Just a Little Death

Chapter Twelve: Spring Flowers

"Where'd Kaleb run off to?" I set the plate on my lap and tore a small piece off the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"He said he needed to go check on the numbers for famine. Something about it was going to get worse as the rain started coming in." Pete sat down on my other side. "Eat up. We'll watch some television. Tonight we'll go see your dad, but I think you need to take a couple days off. You've been gone for awhile."

I didn't want to take a day off. I wanted to get lost in everyone else's problems and forget about the fact that I had disappeared for a few months. In hell. I literally spent a few months in hell. I took a deep breath trying to calm myself. "If I have to."

"About time you agreed." Ruthie leaned her head on my shoulder. "We're just worried about you."

I appreciated it, but I couldn't muster any emotion if I tried. "Thank you. How did you find me?"

"I knew the moment you appeared back in this realm. I'm your guardian angel, it's my job to know when you come back and disappear." She snorted. "Seems I failed though."

I shook my head. "No, I made the bad choices, not you. I should have known that he was Lust and I should have known something was up when Aeron kept saying you couldn't see me when I was in plain sight. I was just..."

"You were grieving and wanted to get lost for a little while. Though you should have stopped after the third drink." Aeron joked and packed things away into the first aid kit. "We've all had moments of weakness. Just because of what we are, it doesn't mean we resist temptation all the time."

I gave a forced half smile. "I guess."

Pete flipped on the television and an emergency news broadcast covered the sitcom that should have been on.

"In today's news, a new epidemic is spreading through our country." The news anchor looked up from her papers.

We all sat on the edge of the seat. "It seems that people are no longer dying from the plague, the problem being that they are not recovering either. Doctors report that flesh and limbs are still being affected while the person remains conscious and aware far past the point that death should have happened."

Ruthie and Pete looked at me. Aeron didn't move his gaze from the television. I shook my head. "It's not possible."

My breathing sped up and I closed my eyes. I went to the only place I knew my dad would be if he was still free. I opened my eyes and found myself in the empty field. I turned and ran towards the house. My feet pounded against the dirt as I moved through the dying plants. Pain seared my wounds with each deep breath that I took. I came to the cabin and threw open the door. I wrapped a hand around my stomach as the pain increased.

A tea set sat on the table, waiting, but there was no sign of him anywhere in the room. I closed my eyes and remembered him in flashes. The room, the knife being driven into me. The pain in his voice as he shouted at Lust. The swirl of the seal as he walked into it.

I crumpled to my knees as tears poured down my face. A sob bubbled up in my throat. I screamed as rage flowed through me. I summoned my scythe and got to my feet. I walked out the door to see Ruthie standing there. Pity shone in her eyes and I tightened my grip on my scythe.

"I'm going to get him out." I snarled. "There's no way I'm letting them keep him."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You need to tell me what happened in hell."

"Lucile tortured and threatened to kill me in order to trick Death into being sealed away." My knees wobbled, but I used my scythe to keep me standing upright. "I'm going to go back in there and find him."