Reaper (13 page)

“Hell no,” she seethed. “That asshole better stay
far
away from me. I’m going out with Tyler, a guy I’ve known for a while. I’ve always thought he was hot and as soon as he saw my Facebook status change to ‘single’ he started talking to me again.”

“Oh,” I said, thinking it was really soon to be dating again. “Awesome. Have fun!”

“Trust me, we will,” she said with a laugh. “Bye, Anora!”

“Bye!” I said back and hung up. I was in serious need of doing my laundry since I had put it off for days. I lugged my heavy laundry basket downstairs and into the laundry room to start a load. I filled the basket right back up with the clean clothes I had left in the dyer and carried it back upstairs to fold. At first, doing housework wasn’t something I minded. It was almost fun in a way. That got old real fast and I hated it; I often put off doing simple chores for as long as I could.

Romeo scurried around my room, jumping and attacking my feet. Hunter layed down on the hardwood floor and let the little ferret climb all over him, playfully nosing him every now and then. I could hear Ethan angrily mutter to himself when he died in his game. I dumped the contents of the basket on my bed and started sorting through my clothes.

Romeo climbed up onto the cream colored velvet settee in the octagon shaped sitting area of the room. After only a moment’s consideration, he launched himself at my Guardian. Hunter, playing along with him, rolled over as if the ferret took him out. Watching, I laughed and leaned forward to grab a pair of underwear to put in its rightful pile.

When I straightened up, a cold hand pressed against my neck. The pink lacy panties fell from my fingers as I whirled around. My right hand automatically flew out in front of me, ready to send whoever touched me telekinetically flying backward.

But I was looking at the wall. There was no one behind me. Sensing my anxiety, Hunter raced over. Fur on end and fangs showing, he scanned the room. Finding nothing to fight, he relaxed and leaned against me. I felt the back of my neck, expecting to find a cold spot on my skin.

“There was something,” I tried to convince myself. I shook my head and dropped my hand. “Maybe there wasn’t,” I sighed and looked up at the fan, which was spinning on the highest speed. Not allowing myself to dwell over it, I finished putting my clothes away, changed into workout clothes, and went downstairs.

Ethan swore that I’d love running once I started doing it consistently. I had made an effort to run at least a few times a week for the last two months; it still wasn’t my favorite thing. Nonetheless, it was important to have the endurance to run rather long distances, as I learned last year.

It was chilly in the basement. Dressed in only a sports bra and short shorts, I shivered. I knew the chill wouldn’t last long once I started jogging. I hooked my iPod into the stereo and cranked the volume. I warmed up and got about a mile into my run when Ethan joined me.

“Hey,” I panted, not turning around. His large figure loomed behind me. I enjoyed working out with him…sometimes. For his entire life he had been very dedicated to working out and practicing martial arts. I had more fun with our self defense lessons than with the workouts; Ethan pushed me beyond what I deemed comfortable. He repeatedly told me that I had to push past my comfort zone if I wanted real results. I knew he was right. “You joining me?”

When he didn’t respond, I turned around. A dark shadow swept across the basement. I yanked the safety out and the treadmill immediately stopped moving.

“Ethan?” I asked the emptiness. My heart was already beating fast. I took several deep breaths and looked at the stereo. Silence rang in my ears when it shut off. “Ethan?” I called again. I scanned the basement. A mirror leaned against a wall behind a wooden dummy we used for martial arts practice. Had I only seen my reflection?

No. There was something else down here. I quickly moved to the base of the stairs. The door leading into the hallway was still closed. I dashed up the wooden staircase, the boards creaking under my feet. My hand tightened around the cool metal of the cast iron knob. I twisted and pushed the door open.

“Son of a bitch,” Ethan said through clenched teeth. “I shot you two times!”

He was still playing games; he was never in the basement.
Hunter,
I thought. In a matter of seconds, my Guardian raced down the stairs, rushed to my side, and followed me back into the dimly lit basement.

“Do you feel anything?” I asked him quietly. Hunter lifted his head and I watched his golden eyes search the room. He sniffed the air and felt for anything supernatural. Extending a paw for me to hold, he put a thought into my head.

He could sense my fear and could see my memory of the black shadow. But he couldn’t sense anything that shouldn’t be here. There was no disturbance in the energy, no lingering traces of a spirit, no sticky magical residue floating around.

“I’m going crazy,” I groaned. My body was tense with adrenaline. Seeing there was no real threat of danger, I fired the treadmill back and up ran until my nerves were replaced with fatigue.

“Did you have a good run?” Ethan asked me when I emerged from the basement. I didn’t know he was even aware I was in the basement. Nothing gets past him.

“It was alright,” I said. “I think I overdid it. My legs feel kinda weak.”

“Make sure you stretch,” he reminded me.

“I did.” I had only stretched a little bit. My plan was to stretch more when I wasn’t so hot.

“Did you have plans for dinner?” he asked and shut off the Playstation.

“Not really.” I wiped sweat from my face and put a hand on the railing. “I can come up with something after I shower,” I offered.

“I’ll cook tonight,” he told me. “Do we have any steak?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’ll go get some; I’ve been craving steak for a while.”

I nodded. “That does sound good.”

Ethan walked toward the kitchen. I stopped him before he picked up his car keys and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. His hands found my waist and he brought me against him.

“Love you,” I said quietly.

“Love you too,” he replied and kissed me before heading out the door. I let Hunter out and dashed upstairs to get in the shower. I had just stepped out of the shower when I heard the garage door slam.

“Ethan?” I called. It was too early for him to be back already. “Did you forget your wallet?”

“Anora,” a gruff voice called from downstairs. It wasn’t Ethan’s voice. A dagger of ice cold fear stabbed my heart. Dammit. Hunter was outside, though he could no doubt sense my fear.

I wrapped a towel around my body. Heavy footfalls echoed throughout the empty house. The floorboards in the family room creaked; he was coming upstairs!

You are a witch from the Coven of Sacred Guardians,
I told myself.
You are brave. Do not be afraid.
I nodded at my own thoughts and swallowed my fear. Wet feet leaving drips of water on the tile, I padded my way to the bathroom door. Refusing to hesitate, I strode into my room and snatched up the dagger. Holding it in my right hand and using my left to keep the towel from falling, I crept into the hallway.

I paused at the top of the stairs to look and listen. I was on the verge of trembling.
You are a witch
, I reminded myself. I planned to send whoever—or
what
ever—was in my house telekinetically flying into the nearest heavy object. That should put a stop to them…or at least slow them down.

I descended the stairs, keeping a tight grip on the dagger. I placed a foot on the last stair and waited. Something banged behind me. I whirled around and my wet foot shot out from underneath me. I landed hard on my butt and nearly sliced my leg open with the dagger. I popped right back up and froze, unsure of what to do.

A blur of black caught my eye. Hunter stood on the back porch, looking in at me from the sliding glass door in the family room. Mentally, I opened it and let him in. He ran through the house as soon as I sent him my memory of hearing someone come inside.

Positive there was no one but me in the house, Hunter let out a quiet whine. He gently pawed at me. I sank down and sat on the stairs, holding Hunter’s paw.

“What is wrong with me?” I asked him.
 
Nothing
, he almost spoke. I looked up, surprised at how clear his message was. I hadn’t heard the word spoken in my head, yet somehow I knew what he wanted to say.

“Thanks,” I sighed and wrapped my arm around him. “Maybe I’m just really tired,” I rationalized. “Like I’m not caught up on my sleep since you and Ethan went on that hunt.” Even I knew it was a piss-poor excuse. I went upstairs and threw on some clothes and didn’t even bother to brush out my wet hair before I put it up in a messy bun. I kept my dagger close while I paced around the house. I watered my pots full of herb seeds, feeling guilty for forgetting about them until now.

Unable to sit still, I began peeling potatoes. Only a few minutes later, Ethan came home.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked and set the grocery bag on the counter.

“Making mashed potatoes,” I informed him.

“I’ll do it,” he offered. “You’ve made dinner the last few nights. Go relax and I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

“You don’t mind?” I asked.

“Not at all.” He smiled and I thought he looked absolutely charming. I went back upstairs into my room and pulled a book off my bookshelf. I settled comfortably into bed and started reading. Not even a page into the book, I felt eyes drilling me. I looked up and took a deep breath.

Of course there was nothing there. Hunter protectively rested at my side and Romeo had fallen asleep in his hammock. I gazed out the window and saw exactly what I expected to see: nothing but brown fields, cows, and the gravel road. There wasn’t a human in sight.

I read a whole paragraph before the feeling of being watched drove me crazy. I got up and closed the blinds. I double checked the lock on the turret door and got back into bed. The feeling still hadn’t gone away. Frustrated and angry that I was starting to feel afraid, I yanked a hoodie over my head and marched up the stairs and onto the turret.

Wind had blown in clouds that smelled thick with rain. I shivered in the breeze but was set on ignoring it and reading my book. My hands started to feel very cold after twenty minutes of constant wind. I was so focused on being cold, I forgot to be scared of whatever was—or wasn’t—watching me. I was thankful when the gray clouds spit out cold drops of rain; it gave me a legit excuse to go inside.

With the distraction of being cold gone, fear was starting to make its way into me. I tried to let it roll off and not affect me, but like a leaky roof in a rain storm, there was just no way to not let any in. Slowly the fear collected, until there was a small puddle around my heart, causing my pulse to race and my hands to sweat.

I didn’t know where the fear was coming from, but I knew I was moments away from having a panic attack.

“It has to be a ghost,” I told Hunter and rushed to my closet. I emerged with a bundle of white sage. I lit the smudge stick and wafted the smoke around my room. I set the smudge stick inside a ceramic bowl and breathed in the smoke. It made my eyes burn and made me have a slight coughing fit, but I felt supernaturally clean.

“All better,” I said to Hunter. His golden eyes met mine and he gave me a look that said ‘there was nothing here in the first place’. “I know,” I admitted and shook my head. “I just can’t shake this feeling,” I told him. “It’s almost as if I can sense…sense impending doom coming—again.” I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”

I sat on my bed and turned on the TV. I jumped when Ethan called me for dinner. I shut the TV off and hurried down the stairs. Ethan noted that I was quiet during dinner; I brushed it off with the excuse of being tired.

To keep up that pretense, I went to bed at ten-thirty that night. Pissed that he hadn’t beaten a certain level in his video game yet, Ethan said he was going to stay up until he did. Uneasy, I tossed and turned so much that it annoyed Hunter enough for him to move off the bed. I had unofficially made one of the guest rooms into Hunter’s room; he often slept in there, sprawled out on his own bed.

When I finally drifted to sleep, I dreamed I was in the woods, running away from something I couldn’t see. Moonlight glowed above me, growing brighter and brighter the faster I ran. Suddenly, it became so bright it blinded me. Then the light faded and I was in a great stone hall. My footsteps echoed as I crossed the cold marble floor.

“Anora,” a familiar voice spoke. I whipped around and was face to face with my best friend.

“Laney!” I called and opened my arms to hug her. My hands went right through her body. “Laney?”

“Don’t let me go, Annie,” she begged.

“I won’t!” I promised and madly grabbed at her arms. My hands never touched her skin, I only felt icy air. The ground trembled and Laney burst into flames. The explosion knocked me back and I scrambled away. The Burning Man stood in her spot, arms wide and laughing. I clambered to my feet and ran away.

I crashed into a black, wooden door. The heat from the Burning Man pressed against me. I desperately pushed the door open. The dream switched as soon as I passed through the doorway. I was in my room and the only light was a soft gray glow from the TV.