Chapter 40: Chapter 40

“What did Raphael say when he took him?”

She let out a long sigh and took another drink before turning her attention to a spot on the table. Ru could see her pressing herself into the past. She was going against her own will, Ru surmised, and Ru appreciated the effort. Once Maggie began to speak, her voice was faint. “We thought we’d gotten away,” she began. “After you were born… we skipped from town to town for a couple of years and finally settled down in a little apartment on the Upper East Side. We thought, if they were looking, they would’ve found us by then. I hadn’t tried the cloaking spells yet. Your father didn’t want to. He said he didn’t want to give the ‘good guys’—that’s what he called the Keepers and Archs, sort-of sarcastically—he didn’t want to give them any other excuse to hate him. If they thought he was trying to hide us from them, they would be even more upset. So I didn’t cast them.” She let out another loud exhale. “I’ve always wonder what might’ve happened if I had.”

Ru swallowed hard, seeing the pain in her mother’s eyes as she reflected on what had actually transpired. There was no doubt her mother truly loved her father. Ru sat in silence and let her gather her thoughts, content to give her time to respond.

“You were almost three when Raphael showed up one day, in the middle of a playground near a school. We were both so shocked, we didn’t know what to do. And he wasn’t there to be merciful. He was outraged. He didn’t want to talk. He couldn’t be reasoned with. Your father did his best to distract him, telling me to take you and run. So… I did. The last I saw of him, Raphael was crushing him with his power. Your father was surrounded by this blinding white light. I didn’t stay to see him disappear, but I heard enough of the incantation that I assumed it was death, not banishment.

“As your father was fighting him, trying to give us time, he shouted out one last message, a reminder that he loved us both. I wish… I wish I’d been able to stay and fight. But I had to get you away from there.

“It didn’t take long for Raphael to turn and begin to chase us. You were screaming in my arms as I ran. People looked, but they couldn’t see what I was running from, so no one attempted to help. Raphael’s booming voice echoed in my head.” She put both of her hands on either side of her skull, as if she could still hear him. “He said my penance was due, and while Larkin would suffer no matter what, I could lessen his suffering through my reparations. He told me to turn and repent, but I was so afraid of what he might do to you. There’s never been another like you, Ru. He could have destroyed you because you are half Reaper.”

Ru understood that and nodded along. “That must’ve been terrifying.”

“It was awful. As I continued to run, your screams morphed, and I knew that cry. You were in horrible pain. I had no idea what was happening, but I thought he must be doing something to you. I knew I had to do whatever I could to save you, to keep him away from you. So… I ducked into a nearby theater, found the first full auditorium, and screamed the one thing I knew would slow him. I yelled, ‘Fire!’ at the top of my lungs. And even though Raphael could walk right through all of those people undetected in his spirit form, it was enough to slow him down. I knew I only had a few seconds, but I cast the cloaking spell on us.

“I discovered almost immediately that it had worked. I could feel his confusion. He was no longer headed straight toward us, and somehow, I managed to join in with the throng exiting the back of the theater and blend in until I could get away.”

“Wow,” was all Ru could manage to say. “You think… you really think Raphael wanted to destroy me?”

“I didn’t know at the time,” Maggie shrugged. “But I wasn’t going to take the chance. I ran back to our apartment, cautiously, thinking someone might be there. But there were a few things I needed. And there were Keepers in the building. If my friend Ribbon hadn’t been there, I never would’ve been able to get to our secret stash of cash so that I could run and the other things I managed to take with us. I headed to the one place I assumed they’d think I’d never go.”

“Reaper’s Hollow?”

“Yes. That’s where I first met your mother. I ran into her a few times there, and she told me she worked at the grocery store in Tarrytown. I was trying to decide what to do. I knew my parents would find a way to keep you safe. But me… there was no way I could go back to Los Angeles even if I wanted to. It was a chance, trying to send you back. If you stayed with me, there was no telling what would happen to you. The Archs could come for both of us.”

Ru was confused. “So, you wanted to send me to Nana Sue and Grandpa, but you didn’t know for sure what would happen when I got there?”

Her mother slowly nodded her head. “I had written them a letter, warning them that the Archs were after you and that I’d put a cloaking spell on you. It was cryptic, of course, in case Liddy read it. Raphael wouldn’t be able to find you; I knew that much from the theater. If they could keep you secret until the other Keepers could testify that they accepted you, you’d be safe. You’d be with your kind.”

Ru scratched her head. It made sense when she said it like that. “But… how did you know what I was?” she asked, the words coming out almost a whisper. “How did you know I wasn’t a… Reaper?”

A smile spread slowly across Maggie’s pretty face, something Ru hadn’t seen for most of their discussion. “You were born a Keeper, Ru. From the very beginning, not only was your hair and eye color a clue, but so was your heart. Not that all Reapers are bad, and I hope that you know that. Your father was not—is not—a bad person. I could give you so many reasons why you should hold on to that, but that’s for another time. At any rate, when he began your training, it was crystal clear you were a Keeper.”

In her mind’s eye, Ru imagined herself as a baby, a little girl, perhaps with blonde pigtails, holding her father’s hand, a perfect contrast to his dark hair and complexion. He’d smile down at her proudly, and she’d giggle. She’d had a father. Once. A long time ago. And he’d loved her. Tears began to flow from the corners of her eyes. Without a word, Maggie stood and crossed the room, returning a few seconds later with a box of tissues, which she offered to Ru, and she pulled out two and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

“You were his world.”

The words did nothing to quell the storm, and it was all Ru could do not to burst into tears. “I’m so glad to hear that.” She’d imagined all along, even when she’d found out her father was half-demon, that he had loved her. Perhaps it was a memory. At any rate, those words did almost as much to heal her heart as seeing the face staring at her now. Then, she realized what else her mother had said. “He was training me?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “We both were. We wanted you to be able to use your powers just as you’d be able to if you’d grown up with the rest of the Keepers.”

Folding her arms, Ru tried her best to think back to when she was a small child. If the memory was there, it wouldn’t come. “I don’t remember any of that.”

Maggie’s mouth drew into a straight line and then bunched up at one side, as if she were disappointed to hear that. “You were really starting to get the hang of your light. And leaping between realms.”

The thought that the first time she’d left her body with Cutter, only last week, wasn’t the first time she’d done so after all was enough to make her raise both eyebrows and stare at her mom for several moments. There was no need for words, though. She seemed to understand that Ru had no recollection.

So many other questions flooded her mind, she wasn’t sure where to go next. Something else her mother had mentioned came to mind. “Why was I crying?” she asked. “I mean, you said I was screaming in pain, while you were running?”

“Yes,” Maggie nodded, absently pushing her mostly-empty cup back and forth with her thumb and first finger. “I had no idea what was happening at the time. But once we were relatively safe again, I checked you over. It was your back. He’d embedded a message on top of your scars.”

Gasping, Ru leaned forward in her chair. “Raphael put the second layer of scars in my back?”

“Yes,” Maggie confirmed. “I knew what it was right away. Your father had given me a picture he’d drawn even before I left Los Angeles. It was a Celtic cross, the same one you’ll find in the chapel, here at the castle.”

“And it says Holy Island. In Gaelic runes?”

Maggie nodded. “I assumed that meant Raphael wanted me to come here, to serve my penance. So, I did. Every day for the first two or three years, I waited for someone to show up and take me off to Hell or destroy me. No one ever came. I finally realized he either still couldn’t find me or had decided I was no longer worth his time.”

Once again, Ru found herself overwhelmingly confused. “An Arch sent you here—but the Keepers didn’t know to look here for you? How is that possible?”

“Raphael is not one to communicate with those of the Earth, Ru. The only reason he came back the time he did was to destroy Larkin for allegedly disrespecting his family and his reputation.”

“But Ivy speaks to Uriel all the time.”

“That’s different. Uriel, even Michael to some extent, is much more apt to interact in human affairs. Gabriel, as I’m sure you know, has been instrumental in the history of the world. There’s no mention of Raphael steering the course of humanity, even in the Bible, is there?”

“And he didn’t even tell any of the other Archs? Why wouldn’t he? Doesn’t he want to close the portals just as badly as anyone else?”

“The portals?” Maggie asked, nearly knocking her coffee cup over she sat up so quickly. “What are you talking about?”

“The three remaining portals to Hell, the ones the demons and Reapers are using to escape from there. Don’t you know where they are? Everyone thinks Larkin told you where they’re located.”

“Who is everyone?” Maggie asked, but before Ru could answer, she continued. “Why would they think that?”

Ru, dumbfounded at the knowledge that her mother would not be able to help them with their primary mission, shrugged. “I don’t know. They just assumed….”

“Well, it’s no wonder he didn’t bother trying to help with that ridiculous undertaking. Of course I don’t know. Why would Larkin even know? He’s not a demon.”

“Yeah, but… the Reapers use them, too. There’s one in Reaper’s Hollow, and Thanatos and his horde of monsters have been using it to go back and forth, talking to Azrael and the other demon guys.” She knew she sounded ridiculous, or at the very least, uninformed. All of this was just too much.