Chapter 2

            Monday mornings never put me in a good mood, or any other weekday morning for that matter. Weekday mornings meant that I had to go to school. Thankfully, today that did not matter. I was grounded until I died and my feet were too swollen for me to walk. My mother didn’t know that yet, though, but in this case, I could see the writing on the wall. “Stephanie! You’re going to be late for school! Hurry up!” When I didn’t answer, my mom called for me again. It wasn’t long until I heard the loud and obnoxious footsteps of my mother’s high heels on the stairs. “Honey? Are you alright?” Knocking sounded from the other side of my bedroom door. “Yeah mom,” I called. “I’m ok. Come on in.” She opened the door and noticed that I hadn’t made any effort to get out of bed. “Why on earth are you not dressed yet?”

“Ummm…” I tried to wiggle my toes beneath the covers. It hurt so much that it felt like a million little suns came aflame on my feet. “Well?” My mom pushed.

“Mom, I can’t go to school today.”

“Are you sick?”

 I looked at my carpeted floor. “Not exactly.” Though I could be.

“Then what?”

I sighed, and quickly pulled my feet from their shelter, underneath the sheets, before I could change my mind.

 

            Oh, I underestimated my mom’s power to punish. After I told her what happened and how I had disturbed Winston in the middle of the night, well she still made me go to school. Now I didn’t tell her about Elric or Lilly, I made up some crap story, but still. She made go to school. In a wheelchair! How humiliating is that? I mean, one of my good friends is in a wheelchair, so I have nothing against handicapped people; but I mean I was going to get so much crap from Elric and his clowns. I didn’t even know that we had a wheelchair!

 

            I simply declined my mom’s order to go to school in a wheelchair. I simply refused to go down without a fight.

 

            So I went to school. I mean, what was a girl to do? I rolled my way down the extremely red hallway, trying not to collide with anyone or anything. “Yo! Reaper! Nice wheels! Claim anyone’s life over the weekend by running into them?” Yelled Chad, the back-up quarter back. “Talk to the chair!” I yelled back, without any humor laced in my voice. It has been an on-going joke about me killing people on my free time because- well because my last name just happens to be Reaper. Hey, its not like I had any say in the matter. Of course, Winston thinks that it is freaking hilarious and “quite ironic”, as he puts it. I hate to admit that the irony is truly there due to the fact that I am some sort of a beacon to the paranormal. I am not kidding. They come looking for me. It is a nuisance and it can be pretty scary and disturbing at times.

 

            I headed toward my next class just as the late bell rang; I didn’t care that I was late. “Current Times” wasn’t my favorite class anyway. All we did in that class was sit around for an hour watching the news and then quizzing over what we had just watched. Nothing else, and that was exactly what they were doing when I rolled in through the door. I sat there for what seemed like forever. It was totally boring- until the anchorman stated in his bad news voice, “Breaking News! Johnson High School student Lilly Carson was found decapitated at the town’s tourist attraction, ‘The Cursed Castle’.” Before Mr. Royer, the class’s teacher, could stop me, I bolted out of the room. I felt like I was a street-racing car because I couldn’t get the wheels to move fast enough. It didn’t help that I also had to focus on keeping my breakfast where it belonged.

 

            I guess it is time to tell you who Lilly is- was.

 

            I don’t know where to begin. Lilly was many things, and one thing among that long list was that she was my best and most beloved friend. One thing that I have noticed was that I was just the least bit jealous of her, and I think that is why we became best friends. Hey, I know that sounds really shallow, but hear me out. Her looks had all of the boys hover around her. She was the flower. They were the bees. Now don’t get me wrong, she was never the kind of girl to get pregnant while still in high school. In fact she avoided that kind of intercourse like it was the plague. The boys kept coming, though. That was what made me so jealous. How come she got all of the boys to follow her, and I couldn’t get one! Not even the nerds followed me. Believe it or not, I was below them on the food chain. Which is pretty sad because when the chess club isn’t even talking to you, you know that you have issues. Anyway, so I naturally gravitated toward her. I mean how often do you come across someone who is popular and extremely nice? So, I introduced myself and we lived happily ever after, until- well you know. Now I don’t understand, though, why she chose me over all of the others. That is the one thing that I could never figure out. It stupefied me. I should have been nothing but insignificant to her. Back to the main point, people gravitate toward other people who have different qualities than they do; like two halves to a whole, if you will. That is what Lilly and I were. That was why I was going to do whatever I could do with this damned “gift” to get Lilly back.

 

            Back in one of my earlier cases, there was a creature that could move time forward or turn time back, altering anything that it pleased along the way. I just happened to figure out where its buddy happened to be hiding before I sent it to its watery grave. I haven’t done anything to get rid of the one that was in hiding because it hadn’t done anything wrong. So why kill it? I was not the kind of person who would kill just to kill. I only killed monsters when they gave me a reason to. For me, it was time to bust out my paranormal butt-kicking gear. Once my feet healed, that is. The zombie that turned Lilly was still out roaming the world as a free parasite. It was time to change that, but first I had to talk to Winston, then find the creature in hiding, and kill the zombie that murdered my best friend. Hopefully saving her life along the way. Even though she was technically already dead. Everything was going to change.

 

            

Reviews

[Tony Jordan]

I liked Capter 1 better in terms of using onomatopoeic devices - I like those in writing.
:)

[matrixmark]

Another good scene to open up with - Not that Monday mornings are good, but you know what I mean. I like how you express Erickas thoughts when she had to go to school in a wheelchair - I felt that what you put down was most natural.

'Yo reaper, nice wheels" - nice line, made me grin.
Flower and the bees - again, nice touch.
I really like this story, how you weave your tale of Reaper and her activities is so refreshing for me to read. There were quite a few catchy lines in this with made me smirk, but I guess thats how people in high school roll now.

Your writing flows nicely and was a pleasure to read. It's got good structure to it, I can see the thought that has gone into it, and I for one appreciate it when a story holds my attention. Your sentence length is good, and you seem to have grasped of when to kill the sentence and move onto the next. This story is unique and I shall be keeping an eye on it.

Kudos to you.

Mark.