Reaper

Once again, I found myself planted firmly in the passenger seat of Sawyer’s truck, bored and anxious all at the same time. According to the petulant driver, we were on our way to the vampires’ base camp, which was located in Chicago. I had been completely taken aback by their willingness to drive all that way to reach them.

Until I realized that Jesse and I couldn’t fly because we were considered missing persons.

So once Sawyer had stormed into our hotel room and informed us that he had done a complete turn around and had decided to go to the vampires, we were loaded up like cattle and shipped off. Since Sawyer was royally pissing people off for no apparent reason, Saphira opted to ride with Simon and Lina, and Jesse, not willing to be cooped up with me after what had happened earlier, went with them.

Leaving me to sit next to Sawyer in silence.

None of us could shake the awkwardness that hung in the air since Jesse had made his confession. I didn’t tell Sawyer that anything had happened, but I could tell that somehow, he knew. I didn’t think too much about how he knew, but he did. When I hadn’t told Jesse that I felt the same way about him, he had simply just stormed out of the room, leaving me there, alone, surprised, and confused.

Jesse loved me? What the hell was I supposed to say to that? That was one of the last things that I expected to come out of his mouth. I was taken completely off guard. I wasn’t in love with Jesse, I knew that much for sure. I didn’t even know if I was ‘in love’ with Sawyer, and I had more of a relationship with him. If you could even call it that. But I couldn’t just say that I didn’t care about Jesse, because I did. He had looked out for me the way no one had before, like a brother when my own wasn’t there. So, in a way, I did love him, too. Just not romantically.

I just hoped that that was what he meant.

Sawyer cleared his throat abruptly. “Charlie, you should know that vampires are not like Reapers.”

I blinked at him, confused, before looking back out the window at the lights zipping by. “What do you mean?” I asked quietly, thankful that it was at least something to break the silence.

He glanced over at me, briefly, before locking his eyes forward again. “Reapers have better-than normal self-control,” he said, his mouth tugging into a frown. “It’s much easier for us to kill, and therefore we must be more careful, or humans would be completely aware of us. Vampires, however, consume blood. It is harder for them to kill, but they can feed without killing. It is something that, as a Reaper, I cannot easily do.” He looked over again, to see if I was paying attention.

I raised an eyebrow. “So, basically, what you’re saying is that I need to stay watched at all times.”

I saw his mouth twitch upward in amusement. “Alright, fine, if you want to put it that way.” But he relaxed visibly. I could tell that it wasn’t an easy thing for him to admit, that I wasn’t safe, but my understanding and acceptance of it made it easier on him, I’m sure. “We know you’re relatively safe from Reaper Feedings – that much is true. But, in truth, I don’t know how you’ll react to that of vampires. None of us are sure. We’ve never encountered anyone like you before.”

I couldn’t fight back the smile that spread across my face, despite the grim warning behind his words. “So I’m special?”

This time he laughed. “Special suits you, yes.”

We were quiet for a few minutes as I watched us fly down the highway at what couldn’t have been a legal speed, but I didn’t seem too concerned. The car’s headlights illuminated a small space in front of us, and that was all I needed to see. I watched the headlights of other cars zoom by, bright and blinding, as we passes street light after streetlight. Off in the distance, some city with twinkling lights lay spread out on the horizon, a blanket of stars spread out on the ground.

The silence made me braver. After another minute or two, the nagging thought at the back of my mind burst forth, before I could stop it. “I’m not in love with Jesse,” I blurted, biting my lip and hiding my face in my hands.

Sawyer was so taken aback by the comment that he swerved slightly before righting himself. He exhaled loudly and glanced at me, then back at the road, then back to me again. He visibly relaxed; his iron grip on the wheel loosened and the taught muscle in his jaw faded. But he was characteristically silent and stoic as he drove, his stone mask once again setting over his features. “Whomever you choose to love is none of my business,” he said coldly, his eyes narrowed.

“Oh. Uh, yeah.” I felt my face flush hot with embarrassment. “But, um, I thought-“

“Shh!” Sawyer leaned forward abruptly, squinting off into the distance where the other car was driving ahead of us. “They’re stopping.”

Nervous, I turned to look out the window. Sure enough, the car had slowed down to a crawl, and eventually stopped on the side of the road. We were in the middle of no where, a two-lane stretch of road that extended in both directions for miles and miles. I looked around frantically, wondering what could have gone wrong. We had stopped for gas before we had left and Simon had checked over both cars, giving them a clean bill of health. So why was the minivan stopping?

Simon, frantic, stepped out of the car as we pulled up behind him, terror written all over his face. Something was terribly, terribly wrong, I knew it. I could feel it deep in the pit of my stomach, hot and heavy, as he bolted over to Sawyer’s window, motioning for him to roll it down.

And suddenly, a long, loud howl pierced the air.

“W-Werewolves,” Simon panted, “Get Charlie out of here. We’ll catch up with you later.”

Sawyer, ignoring him, unfastened his seatbelt and shoved himself out of the truck. “Fuck that.” He rolled the window back up, making sure they were all securely closed. He looked back up at me, and I could see the fear in those green eyes. “Charlie, please, get on the floor in the back seat. Cover yourself with the blanket. And don’t. Move.”

He quickly leaned back into the cab and gave me a quick kiss on the lips before slamming the door in my face.

Under normal circumstances, I would have questioned his order, but I knew well enough that in this case, it was definitely best to do what he said. I heard him lock the car as I crawled into the spacious back seat, yanking on the blanket that had been discarded back there some time ago, and curled up into a ball on the floor, pulling my knees to my chest. I felt my heart pounding in my ears as I sat there, completely unaware of what was happening.

Another howl.

“Shit,” I heard Saphira curse from somewhere outside, in the direction that Sawyer had gone. “How many of them are there?” More panic.

Before I could totally process what she said, a muffled roar ripped through the air. I could feel the ground vibrate as it was pounded by what must have been feet, but I had hoped it wasn’t. I could hear screeching, yelling, and howling as the sound approached. I heard Sawyer yell some command at the others, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

Suddenly, I was knocked about by something on top of the truck. I screamed, loud enough to hurt my own ears, but I was too scared to look up. It was like the subway incident all over again, I thought, as the truck was rocked back and forth, back and forth. I could hear the metal crunching around me and the glass shattering and I was completely convinced I was going to die. In a fit of adrenaline, I looked up.

In the window, hanging upside down, was a werewolf.

He looked very much like a man, in most senses of the word, except that his face was covered in hair. He had an abnormally thick beard, moustache, and hair, all of which were normal on a man, but the rest of his face also had a light coat on it. His features were contorted into a grotesque snarl, his mouth dripping saliva as he bared his teeth at me. They were massive, yellowed canines, sharp and menacing on the other side of the glass. But even more terrifying than that was the fact that I could see that his mouth – or muzzle, rather – was soaked with blood.

I screamed again. Boy, did I scream. But I was too paralyzed to do anything other than scream, and hide myself under the blanket, and hope that this would all just be over so I could stop screaming. The panic bubbled up my chest and my throat closed, forcing me to stop. I felt my heart pounding against my chest, hard, like it was trying to get out.

I heard more shouts, accompanied this time by animal-like whimpering. There was a gruesome snap, like a bone breaking, and then the rocking of the truck ceased.

“JESSE!” I heard Saphira shout shrilly, desperately.

I scrambled up to the window again, my whole body shaking. I clawed at the handles to the window to try to see out. I gasped as I saw the others surrounded by creatures like the one that had attacked the truck, outnumbered 3 to one. Sawyer was punching, running, jumping, slashing every which way. I felt the panic rise in my chest – I hadn’t realized what he was capable of doing. The others were all equally as skilled, clearly holding their own against the wolves. I watched as Simon grabbed one by the throat and promptly Fed from it, his eyes two beacons slicing through the darkness.

But what stood out from the chaos was Jesse, bolting out of the car ahead of us and into the fight, straight to Saphira.

It was like it was in slow motion. He launched himself onto the werewolf that Saphira was attacking, wrapping his arms around its neck and twisting violently. The werewolf dropped limply to the ground, its neck broken.

It was as though someone had hit a stop button. All of the Reapers, including Saphira, turned to see what had happened, as Jesse stood there, staring at his hands and the pool of blood that was forming at his feet. His chest rose and fell raggedly, his eyes wide with fear.

And suddenly, another werewolf came up behind him, biting down hard on his shoulder.

The sound of pain that came out of his mouth will haunt me for the rest of my life. I watched, horrified, as Jesse fell to the ground with his conquest, screaming in pain. Saphira lurched for the werewolf and promptly drove it away, but it was clear that Jesse had been bitten. He collapsed onto the ground, his voice echoing through the air.

I felt like I was going to vomit. Finally, the shaking overcame me, and I slid down the side of the car. The sounds of the battle carried on outside, but I was too numb to process it. I had just witnessed Jesse being attacked, and it was all my fault.

It was then that I noticed the gun. It was tucked into the back of Sawyer’s seat, a small handgun that couldn’t have been good for much other than protection. But it was exactly what I needed.

I yanked it out and realized that it wasn’t loaded. Cursing, I quickly loaded it, thankful that my brothers had been gun enthusiasts and had at least taught me a thing or two about them, even though I couldn’t stand guns. With shaky hands, I pushed myself up, watching the window as the wolves beat down severely on the Reapers. Their eyes were lit up, but I knew they were in trouble.

I was shaky as I opened the door, the one away from the fight. I quickly pulled myself out of the truck, nearly falling onto the shaky ground.

From my left, I saw one of the wolves pounce out from in front of the truck, crouched on all fours. He snarled at me, much like the other one had, his teeth rotten and bared and dripping. I realized with a start that it was the one who had attacked Jesse, his mouth still red with his blood. My friend’s blood.

It was that thought that propelled me. In one movement, before I knew it was happening, I released the safety, aimed, and fired the gun at the creature.

BANG.

The kickback sent me into the side of the truck. I hadn’t been prepared for it. But when I gained my footing, I saw the creature staring at me with cold, unseeing eyes. In horror, I watched as the scarlet patch spread through its chest, blossoming right in the center of his ribcage and spreading outward, like a deadly rose. His mouth was red now, more red, dripping blood, as I watched his body slumped forward, his eyes never leaving mine, as he gurgled and clutched his chest, moaning and whining like a dog. And in a matter of seconds, he was curled up on the floor, unmoving.

“What the hell?!” Sawyer roared from out of sight.

I heard feet scampering away, accompanied by frightened whines that were obviously the wolves. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the one I had shot, completely immobilized by the realization that I had killed it. I had killed something. Me. My eyes were wide, my mouth agape, my breathing shallow and terrified.

In a matter of seconds, Sawyer came around the front of the truck, and stopped dead when he saw me. His eyes widened and he stumbled backward. He saw me standing there, shaking so bad I could barely stand, holding the gun, standing over a dead werewolf when he had specifically ordered me to stay in the car. I could see the anger, the worry, and the concern flash across his face as he made his way over to me, enveloping me in a hug.

“Easy, Charlie, easy, you scared them off,” he panted, talking into my neck.

He smelled like sweat and blood.

“He’s been bitten!” Saphira wailed. “Jesse’s been bitten!”