Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Ru arrived at school early the next morning having never gone back to sleep after she awoke at 4:30 in the morning. There had been no blue orbs, nothing unusual about the electricity or lights, but she did feel overwhelmed, as if she had actually spoken to Nat, which she supposed, if what Cutter had told her was accurate, she had. And now she was left wondering whether good guys always wore white, and bad guys always wore black, or if things were never that simple.

She was sitting behind her desk grading some papers when she heard a small knock on her open door and looked up to see Cutter standing there. “Good morning,” he said, once he had her attention. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure,” she replied, setting down her pen and turning to face him. He was dressed in khakis and a red button-down shirt beneath a light brown sport coat. He looked handsome, as always, if not a little more tired than usual. She knew she couldn’t say anything about that as she probably looked as exhausted as she felt. She didn’t do well on five hours of sleep.

“How’s it going?” he asked, sauntering over. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine.” She knew she needed to tell him about her dream—vision—whatever it was—but she wasn’t sure how to do that considering where they were and that students would begin arriving within ten or fifteen minutes. “How are you?”

“Uh, not good,” he admitted. “Honestly, I didn’t expect to be here this long, teaching that is. I was hoping you might want to come over soon so we can talk again.”

She knew he was purposely being cryptic, but she was a little taken aback by his forwardness considering he was talking about her giving up her entire life as she knew it. “What do we need to talk about?” she asked, staring up at him, challenging him to say more despite the location.

A crooked smile spread across his face and he ran his fingers along one side of his chin, his thumb on the other, as if he were choosing his words carefully. “A lot. Ru, this isn’t just going to go away. Nat isn’t going to just leave you alone.” At the mention of his name, Ru grimaced a bit, dropping her eyes. “What? Ru, what’s happened?”

“Nothing.”

“I promised you I’d leave you alone at night if you kept me filled in. Did you see him?”

With a deep breath, she nodded. “Last night. He was very upset.”

“I don’t doubt it. He’s a lunatic, and he wants to carry you off to Hell.”

Ru stared at him for a moment, offended on Nat’s behalf, though she wasn’t quite sure why. “He was crying.” Cutter’s eyebrows arched but he said nothing. “He was upset about Deena Jones. He said he sent one of his people… Raven, maybe? He sent her to get Jones, and Rider stopped her, so she ended up wiping out an innocent family.” She said each word with a matter-of-fact tone and watched his face carefully to see if he had a hint of remorse. At the mention of the family, he flickered a bit toward sadness, but then came right back to his stoic expression.

“He was crying?” Cutter asked, skeptically.

“Yes,” Ru assured him. “It seemed very genuine.”

Cutter was shaking his head. “Ru, it’s all a farce meant to gain your sympathy. I agree what happened to the Bridges family was tragic, but it was part of the plan. They were all marked.”

Ru shook her head, shocked to hear such a callous remark. “Cutter, two little boys died in that wreck. How is that possibly okay?”

“Even children die, Ru. It’s not our job to interfere with the marked, only the unmarked. Besides, Nat has taken his fair share of unmarked children. Believe me.”

“I don’t know what to believe,” she replied, still upset that he was willing to accept that it was okay for children to die with no explanation.

“Ru, did he seriously get to you?” Cutter asked, stepping closer, as if he was examining her.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He said that I’m the only one who can save my father, and that he can help me do that.”

“Ru, he is lying.” Cutter punctuated each word, staring into her eyes. “He is tricking you. He will do whatever he has to do to make you come with him.”

What he was saying seemed to make sense, but she still didn’t know for sure who to trust. What Nat had told her the night before also seemed very trustworthy at the time.

“Do you want to be a Reaper?” Cutter asked, causing her to drop her mouth and widen her eyes. “Because you really only have two choices at the moment. Reaper or Keeper.”

“Well, that might be a fun little rhyme for you, but I’d just as soon stay a teacher, thank you very much.”

“Like I said before, that’s not going to be a possibility too much longer.” He sounded much more sympathetic now than he did when he was speaking about the Bridges family. “So, what do you say, Friday night?”

Ru didn’t want to go to his creepy old house in the middle of nowhere and talk about magical powers, but she understood she would have to do something. One way or another her destiny, her lot, as he put it, was catching up to her. “I can’t Friday. I have a… I have plans.”

“You have a… what?” Cutter’s entire disposition shifted. He was looking at her now the way a high school boy might look at the girl he wanted to ask to the prom who already had a date.

“It’s nothing,” she reassured him, though thinking of Kyle didn’t seem like nothing.

He might’ve seen the blush she felt creeping up her neck. “Ru, do you have a date?” She could tell it was difficult for him to say as he looked pained on the last word or two.

She nodded slowly, not sure why he would care. They were just friends at best, antagonists most of the time was probably a better description.

“With whom?”

She arched one eyebrow at him, as if to say it was none of his business. “Just a guy I met at the grocery store.” Just a really hot, amazing guy who is entirely human and doesn’t visit my dreams uninvited.

Cutter inhaled deeply through his nose, held it for a moment, and then slowly let it go. “Okay. So how about Saturday? I’ll have Lyric pick you up so you don’t have to try to find the turnoff by yourself.”

At least he wasn’t planning on picking her up himself. That was something. “All right,” Ru said, quietly, still wondering why he cared so much that she had a date.

“Okay.” He managed a small smile and started toward the door. About halfway there, he stopped and turned back. “Ru, you remember what I said would happen if you voluntarily touched him in your dreams right?”

A little irritated that he seemed to think she was an idiot who couldn’t remember simple directions, Ru spouted off, “I don’t know. What happens when I voluntarily touch you in my dreams?”

Before he could answer, Candice popped her head in the door. “Ooh, I was just stopping by to say good morning, but please, carry on.” She winked at Ru, and she felt her face turn crimson.

Cutter looked uncomfortable at first, but looking Ru directly in the eye, he regained his composure and said, “I honestly don’t know. But I’m willing to find out.” He spun around and headed for the door, leaving an open-mouthed Candice in his wake.

As soon as he was back in his own classroom, Candice finished crossing to Ru’s desk. She was still flabbergasted from Cutter’s response and didn’t want to speak to her friend, even though she knew she’d have to. “What was that all about?”

“I’m really not sure,” Ru admitted, crossing her arms. “He… asked me to come over Friday, and when I told him I have a date, he got a little… snippy.” That wasn’t quite what had happened, but Ru did notice Cutter’s countenance changed when she mentioned Kyle.

“I don’t know where to start with that, girlfriend,” Candice said, perching on the edge of a nearby student desk. “You have a date Friday? With who?”

“Oh, good. You found a place to start,” Ru teased. “I do. It’s just a guy I met at the grocery store. It’s no big deal.” She could say that all day long, she realized, but it certainly felt like a big deal.

“Yep, and that’s why your face is turning all pink. Why haven’t you mentioned him before?”

“When? I met him Saturday.”

“A telephone call?”

Ru rolled her eyes and went about straightening up her desk, ignoring the question, or comment, whichever it was.

“And Cutter is jealous?” Candice asked in a harsh whisper.

“No, I wouldn’t say that,” Ru replied quickly. He definitely wasn’t jealous. Was he? No, why would he be? He wasn’t interested in her like that. Was he? “No, he just wanted to hang out, and I guess he was upset that I wasn’t available.”

“Uh, huh. Well, I don’t know what sparked your question that I overheard, but that response was one of a man who wanted to be touched, dreams or no dreams.”

“Whatever!” Ru shot back, standing. Her students would begin arriving any moment, and she wanted to be at the doorway to greet them. “Candice, you know as well as I do that there’s nothing going on with me and Cutter. The one time we did go out it was a disaster.”

“Because you made it one,” Candice muttered.

Ru stopped walking and turned to look at her friend. “Is that what you think?”

“Yeah.” Candice was nothing if not honest. “I see a genuine, kindhearted soul trying to get to know you better, but Ru, you’re running away, like you always do.”

“I do not.” She crossed her arms across her blue and white polka-dot dress and kept walking.

“Yes, you do.” Candice was at her shoulder as they both came to a halt in front of the door. “You never let anyone in.”

“That’s not true! I let you in.”

“Really?” Candice asked, looking at her with great skepticism. “You let me in? Ru, what’s your first name? Really?”

Ru opened her mouth and then closed it. Perhaps her friend had a point. “Okay, but I tell you other things….”

Squeezing past her, Candice said, “Ru, I can’t blame you for being guarded, but you need to learn to trust someone—anyone. Three years, and I don’t even know your name.” Candice held her gaze for a few moments before stepping over to her own classroom.

Ru wanted to respond, but she couldn’t find the words, and a flood of students were headed their direction. Pushing away the realization that what Candice had said was true, she put a faux smile on her face and began to greet her children. Across the hall, Cutter was doing the same thing. He looked cheerful enough on the outside, but Ru could see in his blue eyes she’d hurt him, something she’d never meant to do. Just when she thought there was no way her life could get any more complicated, she discovered she was wrong.