6

Rachel

 

                Sen stared at her, the fear in his eyes piercing her soul. His hand was still clasped over her mouth and his face had turned a pasty white. She had never seen him scared before but this is the one time she didn’t blame him for being scared. No one knew what Reapers were. Tales had been spread that they were demons sent by Hell to terrorize the Earth. Though acknowledging Hell now days also would acknowledge Heaven and God, which had died in the people beliefs a long time ago. Others say that the Reapers are mutated men that lived near nuclear reactors when the Great Collapse happened. That the fallout had demented their minds as well as their flesh. To be honest though nobody really knows what happened to them. Or what they are. Only tales passed from wanderer to wanderer though you never seem to meet an actual survivor of a Reaper attack; which also said something about their ferocity.

                Sen looked up from her and peered around the display out the glass doors. His grip on her slacked and he slowly stood up, walking around to the doors. Rachel rolled over and peered around the display to see what he was doing. His face was pressed up against the glass and he was looking from side to side.

                “I don’t see anyone.” Sen whispered to her. Though as he motioned to her she stayed where she was. Something didn’t feel right and her father always taught her to follow her gut. Sen turned around to face her and saw her face poke out just enough from behind the display just to see one eye. “Quit being a baby-“ he started to say but before he could finish a cloaked and hooded figure drifted out from around the corner outside and stood directly behind Sen on the other side of the glass. She could only see a smirk on the figure's face as it extended an arm and the glass shattered. As the glass blew into a million pieces a barbed rod shot through Sen’s shoulder, cutting his sentence short. As the cable retracted at the end of the rod pulling him back towards the Reaper Sen shot a glace of help towards Rachel but she stayed put, hoping that the Reaper hadn’t seen her either. He flew back into the Reaper’s grasp and only after the Reaper started to glide away with him did Sen start to scream.

                She had been holding her breath this whole time, though now she realized the whole ordeal only took a few seconds. She inhaled slow through her nose and felt someone grab her arm tightly. The grip rolled her over, more like threw her over, onto her back and above her stood another Reaper. It’s cloak was gray and worn and she could tell that when it was first made it was black. But the years of dust, blood, and was probably food had stained it. From under the hood of the cloak she saw the Reaper’s face. This one looked like a man, maybe about 17 or 18. His face was the palest of whites and marked with small tattoos on his chin, forehead and down his neck. The one she recognized was the one between his eyebrows. She had seen it before painted on rocks or arranged with people limbs to let passerby's know who had been through there. It was the mark of the Reapers.

                His eyes were a soft brown color and for a moment as she studied his face she forgot that one of the most feared creatures in the world was holding her. That is, until he pressed the cool metal of a crudely made blade against her cheek, and then all the air seemed to be sucked from her lungs. This is it. She thought, This is how I will die. The reaper pressed his blade deeper against her cheek finally breaking the skin and producing blood. His eyes seemed wild like that of an animal as he stared at her.

                “We’ve been watching you.” He uttered. She stared at him, not saying a word. She couldn’t though her mind raced with questions and at the same time was blank, just waiting for him to slide the blade across her throat. Keeping the knife against her cheek he rotated his arm up, twisting the point against her cheek.

                “Greth, what’s taking you so long?” Came a voice from the doorway. She realized she didn’t hear Sen anymore and wondered if he was dead or just unconscious.

                “How many more did they say we needed?” Greth replied without breaking his stare with her.

                “One each, and you already have yours.” Came the reply. Greth smiled and leaned down next to her ear.

                “What did one lost soul say to the other?” He whispered in her ear. He pushed her head to the side with the knife then started to slice her cheek just deep enough to scar. As he sliced his design Rachel relaxed a little as she knew he wasn’t going to kill her after all, though she still couldn’t bring herself to speak. He finished his artwork and shifted his weight to his knees. He grabbed her left ankle and rotated her foot inward with his bladed hand. She peered at him without lifting her head, the searing pain of her cheek now starting to set in. She could feel the blood drain from her cheek and collect on the back of her head though her short hair. Greth smiled at her and pressed the blade against the back of her ankle. He leaned forward just a little and mouthed the words with a small whisper behind them, “Save me.”

                As he stood up he let the blade slice through her flesh and the tendon. She screamed from the pain and Greth chuckled to himself as he left. She rolled over onto her side and drew her leg up to her chest cradling it in her arms, tears now mixing with the blood and dust on her face, seeping into the wounds on her cheek. As she let out another shrill of pain her world went black.