SC: Okay, that last chapter may not have been one of my best, but oh well. It had seven hits. That's more (I think) than To Walk Among the Dead's first chapter. Whatever. I don't own TNBC so don't sue me.
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Chapter 2
My Name is Death
It was almost two a.m. when the phone at the Peterson house rang. Ryan snatched up the receiver. "Hello?" He paused. "This is." A longer pause, and Ryan's face paled. "Yes. We'll be down right away." He hung up.
His mother clutched his shoulder. "Was that Aubrey? Is she all right?" Ryan didn't answer. "Ryan, tell me!"
"Just get in the car."
XXX
"Poor kid. Must've died almost immediately." A police officer murmured. His partner nodded in agreement before going back to question a young man in a blue Corvette.
A worn out old truck pulled up, and Ryan, Emily, and Rachel climbed out. Emily blanched at the sight before her. Rachel screamed and started crying again.
The phone call had been about Aubrey, but she was far from all right. Ryan turned to one of the officers, and showed him his ID. "What happened to her?"
The officer, his tag said 'Brothers, N.' on it, shook his head. "From what we got, she ran out into the road and got hit. The impact sent her flying, and, well…" He gestured behind him.
Aubrey was hanging on a tree, one of her arms tangled in the branches above her, the other hanging at her side at an odd angle. Her shirt had a dark stain that blossomed around her chest and traveled down, like it had been dripping.
But the first thing Ryan's eyes were drawn to was a large branch through his baby sister's chest.
An ambulance pulled up, and a couple of paramedics climbed out. They walked over to Aubrey and, after disentangling her arm, pulled her off the tree with a squelching noise. Emily thought she was going to be sick. After a few minutes of examining her, one of the paramedics nodded. "Time of death, twelve forty-four a.m., October thirty-first."
Ryan held both Emily and his mother close. "Happy Halloween." He muttered. Faintly, he heard his mother humming the 'Happy Birthday' song.
XXX
"You've been causing me quite a bit of trouble, Miss Aubrey." I turned around to see a skeleton in a black cloak.
"The Grim Reaper? Can this get any more cheesy?" I asked myself.
He frowned. "Watch it, brat." He looked me up and down. "So you're the girl that Jack's been going on about."
I blinked a few times. "Skellington? You know him?"
The Reaper nodded. "I've been friends with that family for years."
"So, erm, Mr. Reaper-"
"Please. My name is Death."
"Oookay. So Death, where are you taking me?"
"Judgment." He told me, grabbing my wrist. "They'll decide where you go after that." He tugged my arm.
I didn't move. Death sighed. "Aubrey, don't be stubborn."
"Hello? I'm trying to follow." To prove my point, I lifted my leg to take a step, but couldn't put it back down.
He growled and pulled what looked like a cell phone out of his pocket. "We've got a problem."
A transparent goblin appeared beside me. "What kind of problem?" He turned around. "Oh, hello."
"Hi." I said warily.
Death motioned towards me with a bony hand. "She is the problem. She can't get to judgment. Aubrey Peterson."
"Be right back." The goblin disappeared for a few minutes, then reappeared. "All right, the reason she can't get to judgment is because she's already got a destination." He showed Death some papers.
He didn't have eyes, but I could tell he was reading them. "Whatever. Saves me some trouble." The goblin disappeared again. A wicked looking scythe appeared in Death's hand. He grinned at me. "Well, have fun." He slashed the air beside me, and a rip appeared. I turned to look at it, and a bony hand pushed me through. I tried to scream as I fell through the darkness, but didn't have any air. My body throbbed painfully, and I succumbed to the darkness, letting it knock me out.
XXX
"Lock, it's Halloween. Cheer up!" Barrel said, grinning at him. His new costume was almost exactly the same as the last one, black with a skeleton on it. But the bones looked more real, and some even had little pieces chipped off them.
Lock rolled his eyes. "Why? We all know what's gonna happen." Lock's costume too looked almost the same, except it was a darker shade of red and wasn't near as worn out.
Shock hit him with her mask. "Stop sulking and have some fun. We aren't supposed to complain how boring it is until AFTER Jack does his thing." Her costume didn't look the same at all. It was still the same dark violet shade, but it jagged black stitches all over it, giving it a slightly creepier look. She pulled her hat and mask on and ran downstairs. "Come on, or we'll miss it!" Both boys followed her.
All three sat on top of the fence to get a bird's eye view of the festivities. In the distance, they could hear the song starting. Shock started humming it loudly, mainly to annoy Lock, who said she was tone deaf.
"Shock, you tone deaf witch, stop that!"
XXX
The awards ceremony had started, and Jack was bored again. He almost wished that the trio WOULD try something, just so he could do something other than stand there.
Well, he was about to get his wish. A high pitched whistling filled the air, and he looked around for Lock, Shock, and Barrel, surprised to find them sitting on the fence, looking for the source of the noise. Shock nudged both the boys and pointed up. Both followed her gaze and, after staring for a moment, all three jumped off the fence and ran toward the Hinterlands.
Jack, in all the confusion that was happening, slipped away after them. He was getting better and better at doing that. He was close enough behind the trio to hear their conversation.
"You really think it's her?" Shock asked.
"Why else would we all feel tingly at the exact same time?"
"Tingly? Lock, is that even a word?"
"Shut up Barrel." Lock ordered. "We're just going to check. If I'm wrong, then you can both call me stupid, okay?"
"Can we do it anyway?"
"NO!" Lock stopped and looked around. "It's this way, right?"
"I think so… we haven't been out here in a while." Shock muttered.
Barrel was running ahead of them. "C'mon, guys. It's this way!"
"Barrel, wait up!"
"Slow down idiot!" Jack followed silently, still trying to figure out what they were up to.
XXX
"Are you sure this is the right way?" I asked Barrel.
"Yes, Shock. I know where I'm going, okay? I'm not stupid, okay?" He responded. I opened my mouth to make a comment on that last sentence, but he stopped me. "It was rhetorical. Don't answer it."
Lock was looking around. "Am I the only one who feels like we're being followed?"
Barrel and I looked at each other. I mouthed 'paranoid.' He laughed silently. "I'm being serious here, guys!"
"Lock, no one's following us." I told him. "Everyone's busy with that stupid awards thing."
"We're here." Barrel muttered, shoving some branches out of his way.
I peered into the clearing. "What is that?" Illuminated by the moonlight was a heap of what looked like feathers.
Then the heap groaned and sat up. I saw a flash of white hair, and Lock ran by me. "Aubrey!"
Her head turned toward him. "Lock?"
XXX
Everything was sore, especially my back and head. 'What the hell did Death do to me? Heh. Stupid question.' I groaned and sat up, putting a hand to my head. I felt something sharp. Suddenly, before I could figure out what it was, I heard, "Aubrey!"
I turned my head to see Lock. "Lock?" I didn't have a chance to say anything else as he hugged me.
"I think he's happy to see you." I turned my head slightly to see Shock and Barrel.
The latter grinned. "I'd say very happy." I saw his eyes travel behind me. "Whoa."
Lock pulled away. "Barrel, what are you- okay. Whoa."
"What?" I asked, reaching behind me. I felt… feathers? I stood up and turned around to look at my shadow. "Holy shit."
"You've got wings." Shock said.
"So I've noticed." I touched my forehead again. No pain. I poked it. Pain. I looked down at my hands. "Claws. Just what I need."
I turned back around and Lock kissed me. I heard Barrel make a gagging noise. "Fangs too, probably." He grinned.
I blushed and looked over his shoulder. "Jack?"
He walked out of the trees as Lock, Shock, and Barrel turned around. "I knew I wasn't paranoid!" Lock grinned triumphantly, pointing at Jack.
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SC: And that is the end of chapter 2. Three will be started as soon as I get two more reviews. Just two.
Ja ne
SC