by ID Johnson
“No, to translate them. Into English! Because, whoever put them there, whether it was God or someone else, knows we speak English.”
“Why didn’t He just write the word in English then?” Ivy asked.
Lyric shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe so that we could have an adventure together.”
“Next time, maybe he could just send us Disney tickets?” Rider muttered.
“So, when you translated it, you got…?” Cutter began.
“I got three letters. M-A-P.”
“Oh, I get it!” Rider said, slamming both of his hands down on his legs. “Pam! We’re supposed to find someone named Pam, and she’ll find the portals!”
“No, jerkface. It’s a map.”
“That does make more sense,” Rider said, nodding thoughtfully.
“But we already knew it was a map.” Ru was confused.
“We thought it was a map, but this let me know for sure it was a map. And then, I discovered something else.”
“Good—because having a map that just says map isn’t very useful.” Ivy’s observation was agreed upon quickly by the rest of the group.
“Right. I was stumped. So, I looked at the picture more carefully, and I realized the letters were not straight cuts. Some of them were curved where they shouldn’t be. They didn’t look quite the same as they would if they were simply renditions of the letters.” She paused, and no one took the bait this time, so she continued. “They were made of numbers! Each letter is made up of a different set of numbers.”
“I don’t see how we are getting closer to solving this,” Cutter said, shaking his head.
“You guys! Don’t you see?” Lyric held up a piece of paper showing three pairs of numbers. “The numbers aren’t just numbers! Can’t you see what else they are?”
“The phone number we call to get the men with the white jackets to come and take you away?” Rider asked.
“Or take us away….” Cutter concurred.
“No! They’re coordinates! They are three separate coordinates, all leading to specific locations on the map!”
“Which map? Please tell me it’s a map of Earth.” Rider looked up the ceiling as if he was praying.
“It is a map of Earth! And… the coordinates from the first letter correspond with…”
Ru closed her eyes and crossed her fingers on both hands. “Please say Reaper’s Hollow. Please say Reaper’s Hollow. Please say Reaper’s Hollow.”
A broad smile broke out across Lyric’s face. In a quiet voice, she said, “It is Reaper’s Hollow.”
Ru’s eyes flew open. “It is? Wait—the latitude and longitude of Reaper’s Hollow is engraved in my back?”
“Yes!” Lyric assured her. “Even more specifically, the coordinates are exactly where the portal was.”
“Seriously?” Ru was finding it very hard to believe this was possible. “God etched coordinates into my back?”
“But why would Raphael cover those up?” Ivy asked.
“I have no idea,” Lyric admitted. “Yet one more secret we will probably never know the answer to. Maybe he didn’t know they were there.”
“So, have you figured out the other two locations?” Cutter asked, bringing them all back around to the next step.
“I sure have,” Lyric replied. “This is where the foreign words Rider is allergic to come in.”
“You mean they’re not also in Reaper’s Hollow?” he asked. “Damn. Nothing can be easy.”
“’Fraid not,” Lyric said, shaking her head. “The first one is in an abandoned town in Turkey called Kayakoy—a ghost town.”
“Oooh, that sounds creepy,” Rider said, his eyebrows raising and dropping.
“If they bring in the types of creatures I’m expecting to try to stop us from closing that portal, it definitely will be,” Cutter reminded him. “Where’s the other one, Lyric?”
“Aokigahara.” Lyric’s voice was just above a whisper. Then, looking at Rider, she pointed a sharp finger at him. “And don’t make your sneezing joke. It’s not funny.”
His mouth was already open, but he closed it.
“Wait—I’ve heard of Aokigahara,” Ivy said, scooting to the edge of her chair. “Isn’t that… the suicide forest in Japan?”
Slowly, Lyric’s head bobbed up and down.
“Oh, crap….” Rider mumbled. “I saw that movie. Not cool.”
“It makes sense though,” Cutter surmised. “I mean, it explains why all of those people are killing themselves there.”
“The Reapers might just be pulling them in to one tidy location,” Lyric agreed.
“That would make it a lot more inconspicuous.” Ivy’s voice was still haunted.
“So… what do we do first?” Ru asked, scratching her head. “Which place will be most dangerous?”
They all looked at each other for a moment. “It’s honestly hard to say,” Lyric replied.
“I’d say suicide forest trumps ghost town,” Rider chimed in. “I mean, that damn place is beyond messed up.”
“Yes, but wherever we go first, they will throw everything they have at us,” Lyric explained. “So… if we go to Turkey first, they’re going to hit us hard. If we are still successful, then that will mean everything they have left will attack in Japan.”
“When,” Ru corrected. “When we are successful.”
“Right.” But Lyric’s voice didn’t sound as convincing. “We just have to be ready and make sure we have as much support as possible.”
“There’s got to be a way to do this without tipping the Reapers off,” Ru thought aloud. “How do they always know what we’re doing?”
“The airlines for one,” Ivy said, still on the edge of her seat. “And, just like us, some of them have super hearing and weave their way into places undetected.”
“So, you think they are listening in?” Ru asked.
“Not right now, but, yeah, sometimes.” Ivy shrugged, like it was just part of their lives.
Ru ran both hands through her hair and let out a sigh. “Why do we have to take the airlines?”
“I’m pretty sure we can’t drive to Turkey. Unless you have some sort of cool James Bond boat-car,” Rider joked.
Pursing her lips, Ru stared at him for a moment. “Why not a private jet?”
“They could still detect that,” Cutter said, shaking his head.
“Then… why do we need our bodies at all?” Ru asked.
“What do you mean?” Lyric’s eyebrows knit together. “You think you can take out a portal without your body?”
Before she could answer, Rider said, “Ru most of your energy is stored in your body. Sure, you can access some of your power in your spirit form, but I don’t know if anyone could carry enough with them to blow up a portal. Do you remember how much energy you expended when you knocked that sucker out? You were out for hours, too.”
“We all were,” Ivy agreed.
Frustrated, Ru studied each of them. “Would it be worth a try? I mean… if we could sneak in there quickly, before there was a chance the Reapers could find out where we were headed?”
They all looked at each other before Cutter said, “I’m sure that the portal isn’t completely unguarded, and the fact that they know we are looking would likely make them bring in reinforcements, just in case. So… it’s not like there wouldn’t be any resistance at all.”
“If I had to guess, Azrael probably wasn’t too happy with Nat over what happened last night, which means, Nat will do whatever he can to make sure he doesn’t lose another portal.”
“Why would he be responsible for keeping them all open?” Ru asked, realizing her tone probably sounded a bit defensive.
“He’s basically the head Reaper.” Once again, Ivy shrugged with her response.
“CEO. Chief Execution Officer,” Rider mused.
The idea that Nat could get in trouble if Ru did her job didn’t sit well with her, and yet she couldn’t explain why. After what Cinder had accused her of, she had to be
very careful about the impression she gave her teammates. She wished there was a way she could close the portals and keep him from being blamed for her success, but she had no idea how that might be.
“I’ll tell you what,” Cutter said, slapping his legs, bringing Ru’s attention back to the living room, “let me run this by Sky and we’ll see what she has to say. If she thinks we can try closing the portal from here, then we’ll try it. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Getting sucked into that portal and spending eternity in Hell,” Rider replied.
“Being shredded by Reapers,” Ivy offered.
“Failing and having to go back a second time to face Armageddon.” Lyric’s idea sounded worst of all.
“All good points. Let me see what Sky thinks.”
Ru wanted to remind him to ask about her mom, but she realized her cell phone was vibrating in her pocket, and she was pretty sure he would ask anyway. As her friends dispersed, Ru pulled her phone out and looked at the screen. It said, “Mom,” which made her heart skip a beat. She prayed everything was okay as she quickly slid to answer.
“Mom? How are you? Are you okay?” she asked before Maggie could even get a word out.
“Hi, Ru.” Her mother sounded much more cheerful than Ru would’ve expected. “I hope you’re okay, honey. You know, your kitty, Piper, sure is a sweet girl.”
Ru’s forehead wrinkled yet again. “What’s that?” she asked, trying to imagine how her mom might know that.
“Yes, she just sits here and purrs. I’m sure she misses you, but I think she likes my lap, too.”
“Your lap?” Though she didn’t want to get her hopes up, Ru dared to say what she thought her mom was trying to tell her. “Mom, are you… at Nana’s house?”
There was a pause before Maggie said, “Yes, honey. I am.”
Ru couldn’t help but break out into a giggle. “What?” she asked. “When did that happen?”
“This morning,” Maggie replied. “I was told I could stay here for as long as I wanted, at least until you are done with your mission, and then, if I want to go elsewhere, that’s okay, too. My penance has been served, and honestly, I think Raphael was very happy with your work, Ru. You closing that portal went a long way to proving that what I had done ended up benefitting our cause.”
Ru was so happy to hear her mother’s good news, she didn’t even know how to respond. “I’m glad I could help,” she finally got out. “And I’m glad that you are home. I know there are probably memories there you’d like to forget, Mom, but at least I know you’re safe.” The idea that the Keepers weren’t holding her mother to try to draw out her father was comforting.
“Listen, Ru, I don’t want to keep you when I know there’s so much you need to do, but there’s something I want to ask you to consider, for me. For your father.”
The hesitancy in her mother’s voice was alarming, and once again, Ru found herself speculating about the worst-case scenarios. “What is it, Mom?”
Maggie cleared her throat. “Well, uh, a long time ago, when I was looking into spells and incantations, trying to figure out how your father and I could be together without angering both sides, I came across a very powerful spell that I thought might be our answer. I didn’t even know if I’d be formidable enough to cast it. But more importantly, your father told me not to. And I had to listen, because of how greatly it would’ve affected him.”
The thought of casting spells made Ru uneasy, especially after she’d been warned at the church on Holy Island that she could be in big trouble if she did so. “What kind of a spell?” she asked.
“It’s white magic, Ru, so it isn’t evil. In fact, it was originally performed by the Nephilim to try to prevent the Reapers from ever getting out of hand in the first place.”
Ru knew Nephilim was another word for half-angel, half-human, and that’s what she was—sort of. Even though her mom and dad were each half-human and half-angel and half-demon respectively, Cutter had explained that there was no dilution. She was as much half-angel as the first Nephilim, even with her Reaper blood, and despite the fact that she was several generations down the line. “What does it do?” she asked, not even allowing herself to say the word “spell” again.
Once again, her mother was quiet for a moment. “It, uh, it allows a Reaper to forfeit his or her power, to essentially become… human.”
Her breath caught in her throat at her mother’s words. “So… Dad could be a regular person, if he wanted to?”
“Honestly, it wouldn’t even matter what he wanted, Ru, if you cast the spell on him, or any other Reaper for that matter, they would become human.”
“And what would happen to their power?”
“Well, that was part of the problem before. Your father didn’t want me to cast the spell because, according to what I’ve read, there has to be a willing vessel to absorb the Reaper’s powers. I thought I could do it, that I could take it in, and then destroy it with my Keeper blood. Or possibly banish it while it was free of a body. But your father didn’t want to take the chance.”
“You think I can do it because I already have Reaper powers?” Ru asked.
“Yes.”
The idea made sense. “But… what if it makes me a full Reaper? What if it throws me out of balance?”
“I really don’t think that will happen, Ru. I think you are powerful enough to take it and destroy it, or add it to the Reaper power you already command.”
She knew her mother wouldn’t suggest something to her if it was dangerous, but she didn’t feel capable of making such a decision right now. “Wow, Mom. This is a lot.”
“I know, honey. And I’m sorry to have to ask you. It’s just… I think this might be the only way that your father and I can ever be together. Just a few days ago, I would’ve thought that wouldn’t be possible. Now, I really believe we can.”
The sound of hope in her mother’s voice made Ru feel both warm inside and frightened. What if she messed everything up, like she had been doing her whole life? As much as she wanted to believe she wasn’t that girl anymore, voices filled her head, voices of doubt and criticism. Pushing them aside, she said, “Mom, if I see Dad, I’ll talk to him about it, okay? Can you send me a screenshot of the incantation in the book?”
“Sure, honey.” While the hope was still there, Ru realized she may have deflated her mother’s spirits just a little bit.
“Do you think you’ll need a cloak as well?”
“Yes,” Maggie admitted, “but not from the Keepers. There is a white magic cloaking spell as well that will hide us from the Reapers, demons, and other evil entities, but not the Keepers or angels.”
“Can you send me that, too?” The thought of someone harming her father because he no longer wanted to be a Reaper was unsettling at best.
“I will.” Her mother let out a deep sigh. “Ru, thank you.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” she reminded her mother. “But… you’re welcome. If I feel like I can do it, I will.”
“Okay. Good luck with everything, honey. I’m sure you’ll find the other two remaining portals soon, and when you do, the darkness will wish you’d never been born.”
Ru was pretty sure that was already the case. She couldn’t take the risk of telling her mother that they’d found the other two portals either for fear that someone else might find out. “Thank you, Mom.”
“I love you, honey. And I will help Nana take good care of Piper until you return.”
“I love you, too, Mom. Give Piper a scratch behind the ears for me.”
“I will.”
Ru said her goodbyes and disconnected the call, just in time to see Cutter coming back into the room. She couldn’t help but smile at him. He was so handsome, with his light blond hair and blue eyes, and that perfect jawline. It didn’t hurt that he was confident, yet unassuming, and that he’d made it clear from the very beginning he would do anything he could to help her.
“Hey,” he said, returning her smi
le as he walked across the parlor and sat next to her on the couch. Rider wasn’t there to keep them apart this time.
“Hey yourself,” she replied. “How’s Sky?”
“Sky is the happiest she’s ever been in all of the time that I’ve known her. Was that your mom?”
“It was,” Ru nodded. “She’s home.”
“I know. Sky told me. That’s awesome.”
Ru knew her smile probably made her look goofy, but she had a lot to be happy about right now. The Keepers had released her mom without hurting her, and the amazing man sitting next to her put his arm around her. “What did Sky say about my idea.”
He looked as if he wasn’t sure how to answer that, as he tilted his head back and forth a few times. “She didn’t think it would work. But she didn’t say no.”
Ru’s eyebrows arched. “So, we can do it then?”
“She suggested if we decide to go through with it that we aim for Turkey first. Since it’s out in the open, we should be able to see the enemy more clearly. Of course, they’ll be able to see us, too. Anyway, she said to give it a try, and if we have to pull back to do it. In the meantime, she’ll start gathering some troops in the other realm to support us, should a full-fledged attack be necessary. She’s pretty sure we can’t get away with it twice, though. And I agree. So we’ll have to come up with something else for Japan.”
Ru nodded. “I’m glad she’s willing to let us see if we can do it. She seems more reasonable now than she did at Holy Island.”
Cutter let out a long sigh. “I think she was under a lot of pressure the other night. She has a lot of potential catastrophes on her plate that she’s constantly got to reason through and try to prevent.”
“I’m sure her job can’t be easy.” Ru hadn’t spent a whole lot of time dwelling on what a typical day might be like for Sky.
“It isn’t,” Cutter agreed. “My mom hated that position. Anytime something went wrong, she felt like it was her responsibility.” He grew quiet for a moment, and Ru saw a shadow pass over his face as he looked away.
“Did she… have something to do with what happened to Leaf?”
He nodded. “She didn’t direct him to go in when I got myself into trouble, but she approved it. At the time, it probably seemed like a routine call. She had no idea she was sending him into an ambush.” He ran his free hand through his hair, and Ru could see him trying to shake the thoughts out of his head.