(Recap)
“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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 45
“Are you ready for this?” Ethan asked
“I guess.” I said and kicked off the wall to land gently on my feet.
For the last few days Ethan had been showing me around the grounds, seen as the last time I was here I had only seen the inside of his room and nothing more. I had met a few of the Reapers that were around as well as some of the ghosts roaming the grounds. Ethan had introduced me to only a few of the reapers, the ones he deemed trustworthy. He didn’t want any rumors to get out about me being awake and having the mark of death before I’m ready to take on the responsibility. He said that I needed time to get accustomed to my new role.
While I was getting to know the place, I had learnt that the ghosts were basically items that D collected and some were trapped here by him as some sort of twisted punishment. Whatever the reason for them being trapped I had soon realized that I would need to set them free and ferry them to their proper destination.
“Good, because Conquest is here and she wanted to talk to you about… er your new role as Death.” He said steering me towards the house.
“Really? And she volunteered to just diverge this information… willingly?” I asked knowing that Conquest would have rather watched paint dry than help me.
“Yeah, I’ve kind of told her that if she didn’t help, then she would have to clean up D’s messes as well as any mishaps that you might make as an inexperienced Horsemen.”
“Thanks.” I said not really meaning it. Seeing Conquest was the last thing I wanted to do, even though I really did need her knowledge on how to run things.
He led me to the door and down the hall, I haven’t walked around this house before so I had no idea where he was leading me, but every often we would come across a ghost and they would bow down to us.
“Why do they keep doing that?” I whispered to Ethan after the umpteenth ghost bowed.
“You’re the new Death.”
“How do they know?”
“Your eyes not to mention your aura. As the dead they can sense that you’re Death.”
“Oh… right of course.” I said finding all of this overwhelming.
He stopped at the door right at the end of the hall and knocked once before opening.
“Conquest? I have brought Violet to see you. ” Ethan said as he walked into the room.
I hesitantly followed him inside, because the last time I had seen Conquest she had voted to kill me. I stood near the wall, by a table with a single vase of flowers, while Ethan stood next to me.
“Ah so its true. Some nut case ran in here earlier saying that D had returned and he’s going to kill us all. You reapers are all so dramatic.” She said sipping red wine while watching a soap opera.
“So much for not telling anyone, I’ll have to speak to him. In the meantime you asked me to bring Violet here so that you can fill her in.” Ethan said.
I remembered the guy who had first come into my room, when I had first awoken. He had freaked out when he saw my eyes, then Ethan sent him away. To kind of think of it I hadn’t seen him since then.
“I did, didn’t I? Can it wait until after my show? Robert’s about to walk in on his wife and best friend doing it.” She said still watching the TV.
“No, it can’t wait.” Ethan said sounding irritated, “You can pause it.” He said and reached out for the remote and paused the show.
“How rude. All you Reapers are so boring and serious.” Conquest said and turned towards us.
“Welcome, take a seat, how can I help you?” She said flamboyantly, sloshing some of the wine and staining the carpet. Which kind of made me think that she might be a little drunk… but can Horsemen even get drunk? Doesn’t matter I needed answers.
“What has happened to me?” I asked still not really believing Ethan.
“I presume Ethan had given you a quick run through of the events that had taken place?”
“Yes.”
“Well then I’m guessing he told you that the River transferred my brother’s powers to you because you had already been in the river right?” She asked and I nodded, so she went on.
“The River is a very powerful tool. It’s neither good nor bad. It’s a … superhighway for the ghosts, to reach their proper place, it’s a way to finding peace mostly it’s a portal leading to the four planes. Death is the… what’s that word? Ah yes, Death is like a supervisor, managing the flow and making sure that no-one strays from their destination.”
“What four planes?” I asked dumbfounded, I thought that there were only heaven and Hell oh and Earth of course.
“Heaven, Hell, Limbo and Earth.” Ethan supplied and I nodded
“As I was saying, when you died the first time, you were completely submerged, basically you had become a part of it. That is why you had become a Somniator, it’s why the spirits of lost humans where attracted to you. Tell me… did you hear the river call to you?” She asked and I nodded
“Well that’s what you do, not intentionally of course, but you call to them, offering them peace, offering them a new life, it’s the remnant of the river. No living being has ever been in the River Styx and survived, not even a Horsemen. It’s why you survived, and as you know death cannot die so you took his powers, and the River aided you in returning by draining the self-proclaimed Reaper king over here and er… those other two guys. It brought you back, there needs to be a Horsemen of Death if there is to be life.”
“Can’t I just give someone else this… power? I don’t want to be the Horsemen of Death or a Somniator. I just want to be… me. A normal eighteen year old girl.”
“Sorry kitten, life’s a bitch and your Death, we can’t all get what we want.”
“So now what? What do I do? How do I even be Death?”
“My brother has done little in the past to ensure that the balance between life and death were upheld, he was always lazy. I’m sorry to say this but it’s up to you to set his wrongs right and restore the balance. Clean up his mess as it were.”
“His mess?” I asked not really knowing what that meant.
“Yes well there are a lot of ghosts around that shouldn’t be around and with the whole releasing the 200 million army thing; well there were some er… things that got through.”
“THINGS? What things?” I asked thinking about the army, “Did the army make it to Earth? Are we going to have to fight those creatures?” I asked shivering at the thought of fighting those hideous creatures.
“No, the River got them, but er… when that seal broke, it thinned the doorway between the planes soooo… yeah, you need to clean that up.” She finished.
“Why should I clean it up? That’s D’s mess.” I asked getting angry and gripping the table next to me, to prevent me from attacking Conquest.
“Ooo… look you getting angry and making shadow puppets… although D couldn’t do that.” She said and pointed to something behind me.
I turned and saw that black smoke moving around me like it did Ethan when he used his powers but that wasn’t what caught my eye, it was the fact that the wallpaper I was near had started decaying right in front of my eyes, going from a shimmery white to a dull yellow and then falling to the ground. The once fresh flowers that was in a beautiful vase started wilting at super speed, the vibrant colored vase was dulling and fading as fine cracks started to appear. The carpet I had been standing on, thinned and started to fray, turning a dull color. Ethan had stepped away when the decay neared him.
I gasped and stepped back away from it, “D-did I do that?”
“No, time just sped up that section only. Duh it was you.” She said rolling her eyes and shaking her head like I was a crazy person.
“How did I do that?” I asked still staring at the decayed wall. I looked over at Ethan and he seemed to be as shocked as I was.
“It beats me. You’re the freak not me.” Conquest said shrugging.
“Thanks.” I said sarcastically.
“You’re welcome.” She said smiling before she took another sip of her wine.
“And as for you cleaning up D’s mess… Well, he’s not here anymore now is he and as his next of kin. That would be you Violet, you are required to clean up his mess, restore the balance and what not.”
“And if I refuse.”
“Well then, say good bye to mankind and hello end of days.”
“You’re not leaving me any choice here are you?” I asked defeated.
“No, what made you think you had a choice? Now go on, shoo I don’t want to waste anymore of my time. I need to watch my show.” She said and pressed play on the remote to carry on watching the show, while I stormed out with Ethan close behind.
“I’m sorry Violet.” He said once he had closed the door.
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” I said letting out a huge breath.
“It actually is. I was the one to bring you back, I was the one to have turned you into a Somniator in the first place. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t…” He trailed.
“If you hadn’t what? Brought me back to life. If you hadn’t brought me back D would have still been running the show, if you hadn’t brought me back I would never have gotten to fall for you. Don’t ever regret bringing me back, because I don’t.” I said, turning around and gently touching his cheek.
He closed his eyes and turned to kiss my palm. “I missed you Violet. I thought… I thought that I had lost you.” He said his voice catching as he spoke.
“I’m not that easy to get rid of.” I said smiling up at him and he opened his eyes and smiled back at me.
“And I’m really glad for that.” He said and slowly he leaned down and kissed me, softly at first and then more passionately.
“Is it true – Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt or anything. I was um just…” Jonathan said turning red.
“It’s okay, is what true?” Ethan asked, reluctantly pulling away from me.
“James said that Violet was actually D in disguise, but now that I saw you two making out I guess that’s not true… although… Violet! You have the mark of Death. Oh man, are you the horsemen Death? How come you didn’t let Connor or me know?” Jonathan asked confusion written all over his face.
“I didn’t want Violet to be overwhelmed, and you know how rumors fly.” Ethan said
“I hate to break it to you but James already made sure that everyone knows Violets; A: awake and; B: Actually D in disguise.”
“We better clear this up. Call all the Reapers for an emergency meeting, we meet in two weeks, which should be enough time for everyone to get here. We have some exciting news.” Ethan said smiling.
“Aren’t you going to tell me?” Jonathan asked
“Tell you what?”
“If Violets the new horsemen of Death.”
“We’ll tell you when everyone’s together.”
“You’re going to make me wait aren’t you?” He grumbled and then turned around to arrange the meeting. When he was gone Ethan turned to me and said,
“We have to get this sorted soon before it gets blown out of proportion, but in the Meantime we need to get your new powers under control.”
So for the next two weeks I worked my butt off trying to control my temper, which evidently set my uncontrolled powers off, powers I didn’t know I had and as far as I knew no-one else had. As well as to learn my new role as the Horsemen Death which if you ask me was impossible to do in two weeks, so Ethan just told me to remain calm and everything would work out.
I had noticed since becoming the Horsemen Death, that my temper was really short, Ethan said it was a side effect of my new powers, kind of like seeing ghosts was a side effect of a Somniator. So in the meantime I had to wear special gloves to block my power, in case I should lose my temper again and well decay whatever I touch.
They also filled me in on everything D was not doing, which was nothing. Sure he ferried souls sometimes to the other side, but rarely so, there were so many dead on earth that it was upsetting the balance. Not only that, he seemed to have been collecting certain souls and trapping them in places for his amusement, then there were the things Conquest had mentioned one of them being the feeders. We needed to get them back to the under realm as soon as possible. Also now that D wasn’t around the Cecidit were roaming free, killing the innocent, devouring their souls, something that also needed to be stopped and soon.
All this was making me feel a little overwhelmed; I had no clue how I was going to restore the balance or even if I could.
Yesterday, Aunt Carry, Lily and Van stopped by to visit me, initially when they had seen my eyes they naturally freaked out, but we managed to calm them, explaining my new role as death and that they shouldn’t worry about me, and that I was alive and … me. We spent the whole day together and I was sad to see them go, but they couldn’t stay, not with all the ghosts around this place and the ever increasing amount of Reapers that were showing up. I kissed Lily bye and promised when I had time I would visit them and Van made me promise that we get together and have a girls night out.
I hadn’t rested since I had woken up and discovered I was the new Death, I had to cram all the information I could about reaping souls, determining which souls had to be reaped, and the proper procedure to reap a soul. Apparently I could see a person’s soul and tell right away where they needed to be and if I looked hard enough I could tell what they had done in their life, like watching a movie of their past. I could also slow time and control the elements, apparently it helped when a soul needed to be suddenly reaped.
Two days weeks later I was exhausted, I draped myself over my bed hoping to get a few minutes of sleep, seen as I had been up whole night preparing a speech for the big reveal.
There was a soft knock on the door and I sighed, at last it is not meant to be. Ethan walked in, not even bothering on waiting on a response.
“You better get changed into something more formal, you’re going to be meeting your new subjects soon.” He said as he walked over to me.
“yeah, yeah… give me a sec. What time does this thing start?” I asked flipping onto my back so I wouldn’t have to crane my neck to see him.
“In about a ten minutes.”
“TEN MINUTES! Why didn’t you call me earlier?” I asked jumping up and rushing around my room to find something nice to wear.
“I thought you needed some rest.”
“Seriously Ethan, ten minutes? I’ll never be ready in time. What am I going to wear? What-“
“Whoa, whoa, I’m kidding. You have two hours.” Ethan said laughing as he caught me around my waist to slow me down.
“Ethan that’s not funny.” I said playfully hitting his arm.
“It was for me.” He said leaning down and kissing me.
“Ethan stop it I need to start getting ready.” I said not pulling away in the slightest.
“Ah-ha.” He said while still kissing me, and I couldn’t move an inch.
“Okay, you have 5 minutes.” I said kissing him back.
An hour later…
“Crap, crap, crap. I’m going to be late.” I said hopping on one foot trying to put on my shoe.
“Is that a bad thing?” Ethan asked leaning up on his elbow watching me rush to get ready with a satisfied smirk.
“Is that a bad thing? Is that a bad thing? Of course it is. I’m the new Death, it’s my first official meeting slash introduction. I need to make a good first impression.”
“And right there is why you’re going to be so much better than D.” Ethan said smiling softly at me.
Lately Ethan has been smiling a lot, it was a huge improvement from the somber look he wore like a dark cloak when we had first met.
“What? Why would I be better than D?”
“Because you care about others.” He said getting out of bed and slowly walking towards me.
“You’ll do fine Ducky, so stop worrying.” He said and kissed my forehead.
“I’m glad you have faith in me.” I muttered still not sure about standing in front of lord knows how many people and proclaiming that I’m their new leader.”
“I’ll be right next to you all the way.” He said tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.
“Thank you Ethan…For everything” I said thinking about all the times he had to save me, all the times he stood up for me and all the times he stood by me.
“I’m always going to be here Ducky, but you really need to get done. You only have a few minutes before show time.”
“Oh right.” I said and started my mad dash around the room.
“Ethan… have you heard anything about Vicky?” I asked. I had been searching for Vicky hoping to return her to her body, seen as it wasn’t her time or at the very least turn her into a Reaper, but no-one could find her, not even Connor.
“No still nothing.” Ethan sadly said.
“And what about Brandon and Tatiana?” I asked because I knew that Ethan was searching for them with no such luck.
“We lost their trail in Greenland.”
“Greenland? What on earth are they doing there?”
“I’m not sure but I will keep looking.” He said determination written all over his face. I nodded not knowing what I could say to make him feel better. I went back to getting ready for my big reveal.
“Oh one more thing Ducky.” I heard Ethan say from behind me and I turned around to look at him. He was already dressed, the bed sort of made up, well just pulled straight and he was holding out something. At closer inspection I recognized the heart shaped necklace he had given me all those nights ago, but when I caught him Reaping my mom, I threw the necklace at him.
“You kept it?” I asked as I stared down at the red liquid flowing through the heart like blood through veins. I now knew that the liquid was a mixture of Reaper blood and the water from the River Styx, and that he gave it to me to protect me from the ghosts or more like shield me a little from them.
“Of course I kept it. It was yours.” He said gently turning me around and placing it around my neck. His hands brushed against my skin, and lingered on my back.
“Thank you.” I simply said and hugged him.
“You’re welcome.” He whispered into my ear,
“Violet, there is one more piece of jewelry I would like you to wear.” He said and then got down on one knee, “I know that we’re young, or at least you are. When I had thought I had lost you to the river all I could think about was that I never got a chance to express my feelings and that I had just lost the true love of my life.
“Violet Spenser I wish nothing more than to spend the rest of eternity with you and nothing would please me more-“
“YES! Yes, yes a thousand times yes.” I screamed and jumped on top of him in a giant hug before he even got a chance to finish what he was saying.
“Yes, so you don’t mind making me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”
“I-What?” I asked pulling away from him. I thought he was about to ask me to marry him.
“Just kidding Ducky.”
“So you were asking me to marry you right?” I asked still a little confused.
“Yes, I was asking for your hand in marriage. I just couldn’t resist teasing you”
“Ethan.” I said hitting him playfully for the second time today, “I had no idea you had such a mischievous side.”
“I used to… before I had become a reaper. Used to drive my folks nuts, but now I have you… my wife.” He said grabbing my left hand and kissing it, gently slipping a beautiful diamond encrusted wedding band on it.
“Ethan.” I gushed at him, staring down at the glittering jewel. It was plain and simple, yet it was elegant and sophisticated, just the way I like my jewelry.
“I love you Ethan Leeds.”
“And I love you Violet Spenser - Leeds.” He said swinging me up into the air and kissing me passionately.
There was a knock at the door interrupting us, “Violet you need help getting ready?” Asked a familiar voice.” And in walked Van with a broad smile.
“I can’t believe it. My best friend is Death. This is so exciting. Imagine all the perks I’ll be getting.” Van said walking over to help me with my makeup, but as she neared she narrowed her eyes at my hand then squealed.
“YOU’RE ENGAGED?”
“Yes Ethan just proposed.” I said showing off my new ring.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so happy for you.” She said hugging me.
“Van, Violet. You have 20 minutes.” Ethan said as he walked towards the bathroom.
“Right lets get you ready for your subjects… Subject… I still can’t get over the fact that you’re like their ruler.” Van said smiling brightly.
“I know right. Me too.” I smiled back at her.
Soon she started doing my makeup. I had told her that I couldn’t find Vicky and of my plan for her once I had found her. She said that she would help me look in whatever way she could.
Just then there was a soft knock on the door, followed by a familiar Scottish accent.
“Lass, ye meeting is starting wit out ye.”
“Oh crap, I need to get done.” I said while Van put the finishing touches on and fixed my hair deciding last minute to leave it down.
“Good luck Vi.” Van said hugging one last time.
“Thanks, I think that I’m going to need it.” I said.
Ethan came out of the bathroom, his hair slicked to the side. He had on a black suit and looked stunning. He walked over to me and I hooked my arm through his as we walked over to the door.
“Ready?” He whispered.
“Ready.” I whispered back and he nodded and grabbed the handle, but before opening the door he leaned down gave me a quick peck on the lips and said, “You look hot by the way.” And before I could say anything else he opened the door and led me to the front of the house, where there was a large balcony that stretched across almost the whole front of the house and overlooked the front yard.
As I neared it, I saw thousands upon thousands of reapers and ghosts all gathered in front of it. I couldn’t believe the amount of Reapers that Jonathan had managed to gather in only two weeks.
“Is this all the Reapers?” I asked as I spotted Conner on the balcony along with Jonathan and Tommy they had turned to me smiling broadly.
“No, this was all we could gather in such a short notice, some of them are trying to contain the ghost out break but more will be arriving in the next few days to meet the new Horsemen Death.” Ethan whispered back and before I could say anything about that, Tommy addressed the crowd.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I now give you our new Lady Death, Keeper of All Reapers and Spirits alike, Violet Spenser, The Horsemen of Death.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that's it. The last chapter for the Reapers Keeper.
As I had said, I will be making this into a series, concentrating on the other Reapers, who know's maybe I'll continue with Violets story. Right now the balls in the air and this can go either way. :)
Thank you to all who have read my story, voted, commented, and encouraged me to continue to write it.
It has been a pleasure writing this story mainly because the subject was one from the heart.
Will keep you posted ;)
Love to all
Steph ;)