Young Writers Society

A/N: Edited, although I definitely missed some stuff. Once again, I'm looking for tips on character interaction, description, and flow. Predictions on where you think the story could be going would be nice. Word count is 1,180

Summary - Cora, Samuel, Lena, and Romy are the main characters. The first three are humans, the last one is a ghost. This takes place in the underworld after Lena, a seven-year-old, fell through.

-

Samuel clapped his hands together, calling attention to himself and his words. Cora turned around, catching his hardened glare.“I don’t care who explains at this point. The ghost’s voice is awful, but C-O-R-A obviously has something to hide. I’ll put up with the ghost if I get the truth, but it’s painful.”He contorted his features into an awful expression, signing the twisting sign for pain.

Cora quickly connected the dots, realizing that Romy’s distorted radio-signal voice was probably sending Samuel’s hearing aids into a haywire frenzy. Without thinking, she signed for Romy to wait, not waiting to hear the ghost’s objections on the matter, and then launched an explanation that she didn’t know that she had prepared.

She had never told a living soul about this. Tears continued to flow down her face, but she hastily wiped them off and sniffed back the snot that blocked her breathing.

“I haven’t murdered anyone, if you’re worrying.” A horrific image of her dad appeared in mind’s eye, the scene of his death altered with splattered blood on the walls instead of the equally horrific, yet still mundane, truth. “My parents died when I was eight. It’s my fault, partially.”

She studied the expression on Samuel’s face, watching his irritation ripple away into mild confusion, although his cheeks were still stained with light pink. His stance had relaxed somewhat, shoulders no longer stiff. Cora cast her gaze down to Lena, no longer burying her head into Samuel’s check and looking toward Romy — who, based on Lena’s drifting focus, was probably floating to and fro in the background.

They both looked so alone in contrast to the vast yet empty background in the underworld. The short grass grew into tall grass which seemed to span on for millennia, perhaps punctuated by a tree here and there. A long, empty gravel path stretched lazily across the terrain, dotted with dead torches every so often.

“Your fault?” Samuel signed, an eyebrow quirked up. With fault, Cora noticed that the glow offered by Romy no longer hit Samuel. Instead, he had his own soft fire-like glow that radiated off his hands and brought clarity to his sign. The longer he stood there, the more it increased in brightness.

A horrible musing flashed across Cora’s mind, once again connecting the dots like a sick childhood puzzle.

Not knowing if it was the breeze or recalling childhood memories, she shivered. Regardless, she chose her words as carefully as possible. “G-R-I-M R-E-A-P-E-R-S attract death. Drain souls,” she winced at this, no longer looking Samuel in the eyes. “It’s not intentional. I don’t want it. I didn’t ask for it.” Cora wanted to give the truth, yet found herself dancing around the horrific topic of soul siphoning. She found herself at a loss for words again, realizing that her previous refusal to enter the underworld meant that Romy was right. She was woefully underprepared to explain anything about her life. How could she explain the status that came with being a reaper if she ran away from it at every turn?

The impact of her decisions held heavy on her shoulders, Samuel’s backpack and the emotional weight of her sketchbook causing her knees want to buckle. Yet, she found herself still standing.

“Drain souls?”For the second time that night, the color flushed away. “What do you mean?”Samuel’s signing became more rushed.

“If you don’t want it, then give it up,” Lena said, her tone so matter-of-fact that it was surprising to hear it from a seven-year-old. The aftermath of her crying spell was still apparent on her face, her eyes rimmed with red and still swollen from crying. “I mean, if I don’t want a stuffed animal anymore, then I give it up. S’not hard or anything.”

Cora nearly panicked, trying to remember the appropriate age to be exposed to death — she didn’t even think about Lena paying attention — her pets had started dying when she was five, so she never had a good metric for when other kids had to adjust to the harsh realities of life. “I wish it worked like that,” she signed down to Lena, a half-smile dancing on her face. If anything, Cora was happy to dance over Samuel’s questions for just a few moments longer.

Lena shrugged, “It can work like that if ya want it too.” She peeled herself away from Samuel, making a huge deal of waving your hands. “You’re talking about grim reapers and death and murder and stuff — like you’re scary or something. But you’re not? I’ve seen pictures of reapers. You’re nuthing like that.” Gesturing around the underworld, she continued. “This is kinda scary when I’m alone, but it’s gettin’ easier now that my big bro is here. I really wanna go, though— it’s chilly and I’m tiiired.”

Cora cut Lena off mid-ramble. “S-A-M-U-E-L and I will get you out of here. Don’t worry. R-O-M-Y will help too.”She glanced to Samuel, gauging his reaction — he still seemed antsy, sign suspended midair.

He caught her gaze.

“You can call him Sam, y’know? Only I can call him Sammy, but everyone else calls him Sam! Except Mama when she’s really mad—“

Samuel put a hand on Lena’s shoulder and she looked up at him. Softly, he shook his head and signed, “Now is not the time.”

In a huff, Lena sat down on the grass and crossed her arms over her chest. “I just wanted to help…” Her voice trailed off into the night and she flopped onto her back, staring up at the seemingly permanent empty sky.

Samuel raised his eyebrows over at Cora, repeating his previous question.

“I’m a monster, I know,” Cora started. “It’s not purposeful — I can’t control it. There isn’t controlling it. D-E-A-T-H marked me with it…” She paused, blinking back the tears from her eyes. Still, she found herself dancing around the actual meat of the question — maybe if she ducked and dodged enough, then he’d be satisfied with her lack of answer. Yet, despite her hoping, she knew it wouldn’t work. “The longer someone is around me, the more of their soul is drained away. It’s worsened by physical contact. It’s a side effect of being a reaper.” She forced her face into a large smile, trying to make light of a situation surrounded by an utter shroud of abyss.

“Like the ghost’s explanation of here? This place sucks away souls?”

“Yes.”

Samuel stood there in silent contemplation for a moment.

“I’m sorry if you hate me. I’ve put you and L-E-N-A at risk.” A shuddering sense of dread creeped back up her spine. More apologies started to come to mind, thinking about all the times she had put Samuel and Lena at risk by just existing. Cora began to sign sorry again, but—

Samuel wrapped her in a hug before she had a chance.