End of the Suburbs

Chpt 22: The House Where Death Lives

The Reaper gets on his motorcycle.
He starts it up.
The engine sounds like thunder.
I hop down and help Liz and Sage out.
"Are we actually going to follow that guy?" I ask with uncertainty.
"I don't see why not." Liz says.
She walks past.
V gives me a look before following her.
I turn and watch as they both get into the backseat.
I feel Sage's hand grab mine.
"He just saved us." she says looking into my eyes.
The engine of the motorcycle revs loudly.
I look past Sage and see the Reaper driving off.
"Trust me." she says.
I look her in her eyes.
I do trust her.
We rush back to the car.
I hop in the driver's seat.
Sage is in the front seat.
Liz, Casper, and V are in the backseat.
I start the car and speed off after the Reaper's motorcycle.
We drive for hours.
We pass a sign that says we're heading into Louisiana.
I'm getting more and more uncertain.
A part of me wants to turn back.
I'm trusting Sage.
The highway we're on bridges over a river.
We pass a man on the side of the road fishing.
He's shirtless.
He looks at me and winks as we pass.
I get more suspicious but I'm still trusting Sage.
Knowing what I know about the Reaper I have to see this through.
The Reaper is a good resource to have.
His access into places could help me find Donnie.
The Reaper turns off of the highway onto a side road.
I follow.
He leads us to a place with hundreds of small stone towers in the ground.
They're gravestones.
I get more and more nervous as we pass through.
We finally stop at a building.
It's large and in the middle of a clearing surrounded by bright green trees.
"So this is where he brought us to kill us. It's nice." I say sarcastically.
The Reaper gets off of his motorcycle and points to us then waves for us to follow.
V reaches up and pats me on the shoulder.
V opens the door and gets out.
Liz follows.
Sage reaches over and grabs my arm.
I look at her without saying a word.
My nervousness goes away.
I nod.
We both open our doors at the same time and get out.
I make sure to grab my sword.
I have Casper scout the area.
We enter the room after the Reaper.
It's dark.
"Hello?" Liz calls out, "Mr.Reaper?"
Suddenly a flame sparks.
Torches light one by one illuminating the room.
It's set up like a house.
There's beds, a sink, a refrigerator and shelves of food.
The Reaper walks in, pulls a pot of meat out of the refrigerator and puts it on the stove.
He leans his scythe against the wall and starts to unstrap his clothes and take off his mask.
This reveals his bald head, and bearded face.
From across the room I notice markings on his dark skin.
"I'm Cyrus."he says in his deep gruff voice.
"I didn't realize the Reaper had a name." Sage says.
Without the wardrobe he's less menacing.
He's still a huge muscular man who could break bones with his bare hands, but he's still just a man.
He reaches into one of the drawers, pulls out a big fork, and starts to tend to the cooking pot.
"You can stay the night."Cyrus says.
"I only have two beds so you'll have to share. In the morning I can help you with what you need."he adds.
I look around the room at the others' faces.
V walks over to one of the beds and starts to undo his boots.
Liz walks over, takes her bag off, and sits beside him.
Sage pulls up two chairs.
She sits and nods for me to sit in the other.
I set my sword on the table and sit.
"So Mr.Reaper Man, tell us a story." Sage says.
The Reaper opens the cabinet and pulls out a stack of plates.
He lines up 6 across the counter.
One by one he plops pieced of meat onto them.
"Dinner." he says as he passes them out.
He puts the 5th plate on the floor and opens the door.
He walks over to one if the drawers and pulls out a handful of forks.
He passes them out.
V had already grabbed his mean and bitten a few chunks.
"We can exchange stories tomorrow. Now we eat."he says
I call Casper inside.
He doesn't waste time devouring the meat.
I can't tell who is eating faster, V or Casper.
The Reaper sits on the second bed.
The wood frame creaks under his weight.
He picks up the meat with his fork and starts to eat.
"What type of meat is this?" I ask.
"Beef. There's a farm near Kansas with live cattle." Cyrus says.
"Not anymore." V says under his breath.
Sage lets out a snicker.
Cyrus looks up confused.
We all eat.
Some of us have seconds and even thirds. When were done we get ready go to sleep.
I take my sword and go outside.
Casper follows.
He lies on the floor near the building.
I climb on top where I can see the stars.
A few minutes pass before I hear a noise below.
"Hey Jack Frost."she calls.
I get up and walk to the edge.
"I'm not loving that nickname." I say playfully.
"How am I supposed to get up there?"she asks.
I kneel down and offer her my hand.
She jumps up to reach.
Her hand clasps onto mine and I pull her up.
She gets onto the roof and lies down.
"I'm starting to see why you can't sleep without the stars." she says
She lies on her back and takes a deep breath.
I walk over next to her and sit down.
"You keep telling me to trust you. You don't give me any reason to." I say.
"Have I given you a reason not to?" She asks.
"No." I respond. "It's just that we've been through so much together and I don't know anything about you."
She rolls over and looks at me attentively.
It feels like she's hypnotizing me with her eyes.
"What do you want to know?"she asks.