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Chapter 84
Ru went over her remarks in her head, unsure what she’d said to get that sort of reaction out of him. Did Cutter not want to be her friend for some reason? That didn’t make any sense. He’d been nothing but helpful since the first time they’d met, back at Thomas Elementary, when he’d fixed the copy machine after she’d unwittingly used her powers to fry the electrical components. Confused, Ru swiveled in her chair and propped her elbows up on the table. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what she’d said wrong.
Footsteps entering the room caused her to look up. It was Ivy. “Oh, I thought you’d left,” Ru said, forcing a smile.
“I forgot my coat,” the blonde explained, gesturing at the back of the chair she’d been sitting in. “I didn’t get very far in this weather without it.” She let out a small giggle and slipped her arms in the sleeves. “Hey, is everythin
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Reaper's Hollow Chapter 85
Ru recognized her location immediately. She was standing in the same garden where she’d met Thanatos not too long ago, a hundred years ago. This time, the bench where he’d sat crying, mourning the loss of a family killed by a woman his Reapers had attempted to claim the day before she stole a car and drove the wrong way down the freeway, losing her own life in the process. Thanatos’s tears had overwhelmed and confused her. Cutter insisted he was a monster, but at the time, he’d seemed anything but.The petals cascaded from the trees as she walked along, making her way with bare feet down a row of flowered trees which rained an endless volume of red, pink, and white flowers down upon her. She glanced down to see she was wearing a long, flowing black dress and wondered who, exactly, was picking her wardrobe for these forays.It didn’t take her long to find him. He was a beacon, after all, much like the portal openings.
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 86
The burning sensation Ru had felt in her stomach when she was in the woods looking for the portal returned. “What do you mean?” she asked, one hand pressing down on her abdomen. “They won’t hurt her.”He scoffed. “What do you mean they won’t hurt her? Rune, you know what she did. They have to punish her for that. They will punish her for that. Be certain.”She was shaking her head wildly. “No, they won’t. No one is angry at my mother. It wasn’t her fault. She was a… a child. They’ve assured me she’ll come back home to Los Angeles, to her mother.” She realized she may have said too much, that perhaps she shouldn’t have given away their plan, but she was fairly certain the Reapers couldn’t do anything to the citizens of the village, and he would probably assume that her mother would return there anyway.“It’s very sad th
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 87
Ru sat at her Nana’s kitchen table sipping warm tea as the other woman worked on rolling out cookie dough. At her feet, Piper played with Nana’s cat, Patches, and Ru absently wondered how Piper even remembered what it was like to have another feline to play with since she hadn’t had any others around since she was a tiny kitten herself. Her neighbor had found the litter in the garage and it hadn’t taken much convincing for Ru to choose one. Piper stood out to her immediately. That was four years ago, back when Ru was a new teacher, and Piper had been her faithful companion ever since.“Cats are our best friends sometimes, aren’t they?” Nana asked, glancing up from her task long enough to catch Ru’s eyes. “My Patches has been a constant companion to me for… years.”“They are,” Ru agreed. She remembered Thanatos’s warning from the night before. The first “person” Ru thought o
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 88
Nana seemed a little stuck on the notion God had sent a divine prophecy on her back. She decided to let that go. At least the idea that her mother had said she ruined everything was cleared up once and for all, or so she hoped. “Do you know why Sera assumed she couldn’t come back here?” Thanatos’s words from the night before, his belief that the Keepers wanted to hurt her mom were fresh in her mind.“I have no idea. I told her both times she called that we just wanted the two of you home. The first time, she said she couldn’t come back. She was still in love with Larkin, still thinking he could be saved, that the world would be saved through their love or some such rubbish.” Ru couldn’t help but think the statement was a little harsh considering her mother likely was sincere with her emotions, even if they were misguided. “I always told her to come home. She wouldn’t. Brighton was out searching for her, you know, whe
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 89
Cutter’s house was empty when Ru arrived back, and she noticed his parents’ and Cinder’s vehicles were gone. Assuming they’d all gone out somewhere together, she’d tried the doorknob and been relieved they’d left it unlocked. She assumed they rarely went to the trouble to barricade the doors in these parts. Piper took to the stairs as soon as they met them, and Ru thought she might be retreating to the comfort of her own area for a while. Her own bed, dishes, and carrier might’ve been a consolation to her.Despite feeling a little odd walking through Windy and Walt’s home while they weren’t there, Ru headed for the kitchen in search of a drink of water. When she entered the cozy room, she saw Cutter sitting outside on the steps of the back porch. In the short time she’d lived with him at Angel Grove, she’d noticed he seemed to like to sit outside and think. While part of her thought it might be a good idea to l
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 90
“So… my brother….”Ru looked up, surprised. She didn’t expect him to tackle that topic as well, not when he was already clearly uncomfortable. Perhaps he thought it would be easier to get it all out in the open at the same time. “Leaf?”Cutter licked his lips and then leaned back so that his forearms were resting on the porch behind him. “My siblings are much older than me. You may have noticed that with Cinder. She’s ten years older than I am. Leaf was thirteen years my senior.”Avoiding the statement that his mother either looked good for her age or had started out young, Ru only nodded. She’d caught Cinder’s statement that she’d been doing this for a few decades when she’d barked at her the night before.“My brother was my hero,” he continued, still not looking at her for more than split second glances at a time. “My mom did a lot of my training when
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 91
Ru wanted to argue with Cutter, especially since she noticed how carefully he’d chosen his words, reassuring her that he thought of her only as a Keeper and not at all a Reaper, even though she had yet to reconcile that other part of herself at this point. Was it really as simple as choosing a side? If she had been capable of selecting an identity growing up, her life would’ve turned out much differently. She wouldn’t have chosen to be the unloved, under-appreciated, cast off “ugly stepsister.” Looking down, she realized his hand was on her arm, near her elbow, and noted this was the first time he had voluntarily touched her since her insensitive comment. The thought was fleeting, and she remembered his statement. “I don’t know, Cutter,” she admitted. “I guess it’s possible. I think it’s more like an ulcer at this point, though.” Her stomach screamed at her whenever she got anxious or upset, which didn’t a
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 92
The bedroom she was standing in was even more unfamiliar than the one she’d fallen asleep in likely an hour or two ago. The sunlight peeking through the curtained window revealed it was early morning in whatever dreamland she’d stumbled into. The border at the top of light blue walls consisted of trains, cars, and sailboats. That and the bedspread curled around a smallish, sleeping body revealed this room must belong to a young boy.Glancing around, Ru realized the room might be in need of updating. There were no toys similar to the ones in the border; instead, a table full of Legos took up a huge amount of space against one wall. There were figurines on a shelf, mostly Minecraft, Star Wars, and Pokémon. This child must’ve been about ten or so, she thought, though he seemed short for his age or was just really good at rolling into a ball. “Why am I here?” Ru whispered, not wanting to disturb him, but she was c
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