Isa pulled me to my feet. âJust a second,â he said, scanning the area.
I didnât feel dead. I could feel the wind on my skin and my heart hammering in my chest. My hands were trembling with adrenaline. That had to be a good sign.
âKat,â Isa said, startling me. I had been staring at my hands so intently that I hadnât noticed he was holding out his hand to me again.
âIâm not dead,â I informed him a bit giddily, taking his hand again.
Isa didnât smile, but the corners of his eyes crinkled. âThis way,â he said, pointing with his free hand. I looked, but he seemed to be pointing towards thin air.
He led me away from the broken highway and my silver car, wading through the faded brown grass. After about twenty yards he stopped and turned to me.
âI need you to think of a place,â he said, âAny place.â
My mind went blank. âAny place?â
âAnywhere. Visualize it in your mind. Got it?â I hesitated before nodding. âGood. Now weâre going to take one more step together.â
I looked at the grass before us. It didnât look any different from any other patch of grass weâd passed. I drew a deep breath.
As we stepped forward together, the air wentâŚsoft. Like a deep, thick mattress. Like holding an overripe peach in your hands and slowly pressing in your thumbs, letting them sink into it. Not hot or cold or anything like that. Just soft.
Less than a moment passed before the softness was gone; I didnât even have time to blink. We were still standing in the grass by the highway. I could see my car close by and the mountains looming in the distance. But the edges of the mountains were vague and unclear, and the light that filtered through the clouds was tinted red, almost as though it was shining through rose-colored glass. More telling was the quiet. The wind had disappeared, and the grass was silent and still.
âYou know,â Isa commented, âI think people usually choose somewhere other than the place theyâre currently standing.â
âI panicked,â I responded, taking in everything around me, âWhich seems to be my basic state of existence at this point.â
Unlike everything else, Isa seemed more real than ever. The basics were still the same: pale, ashy skin stretched tight over his body, white hair, and jet black eyes set deep in their sockets. His fingers and limbs were overly long for his body, and he was wearing a black hooded coat with loose sleeves, grey pants, boots, and a t-shirt with a vintage ad for spam.
However, his skin lacked the translucent quality it usually had, and his shadow -
âYou have a shadow,â I blurted out, âYou have a - the grass. Youâre actually crushing down the grass.â I knelt down and confirmed for myself that yes, the grass could be pressed down, and then I turned around and thrust out my hand. The softness was waiting just feet behind me. âWhere are we?â
âThis is an inbetween place,â he replied, watching as I shuffled a few feet to the side and stuck out my hand again, âWe needed somewhere safe to talk.â
I pulled my hand from the softness and tried again. âAnd the deserted highway wasnât cutting it?â
Isa pressed his lips together. âItâs not humans that Iâm worried about overhearing us.â
I paused mid thrust. âOh.â The fear which had almost been forgotten in my wonder flared up.
âHere,â Isa said, and he took my hand again, leading me around whatever invisible portal we had passed through. Almost mindlessly I walked towards the car.
âAre we safe here, then?â
He shrugged. âShould be. I donât think I was followed - thereâs no good reason anyone would, really, Iâm not a major player. But itâs not wise to talk about these things in the open on principle.â
We reached the car, and I stretched out my hand to touch it. It was solid under my fingers, but the numbers on the license plate were scrambled, changing every time I blinked.Â
Isa stopped me as I went to open the driverâs side door.
"I just wanted to see if it would start,â I said.
Isa shook his head. âIt might, but itâs not wise to go through any doors here. Thereâs no telling where you might end up.â
A little disappointed, I perched on the trunk instead, pulling up my legs and wrapping my arms around them. Isa stood before me, hands shoved in his pockets.
âSoâŚâ I started, Isa looking at me expectantly, âAre you an angel?â
Isa burst out laughing. It was an odd sound, out of place in the unnatural silence of the inbetween.
âNo, and I wouldnât let an angel hear you say that if I were you. Actually, it would probably be fine; most angels Iâve met are quite nice. But trust me, if you ever meet an angel, youâll know it. People tend to fall over when they show up.â
âOkay, not an angel.â There went half the theories Iâd ever read. âThen what are you? And donât say a reaper.â
âI never really liked that name anyway,â he replied. He kicked the ground for a moment, thinking. âIâm the guardian of your soul. Iâve been with you since your soul first joined your body. I will ensure no one touches it until your life is complete.â
ââŚAnd when my life is complete?â
âI take your soul,â he answered nonchalantly, â - Kat?â
I rolled off the car, running into the field, running towards the softness.
Maybe he wasnât an angel after all. But there were other theories about the reapers.
âKat?â he called after me, âIâm not taking your soul here and now.â
I stumbled to a stop in a panic. The grass all looked the same. Whatever gateway weâd walked through wasnât marked by any kind of visual cue. I was effectively trapped.
âMaybe youâre not taking it now,â I said as I turned, arms tight by my sides, hands clenched, âbut youâre going to.â
Isa walked towards me slowly, âThat probably wasnât the best way for me to phrase that.â I shrank away from him instinctively, and he sighed. âThis would be easier if I was an angel. Theyâre good at explaining things. Can I try again?â
He waited until I nodded hesitantly.
âIâm the guardian of your soul. I was bound to you the moment your soul entered your body. While you live, Iâll protect your soul from harm. When your days are complete, Iâll carry your soul to its rest. Iâm not going to kill you, consume your soul, drain your life force, steal your corporeal form, Â keep you in a tortured disembodied state devoid of all sensation, or anything else of that kind.â
I stared at him. âThatâsâŚreally specific.â
âBut youâre not running this time,â Isa noted.
âIf youâre lying, Iâm screwed anyway,â I retorted.
âAh.â Isaâs body seemed to droop ever so slightly. âI liked it better when you just trusted me.â
âAnd I liked it better when I wasnât afraid I was going crazy,â I snapped. I shut my eyes and paused, willing myself to breath deeply. âIâm tired. Iâm stressed and exhausted and I have no clue whatâs going on. You disappeared for two weeks and I didnât even know reapers could do that, and now youâre talking and you touched me and Iâm somehow not dead and weâre in a freaking alternate dimension or something and itâs just a bit much.â
âI didnât intend to let things get this out of hand,â Isa admitted, âI only thought Iâd be gone for a few hours at most.â
Finally, the question that had been burning in my chest for weeks. âWhat happened? Why did you leave?â
âThere was a reaper who needed help. He and his human were being targeted, and they werenât going to make it.â
His face brightened a bit. âThey are. The woman died and he was able to deliver her soul safely.â
âYour definition of a happy ending and mine are a little different,â I muttered, âWhat did they need protection from?â
Isa looked grim. âThere are many beings who would want to misuse a human soul,â he said softly, âAnd there are others who would like nothing more than to see a reaper give into the temptation to take advantage of their charge. Some of these were attacking this reaper in the hope of either claiming the soul for themselves or, if nothing else, forcing the reaper into a position where he drew on the soul for power. I thought theyâd back off once I came to his aid, but they fought until the end.â
Behind Isaâs shoulder, I saw something like a dark smudge on the horizon where the mountains met the sky. A horrible sense of wrongness settled in my gut.
âI didnât mean to leave you for so long,â he continued, âAnd it shouldnât -â
âIsa,â I interrupted, pointing urgently, âThereâs something here.â
Isa turned to look. The smudge was getting larger. âNo,â he said, âNo no no no!â He grabbed my hand.
âWe need to move now!â He took off across the field, dragging me behind him. We passed through the softness and the world shifted, the rosy light turning grey. We sprinted back to my car.
I looked back towards the mountains. I couldnât see anything.
âGet in the car,â Isa ordered, and I hurried to do so. After buckling myself in, I looked up to see Isa pull out a gun.
âDrive home as fast as you can,â he said, ignoring my shock, âAnd donât stop until I say so.â With that, he swung himself onto the roof of my car.
I turned on the car and made a U-turn, pressing the pedal to the floor. A minute later gun shots rang out, and I looked into the mirror to see something burst through the portal and hurtle down the broken highway in pursuit.