The Reaper's Apprentices #1: Awakened (17 page)

Chapter 17

Avani noticed that her piano was one of the few things that received minimal damage. She put her fingers on the keys and played a little. Now it was completely out of tune, but she could deal with that. There were people who fixed these things. The piano was something that could be fixed, and it would be able to play again. At least she hadn’t lost her ability or forgotten her piano lessons. Sitting down on the bench, she looked down and thought about the last time she had played. Gideon had been next to her, watching as she read the notes and put fingers to keys.

The shard had been a present from their masters. It was supposed to have been given to them on their twenty-first birthdays, but that never happened. Instead, Grim Reaper Olana let her have it now. At first, she wondered why Master Gideon would have given her a piece of glass for her birthday. It wasn't until she started missing him and saw his face in the mirror that she realized — it allowed her to look at the dead. However, it only allowed her to see dead demons, not humans or half-breeds, so her father's face never showed. The other disappointing thing was that the deceased never spoke. They moved around, but never said a word.

Avani looked at the shard and thought about calling her master. But she opted against it. Master Gideon had never been fond of seeing demon slayers as anything else. To him, they were evil, and he believed it till the night he was killed by one. She couldn't blame him. He had been hurt and deceived and had no reason to think they were good.

But he never had the chance to meet the guys.
He doesn’t know what they are like
, Avani thought. If he did, he wouldn't think this way.

Still, she couldn't change the past. She couldn't bring him back to meet her boyfriend and see how wrong he was. Maybe Master Gideon would have liked him. He'd be open-minded enough to see how the relationship worked. He'd have invited Cole out a few nights. They'd have gone to clubs and bars and talked about everything. The same would have happened with the others.

Putting the shard of mirror aside, Avani tried to go back to the time where she knew what she was. Master Gideon told her she couldn't be human; once a demon, always a demon. They could pretend to be human, but the blood that ran through them was cold. They were animals. Getting through to their boyfriends was easy. Getting through to the rest of humanity was another story.

And now she needed that locket. Acheron had to be saved with that locket. She damned the demon who owned it and damned him again for being a dumbass.

It just didn’t feel right without her master in this world. He was the only one of his kind. It hurt to be alone here, to be the one last hope, to be one of the only ones who could fix what had been broken. It was an awful feeling that rested in her stomach. Why anyone would attack Tartarus Sanctum was beyond her. Demon slayers might have been doing their job, but they were never supposed to know where it was. Who was so mean, so cruel, and so terrible enough to leak that information to them? And why? Perhaps they had been given false information, and that was what killed the Reaper’s Apprentices.

Carefully, she unfolded the letter and began to read it to herself. Master Gideon’s handwriting greeted her and she tried to figure out who it had been written to.

Hey man, what’s up? Thanks for stopping by last week, because we really needed a breather. It’s been a crazy week, and I haven’t had time to sit down for five minutes! I have no idea how you managed to buy all that Chanel and Fendi stuff for Avani, but she was thrilled with it. Most expensive birthday presents she’s ever gotten. The girl is an upcoming model in the fashion world, and she still gets excited with gifts from the designers she’s working with. I should know--- she’s been going on forever about the Givenchy campaign and still can’t believe all the stuff she gets to wear and hold. She says she’ll try to get me some cologne from France if she can find a kind I like. I told her not to sweat it, but you know her; once her mind’s stuck on something, that’s where it’s going to be.

The others have been doing well too. They’re excited to see Avani back so soon and have been planning her party behind her back. We went out to eat and then stopped by to pick up her ice cream cake. Granted, she didn’t want any because of trying to keep her figure, but I insisted that she have one small piece. Besides, New York Fashion Week won’t start until February, and she’ll have burned it off by then. In general, it’s been a quiet fourteenth birthday for her. I’m glad it’s over personally. So many teens in one place makes my head spin. It’s even worse when they decided to make you the victim of their Spin the Bottle games!

My sister stopped by last week — Olivia, not that the one that hates me. I can’t get through to Lily anymore, and I’ve stopped trying. Oh well. It’s her problem, not mine. I can’t do anything about my destiny. Anyway, I told Olivia not to force anyone to do what they don’t want to do. Lily is old enough; she can make her own decisions. And I’m going to make mine.

She had to stop reading it right there. Gideon’s destiny. No doubt it would have been the same one she had if he had lived long enough. He had a good amount of knowledge on every power, but he never got the chance to become immortal. What would it have been like? Would she have ever met him or the others? Would she have turned into the monster she was afraid of becoming? Maybe she never would have left Tartarus Sanctum. Maybe there would have been more demons living here, and it would have grown bigger. Maybe she would have succeeded in getting demon slayers to understand demons sooner. Maybe she would never have dealt with these decisions and thoughts.

She shuddered, thumb going over each other. Master Gideon’s handwriting was not amazing by any means, but she could still understand what he meant to say. It still felt like he was here. It was strange, because this was the first time she ever noticed the way he wrote. He looped some of the letters the same way. His writing style reflected the way he spoke. From that, no one would have known he was a guardian or even a demon. He just sounded like a typical young adult. It was proof that Angel Boneta, also known as Gideon the Devil Redeemed, had once lived. He had existed and had breathed the same she breathed and laughed and cried and been as real as she was. He might have been lying six feet underground now, but he had been there. He had been alive.

Tears splattered down on the letter, and she realized that she had started crying. It had been a long time since she had grieved for him. But reading that letter and realizing he wouldn’t be around anymore hurt. It stabbed her in the back. The pain was so intense that it made her want to curl up in a ball. How could someone take him away like that? It wasn’t fair. He hadn’t done anything to these demon slayers.

Why us?
she asked herself.
Why did they come and attack the strongest group of demons? And more importantly, how did no one survive? Gideon would have never fallen that easily, no matter strong they were.

But the fact remained; their masters were dead. Their friends were gone. The pets — all the cats, dogs, birds, and fish — had either died in the battle or ran away when no one was looking. Those that ran were lucky. Or maybe they were cowards.

Just like us,
she realized. It made sense now; they didn’t run to survive, they ran because they were scared. They were afraid of what was to come, and it was the only reason they were alive. With that thought sinking in, she sat down and looked up at the sunset. The girls had spent so many evenings watching the sun go down from here. They would talk about how beautiful the sky was as it went from day to night. And now they had no one to share this experience with. The night before they left was the last sunset they had all watched as friends, as family.

“My family is gone,” she said out loud, holding in the sobs. “What am I going to do?”

The demon slayers were responsible for this, but it couldn’t be just them alone. No, the girls had to leave when their kind needed them the most. What kind of guardians were they? Being the last ones on Earth didn’t sound like an honor. It was like they were alone. The only ones they could rely on were each other. Not even other demons were worth leaning on.

Avani felt so cold and lonely as she looked at Gideon’s letter. He had existed once upon a time. He hadn’t been the evil demon who stole souls, but a guy that chased after other demons and got tired of complaints. He was a guy who liked music, hated asparagus, and always needed lemon in his water. He had one of those so-called ‘dynamite smiles’ and a laugh that could go on for days. There was nothing better in this world than listening to Gideon laugh. Now who knew when she would hear that laugh again? Where did anyone go in the end anyway? Where did demons in particular go?

You have to understand that you are part of a powerful and dangerous race. People will not be accepting of you. The demon side is one you have to keep a secret from the world.

Those had been the first words she had heard when she stepped into Tartarus Sanctum. No one had cut corners with them or tried to butter them up. They learned flat out that they were demons, and no one was going to cut them slack. It didn’t matter if they fought for good or evil; to humans, all demons were evil and would be treated as such.

And now, while standing in the destruction and remains of her home, Avani began to understand what they had meant. Humans might have been weaker, but they were capable of destruction when fueled with hate. One terrible rumor, one tragedy, was more than enough to set them off and after everyone they were against. There was no chance in getting humans to understand, not anymore. At this point, demons had to work in secret and never reveal what they were to anyone.

But something didn’t seem to be right. As far as she could tell, they still had pictures everywhere. Her photos on magazine covers and ads were lying around everywhere. So clearly they would have known that someone was a fan of hers. Not only that, there were personal photos that had fallen from walls. The glass had cracked, but there was no other damage. Her photos were in very good condition. They could recognize her. They would know she lived here.

So why the hell did none of them come after me?
she wondered, picking up one of her pictures — it was from the very first time she had set foot in Tartarus Sanctum. Her hair was a mess, and she had barely slept the night before, but she looked happy. There was something about this place that had made her feel happy and safe. It didn’t matter that she was far from home, missing her father, and wishing the rest of her family was with her. She was glad to be here.

Looking at the picture now, she realized why the destruction of this place meant so much. It wasn’t just her home that had been destroyed; a good chunk of her of life had also been taken away. The last one and a half years were built around the Reaper’s Apprentices and Tartarus Sanctum. All she had ever known was here. This was where her life was supposed to begin, and now she had nowhere else to go. Breathing hard, she leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, trying hard not to break down. She had cried before, but this was different. This was the moment she wanted to fall apart, scream, throw away whatever future she had waiting for her. But she had to be brave. She had to stand strong. She had to be a warrior.

“Oh, screw it,” she muttered, tossing the picture aside. .

With whatever strength she had left, she looked up at the ceiling and screamed.

Chapter 18

As Avani was screaming and trying her best to stay composed, the others were scattered around the house checking out what was left behind. It was amazing how some of the photos were intact and the only things that were broken were the frames. There were some shoes and clothes on the floor that were dirty, but not really damaged. No one knew who those outfits or shoes belonged to, but they didn’t try to figure it out. The demons who owned them weren’t going to wear them again. The only thing she could think to do with them was donate them to charity. At least someone could get use from the leftover outfits.

There were all sorts of accessories that had also been left behind — some glasses that were cracked, watches of every kind, and a lot of jewelry thrown about that.

Kaska picked up some of the dirt and let it fall from her palm. It was funny how she never noticed it when she lived here. Now all she could see was the dirt that her masters and friends had walked upon. This was the same ground they trained on and ran across for years.

It was amazing how despite the rest of their home being gone, the sun still shone down on it. It was the one thing that those demon slayers could not destroy; they could not destroy the beauty. The flowers were gone, but there were some buds and sprouts sticking out of the ground. But no one knew how long they would last since no one would be around.

There are spirits all over you, the spirits of the demons before you. You may not see them, but you’ll know that they are there.

But where were they? She kept looking at the sky, but seeing nothing — no  answers, no reasons, no one was there to help her out of this. These were the times that she would turn to Fabian to help her, but now he was gone. He died, and she hadn’t been there to save him. What kind of a Reaper’s Apprentice was she now? If she couldn’t protect her own master and her friends, how could she protect the rest of the world? Both worlds deserved someone more responsible.

“It’s a beautiful sunset, isn’t it?” the familiar voice asked from behind. Kaska turned around to find someone she hadn’t been able to talk to for a while. Grim Reaper Odom peered over her shoulder to admire it. “You know, I’ve been in this place for so long, yet have never had a chance to enjoy the sunsets. I didn’t even know it could be seen from here. It’s a nice sight.”

“Grim Reaper Odom,” she said. There was nothing else she could say. She couldn’t apologize for this or make everything okay. She had spent too many days wishing for her life to change or go back to how it was. She had wanted to escape from Tartarus Sanctum for months. And now it wasn’t there. There was no bedroom to run to, no garden to hang out in, and no pond to watch the fish swim around in.

If only I had stayed behind, if only I had tried to fight…maybe I could have saved someone.

Grim Reaper Odom, however, knew exactly what she was thinking. “We were all too late. Nobody saw it coming. If we had known, I know for a fact we could have defeated those demon slayers. I just hope you don’t take your anger out on the entire human race.”

“No, never,” she promised. “I know it was just demon slayers alone. I couldn’t hate the entire human race, no matter how upset I got.”

“Good. The last thing we need is demons with a vengeance. Sadly, that’s what we’ve been getting for the last couple of days. We’ve had to reap many human souls that had been attacked and killed by demons. It doesn’t seem like explaining things to them will help.”

Kaska looked worried. “Demons are out for vengeance? But the entire human race wasn’t responsible, it was just one group!”

“I know. But the damage has been done, and no matter how much I try to tell them to hold back, they won’t. They want to take their anger out on the nearest human.” He kept staring at the sunset. “I’m sorry I had to bring you back to this. You had every right to run, and it’s a good thing you did. I never realized the pressure we were putting on you at this age.”

“No, it’s okay,” she assured him. “As a Reaper’s Apprentice, I should expect pressures from my job. I complained a lot, but I realize what was going on. I know you were only looking out for us. You didn’t want us to fall victim to something like this.”

“You are the last of your kind. You’re all that remains of a once powerful and terrible race,” Odom said. “Humans are going to be more alert and aware of our existence. So the best thing we can do is keep you hidden and safe in the one place they won’t think to look — their world.”

“Their world?” Kaska echoed.

“Yes, the human world. We’ve been doing a lot of talking and thinking amongst the four of us and decided that it is too risky to keep you surrounded by demons all the time. You’re not a Grim Reaper yet, and you have miles to go before you can consider yourself strong enough to handle the Underworld. You will need to complete your training, of course, but we’ll have to do it in secret. And it means you’ll need to find someone who can teach you such skills.”

“But who will do that? My master is dead.”

“I know.” Odom lowered his head, and she could have sworn she heard his voice growing heavy at that. The death of Fabian had taken its toll on all her predecessors. Their order was ruined, and they didn’t know where to take it from here. “…and I am thinking about it every single day.”

“Sorry.” She was embarrassed for bringing it up. “I just…”

“It’s okay. We’re all on edge these days. Now normally, it would have been Fabian’s job to teach you everything. But we can’t do anything about that now. That doesn’t mean, however, that you cannot learn your skills. There are demons out there that specialize in just one skill. You may need to get more than one teacher for this, but in the end, it will be worth it. I want you to become a Grim Reaper. We need to remind everyone what we have fought so hard for. We need to bring that balance back into the two worlds.”

“But you will make sure that I get my training done?”

“Absolutely. We will make sure that you become Grim Reapers as soon as possible,” he said. “At this point, we cannot bring any of them back. We were trained to take lives, not return them. That doesn’t mean that we will stall things for long. We may have to move at a slower pace, but it will get done.” Sighing, he watched the horizon as the sun was setting. “I think I might have rushed into this with all of you. We figured you could handle knowing the truth, but I guess we were trying to prepare too early.”

“No, it’s okay,” she insisted, suddenly realizing what this meant. There was a reason Master Fabian showed her how to reap souls from the most gruesome deaths. “We need to get everything done as soon as possible. If you’re right about a war coming, then we need to be prepared.”

“I see you did learn a few things from Fabian after all.” Odom gave her a small smile. “We shouldn’t stay here any longer. People are going to get suspicious, and they’ll want to explore this place. As long as they don’t destroy anything, it should be good.”

“There’s not much left to destroy.” Kaska looked up at the statue of Grim Reaper Isabelle. “I’m amazed she’s still standing.”

“That’s one trait in our line — the ability to stand when the rest of the world is falling apart. You’ll see that you have that trait in you too,” he promised. “Isabelle was a strong demon and someone I looked up to when I was young. She and Fabian had more in common though.” Saying Fabian’s name was painful, and he knew what Kaska was thinking. “We will get things back to the way they were. If necessary, I will train you. I will make sure that you become a Grim Reaper.”

“And I think I’m ready to become one now.” Kaska nodded. “I thought I didn’t want this, but I realize I need it more than anything. I need to be the Guardian I was always meant to be. If anything, I want to do it for Master Fabian and the others we’ve lost here. They deserve that much.”

That made Odom smile. “You sound so much like Grim Reaper Isabelle right now. I have no doubt that you belong in my line. Now I want you to promise that you will not get carried away. Take care of the others and make sure to remain on alert. Keep your true identity a secret from those who don’t know. And above all else, I want you to live your life. I want you to grow up and become the Grim Reaper who saved our world. I want you to restore the balance that was lost and make both sides see that they can live together.”

“You’re expecting way too much from me. I’m still not sure if I can do that.”

“On the contrary, I think you can. Maybe it was wrong of me to move so fast with your training, but I believed in you. I knew you were strong enough to tackle any challenge that you faced,” he said. “Unfortunately, I forgot that you do need breaks. College is a difficult time for anyone, and I threw this responsibility in on top of the others.”

“But I’m glad you told me. Better I know now than when it’s too late. Better you told me so I could…” She looked around one more time. “I can’t stop thinking about how everything fell apart. I thought we were strong enough to take down humans. I expected a few casualties but everyone? That seems extreme even for demon slayers.”

“We’re still trying to solve this mystery. Reaper’s Apprentices were never meant to be fighters, which gave the humans an advantage. Our job is to reap the soul once a person has died. We don’t fight them for it. So I can’t say I’m surprised they struggled against demon slayers. My question is the same as yours — how did everyone lose? More importantly, how did Fabian lose?”

It hit her at that moment that she had no idea how he died. “Who killed Master Fabian? Do you have any idea?”

“No, but I found him floating face down in the fish pond with several others. They all drowned.” He shook his head. “Fabian did have cuts on his wrists though. Whether they were inflicted by demon slayers or somewhere else, I don’t know.  I think that might have slowed him down long enough for someone to drown him.”

Kaska swallowed hard at the thought of Fabian being forced underwater. She knew he could swim, but this was someone purposefully pushing him under. He would have struggled, tried to get air, but eventually given up when that human never let go. What had been his last thoughts as he was dying? Did he have any at all or was he just ready for death?

“Did they all drown?”

“No, we found them in different places. Gideon had been impaled to a tree. I think he must have been the first to die. He had been there for a very long time. Sadly, he’s not the only who received that fate.” He sat down and tried to think back on the night. There had been so many bodies that he couldn’t remember what some of their names were. “Adair was found in the bathroom, bludgeoned to death. I think they cornered him in there, and he fought back. I saw all the marks under his nails  to prove that he went down taking pieces of them. The same thing happened with Sebastian; he fought long and hard until they cut his throat. This is why none of it makes sense to me. They did fight. They were able to fight. So how did they fall? What made them all weak enough to lose?”

Kaska thought back to Fabian drowning in the pond and shook her head. “I don’t think we’re going to find out that answer. The only thing we can do is try to move on.”

“And what do you think will help you move on?”

It didn’t take her long to come up with the answer. “I become a Grim Reaper. I learn to harness my powers and do the best I can.”