Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Four heads nodded up and down, and Ru wondered if they were just pacifying her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go blow some shit up.” She took off at a brisk walk heading to the woods behind Angel Grove, which eventually led to the same tract of land she’d gone exploring with Kyle—who turned out to be Nat—not too long ago. There was good reason to think the portal to Hell that was allowing Reapers to go back and forth, conspiring with demons, was within easy walking distance of the house Keepers had built over two hundred years ago in an attempt to find said portal and stop the Reapers from congregating there.
“Ru, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Cutter asked, falling into step beside her. “We’ve had a rough night. Maybe we should just call this off until tomorrow.”
Without slowing her pace or turning to look at him, Ru replied, “Now is as good a time as ever. Probably better, in fact. The angrier I become, the less of a chance anyone who tries to stand in our way will have of stopping me.”
“Okay, but you’re angry at the wrong people right now,” Cutter continued. “If you’re going to use that side of your power, there’s a good chance it won’t do anything to stop attacks from Reapers or close the portal.”
Ru stopped short and turned to look at him. “Are you saying that you think I’m in Reaper mode right now? That I’ll somehow manage to do more harm than good?”
Cutter stammered for a moment before admitting, “I don’t know. But I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Well, unfortunately for you, I really don’t care what you think right now,” Ru replied tersely, continuing on her march. “Besides, there’s only one way to find out if there’s a difference between black smoke and blue light.”
“Oh, there’s a difference,” Rider said, coming up behind her. Two other sets of footsteps fell in line as well, and Ru realized she was leading them all into the woods. “We just don’t know how it will affect them.”
“Maybe they won’t even bother to show up,” Ru mused, though she was more than a little certain they would.
“Are you kidding? The last time we closed a portal, it was like Armageddon. Two battling armies fighting against each other for days. No, they’ll definitely show up.” Ivy’s voice sounded shakier with each word.
“And yet, here we are, just the five of us undertaking this?” Ru asked. “Seriously, was anyone going to tell me this?”
“Well, the circumstances were a little different back then,” Cutter said, and Ru noticed he shot Ivy a dirty look over his shoulder. “That was a much larger portal, much more frequented.”
The sun had completely set by the time Ru reached the point in the woods where she believed the portal to be located, and darkness enveloped them. Cutter used his hand as a torch, which helped, but Ru was following something other than her line of sight. Memories of the time she’d spent here recently drew her back to the location where she’d been headed with Kyle the night she’d discovered the man she was ready to give her heart to was actually Thanatos.
Her team had come out here one other time after that, before they traveled to Los Angeles, in an attempt to close the portal. That night, they had found the three trees that “Kyle” had told her he was looking for the evening he brought her out on a walk, which was really Nat’s attempt to trick her into joining his forces. He’d been planning to take her into the portal, but Ru had realized his plan and escaped, with the help of her friends. He’d mentioned the three trees, though, and Ru had wondered why she’d never heard of them before once she laid eyes on their peculiar trunks. They seemed like the sort of anomaly teenage lore was based on. With white chalky bark and branches that twisted and tangled into each other, it seemed like anyone who stumbled upon them would run off screaming in the other direction, leaving a trail of curious pilgrims streaming back to repeat the process.
Ru could see them looming in the distance. Despite the darkness, their discolored bark gave off an eerie glow, which served as a beacon every bit as much as the calling in her gut. She pulled up a few feet in front of them, letting the feeling inside of her speak. It only made sense that the portal would be nearby, but she’d have to feel it out, and right now, all she sensed was a darkness coming from inside the tree trunks themselves.
“Do you want us to start searching again?” Lyric asked, her voice nearly a whisper.
“No,” Ru replied. “It won’t do any good. You won’t be able to find it.”
“How do you know?” the other woman asked, but Ru wasn’t sure what words she could use to answer the question, so she ignored it.
“And Satan was using it as a thoroughfare,” Rider added.
“This one isn’t being used by anyone but Nat and his cronies,” Lyric reminded them.
“As far as we know.” Ivy still didn’t sound confident.
“I guarantee something else will come out of it when we try to shut it down,” Rider warned them.
“That’s fine. You guys hold off the attackers, and I’ll close it up,” Ru decided.
“Assuming we can find it.”
Ru was tempted to turn around and stare Rider down for that comment, but she let her feet do the talking. She would find it. If it took her all night, she’d find it.
A thin veil of fog began to travel in from all directions, misting its way between the other scraggly tree trunks of the dense forest. Like a snake, beckoned by Ru’s very presence it came, shrouding the ground in a white film. It ebbed and flowed, stretching its tendrils and spreading around them. Something in Ru’s gut told her this was more than a weather anomaly, but without the ability to defend herself against the vapor, she decided to disregard it, assuming something else would show up eventually, something more formidable but also more easily reckoned with.