Just a Little Death (Children of the Apocalypse Book 1) (3 page)

“Ruthie, we have a problem. Did you know the world would end if it’s true that this chick is the daughter of Death? It’s proclaimed in our scrolls that it would be the ending of an era when a female offspring steps into the role of a horseman.”

I rolled my eyes. “By all means, please come in, stranger.” The sarcasm dripping from my voice made him turn around. He lifted his gray eyes to meet mine.

“Oh, you must be Sammy.” He swallowed and snapped his book shut. “I’m Kaleb.” He held his hand out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize Ruthie was rooming with anyone.”

I crossed my arms, not taking his hand. “So I’m going to cause the apocalypse?”

“No, you’re bringing an end to an era, it’s a different story.” Ruthie gave a dramatic sigh. “Unless Kaleb has something to prove otherwise?”

“Pestilence is already happening.” He sat down in my computer chair and I turned to continue putting my stuff away. I at least wanted to be unpacked for my first day of classes and it gave me a reason to not meet his gaze. I still wasn’t convinced about all this.

Ruthie came over with her computer chair and sat with us. “Cases of the black plague pop up occasionally. The death toll isn’t unusual.”

Kaleb tapped me on the shoulder. “Do me a favor?”

“What? As I learned with the demon, there’s not a lot I can do to help you guys.” I shoved some of my clothes in the wardrobe.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Close your eyes. Focus and tell me, how many souls will be collected from the plague in the United States?”

I frowned. I had no way of knowing that, but I did what he said. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Collecting souls meant Death would be calling on and visiting people, the number in my brain went higher than I knew what to do with, but I focused. In the United States, by the plague. “Sixty-four million.”

“Twenty percent of the population, give or take.” Kaleb said. “Thank you, Sammy.”

“How did you know I could do that?” I wasn’t even sure how I could do it.

“It’s an ability passed down from your father. It helps you keep things in balance by knowing the death tolls.”

I shook my head. His explanation made little sense to me, but apparently it was clear to him and Ruthie. “That aside, twenty percent is extremely high from one disease.”

“It’s high for anything in the United States.” He looked at me. “And the toll started to rise two weeks ago.”

“When I turned eighteen.” I stated, making the connections he must have. “If the Horsemen are supposed to stop it, where are they?”

Kaleb put his book down. “I haven’t been able to get ahold of my father lately. Have you tried to contact yours?”

“I don’t even know where to begin with that.” I glared at him. “It’s not like we’re on good terms.”

Ruthie swiveled in her chair. “I’ll see if I can get a hold of Death tomorrow, as an angel I can hop into his realm. I’ve met him before; he’s a nice guy. Did Pete or Aeron try to get ahold of theirs?”

“Not that I’m aware of. We can ask them tomorrow. We need to find out what or who is causing this.” Kaleb gave me a pointed stare. “And then take care of it.”

I wanted to punch him in his narrow face. I threw my hands up in the air. “I am not causing this. I didn’t even know this was going on until a few hours ago.”

“It’s true.” Ruthie stated. “She had no clue. We don’t even think her mother knows.”

“How would a member of the Zadkiel bloodline not know she was giving birth to a Child of the Apocalypse? Or slept with Death for that matter?”

I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t really want to think about who my mother slept with.” I went back to putting away items from the suitcase. “What’s so special about the Zadkiel bloodline anyways? From what I understand, it’s been a long time since anyone’s met one of us.”

“They tend to be higher class of angel. Often ones who are the first into battles.” He shook his head. “Your mother must be one of the only ones who’ve fallen. That’s neither here nor there. What matters is that we figure out what is going on, where the Horsemen are and if you are the actual cause of the upcoming apocalypse.”

I didn’t bother looking back at him and shoved my empty suitcase under the bed. “You’ll have to let me know and until we figure out what is going on, let’s skip the trying to make me feel guilty. Okay?”

Ruthie stopped spinning in the chair. “We’ll focus on getting through classes now and leave the situation up to you three. Between you, Pete, and Aeron, you can handle it for now.”

“And when her abilities grow?”

“I’ll teach her to fight against the demons who will come after her.”

I turned to Ruthie and raised a brow. “Fight against demons? Isn’t that what you’re for?”

She turned her gaze towards me and I couldn’t see the humor I’d grown accustomed to in her eyes. “And what if a demon was to kill me?”

“I guess I would be screwed then.” I rubbed my eyes. “I didn’t ask for all this. Demons and what not.”

Kaleb laughed. “None of us did, but I guess we have the advantage as we’re older and more prepared. You’re going in blind.” He opened up his book and leaned back in my chair. “Now, you and Ruthie try to get a hold of Death and we’ll work from there. I’ll talk to Pete about his dad. Hopefully they are just busy and being elusive.”

With the way he said it, I assumed it happened often. “I imagine being a Horseman keeps one pretty busy.”

“You have no idea.”  He shook his head and snapped his book shut. “I’ll let you two be. I need to prepare for class tomorrow.”

Ruthie nodded. “Yeah, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kaleb walked out and I sat on my bed. “I swear I have no idea what is going on or how I could possibly cause the death of twenty percent of the population.”

“I don’t think it’s you. I think it’s a coincidence that it’s happening now. But if the Black Death is back and will spread that fast and far, then something is going on with Pestilence. It’s his job to keep it in balance.”

“What could happen to a horseman?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted the answer.

“The worst thing would be if they were dead, but if that was the case, Pete should come into his powers and become the Horseman Pestilence. It’s kind of a failsafe put in place to keep this from happening.” She stood and pushed her chair back over to her desk. “But we’ll worry about that tomorrow. Tonight, we get our stuff ready for class and pretend to be normal college students.”

Seven Deadly Sins

I woke to Ruthie snoring in her bed the next morning. She’d tucked the blankets around herself and one arm hung off the bed. I’d hoped that everything yesterday had been a dream, even after my nap and a full night of sleep. But the fight with the demon had happened and I was the daughter of Death. I forced myself to get out of bed, I didn’t want to be late the first day of class. If I hurried, I’d have enough time to swing by the café and pick up some coffee before my first class. Caffeine was a requirement to get through an eight a.m. math class. I had filled the rest of the night before with doing research on the apocalypse, and everything I had found was completely different than what I had learned from Ruthie and the others last night.

I went to the community showers, showered, and came back to the room. I found Ruthie’s bed empty and wondered where she might have run off to this early on a Monday. I shook my head and got dressed and fixed my hair, spiking up the pixie cut with some hair goop. I adjusted my red shirt while looking in the mirror. My mother never approved of the V-neck cuts and tight jeans, but she wasn’t here now. I smiled and tried to push away any nervousness that appeared. Compared to facing a demon, the first day of college classes shouldn’t be scary. If only my nerves would listen. I grabbed my bag and headed out of the building and to the café.

The campus buzzed with other students wandering around. The crowd was thicker than the day before and I found my nerves calming down as other students explored the campus trying to find classes or the bookstore. I slipped into the café and stood in line. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through e-mails until someone bumped into me. I fumbled and caught my phone before it hit the floor and spun around to face the person.

His blond hair was perfectly styled, cut short, but curled right above his ears. His hazel eyes gleamed as he smiled at me. I wasn’t sure if I should have swooned at the smile or run. It sent shivers down to my toes and stirred an uncertain amount of lust in my body. I could see myself doing naughty things with this man and not even second-guessing myself. I pushed the thoughts out of my mind.

“Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” His voice was just as sexy as the rest of him. “I’m Jared.” He held his hand out.

I shoved my phone in my pocket and shook his hand. “Sammy.”

We shuffled forward as the line moved. He squeezed my hand before letting it go. “And where are you off to this early in the morning, Sammy?” My name rolled off his lips and gave me a hint of an accent I couldn’t place.

“College Algebra.” I turned to the counter when it was my turn and ordered a latte. I stepped to the side to wait for my drink.

Jared smiled. “Room two twenty in the Regan building?”

“Yeah, how did you know?” I thanked the employee for my coffee and waited for Jared to order.

“Because I’m in the same class. May I walk you to class?” He offered.

My mind tried to send me a warning signal. This man dripped of sex and confidence. The feeling stole the moisture from my mouth and made me catch my breath. This wasn’t the same fear I had with the demon. This was something totally different. Logic said to avoid him, but I wasn’t listening. “Sure. I could use some good company.”

He picked up his drink and we walked out of the cafe. “Are you local?” He asked as we walked towards the courtyard.

“I live on the other side of the mountains. How about you?” I sipped my coffee and savored the warmth in the chilly fall morning.

“I’m not, I’m from a tiny town that no one’s heard of.” He laughed. “This is the biggest city I’ve lived in.”

I smiled. “It’s the smallest for me. I like it so far, granted I haven’t seen a whole lot of it.”

We passed where Ruthie and Aeron had fought off the demon and my footsteps hesitated a bit. “Maybe we can explore it together. We didn’t see much when we came to visit.” He sipped his coffee. “And when we did visit it was hotter than hell.”

I choked on my coffee at the mention of hell. “Yeah, summers here can be brutal.” I forced my words out and tried not to recall the demon’s decapitated head.

We reached the building and he opened the door for me. I bowed my head in thanks and he followed me in. We both took a moment and glanced around the halls, the door in front of us was labeled ‘120’.

“Upstairs,” I prompted and we glanced around for the flight of stairs. A door sat at the opposite end of the hall with the sign for stairs hanging above it. We walked in that direction. He stayed next to me down the entire hall and opened the door to the stairs.

“Such a gentleman,” I joked.

He gave me another one of those charming smiles. “My mama raised me that way.” He winked at me and we walked up the flight of stairs and to the classroom.

We took our seats amongst the few scattered students who all sported dark circles under their eyes. I took a big gulp of my coffee and put my bag next to my seat. I glanced up as the teacher walked in.

She balanced herself on tall black heels, leading her long legs up to a short pencil skirt and a black suit jacket. Her black hair was twisted up in a tight bun and her thick cat-eyed glasses gave her face an angular and almost snake-like shape. “Welcome to college algebra, I’m Lucile Deuteronomy, but you may call me Lucile or Professor L.”

A shock of fear and panic went through me and my hand tightened into a fist. My heart hammered against my chest and my instincts told me to run, but my body froze the moment the professor’s gaze met mine.

“I know a lot of students struggle with math, but my job is to make this less…hellish for you and ensure your success in this class.”

The feeling never passed, but I forced myself to sit there and bear the class with gritted teeth. Through the tedious first day class syllabus overview and expectations and her horrible gaze, I managed to keep my cool. The moment she dismissed us, I jumped up and headed out of the class.

I pulled away when someone put a hand on my shoulder.

“Hold up there, Sammy.”

I turned around, shoving the arm off my shoulder and met Jared’s gaze. “Sorry, I just…needed to get out of there.”

He nodded and motioned for me to continue to walk. “I noticed you seemed to be pretty tense through the whole class. You and math have a bad relationship?” His joke helped put me at ease.

“You could say that. Just something about the teacher struck me as odd.” I shook my head. “Sorry, this transition to college has been hell on my brain.”

He glanced at his watch. “I have about twenty minutes before my next class and it’s across campus. I’ll see you Wednesday?” He shot me another one of those dazzling smiles and I thought sitting through another torturous math class just to see his smile would be worth it. “Sure thing.”

He winked at me and ran down the hall. I shook my head and went towards my next class. If the demons didn’t kill me, my raging hormones might.

My next two classes went without a problem. I walked into mine and Ruthie’s room to find her sitting at her desk. Her back was hunched over and her fingers pounded away at the keys of the computer. “Something wrong?”

She didn’t even glance at me. “Pete said he can’t get ahold of his dad.”

“That’s bad.” I grumbled and sat on my bed. “What about Kaleb and Aeron?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t heard from them yet. They both had classes this morning too. You and I are going to take a trip to see your dad.”

My stomach dropped and queasiness took over. “Do we have to? What on earth am I supposed to say to him? Hi, I’m the daughter you didn’t know about?”

“Pretty much.” She finished typing something and shut her laptop. Turning towards me she smiled. “You’ll figure it out. How was class?”

I shrugged and dropped my bag on the bed. “Math was…interesting. I met a guy this morning, he seems pretty awesome. English, Speech and Intro to Computer Sciences were fine.”

“Ohhh a boy! Do you think you’ll be able to find time to date between everything?” She sounded genuinely interested.

I snorted. “He’s too hot to not be taken already. I figured I’d let things progress naturally if they are meant to happen. He’s in my math class.”

“The one that’s interesting? Is it because he’s in it?” She stood and grabbed her jacket. “Come on, we’re going for a walk.”

I turned towards the door and opened it for her. “No, the teacher was interesting. She activated my fight or flight instinct. I don’t know what it was, but it was terrifying.”

“Same type of feeling when you saw that demon?” Ruthie paused and turned around to face me.

I nodded. “I would say so.”

“She might be a demon.” The nonchalant tone of her voice rubbed me the wrong way a bit. How could she be so calm about a demon teacher? She continued out the door. “A high level one that can appear as human. Unlike the one we killed yesterday.” She headed down the hallway and I followed. “Let’s grab some lunch and talk about this math teacher.”

I didn’t want to talk about her. It felt like talking about a dirty secret. I wanted to only whisper about it and deal with it myself. That wasn’t an option though. Not when I didn’t know what I was dealing with. “Are you sure this is something we should be talking about in public?”

She glanced over her shoulder at me. “I plan on finding a quiet corner of the café to talk about it. It’s past the lunch rush, so we should be able to find one.”

I followed her down the hall and to the elevator. We waited in silence for the car to climb to the second floor and the doors to open. We stepped in and she glanced at me. “After lunch we’ll try to visit your dad. We have to be back tonight for our dorm meeting with the RAs.”

“I’m still not sure if this is a dream.” I leaned against the wall. “I had crazy anxiety dreams before I came up here. They’d get strange and these situations would be right at home with them.”

Ruthie patted my shoulder. “It’s not a dream and I think you’ll realize that once your other abilities come in.”

“And what are those going to be? I mean, other than being able to tell the exact number of deaths due to a plague that was nearly wiped out?” I asked and walked out of the elevator after the doors opened.

She cringed and it made me wonder what she was thinking of. “You’ll have your own weapon to call on. Most likely a scythe like your father. You’ll be able to fight demons, and that’s really all I know.”

We both stopped in the courtyard of the dorms and glanced around. Black clouds rumbled overhead, crackling with lightning. Thunder boomed loud enough that it rattled my teeth. Other students ran for cover from the impending rain, but Ruthie and I stood there, our gazes sweeping around us. The storm wasn’t natural.

Lightning shot from the cloud and struck in front of us. Ruthie grabbed my hand as I cried out. The flash blinded me, leaving me with nothing but spots in my vision. Ruthie’s hand tightened on mine and didn’t loosen until my vision slowly came back.

The black dots teased me, flashing in and out as my vision struggled to adjust and focus after the bright flash. The dorm buildings had turned into rolling hills devoid of plants or life and I had a momentary thought that I had died.

I glanced at Ruthie and she let go of my hand.

“Are you all right?” She cupped her hands around my face and met my gaze.

“There are still some dancing spots, but they’ll fade. Where are we?” I wasn’t concerned with my lack of vision. I tried to figure out how we’d been moved from the courtyard to…a barren land.

A lone figure stood to our left, his back to us. His black robe billowed in the howling winds. His brown hair moved with the air and wrapped in his arms was a scythe, as if he was leaning on it during a hug.

Death.

My gaze moved back to Ruthie and she nodded and motioned towards him. “Go.”

“Alone?” I whispered, my eyes wide. I’d never met him, like hell I was just going to walk up. What was I supposed to say?

Death chuckled. “I can hear you. Ruthie, I didn’t expect you to bring a friend. I wanted to speak to you specifically.”

“Sorry, my friend is my charge. Perhaps you heard?” She offered, and we both took a few steps towards him. He spun around. His face was angular and his pupils had skulls in them. My heart stopped at the sight of him. I had expected myself to be filled with hatred if I ever met my father, but now…now I wasn’t sure what the emotion flooding through me was.

“Pest, Famine, and War told me what the boys were up to. I didn’t know you were playing a part in it. What did you learn?” His gaze fell to me and the smirk he wore disappeared. “Impossible.”

“So…I’m your daughter, apparently, and my mother was an angel at some point in life…my name’s Sammy.” I waved my hands around like an idiot as I talked. It sounded stupid, but it was the best I had at the moment.

He walked around me and I could feel his gaze studying. “Yeah, you’re mine all right.”

Neon signs anyone? I kept my sarcasm down for the moment. I bit my lip as I stared up at him. I couldn’t help but wonder where he had disappeared to and why he didn’t think to look for me himself. Why were Pete, Aeron and Kaleb given the task? I clenched my fist.