Reapers

by Kim Richardson

“I don’t hear anything,” said Jenny.

  “Exactly.” Peter turned his attention down the street. “I don’t hear the imps anymore. We’d better go.”

  They headed toward the garden pond in front of a white house with the red door. They had used it before.

  Initially, Kara was constrained by the weight on her back and the unnatural tightness of the duct tape. But soon she picked up speed and started to catch up to them.

  But there was another reason she was hanging back. She couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread that was growing in the pit of her soul.

  Why had she grown a pair of wings? What was the mysterious substance that had been injected inside her?

  Her transformation had begun. But how would it end?

  Chapter 16

  On with the Search

  Kara walked through CDD, with David, Peter, and Jenny acting as her bodyguards. She knew they were trying to hide the two humps on her back, but she had a feeling they were drawing more attention to themselves this way. And with the constraint of duct tape around her, she felt like she was walking like a penguin.

  Still, they made it to the meeting table without anyone asking any questions.

  At first Kara hadn’t noticed how unnaturally quiet it was, but when she took the time to look around she saw that most of the unit was missing. Papers littered the ground. Many of the chairs were upturned, and most of the holographic screens were turned off. It was like most of the unit had upped and left in a hurry.

  Ariel sat alone at the great table. She leaned heavily on her right hand and watched the holographic screen in front of her.

  She looked up as they approached. She looked even more tired and a lot worse than the last time Kara had seen her. Her usually bright hazel eyes were red, and a darkness had settled below them.

  “Good, you’re back,” Ariel rubbed her eyes with her fingers. “I was getting worried something had happened to my best team.”

  “As you can see, nothing’s happened,” said Peter, a little too hastily. David shot him a look that silenced anything that he might have wanted to add.

  “I’m glad,” said Ariel. “We have so much to do…so few of us left…so little time…”

  She trailed off. Her eyes went back to her screen. There was such a sadness about her that it was starting to make Kara uncomfortable.

  Kara shared an uneasy look with David.

  They moved nearer to the archangel so that they could get a better look at what was making her so gloomy.

  The screen showed the same map of the world that it usually did. But when she inspected it closer, Kara could see that there were red dots over nearly every major city. And the longer she looked, the more the red dots multiplied and got bigger. Some filled up an entire country.

  “Ariel, what’s going on? What are all those red dots?”

  Ariel’s face darkened.

  “The reapers’ wrath. The red dots represent the cities where the reapers have stolen the souls of the mortals, and where human bodies have become hosts to the denomites. The epidemic is so grave that we’ve lost entire countries now: Algeria, Congo, even Mexico.”

  She closed her eyes. “We just don’t know how to stop them. And the more we try new approaches, the more we fail, and the more angels we lose. I’m at a loss.”

  “But where is everyone?” Kara looked at Ariel. “Are they all out fighting the reapers? Are they on search and rescue missions?”

  “They’re killing us. The reapers are killing us.”

  Ariel shook her head and stared back at the screen. “I’ve sent them to their deaths…to their true deaths.”

  Her voice lowered. “They never knew how to defend themselves against such a merciless, evil threat. I can’t keep sending out units without more facts.”

  “How many teams did you send?” David’s voice rose. “How many?”

  “Thirty,” answered Ariel, her voice shaking.

  Kara and David shared a sidelong glance.

  “And how many returned?” asked Kara, sensing something horrid.

  Ariel’s face was contorted in pain, and if Archangels could cry, Kara would have seen tears rolling down her face.

  “Only you.”

  Kara felt like she’d been punched in the gut. One hundred and twenty guardians had lost their lives. It was a huge loss to the legion.

  Kara counted the guardians who were left in the room. Fifty. Fifty-four if she counted her own team.

  “What about Ashley?” she asked.

  “She is still under Raphael’s care. I don’t know if Ashley will ever return to CDD. Her own loss was too great, and from what our healer has told me, she may never recover.”

  If Kara had lost her own team, she would probably have reacted exactly like Ashley. If David were lost…

  “I’m sure we’ll see more guardians come back,” said Jenny hopefully. “We only just got here, and we made it. I’m sure there’ll be more. You just have to be patient. There are a lot of good guardians out there.”

  Ariel looked at her, but her eyes were unfocused and far away.

  “Yes, and I’ve sent them to their deaths,” she said darkly.

  But then the archangel seemed to recover a little, and she focused on the small group as though she had only just really seen them.

  “Gabriel is training as many new recruits as he can, but I’m not sure how effective they will be,” said Ariel. “He’s building a new army. My teams are supposed to track and analyze the reapers—to find a way to destroy them. What’s the point of building an army if we don’t understand who we’re fighting against?”

  She hesitated. “There are only seven reapers, and yet just one can take down all of my units. I fear…I fear…”

  But then she smiled when she said, “Is that some new kind of uniform you’re trying, Kara? A cape? Looks rather silly if you ask me, something maybe David would try.”

  She laughed again, but it sounded more like a desperate cry than a laugh.

  Kara shifted uncomfortably, and tried to shrink behind her friends. The archangel was looking at the hump of her wings. Did archangels have x-ray vision? She really hoped they didn’t.

  Ariel folded her hands on the table. “What do you have to report? Please tell me that my best team has discovered something. Do they have a weakness?”

  David dropped his blade on the table. It resonated oddly in the nearly empty chamber.

  “Well, we know that none of our weapons work on the stupid reapers. It’s like everything we threw at them had no effect. We didn’t even slow them down. They’re like super-demons, and we suck.”

  Ariel nodded absentmindedly. “I was afraid of that. What else?”

  “And we were attacked by imps,” said Peter.

  “Imps?” Ariel’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” said Peter, “and they brought with them a giant—”

  Kara kicked Peter in the shin and his face fell.

  “A giant what, Peter?” demanded Ariel in a commanding voice.

  “A giant pain in the butt,” laughed David. “That’s what.”

  Ariel was still curious. “Tell me more about these imps.”

  “Well,” Kara began, “we don’t know why, but they just showed up with the reapers,” she lied. “We took care of the imps and were able to control the situation very easily.”

  Kara felt terrible about lying to Ariel, but she had made a promise to Mr. Patterson. And she was going to keep it, for now.

  The archangel measured the group intently. She knew they were hiding something from her.

  “Imps, you say,” repeated the archangel. “Imps don’t just show up for no reason. They are not like your regular demons. They must have been after something.”

  Her eyes went to Kara’s shoulders and settled on her hump again. But just when Kara thought that the archangel was about to ask her to remove her cape, a beeping sound came from her computer.

  “Gabriel’s requested the four of you to level two i
mmediately.”

  Ariel brushed her fingers over the keyboard.

  “You will help him train the new CDD guardians. I have faith in your abilities. I’m sure you’ll all make great coaches.”

  “Super,” said David gloomily.

  He slipped his soul blade back inside his jacket pocket. “Just what I wanted, more rookies to train.”

  “Not just any rookies,” said Ariel. “The only ones who volunteered that showed enough skill to join CDD on such short notice.”

  She pushed her chair back and stood up.

  “This is not a request. Don’t make me repeat myself, David. Get a move on.”

  Without another word, Kara and the others crossed the chamber and stepped back into the elevator. Kara was glad to be away from Ariel. She could have sworn that the archangel could see under her cloak.

  As the elevator descended to level two something kept playing over and over in Kara’s mind. Something nagged her.

  “Guys,” said Kara, breaking the silence. “The imps kept saying the Eighteens. Do you know what they meant by that? Are the Eighteens demons?”

  Peter shook his head. “I’ve never heard of the Eighteens.”

  “Can’t say that I have,” said David.

  “Me neither,” said Jenny. “What do you think they are?”

  Kara shrugged, and wiggled under the tightness of the duct tape around her abdomen. “I don’t know. But I have the strong feeling that the Eighteens, whatever they may be, are linked to the key somehow. Maybe the Eighteens are the archfiends? It could be their numbers, like there are only eighteen of them left. It would make sense.”

  Jenny shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe.”

  “Eighteen, the legal age to drink,” said David as he leaned against the back panel with a goofy smile.

  Kara ignored him.

  “Maybe if we find out more about the reapers and the archfiends, we’ll know more about the key and the Eighteens.”

  She feared that the Eighteens were the Dark Gods, something much worse than the reapers.

  The doors swished open, and Kara stared at the bright red dunes of Operations. Jenny, Peter, and David jumped off the platform and landed in the soft red sand. But Kara remained where she was.

  David realized that Kara wasn’t beside him.

  “Kara? I don’t think it’s wise to make Gabe wait…especially now. The dude’s got a temper to match his size.”

  Kara shook her head.

  She could see the tan-colored primate who operated the elevator watching her. Its fingers twitched anxiously around the CLOSE door button.

  “I’m not coming with you.”

  Peter crashed into Jenny’s back, and they both turned around.

  “What do you mean you’re not coming?”

  David walked up to the elevator. “You heard Ariel; we have to do this.”

  “I know we do,” said Kara.

  She tried unsuccessfully to reach an itch somewhere between her new wings.

  “But I’m not going.”

  “Why not? You’re not making any sense.”

  “I have to go and check on Mr. Patterson. I don’t expect you guys to understand, but I just have to. I just do. I have to make sure he’s all right.”

  “Kara,” said David, “he’s an oracle. Of course he’s all right. He’s probably smoking his pipe and having a pint of beer at the local pub. Wish it were me. Trust me, the guy’s totally fine.”

  But Kara had a horrible feeling that he wasn’t.

  “I have to,” she said after a moment. “I just do.”

  David stood still for a second. “Fine, then I’m coming with you.”

  He stepped into the elevator, but Kara pushed him back.

  “You can’t.”

  “Oh, yes, I can,” pressed David. “If you’re going, then I’m going.”

  “We’re coming too!” echoed Peter and Jenny.

  The elevator operator frowned.

  “No,” said Kara.

  She raised her hands in protest, “Especially not you, Peter. You can’t go back there…not after,” she raised her brows and looked at his bandaged arm.

  “I appreciate it guys. I really do. But you have to stay here and do what Gabriel says. Hopefully, he won’t notice that I’m gone—”

  “I seriously doubt that,” argued David. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Excuse me,” said the operator, raising his eyebrows like he wished he were anywhere else. “Make up your minds. I’m on a time frame. What will it be—in or out?”

  David was so handsome when he was mad that Kara was tempted to lean in and kiss him. But instead she leaned over and pushed him out of the elevator.

  “Out,” she said with a playful smile. “And don’t look at me like that, David. You guys stick together. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  “How do you expect to use the vega tanks without Ariel seeing you?” noted David. “It’s not like there are a lot of angels using them at the moment. She’ll see you.”

  Kara turned and spoke to the operator. “Level one, please.”

  She turned back to David and said, “I’m going to use one of the pools at Orientation.”

  She hadn’t thought about how she was going to get back to Mr. Patterson, not really, until she said it aloud. And as she said it she could sense it was all coming together.

  She waved to her friends, and the doors closed in front of David’s face. She had the feeling he was going to pry the doors open and pull himself in. But he didn’t.

  The doors stayed closed.

  A few minutes later, Kara shuffled down Cedarview Street like a battered penguin. Having wings was one thing, but being duct taped like a mummy constricted her every movement. She would have to tear the duct tape off.

  Kara wobbled past houses, shops, cafés, and the little parks in between. The sun rose and the street took on a warm orange hue. However, there were no smells of baking bread, coffee, or the sounds of doors opening and cars rushing by to work. The devastation told a different story.

  The once quaint and neatly kept rows of houses and shops looked as though an army of giants had trampled over them. Everywhere she looked, walls, roofs, windows, and doors littered the street and sidewalks. Dust and debris coated everything like the ashes from a volcano eruption. From what she could tell, there was no sign of life. There was no sign of imps or reapers either. She felt like she was walking through the set of a post-apocalyptic movie; everything was barren and ominous.

  Kara shuffled as fast as she could, scrambling over boulders and glass in the street. When she reached the last block, she slowed. She had to move carefully now. She might not be able to see or sense the reapers or the imps, but it didn’t mean that they weren’t hiding somewhere in the rubble.

  But her fears weren’t just about Mr. Patterson. Her fears were also about herself.

  She could feel her transformation more deeply now. It seemed her body and soul were slowly accepting the changes—whatever they were. But with the change, with the wings, there was also a darkness. She could sense it. At first she was thrilled, because she’d believed that the fiery ball in the pit of her being from which she drew her elemental powers was back.

  But soon after she felt it, she knew it was different. It was cold.

  She stared at her hand and remembered the traces of gold light that had once covered her palm and fingers. Whatever was happening to her now wasn’t elemental. Kara soon started to feel dread. She feared the future and longed for things that once were. What was she changing into?

  She finally stood in front of what remained of Old Jim’s Bookstore. Two brick walls stood, open to the sky above. The only evidence that it had once been a bookstore were the hundreds of books that littered the debris and spilled onto the street. Bricks, wood splinters, and fragments of plaster covered the floor, as though the walls had caved in on themselves.

  Kara carefully stepped over the front door and peered in for a closer look. She’d always loved the
quirky bookstore, but a tightness formed in her chest at the devastation.

  “Mr. Patterson?” she called, as quietly as she could.

  Her voice carried too loudly across the rubble. She waited and then called again. “Mr. Patterson?”

  Silence. The longer Kara waited, the worse she felt. She tried to think positively. Mr. Patterson was an oracle who could take care of himself. But where was he? If he had been here, he would have answered.

  The street was too quiet, and it unnerved her. Had the imps gotten a hold of him? What if he lay hurt and dying under a pile of rock? Was Mr. Patterson dead?

  A scream cut through the silence.

  The hair on Kara’s arms rose. It came from the building next door. It wasn’t Mr. Patterson, but it was the desperate and agonizing scream of a young child.

  Kara shuffled as fast as her constricted body and legs allowed her. The building next to the bookstore was still standing. She entered through a large gap in the wall and stood in the rubble of what had once been a living room.

  She smelled rancid sulfur. There was something rotting in here, and it wasn’t the garbage. She stepped over lamps and cushions, and stopped to examine a picture frame on the ground. A family with a young blond boy of around seven or eight years old smiled back at her through the broken glass. An old, green-carpeted staircase led to a second floor above. Carefully, she picked her way over a fallen couch and stared at an empty kitchen at the other end of the building.

  As Kara strained for any sudden sound, an ache began to sting on her back. She realized then that it was her wings that hurt. To be taped down for hours was probably not a good thing for her or for her wings. How odd, to even think of such a thing. She wondered if the cape would still hide them if she took the tape off. What would Mr. Patterson think if he got a good look at her?

  THUMP.

  The sound came from upstairs, like something heavy had just fallen on the floor above her head.

  Kara ran up the staircase as fast as she could. She nearly tripped over the body of a man whose black empty eyes stared up at her blankly. His hands were slashed and bloodied like he had fought to protect himself. It was too late for him, but maybe she could save another.