Reapers Never Smile

  I could tell Mindy felt bad about not being able to make it. As soon as she walked into the cafeteria, I could tell something was wrong. She sat down in the chair we’d saved for her, slumping slightly. The first thing out of her mouth was an apology.

  “I’m not going to be able to go out with you guys on Thursday.” she told us glumly.

  “That’s ok.” I said, knowing instantly what the only reason she wouldn’t be going could be.

  “How come?” Derek asked. I’d been more than happy to just reschedule, but apparently Derek wanted to discuss it first.

  “I have an assignment that day.” she told us. I didn’t like how she gave a slight emphasis to the word “assignment”.

  “So how does that work? I mean, it’s only Tuesday. How much notice do you get?”

  “It depends. Sometimes I get a few days, sometimes it’s kind of last minute.”

  “That’s ok. We can just go next week.” I interrupted. “Derek, you’ll be able to go next week, right?”

  “Umm… I think so.” he said.

  “Good.” I said, happy to have derailed the conversation. I didn’t really want to talk about Mindy’s job – it was enough that I knew about it at all. I was just as happy not knowing about the actual details of what she did.

  Derek and Mindy continued to talk, but at least it was about more normal things – like homework assignments. The bell rang not too long after, and I headed off to class. I’d been looking forward to bowling on Thursday, and I was a little disappointed. But, I knew we’d get to go eventually, I just had to be patient. When one of your best friends is a reaper, things were bound to come up.

  Chapter 31

  My hand shook the last time I lit that lamp. Just the thought of seeing Samantha again after all I’d learned made my stomach turn. After Derek told me how she died and Mindy told me that she was still capable of doing enough damage that the head reapers were worried, I just couldn’t picture her in the same light. I hoped Samantha wouldn’t notice. I knew I’d promised my friends that I wouldn’t talk to her again, but I couldn’t help it. I just had to know.

  The light swirled ominously on the walls around me. Mindy had seen I wasn’t convinced by her suggestion that I never light the lamp again. She’d sighed and told me that even though I really shouldn’t light it, if I did do it, I should at least make sure I was outside. I knew I should have taken listened to her, but what was the point? I mean, Samantha already knew where I lived.

  As the lamp’s flame started to dim and change colors, I squinted into the darkness. Samantha sure seemed to be taking her time in showing up. The longer I had to wait, the more nervous I became. By the time she finally materialized, my palms were damp.

  “Hello.” she said coolly.

  “I didn’t think you were going to come for a minute there.” I couldn’t believe how relieved I sounded. It bugged me.

  “I wasn’t going to.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder in an exaggerated way. “You really don’t deserve to talk to me. But I decided to forgive you.”

  My jaw dropped before I could stop it. I didn’t deserve to talk to her? Was she serious? How could she even say that? Hadn’t I been nice to her since the day I met her? Even when she wasn’t exactly being nice to me? I’d even agreed to help her track down anyone who tried to hurt her – even reapers! And now she was standing here – in the middle of my bedroom – telling me that I didn’t deserve to talk to her?

  “You decided to forgive me?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Of course. I’m actually a very nice girl.” She seemed completely surprised that I would question her.

  “I just can’t figure out what I did that was so bad.”

  “It’s just that you’ve been talking to Mindy about getting rid of me. And Derek, too.” She smiled icily. A chill ran down my spine.

  “What?” was all I could think to say. How could she possibly know that?

  “I saw you.” she told me. Well, that answered that.

  Samantha’s eyes flashed. I swallowed and ran my hand through my hair. She could see the look on my face, and I could tell she liked the reaction she was getting. She grinned in a way that made me long for the comfort of Mindy’s smile when I’d told Derek about her being a reaper.

  “Of course I saw you. Oh… did I not mention that? I’ve been watching you since the moment you first summoned me.”

  “But, you told me you could only see me when the lamp was lit. That the world was too dark otherwise.” I said weakly.

  “Yeah, I did say that. But, well, you know…” she shrugged.

  “You lied to me?” I felt like an idiot. Again. It had never occurred to me that she would lie like that. Especially on the first day I’d even met her.

  “Yeah… I guess I should be sorry about that. But I knew you’d try to trick me. So, I wanted to be prepared.”

  “Why would I want to trick you?” I asked, too confused to be worried for the moment.

  “What do you mean, ‘why?’” she sneered. “You did, didn’t you? But that’s ok. Everyone always does. So I made a plan. And it’s a good thing I did! You went behind my back, and I wouldn’t even have known!”

  “I only went to talk to her because of you!” I told her. I did my best to reason with her, but she really wasn’t interested. I tried to explain that if she hadn’t been so intent on killing reapers that I would never have talked to Mindy in the first place. But it didn’t matter what I said. Her eyes burned with an intensity I’d never seen before. My skin crawled. Samantha smiled like a lunatic and seemed to become more prominent in the room. I don’t know if it was just my fear or if she actually became more solid. What I do know is that I had to stifle the urge to scream. As her fury grew, the walls got darker, and she seemed to glow an almost blinding white.

  The room seemed to fade away. All I could do was watch as her face contorted into an ugly scowl. I heard a rattling sound from somewhere behind Samantha. She stepped closer to me, and just as quickly I took a step back. The rattling got louder as Samantha took another step forward. As I was slowly backed against the edge of the room, I could finally see what was making that sound. Sitting on the middle of the desk was the kerosene lamp. And it was wobbling back and forth, going faster and faster, until each rock seemed like it would be the one to send the lamp tumbling to the floor.

  Seeing the lamp dance across the table might have been a pretty terrible sight, but it was still a lot better than looking at the angry ghost stalking towards me. I watched as it made its way closer and closer towards the edge of the desk. Finally, it tipped over.

  The good news is that it didn’t tip over onto the floor. The bad news was that it had spilled backwards and landed on the desk. The flame rushed across the now sideways glass chimney and started to spread across the desk, turning from deep blue to bright orange the second it left the lamp. Seeing the river of orange running across my desk was all I needed to snap me back into action. Samantha was still bearing down on me, but I rushed through her and over to the burning desk.

  I’d never gone through Samantha before. Even when we were somewhat close, I’d never tested it out. And I was glad I hadn’t. If I had, I might not have been able to do it again. It was a feeling of unbelievable coldness. It felt like ice pressing up against my bones, making my muscles ache. For a second I couldn’t breathe, and my brain went numb. Fortunately, the feeling only lasted for the time it took to pass completely through her.

  Now that I was safely past her, I had a clear path to my fiery desk. I grabbed a dirty shirt off the floor, took a flying leap, and slammed it down as hard as I could onto the burning wood. I righted the lamp with one hand and slapped the desk’s flames with the shirt in my other until the fire was finally out. I had just let out my sigh of relief when I heard a shrill, unearthly shriek behind me.

  I whipped around as fast as I could and immediately wished I hadn’t. Samantha was barreling down on me, her hair wild and her eyes screaming. This time, she wasn’t stalking a
cross the room. Instead, she rushed up so fast, I almost didn’t see her do it. She came right up to my face, only inches away, and let out a scream that made my knees buckle. I sank into the chair, glancing hopelessly around for some kind of weapon. My gaze fell on the lamp, still burning dully with the tiniest of flames. I yanked the glass housing off as fast as I could and blew all my air out. I kept blowing even after the shriek had faded away and the room had turned back to its normal colors.

  ……

  When I woke up, I almost felt like the night before had been a dream. How could any of that really have happened? Samantha had a temper, sure, but I’d never seen anything more than a pout or the occasional stamping of a foot. I had just about convinced myself that I’d made the whole thing up, when I glanced across the room and saw my desk.

  I stared at the wood with its ugly black scorch marks running from side to side and the horror of the situation really started to sink in.

  I walked purposefully to the other side of my room where my dresser sat. I turned my back to the desk, forcing myself not to stare at the marks as I got my clothes out of the drawers. I pulled my shirt on over my head and a thought occurred to me. I stood frozen as I remembered what Samantha had said last night: that she’d been watching me even when the lamp wasn’t on. She could be watching me right now. I shuddered, changed my clothes as fast as I could, and hurried downstairs.

  Chapter 32

  On the day we finally went bowling, I arrived a few minutes early to make sure we’d get a place in line. I put my name on the list and sat down at a small table to wait. It didn’t take long for me to spot Mindy and her goofy wave coming towards me. A few minutes later, Derek walked in.

  “I put us on the list already.” I told them. “Hopefully it won’t take too long.”

  “Ok.” Derek said.

  “I’ve never played before.” Mindy reminded me. “What are the rules?”

  “It’s really simple.” Derek told her. “Basically they’ll just call our names and give us shoes. Then you’ll pick out a ball and when it’s your turn, just throw the ball underhanded and try to knock the pins down. You get two tries. That’s about it.” Mindy looked at me, and I nodded.

  “That’s about it.” I confirmed. “Just make sure your toes don’t go over the line. You’ll be fine.”

  “That doesn’t sound too hard.” she said brightly. I had my doubts, but I didn’t want to discourage her. Not that bowling was the most difficult thing in the world, but if she didn’t even know the rules, how good was she really going to be? Hopefully she’d pick it up in a few games.

  We didn’t have to wait long for them to call our names and assign us a lane. When I’d first walked in the door, it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it’d be. But by the time I’d typed our names into the computer’s scorecard, the place had really started to fill up. I saw a lot of kids from our school there, and I was glad I’d decided to show up early.

  I started off, followed by Derek, and then Mindy; we’d decided Mindy should go last so she could watch how it was done. I got a spare my first run and Derek managed to get eight pins. Mindy even managed to get five pins down. It wasn’t great, but for her first time, I was pretty impressed. By the end of the first game, she was actually beating Derek and was only a few points behind me.

  “You’re really good.” I told her.

  “No kidding.” Derek said. “I thought you’d never done this before.”

  “I haven’t. But it doesn’t really seem that hard.” she told us. “Why?”

  Derek made a strangled sound, and I just laughed.

  “Yeah, most people aren’t that good their first time.” I told her.

  “How are you so good?” Derek asked jealously.

  “You just throw it in a straight line. That’s it.” she said in a way that clearly let us know she didn’t see what the big deal was. Derek just shook his head.

  “It’s probably some reaper thing.” he mumbled.

  “Maybe.” I said, and Mindy looked thoughtful. I wasn’t sure how she was so good at this after only one game, but being a reaper might have explained it. Maybe she had some power as a reaper that she was able to use, but who knew for sure?

  “Maybe she’s just naturally good at bowling.” I shrugged. I wasn’t sure I believed it, but Derek seemed to be implying that she was practically cheating. Even if it was some special power she was using, I said go for it. Why waste the skills you have? And having her able to keep up with us made it a whole lot more fun. By the end of the night, Derek and me were struggling to catch up with her. As we walked out the door, someone handed Mindy a flyer for the bowling league, practically begging her to join.

  “Really? You want me to bowl with you in your league?” she asked. She was so happy for the invite, I couldn’t even be jealous. We walked towards the parking lot, Mindy practically dancing. I just laughed.

  “See? Now when someone asks you what you like to do for fun, you’ve got an answer.” I told her.

  Chapter 33

  I thought really hard about what Mindy said. Samantha hadn’t seemed to be that cunning to me, but maybe I just wasn’t giving her enough credit. I did have to admit, it was hard to argue with the fact that she’d been on the loose for a year or so. And Mindy had brought up another very good point: I didn’t really know Samantha all that well. What if there was something important that I was missing?

  Since she tried to light my desk on fire, I’d started to think that Mindy was more right than I’d wanted to admit. Obviously I’d missed some important clues about her. I decided to do all I could to find out what else there was about her that I didn’t know.

  I tried to ask Derek about Samantha, but he wasn’t much more help than Mindy had been. He’d stalled and hesitated long past the point where he could pretend he just didn’t remember much about her.

  “Derek, come on.” I said. “I really need to know about this girl.”

  “I can’t really tell you.” he swallowed.

  “You didn’t know her?” Wasn’t she a cheerleader? He might not have known her, but he almost definitely knew about her.

  “I just kind of saw her around.” he tried to sound causal, but he wouldn’t meet my eye. He fidgeted for a minute before asking, “You really do know her? Like, you’ve seen her and everything?”

  “Yeah.” I tried not to roll my eyes – we’d covered this before, several times.

  “You should see if you can find any newspaper articles.” he told me unhelpfully.

  “Why can’t you just tell me?”

  “I really can’t.” his eyes were wide and his hands were shaking just a little bit. “Just check the papers, ok?”

  I could see he was really upset about something, but I wasn’t quite sure what. I knew better than anyone how scary Samantha could be. But Derek didn’t know that she could be watching us at any minute. So why was he so afraid to talk to me about her? I tried to get something more useful out of him, but he just shook his head and wouldn’t say any more.

  ……

  I walked into the university’s library and looked around. The building was six stories tall, and each story above the ground floor was open in the center so I could see the seventy or so feet of bookcases in all directions. Halfway across the floor, two fogged glass staircases, one on the left and one on the right, ran up to meet the second floor. On the other side of the staircases were two huge glass doors leading out into a courtyard.

  I’d really hoped that Derek would just tell me what was going on. It was obvious that he was scared of whatever it was she’d done when she was alive, and he didn’t want to upset her by talking about it. Mindy wasn’t scared, but she didn’t really have any information. She’d only moved to the area after Samantha had died; she had never even seen Samantha, much less gotten to know what kinds of things she’d done. I’d asked her, just to be on the safe side, and she was honest with me. She told me it wasn’t her job to know what the ghosts had done – it was just her job to make sur
e they went where they were supposed to go. She didn’t have any interest in Samantha’s life, and the only reason she even had what little information she did was because she’d been warned that Samantha had been dangerous. So while my friends didn’t have any useful information on what had happened, they did at least have one useful suggestion: read the papers.

  The records and archives rooms were down a short set of stairs in an area that was surprisingly well-lit for a basement. I wandered around for a bit, trying to figure out where the newspapers were. I found a room that contained about a dozen big, brown machines that actually used microfilm. Wow! I didn’t know people still used those. I mean, I’d read about them before, but I’d never actually seen one. I was kind of hoping I’d get to use one of these ancient machines, but apparently they only converted articles to microfilm if they were more than three years old. Anything newer would be along the back wall. I made my way to the far end of the room to the bookcases that housed the last three years of what looked like every newspaper in existence. The shelves went from the floor to the ceiling and covered the entire length of the eighty foot wall. Each shelf was stuffed full of papers, and a few boxes were placed strategically on the floor. At least this mess was sorted by date, I told myself.

  It took all afternoon, and I was pretty sure that the sun had long ago set by the time I was done, but at least I’d finally figured out what had happened last year that was so bad Derek still wouldn’t talk about it. Piecing together what Derek and Mindy had told me with what I’d found in the local paper, I was sure that I now knew the whole story. And I could see exactly why Derek hadn’t wanted to be the one to break it to me.

  Apparently, Samantha Corben had moved to town at the beginning of junior year. Derek had said she’d been pretty popular; she was on the cheerleading squad and the soccer team. She’d had a lot of friends, including Karen. It wasn’t until Karen and Milner started getting serious that things got really weird.