by CS Patra
~ ~ ~
Something wet landed on Grim Reaper Salvador’s cheek as he was resting in his chamber. At first, he ignored it and rolled over on his side. Then there was another wet drop on his shoulder. A third one landed on his back. Irritated, he opened his eyes and sat up as another drop hit him on the head.
“What the…” He wiped his cheek. “We have to do something about the ceiling. I…..”
He was never able to finish his sentence when he saw that his hand was stained red. Rubbing his fingers in it, another drop landed on his palm, and it was confirmed — blood was leaking from his ceiling. Feeling fear for the first time, he looked up to see that the blood had pooled on top and was now coming down. Suddenly, everything he had been feeling before disappeared and was replaced with a realization: the ceiling was bleeding. This would be happening for two reasons; his immediate successor was pregnant or dead. And since he knew the first was impossible, he bolted out of the room and began running around to find the others.
“Help! Someone help!” he yelled, his hands still stained with the blood. But he didn’t need to run far because Linn, Olana, and Odom were already up. Linn was also covered with blood, dark red streaks in her blond hair. Olana and Odom weren’t able to say a thing, but he knew they also saw the blood. Catching his breath, he tried to talk.
“The bleeding ceiling…this isn’t…”
“I know,” Odom cut him off, showing his own hand smeared in blood. “I woke up to see all this at my feet. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Fabian, but I cannot. I don’t want to believe…”
“It can’t be any other reason. We have to go to the surface right now!” Olana noticed all the other Grim Reapers who had lined up. “All right, everyone! It looks like we are on the search for dead bodies, but keep your eyes open for survivors too. I want this to be a false alarm.”
Deep down, she knew there was no false alarm as the world was crumbling and war was on the rise. The ceiling in this room was now starting to drip of blood, and their worst fears were confirmed — Reaper’s Apprentices were dead. With how quickly the blood was starting to pour down, they were hurrying out to save the few that were still alive. Grim Reapers hurried out and headed to the surface to find the bodies while the four of them followed behind.
“What about the girls?” Linn asked, barely able to get her words out. No one could answer as they slowly approached the big ball of fire that was once Tartarus Sanctum. Smoke rose to the sky and the smell of burning filled the night. Salvador stopped and looked back down at his hands. The blood was drying up, but he didn’t care. Nothing could fix this. Nothing could be saved. Even the Grim Reapers that had followed them were hesitant to move. All they could do was stare as the flames grew higher and engulfed the place they once called home.
The whole world was going to hell, and they were watching it burn.
Chapter 15
Ten days later…
The first thing Debra saw when she woke up was the light. She had no idea how it was so bright in her room or why the brightness was so close to her face. Then she heard the beeping and realized that this wasn’t her room. The place had a very distinct smell. She finally opened her eyes to see her parents, a man that she assumed was a doctor, and a lot of tubes.
“I’m in the hospital?” she asked out loud. Evidently, this was enough to catch everyone’s attention, because her parents gasped and rushed over to her side. They both started talking over each other, trying to get answers. She was struggling to make out their questions. The headache was coming back again, but she could ignore it. Right now, she wanted to know why she was here and when she would get out.
“Oh, Deb, we had no idea when you would wake up!” Rita exclaimed, trying to hug her daughter. “The night you came back home, you passed out completely. No one could wake you so we had to check you into the hospital. It was some strange phenomenon. You were very sick. You’ve been asleep for ten days!”
“Ten days?!” Debra was fully awake as she sat up in her bed. That was when she noticed the generic hospital gown she was wearing, and the machines that she had been hooked up to. Her pillow had been soaked in sweat, and she felt so confused. “How was I asleep for ten days? What happened in the world? What happened to me?”
“I’m not sure if I can answer what happened to you, but a lot went on in the world,” Phil admitted. “You know that airport incident from a few weeks ago? Well, it seems like they are increasing. The plane crash is still under investigation, but paranoia is everywhere. We came by every day to make sure that you were all right. The doctors said you’d be fine and that this would pass.”
“What would pass?” Debra tried to get out of bed, but the doctor stopped her. He had been standing quietly in the back, looking at the various machines, but now he faced her. He was rather young, but the lines on his face aged him.
“First off, I’m glad to meet you,” he began. “I’m Dr. Ross. I’ve been monitoring your situation since you were brought in here. Your vitals looked good, which is why this was so puzzling. As far as I know, your parents said that they found you passed out on your bed. You weren’t waking up, so they brought you here. We’ve had to run a couple of tests, and we have monitored your health for the last couple of days. So far, haven’t been able to pinpoint why you were in a coma for so long. Did you feel anything strange? What is the last thing you remember?”
“I…I don’t remember much,” she admitted. “I came home for fall break, and I went to bed. That’s all I recall.”
“Were you sick recently?”
“No, I was fine. I had arguments with my friends, but that’s it. That’s not enough to put me in a coma. I had my physical a few months ago, and everything was fine,” she said. “Is there anything wrong with my charts?”
“Your charts are fine. We’re still trying to figure out why you fainted but it looks like your temperature is back to normal,” he said, rubbing his chin in surprise. “If you keep up this recovery rate, you might be able to go home as early as day after tomorrow. We do want to keep you here in case anything changes. It’s to be on the safe side. If you remember anything at all about the night before you passed out, please let me know. ”
“Of course, though I don’t think I did anything strange that night,” she said. “My diet was fine, and I was healthy beforehand. That’s all I know.”
All of that was true, although she was purposely leaving out something about her diet. These were things that her mother and father didn’t even know. While at Tartarus Sanctum, she had experimented with throwing up in the toilet with other demons. They had told her that it worked, and she believed them. It was difficult at first, but she soon learned how to shove a toothbrush down her throat and make herself vomit. The burning sensation was awful for a few seconds, but she learned to get used to it. Over and over again, she told herself that she didn’t have an eating disorder. She still ate and kept the food down for the most part. It was just during big rehearsals and recitals that she practiced vomiting on purpose. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. That didn’t make her bulimic.
Yet she felt miserable and wanted to throw up. How could she have fallen asleep for ten days and no one could wake her? What made her pass out, and how did no one know the answer? More than that, she began to wonder about Tartarus Sanctum and how everyone was doing. She hadn’t heard Sebastian’s voice in days and wondered if it was time to make that call. Maybe she needed to hear his voice so he could be assured that she was fine. It was time to make amends, although she still had no plans of going back.
The doctor talked for a few more minutes, but she couldn’t remember what else was said. Instead, she lay down in bed and tried to figure out how she could sleep for ten days. She knew people with eating disorders had a lot of problems, but there was no way she could fall into a coma because of that. Something else had to have happened.
There were more words exchanged before the doctor finally left. Her mind was still muddled. Her parents said good
night to her and promised to come back in the morning when she was feeling better. It felt too surreal. She was glad they hadn’t stayed overnight. She needed some alone time to put her thoughts together. The lights went dim in the hospital before coming back up.
“Now?” she murmured, knowing what all this meant. Most people would have chalked this up to electrical failure, but it was actually Grim Reapers walking around. The dimming of lights usually meant they had come to reap souls. This was expected since she was in a hospital. She only hoped that none of them would appear on this floor.
“There you are!”
She almost jumped out of her bed at the sound of Grim Reaper Linn’s voice. Looking at the corner, she saw that Linn and the other three Reapers had come. This never failed. The four of them would randomly show up and not give warning as to why they were there. It got annoying since the girls would sometimes be in the middle of important issues.
“You guys should learn to knock on doors.”
“We’re sorry, but we had to see if you were all right,” Grim Reaper Salvador said. “We were hearing news from everywhere, so we came to check you out.”
“Well, you’ve checked me out. What kind of news did you want?”
“We had no idea where you were and then we heard you were comatose. But now I see that you’re awake.” Grim Reaper Olana let out a huge sigh. “I can’t believe it. You’re all awake and alive! I never thought this was possible.”
“We’re all awake?” Yuka repeated.
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it, but the other three were in comas for ten days. No one knows how they fell so ill or why it happened. We’ve already spoken with them, but we need to meet up with you all at once.”
“Hold on!” Yuka held up her hand, as she got out of bed. “You mean to tell me that everyone fell into a coma? How does that happen? How can four girls in four different parts of the world fall into the same coma? Is everyone all right?”
“Oh, the girls are fine now. We don’t know how or why it happened, but we suspect it might have had something to do with your masters.” As Grim Reaper Olana said that, her face darkened, and she looked down to the ground. “That’s another reason why we’re having this meeting. There is something we have to tell you. We were waiting for nightfall, because no other time will do.”
She looked around the room and noticed how they looked. These weren’t the same strong Grim Reapers she was used to. They had lost their spark. They didn’t look as though they had stopped reaping souls. All of them looked rundown and broken. Curious, she slowly got out of bed and stood up.
“What exactly is this meeting about?” she asked.
“First, you have to come with us,” Grim Reaper Salvador said. “We’re going back to Tartarus Sanctum.”
“But I left Tartarus Sanctum on purpose! I know what you guys were up to,” she said, noticing their looks changing. “Yes, I overhead you guys talking. You wanted to move us to Eridanos Sanctum. We know everything already.”
Grim Reaper Olana straightened up. “I see. Well, the reason we want to take you back is not that. Something has happened, and you need to see it.”
“What exactly has happened?”
“It’s a lot worse than I can explain. You just have to trust us right now. There’s no time to explain or talk about the past,” Grim Reaper Linn said. “I’ve called the other girls over as well. They weren’t too thrilled, but there’s nothing we can do. We have to move quickly before the police start investigating again.”
“The police?” Now Yuka was worried. She forgot about her anger toward Tartarus Sanctum and began to wonder why the police were involved. “Did someone commit a crime?”
“There was a crime, all right, but it wasn’t anyone at Tartarus Sanctum who did it. The last ten days have been a whirlwind. We’ve had everyone stepping around it. They’re trying to see what happened and get the whole story. The truth is that we don’t even know the whole story.” Grim Reaper Odom held out his hand. “Come with us. The others are waiting for us there, and they don’t even know why.”
Yuka was hesitant, but she took his hand and waited for the others to open the portal back to New York City. As soon as it was up, she followed them and saw herself in New York, freezing cold. The only thing she had on was her hospital gown. Since she was wearing no shoes, the ground stung her bare feet. Off in the corner, she could see Tessa, Kaska, and Avani. Like her, they were barefoot, but had coats to cover them. She also noticed that all three looked exhausted and had gotten thinner since the last time she saw them. They seemed to age within last ten days. All of them looked confused as to why they were back here.
“Guys…” she began, slowly walking toward them. Her feet felt like they were made of liquid, but she made her way, using the support of the wall. “Guys, what happened?”
“Yuka.” Tessa could only say her name. She was also holding the wall for support. Her dark blue eyes were tearing up, and her hair was undone. Underneath the coat, Yuka noticed that she was also wearing a hospital gown. Kaska and Avani had on similar gowns, and it dawned on her what happened; they had all woken up at the same time and were dragged out of the hospital for this.
“We thought you would never come,” Avani said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m just lost,” Yuka admitted, now turning to the Grim Reapers. “Why are we back here? Where is everyone else?”
For the first time, they saw each of Grim Reaper’s lower their gaze. It was as though they were dreading to go through the gates again. Yuka looked up and saw a steady stream of smoke move toward the sky. What did that mean? Was someone fooling around by starting a fire? But that didn’t make sense since she couldn’t hear anything. Slowly, rubbing her arms together so she could get warm, she made her way to the iron gates. They had been locked, and she couldn’t see any light through them. The others followed her, also trying to figure out what the Grim Reapers were trying to say.
“What’s going on?” Kaska asked, running her hand on the iron bars. Something was off about this place. There was no sound, no music, nothing that reminded her of home. No one was running up to the gates or calling out to them.
Yuka whirled around, no longer feeling safe. “What happened here? Tell us everything.”
“That’s just it; we don’t know everything yet. I don’t know how it happened, but the whole time you were out…” Grim Reaper Linn tried to gain her composure and start again. “It’s gone, girls. Tartarus Sanctum is gone.”
“Gone?” Tessa echoed. She couldn’t understand what happened, or why they were being taken back. Even now, she was in a daze and barely putting her words together. “No, that’s not possible. Nothing can get through the gates. You said so yourselves!”
“Yeah, we thought that too,” Grim Reaper Salvador said. “But…the demon slayers…they got through, girls. They got through the gates!”
Kaska turned white as she saw the smoke rising from behind the gates. There was more smoke than the thin line they had seen earlier. “This isn’t…what is this? This can’t be real.”
“It is.” Grim Reaper Odom nodded. “We had to bring you over now, because it’s the best time since no humans are around. We’ve strengthened our security just for tonight. There are no bodies left over. ”
“Bodies?” Yuka cut him off. “You mean…how many…”
There was an awkward silence between the four Grim Reapers, and Linn looked ready to burst out crying. They had never seen her look so sad. Or stare down at the ground for a long time. When no one would answer, Avani pressed on. “Is it more than twenty?”
Grim Reaper Olana nodded. “Far more than twenty.”
“But our masters…they’re okay, right? They may have gotten hurt, but they’re fine. That’s what you’re going to tell me.”
She waited for the validation that Master Gideon had been injured in the attack. Maybe he had broken his foot, maybe he had gone into surgery. At the worst, he might have been in ICU, but he would make a recovery. No demon sla
yer could take down their masters. They had skills. They were strong enough. They could take care of themselves. As long as she kept repeating all these words, everything would be fine.
A tear trickled down Linn’s right eye and she bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”
“What happened?” Yuka wanted to know, now alarmed. She stared at the gate and finally saw the changes. There were scorch marks, and it had been cracked open. The lock had been discarded and some of the bars were lying on the ground. This was not just ‘something bad’.
“Will someone tell me what happened?” Kaska finally asked. “Where is Master Fabian? Where is everyone else?”
“Gone,” Olana choked out. “Everyone is gone.”
“Everyone is gone? That’s not true!” Tessa insisted, running toward the gate and trying to push it open. “Master Adair! Anyone! It’s me! Let me in!” She began to bang on the iron bars even though no one would open them. Yuka and Kaska tried to pull her away while Avani peered through the bars. She couldn’t see very much, but what she caught sight of indicated nothing good. There was still smoke and fog, and trees had fallen over. She saw rubble on the ground where before there were hardly any rocks to begin with. But nothing seemed to be alive either. There were no sounds, no voices, and no forms of life. Where were the animals? Were they alive or did they perish with their masters?