The Day Death Died

The Day Death Died - Chapter 11

I stood there as everything seemed to slow down. My gaze locked on Edwin, who stood stoic on the other side of the massive pit that had swallowed part of the gym floor. The reapers, cold and efficient, moved through the room like shadows, kneeling beside the still bodies scattered across the wreckage.

My friends.

"Oh God, Brayden! Emily! Alex!" Panic surged through me. My mind fixated on the worst. I knew Alex had fallen into the hole, but where were Brayden and Emily?

I turned on my heel and sprinted to the back of the gym, where Brayden had been hanging out by the refreshments with his friends. The table that once held cookies and punch was now overturned, and feet stuck out from beneath its wreckage. My heart dropped. I bent down, frantically shoving the table aside. Brayden lay there, face down, unmoving on the cold floor.

"Brayden?" My voice cracked, and I reached out, desperate to touch him, to check for any sign of life.

Before my hand could make contact, I felt a cold, firm grip wrap around my wrist. Edwin.

"Don't," he commanded, his voice cutting through my panic.

I jerked my arm out of his grasp. "Get off me!"

"Maddison, don't touch him." Edwin's tone was unnervingly calm.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face as I fought to suppress the sobs clawing their way up my throat.

"If you touch him in your reaper state when he's not dead, you'll kill him," Edwin said softly, his words chilling me to the bone.

I froze. "H-he's not dead?" My voice was barely a whisper, hope hanging on each syllable.

"No, he's not."

Relief and fury battled inside me. I stood slowly, my body trembling with the intensity of my emotions. I glared at Edwin, my eyes burning. "Why? Why didn't you tell me this was going to happen?"

"I didn't know, Maddison."

"Bullshit!" I shouted, the word cutting through the chaos. "You knew something was going to happen. You didn't even try to warn me!"

"I couldn't," he said, his tone steady, almost mechanical. "You cannot interfere with the Fates any more than you already have. You weren't even supposed to be here tonight."

"I don't care about the Fates, Edwin!" I was shaking now, my voice hoarse from screaming. "These were my friends! My little brother! You killed them!"

Edwin took a deep breath, his expression unreadable. "No, Maddison. I didn't kill them. Your janitor did."

I blinked, the words not registering at first. "What?"

"The janitor. He hasn't been maintaining the furnace properly," Edwin continued, his voice eerily calm, like he was reading off a grocery list.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I demanded, my fists clenched at my sides.

"With old oil furnaces, like the one your school uses, they have to be regularly maintained or risk explosion." His eyes met mine, his expression still blank. "That's what happened tonight. The furnace exploded. It destroyed the support beams beneath the gym, causing the floor to collapse and the building to become unstable."

I felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. "Why didn't you warn me?" I repeated, my voice cracking.

Edwin's eyes softened slightly. "Because you can't save him."

"Save who?"

He glanced toward the fiery pit in the center of the gym.

My stomach dropped. "Oh my god. Alex." I shoved past him, running toward the edge of the hole. I dropped to my knees, peering into the smoky abyss below. The smell of burnt wood and melted metal filled the air. Flames licked at the edges of the rubble.