"Okay, I'll find her." Why is he now forthcoming with her whereabouts? If he thinks seeing her will change my mind, he has another thing coming to him.
"I'm sure you will. Make yourself at home and stay as long as you like." The black shadows spin out and swirl around him. "I'm sure I'll see you soon." Then he disappears from sight.
What is he up to? I don't know and, even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to figure it out. Not wanting to be here any longer than I need to, I close my eyes and lock onto Becca. She is outside of her family’s house.
I close my eyes and propel myself to her just as Luke taught me. The air churns around me and soon I'm falling on my way. I'm surprised the whole transporting is already so much easier to do now that I have a few under my belt.
Within seconds, the world reappears before my eyes and I find Becca hiding behind some trees outside her family home. The lights are on inside and her brother is sitting down at the dinner table with their mom and dad. It's strange because it reminds me of the time I was assigned to reap her. I was standing just where she is watching her have dinner with her family. Why isn't she in there with them? The last thing I want to do is scare her, so I scuff my feet.
Her head flies toward me and her mouth gapes open. "Christina, what are you doing here?" Her hair is stringy and there are dark circles under her eyes. She grasps at her chest, which emphasizes how skinny she has gotten since the last time I've seen her.
"Damien said you were visiting with your family, so I thought I would just come by and say hey." I don't know what else to say. She looks like a scared cat. "Since you don't answer my calls anymore, I figured this was the only way."
"Come on, let's get out of here." She glances back at the house for a moment, then marches several feet away so we are out of sight. "What's so important that you're hunting me down now?"
Shit, she's gotten blunt now. "Are you okay?" I already know the answer to this, but I need to hear her say it. She looks like shit and I already saw what her soul looks like. Is she that far gone she doesn't even know it? She has to. She was just stalking her family.
"What do you think?" She runs a hand through her hair and stomps one of her feet. "Does it look like I'm doing well?"
This is a trick question. She's setting me up for failure here. "It has nothing to do with how you look, Becca." I'm not taking the bait, and I don't feel like dancing around the topic. There is too much to do. "The day when the artifacts absorbed into me, I saw your soul. I know what's going on with you."
"Is it really that bad?" Her hazel eyes look down at the ground, her voice is just above a whisper.
"Yeah, it was pretty bad and from the looks of it, it's just gotten worse." I hate to be a jerk, but she needs to know. I don't know if it's Damien or being brought back past her time, but something is wrong. I reach out and touch her.
"Something is wrong with me." She lets out a sigh and meets my gaze. "I've known for a while.
My power begins to churn inside of me, but now isn't the time to focus on that. I need to pay attention to her while she's opening up. "How long? When did things begin feeling off?"
"It was when we were realm jumping and went after the Earth Crystal. Something didn't seem right." She paces around me and rubs a hand down her face. "Something felt like it was clawing inside me, desperate to get out. I don't know what, but now it's bursting."
What could cause something like that? I don't even know. This is all my freaking fault. If I hadn't brought her back to life, then she wouldn't be going through this. She'd be in her afterlife, not having to face demons and reapers. She'd be where she is supposed to be.
"I don't even feel a part of my family anymore." A tear slides down her cheek and she wipes it away. "They keep inviting me to things, but I don't feel as if I fit in anymore."
Ugh. This just confirms I messed up. How could I have been so selfish to put her in this situation? Yes, she looked like Beth and I was still torn up over that, but to make that big of a mistake is inconceivable at this point. "They are your parents. How could you not?"
"They make my skin crawl." She shakes her head and clenches her hands. "Every time they touch me something feels wrong and out of sorts. It's crazy."
Her face is drawn and there is a void in her eyes, which contrasts with the memory of Beth. Beth's smile could light up a room and she had so much passion I could never see her give up like Becca. Even though they almost look the exact same, now I can see they aren't very similar after all. "How long has that been going on?" Maybe that's a recent development.
"Since day one." She sighs and steps closer to me. "At first I could ignore it relatively easily, but now I can't stand it."
My power begins thrumming to the point where it's becoming overbearing. It's coursing through me in circles and swirling within the black, reaper power overwhelming me. Dammit, now is not the time for this to act up. I have to focus on her. This may be my last chance she's willing to open up to me. "I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do."
"But there is."
