Apex Predator

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"Nope," Quinn shakes his head. "You're crazy." I sigh. So much for that open mind, I think and roll my eyes.

"I'm telling you the truth and if we don't get Alaina, she'll be killed." I repeat. He cross my legs at the ankle underneath the coffee table in their living room. They are standing around me with confused looks plastered on their faces.

"So," Cindy says and paces. "You're telling us that you are a personification of death that's lived for billions of years and you've been here all this time to kill our friend? Even if you were telling the truth, why would we help you? So you can kill her yourself?"

"Yes," I hit my head. "No. Look I'm going to go after her whether you help me or not."

"I still don't believe you." Quinn says. I jump off the couch. What can I do to prove it to them? I can't show off too much or they'd be killed. My scythe. I reach down under my pant leg and pull out the small knife strapped to my ankle. Alaina's friends all raise their eyebrows and take a slightly defensive stance. I transform it into my scythe. As the blade grows, Alaina's friends step back.

"What is that?" Cindy asks slowly. Her hazel eyes flash and she backs up a step farther than the rest of her friends.

"It's my scythe," I say. "I use it to kill my targets and cross their souls. It's the only—." I stop. I had been about to blurt out that the weapon I am holding is the only one that can kill me. How stupid that would've been!

"The only what?" Zayx raises his eyebrows.

"The only one like it." I say and stroke the humongous blade of the unique weapon.

"That's not proof," Karla says. I sigh, condense the blade to the small knife, and put it away. I unzip my hoodie slowly and drop it on the ground. I pull off my gloves and drop them on my sweater. I push up the sleeves of my black t-shirt so that they can see more of my mark.

"We've seen your tattoo before," Quinn says.

"It's not a tattoo," I say. "It's the Mark of the Reapers. Every Grim Reaper has one."

"How can we just believe your word?" Cindy asks. I sigh and ponder over what I can do to make them believe me.

"Do you have any plants here?" I ask. Karla rises slowly and wanders into the kitchen. She returns shortly with a small spider plant.

"Set it on the ground, please." I say. If she's touching the plant while I touch it she'd drop dead. I squat and touch one spikey leaf on the plant. The leaf slowly browns and wilts. The infection spreads and the plant soon falls to dust.

"So what?" Zayx says. "That poor thing was dying already."

"Alright," I say through clenched teeth. I clap my hands and pull them apart slowly. Lightning cackles in between my palms—tickling them a bit—and the eyes of Alaina's friends grow wider. I crush the electricity in my hands. A small portion of my energy depletes with the lightning.

"So say this is real and we're not all dreaming," Cindy says. "Where would this Hades guy have taken Alaina?"

"She's in hell," I say plainly. There is a long pause. All of Alaina's friends exchange looks and communicate silently. I will never understand how humans manage to swap such silent messages.

"So," Zayx says. "Let's say this is real—."

"Let's go get her," Sy interrupts. He seems to care for Alaina a lot. I had been hoping that this particular human will convince the others.

"Are you saying you believe him?" Karla asks.

"There's no reason not to," Sy says. He looks at Karla strangely and she nods. "If it's a practical joke then there's no harm done. But if her life really is in danger and we can save her but don't, we'll never forgive ourselves." Thank you. I sigh and run my hands through my silky black hair.