Call Me Grim (32 page)

The silence drifts around us on tendrils of mist. Aaron goes to the railing next to Kyle and gazes down at the boulder-strewn river. His knuckles blanch as he grips the green-painted metal.

Kyle glances over his shoulder at the long drop. He looks up at Aaron and then his visible eye locks on me.

“What about you, Aaron?” Kyle says, though his stare never wavers from me. “You’ve been a Reaper for forty years. Could you do it? Could you run and not get caught?”

“I can’t leave town,” Aaron says.

“But what if you could?”

“Maybe.” Aaron folds his arms over his chest. “My chances are a hell of a lot better than yours. I know that.”

“So what if Libbi is right and wearing the Scythe is what keeps you locked in town?”

“It sort of does make sense,” I say as I pace the ties. “You’ve always wondered why Abaddon scarred you up like he did and told you to stay away from the border when he knew you couldn’t get out anyway. It seemed like a gigantic waste of his time to come here just to teach you a pointless lesson. Unless he wanted to scare you into never trying it again, just in case you got the idea once you took the Scythe off and gave it to your replacement, for example.”

“You know, you might have something there.” Aaron nods and rubs his upper lip thoughtfully. His face is as pale and waxy as mine feels. “Once Charlotte gave it to me and I put it on, I couldn’t get it off. Not until I was ready to give it to you. Even when I was in my Grim Reaper form, I couldn’t drop it. It never left my hand. It was a part of me. Like a brand.”

“Like a shackle,” I say.

Aaron touches the bare spot on his right thumb.

“And now I’m free.” The shock in his voice travels like a wave, punching me in the gut.

I don’t trust my voice, so I nod instead. He’s free. We can run.

“So what if you decided to pitch that thing into the river?” Kyle says. “Do you think you could keep us safe from him, if we all ran together?”

“Probably, if we kept moving.” Aaron’s voice rises with excitement. It’s contagious. I can’t stop the huge grin that spreads across my face. “I can feel when he’s near, and if we jump from territory to territory, it’ll be harder for him to catch us.” Then his face falls and he says, “But I can’t leave. Who will be Carroll Falls’ Reaper? The town needs a Reaper. And the first time a scheduled death doesn’t show up at the Gateway—which is in two hours, by the way—Abaddon will want to know what’s wrong. He’ll come here. No matter how much experience I have, that’s not enough time to get some real distance. He’ll catch us. Not to mention the Scythe is our connection to him. He’ll know if it’s not being worn.”

“I’ll wear it,” Kyle pushes away from the railing. His eye remains steady above his black-rock mark, but his hand trembles slightly as he holds it out for the Scythe. “I don’t want to leave Carroll Falls anyway. And if you think you can keep Libbi away from that thing, then I’ll do it.”

“Are you accepting my job, Kyle?” Aaron asks.

Kyle nods and my shoulders sag with relief. He’s going to live and, as a Reaper, his mark will heal. But at what price? I certainly didn’t want Aaron’s job. I only took it for Kyle, and now Kyle has decided to take my place so I can run away with the object of his jealousy. It’s so messed up I’d laugh if I didn’t feel like crying.

“It’s not as simple as just taking the Scythe. You need training.”

“Then train me.”

“And this is a big risk for you. Do you understand that?”

“Risk?” I say.

“Wait.” Max speaks up from his spot by the steel girder. “What risk? Abaddon won’t kill Kyle, will he?” The kid says exactly what I was too afraid to ask.

“I doubt he’ll kill him,” Aaron says and my shoulders relax. “He can’t. He needs him to be the local Reaper. But he might hurt him. And I know for a fact he’ll come after Libbi and me when he realizes we’re gone. But I also know this is our best shot. And I think it’s worth the risks. If Kyle’s willing, all he has to do is say he’ll be Carroll Falls’ next Grim Reaper.”

All three of us—Aaron, Max, and me—turn to Kyle with anticipation.

Kyle slips his hands into his pockets and gazes out over the safety railing to the tumbling water of Carroll Falls. He doesn’t move or speak for several minutes.

“I’ll do it,” Kyle finally says to the waterfall. “I’ll be Carroll Falls’ next Grim Reaper.”

A bubble of blue light blossoms in the air between Kyle and Aaron. It grows to surround them both and static electricity crackles around them.

Something pops like stone hitting stone and smoke oozes from a crisscross of cracks that form in Kyle’s mark. A large chunk of the volcanic rock crumbles away from his face like a landslide and exposes his chin and mouth. Then another pop and his eye and cheek become visible. One more and the rest of the evil mark falls away from his face.

Kyle’s lips curve in a smile and his warm eyes sparkle. Now that I can see it again, I can’t believe how much I’ve missed that smile.

“Just remember, Aaron.” Kyle’s muffled voice sounds like he’s talking behind glass. “If this doesn’t work, I’m not like Libbi. I have no problem killing you.”

Aaron’s warm hand curls around mine.

“Are you ready for this?” His black hair lifts in the wind. The south forest sways and the leaves whisper around us. The trees are our audience and they know we’re about to do something dangerous.

There’s no clearing in the underbrush to mark the end of Aaron’s territory on this side of town, but I know it’s here. I can feel the electric charge in the air.

“I’m ready.” I weave my fingers with his and squeeze. “Do you think Kyle’s ready?”

“He may struggle a bit with a few things, but he’ll be okay. He’s a quick learner.”

Once Kyle agreed to take over, the seven-day clock for his training began. Kyle had the same amount of time to train as me, but Aaron decided to cut it down to two very intense days.

Because Abaddon knows about me.

I was a scheduled death and on the Death Plan. After Aaron saved my life from Jason’s truck, and after my almost-fatal asthma attack in the library, he had to go to Abaddon and explain why he didn’t bring my soul to the Gateway.

But Abaddon doesn’t know about Kyle. Kyle would have been an unscheduled death, and not on Abaddon’s Death Plan. Aaron wants to leave town well before my seven-day training period is over so we have a good lead if Abaddon decides to check up on his newest Reaper and realizes it’s not me.

Aaron and Kyle spent every moment of the last two days together, going over the Reapers’ powers and practicing. The first day, I tried to help, but I couldn’t do much. My teaching skills suck and when it comes to reaping, I hardly know what I’m doing. When it became clear that my “help” was more of a pain in Aaron’s ass, I stepped aside and spent my time with Haley, my mom, and Max.

Max and I told Haley everything. Kyle has been too busy with Aaron to talk to her himself. I’m not sure if she really understands or believes us, but she handled it well. Better than I would have, if I was in her situation. But I couldn’t tell Mom. She wouldn’t believe us, and she’d probably have me committed before she let me take off to God-knows-where with a guy I’ve known less than a week.

I wrote her a letter and left it with Max.

In it, I told her Aaron and I ran away together. That much is true, at least. I also told her that I didn’t know if I would come back, but I promised to call and write. I hope that’s not a lie. I don’t know what will happen to us once we cross the border.

I’d be happy if we lost the Reaper powers and just became normal people, but Aaron thinks we’d be easier to find that way. He’s afraid if we lose our powers, we’ll become part of the Death Plan again and be on Abaddon’s radar. But what I fear most is that we’ll become ghosts, living shadows, invisible, unable to do anything, without even jobs to keep us occupied.

Aaron drops my hand and moves closer to the boundary of his territory. He reaches out, palm forward, fingers spread. Electricity snaps a blue starburst in the air in front of him and he recoils in surprise.

“You’re sure you got through?” He glances over his shoulder. A bead of sweat collects on his brow.

“Yeah, I got through.” I try to sound confident, but as I watch a thin tendril of smoke rise from the spot Aaron just touched, I’m not so sure. “I just hope I can get through with you.”

We had decided not to test the barrier until we were absolutely ready to run. Aaron doesn’t know how Abaddon knew when he tried to leave to see his sister. It could have been the Scythe, but it could also have been something else. Whatever it was, Aaron doesn’t want to alert him of our escape prematurely.

One look at the scars crisscrossing his body and I don’t blame him.

“Let me try.” I reach one finger forward. Electricity sizzles and sparks where my finger touches the barrier. I steel myself for a jolt of pain as I push my finger through the wall of lightning, but it doesn’t come. Electricity circles my finger, my hand, my wrist as they painlessly slide through.

“See.” I smile and wiggle my fingers on the other side. “I told you I can get through.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out if I can too.” Aaron grabs my free hand. He lifts my fingers to his lips and gives them a quick peck. “Let’s go, before I change my mind.”

The trees surrounding us applaud as the wind rips through them.

I close my eyes and breathe. One breath in. One breath out.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

We lift our feet in unison and step out into the world.

There are so many people to thank I don’t know where to start.

First, I’d like to thank my amazing agent, Lindsay Ribar, for taking a chance on me. Not only is she smart, sharp-witted, and talented as hell, she has the patience of the Dali Lama, and the ability to dish out tough-love better than anyone I know. I’d also like to thank Brenda Bowen for rescuing my little manuscript from the slush pile. And to all the staff at Sanford J. Greenburger, Associates, thank you!

A huge helping of gratitude goes to Georgia McBride and the staff at Month9Books for seeing potential in this story of mine and taking it on. I can’t thank you enough. And much thanks to my editors, Kate Brauning, Jennifer Peterson, and Annie Cosby. For these women, patience is more than a virtue, it’s a gift. Thanks are also in order for amazing cover designer, Arterismos, whose super-human ability to capture the feel of my story in image form blows my mind.

An Everest-sized mountain of thanks goes to my fabulous critique partners, Dorothy Dreyer and Anabel Gonzalez. Their good cheer and support kept me going more than they could possibly realize. Just as important are my tough-as-nails beta readers, Crystal Lee, Kara Taylor, and Marieke Nijkemp, without whom this story would be vastly different, and not in a good way. And I mustn’t forget my first teen reader (other than my daughter), Caitlynn Weeden. Her excitement gave me the courage to keep on keeping on. Much love to all of you!

Last, but certainly not least, thanks to my kids (Hana and Caleb), my mom (Julia), my sister (Wendy), and niece (Briana), my friends, and my co-workers at Hanover Hospital, for all of your support, encouragement, and enthusiasm, and for believing in me when others didn’t. You guys truly are the best!

Elizabeth Holloway

Elizabeth Holloway is a maternity nurse living in Southern Pennsylvania with her two teen children and their pets, Bam-bam the dog and Tinkerbell the cat. In addition to nursing and writing, she’s also an avid reader, an artist, a karaoke singer, a music lover, and a kick-ass Pictionary player. Her debut YA novel, CALL ME GRIM, will be released from Month9Books in Fall 2014.

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