The Mediator

Chapter 9

"I wouldn't kill you." I said.
"No you wouldn't, but you could have a hand in it." He said. "You're a mediator. Essentially, mediators work for them."
"Who?"
"My predator." He said darkly. "The soul reaper"
"Soul reaper?" I repeated. That sounded unrealistic.
"Yes." He looked at the sky now. "We are their pray." He paused. "And people like you, mediators, can lead them to us quite easily. That is your purpose." He scowled.
My head was spinning. I couldn't believe what he was saying. I didn't want to.
"That's why you can see us. So you can lead them to us."
"But I don't know any soul reapers." I paused for a second, "I don't

think..."

"You don't." he assured me. "Not yet anyway."
This was all too much. I laid back in the grass and shut my eyes. Hoping that when I opened them again I would be in my bed and this would all be a dream.
"Cassie are you okay?"
"No." I groaned.
I heard Rob lay down in the grass next to me.
I immediately sat up. I didn't like him being so close. I didn't like the way he was making me feel. Well, I did but I didn't want to feel anything for him. He made me so angry.
He propped himself up with the back of his arms, "What?"
I didn't want to tell him the real reason so I changed the subject. "You were saying?"

He looked away from me, irritated, for a moment and then spoke.
"The soul reaper is our only predator." He said shortly
"How would I know if I ever came across one?"
His eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows, "You would know."
"What do they look like and where do they live?" I asked.
He laid back down and stared at the sky while he spoke, "They are bone white, frail creatures, usually cloaked, human like of course, and their eyes..."

He trailed off and closed his own eyes now.
The way he said "their eyes" made me nervous. He sounded distraught. I didn't want to make this harder for him. I could tell he was struggling so I let him take his time without a word.
He opened his eyes when he spoke again, "Their eyes..." he stopped again.
I was surprised at how difficult this feature was for him to explain.
He took in a deep breath and started again. "Their eyes are completely black and deadly."

"Deadly?"
"Yes, Have you ever heard the saying "If looks could kill"?"
I nodded. And then it hit me. "You mean..." I couldn't say the words.
"Yes." He knew what I was getting at. "One look and our soul is theirs."
"You can't look away?"
"It's impossible." He said. "You know how bugs are attracted to lights?"
"Yeah..."
"It's the same way for us. Even though we know better than to look sometimes we can't help it. The desire to look, the want is always there."
I didn't bother to ask why. I understood. I did have another question though. "Why do they need your soul?"
"To survive; it's the only way they can live."
My eyes narrowed.

"Generally people live for a seventy or so years, correct?"
I shrugged, "More or less."
"By stealing our souls it adds on to their life span. However many years a person like me had left from the time of their death becomes the soul reapers."
My jaw dropped.
Rob sat up now.
"That's not fair!" I said.
"Have you ever heard the saying "Life's not fair"?"
I glared at Rob. "That's not funny."
He stared at me, "I wasn't joking."
"How do they find you?"
He looked at me.
I quickly understood. "Oh, Right..." I didn't want to talk about this anymore. It was scaring me and I could tell it was upsetting Rob now. I looked over at the house in the distance.
Rob must have followed my gaze because he spoke before I even asked.
"There's nothing in there." He told me.
"Then what's the point?" I asked.
"I already told you. It's our safe haven. Audrey and I come here when they hunt."
"When do they hunt?"
"When their current soul begins to run out; they become weak and then they hunt."
"But you said they don't hunt themselves..." I broke off. I began to understand before Rob said anything.
"That's why I had to find you." He paused and looked away from me when he spoke now, "I had to find you before they did." He paused again, "And no one knows exactly where they live."