She is Fatal to Death (Standalone Story)

Chapter 38 (How He Ends)

Renata

The three of them raced across the stretch of grass and weeping willows as it all went on for endless miles. The skinny branches and leaves of the trees nearly brushed against the ground, only disturbed against their buzzing bodies. Their heavy breaths echoed, piercing past the sounds of their crunching boots against snapping plants.

She felt the soil beneath her. The rock. The insects. All of them connected to her through each impact, guiding her, invigorating her to keep on this mysterious track. She had no idea where she was taking the two men, only that they were actually getting farther and farther away from Angel.

Blue as far as the eye could see.

"Where are we going?" Keone's breathless question broke her concentration.

Her eyes cut toward him on her right. "We need to get underground. It'll make it harder for him and those things to find us."

Keone's gaze crinkled with disbelief and an objection brimmed in his hazel green. "You're sure?"

"You got another plan?" Tahoma demanded quietly at her other side. His words weren't breathless in the slightest, but his dark tan skin did flush, which looked unnatural in the blue-tinted air—not that anything was really natural in this realm of death.

Keone shook his head and looked forward once more—focusing on keeping up pace with them, she suspected. The blue weeping willows continued to brush and tease the tops of their heads and shoulders.

"How did he even find us?" Tahoma demanded.

"He dreamtravelled to me," Keone answered, "somehow tracked me through it."

"Doesn't matter now," Renata huffed out.

Renata was scared out of her mind still, and she knew more than anything that she wasn't ready to fight Angel. Yes, the power continued to brew and swell within her quaking shell, but mentally, she wasn't there. If this was going to work, if she was going to have any kind of chance against the grim reaper, she needed to believe in her own heart.

She also needed to come to terms with the fact that if and when she managed to defeat Angel, she would take his place. She would become Death. There was no way for her to comprehend just what that meant, as at this point, she was only getting a taste of what he was. To become the grim reaper could mean losing everything she ever knew, despite Tahoma's reassurance. That chance, that potential loss also hung over her head, tainting her heart and planting doubt and hesitation deep within.

Was she really prepared to make the sacrifice? To leap into the unknown?

Another spike in the air made her come to a screeching halt. She literally kicked up dirt and almost tripped from her own instinctive reaction. The other two twisted toward, alarmed by her sudden change in demeanor. Tahoma was ahead while Keone was slightly behind.

"There's something wrong." She whirled around, eyes snapping in every direction. "He's doing something, something bad."

She shuddered as a great, monstrous scream filled the air. The deep, haunting sound verberated as though it played from speakers right beside their ears. Everyone slapped their hands against their heads, trying to drown out Angel's fury. A clap of thunder rang out, followed by a wave of cold air.