Reapers -- The First Familiar (Reapers Chronicles Book II)

4 - Artificial

My heart pounded in my head as I calculated. How long would it take until the rest of Death's minions found me? Perhaps, not a lot.

A weak throbbing green light flashed from the small cube Apple had produced from the pocket of her midnight blue fleece jacket. The light swept the whole area to and fro. Intently, she did a three hundred and sixty degree turn. Only when the red-haired girl seemed satisfied did she turn to face me. She secured what seemed to be the scanner back inside her pocket, not making any effort to be wary of my presence. Not that I was a big threat to her right now.

"Latest soul scan reveals no immortal within a five-hundred mile radius except... you," she said to me, her expression anything but comforting.

"Who are you, really?" To my relief, my voice sounded calm enough.

As if oblivious of my struggle, the weird girl placed a small hand on her chest. "This unit is called Model One-Seven-Seven-One-Three, also known as MILLIE. APPLE is an obsolete, defective model. Master Hector had not foreseen the errors in APPLE's system."

If I understood it right, her name was Millie. Not Apple. Other than that, I had no clue what she was talking about.

"O-okay, Millie. That's your name, right?" I cautiously said to her. "What do you want?"

Submissively, she nodded. "Stating directives. Escort object of mission-Aramis Rayne. Destination-Halo. Mission-Rescue Master Vincent Soren Patrius Sinclair."

Obviously, it wasn't time to mock my master in his absence. Nor was it appropriate to have such useless petty thoughts in my head but I thought my mouth just gaped a bit at that. Ugh. And he thought my name was funny.

I cleared my throat, focusing on the matter at hand. There was a ton of questions in my mind at the moment but the most important shoved its way to the front, making my heart skip a few beats.

"Y-you know how to get there? To hi-I mean to them?" Despair leaked in my voice. My knees shook as with my hands.

At long last! A way to get to him... to them.

Wrong move. Showing any sign of weakness would tell Millie exactly how much I was willing to do everything to see the cabal. I would be like a puppy, willing to do any trick for a treat and I hated to give her that notion.

"Affirmative," Millie replied. "On the account that you will agree to my master's conditions."

There it is. I knew there's a catch, I moaned inwardly.

I swallowed the swelling in my throat, narrowing my eyes to give off a sceptical air. "What condition?"

She blinked thoughtfully as though recalling some deeply buried memory. "On the condition that Aramis Rayne, will place herself under the custody of Master Hector with freewill."

Suddenly, my scalp prickled, my blank mask slowly melting away. Pilgrim Reaper's ball last winter flashed back into my mind like a dysfunctional movie reel. I remembered how Hector's wide blatant eyes burned as he told me how I and Alessandra might be alike. Remembered the wild look about him as he openly admitted his interest on me and my abilities.

So, you see, I'd be delighted to have a chance to examine you.

In the brink of summer, I shivered. If Death wanted me as his lapdog, Hector was more concerned in treating me as his guinea pig. Seriously. Didn't anyone teach them a damn thing about human rights?

"I..." My mind seemed dysfunctional with all the conflicts jamming altogether inside my head.

There it was. The help I had wished for. Five long months, I had waited for some miracle and when it came I suddenly had doubts and fears. There was no room for that. I thought I had become so tough there wasn't anything that could scare me anymore. As it turned out, I was still the coward I used to be.