Reaper

There was nothing that we could do for Jesse on the ground next to a freeway, so Sawyer and Saphira loaded him carefully into the backseat of the truck. Sawyer shoved me roughly in with him, so that his head and neck – though wrapped up to stop the bleeding, was soaked with rotten-smelling blood that seeped onto my jeans – was resting on my lap. In a few minutes, we were back on the road, Sawyer speeding over the terrain. He assured us that we would reach our destination in about an hour.

I sat there, with Jesse’s bruised and bloodied body in my lap, trying to calm the hurricane in my head.

All I could see, no matter how many times I opened and closed my eyes, was the image of what werewolf crumbling down in front of me. I saw the blood spread over his chest, and I saw him fall, hard, onto the pavement, and I saw the terror in Sawyer’s face when he saw me with the gun. I felt the sting in my hand from the kickback, and I felt the burn in my shoulder. I stared straight ahead, trying to calm myself, but failing.

I had killed a man. Not a human, that was true. A werewolf. But what if he had a life, just like Sawyer and Saphira had lives? I had ended that.

Me. Charlotte.

Jesse groaned in my lap, his face clearly contorted in pain. “Ch-Charlie-“

I shushed him. Carefully, slowly, I grabbed his left hand, the one that wasn’t attached to the battered shoulder, and I squeezed it lightly to let him know I was there. “It’s okay, Jess. I’m here,” I assured him, absently, still a little light-headed.

He moaned in pain as the truck hit a bump in the road. It was horrifying, hearing the sound he made, and seeing the expression on his face. It looked like he was being ripped apart from the inside out. He shuddered and convulsed, expelling a stream of curse words.

I bit my lip and squeezed his hand harder.

“Fuck, it burns, Red.” He arched his back and let out another groan. “It all burns, everything… burns… Argh!”

I could feel the tears pricking at the back of my eyes. “Sawyer-“

“That’s venom spreading through his veins,” he said quickly, his eyes firmly on the road. I could see the tension in his face again, only this time it was obvious that he was driving as fast as he possibly could. “Werewolves and Vampires bite their prey to feed from them. Unfortunately, the wolf that bit Jesse was young, and unaccustomed to hunting-“ Sawyer must’ve sensed the wave of guilt that washed over me, and looked at me apologetically in the rearview mirror. “Sorry. But it used up all of its venom in one go.”

Jesse cried out again, throwing his head back. “Christ!”

I wiped the tears angrily away from my face. After I did so, I realized that my hand had been soaked in blood – Jesse’s, I’d hoped. I fought back the urge to throw up. “D-Does that mean… that he’s going to… to turn into one?” I asked, hesitantly, unsure of what I wanted the answer to be.

Saphira scoffed. “Hardly. That’s not how we work, Charlie, you know that.”

I don’t know why, but I felt something twinge in my chest. It made me feel suddenly childish, belittled, that she would say something like that. I didn’t know everything about this world. In fact, I barely knew which way was up, let alone every nuance that one could learn by living in it. For 22 years, I was a normal person living a normal, and human life. How the hell was I supposed to know?

Sawyer emitted a low growl from his throat. “Back off, Saphira. She doesn’t know any better.”

She looked taken aback, almost incredulous. “Well, I just thought you two would have discussed how Reapers reproduce, at some point-“

“That’s enough!”

“Fuck!”

Oh, but his neck was gruesome. I was never one to be particularly sensitive about blood – after all, one of my brothers was a surgeon and the other a soldier – but this was truly awful. The scent of metallic blood wafted through the air, unhurriedly, hot and mixed with sweat and dirt. I tried not to look directly at it, but the crimson stain on the white fabric was hard to ignore. I could feel the hot blood dripping onto my leg, pooling on my thigh and running down the inside of my leg. I wanted to scream, or throw up, or crawl away and take a hot shower, but I wanted more for Jesse to be comfortable, so I bit it back.

I stared out the window for a few moments, trying to clear my head somewhere in the lights flying by the window. “H-How did they find us?” My voice was quiet, barely above a whisper.

Sawyer tensed visibly. He glanced at me, turning his head slightly, unsure of exactly what my reaction was going to be. I could practically feel the tension radiating off of him – it was obvious that he was upset. Really upset. “I’m not… I’m not entirely sure,” he said honestly, rubbing a hand across his jaw.

“Simon has a theory,” Saphira added, unsurely. Sawyer glared at her viciously. “What? She has a right to know.” She turned around, then and looked me straight in the eyes. I shivered, and shrunk back, feeling like I was being scrutinized. “He thinks that that pack of werewolves was working for Isis and the rest of the Alphas. It’s the only logical explanation behind it.”

Sawyer shook his head. “Now, Saphira, we don’t know anything for sure-“

“But it makes sense. Isis wouldn’t share something like Charlie to the werewolves unless something was in it for her.”

Jesse groaned again.

“Okay,” I snapped, unwilling to hear any more about it. “Can we discuss this when we get to the compound?”

The car was silent except for Jesse’s complaints of pain. But I let him, because it was obviously warranted. I tried the best I could not to look at the wound as we drove. It was about an hour or torturous silence before I began to see civilization streak by the window, small buildings and gas stations and houses all lit up like stars. It was calming to know that we were getting close.

After a few minutes of driving around, Sawyer turned and drove into an abandoned warehouse compound. It was clear that the building had once been part of the meatpacking district, a fact supported by the rugged brick façade and the overwhelming smell of death that looked in the air. It made my stomach churn, even though it was already disturbed by the ride up. Jesse writhed on the seat, trying to get away from the pain, but there was nothing I could do but hold him still.

I felt a chill run up my spine as Sawyer stopped the car. Two shadowy figures loomed at the door, and slowly moved forward as we parked. I saw the face of the first one – he was pale, almost gray, with blood red eyes and harsh, angular features. When he approached the car, I saw his face stiffen, no doubt a reaction to all the blood in the car.

“Are you the Reapers?” he asked, his voice thin and gravelly, like he was hissing. Sawyer nodded curtly in response. “Why do you smell like wolves?”

Sawyer gripped the wheel tightly, but cut the engine. “We were ambushed on the way here.” He turned to the grey man and stared him directly in the eyes. “Tobias promised safety for two humans in our possession. I fully intend to watch over them at all times. Am I clear?”

The man stepped back, slightly surprised by the sudden ferocity in Sawyer’s voice. I could tell that he smelled the blood, and was no doubt intrigued by it, but I couldn’t tell for sure. It was the first vampire I’d ever seen, and I tried very hard not to stare. The other man, the one who hadn’t spoken, drifted over to the other car that Simon and Lina were in, no doubt asking them the same questions. I was taken aback by how frightening they both looked – not like Reapers, who were beautiful, but like predators.

He smiled a shady smile. “Ah, alright. My name is Eros, I will be escorting you and your… party,” he seethed, the word rolling off his tongue like he was mocking it. “Into the compound. Ey, Bart!” The man turned toward the other vampire, who was at this point walking away from Simon’s car. “Oi! Give me a head here, eh?”

I got an uneasy feeling being around the vampires. I did, at least, have an understanding that they weren’t supposed to hurt me, that they were on my side at the moment, but being around them – Eros in particular – made me feel on edge. It was a strange feeling, because it wasn’t what I experienced with Sawyer and the others, the Reapers. But the vampires were obvious predators. And the way they were eying the blood on my clothes as I got out of the car made me cower behind Sawyer’s broad shoulders, trying to stay out of sight.

Saphira quickly scooped Jesse up out of the backseat, cradling his neck and head carefully. I was a little surprised at first, the ease that she had in doing so, until I remembered that she had inhuman strength. It was something that I forgot about Reapers, since Sawyer rarely displayed his own. It occurred to me then just how much self-control Sawyer must have to be able to function in a human world and not destroy it.

I looked up at him as we walked, my fingers woven into his. I clung to his arm, which was tense, but otherwise he made no move to stop me. Sawyer exchanged some curt formalities with Eros as we followed him into the massive brick building. Turning back over my shoulder, I could see the sky lightening just a little, a bright periwinkle against the stark black it had been before.

The large doors slammed shut behind us. I grabbed Sawyer’s arm a little more tightly, and he squeezed my hand to comfort me. The inside of the warehouse wasn’t what I expected at all – it was brightly lit, with walls built to be rooms. The first room looked dingy and dirty and industrial, but I could see ahead of us a large elevator, decorated with gold and chrome. I was completely confused – where did the elevator go? Obviously not up, since the shaft stopped on this floor, so that meant it had to go down.

How big was this place?

Eros smirked at me, his blood red eyes sparkling. “Not to worry, love, this place isn’t what it looks like.”

Sawyer suddenly let go of my hand and wrapped his arm protectively around my waist, pulling me into his side.

We crowded into the elevator, first Saphira with Jesse, who was still moaning in pain, then Sawyer and I, then Simon and Lina, and then finally the two vampires. While we travelled downward, I couldn’t help but sneak glances at Eros. Something about him freaked me out, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I could see from the corner of my eye a small scar on the back of his neck, in the shape of a lopsided heart.

There was a soft ding as the elevator stopped, and the heavy doors slid open.

I gasped. We had come face-to-face with a massive, golden lobby, much like one would see in a five-star hotel. The interior was covered in fancy red velvet, gold leaf, and glass. The vampires, unfazed, continued forward, and the other Reapers seemed to ignore it. But I forced my feet to walk as Sawyer tugged on my waist, completely in shock. It was nothing like the outside – it was completely the opposite of what I expected. I marveled at the architecture, and how they managed to keep it hidden.

I was jolted out of my thoughts when Eros spoke up. “Your rooms will be here, on the right,” he informed us, gesturing to a row of doors that were marked with numbers. He stopped and turned to face us. “I will contact a healer to see what he might be able to do for your friend, but I can’t guarantee he will be of much assistance. We are unaccustomed to treating human ailments here.” The tone of his voice sent shivers down my spine.

Simon cleared his throat. “That’s alright, I’ve done some research. I think I should be able to help him.”

That got everyone’s attention, but no one more obvious than Saphira. The look on her face was one of such interest that I was a little confused – she had acted like she couldn’t stand Jesse. Why would she be so concerned for him?

In a flurry of activity, Eros unlocked the rooms set aside for us and we all crowded into the first one, set aside for Jesse. Saphira placed him gently on the bed, supporting his head with the pillows. Lina helped her twin, the two of them making Jesse as comfortable as they could as he writhed in pain. He mumbled incoherent words as they did so, his yes fluttering open and closed. Simon shrugged off his backpack and began digging around for something. Sawyer took me by the waist and sat me down into a large red armchair in the corner, standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders.

“I’ve got a theory,” Simon muttered, finally pulling out a plastic box from the backpack. “But Sawyer, I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

"You've got a lot of theories." I felt Sawyer’s hands tense. “Well, what?”

Simon stood up, the box held lightly in his hand. “Charlie is immune to Reaper attacks. We know that. Werewolves and vampires are closely related to us, genetically. Perhaps something in Charlie’s blood could neutralize the effects-“

“No.” Sawyer’s voice was terse, formidable. It was the first time I truly heard the commander in him, the fierce leader. “That’s ridiculous. You cannot use Charlotte’s blood.”

Simon’s face was grave. “I understand that it’s not ideal, but I think-“

Sawyer leapt out from behind the chair, grabbing Simon’s shirt collar roughly and yanking him up toward his face. “You will not, under any circumstances, touch Charlotte. Her blood is not an option.” Sawyer was gritting his teeth, his whole body tense.

The room was quiet as Sawyer angrily released Simon, the latter man stumbling backward. Saphira and Lina sat on the bed, astounded and awe-struck, as Sawyer began to pace in the room.

I sat in the chair with my knees pulled up to my chest. The jeans I’d been wearing were hard with Jesse’s drying blood. The feeling made me nauseous. Jesse was one of my closest friends, despite the fact that he had said he loved me. He sacrificed more for me than anyone I’d ever known. He’d just accepted the Reapers in stride, not letting it faze him in the slightest. He’d jumped straight into danger. I couldn’t just let him suffer like this, not without doing something about it.

It was my turn to do something for him.

“I’ll do it.”