Death's Dilemma (DHAD #2) (9 page)

“Ah yes,
friends
…sorry, I temporarily forgot.” And I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me today, but something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t sense any Demons or Reapers when we pulled up to the fair, but I couldn’t help feeling on edge. Maybe it was the new found “friendship” that had me so tense. When we watched the movie last night, it took everything I had to just stare at the screen, but even though my eyes were glued to the screen, I had no clue what they were saying. The fact that I was watching a movie in the dark with Trevor, even though he was on the opposite end, had butterflies doing backflips in my stomach. As soon as it was over, I said goodnight and raced up stairs, catching his faint chuckle as I left.

Chapter Twelve

Convict Carneys

We’d been walking around for three hours, and I was already starting to feel like I’d just stepped out of the shower. I hated the humidity here sometimes. The bright neon bracelet we had to purchase to get on the rides suctioned to my wrist. The only time I found some relief was when we went into the house of mirrors that had air conditioning. That place, of all the rides we’d been on so far, was the only one that held my interest. Mirror tricks were so interesting. One moment they could make you fat, and then thin, short to tall in one step to your right.

After the house of mirrors, Lacie insisted I try out every single food stand they had. The corndogs weren’t bad, but seriously, fried butter? They should have just called this place the heart attack haven. The worst ride we went on was one that she said was supposed to resemble an alien ship. It spun around and around while you laid your back against a bench that slid up and down.

“Try and get up! It’s impossible,” Lacie said next to me. It took some effort, but in about fifteen seconds, I was standing up on two feet against the bench while people looked at me like I’d gone insane.

“What are we doing here again?” I asked Lacie.

“It’s fun.”

“Oh I must have missed that the first three hours.”

“Oh look! They have a Viking ship. I haven’t been on one of those since I was a kid. And there’s not even a line! Let’s GO!” she said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the swinging ship. It had a dragon’s head and looked like it had seen better days. No way would this thing float if it was put into water. There were dents and holes scattered along the hull.

“You girls ready for the ride of your lives?” the guy working the line asked with a smile that, like the ship, was missing pieces. His hair, pulled back in its shaggy grey ponytail, looked wet, but I’d bet on that being natural grease from a few missed showers. He had long, skinny, shabby arms and wore a bright blue t-shirt that read “40th Annual County Fair”.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Myah?” She had already been ditched by her date, but I still wasn’t sure if it was a ditch because he wasn’t guaranteed to be there. Either way, both girls seemed upset by it. She even threw up after the alien ride.

“She was in a super long line for lemonade. If she wants to go, we’ll just go again when she gets here.”

“We are SOOO ready for the ride of our lives,” Lacie said to the carney, and I followed behind her on the steel ramp. She picked the last row all the way to the right near the back of the ship where the dragon’s tail stood high in the air. We slid into the wooden bench and pulled down the black metal bar. It locked in place, and I started to pick black paint chips off of it as we waited for more people to get on. When the ship was about halfway full, I heard a click, and it started to sway back and forth.

“So, what is the point of this ride?” I asked and was seriously confused. All I’d gotten out of it so far was a breeze that tangled my hair as it made it rise and fall.

“It swings back and forth going higher and higher. It’s supposed to instill fear the higher you go up, and it causes butterflies, at least it use to when I was little.” She smiled.

By the second swing, I was ready to get off. This was how people got motion sickness

“Still makes my stomach do flips,” Lacie laughed as the ship swung back in our direction. On the way down, she let out a thrilled scream, and I was about to do the same as I felt the bar, that had been restraining our thighs begin to loosen and lift.

I gave Lacie a puzzled look as I put both hands on the bar.

“What is this?” I began to ask.

“It does that a little bit sometimes. You’re not scared, are you?” she mocked.

“No.”

“Oh you just wait till it starts to swing higher,” she laughed.

By the fourth swing, as we came down in the other direction, I began to feel a stir in my lower belly as the bar rose to graze against it. I felt my eyes widen but didn’t want to panic just yet. Maybe this was how it was supposed to go. Lacie did say it loosened a little, but it didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me, that the bar would loosen more the higher up the ship swung. I wouldn’t be the first to complain though. The ship swung back up in the other direction, and I secretly thanked gravity as the bar fell back down.

As the ship started to tip back in our direction again, I grabbed the side bar, preparing myself if the bar decided to lift again. As we began to fall, the bar again rose, but this time, it went above my belly button. No way was this supposed to do this. If I’d been any skinnier, I would have floated out already. One look at Lacie’s strained arm that was also holding onto her side bar as we came down told me I was right.

“So, I’m guessing by your same reaction this isn’t supposed to do this?” I said as we only had a few seconds before the ship would again tip in our direction.

“NO!” She said in a panic “The bar is supposed to stay down. I’ve had it raise and loosen a little before but never past my belly button.”

“Slam your feet on the ground and try to focus on keeping your weight against the floor as you hold the side bar. I won’t let you fall, but for obvious reasons, I can’t port you out. We must have gotten in a dysfunctional seat.”

“STOP THE RIDE!” We both tried to scream to the attendant, but he just chuckled and waved. He’d probably dealt with this many times, people getting scared and wanting off, but we were not crying wolf here.

“SERISOULSY! WE’RE NOT KIDDING! STOP THE RIDE!” I screamed as we swung back past him and the other side of the ship tipped up. The looks on the other passengers’ faces told me we weren’t the only ones with dysfunctional seats. They started to scream, but none fell out as the ship swung back our way.

“IT’S FUCKING BROKEN!” I tried yelling one more time. This time, it finally seemed to register with the attendant. I wasn’t sure if it was my comment or all the people screaming bloody murder at the same time, but he frantically began pushing buttons, trying to get the thing to stop. He started slamming his fist onto the machine, and I took it as a bad sign.

“Hold onto my hand. I’ll take the impact, you just have to be on top of me when we fall. I’ll be fine.” The ship swung back down to swing the other way but we didn’t follow. We floated in the air above the ride for a few seconds as time seemed to stop. I glanced around at the other passengers who had been on our side as they floated alongside us, screaming at the top of their lungs. I grabbed onto Lacie and hugged her tight as she clung to my chest. We had floated slightly higher than the rest, so we got the added benefit of hearing the loud clunks as the other passengers fell into nearby rides. I watched the light leave a boy’s eyes as he was impaled by a unicorn’s horn from the merry go round. I closed my eyes.

“Brace yourself,” I said right before we hit. The impact from the ground rippled through my shoulders as I felt the ground break below us. I opened my mouth as I tried to take a deep breath, but nothing happened. Lacie got off of me and stared down at me, screaming.

“I’m fine,” I finally got out, and she grabbed my hand, helping me up. My scythe called to me as I looked around to the reasons why. One of the passengers was currently hanging from the Ferris wheel for dear life, waiting for the damn thing to get closer to the ground. I held my breath and was pleasantly surprised when he was able to jump off. That was until I heard a shrill scream that made my eyes dart to the left where a crowd was gathering. The Ring of Fire was smoking, and legs were sticking from half a corpse that was wedged on its track. I rushed toward the back of the ride and found the upper torso. Other humans were gathered around the body, but I, hoping they all thought I knew who he was, gripped it up in a hug, screaming bloody murder, “STEVEN!”

“GIVE THEM SPACE!” Lacie screamed, and it was all the distraction I needed. As they began to back up, I released him and put my scythe into his chest as I set him back down. No idea what I was going to do with his soul, but it didn’t seem fair to leave him just sitting there. The boy’s soul who had been impaled by the unicorn’s horn was already gone.

“Why is this happening? Did someone do this on purpose?” she asked.

“Not that I saw, or felt.” During the entire thing, I hadn’t felt a Reaper or Demon presence. Death just seemed to follow this girl around.

I was about to port Lacie out when in the distance I saw Myah being dragged by her feet up the ramp of a carney’s trailer.

“Trevor, drive her home. I have to leave,” I said and ported before he could protest.

Chapter Thirteen

Funny Meeting You Here

“Release her now!” I shouted as I got a whiff of what was really before me. It was a Demon. I did a quick scout of our location; we were outside of the wards lines, in an area I assumed the carnival workers lived.

“Quite the little commotion going on at the fair. I knew something was up when I couldn’t get into my day job today. But, lucky for me, this one ran right outside the wards when it started going down. She practically ran right into me, asking for my help. I had just been standing there, minding my own business, waiting for the wards to weaken. I’d originally planned on dumping this vessel today,” he said as he motioned his hands up and down and the human he possessed. “I’d planned on getting another carney to consume, but considering how pure her soul is, I couldn’t resist. So, I drug her back here to dump the vessel and consume her. Let me guess, she’s on your list, Reaper? You know you can’t get her soul from me. You Reapers and your lists. Just give it up. She’ll disappear off it soon enough. The humans I possess last a week at most, and by the screams I heard earlier, I’m sure you have many souls to collect at the fair.”

He had no idea who I was and just thought I wanted her for myself. Luck might be on my side. “But she’s the last on my list.”

“Too bad. She’s mine now. Leave before you piss me off. You know I’ve worked with your kind before, and you’re not so bad, really just a stepping stone to what I am, and for that, I’ll let go the fact that you have your scythe out still.”

“There are many more pure souls in the fair. I can go get one for you and bring them back. Then we both win.”

“No way. Some Guardians have some heavy duty wards up there, and for all I know, you could bring back the one they’re protecting, and I don’t have anyone to assist me if that’s the case.”

“Their wards don’t hold back Reapers. Just let me go get on and we can exchange. I’ll make sure the new soul is more pure. It’s a win-win.”

“No, and you are starting to wear my patience. Leave now.”

“CENDALL! HELP ME!” Myah screamed as she woke up and tried to get up. His eyes widened, and he grabbed her by the neck, holding her to his side as he stared back at me.

“You’re the one they’re all looking for.” He smiled wickedly as my hands began to sting. “Ms. Cendall Todeslandwirt, number one on the Demon list. Quite an achievement, my lady.” He laughed. “So, this must be the little soul that’s supposed to tip the scale? I’m going to be awarded so heavily for this. I can see the legions now. Your mine, Reaper, but first—” He hit Myah on the back of the skull, knocking her unconscious again. The order must have been to bring Lacie back alive, but considering he brought out his blades, mine apparently wasn’t the same. “Mobrolantis will be so happy when I bring her back to him.”

“I don’t really think so, seeing as that’s not going to happen.”

“You really think you can...” And I didn’t let him finish, not wanting another tirade of how he was “oh so powerful”. I flung up both arms and watched as the electricity left my fingertips and hit him right in the chest, sending him flying into the trailer behind him. He hit it with a loud thud and collapsed to the ground. I walked over and with one, downward swipe of my scythe, slashed his head off. With one more swipe, I cut open his heart, threw it on the ground next to me, and smashed it under my boot. As my foot came down upon it, the juices squirted from the sides as it burst. Trevor had taught me that, along with cutting off their heads, it was always a safe bet to crush their heart as well. I put my hand on his chest to see if I could feel anymore pulsing as sometimes Demons had more than one heart. He hadn’t. I looked back behind me where he’d dropped Myah during his flying lesson. I could feel she was still alive, but she had bruises all over her from the Demon dragging her away. I put my hands on her chest and tried to channel the healing, but nothing came out. I put my hand to her head and pulled the memories of the fair. I then called out “Home”, and ported her body to the bottom of the stairs at her house. Her parents would find her soon and think she just fell down the stairs.

I walked back over to where I’d left the other Guardians. Lacie was nowhere in sight; she must have already left with Trevor.

Abram was the first one I saw.

“Did Trevor take Lacie back?” He looked at me and begin to open his mouth but shut it quickly

“Are you serious?! I need to know NOW! I understand you hate me for what happened to your sister, but I’m not that Reaper or that Demon. How many more Demons do I have to kill for you to understand that?”

“Demon? There were no Demons. Only you lurking.”

“Inside the wards, yes, but if you’d like proof, scrape off a sample,” I said as I lifted my leg and put my boot up to his face so he could get a whiff.