The Reaper's Apprentices #1: Awakened (16 page)

“Bodies?” Yuka cut him off. “You mean…how many…”

There was an awkward silence between the four Grim Reapers, and Linn looked ready to burst out crying. They had never seen her look so sad. Or stare down at the ground for a long time. When no one would answer, Avani pressed on. “Is it more than twenty?”

Grim Reaper Olana nodded. “Far more than twenty.”

“But our masters…they’re okay, right? They may have gotten hurt, but they’re fine. That’s what you’re going to tell me.”

She waited for the validation that Master Gideon had been injured in the attack. Maybe he had broken his foot, maybe he had gone into surgery. At the worst, he might have been in ICU, but he would make a recovery. No demon slayer could take down their masters. They had skills. They were strong enough. They could take care of themselves. As long as she kept repeating all these words, everything would be fine.

A tear trickled down Linn’s right eye and she bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

“What happened?”  Yuka wanted to know, now alarmed. She stared at the gate and finally saw the changes. There were scorch marks, and it had been cracked open. The lock had been discarded and some of the bars were lying on the ground. This was not just ‘something bad’.

“Will someone tell me what happened?” Kaska finally asked. “Where is Master Fabian? Where is everyone else?”

“Gone,” Olana choked out. “Everyone is gone.”

“Everyone is gone? That’s not true!” Tessa insisted, running toward the gate and trying to push it open. “Master Adair! Anyone! It’s me! Let me in!” She began to bang on the iron bars even though no one would open them. Yuka and Kaska tried to pull her away while Avani peered through the bars. She couldn’t see very much, but what she caught sight of indicated nothing good. There was still smoke and fog, and trees had fallen over. She saw rubble on the ground where before there were hardly any rocks to begin with. But nothing seemed to be alive either. There were no sounds, no voices, and no forms of life. Where were the animals? Were they alive or did they perish with their masters?

“Tessa, come on!” Salvador tried to pull her away. “There’s nothing you can do! It’s not safe to go in there!”
 

“Why not? That’s our home!” Tessa pointed out, ringing the doorbell. There was a faint buzz
, and she expected someone to run up to it. Someone was always behind the gate. Someone had to be there. “Why is no one answering?”
 

“You’re not getting it! No one is going to answer you!” Linn burst out.
“There’s no one there, because they are dead! THEY’RE ALL DEAD!”

“Linn, calm down!” Odom barked but it was too late. Her words had hit them, and Yuka found herself touching the bars. They were cold and sticky from the rain. She wanted to break through. She wanted to see this for herself.

“Just tell us how it happened,” she whispered, struggling with the bars. “Where are they? How did they lose?”

“It started when I was sleeping. I woke up because something was dripping on my face,” Olana explained. “That’s when I noticed the ceiling was covered in blood, and that only happens where the current guardian is pregnant or dead. As soon as we got up, the entire Underworld flooded with blood. But it wasn’t until we reached the surface and saw what had happened that we believed it. I didn’t want to believe it. We searched day and night for any sign of life. It was all in vain.”

“So no one is left?” Kaska asked, her gaze shifting from the Grim Reapers to the Iron Gate. “Are you telling me no is alive in there?!”

“No one is alive!” Odom finally blurted out. It felt strange to see him, so strong and quiet, suddenly let his emotions take over. “No one is alive in Tartarus Sanctum, Kaska! The Reaper’s Apprentices that lived here were killed by demon slayers ten nights ago!”

“WHAT?!” The news hit everyone at that moment as Tessa tugged harder on the iron bars. Salvador had to pull her as she clawed away at the air. The weakness that Yuka felt in her knees before came back, and she fell to the ground. The whole world was spinning. She could hear crying and screams but had no idea who they belonged to. The names and faces of every Reaper’s Apprentice she knew were looming in front of her, accusing her of not being there. Everything faded to black, and she passed out again.

She did not know how long she had been out, but she woke up to find the Grim Reapers looking at her. Although she knew she hadn’t died, she felt hollow inside. The cold streets were the most comforting thing. Slowly, she tried to pull herself up and keep herself from crying.

“Are you all right, Yuka?” Linn asked, helping her sit. “I’m sorry to bring the news to you like that. We had no other choice.”

“So it’s true?”

“Very true.”

“And we missed the whole thing,” Yuka murmured into the ground. The screaming and crying had stopped long enough, and she found herself regaining consciousness.

“I’m glad you did. I would not want you anywhere near that sight,” Odom said. “For a long time, I thought you had died too, until I saw the light in the Underworld. It was dim, but still glowing. I knew then you were all right. I sensed that you had not died, but that you were sleeping. I also knew you were scared.”

“Well, I wasn’t sleeping! I could have been here!” Tessa kicked a rock and watched as it hit grass. “I could have been the one to save everyone!”

“Not even you could save everyone!” Salvador pointed out. “If I couldn’t do it, no one stood a chance. This is what humans do when they’re scared and given options. They thought demons killed all those people on the plane, so they retaliated in the worst way possible. And now that chain of attacks is going to keep on. We are at war.”

“We’re at war?” Kaska repeated.

“I’m afraid so. The war started the moment that plane went down, and everyone died.” Odom lowered his gaze. “I hate to say it, but reaping those souls made me realize something. People don’t care whether or not the proof is solid. They just care that they have proof, and they will use it to justify their crimes. As much as I don’t like it, I can see demons retaliating. This war will get out of hand if someone doesn’t control it.”

“Someone, being us,” Avani said, as she realized what he meant. “That’s what you’ve been training us for; you knew this could happen!”

“No, Avani. No one knew that humans would wipe out all of the Apprentices. We knew we had to be careful. But this? This was beyond anyone’s abilities.” Olana sighed. “I would advise not going to see their families anytime soon, as they are all grieving. I have promised to keep them up-to-date with any news we get, but I doubt we will find any other survivors.”

“Shall we go in?” Odom asked, unlocking the gate before they had a chance to say anything. He pushed them open, and they gaped at the damage that lay in front of them.

Their home, once big and spacious, was in pieces. The windows had all been shattered, the gardens trampled upon, and the pond drained. The smoke was coming from the burned out embers, and the walls had been torn down. Many of the statues that had been outside were smashed. Very little was left behind, as they stepped inside and slowly headed toward the front door. The Grim Reapers were right behind them, trying hard not to get emotional.

“It’s like an earthquake took place,” Avani murmured.

“I wish that’s what it was,” Olana replied. “We can handle an earthquake. We could survive an earthquake. But this? I just…” She shook her head. “If you don’t want to go inside, you don’t have to. It’s no better than what it is out here.”

“I want to,” Yuka said, taking the first step inside. Her stomach churned at the sight of the broken walls and photographs on the ground. Beds and couches had been ripped apart. So much had been burned down and broken that they had to be careful not to break anything else. The bodies were gone, but the damage was left behind. It felt unbelievable that humans and demons together had brought everything down.

“We’ll leave you guys alone for a while,” Linn whispered, stepping back. “Be careful where you step. There’s still glass everywhere.”
 

Tessa began to tiptoe around the building
, staring at the smoke. This wasn’t just a tiny fire that had been started in the kitchen. She touched the walls and knocked against them in hopes someone would knock back. It had been a game she used to play with other demons. Someone would knock on one side, and she would knock back. It was kind of like they were trying to copy each other. Whoever failed, lost the game. She knocked twice and waited to hear a knock. Maybe she’d be lucky, and there would be a survivor on the other side. Maybe someone would knock back. She took a step back and listened again. The knock would come. There would be someone on the other end.

“What are you doing, Tessa?” Salvador asked, noticing her knocking on the walls. “What are you looking for?”

“Something,” she said, not convincing herself that anything was there. “I refuse to believe it. I don’t think this…”

“It happened,” Salvador cut her off. “I’m sorry to be so harsh, but it happened. It happened too fast for anyone. We’re not fighters. They learned that very quickly. As of now, people outside think this was a terrorist attack.”

“A terrorist attack?”

“Yeah, no one wants to believe demons lived here. I think that’s the best thing right now; we don’t need more attention.” He shook his head and sat down on the ground. “You’re lucky you’re seeing this place after the destruction. All the bodies are gone now, both human and demon. Most of them are probably in the morgue, if they haven’t been buried yet. I’ve been reaping souls day and night in this place.”

Tessa didn’t know what else to say, so she sat down next to him and looked at the burned out wall. It was strange to think about how this used to be her home. This place seemed so big and invincible, and now it had come down.

“I wanted to leave so badly,” she murmured. “And I wanted to stay at the same time. I guess I was too scared of going away. I don’t know why I thought running away was going to solve anything. It just made things worse.”

“You didn’t cause this. You didn’t see it coming.” He shrugged. “Demons are strong, but even they can’t always win in surprise attacks. Throw in the fact that so many of them were young and inexperienced and…”

He was never able to finish the sentence. Instead he looked up at the ceiling. Most of it had caved in, and they could see the night sky. “I used to enjoy this place. I remember growing up here. We would get in a lot of trouble. I never thought this place would go away. I guess we have to get used to the reality now.”

Tessa could only nod in reply. As another piece of the ceiling came down and landed at her feet, she figured out that this was the new reality. But that didn’t mean she was going to get used to it.

Chapter 16

As the girls moved throughout the house, they began to see just how much damage had been done. It wasn’t just a few things being thrown around and broken; hard work that others had put into building this place had been wasted. Hard work and time that had gone into the art was gone. The worst part was the artists were gone with it. No one could replicate this or put anything back together.

“We don’t have much time,” Grim Reaper Olana warned them. “The police are calling it a terrorist bombing. They are keeping everyone out. This was a good time, because no one was around.”

“They think it’s a terrorist bombing?” Yuka asked. “And let me make a wild guess; they are blaming it on demons.”

“Everything is being blamed on demons these days,” Grim Reaper Linn said. “The humans are growing more aware about us. They don’t like it. We have to stay underground and move when no one is watching. And if they can take out Reaper’s Apprentices, who’s to say what they’ll do next?”

“This isn’t what I…” Kaska started as they walked around. “How did they…”

“It happened so fast that no one had time to react,” Grim Reaper Odom said. “We were never meant to be fighters, and I think the demon slayers realized that. They struck when they knew we would be most vulnerable. Though I have to say, everyone went down fighting. Judging from the bodies and souls, they did not give up. They left their marks on the killers. Wounds might heal, but scars remain.”

“How did everyone die?” Avani found herself asking, although she wasn’t sure if she wanted the answer. “How did a few demon slayers take everyone out?”

“They used every means possible to kill. Some went quickly, and their suffering was short. Others had a more painful demise. When I think of Fabian…” Odom stopped himself. “It’s too hard to think about Fabian. I just know he shouldn’t have gone this way.”

“So they’re all gone?” Tessa asked.

“Yes. As surprising as it is, they are all gone. We spent the last couple of days reaping souls and watching as bodies were being pulled out of the rubble. While we’ve seen death of every kind in our lives, this is something no one expected. We never wanted to reap souls of Apprentices. It’s a shame that the boys were so close to immortality, yet never were able to achieve it.” Olana swallowed hard. “I’ll give you guys some time to look around and collect anything you think is important. I know you took some of it home, but see if there’s anything you want to save.”

They were numb as they walked around the house and up to where their rooms had been. The hallway was completely destroyed, though the stairs were intact. It was easy to climb them and see just where the damage was. Someone had set the rooms across from Yuka’s completely ablaze while hers suffered less damage. She pushed the bedroom door open and looked inside. Her bed was messy, and the windows were broken. Plaster from the ceiling had fallen to the carpet, and she saw something dark that might have been a blood stain.

“It’s my fault. Our fault,” Yuka murmured, carefully stepping around the rubble. Their home had gone up in flames. Their friends had disappeared with it. It just seemed unreal. She walked around the destruction thankful that no dead bodies were lying around, but she could still feel the spirits lingering. The place might have been destroyed, but there was life. No one could see it, but the presence of Reaper’s Apprentices was everywhere. Just feeling it made her want to curl into a corner.

She had admired Sebastian. She complained about his desire to always clean things and hated him for being so perfect. She made fun of his freckles and acne behind his back. And of course, he never was able to dance, which was laughable. Those were the times when she loved mocking him, always annoyed with his perfection. He had been one of those demons who got everything without working too hard. She knew many dancers like that. It always irritated her when they got the big roles in shows. Master Sebastian would have been one of those dancers if he could dance.

But those were minor flaws. He might have been a terrible dancer, but he was still a good student with a lot to offer. He could swim well enough to aim for the Olympics one day. He was kind and patient and took care of her like an older brother. He was the one who guided her while she was in Tartarus Sanctum. He had been her first friend.

And now where is he?
she wanted to know, trying to find a place to sit. The carpet was warming up her feet, but it wasn’t enough. She still felt cold and tired and wanted to get out. But something about her old room was forcing her to stay.

“Yuka?” Grim Reaper Linn knocked on the door. “I was just checking if you were all right.”

“Physically, I’m fine.” Yuka shrugged. “I don’t know about anything else though.”

“All wounds will heal. It’s the scars that don’t go away,” Linn said, putting her hand against the doorframe. “There are so many memories in this place. I remember when I used to run down the halls with Grim Reaper Tayah chasing me. She’d threaten that I would never master anything.” She chuckled to herself. “I think I was relieved when Sebastian came into Tartarus Sanctum. He was so smart and curious. I always thought that you’d get along well.”

“We did get along well. I just didn’t like how things were going.” Yuka closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. “I’m sorry, Grim Reaper Linn. I should never have eavesdropped on you that night, but I couldn’t help it. I was afraid to leave home.” She looked around at the remains once again. “Now I’ll never be able to come back. I know it’s not going to help, but I never wanted Master Sebastian dead. I never wanted him to worry. That’s the only reason I ran away. I just didn’t think I was good enough to be his protégé. Even now, I’m wondering if I am strong enough to handle all of this. Maybe it makes me selfish, but it’s always circling in my mind.”

“Everyone has self-doubts, Yuka. I had them when I was your age. I thought I would hate being a Grim Reaper. It’s okay to be upset over this and to wonder where things are going.”

“Yeah, but I should have been here!” She pointed out. “I should have stayed instead of running away from my problems. I should have faced them head-on!”

“It’s too late to talk about what you should have done. Even if you were here, there’s a good chance you would have died too.” Linn looked at the ground, trying hard not to break her composure. “Then we really would be hopeless. I don’t know how or why you went comatose for ten days, but it kept you safe. I guess no one thought to look for you while you were out. That’s the one thing I cannot understand; you’re safe, and there are pictures of you everywhere, but no one’s tried to track you down.”

“I guess I’m lucky that way,” Yuka muttered. “But I don’t want to stay in the dark, Grim Reaper Linn. We have to avenge everyone that died — my friends, my masters, all those people on that plane…we have to fix what is broken.”

“Yes, but you can’t do it alone. I hate to say it, but the healing is going to take a lot of time. And between all of that, you have to train. More importantly, you need to stay alive. Humans are more aware of us, and they won’t hesitate to kill if they can.”

“Well, I won’t hesitate either,” she announced. “I know you told me to treat them like equals, but they made this rift bigger. Because of them, Master Sebastian is gone.”

The last sentence was painful to say out loud, and she wished she could take it back. She wanted Sebastian to surprise her. She wanted him to appear and announce that she was dreaming. She wanted Linn to shock her by saying that he had escaped. But as the seconds passed by, everything was sinking in. Demon slayers had broken in and slaughtered everyone. They saw a threat, acted upon it, and now put the whole world at war.