I ran as fast as I could, Marlene and Damien trailing behind. The demon was fast, but I was faster. I pushed forward, making every cell in my body burn. When my hand connected with the demon, they shrieked. I ran in front of them, blocking their path. Marlene and Damien caught up, and together we linked arms, and the demon dissolved into light-gray dust. The dust caught the wind and swirled upward. The dust formed a name in the sky. It moved around, arranging itself over and over again. Finally, it stopped. Reaper, it read. Reaper, I have failed. Reaper, avenge my soul. The dust fell around me, and a thick stripe appeared on my arm. I laughed. “One down, 3 to go. Then, Reaper.”
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* * *
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Marlene and I shared a high five. “That was amazing. I can’t believe it. We did it,” Damien cheered. Marlene nodded. “Yeah. Stella, my older sister, says that the first catch is always the best.” Since I had just turned 16, this was the first night I could catch. We all glanced down at the stripe on our arms. We had earned that stripe. We had been chasing that demon for more than an hour. It was worth it. We walked to our huge treehouse in the woods for a small break. I climbed up the ladder and flopped down on my beanbag chair. Damien sat down in his padded swivel chair. Now that was hard to get up here. Marlene dove onto a soft pile of pillows and stretched out like a cat. “How long should we wait before heading back out? I’m hoping for one more catch and a little bit of sleep tonight,” Marlene said. “Why don’t we hang out here for a bit and rest, but not sleep. Then we can head out for a little bit longer, maybe an hour or two. If we get a catch, great. If not, fine. When we are done, we come back here and sleep till morning. We all have to go back to work tomorrow, too,” I offered. “Alright, that works,” Marlene added. “What should we do while we wait?” Damien and I shared a look. I smiled and nodded. He spun around and grabbed a large silver case and a deck of cards off of the shelf. “Oh no. Not again.” Marlene buried her face in her hands. Damien popped open the case to reveal hundreds of multicolored chips. “You guys know how bad I am at poker. I might as well not play.” She paused, and I opened my mouth to say something. Marlene continued. ‘Our games always go the same way, I run out of money in a few minutes, and you guys battle it out for 30 or 40,” Marlene said through her hands. “Ahh come on, play,” I begged. “Please?”
“Fine,” Marlene says while a small grin slid onto her face as Damien and I cheered.
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An hour later, Damien is rich as a king, Marlene is out, and I am going all-in on a two pair. The last card is flipped, and it's a king. “Well, well. What have you got, darling?” Damien says, his joking tone almost breaking me. He has been trying for months to break my poker face. As soon as that case opens, my face is a sheet of stone. “Two pair,” I say, biting my lip. “Ooh, pretty good. But not good enough,” He says as he reaches for the large pile of chips on the table. “Full house,” Damien tells me. “Good game.” He reaches across the table with his hand, and I shake it. “Good game,” I repeat. I look over at Marlene, fast asleep on the pillows. “Should we wake her up?”
“Yeah, probably. I’ll wake her up, you put away the chips and cards.”
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A short while later, we were walking out of the woods. Damien was joking about how rich he would be if we were playing with real money. Marlene was practicing her acrobatic tricks up and down the path. I was tracing the outline of the stripe on my arm. We were joking and laughing, waiting to get out of the woods so we could get ready for our second catch. We had no idea about what was lurking in the shadows of the forest, trailing us, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
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The demon leaped onto me and wrapped its dark cloak around my mouth. I tried to pull the cloth away from my face, so I could scream for help. “Damien! Marlene! Help me!” I shouted. Only it came out quieter than a whisper and my words sounded like: “Duh men! Mee leen! Hep meh!” My friends kept walking away from me. I tried to breathe. I had heard stories about the people who got attacked by demons. You struggled for a little while, but as soon as the demon had had enough, they would raise their dagger and touch the flat part, not the edge, to your lips. And then, well, you were done. Out. Dead. Everyone has a different version of what happens next. Some people say that you turn to dust like the demons and the dust forms a different message. Some say you collapse and rot for eternity. Some say that the demons slowly start to eat your soul.
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Just as the dagger was a fraction of a millimeter away from my lips, Marlene and Damien knocked me out of its grip. I rolled to a stop on the path. Damien and Marlene circled the demon, but it did not disappear. You guys need me, I thought. You need a third person. “Why is nothing happening?” Damien asked angrily. In a flash, the demon jumped up, over Marlene and Damiens arms. Before I knew it, the demon was gone. “Great,” Damien scoffed. “We just lost a catch. Why did you not help us, Cierra? You know we need a third person. Cierra?” Damien said, worry embedded in his voice. Marlene turned around, her eyes locking onto me. “Cierra!” Marlene cried. She raced over to me. “Damien, help me get her up. We need to get back to the treehouse. This place is going to be swarming with demons soon.” Marlene wrapped my arm over her shoulder. Damien took my other arm and did the same. We hurried down the path back the way we had come. I struggled up the ladder, sandwiched between Marlene and Damien as I made my way up. When we got inside, I collapsed onto the floor. The last thing I remember was Marlene reaching for our first aid kit and how cool the wood felt on the back of my neck.
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“Cierra! Cierra, please wake up. No. Were we too late?” Marlene whispered. I moaned and blinked. The room was blurry, and my whole body hurt. A cool cloth was draped over my forehead. My hand shot up to push off the cloth, thinking that another demon was wrapping their cloak around me. “Woah, woah. You’re okay. Take it slow. You’re okay,” Damien’s calm voice washed over me. My gaze flicked across the room. A bright white bandage was wrapped around my lower arm. My legs were covered in dirt and small cuts. I let out a shaky breath. “I’m so glad that you’re alive. We thought that, well, that we had lost you.” Marlene smiled. “What happened?” I asked softly. “I got it, Mar. You take a break.” Damien knelt so he was sitting next to me. “Marlene has been sitting with you for hours. She has been so worried about you. We’re so glad you’re okay. When Marlene and I noticed you were missing, we immediately started back the way we had come. When we saw you and the demon, we ran to try and get you out of danger. You know what happened with us trying to circle it. After you collapsed here, we tried to move you onto the pillows. Then, we set to work treating all your visible injuries. You had a pretty bad cut on your arm,” Damien told me. I nodded as best I could, and drifted back to sleep. Having your soul almost stolen takes a toll on a person.
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My eyes fluttered open, and I sat up, the sunlight shining through the windows. I felt much better than I had the night before. I groggily got up and looked around the treehouse for Damien or Marlene. I heard some noise from the makeshift kitchen, so I stood up and walked over. Damien was sitting at the cardboard box we call a table, eating a sandwich. “Morning,” He said as soon as I sat down. “Morning,” I said back. “Where’s Marlene?” I asked. Damien took a bite of his sandwich and shrugged. “She wasn’t here when I woke up. Maybe she had an early shift at the Brick.”
“Maybe. But how early would she have to be at a library? It doesn’t even open for another two hours,” I pointed out. “Huh. Good point. Maybe she went for a run or something. I don’t know. What I do know is that I want to finish my sandwich before you and I have to head to the Brick for our morning shifts,” Damien said, stuffing his face with bread, lettuce, cheese, turkey, and tomato.
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The Brick is a massive brick building where every person over the age of 14 works. The variety of jobs is endless. I work at a bakery, Damien works at the clinic as an apprentice, and Marlene works at the library. The Brick is run by an elite team of businessmen and women. They are kind of like the royal family of Salef, but no one knows who they are. Marlene, Damien, and I are convinced that they are aliens from the far-away planet Gooblecock. If you are ever called before the Elite, you’re in really, really big trouble. The Elite decide what happens in Salef. What businesses open, where families live, the release of the demons.
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The Elite are the ones who created the demons. Originally, they were part of a military operation called Operation Lost Ones. The Elite were trying to genetically modify test subjects to create nearly invincible warriors. They gave them one weakness, their Achilles heel, so that if something went wrong there was an easy way of shutting the demons down. Their weakness was that if they were ever in a small enclosed space, they would dissolve. While this experiment was going on, the rest of Salef had no idea what was happening. All we knew was that people slowly started disappearing. Only later did we find out that the Elite were stealing people from their homes to be turned into mindless soldiers. One day, the soldiers escaped, their minds melted from the radiation. A week later the Elite made an emergency speech, explaining the problem. At first, they said it would only last a week or so, but that was 86 years ago. No one admits it, for fear of repercussions, but many believe that the Elite keep creating and letting loose more demons. It certainly keeps the population controlled and manageable. The Elite pay the citizens a certain amount of Rails for each catch. It honestly is a great system.
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A short while later, Damien and I were headed to the Brick on our hoverboards. As we passed through downtown, I saw a few people huddled together, dressed in black. They were passing a box of tissues around. They must have lost someone last night, I thought to myself. Every few weeks, the demons catch a person. I was almost that person. I shuddered at the thought. I pulled my eyes away and looked around the rest of the street. A few stores were scattered around. People who get approval from the Elite can own and manage a store on Boulevard. Once we were out of the hustle and bustle of Boulevard, the Brick was the only thing we could see. It shot up 50 stories, with 25 posts on each floor. I work on the 39th floor, Damien goes to the 2nd, and Marlene is on the 47th. I’m not sure who decided what went where, because the organization of the building is random.
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When Damien and I pulled up to the front entrance of the Brick, we put our boards in the hold, which is a rotating piece of metal that can hold up to 200 boards. You put your board in a slot, and you get a ticket with a number. To get your board back, you feed the ticket into a machine and it finds the right slot. It works incredibly quickly too. I put my ticket in the pocket of my jeans and headed into the building. I headed to the elevators, with Damien walking next to me. There were a dozen elevators lined up on the far wall, and each one had a maximum capacity of 30 people. We caught an elevator just as the doors were closing. Two other people were in it, two women. I pressed the button for me and Damien. One of the women pressed the button for the 47th floor.
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The ride to Damien’s stop was silent. After he left the elevator, the two women started having a hushed conversation. One of the people had my attention. She had long ginger hair, just like Marlene. She had a lot of ear piercings, just like Marlene. She had tan skin, just like Marlene. She had a splattering of freckles across her face, just like Marlene. I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Do you happen to know a girl named Marlene Smith?” I asked Marlene 2.0. She cocked her head. “We don’t know any Smith’s, do we, Stella?” The woman who looked like Marlene asked the other, Stella. “No, I don’t think we do, sis,” Stella said. Before I had a chance to say another word, the doors opened on my floor. I sighed and stepped out. As the doors closed, Marlene 2.0 waved, then disappeared. I shook my head. It must have been a trick of the light. Or not.
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I walked to the bakery and fished a key out of my pocket. I unlocked the door and stepped inside. I started putting chairs down and setting up labels for the display case. Then, I headed into the kitchen. I logged the time I arrived in the workbook, so my boss would know I had arrived on time. I took my apron off the hook and pulled it over my head. My boss had left a list of what would be sold today, and it was my job to make the goods. I looked at the list and started baking. I had made these items so many times, I had the recipe memorized. Two cups of flour, ¼ cup sugar, and salt. I put half the batter into a cake pan and threw it into the oven. Then, I put the other half into cupcake tins and swirled the food coloring in. When the cupcakes come out of the oven, they will be a colorful swirl of deliciousness.
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I sat behind the counter while I waited for the timer to go off. I took my book out from under the register. I flipped to my bookmark and started reading. It was the story of a girl named Cecille. She was abandoned by her family and tried to make a life for herself by selling handmade jewelry. Through an unlikely friendship, she traveled to a new city and made her dream come true by opening a jewelry shop. I had read this book before, but it never gets old.
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Just as I was getting to the end, the timer rang out through the store. I set my book down and grabbed an oven mitt. The cakes were a perfect golden brown, and I cut a cupcake open to see the inside. The colors had swirled together perfectly. I looked around, then snuck a bite. Oh, it was so good. I grabbed a piping bag and started frosting the cupcakes. I made little flowers and grass, making a frosting garden. Cupcake after cupcake. When the whole tray was frosted, I put them into the fridge to harden and cool. An hour later, the display case was full of colorful treats. The bell rang, announcing that someone had entered the store. I smiled. “What can I get for you today?”
***
I stood outside the clinic, waiting for Damien. I looked in the window and saw Marlene walking into the waiting room. Damien was next to her. My jaw dropped. Had he known where she was this whole time? I threw the door open and stalked up to my friends. Damien said something to Marlene and stepped towards me. “Hey, Cierra. What’s up?” He asked me, a smile on his face. I gave a short, harsh laugh. “What’s up? Oh, nothing, aside from the fact that I just saw you talking to Marlene, and you didn’t think to tell me that you knew where she was.” Steam was practically coming out of my ears. I was furious. “What do you mean? I haven’t seen Marlene. That girl I was just talking to is named Rebecca. She is new to town, so I was explaining catching to her. This is her 5th night here, and she had never heard of it or seen any of the demons. It’s a miracle she hasn’t been killed yet. Anyway, she is nice, so I invited her to come catching with Marlene, you, and me,” Damien explained. I scoffed. “Fine. But she is your responsibility, not mine.” I stormed out of the clinic and went back to the bakery.
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That night, I was waiting in the treehouse playing Solitaire. Damien was in his office, and Marlene hadn’t come back yet. I was starting to get worried. The sun was starting to set, and in less than an hour, catching was going to start. It’s not safe to be outside alone then. “Hey!” A voice called from the ground. “It’s me. Let me up, the sun is setting.” I walked over to the trapdoor in the main room and unlocked it. I unfurled the rope ladder and dropped it down. Marlene, or Rebecca, I’m not sure which, climbed up the ladder with more grace than Damien or me. When she got inside, I picked up the ladder and locked the door.
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“Damien!” I yelled. “She’s here!” Damien came bustling out of his office. “Hey, Rebecca. Glad you could make it.” She cocked her head. “Who’s Rebecca? I’m Marlene, dummy. Wait a second, do you have a girlfriend?” Marlene asked with a laugh. “Ah, sorry. I met a girl at the clinic today who looks exactly like you. She is not, I repeat, N-O-T, not, my girlfriend. Although, I wouldn’t be complaining if she was,” Damien said, blushing a little. I butted into the conversation. “Girlfriend or not, which, by the way, Damien, we are going to be teasing you about for eternity, Marlene, where have you been all day? You weren't here when we woke up, and you only showed up as the sun was setting. We were both really worried.” Marlene’s shoulders slumped. She sighed. “I’m sorry. This morning I, um, went for a run like Damien told you. I had an opening shift at the library, so after my run, I headed there. I got breakfast at the Brick. I’ve been there all day, shelving, and checking books in and out.”
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I pursed my lips. Something didn’t add up. Then it hit me. “How did you know that Damien had thought you went on a run? You weren’t even there.” Marlene’s eyes widened. She started twirling a strand of hair around her finger. “Um. Uh, he told me?” Marlene said, a question more than a statement. I nodded, my suspicion of Marlene growing larger. “Uh, huh. Okay.” Damien clapped his hands, obviously uncomfortable. “So, let's get going then, shall we?” We headed outside and started walking. We didn’t follow the path. We trampled through the woods, tying some string to trees and branches so we could find our way back to the treehouse. My eyes were darting back and forth, scanning the woods for demons. I saw a flash of movement a dozen or so yards away, in a small clearing. I tapped Marlene and Damien on the shoulder and held a finger to my lips. I pointed to the demon, who hadn’t seen us yet.
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Damien started creeping up to the demon, and I circled to its back. I looked around. I had lost sight of Marlene. I hoped that she would be okay. I nodded to Damien, and we both started advancing. Then, the demon looked around wildly and shrieked. It jumped up into the trees and leaped from branch to branch, running from something. I turned to follow it, but Damien grabbed my arm. “That’s not normal. That’s not supposed to happen. We should let it be. Something probably scared it away. Let’s head back to Marlene.” I let out a breathy chuckle. “What did you do, Cierra?” Damien asked, his voice hard as steel. “Um, I kind of, sort of, lost sight of Marlene,” I said awkwardly. “How did you do that? She’s right there.” Damien pointed to a tree trunk. “Oh. I hadn’t seen her there before.” I told him sheepishly.
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Marlene was wiping some dust or something off of her skin. Her breathing was heavy, and she was sweating. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Damien asked Marlene. “No,” She said through heavy breaths. “Everythings… fine. I’m fine. Let’s get going. Maybe we will find another demon.” We kept walking, away from the clearing. As we kept walking, the forest got darker and denser. After a little while, Marlene pointed to a demon that was concealed in the shadows. We inched towards it, step by step. Then, CRUNCH. Damien had stepped on a fallen branch. The demon focused its eyes on us and started to run. “Go, go, go!” I shouted. There was no point in being quiet anymore.
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I started sprinting forward, gaining on the demon. Marlene was next to me, Damien behind us. We fanned out and formed a loose circle around the demon. The demon slowed and tried to break out of the circle. I gritted my teeth and tightened my grips on Damien and Marlene’s arms. I felt their hands tighten around me, and I knew that we were getting another stripe tonight. After a few seconds of struggling, the demon stopped and dissolved. Reaper, the dust read, Reaper, I see you. Reaper, show yourself. This was different from the first time. I wondered what it meant. I decided that the next day I would take a day off from work and check the archives for all the messages people have gotten while catching. Maybe that would explain some things. I looked at Damien, who was grinning from ear to ear. Marlene, though, wasn’t.
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We jogged back to the treehouse, the adrenaline slowly wearing off. Damien and I were laughing together, telling each other exaggerated stories of how we caught the demon. I glanced behind me. Marlene was a few yards behind us, and her face was blank. No excitement whatsoever. She was barely even jogging. “Come on, Marlene, let’s go!” Damien yelled over his shoulder. When we reached the treehouse, I climbed the ladder, and Damien followed. Marlene, however, stood at the bottom. “Marlene, you have to climb up. Who knows what's out there!” I called down to her. She nodded and started walking back into the forest. “Marlene! Where are you going? You can’t go out there alone!” I yelled. I started climbing back down, but Damien stopped me, just as he had with the demon earlier. “Let her go. She knows the risks. She is going through a lot,” Damien whispered into my ear. I was confused. Marlene had never told me about anything bad going on.
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I was lying in my bed, reading a book, when I heard the trap door that led into the treehouse creak open. My eyes widened in fear. I climbed off the top bunk in the bunk bed Marlene and I shared. Slowly, I crept across the room towards the door to Damien’s room and dashed inside. I shook him awake. “Huh? What’s going on, Cierra? It’s 4 in the morning.” I held a finger to my lips and whispered, “Someone or something just came inside through the trapdoor. I must have forgotten to lock it when we got back from catching.” Damien nodded, then furrowed his brow. “No, you didn’t. You left it unlocked for Marlene, remember? She ran off into the forest when we got back.” My eyes fell to the floor. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Damien motioned for me to follow him. He picked up his pocket knife from the nightstand. I was terrified. What was going to happen? Had Marlene come home, or had something else found the treehouse?
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We tiptoed into the main room, my eyes clenched tight. Damien sighed. “Oh, thank goodness. It’s you. We were completely terrified.” Damien clutched his chest as if he was holding onto his thumping heart. Marlene scoffed. “Come on. Let’s just go to bed.” I opened my mouth. “But where…” Marlene shot me an evil eye and slowly shook her head. She stalked away into our bedroom. Damien and I exchanged a confused look, shrugged, and went back to our rooms. I climbed up to my bed and closed my eyes. My mind reeled. What was going on with Marlene? Why had she been out so late? I needed to find out.
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I woke up to Marlene snoring. I walked into the kitchen and made some cereal. As I was eating, Marlene walked in. I waved, my mouth full of milk and cereal. She grunted and poured herself a cup of coffee. Coffee. At 16. I tried coffee once a few months ago when I worked at a cafe. It was bitter and burned the roof of my mouth. I finished up my breakfast and stood to leave. That was when something caught my attention. On Marlene’s arm, she didn’t have any stripes. I was confused. How did that work? She had helped catch at least two demons. I blinked my eyes, and the stripes reappeared. Huh. I thought. Must have been a trick of the light. “I’m headed to the Brick to…” I started to tell Marlene my plan to look at the archives, but it felt wrong to tell her. “... to get a shipment of supplies for the bakery.” Marlene didn’t acknowledge me and kept sipping her coffee. I sighed, shoved some stuff into my backpack, and threw it onto my back. I waved and headed outside.
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I grabbed my board from the shelf Marlene and I had built a few years ago. I hopped on and started speeding down the path towards Boulevard. When I made my way out of the trees and onto Boulevard, I started thinking about Marlene. What had happened with her stripes? What was she hiding? My mind had wandered for a bit too long, and I had taken my eyes off the road. I heard a loud noise and brakes screeching. Something threw me off my board, and the pavement cut up the sides of my legs, my arms, and the side of my face. Someone stood over me, their lips moving. The ringing in my ears slowly receded. “Are you alright? Here, let me help you up,” the person said. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to get the pain to go away. When I opened them, I saw a girl with short, blond hair wearing a black oversized sweatshirt and tie-dye shorts. She looked about my age, maybe a little older. “I’ll ask again: are you okay?” I nodded my head, wincing when I touched my cheek. The skin had been rubbed away. I looked down to survey my legs and arms. They didn’t look too good.
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“What the heck were you thinking? You rode right into traffic. You would have gotten hit,” She said. “C’mon, I’ll take you back to my place. I’ve got some first-aid supplies that you can use.” I shook my head. “Who are you?” I asked, confused as to why this person was helping me. “Quinn,” Quinn said as we started walking down Boulevard. “Do I know you? You look familiar,” I said, still confused. Quinn laughed a sweet little chuckle. “You don’t know me, Cierra, but I know you. Let’s not get into specifics right now.” I raised my eyebrows, Quinn’s psychotic words burned into my brain. I know you. A shiver ran down my spine. Quinn stared at me, her icy blue eyes unmoving. It started to get awkward, so I looked down and kept walking.
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After a few minutes of walking, Quinn stopped in front of the bakery on Boulevard. My mouth dropped open. “You live here?” Quinn nodded and walked in. I followed, listening to the bell chime as I opened the door. We walked through the bakery, the sweet aroma of pastries filling my nose. Quinn ushered me through a small door behind the pantry. I walked up a flight of rickety stairs, eventually coming to a trap door. I looked at Quinn, a few stairs below me. She gave me a nod of approval, and I pushed the trap door open.
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I emerged into a fully furnished room. The walls were a creamy off-white, and the floorboards were shiny and dark. Small strings of light bordered the ceiling, and a fan blew cool air through the room. A bed sat in the corner, with an intricate design printed on the blanket. In the space under the bed, two drawers sat, filled to the brim with paints, pencils, paper, and canvases. A desk was pushed up against one of the walls, underneath a window. An open notebook was laying on the desk. A closet and dresser were opposite the bed, with photos and hand-drawn art scattered on top of them. I slowly walked around, taking it all in. Quinn opened a drawer in the desk. “Welcome to my little home. It’s not much, but I like it.”
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A few dozen minutes later, I was patched up, with gauze on my cheek, and bandages wrapped around my leg and arm. I was a bit sore, but my injuries only hurt if I touched them. I had a few bruises, but I was pretty sure I was okay. I would ask Damien when I got home. He’s studying to be a doctor. Then I thought of something. “What exactly happened on Boulevard? I was kind of zoned out,” I said. Quinn finished packing up the first aid kit, then sat down next to me on the bed. “I was walking to the Brick because my board had broken a few days ago. I saw you riding on the street, and took some interest in you. Mainly because of your boots.” I looked down at my scuffed-up boots, broken in from years of use. “You started to get far ahead of me, because you were on a board and I, well, wasn’t. I jogged along behind you for a little while, then saw that a Ram was coming down the road.” A Ram is a transport truck. They are used for transporting materials outside of the borders of Salef. “The Ram wasn’t stopping, so I sprinted up to you and pushed you off your board. And… that’s it.” Quinn finished her story with a sigh.
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I pushed myself off the bed. “Well, thanks for the help. I’d better get going.” Quinn stood up. “Let me walk you out. It’s the least I can do.” I smiled, picked up my backpack from the floor, and headed back downstairs. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, a boy was standing in front of me. “Hi. Are you a friend of Quinn’s? I’m Ben, Quinn’s older brother, head chef of the bakery.” I nodded. “More like acquaintances. Quinn helped me after I almost got run over. I’m Cierra. It’s nice to meet you, Ben.” The stairs creaked as Quinn came down them. “Ah, I see you’ve met Ben.” Ben stuck out his tongue, a playful move between siblings. Right before I left the door, Quinn stopped me. “Oh, Cierra, watch who you call your friend. You never know who the wolf in sheep's clothing is until they kill the shepherd.” I walked out of the bakery, leaving Ben and Quinn behind. I saw my board was docked right outside. It was a bit scuffed and dented, but still worked perfectly, so I hopped on and headed to the Brick. At this point, it was almost noon. I had left the treehouse at about 9:30, so I had lost a lot of time. I sped down the street, being careful to keep my eyes up and stay alert, still thinking about Quinn’s cryptic words.
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When I arrived at the Brick, I hurried to dock my board and get inside. I waited for the elevator to come. A dozen other people were already inside, coming up from the basement. I stepped in. The elevator ride got very awkward, very quickly. I find standing in a room with lots of people uncomfortable. Finally, the doors opened on the floor of the archive center and I hurried out. When I walked into the archive museum, a boy greeted me. “Hello there! What can I do for you today?” The boy asked in a mousy voice. I looked at his name tag and learned his name was Gabe. “Uh, I need to look at the reports of messages the demons have left,” I told Gabe. “Alright, alright. Follow me. I’ll show you the way. Those archives will be in R-4, F-2.” Gabe pushed his glasses up his nose and started walking towards a staircase. I hurried to follow him, his long strides putting distance between us. I caught up to him at the top of the stairs. Rows and rows of files were lined up on metal shelves.
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Gabe turned down a row and stopped. He pulled a chunky box off the shelf. Gabe set the box down on a table and sat down in a folding chair. “Here it is. All the records of the messages. Put on some gloves before you touch them. Come downstairs to get me when you are done with them.” Gabe pulled the top off the box and left. I sat down and pulled out my notebook. I stretched the blue, clingy, latex gloves over my hands. I pulled out some of the papers that were in the box. There were easily two hundred of them. I started copying down the messages into my notebook.
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Reaper, Reaper, I have failed. Reaper, avenge my soul.
Reaper, Reaper, I can’t continue. Reaper, finish it for me.
Reaper, Reaper, my task is impossible. Reaper, find a new one.
Reaper, Reaper, let me go. Reaper, create new wings.
Reaper, Reaper, my time is up. Reaper, flip the hourglass.
Reaper, Reaper, I am lost. Reaper, run.
Reaper, Reaper, I see you. Reaper, show yourself.
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I was shocked as to how terrifying some of the messages were. I tried to decipher a few, but after working on them for a few minutes each, I gave up. Once I had filled 7 pages in my notebook, I headed down the stairs to find Gabe. I found him sitting behind the front desk, pushing buttons furiously on a touchpad. I cleared my throat, trying to get his attention. He held up one finger, his eyes still focused on the screen. I rolled my eyes. A few seconds later, Gabe put the touchpad down. “Sorry. I was in the middle of a level. I’ve been trying to beat it for a few weeks.” I smiled. “It’s fine. One of my friends, Damien, loves video games. Half of his office is dedicated to his gaming. Anyway, I finished with the archives.”
“Good, good. Did you find what you needed?”187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7jrQYSkrR
“I think so. It was a lot to sort through.”187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtxGkE9GLj
“How do you think I feel? I do that every day! Do you mind me asking, what were you looking for? Don’t tell my supervisor I asked you that. It’s technically against policy.”
“It’s fine. I won’t. I was looking for different messages, so I could try and decode them. Last night, my friends and I got a weird message. When I looked, it had only been recorded once.”
Gabe nodded slowly. “Got it, got it. Well, have a good day! Come by again if you need anything.”
I gave an apathetic smile and walked out of the archive center. I shoved my notebook back into my backpack and took out my touchpad. Damien had gotten it for me for my birthday a few years ago. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that he had dropped my old one into the filled bathtub, then accidentally smashed it when he tried to fix it. I checked my emails and saw I had one from my boss and best friend, Harley. I clicked it open.
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Hey Cierra! So something came up, and I won’t be able to take the mid-shift at the bakery. Would you mind covering for me? If you can’t, I understand. I can cancel my VERY important plans to make it. Thank you so much, bae!
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I laughed. Harley is the strangest, coolest person I know. I also had a kind of, sort of humongous crush on her. I walked to the elevators and got inside. This was always my least favorite part of going to the Brick because the elevators are so crowded, but it’s either the elevators or dozens of flights of stairs. I pushed my way through the mass of people to get to the buttons. I hit the one I needed and waited. The doors closed and I slowly rose up, up, up. Eventually, I got to my floor and squeezed out of the elevator. I walked to the bakery and sent an email back to Harley.
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No problem! I was at the brick already, so it didn’t interfere with my plans too much. You owe me one, though! Love you!
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I attached a picture of me, smiling behind the register, just to make Harley laugh. We had been friends since we were toddlers. The bakery used to be run by her mom, but we don’t talk about her too much anymore, after the accident...
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SEVEN YEARS EARLIER
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Harley’s Mom, Eliora, was running through the forest with her friends, trying to catch a demon. She was in a group of five, so even if one or two of the people in her group were unable to catch, she would still be able to. Eliora’s breathing was heavy and her legs were burning. She glanced down at her arm, the three stripes etched onto her skin. This was the last catch she needed before Reaper. Eliora refocused herself on the path she was running on, but a second too late. She tripped over a root jutting up from the ground and fell. A searing pain shot up from her leg, and she cried out. “Help!” No one came. Well, someone came, just not the person Eliora expected. The demon picked her up in its long, spider-like arms. Eliora shivered as its breath ran down her neck. The demon wrapped its cloak around Eliora’s face, and her breathing quickened. She was terrified. The demon raised its dagger to Eliora’s lips. She squeezed her eyes shut. “No. I’m not ready to die, I have a family. A daughter. Don’t take me. Please.” Her words were carried away by the breeze, gone forever. The demon dropped Eliora and ran away, its job complete. Eliora’s lifeless body lay still on the forest floor, her last words etched on her lips. “I’m sorry.”
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PRESENT DAY
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I put on my apron, still thinking about Eliora. Harley had been devastated. She hadn’t come to the bakery for weeks. Whenever I think about that night, I always find myself thinking about Eliora. That makes me feel horrible inside because I always seem to forget that that night, my parents were with her. And that night, they died with her.
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I don’t know if it was the same demon or not, and I probably never will. No one came to the bakery for a long time, until someone new started working there. That was Damien’s dad, Eliott. Eliott was part of Eliora and my parents' catching team. He was the one who found Eliora’s body, and he was the one who told me and Harley what had happened to our parents. That was how Damien and I met. Damien is a year older than me. Now, we are best friends, living in a treehouse together. With Marlene. I’m not sure who Marlene’s family is. It’s never come up. I pulled myself out of my thoughts and focused on the bakery. I checked the list of desserts that needed to be made and saw my personal favorite on the list. Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Yum. My mouth watered just thinking about them. I mixed the batter and threw them into the oven. I went around the bakery, checking to be sure that no more customers had come in while I was in the kitchen. None had.
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I had noticed a decrease in the number of customers the bakery had been getting. I just hoped everything would even out soon. I sat down behind the counter and picked up my book. I kept reading until I heard the timing go off in the kitchen. I stood up and took the cookies out of the oven. They were a perfect golden-brown.
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Once the mid-shift was over and a new employee had clocked in, I hung up my apron and left. I decided to take the stairs for a little bit, to clear my head. I walked to the large double doors labeled: STAIRS. I slowly walked down them, trying to not jostle my injured leg. I had forgotten about the pain for a little while. Quinn had done a good job of bandaging me up. I walked down a few flights of stairs, humming to myself. The stairs were always more peaceful than the elevators, although they were a little creepy. Every once in a while, I would come across a window, and I slowly saw the horizon getting lower and lower. It was beautiful.
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Once I reached the 30th floor, I left the stairwell and got into an elevator. Once I was outside the Brick, I got onto my board and headed back to the treehouse. When I was on the path in the forest, I came across Marlene. I hopped off my board and walked up to her. “Oh my gosh, Cierra, what happened to you?” Marlene gushed. I smiled sheepishly, glad she was out of her funk. “I’ll tell you with Damien. It’s a story I only want to tell once.” Marlene nodded furiously. “I get it. Here, let me help you.” She picked up my board and set it down on its respective spot. She then took my backpack from me and climbed up the ladder. I carefully followed her up into the treehouse.
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When I got inside, Damien was standing in front of me, his arms crossed. My eyes darted around nervously. “What’s wrong? Did something happen while I was gone?” I asked him, almost scared of the response. “What on earth happened to you?” Damien asked me, his arms still crossed. I pursed my lips. “Alright. Let’s all go sit down in the kitchen and I’ll tell you both the story.” Damien and Marlene followed me into the kitchen. I sat down and told them the whole story.
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Once I finished, Damien and Marlene both seemed shocked. Damien spoke up. “When can I meet this Quinn of yours? She seems quite interesting, and she did a good job of bandaging your leg and arm.” While I was telling the story, Damien had been inspecting my leg and arm, looking for anything out of place. He found nothing. “Why did you leave again?” Marlene asked. “I told you,” I said. “I went to the bakery to get a shipment of supplies.” Marlene nodded and left. Damien turned towards me. He grabbed my hand. “Listen to me, Cierra. What were you doing at the Brick? I’ve been your friend for years, I can tell when you're lying.” I sighed, knowing that there was no way of getting out of this. “Fine. I was at the archive museum, looking at all the messages demons have left. Something strange is going on, Damien. I’m not going to stop until I find out what.”
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I stood up and walked into my and Marlene’s room. “What did Damien want?” Marlene asked me. “Oh, nothing. Just wanted to keep inspecting my bandages.” I told her. “Oh. Ok.” Marlene plugged her headphones into her touchpad and immersed herself in her music. I climbed up onto my bed and pulled out a deck of cards from under my pillow. Shuffling cards always helps calm my mind. The crisp shhh, smooth whoosh, soft, yet rough. My cards were broken in and flexible from years of use. I played a few rounds of Solitaire before leaving my room to go talk to Damien. I found him still at the table, his head buried in his hands. I walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. His head shot up. “Oh, Cierra. It’s you.” I sat down in the chair next to him. “What is going on, Damien? I feel like you and Marlene are keeping something from me. Talk to me. Please. I hate this feeling.” Damien looked at me, his dark brown eyes searching my face. “I don’t know, Cierra. I just… don’t. I wish I did, that I could give you an answer. I want you to know, I’m not keeping anything from you. I can’t speak for Marlene, but you can trust me. You’re my best friend.” Damien seemed so sincere, so hurt. I hated seeing him like this, so I smiled and left the kitchen. I got ready for bed and fell asleep, the possibility of catching out the window with my leg and arm.
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The next morning, I got up and went to the Brick with Damien and Marlene. Work at the bakery continued as normal. Bake a few desserts and pastries, serve any customers, that kind of stuff. I met Marlene outside of the library, and together we went to pick up Damien from the clinic. Damien, Marlene, and I got along well. Any of the weirdness from Marlene had just gone away. It was amazing. After work, we all went back to the treehouse. We hung out around there, playing games.
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After a few weeks of resting up, Damien had given me the all-clear to go catching again. He wanted me to go to the clinic, though, just to be sure. I asked Harley if she would go with me, because who wants to go to the doctor alone? She said yes, by the way. The next morning, Harley picked me up from the treehouse, and we headed to the clinic in the Brick. “So,” Harley said. “What’s been going on? I haven’t seen you for so long.” I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, since you asked, Marlene’s been acting kind of weird.” Harley nodded in thought, trying to make sense of what was going on. We pulled up to the Brick a minute later and headed straight to the clinic. When we arrived, Dr. Brack greeted us. “Hello Cierra, Harley. Oh, dear, what have you done to yourself, Cierra? Come in, come in.” I followed Dr. Brack into one of the examination rooms, while Harley sat down in the waiting area. Dr. Brock carefully removed my bandages. “Hmm. Damien told me what was going on with you. It healed up very nicely.” A dark, splotchy scar ran up the side of my leg. Another one crisscrossed my arm.
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Dr. Brock then removed the bandage on my cheek. After a second of poking around, he pulled out a small mirror. I stared at my reflection. A scar as thick as my pinky nail ran down my left cheek, from my temple to the edge of my chin. I ran my finger down the scar. It kind of looked cool. “Keep some of the more soft areas covered, so you don’t rip open the scars. You should be good to go catching. Come back if anything changes.” Dr. Brock told me. I nodded and left the exam room. Harley was waiting for me. “Woah! You look so cool! Like you were in some duel!” Harley squealed. “Not exactly the look I was going for, but thanks, Harley,” I said. “Alright, let’s head back to the treehouse. Maybe I can hang with you, Damien, and Marlene for the rest of the day. I don’t have anything else to do.” Harley offered. “Sure! C’mon.” We headed out of the Brick and started the ride home. I watched as Harley’s raven black hair fell loose from her ponytail, eventually coming completely undone and trailing behind her like a cape. Her yellow tank top looked like it was made of butter. I never put much thought into how I looked, and Harley didn’t either, but she always was beautiful. As we entered the woods, Harley stopped and got off her board.
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“Let’s walk the rest of the way,” Harley said. I got off my board and scooped it up. My board wasn’t very heavy, but it was kind of awkward to hold. Harley and I walked down the path towards the treehouse, side by side. Suddenly, Harley grabbed my hand and pulled me off the path. I dropped my board and followed her. We slipped deeper and deeper into the forest. Eventually, we came to a clearing with a large boulder in the middle. “Why’d you bring me here?” I asked Harley. She walked to a tree and pulled a basket out from behind it. Harley laid down a red and white checkered blanket and sat down. I sat down next to her and looked in the basket. Sandwiches, juice, brownies, fruits, chips, and dip. “Dig in,” Harley said as she bit into a sandwich. I laughed. “I felt that you could use a little bit of relaxation. You’ve had a rough few weeks.” Harley told me. I was so grateful that I had Harley as a friend. She was the best.
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Once we both finished eating, Harley and I packed up the basket and blanket. We left the clearing and got back onto the path to the treehouse. When we were at the foot of the massive tree, Harley pulled me into a massive hug. “I’m so, so sorry, Cierra.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do you mean? What's going on?” I pulled out of our hug. Harley sighed deeply. “It’s the bakery. It’s going to be shut down in a week.”
“What?” I screamed. The bakery was my home, my rock, my roots. It was the only tie I still had to my parents. Harley hugged me, tears brimming her eyes. “It’s not up to me. The Elite’s said that we weren’t getting enough customers. I’m sorry. I love that bakery too. I know how much it means to you. But, I saw that there are a few open positions elsewhere, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one. I can help you if you want.” I smiled. “Don’t worry. Come on up. You’re coming catching with us too.” I didn’t even give Harley a choice. This was a tough time for both of us, and we needed the support of each other.
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We got up into the treehouse and sat down. I picked up my touchpad from the coffee table and logged onto the Brick website. After a few seconds, the open position menu looked up at me. I looked at Harley. “Well, now that we’re both getting new jobs, we should find something where we can work together more often.” I scrolled through the options. “Ohh, what about an event photographer?” Harley shook her head, no. “A bartender?” Harley looked at me in shock. “A bartender? Cierra, we’re 16. We aren't even allowed to drink alcohol.”
“Computer repair person?”187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgELxnD2YB9
“No.”
“Fast food worker?”
“No.”
“Clothes salesperson?”187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSnjGgamTi
“No.”
“Interior Designer?”
“No.”
“Hairdresser?”
“No. Wait, what was the one that you just said?”
“Hairdresser?”
“No, before that.”
“Interior designer?”
“Yeah! That sounds cool. Click into it!” Harley cheered. She seemed excited. It was nice, seeing her so happy. A new page loaded, and I read the ad. “Do you have an eye for detail? Do you like to make people happy? If you answered yes to both of those questions, then this job is for you. As an interior designer, you take clients and transform their shabby rooms into masterpieces. Apply today!” I looked up to see Harley’s reaction. “Let’s do it. Can you print the applications?” Harley asked me. I nodded and clicked on the print button. The printer in Damien’s office started whirring. Harley jumped up to get the warm sheets of paper. When she got back, she handed me a piece of paper and a pen. “Let’s fill them out together. We can bring them to the Brick tomorrow.” I scanned through the questions. Name, age, address, birthday, pronouns, that kind of thing. I flipped the paper over and saw the questions got to be more about me. Why did I want the job, did I enjoy being creative. It was fairly easy, so I finished in a few minutes.
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After we had both finished our applications, Harley reached into her bag for something. “Have you seen my touchpad?” She asked me. “I could have sworn I brought it.” I shrugged. “You probably left it at your house.” Harley nodded. “I’m gonna run back to my house to check. I’ll be back before sundown.” I gave Harley a big hug. “If you ever need anything, I’m here.” She gave me a small smile and climbed down from the treehouse. When I could no longer see the lights from her board, I reached into the crack in between the couch cushions and pulled out a touchpad. Harley’s touchpad, to be exact. I don’t know why I took it, but it was just sitting on top of her bag, and before I knew it, my hands were shoving it into the cushions.
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It only took me a few tries to get her password right. H&C4Life. I clicked through the different tabs that Harley had open. Eventually, I came to her emails. I knew it was wrong to snoop, but I couldn’t help it. I saw an email a few down and clicked into it.
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Dear Mrs. Harley Roswood,
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We are contacting you to make it known that your bakery on floor 39 of the Brick has not met this month or last month's profit target. We regret to inform you that the bakery will be closed within the week.
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Sincerely,
The Elite
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There was a long crack running down the screen, and I wondered what it was from. Poor Harley. I thought. I placed Harley’s touchpad on the table and walked around the treehouse, looking for Damien. I remembered when we built it. It started as a wood box in a tree, but over time, we expanded it, slowly adding more rooms and furniture. Eventually, it became a fully functional house. I found Damien in his room, sketching. He was a great artist, and I loved to watch him work. “What’re you drawing?” I asked. Damien flipped his sketchbook around. “Wow. That’s amazing. How do you do that?” I gasped. Damien had drawn a beautiful person, the shading perfect. It looked so real. “It’s not my best work, and I’m not done yet,” Damien said sheepishly. “Do you think you could teach me?” I asked. Marlene was in our room, doing who knows what, so we had some time to do something together. Damien’s face lit up. “Sure! Grab a paper from the printer and a pencil.” I got my materials and sat back down. Damien showed me how to draw a flower called a water lily. While we were drawing, Damien’s sandy blonde hair hung around his face like a curtain. After we were done, his drawing looked amazing. Mine looked like a lifeless blob.
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“It’s not terrible,” Damien said, trying to cheer me up. I raised my eyebrow. “I think my art career is over.” I folded the paper into little squares and tucked it into my pocket. “I applied for a new job as an interior designer because the bakery is getting shut down because we haven’t made enough money,” I blurted. Damien looked taken aback. “What? That's horrible, Cierra. I’m so sorry. I know how much that bakery means to you and Harley. Geez, I’d better tell my dad. I know he doesn't work there anymore, but he’ll probably want to know.”
“What’s going on with you and your dad, anyway?”
“Well, I haven’t talked to him for a few weeks, but things are okay. He’s still not completely happy I moved out of the house and into this treehouse with you guys, but I’m happy. I guess that’s all that matters.” I squeezed Damien’s hand. He had been having a rough time with his family. He didn’t like talking about it, so I rarely asked. “Hey, can you keep a secret?” I asked Damien. He nodded eagerly. I motioned for him to follow me. We got up and went back into the main room. I showed him Harley’s touchpad.
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“Why do you have that? Does Harley know you have it? Cierra, why did you take that?” Damien was kind of freaking out. He is one of the biggest rule-followers I know. “Chill out. It was on the top of her bag, so I just grabbed it to take a look. I wanted to be sure nothing else was going on. After all, the bakery has been doing-” I was going to say ‘great’, but then I remembered all the days when only a few customers had come by, and so many desserts were wasted. I tried to give away as many as I could. Street corners, outside different posts, anywhere. “Anyway, I’m going to give it back to Harley as soon as she comes back.” I looked out the window and saw her board coming down the path. “See? Perfect. Just watch, and see how it’s done.” I unlocked the trapdoor and let Harley up.
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“Hey. Guess what? I found your touchpad almost as soon as you left. It was wedged between two couch cushions,” I said while I handed Harley her touchpad. She turned it on and checked something. I wondered what. “Where did that big crack come from?” I asked. “Oh, I dropped it. It hit my bed frame and, boom, cracked,” Harley said. I turned to Damien and gave him a little smirk. I hoped he read it as I told you so! Marlene walked out of our room, yawning. “What's all this commotion? Is one of y’all dying?” She asked. “Nah, Cierra was just giving Harley her touchpad back after she-,” Damien cocked his head and glared at me. “-misplaced it.” The sun was getting low on the horizon. I looked up at the clock on the wall. 6:00. The sun would go down in about 45 minutes. “Why don’t we eat some dinner before catching?” I offered. Everyone nodded in agreement. “Alright then! Let’s get started.”
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An hour later, the sun had set and we had finished cleaning up from dinner. We were all excited. This was the first time I had gone catching with someone other than Marlene and Damien in a long time. It was awesome. We headed down the ladder and into the woods. Harley held onto my hand. Whenever Harley’s hand shifted in mine, little sparks flew up my arm. We walked on the path that led farther into the forest, away from the treehouse and Boulevard. Eventually, we were so far out, I couldn’t see the lights from the Brick or Boulevard. I heard a rustle coming from the trees. I looked over to where I heard the noise. I couldn’t see anything. I squinted my eyes, trying to make sense of something in the dark. My eyes locked onto a demon, sitting on a rock. I tapped Harley on the shoulder and pointed at the demon. She tapped Damien, and Damien tapped Marlene. We all started creeping toward the demon. Quickly, we dashed forward and surrounded it around the rock. The demon jumped up, trying to jump over our arms. We readjusted, this time on flat ground. We stood there for ten, twenty seconds. Nothing happened. I looked around at everyone. “What’s going on?” I whispered. Marlene shrugged. “I’ve never seen this happen before,” Damien said. Marlene’s eyes lit up. “What?” I asked her. She remembered something. “It’s one of the twins. The Omega Twins. You need to catch both of them in the same circle for them to dissolve. All that they want is to find each other. Good for us, too. Step out of the circle, guys,” Marlene said. “Are you crazy?” Harley whisper-shouted. Marlene let go of my hand and stepped out of the circle. “Stay here. We’ll bring you your twin.” Marlene started walking away. I left the circle and followed her. Damien and Harley soon followed as well.
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We ran around the forest near one of the Omega twins. We came across the other twin after 15 minutes. We didn’t even try to circle it. “Follow us. We’ll bring you to your twin,” Marlene told it. We walked back to where we had left the first twin. When the twins saw each other, they ran to each other and took out their daggers. I was sure that they would turn on us, but no. They touched their daggers together, and a bright purple light flooded the woods. Then, they just stood there, as if waiting for us to surround them. I walked forward first, then Damien, Harley, and Marlene. We circled the demons and they dissolved. In their place were two daggers. Their dust went up to the sky. Thank you, it read. Some of you aren't bad after all. I picked up the two daggers. “Well, that was certainly an adventure. Does anyone want the other dagger?” I asked. Marlene’s hand shot up, so I handed one of the daggers to her. Harley smiled. “We just caught the Omega Twins! That’s huge.” Then her face dropped. “Cierra, your arm. Look.” I glanced down at my forearm and saw my stripes. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that- “We got two stripes for catching the twins?” I asked no one in particular. Everyone started checking their arms, and sure enough, I was right. We all had four stripes now. “You know what this means, right guys? We can catch Reaper. Maybe even tonight.” I declared.
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We started walking back to the path. I was starting to wish we had brought flashlights. It was dark. A bit too dark, for my liking. I turned the dagger over in my hands. Its edges aren't sharp, and it was made of dark metal. The handle was wrapped in leather. I tucked it under the waistband of my jeans. While doing that, I felt a piece of paper. I pulled it out and unfolded it. Oh, it’s my drawing. I thought. I put it back into my pocket and looked up. I couldn’t see Harley, Damien, or Marlene anymore. I picked up my pace, walking down the path. I really wished I had a flashlight now. I kept walking, eventually starting to jog. As I ran, I called out. “Damien! Marlene! Harley!” I stopped short when I came to a fork in the road. I looked around, and the realization hit me. I was out in the forest, alone, at night. Who knows how many demons knew I was here? My screaming probably wasn’t helping. I walked a few feet off the path. I leaned against a tree, trying to steady my thumping heart. I started to get nervous. Tears pricked my eyes, and I started crying. I was terrified. I could hear so many noises over my ragged breathing.
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“Damien!” I screamed. “Damien, where are you? Damien!” I dropped to my knees, sobbing. I felt a hand on my back. “Get off me! Get off, get off, get off!” My throat was raw from screaming. “Hey, it’s me.” A familiar voice said to me, their voice covering me like a blanket. “Harley?” I asked, shaking furiously. “Yeah, come on. I saw Damien a little down the path.” I let Harley pull me to my feet. She grabbed my hand and I followed her deeper into the woods. After a little while, she sped up to a run, so I started running with her. Finally, she stopped at the edge of a clearing. “Here. Go on without me. I have to go back. I’ll come back for you.” I nodded and let go of her hand. Harley jogged away, disappearing into the trees. I looked at the clearing. It was the same one Harley had taken me to for our picnic. I walked into the clearing.
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I saw Damien sitting on the rock in the middle of the clearing. He looked so… so calm. But, also, at the same time, not. “Cierra. Get back. It’s a trap. Get back!” Damien shouted at me. I slowly took a few steps backward and pulled the Omega Twin’s dagger out of my waistband. I watched in shock as a dozen people stepped out of the shadows. I scanned their faces, and I saw Quinn, Ben, and Gabe among them. My heartbeat quickened, waiting for what would happen next. What happened changed my life forever. All of the people raised their hands above their heads in unison, then spun around in a circle. When they stopped, a flash of light blinded me, and the people disappeared. In their place, 12 demons appeared. They slowly walked forward, toward Damien, who was still sitting on the rock in the middle of the clearing. As the demons got close enough together, they joined hands, and a clap of thunder boomed over the sky. I looked around wildly, terrified. Behind the rock, across from me, Marlene appeared. I cried out, unable to contain myself. “Marlene! What are you doing?” I shouted across the clearing. Marlene laughed, her voice amplified by a mysterious force.
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“Oh, Cierra. You were so sweet. Don’t you see? I’m doing what I was always meant to do. Just you wait.” Marlene’s face contorted into an evil grin, and suddenly, Rebecca appeared beside her. “Cierra, this is Rebecca. My Keeper, and twin sister.” I opened my mouth to ask what a Keeper was, but Marlene kept talking. “A Keeper is someone who keeps Reaper’s soul, so Reaper can live. You see, Cierra, a few years ago, I was caught by a demon. It killed me, and I was given three choices: die, become a demon, or find a Keeper and become Reaper. Rebecca keeps my soul so I can transfer between normal Marlene and Reaper. So, have you pieced it all together, yet? No? Let me spell it out for you. I am Reaper!”
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Marlene opened her mouth and a stream of smoke billowed out of it. The smoke engulfed her, then dissipated. In Marlene’s place stood a demon-like none I had ever seen before. It was Reaper. Damien stood up on the rock and motioned for me to come forward. On shaky legs, I walked to him. “Stop! Stop!” Reaper hissed, their voice like sandpaper. I took a few more steps and grabbed Damien’s arm. Just then, more than a dozen wispy figures stepped out of the trees. “What is going on?” I hissed at Damien. He shrugged, just as confused as I was.
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One of the figures came up to me. Something about it was familiar. “Mom?” I asked. My mother’s ghost nodded and started motioning wildly with her hands. I started guessing what she was saying. It was a messed-up version of charades. “A sword? War? Fighting? Holding hands? Catching?” At that, my mother stopped. She took mine and Damien’s hands and formed a circle with us. “You’re going to come catching with us?” I asked. My mom nodded excitedly. Then, her mouth dropped open in shock. She pointed behind me and Damien. The demons had drawn their daggers and were walking towards us. I kissed my mom on the cheek. “Damien! Ready to go catching?” I called over to him. Damien’s head bobbed up and down. The ghosts flew out of the trees, more than I could have ever expected. They broke off into groups of three, each group going after a different demon. Damien, my mom, and I went after Reaper.
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The stripes on my arm burned as if they could feel that Reaper was near. I crossed the field, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Reaper turned and fled the clearing. “Ugh!” I cried. “Coward!” I dug my foot into the ground and started sprinting after Reaper, Damien at my side, and my mom floating behind us. I started falling farther and farther behind Reaper. I gritted my teeth and pushed forward like I never had before. I would catch a small glimpse of smoke, a flash of movement and I would know where to go. Eventually, I had trapped Reaper in a dead end. We were pushed up against a sheer rock cliff, a few hundred meters up. I breathed heavily, my heart beating faster than it ever had before. I leaned down, still gasping for breath. At this point, Damien and my mom had caught up with me. “It’s over,” I gasped. I motioned Damien and my mom forward, and we advanced on Reaper. I grabbed Damiens’s arm, he grabbed my mom’s, and my mom grabbed mine. We circled Reaper. Reaper coward on the forest floor. I hadn’t expected this to be so easy. It shouldn’t be this easy. I glanced up at Damien, my eyes saying it all. What is going on? Why is it just sitting there? Why isn’t Reaper fighting back? Damien opened his mouth to say something when I saw a flash of movement below me. Reaper duck under my arm and out of our circle. They pulled a long, shiny dagger from the folds of their robe. The metal glistened in the moonlight. I shook my head. “You’re not going to do anything,” I whispered. I don’t know why, but I just knew. Reaper cocked its ghostly head then pulled back its arm. I closed my eyes, expecting a sharp pain of the dagger inserting itself into me. Instead, I heard a cry of pain coming from behind me.
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I turned around to see Damien fall to the ground, his hands wrapped around his stomach. “No!” I cried. I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my cheeks. I held Damien’s head in my lap. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” I told him. My dying friend reached up with his hand and took mine. “It’s okay. I’m fine. I’ll be okay. It will all be okay.” Damien winced, and I held back a sob. I hugged Damien tight to me as I felt my friend's last breath dance across my hands. The world seemed to go silent. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart and my shaky breaths echoing in the woods. I carefully set Damien’s head down on the ground and stood up. I turned to look for Reaper, but it was gone. I roughly wiped the tears from my eyes and walked over to my mom, who had been standing nearby.
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I sniffed and shook my head. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into an embrace. She drifted over to Damien’s cold body. My mother placed a light kiss on Damien’s forehead, and suddenly, Damien was standing next to her. She took his hand and together they drifted upward to the stars. I wrapped my arms around my body and just cried. Damien was dead. It was my fault. If I had just not said anything, or said something differently, he might still be alive. I don’t know how long I stood there, leaning against the rock. Damien’s body sat at my feet, and I couldn’t bear to look. I slammed my eyes shut. When I opened them, I could see the sun starting to peek up over the trees and a person. It was Harley. I ran to her and buried my face in her hair. She rubbed my back and whispered in my ear. “Shh. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. It’s okay.”
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I let Harley lead me out of the woods. We kept walking, past the clearing, past the treehouse, onto Boulevard, and stopped in front of a house. Harley’s dad’s house, to be precise. Harley unlocked the door and took me inside. As soon as she brought me into the guest room, I collapsed onto the bed. As soon as my breathing had calmed down, I let sleep take me.
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I woke up sore and groggy. Events from the night before slowly filtered into my mind. I sat up in bed. Where am I? I thought to myself. I looked around the room I was in. A window, a dresser, a closet, and a bed. I’m at Harley’s house, I remembered. I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I looked in the mirror on top of the dresser. My hair was a tangled mess, with leaves and sticks all in it. My clothes were stained with dirt, grass, and blood. I choked back a sob when I remembered that Damien was dead. I reached into the pocket of my sweatshirt. I pulled out a piece of paper. It was folded into neat quarters. I unfolded it, expecting my lily flower-shaped blob, but instead, it was Damien’s beautiful flower. I blinked my eyes, but it was still there. I hugged it to my chest but stopped. I didn’t want to mess it up. I took a towel out of the closet and walked to Harley’s bathroom, years of sleepovers finally being useful.
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I took one of the longest showers of my life. When I got out, I dried out my hair as best I could and walked back into the guest room. A fresh pair of clothes sat on the bed for me. A note was taped to them. I picked it up.
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I’m so sorry. My dad and I are downstairs. Come down whenever you're ready. This should fit. H&C4Life, right?
-Harley
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I got dressed. Harley was right. The clothes fit perfectly. Black leggings, a blue and white striped t-shirt, and a gray hoodie. I tied the hoodie around my waist and headed downstairs. I found Harley and her dad sitting in the kitchen. A plate was filled with food, set down in front of a third chair. “Is this for me?” I asked, my voice cracking. Mr. Rosewood nodded. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do anything for me. I’ll be getting out of your hair as soon as I can,” I said. “Nonsense. You will stay with us for as long as you need. You have been Harley’s friend for so long. You are like a daughter to me,” Mr. Rosewood told me. I smiled. “Again, thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.” I started eating, and oh, my, gosh, I have never had food that tasted so good. Well, except for my mom’s soda bread with butter. That was really good.
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As soon as I was finished eating, Harley stood up. “Come upstairs with me,” She said. I got up as well and followed her up the creaky wooden stairs. When we got to Harley’s room, she gestured for me to come in. Once the door had closed behind her, she sat down on her bed. “So, I don’t know if this is too soon, but I was wondering if you wanted to apply to take over the bakery on Boulevard. The previous owners went missing, so the Elite are looking for two, experienced people to run it. Do you want to do that with me?” I thought for a moment. I would get to work in a bakery again. That would be amazing. The previous owners, though, wasn’t that Quinn and her brother, Ben? What had happened to them? I know that they became demons in the woods, so I guess they were always demons but could control when they were human. I wondered where they had gone. “Sure. Let’s do it,” I said. Harley squealed and gave me a big hug. “This is going to be great. I’ll send in an application today. This will mean not being an interior designer. Are you cool with that?” I looked at Harley. “Do I seem like I’m cool with that? We get to run and work in a bakery again.” Harley tapped away at her touchpad for a few seconds, then triumphantly said, “Done!” I smiled. “I’m going to go back to the treehouse. To get some of my stuff. Will you come with me?” I asked Harley. “Of course, Cierra. Let’s go.”
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We rode Harley’s board with the tandem attachment to the treehouse because my board was still there. I took a deep breath, then climbed up the ladder. I quickly went into my room and took a duffel bag out of the closet. Harley appeared next to me. “Take your time, okay?” I nodded and looked around the room. I walked over to my closet. I pulled some shirts and jackets off the hangers. Then I opened some of my drawers in the dresser. I took out a few pairs of pants. I grabbed my touchpad, some books, and my headphones off my bed. I took the deck of cards out from under my pillow. Then, I went into Damien’s room. I reached into his nightstand and pulled out his sketchbook. I gazed at it sadly, then stuck it in my bag. I left Damien’s room and walked back into the main room with Harley. “I can’t believe he’s gone. It doesn't feel real.” Harley pulled me into her. Her shirt smelled like lavender, fresh bread, and flowers. “I know. It’s okay. I’m here, and I always will be,” Harley whispered in my ear. We stayed like that for a few minutes.
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“Let’s head back to my house. We can get you all settled in,” Harley said. I sniffed and nodded. I climbed back down the ladder and got on my board. Harley and I left the treehouse, for what might be the last time. When we got to her house, she helped me unpack. I set Damien’s sketchbook on the dresser. Harley gasped. “What is it?” I asked, curious. “It’s already in the news. I have no idea how they could have found out so fast,” Harley said to no one in particular. “What?” I walked over to her. I looked down at her touchpad and the blaring headline:
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Reaper sighting! One left dead!
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A shiver went down my spine. The Elite do know everything about everything all the time. I had to give the journalist credit. They got their work done fast. It had barely been 8 hours since, well, everything.
***
That evening, after dinner, Harley and I were sitting on her bed, watching a movie called The Never-ending Search. It was really good. The main character had just tracked down their lost love after they were separated by war. Harley paused the movie and got up to refill our popcorn bucket. Harley always knew exactly what to do to make me feel better. After she sat back down and was reaching for the play button, I grabbed her hand. She looked at me, and I looked at her. The rest of the world seemed to fall away. I leaned in ever so slightly. It’s now or never, I told myself. Just do it. I closed the gap between us and kissed her. To my surprise, she kissed me back. Harley’s lips were soft and tasted like her fruit punch lip balm. After a moment, we broke apart. “What now?” Harley asked me. I guided her hand to the play button on the remote.
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***
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A few weeks after the great kiss, Harley and I were girlfriends, and we got approval to run the bakery on Boulevard. We moved into Quinn and Ben’s old rooms, and I told Harley about how I knew Quinn and Ben. She thought it was cool. On the reopening day of the bakery, Harley and I worked our butts off to make the best desserts and pastries possible, and lots of them. An hour after opening, the line was outside and to the end of the block. It was amazing. When Harley went back into the kitchen for more mint brownies, I took over serving customers. A young boy walked in, probably 12 years old. He reminded me of a young Damien. “Hello there. Welcome to the H&C bakery. What can I get for you?” I asked him. “Can I please have a chocolate chip cookie and 2 pieces of fruit cake?” I smiled. The only person I knew who liked fruit cake was Damien. “Sure. How’re you doing today?” I said, trying to make small talk while I got the kids snacks. “I’m pretty good. I’m Jackson. What’s your name? I’ve been all over this town, looking for my brother. Do you know him? His name is Damien.”
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END OF REAPER
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