Page 43 of Finders Reapers

The Prius revved. The ignition instead of the brake. The car lurched forward, right into the path of the man’s open trunk.

Crunch.

I felt sick.

I didn’t know what I expected. People rushing. Ambulances. A hero surging forward to begin CPR—who just happened to be a doctor at the local hospital. None of that happened. Someone got out their phone and started filming as bystanders realized that the Prius had punched into the trunk, pinning the man between the two cars.

There wasn’t even that much blood, but I felt the rush of air as death raced through me like the feeling of falling. A lone soul stood in the parking lot, aimlessly looking around. Confused. Blank eyed. Translucent.

Before either of us could approach the soul, the world seemed to grow quieter. More sinister. I recognized what Rome had discussed earlier, about the universe choosing when we needed to be seen. I was sure that we were no longer on the plane of the living but somewhere in between.

“This didn’t happen at Asylum,” I whispered, taking a sip of my Frappuccino. The loud sucking sound of my straw broke through the eerie silence.

Rome glared at me.

The real-life people seemed to fade away, becoming shadows. The soul became brighter and more solid.

Rome was on edge, reaching into the pocket of his leather jacket for something.

A dark figure weaved through the parking lot, and my eyes skimmed to the side when I tried to take in the stranger’s features. More solid, vital, and menacing than any of the humans that had been rushing the parking lot only moments before. A shadow moving towards us with intent.

Rome pulled a flick knife from the confines of his jacket as the shadow man picked up the pace and began to stride towards us faster.

Rome flicked the knife, and the weapon extended. A weapon that was once the size of my palm extended and hooked in a single moment to form a blade that was taller than I was.

A scythe.

“Run.” Rome glanced over his shoulder.

“What?” I replied dumbly. The terrifying nature of the situation hadn’t yet caught up to me.

“Run!” He repeated, causing my body to jolt.

The shadow gained speed, racing towards the soul like the terminator. Rome lifted his scythe and began to run. I staggered back, meeting resistance, as I stepped on someone’s shoes. I turned around and found another shadow with a face that made my eyes unfocused. I squealed and threw my Frappuccino at the shadow creature's face.

I began to curse, my attention snatched by the bouncing plastic cup on the asphalt as the specter threw their hands over their featureless face and began to wail and shriek.

“My drink!” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “That was my first Starbucks fordays.”

Rome leaped up, bringing the scythe down in a sweeping motion, as he sliced the shadow man clean in two. Instead of blood and guts, the man became dark smoke that dropped to the ground and dissolved.

The other figure, still screaming, took themselves away from me and continued writhing and squirming as if I had thrown acid on them, instead of a salted caramel frappuccino, with extra whipped cream.

Rome notched the scythe over his shoulder and strolled towards us both as I watched the shadow with confusion and exasperation—because, come on. It was acoldcoffee.

“Why is it doing that?” I asked as I jammed a thumb over my shoulder.

Rome released his scythe with a sigh and ran it through the shadow, who, if anything, looked relieved when they dissolved into smoke. “We call them Drudes. They used to be demons, but I don’t know what they are now. They don’t like being touched by objects from our plane of existence.”

I was still trying to wrap my head around how casually Rome mentioned demons existing.

The world still had a grey hue, and the living people in the parking lot that had been so vibrant and vivid were almost as translucent as the dead man’s soul was.

“Are they like souls?” I wondered.

Rome shrugged, and with the flick of his wrist, the expansive weapon clicked into a small knife that he slipped inside his pocket. “Drudes don’t have their own bodies, but sometimes they mimic humans. They can’t get it quite right. Did you notice their faces?”

“It was like looking at television static,” I shuddered.