would never feel ready. She rolled the scroll up and shoved it back into her stocking. “It's your lucky day, Asher Smoot. I'm not taking your soul.”

  Violetta swam back to shore, gasping for air as she finally reached land. “That was quite a work out!” she panted, trying to catch her breath. Violetta turned around, watching the boat sink out on the sea. “Just in time.”

  “That was a brand new boat.” Adam stood beside Violetta, completely dry. “What happens now?”

  “You move on,” Violetta said.

  Lights dazzled and danced along the sand. Adam walked toward the vision.

  “Where did he go?” Leila asked.

  “Wherever souls that are done here go. It's time to go home.”

  “You don't know.” Leila realized she wouldn't get an answer and sighed. “And the body?” Leila glanced out at the ship that had sunk into the sea. There was no sign of it.

  “That's not for us to deal with. Whether someone finds Mr. Losenko today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from now, we did our part.”

  Leila scrunched her nose, disgusted. “Well, that certainly sucks. His family may never know what happened to him.”

  “If we got involved in every death, we'd never be able to live.”

  “Isn't that kind of what we're doing?” Leila asked. Violetta didn't answer her. Leila understood the message. They weren't the cleanup crew. They were only there to help the souls move on.

  “Have you been given an assignment yet?” Violetta asked.

  “No.” Leila wasn't taking anyone's soul. If she could let them live, why shouldn't they? Just because she'd been cheated out of her life didn't mean she had to do the same to others. What was the worst that could happen?

  After dinner and a bath, Leila kicked her feet up on the sofa. She needed a vacation from this new life. Even though she'd ignored her assignment, it was exhausting to watch Violetta reap a soul. She didn't like what she’d signed up for.

  “Cheer up.” Emblyn sat on the floor with a deck of cards. “Who wants to play?”

  Violetta sat in the chair across from the sofa. “Only if the stakes are high.”

  “Mara and I used to play cards all the time.” Leila missed her sister, a lot.

  “Tell us about Princess Mara.” Emblyn pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

  Leila's eyes lit up. “She's fourteen and still hates boys. She's never snuck out a day in her life, but I suspect one day she will. She loves fantasy stories with happy endings. I used to tell her bedtime stories on the nights I didn't sneak out. I miss her.”

  “It gets easier over time,” Violetta said. “I had a sister I was close to, Rebekah. I remember what it was like braiding each other's hair and borrowing one another's clothes.”

  “Do you ever see your sister?”

  Violetta laughed. “Of course not, she's been dead for decades. Poor thing stepped in front of a carriage without looking both ways. Tragic really.”

  Leila’s eyes widened. “I'm sorry. That's terrible.” She hoped nothing like that ever happened to her sister Mara.

  “It is,” Violetta said, “but I envy her some days.”

  Emblyn listened from the floor. “Why's that?”

  “She's dead. She doesn't have to deal with this.” Violetta gestured. “I know I should be appreciative and the first forty or fifty years I was, but now I'm tired of being a reaper. It's exhausting making every appointment. If you miss one, Edon will skin you alive.”

  Leila gulped anxiously and her stomach flopped. The scroll burned her skin just thinking about her first reap.

  “Not literally,” Emblyn clarified.

  “Even so,” Violetta said, “there are days I wish I could be with Rebekah again. I know we can't ever be together in the way we were as children, but I wonder if she’ll even recognize me when it’s my turn to move on. We change bodies so many times as reapers that I wonder if she'll see me for who I am.”

  “Of course she will,” Emblyn said. “You're her sister. You'll always be sisters. Now enough with the sad talk, who wants to play cards?”

  “I'm going to head to bed early.” Leila wasn't in the mood to play cards. She got up from the sofa, walked into her room, and shut the door. She fell onto the mattress in a heap and shut her eyes.

  “How do I look?” Mara asked. She'd made her own costume for the ball. Their father would be livid. A black corset covered her torso. She also wore a shiny red skirt and had sewn on giant playing cards. “I'm the Queen of Wands,” she said. “Do you get it? From the card game we were given last year. I think it's funny.” She spun around, her black heels clanking against the wooden floor. Her long locks of dark hair flowed around her shoulders.

  “Come here.” Ophelia brought Mara toward the vanity and gently guided her to sit. “Let me do your hair.” Ophelia brushed the tangles away and braided her hair down the back. “We should get you a crown. After all, you're queen tonight.” She knew it was unlikely Mara would ever be queen. It was probably why she wanted to dress up as queen for the ball. It wasn't appropriate though, even if it did make both girls smile.

  “I made my own,” Mara boasted. On a black bow, she had attached three playing cards along with a bit of lace. “Help me get it in my hair.”

  “Mara, you know you can't actually wear this downstairs. It's cute, but father will freak out.” She didn't mention the rest of the patrons at the party would be discussing her ensemble as well.

  “Come on,” Mara whined. “I made it myself. I thought you, of all people, would support me.”

  “I do support you. It's why I’m telling you if you wear that downstairs you'll be grounded for the next decade.”

  “That's a long time.” Mara sighed and stared up at her sister with bright blue eyes. She knew one person who would be surprised but not angry, her maid. “Can we play a trick on Sophia?”

  Leila awoke early the next morning. She changed into a cream dress Emblyn had loaned her and put her hair up just like Violetta had the day before. Quietly, she tiptoed out of her room and down the hall. Her eyes widened in shock when she ran into a young brunette gentleman slipping out of Violetta's room. She stood in the hall, frozen.

  “Good morning,” he said and smiled politely. Leila averted her gaze.

  “You're naked!” She blushed, staring up at the ceiling awkwardly.

  “Yes, I needed to use the latrine.” He certainly didn't come across as bashful.

  Leila laughed under her breath. “And you thought you needed to strip down before walking outside?” She backed up against the wa
ll, letting the stranger walk past. She waited until she heard the front door click and took a deep breath. “Roommates,” she muttered.

  She headed out the front door, hoping the stranger was nowhere in sight. Hearing the squeak of the latrine door shut, she walked around back and found two horses tied up. “Sorry, Vi, borrowing the beast for the day.” She saddled up and gripped the reins. “Here goes nothing.” She held on as best she could. She'd never ridden a horse, but she'd seen enough people to know how it was done. She held tight, directing the horse away from the cottage and back toward the kingdom.

  She rode north for hours, and her stomach grumbled in protest for skipping breakfast. Being a grim reaper didn't mean she could skip meals. In many ways, she was still human.

  Leila approached the edge of the forest of Casmerelda. She tied the reins around a tree and walked the last few hundred yards into town. Mourners stood along the street, paying their respects to the recently deceased Princess Ophelia Dacre. Four men carried her closed coffin through town before her body was laid to rest. Leila watched in horror at the life she'd lost because of a stupid mistake. Although she'd never consider Larkin a mistake, sneaking out and pretending to be someone she wasn't—would be a regret she'd always have to face. Larkin would have only learned the truth of who she was after her death. She felt terrible. She should have been the one to tell him the truth.

  “It's such a tragedy,” a heavyset woman said. “She had her whole life ahead of her.”

  “Did you hear why she was out so late on her own without any guards?” a gentleman asked.

  The heavyset woman said, “I heard she was sneaking off with a boy. The king has him locked up and will probably sentence him to death. Don't know if the boy loved her, killed her, or both.”

  Leila gasped. She backed up out of the crowd and took off for the castle. She knew every hidden entrance. In the basement were cells where prisoners were kept. If Larkin had been arrested, he would definitely be there. It wouldn't be easy to gain access, but her father and sister were at the funeral. Hopefully, no one would see her.

  Water surrounded the front entrance to the castle. Since she couldn't swim, and the water was freezing, it was better to sneak around back. Jogging around the castle cost her an additional twenty minutes. She climbed the tree to her bedroom and unlatched the window. Home sweet home.