(Recap)
“Why are you phoning me? If you wanted praise you have come to the wrong Horsemen. I don’t do high fives and back pats.”
“That isn’t why I’m phoning you.”
“And she’s dead… Well you kids had a good run; you weren’t going to make it anyway. This was bound to happen sooner or later. I heard of this club call balls deep maybe you should check them out.”
“She’s not dead.” I said through gritted teeth. I really hate horsemen, they’re insensitive pricks. She had just told me to check out a gay bar right after saying that my girlfriend was dead, how much of an asshole can you get?
“She’s not? Didn’t she fall into the River Styx?” She asked confused.
“Yes.” I said trying to keep my cool, “She’s different… I’m not sure how else to explain it. I think you need to see for yourself.”
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Chapter 44
Violets POV
The first thing that I realized when I came to was that my head hurt, my eyelids were heavy like I haven’t gotten enough sleep, my ears were ringing and I had the worst case of cotton mouth in the history of mankind.
Slowly I tried opening my eyes again and it burned making me shy away from the dim light of the night lamp. I reached over facing away from the light and I accidently knocked it over when I tried to put it out. Luckily it landed on the plush carpet next to my bed and it hadn’t broken so I reached out again and this time successfully switched it off and put it back on the bed side table.
Slowly I swung my legs out of bed rubbing my burning eyes, allowing my legs to dangle off the side reminding me of when I was younger and my mom used to wake me up to get ready for school.
My ears still rung and the room felt like it was spinning but I managed to focus my vision enough to see that I was no long by the river. I was in a large room, decorated in earthy colors with only the bare necessities.
I slowly stood and walked towards the window; I stumbled a bit, as if I wasn’t use to walking and discreetly peered outside at the moonless night.
As soon as I saw the Death statue as well as the hundreds of ghosts roaming the grounds, I knew where I was. I was at Ethan’s house… what am I doing here?
The ghosts however seemed different, like they were more … real, more vibrant than I last remembered them and they seemed to glow more. There were some that were brighter than others but they all had a shine to them that I don’t remember seeing before. The light around them swirled and danced, sometimes mingling with other ghosts as they either chatted or passed each other by.
I could pick out details about them that I couldn’t before, like the wrinkles on certain faces or the freckles that dotted the cheeks. The first thing that struck me was that I could even see that small detail from this distance and that the ghosts had details like that.
I stared out beyond the ghosts towards the wall and gasped, I saw swirling shadows circling the wall, eerie blue tinged fog rising up to mingle with the dark shadows. It almost looked to be a barrier, protecting the keep from outsiders, but I didn’t remember ever seeing the manor with the swirling ghostly shadows or the ever flowing blue fog. The longer I stared the more I realized that there was more, that I could hear something and the longer I stared the louder the sounds grew, I could hear people screaming and crying, people shouting in pain and fear.
Feeling uneasy watching the swirling shadowy fog and screams of the unknown, I closed the curtain and decided to go find Ethan. I turned and started for the door, but my legs buckled and I fell knocking over a glass on a nearby table.
“Shoot.” I muttered as I tried to stand, but before I could, the door opened and a blazing light poured into the darkened room. I turned away shielding my eyes.
“VIOLET! Violet are you okay?” I heard someone ask. I didn’t recognize the voice but I answered anyway.
“Yeah.” I managed to croak out.
“ETHAN! COME QUICK, SHE’S AWAKE!” He shouted and I nearly put my hands over my ringing ears. Everything just felt too much, it kind of reminded me of the way I had felt the day after my homecoming party Vicky and Van had thrown me for getting out of the hospital. I felt like I was still a little drunk with a hangover after being knocked over by a car.
The guy at the door rushed towards me but I didn’t look up, he touched my shoulder and then quickly pulled away as if I had burned him.
“You’re so cold.” He whispered.
“Water.” I croaked out, feeling as if my throat was sticking close, my mouth was so dry I had to swallow a few times before I could croak out, ”Please.”
With that, the mystery guy picked up the undamaged glass that I had knocked over and rushed into the hidden bathroom. He switched on the florescent light and I moved away shielding my eyes, it burned like hell.
“Violet?” I turned at the sound of Ethan’s voice and I wanted to jump up and run to him, but my legs where still a bit shaky.
“Here’s your…” I turned towards the guy with the glass of water, wanting to thank him, but the minute he looked into my face he dropped the glass, shattering it and splashing water everywhere. I was so thirsty I was considering lapping up the spilt water.
“Your eyes…” He said still staring at me. I swallowed a few times to ask him what he meant by my eyes, when Ethan said,
“Leave us and tell no-one of this.” The guy nodded still staring at me with a look that said he didn’t hear a single word Ethan had said and walked towards the door, but before he was out Ethan shouted, “Close the door behind you.” It wasn’t long before I heard the soft click of the door. Then it was just Ethan and me.
“How are you feeling?” He asked as he knelt down so that we were eye level. I didn’t look at him, still thinking about the reaction of that other guy.
“Thirsty.” I croaked out. Ethan knelt a little bit longer, no doubt waiting for me to face him, but I didn’t and eventually he got up and got me another glass of water. When he was at the en-suits door I said, “The light… it hurts my eyes.”
He switched off the light and then he was in front of me, handing me the refreshing drink. I drank the whole thing in one gulp, feeling the cooling liquid running down my throat.
“More.” I said handing the glass back to him without looking up.
He silently stood and got me some more water and I finished that glass just as fast. I felt way better after that; the water seemed to revitalize me, rejuvenating my body.
“Let’s get you back to bed.” Ethan said as he helped me up and led me back to the bed, gently setting me down.
“Are you hungry?” He asked still standing.
“No, I’m not.” I said settling into the soft covers. When I was settled I noticed that Ethan had grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to the bed.
“What… happened? What’s wrong with my eyes?” I asked still not fully looking at him.
“What is the last thing you remember?” He asked, leaning back into the chair.
“I remember the River… just the river.”
“So you don’t remember the army, Akil, D or even falling?”
“I… no. The only thing that I can recall clearly is the river, sparkling in the sun. It called to me; it smelled of sea salt and freshly cut grass. The peace…” I said closing my eyes in remembrance of the river…”It felt like… coming home.” I said as I remembered the River.
“Nothing else? Other than the River what else do you recall?”
“I do remember being taken there, but not by who or why. I remember being afraid and wanting to run.” I said trying to recall more but failing.
“Nothing else?” Ethan asked and I shook my head no.
He gave a slight nod and began telling me everything that had happened. As he spoke images began to spring up, like a montage of the past. Slowly the pieces began to fall into place and I remembered Akil kidnapping me to release the Army but nothing more.
“Do you remember now?”
“I remembered being on the run from Death, and that he wanted me to release the Army of 200 million but Akil got to me first and released the army…” I shut my eyes tight, trying to remember beyond that, but the dull ach in my head grew until it felt like my brain was going to burst.
“I can’t recall anymore… my head hurts.” I said, rubbing the side of my head.
“Can you tell me if you remember where we met?”
“We met in school… in history class. You sat next to me.” I said as I thought back.
“Where did I tell you about my sister?”
“At a restaurant in town, after I found out that you were scared of water. Ethan I don’t understand, why are you asking me these questions?”
“I want to be sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“One more then I’ll tell you. When was the first time I told you that I loved you?”
I thought back and smiled, “at the cabin after you saved my friends as well as my life from being crash test dummies. Okay now can you tell me what’s going on?” I asked and he paused before nodding.
“I wanted to make sure that you where you and not… someone else.”
“Of course I’m me, who else would I be?” I asked confused by his answer. He paused for a little while trying to figure out what he was going to say.
“Violet the River, it’s the River of the damned, it devours life, and it’s like a highway for the departed.”
“Okay…” I said slowly not knowing where he was going with this.
“You and D fell into the River and only you survived.” Ethan said watching me closely. I started to get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“So… maybe he’s not a good swimmer.” I said knowing that, that was a lame excuse.
“Violet you were missing for three weeks and when we found you, you were unconscious for a further week. It’s impossible for a living being to fall into the River Styx and survive. It has never happened … ever, until you.”
“I- wait I survived but not D? How is that possible? He’s one of the horsemen; he’s Death for crying out loud.” I said freaking out over what was happening.
“We don’t know.” He said and I could sense that he wasn’t telling me something.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He let out his breath and said, “Violet… you have no heartbeat. Technically you shouldn’t be alive, but… you are.”
“I what? How is that possible?” I asked feeling around my chest for a heartbeat and neck for a pulse.
“We… don’t know. There is no explanation for it.”
“Then how am I alive? What has happened to me? Am I a … zombie?” I asked freaking out; I didn’t want to be a zombie and start decomposing, with bits of flesh falling off.
“No, no you’re not, you breathe and sleep and your flesh as well as all your other organs are alive, we just don’t know how your hearts not.”
“What do you mean my hearts the only organ that’s not alive?” I asked.
“Like I said, it doesn’t beat, it doesn’t function. Basically it’s dead or dormant.”
“It’s dead or dormant.” I repeated putting my hand over my heart but I could feel nothing, just emptiness.
“There is something else.” He continued.
“Something else? Something like what?” I asked not sure if I wanted to hear this.
“Conquest was here and she kind of took a look at you.”
“And?” I asked when he went quiet for a while.
“I’m not sure how to say this but at first we thought that D was trapped inside you, but Conquest said that she didn’t feel her brother’s presence or at least she couldn’t while you were unconscious.”
“What?” I asked not knowing if I was in some sort of bad dream.
“We realized that you might have somehow taken over his role as Horsemen or he could be hiding inside you. Either way you bare the mark of the Horsemen Death.”
“I- I … What?” I said not sure if I had heard him right.
“You carry the mark of Death; it’s why your eyes are mercury.”
“My eyes…. Are mercury. Let me see.” I said and he switched on the light next to my bed, making me shy away from the light, but slowly I had gotten used to the dimness of the night lamp. He then pulled open the dresser draw beside the bed and hesitantly handed me a small vanity mirror.
I swallowed before slowly raising the mirror to peer at my reflection and gasped. I was pale, way paler than what I used to be, my hair was so light it nearly looked white and as Ethan had said, my eyes had that eerie mercurial thing going on that I had seen on D. It swirled and moved as if it was an entity all on its own. In a way I guess it was, it was after all the mark of Death. I looked at Ethan, still in shock and then back at myself.
“We think that because you’re a Somniator, and had already been in the River, that it had somehow recognized you and bonded with you, and because Death cannot be killed, it either transferred his powers to you and then destroyed him or… trapped him inside your body.”
“So that’s why you were asking me all those questions.” I said still watching the weird way my eyes moved. “So have you come to a conclusion?” I asked not sure I wanted to know the answer.
“Yes.” He said looking down, “I had to be sure that you weren’t D, but it’s obvious now that you’re not D. The River must have transferred his powers to you.”
“But how can you be sure that D isn’t hiding inside me?” I asked freaking out over the fact that I might be sharing a body with Death himself.
“Two souls cannot share one body. They would end up destroying each other; you wouldn’t be able to function. The two would always be fighting for control, and eventually would end up killing one another. The River had recognized you as its own and saved you. D had never once been in the river even though he was the horsemen Death. Life and Death cannot mix; they are two powerful entities that would cancel each other out.”
“But I thought you said that the River was Death or something like that.”
“I said that it was like a highway for the deceased. It transports the dead to where they need to be to start their next life; it also carries some of the souls to Earth to be reborn.”
“So the River is actually life?” I asked still a little confused.
“I know it’s confusing but that’s how it works. D ends life and the River gives life back to the deceased. The River couldn’t kill Death so it went for what it knew… you. The River had made you Death and had killed the form D was in and in doing so killed D himself.” Ethan said with a small smile.
“Maybe that’s why my heart stopped, because I had gotten D’s powers.” I said hoping I was right.
“No, D had a heart even though some might argue that false, but he did and it beat in his chest. Your heart stopping is the result of the river.” Ethan said thinned lipped, looking just as worried as I felt.
“What now? What happens to me?” I asked fearing what new ability I’ll be getting now that I had D’s power. Would I absorb souls, kill people?
“The River… it turned you. Violet, you’re the new Horsemen of Death; you’re the ruler of the Reapers and the Dead.”
For a while I said nothing just absorbing this, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. A year ago I was a normal teenage girl with ambitions of becoming a nature photographer, now I’m the ruler of the dead and not just any ruler… no I’m one of the freaking Horsemen.
“What does this mean for me? As the Horsemen of Death what would I do?” I asked freaking out a little. Because seriously, what did D do other than make my life as well as every Reapers life a living hell. Would I have to start making daily visits to Heaven and hell?
“You maintain the balance of life and death, you ensure the safe passage for souls; reunite them with loved ones that had passed on. You save the lost and wondering souls and return them home. Being the Horsemen of Death isn’t all bad work, its maintaining a balance in life, there is a cycle and as Death you play a vital role in it.” He said holding my hand.
“I don’t know Ethan. I’m an eighteen year old girl, who by the way hasn’t even finished high school yet. I’m not sure I’m the right person for this job, I can’t have so much responsibility.” I said finding the fact of being Death daunting.
“Violet, you’ll do fine. Sure it’s a big job, but you’re strong, reliable and most importantly you care about others. That’s more than I can say about D, besides I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He said smiling encouragingly at me.
I shook my head not knowing what to say, I mean I was scared about this new role, but the way Ethan had put it, it sounded like I would be helping people and not killing them off like some bad guy in an action movie.
My head was still throbbing and the room still felt like it was off kilter. The news that I was Death and one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse was kind of a shocker, well more than a shocker that’s putting it lightly. I felt a little overwhelmed and the magnitude of my new job description was terrifying. I couldn’t even decline the post, I was it and that was that.
“I’ll let you get some rest.” Ethan said after a few minutes of silence and started to get up.
“Will you stay with me? I don’t want to be alone.” I said grabbing his hand and holding on to it like it was my life line.
“Okay.” Ethan said pausing a little and then sat back down in the chair. I scooted over on the bed and patted the open space next to me, which only mad him smile.
He kicked off his shoes and climbed in next to me.
“You’re cold. Would you like another blanket?” He asked rubbing my arms.
“No thanks, I’m actually getting a little hot.” I said kicking off some of the blankets and then getting comfy within Ethan’s Arms.
Ethan nodded but said nothing. I knew it was a little abnormal, then again what about me at this point was normal. I decided to just let it go and sum up my new body temp to being a part of the New River made Death.
As soon as I closed my eyes I fell asleep, comforted by Ethan lying next to me, I realized that for the first time since being brought back to life that I wasn’t on the run from anything or anyone and that I would never again be in danger. I am one of the strongest beings in existence and killing me would be near impossible.