Reaper

“You can’t be serious about this, Saphira!” Sawyer roared.

I winced. I could hear how angry he was through the thin motel walls. I glanced over at Jesse, who shrugged and went back to eating his fast-food burger that we had just returned from getting. Being Reapers, Sawyer and Saphira both had forgotten that we, the humans, needed to eat.

But it had been three days since we had gotten to the motel, and the entire time was taken up by Sawyer berating Saphira about talking to vampires. Meanwhile, two of Sawyer’s pack members had shown up, and they had done little in the way of introducing themselves. I wasn’t sure if it was something I had done, but from what I saw, they seemed to mean no harm to me.

The girl, Lina, must have been Saphira’s twin, because they were identical in nearly every way. Her inky hair was the same, her icy blue eyes the same, even all her facial features were practically mirror images of each other. I had no idea how to tell them apart. The other one, Simon, was a tall, lanky guy, with black hair and brown eyes, who looked very much like that brilliant guy that always seemed to sit in the back of the class. From the minimal amount that I’d heard him talk, he seemed to be absurdly intelligent. And, therefore, I was automatically too nervous to talk to him, for fear of looking like an idiot.

“It’s the only way we can make this work,” I heard Saphira say back to him, only this time in a quieter voice.

There was no noise in out room except for our own breathing and eating, so everything that went on next door was easily heard. I tried to ignore it, but I knew they were talking about me, and I knew it was bad, and I couldn’t help but feel immensely guilty about it.

Jesse swallowed his bite and put down the food. “Red, look, it’s not your fault-“

I sighed and held up a hand. “Jess, please, stop, you don’t have to try and make me feel better-“

“I’m not. I just think you’re being hard on yourself-“

“I should be hard on myself, look what’s happened-“

“Charlie.”

The expression on his face was one that I had never seen before. His lips were pressed into a tight line, and I was instantly reminded of Sawyer in that his face looked completely emotionless. It was unnerving how similar they looked with that expression.

“Charlie, look at me.”

I bit my lip, finally bringing myself to look up at him. He stared at me with those damn puppy-dog eyes of his and I practically melted on the spot. “What?”

He reached out, hesitantly, and curled his finger under my chin, lifting it up so that I was looking up at him, fully. “None of this is your fault,” he murmured. “And even if it is, I don’t blame you for it. Sawyer doesn’t blame you for it. So you can stop blaming yourself for it, because you’re the only one who does.” He smiled weakly.

I wanted so badly to believe him. But I knew, deep down, that none of this would be happening to any of us if I wasn’t some freak genetic abnormality. I didn’t know why I was immune to Reaper attacks, but apparently everyone thought I did, and could tell them how I did it. I was terrified about what might happen when they found out I was just a weird coincidence, a strange lineup of DNA and nothing else.

And I’d fallen right into Sawyer’s lap.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, barely audible even to myself. I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes.

Jesse pulled me into a tight hug. “I know.” He sighed, and I felt his chest rise and fall underneath my cheek.

Those two words had to say all that I couldn’t. I was sorry for dragging Jesse into all of this. I was sorry for taking advantage of his kindness. I was sorry for kissing him and then forgetting and then feeling bad about it all over again. Even if he didn’t blame me for it, I couldn’t ignore the fact that he’d be safe at home if he hadn’t come with me to Atlantic City.

Home.

“Oh, God,” I breathed, suddenly overcome with a realization that hadn’t even entered my mind yet. “My roommates are going to be worried sick! And my brother! Noah’s only seen me once since he came back from Afganistan, he must have called me a hundred times–“ I looked frantically around the room, knowing full well that I had no idea where my phone was or if I even had it on me. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d even seen it, let alone used it.

Jesse grabbed my shoulders lightly. “Red, I hate to break this to you, but I think it’s a goner.” I could hear the amusement in his voice, but I was too flustered to care.

I groaned and flopped back onto the bed. “Christ, Jess! What if they think I’m dead in a ditch somewhere or something?”

“I know Mandi’s quick to jump to conclusions, but that is a little extreme…”

I decided that since we’d been isolated for a few days, it might be best to check in with the real world. I hastily grabbed the television remote that powered the ancient-looking TV and turned it on, hoping the raggedy-looking thing might work. It flickered to life, and I realized that the picture was grainy, but at least in color. I flicked through a few channels, most of them in Spanish, until I found a news station.

It was that guy. That news anchor that I’d seen on my own television and at the coffee shop so long ago. I couldn’t believe it, but I’d never been so happy to see a man wearing makeup in my entire life.

“And, in other news, there’s been another installment in the crimes being attributed to the shadowy figure only known as ‘Jack the Reaper’,” the man announced, his eyes fixed coldly on the camera. “A man and a woman, both in their early twenties, have been labeled as missing this past Monday after they both failed to show up for work. Their friends have come forward and have offered a reward for any information leading to their safe return.”

“Shit,” Jesse whispered beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that his smug smirk had been wiped from his face, replaced by a look of panic that I’d seen when he had looked at Isis a few nights ago. “Well, maybe it’s not us,” he said hopefully, “There are millions of people who live in New York. It might just be a coincidence-“

“The two have been identified as 22-year-old Charlotte Scott, and 23-year-old Jesse Murphy, both from Manhattan. The pair was last seen Friday Night outside Mickey’s, a bar at which the two are employed. They have not been heard from since. It is suspected that these two disappearings are connected to the Jack the Reaper case, but the connection is unknown to the public at this time. Law enforcement urges anyone with information to come forward at this time.”

Jesse and I both sat, frozen, as we watched pictures of ourselves flash across the screen. They were pictures that Fitch had taken of me for some art installment or another about three months ago, perfect portraits that made me look much prettier and much more innocent than I actually was. Jesse’s pictures were similar – headshots that he’d had taken for a one-time modeling job.

They were looking for us. They were looking very hard for us and even we didn’t know where we were. How were we supposed to let them know we were alright without giving up Sawyer and Saphira? It’s not like we could just call them up and tell them everything is fine, and oh, by the way, our neighborhood friendly Reapers have just taken us on a weekend road trip.

Jesse looked over to me, nervous. “Well… That’s a problem.”

I don’t know what happened. Something inside of me snapped. I’m not sure what it was, or how many more of them I had, but once it did I broke down. I felt the tears prick my eyes again and I balled my fists up at my sides. I didn’t know if I was angry or sad or guilty or what, but it was all-consuming. I felt the heat surge through my body as I stood up and started pacing the room.

“This is really, really bad,” I murmured, barely able to form the words. I had started shaking at some point, I didn’t know when. “Jesse, we need to get you home as soon as possible.”

He just stared at me, his eyes wide. “Hell no! I’m not just going to leave you here with all these freaks! On top of them being completely deadly, now they’ve got vampires mixed into all this business.”

I exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself down. It didn’t seem to work. “Jesse, as a friend, I’m telling you that it’s better if you go back. People miss you back home.” I went back to pacing. “Now, we could probably get Simon and Lina to take you back-“

This time, he stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not going back, Red,” he said firmly, his eyes pinning me to where I stood, completely taken aback. “You already almost got yourself killed once. Who knows what kind of trouble you’d get into if I wasn’t around?”

Irritated, I stomped my foot on the ground, and mirrored him by crossing my own arms over my chest. “So did you! And you don’t have to be here in the first place. Don’t you want a way out?”

He frowned. “No, I just want you to be safe.”

“But making me safe will put you in more danger.”

“So?”

“So? Why would you do that?” I asked stupidly.

He hesitated for a moment. I felt the anger boiling up under my skin as I sat there and waited for an answer. I was angry that he couldn’t see what he was doing to himself. He didn’t understand the danger he was putting himself in, and all for what? A cheap thrill? A good story? Even if he hated me for it, I wasn’t going to just stand by and let him get hurt.

“Huh?” I pressed, taking a step closer to hum and closing the distance between us. My elbows brushed his as I stared up at him, annoyed. “Why?”

Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “Because I love you, Charlie. That’s why.”

-[-]-

Sawyer paced through the small beige motel room, hands running furiously through his hair. “Why would it ever occur to you to go to them?” he hissed at Saphira, who was lounged over her armchair in the corner.

She looked up from her sketch, a drawing of a man from the neck down that Sawyer had never seen before. “Because we’re in over our head with this one, Sawyer. I’ve been telling you that for the last three days,” she drawled, clearly bored with the argument that Sawyer was only just getting started on.

Lina, sprawled out on the bed, cleared her throat. “I have to say, I think I agree with Sawyer on this one, sis. Maybe it’s a little early to involve the vampires. You know they don’t like us, so it’s a huge step to have to go to them for help.”

Sawyer nodded to her in acknowledgement and continued to pace. Saphira rolled her eyes and returned to her drawing.

Simon, however, had something to say. “But Isis sniffed them out hours away from New York. Surely that means that she’ll be able to find us no matter where we go,” he reasoned, avoiding Lina’s offended glare. “The vampires are brilliant at cloaking, and that’s what Sawyer wants for Charlotte, after all – at least until we can determine what it is about her that’s making her resist Feeding.” He paused, staring at the ceiling for a moment. “Perhaps it isn’t only Reapers that Charlotte is immune to…”

Sawyer scoffed. “What, now she’s immune to teeth as well? Do you suggest we have one of them bite her, just to see what happens?” he seethed, his hands curling into fists at his sides. Everyone in the room could see the anger rolling off of him in waves, but all three of them were too intimidated by his size to do anything.

Simon sat up straighter. “You know that’s not what I meant-“

“Well then, what did you mean?”

Saphira engaged herself again. “Sawyer, he’s only thinking about what you want. You want Charlie to be safe, we all know that. I just think that they can offer the best protection at this point.” She sighed, glanced off into the distance. “Maybe even better than we can.”

Sawyer’s muscles tensed. His eyes flashed raw anger, his face contorting into rage. “Are you saying that I can’t protect her myself?”

Saphira finally snapped. In one quick movement, she was on her feet, her face in Sawyer’s face, angry as all hell that he just didn’t seem to get it. “Well look what a fantastic job you’ve done so far!”

Enraged, Sawyer opened his mouth to respond, but at that exact moment, he felt a burst of energy coming from Charlie’s room. He felt the anger and sadness wash over him, stalling him dead in his tracks. Something was obviously very, very wrong.

In two strides, he was out the door, headed directly for the room that she and Jesse had been occupying while the pack discussed their options. He reached for the handle, but noticed it was locked, and cursed. He had left his key card inside. He knocked on the door, but there was no response, only hushed voices from within.

“So? Why would you do that?” That was Charlie. He could Sense her anger, worry, through the walls. He wanted so badly just to comfort her, but he had no idea what the context was, why she was so upset. “Huh? Why?”

There was a pause. Then, “Because I love you, Charlie. That’s why.”

All three of them fell silent. Sawyer could hear his own heartbeat in his ears as the anger rose through him, hot and all-consuming. He felt it coil in his stomach, sitting heavy in his abdomen. He never felt like this outside of when he was hunting, and he felt himself nearly lose control of himself.

His mind made up, Sawyer stalked back to the other room, clearly upset. The others perked up at his reentry, but were completely unprepared for what he was about to say.

“Call Tobias. We leave tonight.”