┌─────━┿──┿━─────┐

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 : 𝐉𝐄𝐁 𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃

└─────━┿──┿━─────┘

Jeb Reed was exactly like his description and pictures, maybe even worse so up close. His eyes were small and narrowed, so incredibly bird-like it was hard to look away. He held up a knife, waving it in my mirror like he was afraid I'd forget about his weapon but I didn't. The threat was so close to me that I could nearly feel it's breath down my neck as I gripped my steering wheel and kept my eyes forward.

His breath smelled like rot, his teeth a dirty yellow, his front tooth chipped. He licked his chapped lips and snarled, "Don't turn until I say you do."

I nodded stiffly, feeling droplets of rainwater fall from the loose strands of my hair, sneaking their way down my skin. I felt nauseous, so sick with fear that I hardly registered his voice when he said turn and I swerved.

I jerked the car to the right and Reed swore, hitting his fist against the back of my seat as he hissed, "Watch it!" I noticed him straighten out in his seat, running a hand through his sandy hair before using the knife to point as he reached past my shoulder so I could see. "Pull off there."

"The woods?" I gulped, pressing my lips together. How am I supposed to get out of this? How am I supposed to get away if I'm stranded somewhere in the forest? I tried to forget that I had just seen one of my classmates get crushed by an oncoming semi and that I hadn't just seen her broken body sprawled out in the streets like a scene from a horror film. I tried to forget that I saw not one ghost, but two, crawling its way out of her body like a cicada coming out of its shell.

He nodded, wiping at his mouth with a dirty thumb. "They won't hear you out here."

I averted my eyes from his and kept them focused on my windshield and the rain still coming down hard, drowning out my chance of a clean escape. It was as if a static was building up in my ears, the panic. Cage's whispers and warnings echoing through my head like a drum, my mother's own warnings snipping and cutting at my skin, leaving me on fire. You're going to burn with all this knowledge, with all this pain. I hadn't anticipated all of this to happen at once, so early on.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked in a whisper, blinking back the onset of tears. I needed to be braver, to be stronger, like I was earlier. Like I was when the blood geata opened up and nearly swallowed me whole. "Why me?"

"Oh, is the sweet, little necromancer scared?" he cooed with a silencing smile.

"No," I shot back, praying he didn't notice me falter. "I just want answers, you know, before you kill me." You are not going to die tonight. You will not be dying. You're stronger than he is, he doesn't know what you can do. Show mom how right she was, don't let her down.

He tapped the tip of the blade to his cheek in thought as he purred, "Now, why would I spill all of our secrets to you? You're just a scared, pathetic, little girl trying to find anything to prolong our sweet, sweet time together."

I needed to get out of the car. He could strike way too easily from behind. In an instant, he would have me by the neck and my blood would spray like a fountain. Blood likes rubies. Blood like disease. My throat tightened at the thought and it was difficult to swallow as I shook off the feeling and gripped the steering wheel tighter as my car threatened to hydroplane.

"Turn here," he murmured, his face so close to me that I could feel his hair tickling my cheek.

I turned left and onto a dirt road, my tires riding into gravel and mud. I prayed I wouldn't be stuck out here, that my car would be able to get out of the mud and earth easily for a quick escape. He whispered to me to keep going down the path and all the trees looked like tall blurs as we drove past and deeper and farther away from town and any person who would be able to hear my screams.

"Stop the car," he said gruffly, and I hit the brakes, feeling him jerk in his seat and I mumbled out a quick apology before putting the car in park. I turned the car off, the lights turning on as I sat where I was, too afraid to face him. "Get out."

I fumbled for the handle, pushing the door open with shaking hands and stepping out into the night. The rain was lighter now, barely a heavy pelt as he moved the seat forward and climbed out to face me.

He was shorter than I expected, meeker even. He looked thin in his old khaki colored coat and pants. His face looked gaunt and long, and his hair even more disheveled than I had noticed in my mirror during the ride. I took in my surroundings in a quick glance over, noticing the clearing we stood in and about ten yards away looked like the edge of a cliff and I frowned, no escape there.

Will you jump? Or will you take his knife?

"Is this where you take all of your victims?" I found myself asking, surprised to hear how strong my voice was.

He glared, spinning his knife in his left hand.

I curled one hand into a fist, do not be afraid, do not be afraid. "I know who you are, Jeb Reed."

This caught him off guard, like he was expecting me to be clueless. He scowled, looking away as he muttered just loud enough for me to hear, "Crow told us you didn't know anything, you lying, deceitful, little brat."

I smiled and I made sure he saw once he looked back at me, my lips curling upward in a menacing grin that told him I wasn't afraid even though there was a growing tremor in my hands and heart. "You can't kill me. I know you need me."

"All we need is that little power--" He dragged his knife across his neck lightly, making a point. "--cut out of you. He's going to send us, one after the other until the job is finished. We took the light from your father and we'll take it from you next."

"But why?" I demanded, throwing my hands up in annoyance because I needed answers before I even tried to take off running. Would I even make it a yard before he'd catch me? Would I make it anywhere through this mud? "Why me? Why my power?"

"Because it'll give us the strength to summon him! To finally bring him forth and give us what we need!" he cried, barring his yellowed teeth and holding his hands in fists out in front of him. "You necromancers are all the same! Never wanting to share what you have, to pass on your gifts to the more willing!"

"How the hell am I supposed to 'pass on my gift?'" I shouted back, my eyes widening at myself because why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? I took a tentative step backwards as I said, "It's not something I can just give away."

His lips curled back and his crooked nose scrunched up, animal-like as he hissed through clenched teeth, "Your blood will give us the power we need, it certainly worked when we took it from your father."

Did my blood really hold power or was this just a ploy to scare me? Just a tactic used to get me running, so he could hunt and prey and snatch me up?

"How about you just make this easy on me, okay? The boss said he'd up our pay if we got the job done in the next two weeks."

"And he sent you?"

He huffed loudly, looking away as he said, "Damn, okay, he didn't say you were rude, too."

I looked him up and down, my mind itching to bring back the terrified faces of the people in the intersection this evening as I blurted out, "Did your organization have anything to do with the death at the intersection earlier?" Pieces slipped carefully into place as I added, "Because it seems a little suspicious that you 'easily' snuck into my backseat during the time I was gone from my car."

He grinned. "So you're not as dumb as you look, I'm glad, it makes things more interesting." After a moment, he crossed one arm and nodded, but, for some reason, it didn't look true. Are you lying for someone, Reed? "But, yes, we were planning to take out the blonde one but we decided against it because it seemed like the other was becoming a friend and we don't like our pets having friends."

He's lying, something whispered to me. He's lying. He's pretending. He's trying to take this as his own.

"So you just, what? Snuck into her body and had her step out in front of that semi?"

He nodded again. "It's simple, if you're the type of demon I am."

I held back my smile, it seemed like I was getting more information out of him than I expected. "And what type is that?"

"The one that wasn't born into my body," he explained, narrowing his eyes at me as he tilted his head to one side like he was wondering what I was up to with all these questions.

"Don't stop now," I grinned, waving a hand. "It's not like I'm going to go off and tell anyone what you're telling me, let me have some peace of mind before you kill me."

Let me take everything you know, let me devour every word.

He thought it over before taking a step forward as I took a step back and he wagged his knife at me. "If you want to know so badly, you're gonna have to come closer."

"Not a chance."

I could hear the rushing of the wind through the trees in the distance, growing louder the closer it got to us and before I knew it, a wave of wind was pushing my hair back and away from my face and I cursed. It was only going to get colder out here, and being soaking wet didn't help a thing. Reed took a sideways step to the left, looking me up and down as he took another step, then another. He was trying to get closer to me, looking for an edge to sink that knife of his into my gut.

I froze, the side of my jacket suddenly weighing even heavier than it did before. I had forgotten about Spiorad, hidden away close to my chest. I had just assumed the awkward weight was from the rain and I fought back a smile and the urge to slide my hand into my jacket and retrieve the beast that would save me.

"Just tell me everything," I said, sidestepping to the right to avoid him as he inched closer. "I didn't know there were different types of demons."

"There are multiple," he said, jutting his chin up as he scowled. It was as if he was fighting within himself on whether he should just tell me or charge at me with the knife. "There are ones like me who aren't born into the bodies they're given, we're called floaters or possessors, or at least that's what we like to call ourselves."

"Who else is a floater like you?"

"Conner...some others."

Just tell me all of their names, you jackass.

"How do you choose your bodies? What happens to them after you leave?" I asked, flinching as a strike of lightning shot across the sky behind the curtain of trees and leaves. Droplets of rain slid off from their beds of drooping leaves and I felt one hit my forehead, then another, sliding down my skin like ice.

"Our bodies are already dead, we're the ones keeping them alive. Keeping the host warm."

"Do you have memories or remember anything from the person you're possessing?" I said, wondering how many questions of mine he was actually going to answer before he got tired. "Or is the host just a body to you?"

"Just a body," he said and I could see the annoyance starting to coat his face as the raindrops did the same.

"Aren't all demons just possessors, though?" I asked, voicing my curiosity as I backed my way, very slowly, in the clearing behind me. I needed more open space between us.

"Technically, yes," he shrugged and I noticed how his grip changed on the knife, the handle tucked into his fist. "But some can be born into their hosts, where they can't come and go from their bodies."

Interesting. If Crow calls me again, I'll have to ask him more about this. Maybe my mother even wrote about this in her journals.

"But enough chit chat, okay? I'm not here to play twenty questions."

And with that final statement, he lunged for me.

Thunder boomed as our bodies collided into the mud and grass. The impact against my back nearly knocked the wind from me as I gasped, extending my arms to keep him as far away from me as I could.

"Get off me!" I screamed, kicking up with my feet and knees until I struck the spot that made his eyes flash black and a howl escape from his throat and he faltered with his knife. I was able to push him off for a split second, working through the wet earth to get to my feet as I scampered away.

He latched onto one of my legs, yanking me back down and I screamed, clawing at the ground as he dragged me back to him. I had flashes of red hit my memory of the blood geata pulling me down the hospital tile, trying to take me with it as it opened its arms and jaws. Reed had a vice-like grip on my ankle and he dug his fingers into my exposed skin and I gritted my teeth.

I caught a few glimpses of him from behind me and I used my free leg to bring my foot up hard, striking him under the jaw and he screamed, this time dropping his knife. This one moment gave me a few seconds to actually get to my feet and I was able to fumble with the zipper in the inside of my jacket and pull Spiorad free.

My demon blade reflected the light of a flash of lightning and the menacing look on Reed's face melted away when he caught his own glimpse at the famed blade.

"That's not-you don't--" he stammered, shaking his head as he picked his own knife up. "How in the hell do you have that?!"

It felt as if the blade hummed against my palm and I tightened my grip, feeling like it was an extension of myself entirely. Reed faltered for only a moment before charging at me again with a false confidence across his face and eyes and he swung but I wasn't fast enough to dodge him and the tip of his dull knife caught my cheek.

I heard the slice as it drove across my skin and the warmth of blood came soon after and I gasped, tears stinging my eyes as pain pounded through my face. My fingers came off red and wet as the clouds opened up and the rain fell.

We all bleed just the same, the sky, your face, we are all just the same.

"You're just a girl," Reed said, but it was as if he was saying it to himself as a reminder. "You're just a stupid, pathetic girl with a fake knife, you can't hurt me!"

I swung with my good arm and he dodged it easily, side stepping to the right and jabbing with his fist and I doubled over, clutching my gut as I choked and coughed. It was hard to hear my own breathing over the roar of the growing wind and rain, the mud thinning and thickening at our feet.

I staggered backwards, holding my stomach with my free hand as I tried to breathe through my nose and out my mouth. The burning in my gut was enough to send me to the ground but I kept myself up, clenching my knife even tighter in my hand that my knuckles felt like they could crack and bleed in the cold.

It was as if the blade itself was giving me the strength I needed to take off running from him. It pumped adrenalin through my legs and through my arms, pumping and flowing and moving as I slid through mud to escape.

He might not have looked like it, but Reed was fast. He jumped and moved with ease, dancing through the puddles and the air and before I knew it, he was grabbing me from behind by my hair and throwing me to the ground. I hit the earth on my side and rolled, sitting up on aching bones as I wheezed and fought to catch my breath as the rain got harder and I heard thunder clap again. My hair was heavy and shielded around my face and I had to part it to see through the dark and the murk, watching him as he stalked towards me for the final strike.

I swung up with Spiorad, catching his shirt and nothing more and he screamed, smacking my weak hand out of the way and I cursed, nearly dropping the knife. He brought a fist down across my face and my arms buckled and I fell, gasping and shaking. The pain was heavy on my face and I tasted blood in my mouth. I licked my lip, so out of breath that it felt like my lungs were on fire or maybe it was just the pain settling in my gut.

"Y-you won't kill me," I panted, grunting as I tried to sit up as I blinked away black dots. The world around us was so dark and uninviting and all I wanted was to go home and climb into a warm bed in a protected house. "You can't."

I needed to drag this out longer, to find a way to escape, to keep him distracted. Think...think! Dammit, Blaire, think!

"Don't you w-want my blood fresh?" I whispered, bringing a hand up to wipe the blood and rain from my mouth. "Killing me n-now won't get you what you want. Rigor mortis w-will start to set in after you kill me and it'll take you a while to m-move my body from here to your p-precious church."

Another crack of lightning and I saw him freeze before me, thinking over my little idea. Maybe this could work, maybe he'd falter just once more and I could get to my phone inside the car. You're going to have to move, Blaire, you're gonna have to move fast and hard. Come on, come on, come on!

"I think I'd rather do it here and earn my money now," he hissed, bringing his knife up with two hands and he sent it soaring down at me and I moved.

The movement hurt and I grimaced as I rolled away from the spot where the knife now stuck out of the earth like a growing tree. I pushed myself to my feet with one hand, wiping mud off on my shirt as I stared at him, my shoulders hunched forward to protect the subtle ache resting inside my stomach.

"Can't you just give up, dammit?!" he screamed at me, barring his filthy teeth and giving me a venomous grin as he snarled, "The boss said you were weak, necromancer. We've all seen you, watched you, we would never have imagined you'd put up this much of a fight."

"Scared your little friends might make fun of you for getting beat up by the weak, little, pathetic necromancer?" I cooed back, spitting rain and blood from my mouth.

"Killing me won't stop this! Just accept your fate and maybe I'll give you the chance to die like a hero!"

Spiorad, give me strength, I thought to myself, chanting it in my head as he let out an animalistic cry to the skies and charged at me like a defensive linemen coming to take me to the floor. His arms wrapped around my middle and the second my back hit the earth with an unbearable smack! I was pushing him up and off me with my knees and bottoms of my feet.

He landed with a wet thud in the mud behind me and I was on my knees in a second and I brought Spiorad up and into the air and with a snarl, I said, "Say hi to my father for me," and slammed the blade into his outstretched palm with a grin.

For a moment, nothing happened and Reed looked up at me from his back with a wild laugh, cackling so loud that his voice echoed over the rain. "I knew it was just a stupid knife, you couldn't kill me! You're just a girl, a weakling, a poor excuse of a necromancer--"

He didn't get to finish his thought as a look of incredible confusion and astonishment stretched over his features and his head flew back as golden light poured from his mouth, nose, eyes, ears, and where Spiorad still sat, embedded deep into his palm.

He screamed over the rising white noise and our world flashed gray for a split second, and then the golden light was gone and there wasn't a body in sight. There was only a small pile of ash in his place and when the sky lit up with lightning, I could see the ash was flecked with gold and black, sparkling against the grass.

I was alone.

The ash was gone in seconds once the rain and wind touched it, the earth reaching out and soaking Jeb Reed back into herself. I pulled Spiorad free from the ground and saw the trickle of black blood leave the tip of the blade, dropping against the skin of my thigh. It was hot, searing with such brave heat, searching and seeking out the body it had once been stored within.

I got to my feet slowly, wiping the blade clean on my shirt and noticed how dirty I was. I needed to go home, to take a moment, but I didn't get that chance before I lost my lunch across the ground as I gagged and coughed.

I heaved once more for good measure, wiping my mouth clean with the back of my hand before limping back to my truck. Jeb Reed was dead and I had killed him, Cage's wishes and my mother's warnings taken to heart and promise. I didn't have a choice now, knowing that the other Morticianers were well on their way to kill me for a cash prize.

Your blood is gold and you're just the treasure chest, waiting to be cracked open.

Images of the hermit flashed before my eyes as I got inside my truck and finally closed the door shut. I had done this alone, killed him by my hand and my hand only. Could this be the card coming into play? Telling me, screaming at me, to go at this alone?

To keep my friends from this life? To keep myself secluded, alone? Or was this the card telling me that, all along, the answers I've been looking for have been within me? The strength the famed demon blade gave me tonight had sent currents of adrenalin and power through me, but what if that had just been my own?

I shook my head, unsure where or even when the cards would take their precious hold but maybe, they already were and I was still just too unaware.

I made a mental checklist and crossed a line through Jeb Reed's name in my head, doing the exact same thing with the journal the second I got home.

This wasn't going to be easy, I knew that, but it was going to be even harder doing it alone. I had only eight more to go. Only eight more lives to take, eight more souls to capture and take home for my family's revenge.

Eight and only eight.

_________________________________

hope you guys enjoyed this one!! the story is finally realllyyyyyy getting there and I hope you guys liked this and are looking forward to the rest loll

comment/vote or jeb reed will haunt u