Reaper (33 page)

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Ethan instructed and sat at my side. He put an arm around me.

“I was upstairs in my room. A weird light caught my eye and Hunter and I went to investigate.”

“I remember,” René told us.

“I touched the light and it just faded away. When I got to the road, a cop drove past. Then I turned around and everything was gone.” I paused, recalling everything so vividly. I knew it really happened.

“Go on,” Ethan encouraged. I launched into a fully detailed description of the police station, the fake Ethan, Dr. Green, Rose, Hunter being a normal dog, and my escape.
 
René, Harrison, and Ethan were quiet when I finished. After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Ethan got up and paced around the room.

René patted my arm. She looked at me and then Hunter. “You said that Hunter went with you,” she stated. I nodded, curious to see her point. “But he didn’t in real life, or reality, or whatever.”

“He didn’t?” I rubbed the Coven pendent on Hunter’s collar with my fingers.

“No,” René started, obviously onto something. “He came back to the front door, really upset. That’s how we knew something bad happened to you.”

Hunter wormed his way into my lap. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the top of his head.

“We followed him outside,” René continued. “He ran to the road and made the saddest sound ever. He didn’t want to leave that spot, but we thought we should check the rest of the property.”

“Was it another hallucination?” Harrison asked, his face still drained of color.

I shook my head. “I thought it was at first, but everything was too real. I interacted with too much.”

Ethan strode over, his eyes set on revenge. I looked at him, and his face temporarily softened when our gazes met. “I think you were pulled into another plane or reality.”

“But everything felt so real,” I stressed.

“That’s because it was.” Ethan sat in a leather armchair, resting his elbows on his legs. “It’s hard to explain, and to be honest, I don’t know too much about it, but this world isn’t the only one. You know how ghosts exist on a different level; that’s why only certain people can see them.”

I nodded, remembering my visit to the astral plane last fall. “How did I get there?” My heart sped up. I buried my fingers in Hunter’s fur.

“I have no idea,” Ethan admitted. “And I have no idea how you got out. I’ve only heard stories about other planes,” he continued. “And they’ve never ended well. The alternate world becomes so convincing that the victim loses all sense of reality. They literally are trapped.”

“I just knew it wasn’t real,” I stated. “I knew I could get out if I came home.”

“That’s it?” René asked. “You didn’t do any spells?”

“No. I knew I didn’t imagine Ethan. I had to come home.”

“Wow,” René said, though I didn’t know what was so impressive. “Being in the crazy ward would have gotten to me, I think.”

“Yeah, and when you’re basing reality on being able to telepathically communicate with your dog, being certifiably insane is almost convincing,” I said with a laugh. “Plus, there were…” I trailed off.

“There were what?” Ethan and René asked at the same time.

I looked at the floor. “There were things that just weren’t realistic.”

“Like what?” Ethan probed.

I shook my head. “They told me I was in a psych ward. But I had a lamp with a cord, a picture hanging on the wall, and curtains. And I was locked in my room with the door closed. That would never happen.”

“I am not following you,” René informed me.

“Stuff like that would
never
be in a room in the psych ward. I could hang myself with the curtains, hurt myself in so many ways with the lamp, and do some major damage with a glass framed picture that was hanging on a nail.”

“Oh, I got it now,” René said with a nod. “Wait, how do you know what a room in a psych ward is like?”

I looked at my brother. His blue eyes met mine; he knew exactly what I was talking about.

“Annie?” Ethan asked softly when I didn’t answer.

“It’s a long story,” I said quietly.

“When we were fifteen,” Harrison explained. “Our parents thought Annie was crazy because she talked about a ghost following her. They checked her into the psych ward. She spent three days there and was never diagnosed with anything, ‘cuz obviously there is nothing wrong with her.”

“Or it’s not,” I muttered.

Ethan looked slightly hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“It wasn’t exactly my proudest moment,” I told him.

Ethan stood again. “So you just decided to run home?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah. I knew that if I could just get back here, back to you, everything would be ok.” I looked into his captivating brown eyes. Things were far from ok, but just being with him made things…manageable.

Ethan paced around the room, looking suspiciously out the windows. “Call Keith. We need to know more about the girl who died in that graveyard and go from there. There has to be some sort of connection.”

“I’ll get my phone,” René offered and got up. She trotted up the stairs and returned a minute later. “…alright, bye,” she said into her phone before she hung up. “He’s on his way.”

“Good,” Ethan said. His face was set and his posture stoic; I was positive Harrison and René were none the wiser to how close to unhinged Ethan was coming. “Do you want anything?” he asked me.

“Some aspirin,” I replied. “I have a killer headache.”

“I’ll get it,” René offered. “Uh, where is it?”

“First drawer on the right in the bathroom,” Ethan told her. She hurried out of the room and returned with the plastic bottle. I popped two pills in my mouth and washed it down with a swallow of water. I closed my eyes and rested my head against Hunter. We sat around in silence until Keith showed up.

“What do you know about the girl who died at the graveyard?” Ethan asked Keith, not bothering to wait until Keith took his shoes and coat off.

“Not much,” he responded. “It happened seven years ago. There are two different versions to the story. One is that a group of kids went to the graveyard to worship the devil. Supposedly, they raised something from the dead and a girl was sacrificed. The more realistic version is that the same group of kids went to the graveyard to party. A girl overdosed and was left by her friends. She froze to death or something.”

“You don’t know names?”

Keith shook his head. “I do know it happened around Thanksgiving. I remember being at my grandparents when the ambulance took the body away.”

“And your positive it was seven years ago?”

“Yes,” he assured us.

“What street is the graveyard on?” Ethan asked.

“It’s off of Madison Street.”

Ethan stood. “Thanks.”

“Where are you going?” I asked him.

“To make a call,” he said and hurried out of the room.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Keith asked and sat on the couch next to me.

“Want me to tell?” René inquired. I nodded, not feeling like storytelling at the moment. Ethan returned into the room the moment René finished filling Keith in on the craziness that went down.

“I have to meet someone downtown,” he said and pulled his arms through a leather motorcycle jacket. “The Order has a contact who can go through police files. I’ll be able to find out the girl’s identity.”

“Don’t go alone,” I muttered.

“I’ll be fine, Annie. I’m meeting another hunter. It won’t take long.”

I sat up and stared dubiously at him. “Ethan, whoever put me in that world was
very
interested in you. I can’t help but feel like if you leave, you’re gonna walk into a trap.”

He pressed his lips together and looked at me. “I’ll be fine.”

“Take Hunter,” I ordered.

“No,” he said defiantly. “You need him; he’s
your
Guardian.”

“I’m not going to leave the house—at all. René, Keith, and Harry are here to keep an eye on me. Honestly, I plan on taking a shower and passing out. I’m freaking exhausted.”

Ethan stared at me for a good thirty seconds. He came over to the couch, sat down, and put an arm around me. “Fine,” he begrudgingly agreed. He turned to my brother.
 
“Do
not
let her out of your sight,” he ordered.

“I won’t,” Harrison promised.

“Oh, come on,” I whispered. “I’m fine. I won’t leave the house.”

“Annie, I know you can take care of yourself, but with all these mind games, you need a baby sitter.” Ethan hugged me.

“You’re right,” I ruefully agreed. “Be safe, ok?”

“Always.” He stood. “It will probably take me two hours,” Ethan said. Hunter, who had been listening, gracefully sprung from the couch and waited for Ethan to put his harness on him. Ethan kissed me goodbye and left.

“He is so good to you,” Keith gushed. “I saw the way he looked into your eyes before he left…Uh! You have no idea what I’d give to have a guy like that!”

“Uh,” Harrison began. “Don’t you mean—wait, what?”

“Oh.” Keith smiled at Harrison. “I’m gay.”

“Oh, I-ah-ok,” Harrison sputtered. Harrison wasn’t as accepting as Ethan, and he was full of himself enough to assume Keith would soon be hitting on him. I rolled my eyes. Before I could scold Harrison, Mindy crashed into my head again. I closed my eyes and tried to block her out.

“Annie,” Harrison said and rushed over to me. Keith moved out of the way and let Harrison take his place. I grabbed both his hands as pain pulsed through my stomach. “What’s wrong? Is she here?”

“Not physically.” Colors swirled around me. I forced up my mental shields. The knot in my stomach loosened and I relaxed. “She’s trying to get in my head. It’s hard to block her out.”

“Can I help?” Keith asked.

“We can try a spell,” René thought.

I shook my head. “Nothing will work. Thanks, though,” I told them. The headache worsened and I felt dizzy again.

René’s phone buzzed in her hand. “Ah, shit,” she swore after she read the text.

“What is it?” Keith asked.

“Nothing major. Shelly’s car died. She asked if I could pick her up from work. She’ll have to find another ride,” she added to herself.

“René,” I began. “You can go pick up your sister. I’ll be fine with the guys.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I croaked, afraid I might puke again.

“Alright. It won’t take me long,” she promised and headed to the door. “Guys,” she added. “Keep your eyes peeled, ok?”

Harrison walked her to the door and promised he’d keep an eye on everything. He sat heavily on the couch. “Is there anything you want?” he asked me.

 
I was cold, covered in dried, itchy sweat and feeling crappier by the second. “Shower,” I mumbled.

“No,” Harrison said definitely. “Ethan said not to let you out of my sight.”

“Then watch me,” I said tartly, sitting up.

“Anora…” Keith began.

“Guys, Ethan meant ‘don’t let me get sucked into another dimension’, not physically watch my every move.” I put my feet on the floor. “And I really don’t think there’s a portal inside the shower.”

“Fine, but you have to talk to me so I know you’re there,” Harrison told me.

“I can do that.” I walked upstairs and into the bathroom, shut the door, and turned the shower on just in time to heave into the toilet again. Ugh, any movement made me sick. I minimally washed my hair and sunk down, hugging my knees to my chest. The water felt so good, but it didn’t wash away the cold. I turned the temperature up until the water stung my skin, red patches blotched my body.

My mind swirled just as rapidly as the water did down the drain. I couldn’t form a coherent thought. Everything hurt, every movement made me queasy.

“Annie?” Harrison called.

“Mmm,” I responded.

“You ok?”

I mustered a weak ‘yeah’ and heard the door click shut. I turned the temp up again. I could feel her, picking her way into my brain. It took everything I had to keep her out. A deep breath in, hold it, let it out. Focusing on breathing steady was a challenge. I don’t know how much time passed. The water wasn’t scolding my skin anymore, so I was either getting used to it or the hot water heater was running low.

“Annie?” Harrison cracked the door.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my voice died. If I wasn’t sitting, I would have fallen. I couldn’t tell if I was still or moving. I opened my eyes too fast; water splattered in and burned.

“Annie, you ok?” Harrison called again, panic floating on his words. “Annie? Annie!” When I didn’t answer he ran in. He peeled the shower curtain back a half an inch. Holding one hand in front of his eyes to blur the sight of me, he stole a glance before letting the curtain fall. “Shit, I thought you went away again. Why didn’t you answer me?”

I let out a ragged breath. “C-can’t.”

“Uh, I think it’s time to get out.”

I heard him call Keith in. They spoke softly and quickly, debating what to do.