Skeleton Keys (on hold)

Chapter Nineteen

I took in the view for another minute, then turned back to the car. It surprised me to see Apollo leaned against the passenger door. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his jeans, his orange and black striped hair slightly tousled in the wind as he watched me. I better get this over with.

"I'm sorry," I said to him as I walked over. "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. It wasn't your fault..."

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "You weren't the only one to lose their temper." Apollo pushed away from the car and looked at me. "It's really only been a week or so since you came back to Hathmore, and you take to being a Reaper naturally like your grandfather did. I forgot that this is all new to you. Can you forgive me?"

I smiled. Hearing his words echo the thoughts I'd just had made me feel as if, maybe, I wasn't as crazy as I thought I was. "Sure."

"Let's get back to the shop then. We've still got work to do." He turned, opening the passenger door to my car.

"Wait, how'd you know I was here?" I asked, walking around the car to the driver's side.

He climbed in as I opened my door. "Your keys, remember? You've got one of my bones. I'll always know where you are as long as you have your keys with you."

"Oh." My heart tripled its beat as I started the car, trying to play it cool. There was something about the demon next to me that I just couldn't shake. Was it because I'd seen his memories? Or maybe we'd just spent too much time together the last few days that my mind was imagining something that wasn't really there.

I turned the car around and steered it towards the main road, trying to think of something else to say to break the silence that filled the car. Apollo saved me from making awkward conversation, but I wasn't thrilled with his choice of topic.

"You shouldn't be too hard on your dad."

Glancing at him, I saw that he was looking at me. I tried to ignore the feeling of butterflies in my stomach and focused on what he was saying.

"I know it seems that there's a lot he's not telling you," he continued. "But part of the problem is that there is so much to this job, to being a reaper, that it's difficult to explain everything at once. To lay it all out. There's a lot that most grow up learning and take for granted as common knowledge, that it can be even hard trying to figure out what's the most relevant information to give you first."

"I get that, I really do," I said, stealing another glance at him. "It's what he refuses to tell me when I ask him point blank what's going on that gets to me the most."

"What do you mean?" Apollo's voice grew slightly darker.

"The other morning when Dad and I got to the shop, Mr. Ward was waiting for him, I guess. Mr Ward mentioned something to him about an investigation, but when I asked Dad about it, he said he couldn't talk about it. Something about it being a matter of safety." We pulled up to the stop light and I glanced at him again while it was red. He was looking out the window. "Do you know what they were talking about?"

"Light's green," he said, nodding at the intersection.

I turned back to the road and pushed the gas.

"And no, I don't know exactly. But it sounds like something that happens fairly often. Just like I mentioned earlier this morning, there are creatures out in the planes and between that aren't always the most friendly of sorts. There's probably something loose around town that they're trying to find."

My eyebrows shot up. "Wouldn't it be better to warn us then? So we can protect ourselves?" I caught him looking at me from the corner of my eye. "What?"

"They keep the information to the Reapers and above because too many Charons would take it as a chance to show off their skills. It becomes a contest of sorts, but not all Charons are ready to fight such creatures, even if they think they are."

He had a point, I guess. "So, this is just another thing that I would have known about, sort of, if I'd grown up in the business?"

"I believe so."

"Peachy." I pulled the car into one of the empty spots in front of the store and cut the engine.

The day passed quickly with Apollo and I struggling to catch up with the flow of souls that needed transporting to the Afterlife. I guess part of that was my fault for storming off, but Apollo didn't complain. In fact, he still continued to explain things to me and offer pointers when we traveled through the portal. I managed only to land on my ass once jumping out of the boat during our three trips. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and slightly relieved that I hadn't had to face my dad again at the dinner table. 'Work' kept him away, but Lizzy's kids were back in force. That night I crawled into my bed, basking as silence finally fell over the house.

I was sitting on the porch at the lake house, Yogi was laid out beside me his tail thumping the wood as it wagged back and forth. I scratched at his belly and his head came up to lick my face. I laughed, that high pitched giggle of a child.

"Careful, Mary, don't let your mom see Yogi licking you. She will make you take a bath!" Dad said from his rocker next to Grandpa.

Grandpa laughed, too."And you'll get a good talking to, I would bet."

I could smell the dinner that Mom and Grandma were cooking for Thanksgiving. They were cooking turkey, and yams, and cornbread!

Yogi jumped up and chased after a squirrel in the yard, and I laughed again, before climbing up into Grandpa's lap.

He reached over and tickled me, and I squealed. "Grandpa, what do you sell in your store?"

He smiled at me. "Just old things, like old beds and dressers, old mirrors and books..."

My vision warped, and I was no longer in my memory. Hypnos and I stood before the large picture in the white room. I looked at how happy I was as a small child. How Dad and Grandpa seemed so happy, too.

"What is this place?" Hypnos asked. "You seem very fond of it."

"It's the lake house, where we would go and visit grandpa. I thought that he lived there, but I guess he actually lived at the store." I stepped closer, stretching my hand to almost touch the image. "The whole family would gather here. When Grandma was still alive."

"Those were happy times for you, weren't they?"

I glanced back at him, and stepped away from the painting, letting my hand fall to my side. I struggled to find the right words."It was before my parents split up, before my whole world fell apart."

An ache crept into my chest and the white space and the paintings blurred and swirled around me until everything was dark.

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Thank you so much for reading!! If you enjoy Skeleton Keys, please remember to vote, comment, and fan to get all the updates! Chapter 20 will be post on 12/23, so stay tuned! - <3 J.D.