Chapter 33: Chapter 33
Ru erupted back into Leaf’s bed with a resounding boom which shook the room. She’d never experienced anything like it, but as her eyes flew open, she realized her body was gyrating and the bed was vibrating across the floor. The lights were still off, as were the other electronic devices, but the feeling in her stomach seemed to be surfacing, and as she watched, the darkness came to life as the pain seemed to gather into a sphere inside of her and erupted out of her hand in a surge of energy. Confusion swept over her as she realized this wasn’t the warm blue light she was used to. Even in the darkness, she could see the blackness ejected from her right palm, leaving trails of smoke in its wake as it dissipated into the room. Her eyes were wide with bewilderment. It looked just like the puff Nat used to propel himself into another realm.
Before she could even begin to consider what might’ve been happening, the bedroom door flew open and Cutter was standing there, staring at her. “Ru? Are you okay?” he asked, rushing over to her side. “What happened?”
She noticed the strange expression on his face as he passed through her smoke, even in the dim light illuminating the room from the hallway. Cutter sat next to her on the bed, staring at her raised hand, clearly as dumbfounded as she was. “I’m okay,” she managed. “But… I don’t know what happened.”
“What is this?” he asked, turning to look at what was left of the blackness. It was mostly gone now, though a mild acrid odor hung in the air. “Did you…?” He trailed off, as if he was afraid to say it, afraid he’d offend or alarm her.
Ru nodded her head. “I don’t know what happened. I was just… in another realm. Nat tried to take Ira. I chased him. We were in the grocery store. Then… Rider showed up and started yelling. Nat took off, and I… I ….” She realized she was talking in short choppy sentences, firing off thoughts that were only half developed. A look at his handsome face showed concern but he seemed to follow her story. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know.” Cutter carefully took her arm by the elbow and cradled it in his hands. “I’ve never seen a Keeper do that before. What did it feel like?”
If she was honest, it felt like a relief, like the pain inside of her had finally found a way to release itself from inside of her body. It was as if all of the stomach trouble she’d been having for the past few weeks was able to manifest itself into a concentrated blow and spring forth out of her hand. But she hesitated to tell him something like that. Because it didn’t sound right. It didn’t sound like something a Keeper should be able to do. It sounded… evil.
“Everything okay in here?”
Ru looked past Cutter’s shoulder to see Cinder standing in a pair of pajama pants and a tank top at the door.
“Yeah, fine,” Cutter replied, barely turning his head.
“You sure? I thought I smelled Reaper.”
Ru tensed at the word, her eyes widening, but a squeeze of Cutter’s hand on her elbow assured her it was okay. “Ru was being chased. I think she might’ve brought some smoke back with her. She’s fine.”
Cinder didn’t quite seem to believe his story, and Ru wondered if that ever happened, if Reaper emissions lingered when one came back to their body, but she didn’t say anything. Only muttered something about getting some sleep before padding her way back down the hallway.
Taking a deep breath, Ru raised her free hand to her forehead, brushing her hair back. “Thanks,” she mumbled. “I probably woke your parents, too.”
“Yeah, but I sent a message to my mom that everything is okay.” She wondered why he hadn’t told Cinder but didn’t bother to ask. “Ru, you’re shaking. Take some deep breaths so you can tell me exactly what happened.” The feel of his other hand on her shoulder was reassuring, and Ru tried to regulate her breathing. She appreciated the fact that he was giving her some time to calm down before asking her a ton of questions she likely couldn’t answer, and she was also thankful he hadn’t told his sister what he saw, though she knew Cinder was suspicious.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted, scooting a little closer to him. “I thought it was a dream. I was standing in Ira’s bedroom, talking to him about Legos and then Thanatos was there. Only, he looked like Kyle. Ira said he’d been substituting for them in PE.” She knew Cutter would remember Ira, and he had been good friends with the gym coach for the short amount of time he taught fourth grade at Thomas Elementary. “Then, Thanatos—or Kyle, I guess—told Ira he would take him to a place where he could build with Legos all day long. I stopped Ira from going with him by knocking Nat across the room with my light. Ira woke up, but we were still in his dream….” She realized that wasn’t possible. The second that Ira awoke, she should’ve faded out of his dream and back into the in-between, the white space between realms, or back into her own bed. Glancing up and meeting Cutter’s eyes, she saw the confusion there.
“It couldn’t have been Ira’s dream.” His statement was obvious now, but Ru still didn’t know what it meant. “It had to be yours.”
“No, I was here,” she replied, emphatically. “In order for Nat to come into my dream, he would’ve had to come here, wouldn’t he?”
Nodding, Cutter said, “Yes, but he can do that.”
Shocked, Ru slid back in the bed, putting some space between them. “Nat can come here? To Los Angeles?”
“Sure,” Cutter shrugged. “Why wouldn’t he be able to? Obviously, Larkin could do the same.”
She had no idea why she’d always just assumed that Reapers couldn’t get in, like there was an impenetrable force, but having that information not only explained what was going on a little better, it also made her more aware of the threats. “So… how did Ira get there? Or was he?”
“He probably was. Nat likely brought him there. He must’ve constructed the whole scene in your head, Ru, and then managed to get Ira to come with him while he was asleep.”
She was shaking her head in confusion, not sure how any of that would’ve worked. “He can construct dreams in my head?”
Cutter’s nodding didn’t make things any clearer. “What happened after Ira awoke?”
Even though she wasn’t through processing the other information he’d just revealed, Ru cleared her throat and continued. “At first, I went back to the white space, but I realized I needed to follow Nat, to get more information from him, so I did. I chased him through a city street, and eventually he leapt to a scene that looked like the grocery store in Reaper’s Hollow. I talked to him for a few minutes when Rider showed up.”
“How did Rider know where you were?” Somehow, he had managed to narrow the gap between them again, and even though he was no longer holding her arm like it was made of glass, Ru appreciated the proximity. He had a way of making her feel more secure.
“I’d sent a message out when Nat threatened Ira,” she replied. “At least, I tried to. I guess it worked because he came.”
“Yeah, it must’ve. I was asleep.”
“Anyway, he was pretty mad when he showed up and I wasn’t trying to capture Nat. I don’t even know how to do that, Cutter.”
“Rider was mad?” His eyebrows were knit together, which Ru found reassuring. Maybe she wasn’t crazy for thinking she couldn’t bring Nat down singlehandedly.
Before she could respond, there was a rippling noise in the air next to her, and Ru looked up to see Rider standing there, next to the bed. Though it wasn’t him exactly. He was nearly see-through, like a hologram or an apparition. It startled her, and she threw herself backward, smacking her head on the headboard. Cutter looked torn between addressing the situation with Rider and making sure she was okay, but she waved him off as she rubbed the smarting spot on the back of her head.
“Oh, good. You’re already here,” Rider said, looking at Cutter. “We need to talk.”
“I take it you didn’t get him then,” Cutter replied, turning to face him, his tone even.
“Hell, no, I didn’t get him. No thanks to Juliet over here. You are not your mother are you, Ru?”
“Hey, hey, take it easy,” Cutter said, putting his hand out, not that he could’ve pushed Rider back anyway since he wasn’t solid. “Let’s just calm down a little bit and talk this out.”
“Sure, that’s easy for you to say. You didn’t just stumble upon your teammate chatting up death in the frozen food section of your local grocery store!”
“Chatting up?” Ru countered, leaning forward now, no longer afraid of hologram Rider. “I was trying to get information, Rider!” She hoped the cutting look she gave him translated through the ether.
“Yeah, well your eyes were saying something else.”
“Seriously, Rider. Calm down.” Cutter’s glare was more effective, and his cousin took a step backward. “You never know what methods work for other people.” Ru studied his expression carefully, hopeful that he meant what he was saying, but she could tell he wasn’t sure what to think. Obviously, he was the last person who wanted to hear about her flirting with Nat, but she definitely hadn’t been doing that. She’d blasted him across the room!
“I’ll have you know, I single-handedly saved Ira tonight,” she said, staring at Rider’s transparent eyes. “I even made Thanatos bleed his own blood!”