Don't Fear the Reaper

by Michelle Muto

  The woman shifted in her seat, glancing anxiously between the nearby clock and the door with a sign that read Hospital personnel only.

  “Who are you here for?” Daniel asked Banning.

  Banning eyed the young couple. “Chloe, their daughter. Primary brain tumor. She’s seven years old.”

  I wished another reaper had been given this case. It’d been bad enough that he had to deal with a car wreck, but now Banning had to deal with the death of a young girl, too? I was glad we’d tagged along. I wanted to be there for him. He and Daniel had become more than my friends.

  I just wished that Daniel hadn’t asked for more details. Knowing the girl’s name and her age made it more personal. More real.

  “Just tell me about the demons,” I said, still observing Chloe’s mother. Soon, she’d be without her child. My heart ached for my own mom. I wished I could tell her how sorry I was. I slid my hand into Jordan’s.

  “I can’t do this,” Jordan said.

  “Which part?” Daniel asked. “The kid, or letting your sister go through with the test?”

  Jordan sighed heavily. “Both.”

  I squeezed her hand for support. There wasn’t much else to say. I wanted to walk away from this, take Jordan back outside into the sunlight until Banning and Daniel came for us. But, I wanted to be here when Banning returned, too. This would be hard on him—a young girl, maybe close to his daughter’s age.

  Banning stood without comment. “It’s time. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  I wished that I had some words of comfort for him, but I had none. He disappeared through the doors where, somewhere on the other side, little Chloe was losing her battle against cancer. I thought about offering to go with him, but I knew Jordan wouldn’t come with me and I didn’t want to leave her alone. This was Banning’s job and although I thought he enjoyed mine and Daniel’s company, death was his only truly constant companion. Dealing in death was part of his life, or his afterlife, and he’d probably become so accustomed to it that he knew its every nuance as though he could sit down with death and share a conversation or two.

  “I hate this,” Daniel said beside me.

  I tore my gaze from where Banning had vanished. The husband and wife sat as they had before, anxious for news about their daughter. They had no idea what was about to happen. No idea their lives would change forever in the span of a few minutes. “And if we hate it, imagine what they’re going through,” I said.

  Daniel sighed. “Not them. Well, yeah, sure. That’s awful, too. But, I meant about you. About the whole test thing.”

  “So what does anyone think I can do to Pete, anyway? He’ll be possessed, surrounded by demons,” I said, glad to have a distraction from what Banning was about to do.

  “They might trick you, coerce you into accepting your fate in hell,” Daniel said. “And, Pete will know you’re there. Once he’s possessed, he’ll be able to see into the afterlife. The demons might offer you the greatest temptation of all. They might offer to do your bidding—do whatever you’d like them to do to Pete. You’d have your revenge. But, it’ll cost your soul, and Banning’s.”

  I nodded. “Understood.” I wanted Daniel to be quiet now, not to say another word. I had to think about this. I had to think hard.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  It wasn’t just the temptation that made me think. It was Daniel’s attitude, the way he kept balling his hands into fists and pacing back and forth in front of us. He wouldn’t look at me. And, even though he hadn’t known Jordan very long, he wouldn’t look at her, either. It was like he was hiding something, except that he was too obvious about it. He was trying to warn me. Something else was going on here. Something bigger.

  “You don’t know how truly sorry I am,” Daniel said. His tone indicated he meant it. Yeah, he was up to something.

  Think, Keely, think...

  “This isn’t going to work, is it?” Jordan asked Daniel. “Even with Banning there, he won’t be able to protect my sister. He’s only one reaper, he can’t send back all those demons on his own if something happens. Why send my sister into a setup like this? There’s more to it. Either she’s being set up to fail, or there’s another motive, some other plan.”

  Smart cookie, my sister. No one had to tell her she was right. One reaper, even with Daniel’s help, probably couldn’t fend off the horde of demons that might be there. As an earthbound, I was useless to help them. All I could do was seek revenge on Pete through the demons, because as a reaper, Banning was bound, he couldn’t do a thing to the living. He couldn’t help me with Pete.

  Daniel rubbed at his eyes. I still couldn’t understand why he was like this. Sure, I’d like to think it was because he’d grown to like me. I even figured he liked Banning. He’d said that not all demons were the same, and I believed him. Daniel was a reluctant demon. He didn’t like doing what he had to do. He wanted to help me and he was forbidden to say what was going on.

  “Something wrong?” I asked. “You seem—”

  “No. Nothing’s wrong,” he snapped. He stalked away toward the window.

  Jordan kept watch on the parents seated across from us. “I don’t mean to interrupt you two, but when?”

  I frowned. “When?” I repeated.

  “Yeah. Like, when will Banning come out with the girl?” Jordan asked. “I think it’s been more than a few minutes.”

  Her tone was tight, and I knew she didn’t like being here any more than I did. I couldn’t blame Jordan for being so restless—not after all she’d been through. All Jordan saw were two parents who were about to be blindsided with the worst news of their lives.

  “We may not even see the girl,” I told her. “I’m sure her angel will be in there with Banning.”

  “What if Chloe wants to see her parents first?”

  It made perfect sense. Of course the girl would want to see her parents.

  “Then, I guess we’ll see her, too,” I said. I was glad Jordan hadn’t encountered a reaper in action. At least, I assumed she hadn’t since she’d been steering clear of them this whole time.

  “When will her parents know?” Jordan asked.

  Daniel returned to his seat, clearly uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to be around either one of us.

  I shrugged. “Soon. Five, ten minutes? Someone will come out to talk to her parents once they finish up in the operating room, I guess.”

  “And Banning will be with Chloe, won’t he?” Jordan continued.

  Daniel and I nodded.

  I wanted to tell Jordan to stop saying the girl’s name—it only made the situation feel worse.

  “Jordan? Can we please talk about something else?” I asked. “It’s not doing either of us any good.”

  Jordan averted her eyes from us. “Okay. You’re right. It’s not a good subject right now. So, about the other problem, about Pete,” she said somewhat hesitantly. “With all the demons he’s been hanging around, he shouldn’t have a whole lot longer to live, right?”

  Daniel shook his head. “No way of knowing, but from what I hear, he’s healthy enough. No reason to believe he won’t live awhile longer.” He coughed and rubbed his hands together again. “So, if you’re asking if he’ll keep killing people, the answer is yes. He will.”

  Jordan hadn’t asked, not directly. But Daniel knew she’d get around to it eventually. And, if Jordan hadn’t asked, I would have.

  Jordan got up and paced in front of us, chewing on her bottom lip.

  I frowned. “Jordan? What’s wrong?”

  She shrugged and turned her head. I did the same thing when something really bothered me and I felt uncomfortable talking or asking questions. I guessed she didn’t want to witness another set of parents losing their child. She was probably also thinking about how I’d react to my confrontation with Pete. Jordan was on overload.

  “I know it isn’t fair, Jordan. Believe me,” I said. It was almost impossible to talk about Pete without sending a fresh bout of anger coursing through
me. I hated him. Truly hated everything about him. “It’s not fair that he’s still out there. It’s not fair that such horrible things happen to decent people.”

  “I hear you,” Daniel said in response to my rant. “I’ve been in the situation you’ll be in soon. It’s why I’m a demon.”

  I’d always suspected the reason Daniel wound up in hell had something to do with his family, but the topic had been consistently off limits for him. “What did you do?”

  “Took someone out. Tell you some other time, okay?” he said without so much as a blink.

  I hadn’t expected him to answer so quickly, so honestly. “Oh,” I murmured, as if he hadn’t just told me he’d killed someone.

  “Let me ask you something, Sunshine. Hypothetically, of course. If Banning hadn’t made a deal, if you were going to go to hell anyway, would you take the demons up on their offer?”

  I froze. I should say something, and soon. Jordan stared, waiting for me to answer. But, I didn’t know how. Be honest and tell her I’d do it in a heartbeat? Lie? Tell her I’d take my chances?

  “That’s what I thought,” Jordan said.

  I shook my head. “I didn’t say what I’d do. I was just rattled about what had happened to Daniel. I didn’t say—”

  “You don’t have to. Anyway, like Daniel said, it’s purely hypothetical.”

  “I’ll be fine, Jordan. Really. Daniel has already warned me, so I’m prepared.” Now that was a flat-out lie. There wasn’t any way of preparing for such a thing. Jordan looked right at me, catching my lie. I just hope she understood why. “Just a few minutes in the ring with Pete and company and I’m done. We’ll go through heaven’s gates together. All I need to do is ignore them.”

  “Can you promise you won’t do anything?” she asked. “Are you sure that when the demons offer you the chance, that you can walk away? I don’t think so, Keely.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I know I couldn’t.”

  Maybe it was left over from my days of lying to our parents and lying to myself, I don’t know. I do know how easy my non-answer came, how convincing I thought it sounded. Yes, I’d love to have promised Jordan that, given the opportunity, I wouldn’t lay a hand on Pete. But I wasn’t one hundred percent positive. For that matter, I wasn’t one percent positive.

  I shoved the thought from my mind. “More than just my soul rides on this, Jordan. And, of course you’d take him out. Eye for an eye. You’re not the one slated for hell if you do it. And, you wouldn’t be taking anyone else with you, either. If I were in your shoes, it’d be an easier decision.”

  From the corner of my eye, I caught Daniel smirking.

  Jordan nodded, but in a skeptical sort of way. “Right,” she said. “Just checking.”

  “I love you, sis. More than you know,” I said.

  “Same here,” she replied, glancing at the doors leading to the operating rooms. “It’s probably close to time, you think?”

  “Yep. Overdue,” Daniel confirmed, his ever increasing discomfort becoming more and more obvious now that Jordan and I seemed to be so tense on the subject of his hypothetical question.

  “I think I’ll go to the women’s room. I can’t watch this.” Jordan didn’t wait for an answer, but it didn’t matter. Sometimes, my sister could be too softhearted. I wondered what it said about me that I stayed to watch the parents get the bad news. Was I callous? Uncaring? I settled on the fact that this was just the way things were. I wasn’t unemotional about it. Just resigned. The girl, Chloe, would die no matter how I felt.

  Banning, the young girl, and an older man dressed in all white walked through the doors and into the waiting room. The man in white—clearly the angel who had come for Chloe—looked almost ancient, older even than Mr. Manero. Old or not, he had a healthy glow across his cheeks and he moved with youthful grace. Banning, a stark contrast in black, walked behind them, looking worn. The angel and the girl walked straight to her parents. Banning quietly took a seat next to Daniel.

  I kept thinking about how young she was. Chloe. What a pretty name. Damn it, Jordan! Now I was using the girl’s name.

  The angel didn’t pay any attention to us. I guess he didn’t want to overwhelm Chloe. She’d seen us, but I took notice of Daniel’s disregard and didn’t stare. She probably thought we were like her parents and were waiting on someone. Chloe had no idea we were every bit as dead as she was.

  The angel stopped a few feet from the parents and let go of her hand. “It’s okay, Chloe.”

  She looked at him, bewildered. “Will I see them again soon?”

  “Yes, Sweetheart. I promise.”

  Chloe gave Banning a look of fear, revulsion. He’d been the one to take her away from her parents. I could relate. Crossing over wasn’t exactly a day at Disney. Chloe stood in front of her parents, who didn’t know she was close enough to touch, to reach out and take into their arms. Chloe’s mother glanced at her watch and then toward the doors, oblivious of the news to come.

  Chloe’s father patted his wife’s knee in reassurance, but he seemed just as worried and as anxious as she did.

  Banning leaned forward, and whispered to us, “He’s her great-grandfather. She’s seen pictures of him.”

  Chloe placed a hand on each of her parents’ legs. When they didn’t acknowledge her, she frowned.

  “They can’t see or hear you,” the angel told her.

  “Because it’d scare them that I died?” Chloe asked.

  “Something like that,” the angel replied.

  I tried not to watch, not to listen.

  “Can I come back?” she asked. “When they’re not so scared?”

  “Yes, Sweetheart. But not right away. As soon as you can, though.”

  Chloe stepped forward and hugged her mother, then her father. The angel waited patiently. Chloe was still frowning, but willing to go with her great-grandfather. “I feel better now,” she said as the angel led her from the waiting room and toward the hallway.

  She stopped and turned. “Bye,” she told her parents, who were still staring anxiously at the operating room doors. Chloe and her great-grandfather’s waning shapes glistened like sun on snowcaps as they faded from view.

  There’s something to be said about timing. I had to hand it to the angel for getting Chloe away from her parents so quickly. Her shape hadn’t vanished more than a minute before the doors to the operating room opened once more. A tall, solemn man wearing scrubs, a cap, and glasses walked out, shoulders slouched. His pace, steady but not brisk, said everything.

  Chloe’s father saw the truth first. His expression grew long and his eyes wide.

  “How is she?” Chloe’s mother asked as the doctor stopped before them. “When can we see her?”

  The husband grabbed his wife’s hand, squeezing it. The wife’s gaze shifted between the doctor and her husband. Her lower lip trembled and she slowly shook her head. “No,” she cried softly, all the strength gone from her voice. “No. Not my baby.”

  “How’s your sister?” Daniel asked, in an attempt to divert my attention from the grieving parents.

  My heart was aching and tears had begun to overflow and run down my cheeks.

  Daniel nudged me. “Where’s Jordan?”

  “Huh?” Then I remembered my sister, alone in the ladies room, waiting this out. If she came out now, it’d be a disaster.

  “I’ll go make sure she’s okay,” I said, getting to my feet. I was glad to get away from the scene, although I don’t think I’d be forgetting it any time soon.

  Banning frowned. “What’s wrong with Jordan?”

  “Bathroom,” Daniel clarified. “She was a bit squeamish about the kid’s send off to eternity camp.”

  Banning shook his head and turned to me. “Sure. Another two or three minutes, Keely. Take her toward the other end of the waiting room. We’ll leave from there.”

  As I hurried to the women’s room, I tried to shut out the sobs from behind me. Tried to shut out the doctor’s apologies. I walked through t
he restroom door. “Jordan?”

  All four stall doors were open. No answer. I whirled around, searching the deserted bathroom. No Jordan. I turned and ran back into the waiting room. Banning and Daniel jerked their heads up.

  “Jordan’s gone!” I shouted. “She must’ve ducked out through the walls!” My heart pounded as I frantically scanned the room for her. “Jordan!” I yelled, although I already knew she wasn’t there to answer me.

  Banning looked around as though he too, expected to find her sitting somewhere else. “Where did she go?”

  Daniel closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. I swore he mumbled another apology under his breath.

  He knew where she’d gone, and so did I.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “She’s gone to find Pete,” I said, glancing at the doctor who was gently coaxing Chloe’s parents from their chairs. I wondered whether he was taking them to see Chloe’s body, or if he was just taking them someplace more private for them to grieve in peace. I felt sorry for them, I really did. But right now I needed to find Jordan—fast.

  “We need to leave now,” I said, trying to sound calm. The look Banning gave me pretty much confirmed I wasn’t succeeding. “The demons!” I reminded them. I didn’t want to think about Jordan alone with who knew how many demons, and Pete. My stomach clenched with fear. Somehow, I knew that Pete and the demons were expecting company. But not Jordan. Pete would be surprised, but delighted to see her again. I didn’t want to think what he might do to her the second time around.

  “Jordan has a ten-minute head start,” I said. Banning and Daniel were already on their feet.

  “Stay calm, Keely,” Banning urged.

  I noticed he didn’t mention why we had to stay calm. Aside from the trap waiting for my sister, we all knew I had a thing about getting revenge. If I didn’t keep some form of composure, I’d be booking a couple of rooms in hell for Friday check-in. Right now, I didn’t care. I thought the world of Banning, but my sister came first.