Touch (9 page)

“
Drink up,” Wade said, tossing me an ice cold Bud Light from inside the cooler he’d been using as a stool.

“
Where did you get those?” I asked, setting it to the side until I finished cooking my hot dog.

“
Trav’s sister has the hots for me, haven’t you heard?” Wade grinned.

“
Yeah right, in your dreams maybe,” Travis said, punching Wade in the arm. He hated it when we joked about how incredibly hot his older sister, Amber, was—especially Wade.

“
I talked Amber into buying them for me this morning,” Trav said.

I slid my hot dog into a bun and squirted it with ketchup and mustard before popping the top on my beer. Its frothy goodness slid down my throat with ease and was gone before I’d even finished eating my hot dog.

By the time I’d downed my sixth beer and fumbled through the cooler for my seventh, darkness had fallen and more people from school had made their way to our campsite. The guys’ night out camping excuse we’d all given to our parents had turned into a full-on party by the river.

Two hours later, I returned to my chair, eyes hooded with sleep and completely plastered.

“
You all right, man?” Wade asked, flopping himself into the chair beside me.

“
Yeah, just tired,” I slurred before closing my eyes, finally succumbing to my sleep-deprived body and the alcohol tainting my blood.

I woke to the feeling of being carried and the grumbles of someone struggling under my weight.

“
What the hell?” I heard Wade yell from somewhere to my left, just before hearing a loud splash.

I struggled to break free of the vise-like grip squeezing me tightly, but failed.

“
No sleeping allowed!” A husky voice grunted in my ear before I was flung into the river.

Cool water soaked through my clothes as I plummeted into its rippling darkness. I gasped for air and started swimming back toward the edge of the river. Wade’s foul mouth filled my ears. He must have already pulled himself from the river and was confronting whoever had chucked us into it. I rushed up the bank to help, eager to take out my pent-up aggression on someone deserving.

As I reached Wade, I saw him swing with all his might and miss, nearly falling forward. It was then I realized who he was attempting to fight—Jared and Benny, two guys who’d graduated last year. I’d never hung out with either of them personally, but rumor had it these two were into hardcore drugs and went looking for fights. Which they were obviously built for, because even in the dark I could see their bulging biceps.

I stood, dripping with water, wondering who’d invited them when Wade got hit with a blow that could very well have knocked out his front teeth before he went spiraling to the ground.

Before I could blink, Jared was on me, alternating pounds to the side of my face with his fist and a piece of drift wood he’d picked up. I managed to graze his jaw twice, but never came close to a solid hit. At some point during my beating, drunk bystanders had gathered to cheer Jared on. I wasn’t sure if Wade had passed out or ran off; whatever the case, Benny and Jared began taking turns pounding me to a bloody pulp. I curled into the fetal position, hoping they would think I’d been defeated and leave me be, but it only made them resort to kicking me instead.

Time shifted to slow motion as I drifted in and out of consciousness. I felt myself being lifted once more and then hands forced my head back under the flow of cold river water. What little bit of air I had left in my bruised lungs rushed out, becoming replaced with muddy water, tinged with the metallic taste of my own blood.

“
Wakie, wakie!” Jared shouted, flinging me back onto the river bank for round two.

“
That’s enough!” I heard Travis yell, just before I blacked out again.

When I came to this time, I’d been propped up against the base of a large tree with someone’s shirt wrapped tightly around my head.

“
You gonna be okay, man? You need to go to the hospital or anything?” Travis asked, his voice sounding far away.

I knew I must look bad, but I couldn’t feel it. All I could feel was nausea rolling in the pit of my stomach and an odd, tingling numbness in my limbs.

“
I’m fine.” I heard myself answer, but I hadn’t been aware I was speaking.

“
You sure?”

“
Yeah,” I said, my voice sounding as though I were in a tunnel.

Darkness feathered my vision and I gave in to the drowsiness that tugged at my mind.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed or what had forced my eyes to open. It could have been the horrific cawing of birds that filled my ears, or the petite brunette kneeling in front of me, staring. Her brown eyes twinkled in the hazy early morning light and I swore she was an angel.

It was then, gazing into her chocolate-brown eyes, that the crippling pain of my injuries made itself known. Panic and fear ate away at my mind, bubbling up thoughts of death to the surface.

“
I’m sorry,” she whispered before extending her delicate hand to touch my forehead with her fingertip.

Images exploded behind my eyelids: Rocky, the dog I’d gotten for my sixth birthday, cuddled at the foot of my bed, the monster truck show dad took me to when I was nine, going to Six Flags with Travis and Wade when we were twelve, the first time I ever saw Celeste.

When the images ceased, I opened my eyes and took in the sight of my mangled, swollen face and my deflated body before realizing how such a thing was possible. I glanced around, an explanation swimming to the surface of my mind. Two crows sat perched on a rock near the river’s edge, staring at me, unblinking. Two more joined them before I forced my eyes closed and hung my head as the reality of my situation began to sink in.

“
Am I…,” I whispered, unable to finish my sentence.

“
Yes, I’m afraid you’re dead,” she confirmed softly, sympathy dripping from her every word.

“
So, what happens now?” I asked, opening my eyes to look at her.

“
They should be here any moment and then you’ll know.”

“
They… who are
they
?” I questioned. “Am I supposed to be judged now or something?” My eyes traveled back to my slumped-over, lifeless body and I tried to add up all the good and bad I’d ever done to prepare.

“
Not really; it’s best if I let
them
do all the explaining.”

I glanced at her then and realized she was pointing behind me. Four figures in hooded, long, black cloaks stood near the river’s edge.

“
Don’t be afraid, but don’t keep them waiting either,” the petite brunette insisted.

“
Okay,” I muttered. Shoving my hands deep in my pockets, I started toward them.

“
Damaris, Evelyn, Cassandra, William,” said the soft-spoken girl beside me, before bowing to the four figures.

“
Lindsey,” they replied in unison while lowering their hoods.

“
Jet Donavan Mathews,” the first, presumably Damrais, stated while gazing intensely into my eyes.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“
We are sorry to inform you,” Evelyn, the blonde with piercing blue eyes, said, “but, you were not intended to die on this day.”

“
Or in that way,” added Cassandra, a lady with black waves of hair and stunning green eyes. I picked up on the sympathetic tone of her voice and shifted my eyes away, preferring to gaze at the ground.

“
We leave you with a choice,” the chestnut-haired boy close to my own age stated.

“
A choice?” I asked, confused by more than just his words and unsure of how I felt about the glint in his grayish eyes. “Who are you people?
What
are you people?”

“
We are the Reaper’s Council and your choice is one of two things,” Damaris replied.

“
One, you crossover and become reborn immediately,” Evelyn said, lacking emotion.

“
Or two, you become a Reaper,” Cassandra finished.

“
Those are your options. Choose now and choose wisely, because once you do there is no turning back,” William said.

I remained staring at all four of them, taking in each set of firm, cold eyes, wondering exactly how I should answer. After a moment, I shifted my gaze to Lindsey and her warm, concerned stare.

“
A Reaper… is that what you are?” I asked her.

She smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

“
What does a Reaper do?” I wondered, picturing a black-cloaked figure—similar to what the Council had looked like when I’d first seen them—carrying a scythe.

“
Release souls from the dying. You then are responsible for taking those who accept their death to the Spiritual Realm where they will reside until they are ready to crossover and be reborn,” Damaris answered.

I thought of my options and came to the only decision that seemed reasonable.

“
I choose to become a Reaper, then,” I said, because crossing over seemed too final.

All four of them nodded in unison, either in approval of my decision or to seal the deal, I couldn’t be sure. I watched, baffled, as each of them extended a hand, filling me with a hazy white light which seemed to pull me closer toward them. Once I was close enough to be touched by their fingertips, images from the last few moments swirled through my mind like an instant replay, until an old image lingered behind my eyes—the crows from in my front yard.

When the Council members released me from their hypnotic touch, I opened my eyes and realized with a certainty a great change had taken place. I was no longer alive, nor was I dead, but merely some place in-between.

I, Jet Donavan Mathews, had become a Reaper.

Also By Jennifer Snyder:

Marked (Marked Duology Book 1)

Shattered Soul

About The Author:

Jennifer Snyder writes Young Adult Edgy Contemporary novels as well as Young Adult Paranormal Romance novels. She resides in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with her husband and two children. Jennifer finds great joy in blank notebooks and a smooth writing pen.

Feel free to visit her blog at
http://jennifersnydersblog.blogspot.com