Death has a Daughter (DHAD Series) (8 page)

“You’re late,” Trevor said, as I ported to where he stood with Lacie.

“
Yeah, sorry, had to do my day job.  The researchers were taking longer than usual.”  The researchers were backed up.  Seems a lot of the Reapers brought multiple souls in today, so they were busy.  It was a good thing I’d gotten there when I had, with my two souls, or I probably wouldn’t have been able to come down to Lacie and Trevor at all.  If that’d happened, Trevor would think I’d betrayed them and would have exposed me the first chance he got.

My intention had been to go see
Trevor and Lacie first, but when I looked at my scroll, two names were jumping out at me, as the number “4” flashed to my mind.  Taking my father’s advice to follow my instincts, sure enough, I ported to where one of the souls was at 3:45.  He was an older gentleman, sitting on a bench outside a small café that had a large, blue coffee mug painted on a large bay window.  As I waited there, I started to second guess myself, and assumed this wasn’t a vulnerable moment, that maybe my instincts were wrong. But I decided to wait it out and just watch as customers left with their lattes. 

As soon as 3:55 hit
, I saw the action begin.  Coming from the café was a small girl with light-brown hair and hazel eyes.  She was in the arms of a man with greasy black hair, bloodshot eyes, and a patchy beard, who was in his mid-thirties.  The girl looked terrified as the man carried her from the restaurant and towards his rusted, white Lincoln Continental that was across the street.  She made eye contact with the old man, and mouthed “help me” to him.  At this, the old man stood up and walked towards the man with the girl.

“
It doesn’t look as if that young girl is enjoying your company,” the older gentleman said to the kidnapper.

“
Mind your own business, old man,” the kidnapper shouted back to him.

“
Let her go, now, and be on your way,” the older man said as he, with no fear, walked closer to the man.  When the old man was a few feet away, the kidnapper pulled out a gun and pointed it at the girl’s head.

“
DROP YOUR WEAPON!” shouted the police, who were on the street behind the kidnapper.

A human
, inside, must have called the police.  The kidnapper looked back at them, lowered his weapon to the ground, and released his arms from around the girl.  She then ran to the older guy’s side, with tears falling down her face.  The police were now slowly approaching the kidnapper, when he pulled out another gun from his waistline.

“
Little bitch,” he shouted as he fired the other gun at the girl, who was being thrown by the old man to safety as he took the bullets intended for her.  As the bullets hit the old man’s chest, bullets from the police officers pierced the kidnapper, as well.  I ran over to the old man, and gently inserted my scythe into his heart.  His soul quickly went in.  He’d been shot in the head and chest; there was no hospital recovery here.  He’d just given his life for a stranger, so he definitely wasn’t going to my realm.  My legs walked over to the kidnapper.  An evil smile hit my lips as I slammed down my scythe into his heart, like a logger cutting wood.  He, unlike the old man, was definitely going to end up in my realm, probably in level seven or eight.  He had no idea how lucky he’d had it here.  This death by the police was easy, compared to what he was going to face in my realm.  When I looked down at my watch, sure enough, it was 4:00, and I raced to the researchers to drop off my soul, and port to Trevor and Lacie.

“
No worries,” Lacie said, and Trevor just looked angry.  “We understand you have other commitments. He just concluded that, since you were late, you weren’t coming.  I didn’t have a single doubt, though,” she said with a smile.

“
Well, enough with the chit-chat.  Since you’re such a new Reaper and don’t have much experience with Demons, I anticipate I’ll need to train you a little more. That way, your only defense won’t be teleportation against Demons,” Trevor said.

“
I just got out of training, so I don’t think I need to get trained again, by you of all people.”

“
Well, if I’m correct, the agreement we had was that you would help me defend Lacie while I’m injured, correct?” he asked me.

“
Well, yeah.”

“
Okay, well, considering that Demons are a part of your realm, I doubt you’ve had training to fight against them, so I need to give you at least some pointers, so if they hit you with a spell, I’m not the only one fighting.”

“
Fine,” I agreed, reluctantly.  If my father, or anyone from my realm for that matter, knew I was training to fight against Demons, they would think I’d gone insane.

“
Okay. Well, first, tell me what you know about them,” he said.

“
Well, I know they fight for Lucifer, and that there are many different kinds of them.  Their powers range, but most can possess humans, create disease, and they’re extremely strong.  Some are superior and rule many legions of the underworld, while others just work for higher level Demons.  They’re almost impossible to kill and defend against.”

“
Correct, do you know how you kill them?” he asked.

“
No, I do not.”

“
It depends on the Demon, but most can be killed or sent back to the realm by beheading them.  Their only weak spots are in the joint areas and at the neck.  Some rare Demons can be killed by inserting a blade into their heart, but if this is the case, they’ll have a few hearts—one for each power they possess.  All you should need to know is to go for the neck and try to behead them.”

“
Okay.” Hopefully this wouldn’t be necessary.  What were the consequences if my realm found out I’d killed a Demon? I wondered.

“
I’m sure you know how to block, right?” he asked.

“
Yes, well, I know how to block against a Guardian’s light.”

“
That’s a start.  But with a Demon you need to know how to block against their physical attacks and also their spells.  We have Guardian magic, which allows us to block them with our hands, but since you are a Reaper, you’ll need to use your scythe.”

“
My scythe?”  This seemed odd.

“
Yes, it is the only thing that you guys hold that contains magic, so you should be able to block one if you hit it with the spell.  Your scythe can block Guardians’ light, so it should be able to block Demons’ spells.”

“
Alright, well, sounds simple enough. Are we done training now?” I asked, hoping to get a nap in.  I hadn’t slept since I’d met them.

“
Of course not.  Just knowing how to defend against them doesn’t do anything.  You have to train!  It’s taken me years to learn how to block; you’re just beginning.  I’ve come up with an exercise that I think we can use.  Lacie, I’m going to need you to go in the tent for this; I wouldn’t want a stray rock hitting you.”

“
Rocks?” I asked, and he smiled.

“
Yes, you’re going to guard around the tent as Lacie is protected inside of it.  I’m going to use rocks as pretend spells and throw them at you.  You will block them with your scythe, as if they are the real thing.  Don’t worry, I’ll start off slow,” he said, with a smirk that said I was going to have several cuts on my body when this was over.

“
Are you sure this isn’t just for your amusement?”  I’m sure he’s wanted to throw something at me since we met, and wasn’t this just the perfect opportunity.

“
Are you afraid, little Reaper?” Trevor mocked.

“
No, let’s go.  Lacie, get in the tent,” I ordered.

“
You two are nuts; I’ll be reading.  Good luck, Cendall; he’s crazy,” she said with a chuckle as she got into the tent.

Whil
e I pulled out my scythe and watched as Trevor disappeared into the tall forest around us, I took a few deep breaths and readied myself. 
Right!
my mind screamed, as I blocked the first rock with my scythe that was headed straight for my head.  He was going to start dirty, huh? 
Right!  Behind!  Left!
  I swung and hit each of them with my scythe; the last one was an inch away from my body.  I needed to focus more. 
Right!  Left!  Center!  Above!
my head commanded me, over and over, as Trevor threw rocks at me from every angle.  This went on for at least twenty minutes.  I’d only let 10 out of the 300 rocks hit me, and I could feel the small bruises on my body from where they’d made contact.  He was not going easy on me.  The rocks finally stopped, and I watched as he came out of the forest. 

Putting my hands on my knees
, I doubled over and took deep breaths. As I tried to catch my breath, I felt a rush of energy, and was a second too late as I whipped up my head just as Trevor was about to crash into my body.  A scream escaped my lips as my body hit the earth’s floor.  The rocks and twigs ripped through my uniform and pierced my back.  I kicked up both my legs to get Trevor’s heavy body off of me.  It worked slightly, for he hadn’t been able to pin me, but now we were rolling and tumbling for the top position, each landing a small punch or knee into the other’s body as we did so.  I went for a final blow with my right fist, that, if landed, would surely make him stumble for a second, but he dodged it and I felt a blow to my stomach.  The impact of his fist stole the air from my lungs.

My eyes flew open as I gasped for my lost breath.  Trevor was once again straddling me with the head of his spear pointed at my throat.  The weight of his body
was making it hard for me to catch my breath.  My lungs continued their failed quest to gasp the air, and I began to hyperventilate.  He lowered his spear and pressed his chest against mine.  Was he trying to suffocate me?  Perhaps, but the second his chest made contact with mine, an instant calm clouded my body.  It made my lungs finally open, as my breathing slowed down to mimic his pace.  As soon as my breathing regulated, he lifted his chest off of mine.  We were now face to face with his lips just inches from mine.  His face had traces of dirt from our tumbling and I could see the small sweat droplets on his forehead.  I took a deep breath, taking his scent in as my heart started to race.  A strange, overwhelming sensation clouded over me, making me feel like I was about to start hyperventilating again.  I tried to move from under him, but my arms and legs felt paralyzed.  What type of magic was he doing to me?  He was silent as he stared into my eyes.  He began to lower his face towards mine, and I heard him take a deep breath, like he was taking my essence in.  Could Guardians do that?

“
Do you feel that?” he asked in a whisper, as his deep, blue eyes looked into mine.  Deep, blue eyes, hmm…they’d been almost violet before....Did that mean he was using magic on me?

“
Yeesss,” came out as a purr.  “Please stop doing whatever you’re doing to me; it’s making my heart race, and I don’t want to hyperventilate again.”  It took him a minute to process what I said.  He shook his head, cleared his throat, and got up quickly.

“
Until you know for sure that the battle is over, never take a break.  If I’d been a Demon, you would have been dead,” he scolded, as I got up.

“
It
was
over!  You said we were just doing the rock thing.  I assumed that once I saw you, it meant it was over.”

“
You assumed wrong. I still had a rock in my hand, but when I saw you take a break, I took the opportunity to test your one-on-one skills.  You failed,” he mocked.

“
I thought it was over!” I growled.

“
Well, it wasn’t.  It was okay, I guess, for a first day, but we’ll need to continue this every day if we’re ever going to get you ready for the real thing,” he said.

“
Fine.”  Training with him would only benefit me more in the long run.  When I got back to battling Guardians in the future, I would have better insight on how they worked.  He had to be one of the more powerful, so this was a good opportunity, right?

“
On one condition, though,” I said. His look said I had some nerve giving him conditions.

“
What could that possibly be, Cendall?”

“
No more magic. I don’t need to feel like I’m going to have a heart attack all the time,” I said and watched as confusion washed over his face.

“
I have not used magic on you,” he replied with one perfectly arched brow, lifted in confusion.  Fire ignited my cheeks. Oh shit. 

“
I...well...”  What could I say so this wasn’t so embarrassing? I just told him my heart raced when he straddled me. What else could cause that?  Maybe I...No way...

“
Oh, must be that I’m just tired. I haven’t been able to sleep right since I met you two!”  My voice came out louder than I intended.

“
We are done training here. You can sleep now,” he said and walked away. I went to the tent, said a quick ‘hello’ to Lacie, and passed out.