Glass Reality | Book One

Chapter VI

I was unprepared for a message to pop up on my phone as I laid in bed later that evening. My new Egyptian queen costume lay on the ground. Despite being excited to dress up as a queen from that era, I do not exactly feel comfortable in it. Ruby knows that, but she keeps saying that if I wear it, I may turn out to like it. I already wore it; I didn't like it.

It's like a second layer of skin. Pale white fabric clings to my every body part, a gold waist belt making me look like an hourglass. Despite feeling hot in the dress, I also felt uncomfortable. It wasn't what I normally wore, so what did I expect Celebs reaction to be?

Caleb: Hey, remember that party I mentioned yesterday?

That's the text I get. It makes my heart stop. I was actually hoping he wouldn't make me go to it. A party with Turner, me in a tight white dress, and obnoxious drunk people around me do not sound as appetizing as watching a movie with Ruby.

Me: Yeah.

It's a simple text, but I hope by my use of a period, he will understand I'm not exactly fond of going.

He does.

Caleb: I'm not going to make you go, but if you want to go you can.

Does he expect to go to the party without me?

Caleb: I mean, we can.

This makes my eyebrow raise. I'm so confused by his little texts.

Me: What?

Caleb: Tbh I don't want to go

Caleb: I would actually like if we just chilled at my house or yours and passed out candy.

Is this a dream?

Me: Really?

Caleb: I wouldn't joke.

Me: That's perfect! Ruby bought candy today, so we can pass some out at my house. But, Ravenna will be here with her friends. So maybe if you want to go to yours?

Caleb: Hell no. My family will interrogate me like I'm a murder suspect. So, yours it is.

My whole face lights up in a smile. This is absolutely perfect. Now I do not have to stress about dickface Turner checking me out, or people laughing in my ear, or overall people. There are only a few people I like in the world.

Me: Sounds good. Also...Ruby forced me to get another outfit :(

Caleb: Really? What is it?

Caleb and I text for a while. His replies come instantly, and most of the time, mine go back just as fast. It's easier to talk to him behind a screen. We talk about Halloween, scary movies--which I do not necessarily like, but will watch for Halloween--my sister, Ruby, costumes, football, our future. Basically, everything one could think of. Then he asks for the photos of him as a girl so he can show his little sister. I giggle before going to my photos.

I open them to scan through them. After about three photos, my heart stops.

Standing there, legs spread apart and a scythe the size of me in his hand, sits the Grim Reaper. His face his shadowed like always, but he's staring at me. The cloak he wears droops onto the floor, and my phone's camera must be impeccable because it even picked up the mist surrounding him.

But the fact that he is there makes my heart stop. He's there...in my photo! Which means...I am not crazy.

I don't know if I should celebrate or throw myself out the window because everything I know about everything is now destroyed.

___

About an hour later, I'm still burrowed in my bed, my phone discarded beside me. Caleb texted me a while ago, but I just haven't responded. I'm in a state of shock, staring into my wall. I cannot believe that after all this time, I'm not actually crazy. The thought makes bile rise in my throat, yet at the same time, my heart leaps. I'm not crazy.

That's the one thing I can focus on, really.

All my pills...to nothing?

But then there the other part that sends me choking on my spit. The Grim Reaper is real, and he's been following me. Does that mean I'm going to die soon?

I'm so confused and shocked and betrayed and....and everything's a whirlwind of emotions with the power of a hurricane. 

How many times have I been told I didn't see the Grim Reaper? How many times has Mr. Strangeworth looked at me with his burning eyes and tell me everything I saw was from my sorrow? Too many times to count.

But now I have proof.

I can tell everyone and everything about this, that here, on my phone, sits a photo of the real, powerful, Grim Reaper. That idea makes an electric smile form on my face seconds before something makes my smile fall.

Thump.

At first, I think I imagined it, but then I hear a frightening sound.

Rok...!Rok! Rok!

The sound is so familiar, I immediately know what it is.

I roll over in my bed to see a beautiful raven perched on my window sill. Its talons are wrapped around the white plastic, it's black eye wide in bewilderment. The moon ripples across it's back, it's shiny black feathers full of grease and dirt. Yet, it's such a beautiful sight, it makes my breath come out in a gasp.

The raven spares a moment to lock eyes with me before bristling and crowing again. Seconds later, it's promptly turning around and shifting its feathers before flapping away, it's powerful wings carrying it into the night sky.

I'm so entranced by the sight, that when I turn back over in my bed, I don't shiver. Normally, I would be quaking like an earthquake after the whole situation, but I'm not scared. I'm in a state of bliss, my mind literally running out of power at how amazing the sight was.

In fact, it feels like I'm stuck in a trance, even as I hear my window open. I keep imagining the bird...it's dour color and ominous aura, flying away into the dreadful night. I want to turn over in my bed, but when I hear the sound of material slipping over fabric, I still cannot find it within me to turn. My eyes are glued to the wall, staring at the bleak nothingness of it.

I hear an odd noise, almost as if bones were grinding against each other before something blocks the moonlight out the room entirely. That's when I snap out of it. All at once, the shivers return and I am reminded of a leaf in a thunderstorm. I shake and quiver under my bed like a hairless cat, grasping the covers as if they can save me from my demise.

It's here.

I can tell by the powerful surges floating off of it, from the pugnacious tension floating over me, that it is towering over me as lay before him. I hear the sound of something new and so terrifying that it makes me stop shivering and instead, a tear falls down my face.

The sound of metal being whipped out.

This is it, I think, my eyes shut as I tighten my hold on the blankets. This is my end.

___