Reaper Read online

  “I would like to hear your tale,” Reaper said.

  Yeti sat, and Reaper joined him on an upside-down bucket.

  “When I was born, the people in my village thought that I was going to be great—a champion or provider, perhaps both. I was born with this gray skin. Then I began to grow bigger and faster than the other children. I got strong, stronger than anyone. My white hair was getting thick as a bear’s. The more I grew, the more they feared me. I was no longer seen as a blessing, but a curse. The elders accused my parents of bring a monster into the world. My parents accused others of bring a monster upon them. Not one of them defended me. Finally, I was attacked by the men from my village. I never meant to hurt any of them. I had to protect myself, though. I killed one, and then I ran high into the mountains. As I ran, some hunters spotted me and tried to kill me. I killed all of them. I did not want to, you must believe me, but they would not leave me alone. Since then, I have seen man from afar. Sometimes I am found, and people attack me.” Yeti was sincere with every word he spoke. All this story did was made Reaper feel worse for having to kill Yeti.

  “I believe your tale,” Reaper said.

  “You still plan to kill me,” Yeti said.

  “Yes,” Reaper replied. “I need to. It is difficult to explain.”

  “You desire wealth, and people will pay to see me dead. I understand.”

  “No, that is not why I am here,” Reaper said. “You have powers, abilities that I need.”

  “How does killing me aid you?” Yeti asked.

  “I have abilities of my own,” Reaper said. “This may be asking much, but I would rather not fight you.”

  “You want me to lay down my life so that you may have my strength?” Yeti asked, angry and insulted.

  “I do not seek your strength,” Reaper said. “I am here for your…” Reaper paused, still a little lost about the information Blink had provided him with. He almost felt silly speaking his next few words. “…super sleep?”

  “Super sleep?” Yeti asked.

  Reaper sighed. “I would rather not explain.”

  “If you want anything from me, you will have to fight me to get it,” Yeti said.

  “I do not want to fight. This would be easier if you would just let me kill you,” Reaper said. “What would you do with the rest of your life if I did not kill you? Stay hidden in these mountains, I assume.”

  “You do not wish to fight because you will lose,” Yeti said.

  “No. I do not wish to fight because I am tired of the fight right now.”

  “Allow me to wake the fight in you up, then,” Yeti said. “I will not lay down and die, but I will let you strike first. Right here on my chest.” He patted his sternum. Reaper took out the scythe.

  “I doubt it has any meaning to you, but my name is Reaper,” Reaper said as he pulled his hood up. He jumped at Yeti from across the cave, both hands near the bottom of the scythe as he spun in the air. But Yeti caught Reaper and smashed him into the cave wall, making Reaper drop the scythe. Yeti took Reaper in both hands and squeezed. Reaper’s bones cracked and stabbed into his organs. Reaper would have shouted from the pain, but physically could not. Yeti walked toward the cave entrance, and the light slowly became unbearable to Reaper’s eyes. He could not concentrate on changing his eyes back while the would-be life was being squeezed out of him.

  “If you live through this and make your way back to me, I would enjoy doing this again. I doubt that will happen. You are the same as every other foolish man who has failed to kill me,” Yeti said.

  Yeti threw Reaper off the side of the mountain, his mangled limbs whipping in the wind. He had already started to heal, but then he struck rock on the side of the mountain with impressive force. Bones shattered all over again, and organs ruptured. He tumbled down until his broken right arm got caught between two rocks. Reaper hung off the steep mountain side while the rest of his body healed itself. Once the rest of his body had enough strength back, he pulled himself up. He waited a moment while his right arm healed, then changed his eyes back.

  “I will make my way back up,” Reaper grumbled to himself as he climbed. “When I do, I will take your corpse and feed it to a couple of hungry tigers. Wait right there; you will be surprised.”

  Reaper took the strength of Asterion to help the climb go faster. He arrived at the top of the mountain gasping for air. He could hear Yeti ripping the meat from the dead bharal.

  “Yeti!” Reaper shouted into the cave, and it echoed back to him. The sound of meat being munched stopped right away. “Yeti, get out here and face me!”

  “Reaper?” Yeti asked as he slowly came out of the shadows. “How did you survive that fall?”

  “Fight me. I have lost the desire to have words with you.”

  “Looks like I woke that fight after all,” Yeti said. He let out a mad roar and charged like a gorilla. Reaper jumped over him and ran into the cave. “Where are you going?” Yeti shouted. Reaper changed his eyes to find the scythe. Once he had it, he put it in its sheath.

  Yeti was coming into the cave. Reaper turned his eyes back to his own. He could only see Yeti’s silhouette at the cave entrance, but that was all he needed. With the strength of Asterion added to his own incredible strength, Reaper charged. He knocked Yeti back a few feet. Yeti lifted his arms and brought them down. Reaper blocked with his forearms. He then slipped closer to Yeti. Yeti’s arms cracked the rack, likely causing an avalanche somewhere around the mountain. When Yeti leaned down to follow through, Reaper punched him hard in the throat. Yeti stepped back, coughing and holding his throat. Reaper charged again, this time plowing into Yeti with his shoulder. Yeti fell back off the same place that he had thrown Reaper from. Reaper leaped off the edge after Yeti. He landed on Yeti’s chest, breaking several bones.

  “Remember!” Reaper shouted. “I wanted to make this less painful; you brought this on yourself!” Reaper grabbed Yeti by the hair on his temples. He pulled Yeti’s head up, then thrust it down on the rock. Yeti tried to fight it, but Reaper overpowered him. Reaper held Yeti’s head down and kept pushing. A dark red trail followed them down the mountain. By the time they slid to a stop, Yeti had been dead for some time. In the moment, Reaper did not notice or care if Yeti had been dead; he just kept pushing down until they stopped. Yeti’s brain had come out higher up on the mountain, and his head was barely even connected to his body at this point.

  With Yeti dead, Reaper started off in the general direction of his rendezvous point. Blink had issued Reaper with a predetermined meeting place for after Yeti had been killed. Unfortunately for Reaper, this location was all the way in South Africa. traveled for years through all different types of weather. Monsoon season was especially irritating to him.

  Blink had directed Reaper to an underwater cave called Boesmansgat—Bushman’s Hole, in modern times. Reaper found himself standing atop the cliff overlooking Boesmansgat. He stared at the water, wondering what he was doing here. Blink appeared next to Reaper with a nondescript black metal box on wheels.

  “Fun fact: that is one of the deepest underwater caves, at about 282.6 meters deep,” Blink said with a smile.

  “Why are we here?” Reaper asked.

  “Did you kill the yeti?” Blink asked.

  “Yes,” Reaper answered.

  “Good. I need you to put this on,” Blink said, and opened the box he had brought with him. It opened a little over halfway. Inside were weighted blocks on straps.

  “What are those, and what are they for?” Reaper asked.

  “You need to sleep,” Blink said.

  “What?” Reaper asked. “You have been telling me that I have no need for sleep for hundreds of years. Why the change?”

  “Because I don’t feel right making you go through this incredibly long life of yours alone, and I can’t stay with you. So I sent you to get the super sleep from the yeti and told you to meet me here because it is closer to the next mission,” Blink said with a somewhat apologetic tone.

  Reaper
sighed. “What are those for then?”

  “I need you to put these on and fall asleep. Then I’m gonna push you into the water. You’ll sink to the bottom, no harm that can’t be undone will happen to you, and when you wake up, you can break those off.”

  “You want me to drown,” Reaper said.

  “I mean, yeah, if that’s how you want to look at it,” Blink said. “But it’s not like you’ll die or anything.”

  “What would be so wrong about sleeping in an ordinary secluded cave? Perhaps just staying out of the fight for those years?”

  “And risk someone possibly finding you, jacking up the plan?” Blink seemed offended. “And, and I don’t believe you could go so long without getting yourself into the fight.” He took a moment. “Besides, do you really want to get attached to another family just to lose it?” Fury rose in Reaper, as did something else. Was it Death? No. Death was beaten. Reaper buried this rage with Death. He took a deep breath.

  “I suppose, it’s good you’re sharing anything with me.”

  “Are you really gonna hold that over me forever? That was years ago, man,” Blink said.

  “How long has it been for you since the last time you saw me?” Reaper asked.

  “Eh.” Blink paused. “Uh. Well, I don’t know. Maybe like two or three days.”

  “You want to tell me it’s been years when it’s only been days?” Reaper said.

  “Dude, that’s semantics. It has been years; you just don’t feel that way because you’ve been alone. Which is what I’m trying to help you with.”

  Reaper rolled his eyes. “How does this power work?”

  “Thank you for moving on. Jeez,” Blink said. “I’m not sure; just put the weights on first.”

  Reaper put on the weights. Two straps went over his shoulders and connected with one that went around his stomach. He also had a strap around each of his wrists and ankles. “I need to give you something before I forget.” Blink reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, mostly clear pouch made of plastic. Reaper was still unfamiliar with the strange, crinkly material. Inside were two cream-filled yellow cakes. Blink had finally brought Reaper the promised Twinkies.

  “What is it?” Reaper asked.

  “It is spongy nirvana.” Blink held them out to Reaper. “Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous. And yes, I’ll open it for you.” He smiled.

  “It looks strange,” Reaper said.

  “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it,” Blink said as he opened the wrapper. He handed Reaper the open package. Reaper took one of them.

  “You should have the other,” Reaper said.

  “No way. I can have these whenever I want; this is yours.”

  “If you will not, neither will I.”

  “Fine, but you’ll regret letting me have one,” Blink said. They each took one. “On three?”

  “On three,” Reaper nodded.

  “One. Two. Three,” Blink counted, and they each took a bite. It was nothing new to Blink; he just ate his like he would any other day. Reaper savored every bite. He let the flavor hold his taste buds hostage, and he gave into their every demand as he took each next bite. When it was finished, he sucked the residue off of his filthy fingers.

  “I regret letting you have that second one,” Reaper said after a moment of silence for the eaten Twinkies.

  “Told ya,” Blink said. “You ready to sleep?”

  “Not after that,” Reaper said. “I want another.”

  Blink laughed and reached into his other pocket. “Figured you would.” He pulled out a second pack. “Still wanna split it?”

  “No, but yes. Have one,” Reaper said. They split the second package, and it was just as sweet to Reaper. “How do I do this super sleep you spoke of?” he asked with his mouth full. It was hard for Blink to distinguish what was said, but asked a moment he figured it out. Blink swallowed his mouthful.

  “Well, you have the yeti’s memories, so if he knew how to do it, you can just look into his memories for it,” Blink said. Reaper closed his eyes for a moment. Blink squinted at him. Reaper opened his eyes.

  “What where you just doing?” Blink asked.

  “I was concentrating on Yeti’s memories,” Reaper said.

  “Does closing your eyes help you with that?” Blink asked.

  “Yes, it does. Is that wrong?”

  Blink chuckled. “No, it’s just that I used to do that when I first discovered my powers.”

  Reaper smiled.

  “So, how do you do it?”

  “It seems simple enough. I just need to know when to wake,” Reaper said.

  “Well, the next mission that I’ve approved for you is in the late fourth century and early fifth,” Blink said.

  “Then all I do is…” Reaper suddenly dropped to the ground.

  “Huh,” Blink said. “I’ll take that as it worked.” He pushed Reaper off the cliff and watched as his best friend fell and sunk into the water. “See ya in a few hundred years, pal.” Blink closed his box and disappeared into the future.

  Chapter Seven:

  Neither Itsy nor Bitsy

  The year was 597 A.D., and Reaper had just woken up from a four hundred and eight-five-year-long nap.

  His eyes opened wide. Reaper ripped off the weighted straps and swam up to the surface to find that it was night. He pulled himself up onto the bank and fell on his face. His body had absorbed so much water in the many years he’d spent underwater, becoming deformed and bloated. As he lay there in the dirt, his body healed itself, shrinking back to its natural size, and water was expelled through his pores. While the water left him, the color returned to his skin. His collapsed lungs, now decompressed of water, began to expand as Reaper took in his first gasp of air. The rush of oxygen burned as it coursed through his limbs. Reaper could feel his body going into shock. It was the closest thing to dying he had felt since he’d become the Reaper. He could not move; he could barely breathe. As the South African sun rose, Reaper felt the rays on his face, and it was glorious. He even felt something like happiness when a gentle breeze blew past his face.

  “Reaper!” Blink called out, then slid onto the ground next to him. “Are you okay?”

  Reaper grunted, and his fingers twitched.

  “Quit playin’ around, man. I’ve totally screwed up.”

  “H-how?” Reaper managed to squeeze out.

  “I should have had you wake up much sooner,” Blink said frantically. “What’s the matter with you?”

  Reaper gasped, coughed, and gasped again. “I should kill you,” he said. “I was stuck there because of something that water did to me.”

  “That water isn’t magical or anything,” Blink said. “Although I guess your body would have been getting crushed under the pressure for, like, almost half a century, so… that could have something to do with it.”

  Reaper glared at Blink. “What’s so urgent?” he asked with a scowl.

  “We need to find and kill Anansi,” Blink said.

  “We?” Reaper asked as he stood. “This is the first time since Set that you sound as if you are coming with me.”

  “I am, and that’s because we’re short on time. We gotta do this so I can get you to England A.S.A.P.”

  “Very well,” Reaper said. “What is this An-nansi?”

  “It’s just Anansi.”

  “Tell me about him,” Reaper said.

  Blink turned and started walking. He waved for Reaper to follow him.

  “Anansi is a dangerous shapeshifter. He is revered as a trickster and can take many shapes. His name basically means spider, so he might be easy to miss. It’s likely that he will try to screw with your mind. Whatever happens, do not believe what you see,” Blink said sternly.

  “How do I fight when I cannot see?” Reaper asked.

  “Oh no, you’ll be able to see, but you should be careful to believe what you see,” Blink said. “I don’t know the full extent of his powers.”

  “How far do we need to go?” Reaper asked
.

  “It’s farther than we can walk to get there in a reasonable amount of time,” Blink said. “I’m parked over there. It’s a short hike.” As the two of them walked, Reaper squinted at his friend, cocking his head as he tried to get a better look at his face. Something was off, but he couldn’t tell what. Finally, after several glaringly unsubtle moments of staring, Blink stopped walking and rolled his eyes. “Why, you creep?” he demanded.

  “How long has it been since you have seen me?” Reaper asked.

  “It’s been a while; let’s just leave it at that. You don’t need to know too much about the future,” Blink said, then turned and kept walking.

  “You do not have your bag,” Reaper said.

  “What?” Blink asked with a laugh.

  “You have had a bag every time I have seen you, except for now, and when you had a box full of weighted blocks,” Reaper said.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t need the satchel right now,” Blink said. “I don’t mean to be rude, Reaper, but you can chat with the younger me later. But right now, we need to go squash a bug-man. This is us right here.” He pointed, but Reaper saw nothing. Blink put his eyepiece on, only this was a different piece than before. This one brandished a blue ovular lens. “Stealth mode, deactivate.”

  Suddenly, a strange object appeared out of thin air. Rectangles flickered, then vanished, revealing some kind of metal vehicle. It was nothing out of the ordinary for Blink. To him, it was a standard M3HB—mark three hover bike. It had the design of a black sport motorcycle with red accents. Blink grabbed his jacket off the black seat.

  “You are not in a disguise?” Reaper said, confused.

  “No,” Blink answered. “Honestly, I don’t get why I ever thought that the whole disguise thing was so important. Like, sure—maybe when in a crowd of people, but when it’s just you and me or one other person who is only going to die anyway, there’s no point.” He strapped a sheathed short sword to his side.

  “You can disappear at will and make objects do the same, yet a sword is still the most effective weapon you have?” Reaper asked.

  “No.” Blink shook his head and made a stupid face at Reaper. “This sword once belonged to Apollo. So did this.” He handed Reaper a silver bow and a quiver with silver arrows. “Put it on. It’ll do you better than the scythe this time.”