I'm With Reaper Boy [ Boyxboy ]

Chapter 25 - The Spring

The world's already fucked up as is and just couldn't possibly be anymore fucked up. But I was just proven wrong.

Life is more fucked up than any of our minds can grasp. You can't act like you already know, because truth is, NO ONE knows. It's unpredictable, and unknown.

I've only just realized that.

For hours, we walked in silence after that. Jim refused to explain any further, but between Trent and me, he didn't need to. It made sense. I was whatever the hell a "reaper" is.

Some call it the "soul keeper" collecting souls that never make it to the afterlife. And you can also steal life. Which I happened to figure out the hard way.

Trudging up a hill, sweaty but not even close to exhaustion, Jim halts and looks at all of us, while we wipe the snow off of us.

The place is extremely white, and cold. But I look down at my shoe to find bright green, sprouting leaves, completely unfazed by the freezing temperature.

"Considering you guys have no experience on how to survive or find your way around places, you're gonna have to learn a bit from me." Jim claims.

I roll my eyes, and blow out and exasperated breath, feeling impatient. Trent looks in my direction and smirks, amusement clear on his face.

Jim continues upward, and we follow in awkward unison.

Over that simple hill, is the complete opposite from what's behind us.

Before us, is the greenest grass possible. Any more green, consider yourself blind. The trees have blooming flowers, leaving a trail of soft pink petals easing their way to the grass. A nice flowing creek catches my attention, and I stare in interest when I see beautifully colored fish leap out for a split second, before slipping back in the into the refreshing liquid to keep them alive.

But what I see next is beyond logic. The trees begin to rustle, and out flies a monstrous-sized white bird. It has blazing emeralds for eyes, hard and knowing. Full of knowledge and intelligence, and I know, from that simple eye contact, this bird knows and sees a lot more than any other kind of bird on earth.

It swoops down swiftly, looking effortless, like it's done this century after century, and lands right before us.

It's narrow beak opens slightly, and out slides a tongue more like a snakes' than anything.

I'm more surprised that no one has screamed yet. By now, anyone should be running for their lives, but instead, we seem to watch in awe, and utter fascination at the unknown creature our very eyes bear to see.

"Dad.." I hear Faith call out faintly, questioning.

"It's a bird, Faith. But not any bird, as you've probably noticed. He's the Keeper of this area. The Spring." Jim explains easily, looking like he's handled this before, which has me suspicious.

"He won't harm us, as long as we don't bother him." He warns, walking around the wary Keeper.

We all slowly follow Jim, making sure our backs weren't completely turned away from the Keeper.

We go near the river, and Joana crouches down, palming his hand, and scooping it in the water, before bringing it to his lips and guzzle.

"You can drink this water?" I ask, not sure creek-water was the best place to drink. But then, this is Kateric. A completely different dimension, or world. Rules are obviously different.

"No. The water is healthy and clean. Especially for the human body. The Reapers use streams for humans they snatch, and make them drink the water, it refreshes the mind, making it easier to steal their soul. And because it clears the soul of anything, making it innocent, and more valuable. Like a vampire and blood. It's irresistible, but healthy, thick blood, and a good beating heart, is what one would go after."

I look at him. "Are...are there vampires."

"Not the kind you're probably assuming." He answers.

I glance at Joana, thinking the stream is like some Holy River, considering it's basically wiping the sins clean off of Joana's soul.

Faith eagerly makes her way to the river, taking a sip, and sitting close to Joana.

"My brother likes her." I look beside me and see Trent. He nods, looking at them both.

"He does?" I ask, looking closely at the two of them. Faith looks bewildered, but safe. Joana looks absolutely out of this world, and Faith tries to comfort him.

"Yeah. It's obvious. He lets her touch him, talk to him for a long time and comfort him. He usually closes off any type of affection from people and brushes it away. But Faith....she's not like the girls that always go for him. She seems to actually care." Trent says, looking at them intently, like he can see right through both of the huddled figures.

"That's because she does." I reply. "She does care. She always does. Faith has compassion, and a quickly forgiving quality. That's the only thing we share in common. Forgiveness."

"Pshh. Really, now? You've held a grudge towards me for how long?"

I whip my head back to stare at him. "I'm like that with everyone. You should know."

He puts his palms on my shoulders and kisses my forehead lightly, his lips soft as a feather, caressing my skin with feeling. Then he pulls away. "Yeah, okay Krystle."

I narrow my eyes into slits, and he laughs, going off to drink near Faith and Joana. I follow defiantly.

Faith looks up at me and beams. "Krystle, this water is amazing. Try some."

I cautiously put my hand into the very cool water, and bring my palmed hand to my lips, sipping a bit, testing the water with my tongue.

It's like popping your ears after they've been clogged, or finally breathing shock and life back into your system the minute you swallow. It's like fully waking up and realizing you've escaped some bad dream.

I drink a few more handfuls and then settle down into the heavenly grass. Then my nose twitches, and I smell something sweet and delicate. Very soft and feminine.

I look at the tree close by, and get up, walking over and sniff the air, realizing it was the flowers. Out of curiosity, I pluck a falling petal right out of the air, before it lands to the ground. Tearing a small piece off, I sniff it, and put it in my mouth, tasting it.

Apparently, these are edible, because they're like sugar. It dissolves to liquid right into my mouth. A watery sugary taste that's absolutely delicious.

I bring a petal to Trent, Faith and Joana. "Try it. It's good."

They all look at me like I've gone mad, and I nod urgently. They hesitantly put it into their unsure mouths. But their looks instantly disappear the minute they swallow.

"That's what I thought." I say.

"Okay, everyone. We gotta go now." Jim declares sternly, distracting us from what we were doing.

We get up and follow him without question.

"Where are we going now?" Joana questions quietly.

"The Summer." Is all he says.

They're are seasons, apparently....

Yep. Definitely fucked up.