Chapter 58: Chapter 58

“Stop!” Ru shouted, clambering to her feet, despite the pain in her shoulder and a new, sharp ache in her ankle. “I told you, I don’t wish to go with you! And I know I have to choose!”

“Who told you that?” he asked, folding his arms and laughing. “Cutter? He’s an imbecile. I will take you, Rune. I have to. You’re the only one who can do what needs to be done.”

“No!” she screamed again. “I won’t go with you! I won’t do what you want me to do!”

“Rune, think of your father! He’s locked away in constant torture. You’re the only person who can set him free.”

She began to shake her head, trying to keep thoughts of what Larkin must be going through out of her head.

“Your mother has been in hiding for over twenty years because of what those people,” he pointed over his shoulder, “threatened to do to her!”

Again, she shook her head, more vigorously now. It had to be a lie. All of it had to be lies. “I won’t go with you!” This time, she felt as if she’d lost some of the conviction in her voice.

Thanatos took a step off of the edge of the ravine and gracefully floated down to stand about five feet away from her. Ru was shocked to see how easy it was for him, as if he could levitate. She realized she needed to turn and run, but her shoulder was dislocated at best, broken at worst, and she must’ve turned an ankle, too. Sounds of fighting seemed to be drawing closer, but she had no idea whether or not Cutter or anyone else would reach her in time.

“Rune,” he said, the more gentle tone from her most recent dream returning to his voice. “Please, let’s end this. Your friends are bound to be injured. Come with me.” He extended his hand once again.

“You don’t have any power over me,” Ru said, quietly.

Thanatos laughed. “That doesn’t really work, Rune. It was just enough to wake you up, not to keep me at bay.” He took a step forward.

Ru stumbled backward, her ankle screaming at her. She realized he was about to take hold of her and drag her off to the pits of Hell, or who knew where. “No!” she shouted, but even to her own ears her voice sounded weak.

“Rune, if you’re stalling, thinking handsome Cutter will ride in here on a white steed and save you, you’re sadly mistaken. No one can help you now. You saw how many more Reapers there were than those four miserable Keepers. Now, stop protesting and come with me!” A black mist shot out of his hands, and before Ru could sidestep, it hit her in the stomach. A sharp, stabbing sensation filled her gut, and she cried out in agony. In an instant, Nat waved his hands again, and the black fog returned to his hand. “That is but a fraction of what I can do to you, Ru. I do not wish to hurt you, but you must come with me. Now.”

Once the pain had dissipated, she looked into his eyes, unable to believe she’d even contemplated the possibility of going with him. While Cutter might have some fanciful ideas that were hard to believe, one thing she knew for sure: Cutter would never, ever hurt her. Looking him straight in his electric green eyes, she resolutely said, “I will never go with you.”

Thanatos lunged forward at her this time, and Ru leapt backward, fighting the pain as she did so. She realize what he said earlier was right; Cutter couldn’t save her. No one could. This was her fight, her destiny, her lot. “NO!” As the word exited her mouth, a surge of power welled up inside of her, and Ru flung her hands up into the air, palms open. A brilliant blue light shot out of both hands, connecting with Thanatos, knocking him off of his feet and carrying him at least fifteen yards into the air before dropping him onto the debris covered ravine floor.

Ru closed her hands and the light dissipated. She couldn’t believe she’d wielded such power. She turned her palms toward her face and stared at them in disbelief until noise from the other side of the ravine caught her attention.

Thanatos had found his footing, though he looked more than a little shaken. He took another step toward her, and Ru reached out her hands, as if she would shock him again.

Noise above them caused her to impulsively turn her head. Ru looked up to see Cutter screeching to a halt just before he, too, fell into the ravine. “Ru!” he shouted from the very edge of the cliff.

“I’m okay!” she yelled back to him. Then, shifting her gaze to Thanatos, she said, “Now, I think I told you I’m not going with you. So, what’s it going to be? Would you like to join my father, or shall I chase you through the woods for a while?”

Thanatos looked at Cutter and then back at Ru. “This isn’t over!” he shouted. “I will be back for you Rune Raphaels Ronobes! I swear it on Lucifer himself!”

Before Ru could even respond, the black mist formed out of nowhere, this time wrapping itself around Thanatos. A few seconds later, it dissipated, and he was gone.

Footsteps sounded behind Cutter, and Ru was relieved to see three other familiar faces staring down at her. A few of them were nursing injuries, and Rider had a large gash in his cheek. “You okay, kid?” he shouted down to her.

“Mostly,” Ru yelled back. “Although it would be great if one of you could teach me that levitating trick now because my ankle hurts like a son of a bitch.”

Cutter hopped down, similarly to the way Thanatos had but more quickly. He rushed over to her but stopped short of touching her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“My shoulder and my ankle hurt, but I’ll be all right.” Ru looked into his eyes and knew for certain this is the one she could trust.

“Thank God,” Cutter said, looking up at the sky as if he was actually praying. “Did you use your light?”

She nodded, still not sure how it had happened. “It just… came out of me.”

He laughed. “Good. We’ll teach you how to control it. I had a feeling you’d use it if you needed it. Ru, I’m so glad you were able to see through Thanatos’s lies.”

“How did you know where I was?” she asked, wondering if he’d been in her head again.

“Lyric had a feeling there was something suspicious going on with this Kyle person, so she was following you.”

She remembered Kyle—Thanatos—looking repeatedly in the rearview mirror. He must’ve seen her car but decided it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. He had thought wrong. Ru looked up at Lyric who didn’t look ashamed at all. She waved down at Ru, and she smiled in return. “Glad you made it here in time.”

“We did, but you could’ve escaped by yourself. I told you you were a force to be reckoned with, Ru.”

Finding herself at a loss for words, Ru only managed to grin at him.

Cutter continued. “I promised you, we’ll find your mother, and you can visit your father. I meant it.”

“I know, and I need to promise you something, too. From now on, I’ll trust you. Completely. If we’re going to journey down this path together, that’s the least I can do. Now, I need you to help me learn how to use these powers so that I can find my mom.”

“You’re with us then?”

“Hell, yeah,” Ru said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I’m a Keeper, Cutter. It’s my destiny. My lot.”

Careful not to hurt her shoulder, Cutter wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a gentle hug. “Come on, let’s get you home. You have a lot to learn, and time’s running out.”

Without any hesitation, Ru took Cutter’s hand and let him lead her to the side of the ravine where they were able to lift her out of the dark pit she’d fallen into. Even though they were surrounded by the darkness, which crept in through every crack and crevice, Ru understood that darkness was only the absence of light, and it was her task to illuminate the darkness, to brighten the most heavily shadowed corners, to leave no stone unturned until she found her mother and fulfilled her own destiny.