Beyond Her Final Breath (Book 1- Shadowland Duology) | Wattys2015

.Chapter Twenty.

Th-thump. Th-thump.

Skeletal hands clawed out from under freshly fallen snow.

Th-thump. Th-thump.

Bleached bone fingers snagged the hem of his pants, pulling him to the ground. A scream rose up in his throat, but fear kept him frozen.

Th-thump.

Sharp nails dug into his skin. Blood dripped down onto the snow.

Thump, thump, thump!

“Nathan! Get up!”

Nathan’s eyes shot open, and he bolted out of bed. His heart thumped fiercely in his chest to the knocking on the door. Images of rotting flesh and bleached bone blurred his vision.

Rubbing his eyes, he opened the door. “What Sage?” he snapped. He ran a hand down his face. “Sorry. Long night.”

“Tell me about it,” she said, pushing her way around him. “What happened to your face? And are you drunk?”

Face? Nathan ran his fingers over his cheek. Raised bumped skin, hot to the touch, met his fingertips.

“I should say the same thing myself,” he said, pointing out the various scratches on her face. “And I’m not drunk.” He scowled.

She nodded, eyes distracted by the gash on his cheek. “Good. I have something to tell you.”

“Well? What’s so important that you had to drag me out of bed so early?”

“Early?” Sage scoffed. “It’s past noon. And I know you came home at seven this morning, but that’s not the point.”

“What is it then?”

She took a deep breath. There were two ways to approach this: long and agonizing or quick with a sting. Like taking off a band-aid, she told herself. She never was one to do things subtly.

“I know you can see Evelyn.”

Nathan froze, eyes wide. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stop playing dumb. I talked to her last night.”

“You did what?”

“Will you stop it already? Hey, Evie!”

Evelyn stepped around the corner.

Nathan’s gaze flickered between his dead girlfriend and his little sister. “Am I dreaming?”

“No, Nate. And we have more to tell you.”

“More? You don’t think this is enough?”

Sage shut the door. “Could you be any louder? Now shut up. We have answers.”

 

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“So you can see Evelyn because you have a ‘Gift’?” Nathan asked, a headache beginning to pound inside his temples.

Sage nodded, biting on her thumb nail. “Yeah. Grandpa has it, too.”

“And these things, these Reapers, they want to eat Evie’s soul?”

“That’s right.”

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I am dreaming.”

“Will you guys shut up and stop bickering?” Evelyn exclaimed from the corner.

The two went quiet, both brother and sister with matching expressions of shock on their faces.

“Sorry.” She sighed. “It’s just… what if I get stuck here? Forever?”

“Evie, we’re not going to let that happen,” Sage said. Nathan remained quiet in the corner. “All we have to do,” she continued, “is find your murderer.”

“The only problem is that we don’t know who that is,” Nathan cut in.

Sage glared at him. “We all know that, Einstein. That’s why we have to find out who it was and then kill them.”

Tension was thick in the air, and Sage could’ve sworn it was thick enough to cut with her knife.

“i just- I can’t stay here waiting for you guys to do all my work for me! We need to get out there and do something. I don’t want to be Lost!”

Nathan stared at his dead girlfriend in horror. Her pale skin began to glow like hot coals in a fire pit. Her long hair whipped around her face in angry chaos. Talons erupted from her fingertips.

“Evie,” Sage began in a calming tone, an intense urgency behind her eyes. “You need to calm down.”

“Why should I calm down?” Her voice was nails on chalkboards, an inhuman screech. “What’s the point?”

“If you don’t calm down now, you will change faster. Is that what you want? To become a Reaper? Look at yourself.” Sage held up a hand held mirror for Evie to see.

She frowned, and her shoulders drooped. “No.”

“Good. Now my protection should prevent you from changing as long as you stay calm.”

Evelyn’s skin faded back to white paste, and her hair fell straight around her shoulders. It was like a ripple of calm traveled over her from her scalp. She looked down at her hands where talons replaced her nails.

Tears gathered in her eyes.

“What’s happening to me?”

Nathan looked on from the corner, unsure what to do. Crying girls were never his specialty, he thought grimly. Just ask Mary Beth from second grade.

“Shh… Evie. Everything will be all right. You won’t turn as long as you’re in the house. It should rewind the effects,” Sage said.

Evelyn nodded, an invisible heaviness resting on her shoulders. “Alright. I’ll stay. But only so I don’t wreak havoc on the town.”

A/N: I know it's been so long since I've last updated and that this is a short chapter. I'm sorry. :( My life's been crazy, and that's not much of an excuse. Please send me some love anyway.

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-Sophia ^_^