Reaper's Hollow: The Complete Series E-Book

Johnson ID

• Herausgeber: ID Johnson
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

This box set includes all three books in the Reaper’s Hollow series!

Ruin’s Lot—Book 1

Someone is killing unmarked souls, and Ru Roberts is the only one that can stop them. That's a bit of a problem, though, since she has no idea she's a Keeper.

Adopted as a small child, Ru knows next to nothing about her birth parents. Her new mom insists she was given up because she "ruins everything." Hence, her name-Ruin. Yet, Ru has managed to make a life for herself in the small town of Reaper's Hollow, working as a fourth grade teacher, which she loves. If it wasn't for her inability to touch anything electrical without starting a fire, she'd be the happiest girl in Upstate New York.

That is, until the charming and devastatingly handsome Cutter Michaels moves into the classroom across the hallway and starts filling her head with all sorts of unbelievable fantasies. He claims she is the lost Keeper, the daughter of a half-angel and a half-demon, and she is the only one who can help him locate three portals the Reapers, as in Grim Reaper, are using to ferry souls away to the Underworld. Ru knows he's lost his mind, and yet she finds herself being sucked into his delusions more and more each day. The fact that he can shoot blue fire out of his hands might have something to do with that.

Once she begins having strange dreams where she comes face to face with Thanatos, the most powerful Reaper of all, Ru begins to think there might be more to Cutter's story than she's been giving him credit for. Will joining Cutter lead her to find her biological parents and discover the powers coursing through her veins, or will Thanatos claim her for his own?

Ruin’s Promise—Book 2

To prove herself to the other Keepers, Ru must close three portals to Hell….

Ruin Roberts is just coming to grips with the idea that she is actually a Keeper, a half-angel charged with keeping Grim Reapers from claiming unmarked souls, when she is tasked with closing the remaining portals to Hell. She’s made a promise to her friend Cutter that she’ll complete her mission, no matter the cost.

Luckily, she has a team of experienced Keepers to help her. If she can find her missing mother, who may hold the map to the portals, in time, Ru may be able to complete her task before Thanatos hunts her down.

Will Ru find her mom and the portals before Thanatos finds her, or will Ru lose everything to the half-demons stalking the citizens of Reaper’s Hollow?

Ruin’s Legacy—Book 3

The time has come, and Ru must fulfill her destiny.

Now that Ru Roberts has come to accept that she’s a Keeper, a half-angel charged with sending Grim Reapers back to Hell, she’s been charged with a difficult task: close the remaining three portals to Hell, trapping the Reapers on Earth where they can be destroyed.
But first, she has to find the portals. And then—she’ll have to actually close them, a task that takes incredible power, and she has no idea if she’s up to the challenge.
Not only is Ruin uncertain how to locate the portals, she also knows she must defeat Thanatos, the most powerful Reaper of all. When he tells her he also has a mission—and that involves killing her—Ru’s task becomes even more complicated. She knows the son of Azrael, the demon who commands all the Reapers, will stop at nothing when it comes to hunting her down and putting an end to Ru’s undertaking—and her life.
Will Ru locate the portals and close them before Thanatos finds her?

Leseprobe

Reaper’s Hollow

The Complete Three Book Series

ID Johnson

For my dear friend Alexa who was taken too soon. We miss you every day, sweet friend!

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Contents

Ruin’s Lot

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Ruin’s Promise

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Ruin’s Legacy

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Epilogue

A Note from the Author

Also by ID Johnson

Ruin’s Lot

Reaper’s Hollow Book 1

Chapter 1

Silence is golden, until it isn’t. The forest was dark, and even though Jim stood just on the edge of it, the fact that not a single, solitary animal seemed to be stirring was even more frightening than the other sound, the one he’d heard a few moments ago that had led him out of his nice warm bed to come and investigate.

Wearing his old flannel robe over his pajama pants and T-shirt, he’d managed to stick his feet into his slippers as he climbed from bed even though he felt as if he was still half asleep. His wife was sound asleep, although he didn’t know how the terrible shriek hadn’t woken her. He’d been in the middle of a dream, a good one, involving Tawny Kitaen—the Whitesnake version, not the reality star mess she’d become—when a noise like none he’d ever heard before had him shooting straight up, knocking the blankets off, and nearly dumping the glass of water he’d left precariously poised on the edge of his nightstand.

He’d turned to Barbara to see if she’d heard it, too, but she was snoring. If the kids upstairs had noticed the noise, he’d hear footsteps soon, and after a moment, he didn’t. Just as he’d begun to think it had somehow been part of his dream, he’d heard it again. It sounded like a scream, the blood-curdling kind you might hear in an Elm Street movie, and if Jim had any sense of direction, it seemed to be coming from the woods right behind their house.

Without thinking too long about what he was doing, Jim accepted the compulsion to go and investigate, something he wouldn’t normally do on his own in the middle of the night, but the sound seemed urgent, beckoning, and despite the fact that the early September air was chilly this time of night in Upstate New York, he’d gone, like a sailor following a song to shore.

The woods were dense, the trees old and tangled, their branches often looking more like the crooked, spindly fingers of witches than the sort of twigs one might imagine on a crisp fall morning. Their leaves never seemed to change to any of the brilliant autumn colors New England was noted for, rather changing from a muddy green to brittle brown. His five acres bumped up against this section of forest which eventually turned into Rockefeller State Park, a beautiful tract of land that ran all the way down by Tarrytown, a few miles away. But here, the trees had morphed into something less inviting than the common area that was always full of bikers, joggers, and children playing in the leaves.

Here, the trees looked so menacing, his teenage children refused to mow the grass right up to the tree line, even on the riding mower, because they said they “felt weird” or like the trees were “staring at them.” He’d chalked it up to nosey neighbors, even though the next house was nearly a quarter of a mile away, and told them to get on with it. But as he’d made this midnight trek to investigate the scream, he’d noticed the grass was significantly higher out here, until he reached the outskirts of the woods where the tree branches stretched their gangly digits out over his property line, where the ground quickly turned from greenish brown grass fighting the last of the sun’s summer rays and into the dirt and debris of the forest floor.

Despite the knowledge that the forest trees were covered in vines with thorns more than an inch long in places, Jim carried on, only allowing himself to wonder what exactly he was doing in the far reaches of his mind. He did hesitate before crossing over, taking that first step from the alleged safety of his own property into the thick black of the forest.

The silence was eerie. He should be hearing something, shouldn’t he? Night animals scurrying about? Birds settling in the trees? Insects approaching to see if he might make a juicy nighttime snack? Even the flicker of bats’ wings would’ve been more comforting than the sound of nothing, but Jim began to make his way slowly through the trees, peering off in the distance, trying to make out anything that might reveal where the noise had come from.

A thin fog began to form as he continued to wind his way through the craggily trees. He couldn’t see the ground in front of him through the darkness, and now that the wispy fog also collected around him, he had to feel his way through. Branches reached out and scratched at him, catching on his clothes, and at one point, he realized his face was bleeding. He reached up to wipe a trickle of blood on the sleeve of his robe.

A sharp pain dug into his right foot, and he pulled it up off of the ground, hopping on his left until he stumbled into a tree. Leaning against its trunk, he grasped his foot with both hands. Though he could hardly see in the dim light, he realized he’d stepped on one of the thorns he’d warned his children about dozens of times. He reached down and grabbed ahold of its thicker end and pulled. As he twisted and wrenched it from his injured foot, he let out a groan of agony. It had to have been embedded into his foot at least an inch, impaling his thin slipper to the sole of his foot. Once he had it out, he noticed a gush of blood oozing through the hole, coating his fingers so that they were sticky. He tossed the thorn away and looked back the direction he had come from. Well off in the distance, he could see the outline of his house. The intelligent thing to do would be to head home, bandage up his foot, and go back to sleep. He’d have to get ready for work in a few hours. Instead, he turned back toward the interior of the forest, and as if beckoned by an unknown force, he continued on his journey.

It had been at least ten, maybe fifteen minutes since he’d heard the second scream, the one that had compelled him to start this chase. And even though there was nothing else present that should’ve made him continue on this futile journey, his feet continued to take him deeper into the forest, despite the searing pain in his right foot and the uncomfortable squishing feeling of his own blood slogging around in his slipper. Barbara was going to be furious when she realized he’d ruined another pair.

Deep in the woods now, and not even sure which direction he’d come from, Jim cast another longing glance behind him. No longer able to see past the tangle of limbs that weaved together, hemming him in, he turned back in the direction he’d been headed, and took a few steps forward through the fog.

An outline caught his attention off in the distance, maybe twenty feet in front of him. It appeared to be a silhouette of some sort, posed between two trees. The trunks curved in opposite directions, creating a frame, and now the moon, which had been slow to make an appearance, began to illuminate the shape of a person standing in the shadows between the twisted trunks.

Jim hesitated, coming to a complete stop and peering at the form. It was unmoving, and Jim imagined, had he been standing next to it, he would’ve been dwarfed by its height. Something about it made him curious, so he slowly began to come closer, watching carefully for any sign of life.

The figure still did not move, though the closer he came, the more aware Jim became of what he was looking at. It appeared to be a man, a tall one, with some sort of stick in his hand. He wore a long black cloak, which pooled at his feet, creating a carpet of ink along the forest floor. His hood was up, covering his face completely, leaving only a hollow space where it should’ve been that somehow seemed even darker than the black cloak surrounding it.

Jim should’ve been terrified, but he was still compelled to walk forward. He needed to discover who this person was; was this the same entity that had screamed into the still night, or was he the cause of someone else’s distress?

The moon shifted, and through the thick clouds, a new beam forced its way through, colliding with the metal on the top of the staff the figure held in his right hand. A glint of light illuminated the object as moonbeam contacted metal, and Jim realized it was a scythe. The ebony figure standing in between scraggly trees in the middle of the night was holding a deadly blade.

Jim continued to approach.

As he reached a distance of less than two paces, he peered into the blackness where the face should’ve been. He could still see nothing, even at this close range. “Who are you?” Jim whispered into the darkness.

The voice that replied was not frightening as Jim had imagined it would be. It was pleasant and soft; it wrapped itself around his mind and soaked into his consciousness, perhaps without ever even having entered his ears. “You know who I am.”

“Show me.” Jim’s voice was calmer than he expected it to be since the realization of who he was looking at was beginning to set in. His feet stood firmly in place.

At first, Jim thought perhaps the figure would not comply, but after a moment, the slightest bit of motion implied he’d reached up to brush back his hood. The moon shifted again, and Jim stared in shock at a face like none he’d ever seen before. With no time to react, no time to suddenly become frightened, Jim stared into emerald green eyes, and when the blow came, he didn’t feel a thing.

Chapter 2

Ru Robertson ran around her quaint rental house, attempting to get to work on time without actually starting a fire, a feat that was somehow more complicated than most would’ve expected. Today was the day teachers reported back for duty, and with a new school year looming in just a couple of weeks, Ru was both excited and anxious. Both of those emotions tended to stir up a hornets’ nest within her, and if she wasn’t careful, she was going to wreck another straightening iron or toaster.

She had one earring in and was struggling with the other as she approached the kitchen, thinking perhaps it would be more economical to skip the toast and just grab a breakfast shake, although there was a chance she could take out the refrigerator, something she’d only done once before, but she didn’t know how much she was willing to risk. It was usually small appliances that died at her hands, not the more industrial sized ones, although her mom insisted she was the cause of at least one hot water heater expiring, flooding the first floor of their home when she was seven. It had taken her months of chores in retribution. The refrigerator she’d destroyed had also been her mother’s. Ru didn’t like to think about that. Now, pausing before her own fridge, Ru wasn’t sure she should take the chance.

“Meow,” her cat, Piper, called, perhaps in encouragement, or maybe she was just hoping for some milk to wash down her Meow Mix. The cat rubbed up against Ru’s legs, her orange and white fur tickling her bare skin.

Giggling, Ru bent and stroked her soft head and ran her hand down her back, thankful her curse only seemed to affect inanimate objects. “Good morning, little kitty.” Piper began to purr. “Are you having a good day?” The cat turned and licked Ru’s hand, and while she’d much prefer to stay there in the kitchen and love on her cat all day, like she had much of the last two months, summer was over, and it was time to get back to work.

Grabbing a pot holder out of a nearby drawer, Ru pulled open the refrigerator door and was relieved that no sparks flew. She grabbed a premade breakfast shake and her lunchbox, which she’d packed the night before. With one more look around, she discarded the pot holder and picked up her keys. Luckily, her Enclave had remote start, which had turned out to be a great alternative to actually trying to start a car manually. Even though she was still required to turn the key in the ignition slightly and shift, she’d had much fewer problems ruining her starters since she’d gone to this more hands-off approach.

“I’ll see you this afternoon,” she promised Piper, and then, slipping on her ballet flats, which she’d left strategically by the door, she grabbed her purse and her teaching bag and headed for the car. She knew one day soon, she’d likely have four or five other various bags slung over her shoulder and was grateful that this time of year was still free of papers to grade and parent emails to answer.

She made sure the front door was locked and walked the few steps to the driveway where her car was already humming. The small two-bedroom house wasn’t much, but on a relatively new teacher’s salary, she was glad she could afford a place of her own at all. Ru slid into the driver’s seat and cautiously turned the key just enough for the car to recognize she was there. Nothing unusual happened, and she let out a loud sigh before shifting into reverse and backing down her short driveway.

The drive to Thomas Elementary was only about ten minutes long and usually through light traffic. Today, the teachers didn’t have to report until 8:00, though on a typical school day with children, they would have to be there by 7:00, which meant almost no traffic at all since the students wouldn’t arrive until 7:30 and many residents dropped their children off on their way to work. Reaper’s Hollow was a small town, and most of the people who lived there worked somewhere else, some of them even commuting the nearly forty miles to New York City every day.

Ru tried to keep calm as she navigated toward the school. The new school year was always exciting. She was anxious to catch up with her teammates, only one of whom she considered a true friend and kept up with during the summer. Candice Stein had been teaching for a couple of years longer than Ru, and when she’d first taken the job teaching fourth grade four years ago, Candice had been her mentor. The principal, Sherry Long, was just about the most supportive person Ru could ever dream of working for, and she’d paired Candice and Ru that first year predicting, “a match made in heaven.” She’d been right, and the two had happily worked together ever since. Now that Ru was beginning her fourth year, she felt much more capable of contributing to the team and had collected lots of ideas to share at their team meeting that day. She hoped to make it in a little early so she could run some copies for her teammates.

There were only four fourth grade teachers since Thomas Elementary was fairly small. They would be getting a new teammate this year, Mrs. Long had advised them, as one of the teachers from the previous year had decided to stay home with her baby. Ru still hadn’t heard who the new person was, which made her a little anxious. She hoped that they could be friends. The balance of power on the team fluctuated haphazardly between Ru and Candice and their nemesis, Ms. Jane Owen, three-time teacher of the year. If the fourth person took to Ms. Owen readily, it could end up being a bad year for Ru and Candice.

Ru was never sure exactly what it was that made Jane dislike her, but it had been evident from the very beginning that she was on the veteran teacher’s list. Perhaps it had been the incident in the cafeteria that first week when Ms. Owen had sat a student by himself until the lunch line died down so he could be last. Unknowingly, Ru allowed him to join the end of the line before the other teacher was ready. That was the first time Ru had felt the wrath of Ms. Owen, and from that point on, she tried to avoid it. Being labelled “incompetent” and “novice” from the beginning had done very little for her self-esteem. Over the years, she’d grown a bit more accustomed to Jane’s tongue lashings when they occurred, but that didn’t make them any more pleasant. One might think having grown up in a similar environment might make it easier, and perhaps it had to an extent, but Ru had always been overly sensitive, despite her mother’s solid attempts to ridicule it out of her.

Pulling into the parking lot, Ru saw only a handful of other cars and hoped that meant she’d be able to access one of the two copy machines before there was a line. Mrs. Long had asked them all to be there by 8:00, but the first staff meeting of the year wouldn’t start until 10:00, which would give them a couple of hours to start getting their classrooms situated.

Ru found her usual parking spot next to a side entrance and grabbed her belongings, careful when she shut the car off and pulled the key out not to do any damage. Her electronic key card had also given her fits for the last three years, and she’d had to have it replaced so many times that she’d been the only teacher issued an actual key as back up, just in case. She prayed her badge would actually scan today so she didn’t have to go have the secretary, Mrs. Fitz, log her in. That was always an uncomfortable situation, almost as bad as forgetting to take one’s attendance.

She approached the side door, the one closest to her classroom, and scanned her badge. A few seconds later, she heard a little click and whispered, “Thank goodness,” as she pulled the heavy, blue, metal door open. The hallway was dark, but she didn’t dare approach any of the light switches for fear she’d blow a bulb. Hopefully, her classroom lights were still on and the motion sensor would work when she walked in.

Room 393 was just a couple of doors down. Once again, Ru prayed her badge would work. She ran the plastic in front of the scanner several times before the red light finally turned green and her classroom door unlatched. She pushed it open and stumbled inside. The lights did not come on, and with a sigh of frustration, Ru crossed to her desk and let all of her bags fall on top before she went back to confront the light switch. She flipped it on quickly, and even though there was a slight pop and the scent of ozone, the lights flickered on. “Another obstacle down,” Ru said. Before she forgot, she grabbed a piece of Scotch tape off of her desk and taped the light switch up. She’d have to teach her kids to leave the lights on when they left the classroom, the exact opposite of the rule most teachers enforced.

She also propped her door open. Anyone could open it from the inside, so there was no reason to be cautious as she grabbed the silver handle and pulled it open. She had a few stops to make today, and she may as well just leave it open. She actually propped her door for full weeks at a time these days, and Mrs. Long didn’t say a word because she knew how exasperating it could be to get maintenance over to unlock the door when the black box was shorted out.

Grabbing her lunchbox and the stack of papers she wanted to copy, Ru headed down the hall toward the teachers’ lounge. None of the other classroom lights in her hall were on, which likely meant none of her teammates were there yet. She was a little surprised Jane hadn’t shown up early, but then some teachers might think that no one would notice if they were a little late since the meeting didn’t start until 10:00. Candice was probably on that list; she was often late anyway.

Ru made her way into the lounge and cautiously approached the refrigerator. Thoughts of the time last year when she’d accidentally blown a fuse that made the lounge go dark and appliances temporarily stop working came to mind, and she looked around for something to use to open the door. Seeing nothing, she decided the hem of her flowing, blue shirt would have to do, and she gathered it into her hand and used it to open the door, shoving her lunchbox into an open space before quickly releasing the door and using her foot to secure it closed again.

Heading toward the copy room closest to her classroom, Ru looked down the hallway and noticed the light was on in the room across from hers. That would probably be the new teacher’s room since their ex-teammate, Melinda Blank, had vacated it over the summer. Absently hoping that the new teacher was nice, Ru entered the copy room.

The machine wasn’t on, which was a huge problem. Even though she could see it was plugged in, the last three times she’d attempted to actually power it up, the machine had shorted out on her. She could head across the building to the copier in the other wing, but she knew the primary teachers hated it when the intermediate teachers used “their” machine. She stood contemplating what to do for a few seconds and then decided to go for it. After all, she’d been having a good day so far, and it had been months since she’d actually ruined an electrical device of any sort—except for her last phone. It had died a few weeks ago when she’d thought it might be a good idea to take the protective case off and clean it for some reason. She’d learned her lesson and had the guy at the AT&T store put an Otterbox on her new one before it even left the counter.

With a deep breath, Ru reached around and quickly flipped the power button on the copier. She sighed in relief when the machine came to life. “Yes!” she said, quietly, thinking perhaps it was going to be a great year.

Once it was warmed up, she set her stack of papers in the automatic feed tray and set it to make three copies of each of the twenty or so documents. There were four of them on the team, so that would make one copy for each of the other teachers. She knew Jane would probably throw her set in the trash as soon as Ru gave them to her, but that didn’t prevent her from trying.

She keyed in her code and pushed the start button, and the papers started whizzing through the tray. Thinking her luck was about to change, Ru couldn’t help but smile. She began to daydream about what her new students might be like. She was certain they would be the most brilliant fourth graders to ever grace the halls of Thomas Elementary.

Not paying attention to what she was doing, Ru set her hands down on the copier. There was a zapping sound, as if the outlet had let a surge of electricity through, and the machine began to smoke, bringing the methodic thut of the papers passing through to a halt.

“Oh, no!” Ru said aloud. She still had about three pages to pass through, but more importantly, the other teachers would need this machine. It was the week before school started. Frantically, she flipped the power switch on and off, but not a light on the panel illuminated, and the smell of electrical smoke hung heavy in the air.

“What am I going to do?” Ru asked, gathering the papers that were finished up out of the tray and taking her originals that had copied off of the top of the machine. She considered unplugging it and plugging it back in, but since this had happened before, she knew it wouldn’t work. They would have to call someone from the copier company to come out and likely replace many of the electrical components.

“Machine not working?”

Ru hadn’t even heard the door open. She spun around and froze. She was looking into the brightest pair of electric blue eyes she’d ever seen. Swallowing hard, she struggled to compose herself. “Uh… I think… I broke it.”

The man before her let out a soft, melodic chuckle. “I bet I can fix it,” he said.

Despite her shock at being in the presence of an extremely attractive stranger, Ru managed to say, “I doubt it.”

“Let me take a look.”

She stepped back out of the way as he approached the copier. Trying not to stare, Ru couldn’t help but notice he had the physique of an athlete, perhaps a runner. His blond hair was darker than hers, and he had to be close to six-four, at least. As he examined the machine, he set his jaw, and Ru had to look down at her shoes. He had the face of a Greek god.

“Let’s try this,” he said, the sound of his voice somehow seeming to calm her anxious stomach, even though she was certain that whatever “this” was, it wasn’t going to work.

He flipped the power switch off and then back on again. Ru was already shaking her head, thinking she’d need to tell this new guy that she knew that wasn’t going to work, but before she could get the words out, she realized the copier was working again. “Oh, my goodness! How did you do that?” she asked, stepping toward the machine, but being careful not to touch it.

“I have my ways,” he said, his charming smile causing her anxiety to morph into butterflies. “Do you have more copies to make?”

“Oh, yeah. Would you mind? I don’t want to touch it again.”

“No problem,” he said, taking the three sheets from her. “How many do you need?”

“Just three of each. They’re for my team.”

He nodded and punched in the correct number before putting the papers through the feeder. “What team are you on?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even introduce myself.”

“That’s okay,” he replied, grabbing her papers out of the tray and taking the originals. “I didn’t either. I’m Cutter. Cutter Michaels.”

He extended his hand, and even though she was afraid she might ignite him with some sort of an electrical charge, Ru placed her hand in his. There was definitely some sort of transfer of energy the second her palm touched his, but it felt more like a warm vibration than an electrical shock. She wondered if he could feel it, too. Perhaps it was just her imagination; he was likely the most attractive man she’d ever seen, after all. Maybe this was the sensation all those romance writers were trying to capture when they spoke of tingles shooting up their heroines’ arms.

“I’m Ru Roberts,” she said. “Nice to meet you. I teach fourth grade.”

“Roo?” he had started his question midway through her introduction, and she wasn’t even sure if he’d heard the rest of her statement. He had a bit of a puzzled look on his face, but that was common when she was introducing herself.

“Yes,” she replied, withdrawing her hand and trying not to make a face. If she did so, he might ask follow-up questions. If she was able to convince him that Ru was a typical, perfectly acceptable name, perhaps he wouldn’t inquire further. “What do you teach?”

Before he could answer, the door opened. “Oh, good, the copier’s already on.” Jane rushed in with a stack of papers. “We are going to need these for our meeting.” She set the pile down on a nearby table. “Hi, Cutter. Did you get all moved in?”

“Just about,” he replied. “The copier is free.” He handed Ru the copies he’d run for her.

“Didn’t you have copies to make?” Ru asked, wondering why he’d even come in, though she realized he didn’t have any papers with him the moment the question was out of her mouth.

“No, I was actually just looking around.”

“Oh….” Ru thought that was a little strange, but then, if he was new, he might’ve just wanted to see the copy room and other common places.

“How was your summer Ms. Roberts?” Jane had a fake smile plastered to her face, and Ru realized she was just trying to play nice in front of Mr. Michaels.

“Wonderful, thank you. How was yours? Did you have a nice time on your cruise?” Two could play at this game.

“It was delightful.” Jane shook her head and began to run the first stack through the copier.

“Say, Ms. Roberts, I hope you’re planning on bringing this flow chart example to the meeting. It looks great. I used a similar one when I taught fifth grade last year.” Cutter was gesturing at the paper on the top of the small stack Ru was still holding.

She’d come to the realization that Cutter was the new team member a few seconds ago when Jane called him by name. How she felt about that still wasn’t clear. “I am,” she said. “I felt like the rest of the team might want to use it, too.”

“You know you don’t have to bring anything,” Jane reminded her. “I have plenty of fresh ideas for my whole team.”

Jane loved to remind everyone that she was the team leader, despite the fact that Mrs. Long was the first to point out that every teacher in the building was a leader. Before Ru could say anything in response, Cutter said, “Oh, I had some ideas I wanted to run by the team, too. I know I’ve never taught fourth grade before, but I think some of the tools I’ve collected over the years might be useful. We don’t collaborate?”

“No, of course we collaborate,” Jane said, turning around to face him and taking a step closer than necessary. “It’s just… some of our team members have a tendency to bring ideas that aren’t really feasible.” She looked at Ru as if she were an insect.

“Well, this one is awesome. In fact, so are the other two I was looking at before you walked in. I can’t wait to hear about them.”

Ru could feel the gratefulness radiating from her eyes, and she hoped Cutter could pick up on it, too. Perhaps he hadn’t chosen a side, per se, but for now, she would take this as a sign of victory. “Thank you,” she said.

He turned so his back was to Jane and winked at her. “You bet.”

Her legs suddenly felt like jelly, and even though she knew she was acting ridiculous, Ru had to pull her eyes away. She grabbed the rest of her papers off of the table and headed for the door. Cutter got there first and held it open for her. “Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him. “See you in a bit, Jane.” She turned and smiled at the team leader who only glared in her direction until she realized Cutter was looking at her, and then her face morphed into a freakish forced smile.

Ru walked down the hall toward her classroom, Cutter at her side. She knew he had to walk that way, too, but she still felt a little awkward. “So… she’s something.”

She glanced up at him. Even though she was fairly tall for a woman at five-foot-ten, she still couldn’t get over how much she had to tip her head to look him in the eye, which she realized she should still probably avoid. “That’s Jane.” A wise woman at church had one told her, “If you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” and that was one lessen Ru had taken to heart. She really hated talking badly about others, even when Jane deserved it.

“Well, I’m hopeful she will let you share your ideas.” They were almost to their classrooms, and he seemed to slow a bit. He had his hands pushed down into the pockets of his khakis.

Ru slowed as well. “If she does, it’ll be thanks to you,” she replied, finally stopping outside of her classroom door.

“Nah, I didn’t do anything.”

He had a glimmer in his blue eyes, and Ru felt a smile spread across her face before she could even try to stop it. “You have no idea,” is all she could think of to say as she turned to go into her classroom.

Suddenly, Ru realized her door was closed. She looked back down the hall in Jane’s direction, thinking perhaps she’d been the one to close it, and bit her tongue, the temptation to let a curse word pass her lips overwhelming. She never swore at school though, even when the kids weren’t there. Still, this took the cake.

“Let me get that for you,” Cutter said. “Your hands are full.”

Even though she was only holding a small stack of papers, Ru let him use his badge to open her classroom door. Since they were on the same team, their badges would work on each other’s rooms. “Thank you,” she said, walking into a dark classroom.

“No problem.” He quickly flipped the switch on the wall, illuminating what would soon be a fully-decorated, ready-to-go fourth grade learning environment, even though it was hard to tell at the moment since most of Ru’s materials were currently in boxes at the back of the room.

“See you at the meeting,” Cutter called as he propped her door open and made his way across the hallway to his own room.

“See ya.” It was too late. There’s no way he’d heard her. He was already gone. But Ru had no idea what to say. How had he known she’d need him to prop the door and turn on the lights? While there was a chance he was just being polite, it seemed odd to her.

She took her stack of papers over to her desk and began to make four sets, one for each of them, and reflected on what had just happened. Not only had Cutter mysteriously managed to fix a copy machine she’d absolutely obliterated, he’d helped her out with Jane, and then prevented her from permanently locking herself out or blasting a fluorescent light bulb to smithereens. Was it possible he knew something about her freakish curse?

She’d heard there were other accident-prone people like her in the world, though she’d never met anyone like herself. Occasionally, she’d do a Google search which would have stories of people chronically destroying electronic devices like she did, but it seemed fairly rare to her. And even if he’d known someone like her before, that wouldn’t explain his ability to fix the copier.

Before Ru had drawn any conclusions, she looked up to see Candice’s familiar face coming through her classroom door. “Hey, girl! How are you?” her bestie called, and Ru crossed the room in a flash to hug her. “You look fabulous. Did you lighten your hair?”

“No,” Ru laughed. “Just the sun.” Her hair was almost platinum blonde, and Candice was always telling her how jealous she was since hers was what she referred to as “mousy.” Still, Candice was gorgeous, and Ru couldn’t believe some lucky guy hadn’t proposed years ago. She seemed to always go for the wrong type of guy, though, and as Candice began to tell her about how her last few weeks had been since they’d seen each other, Ru’s mind wandered across the hall. Maybe Cutter and Candice would make a good couple.

“So anyway, the moral of the story is, don’t go to an amusement park in the summer!” Candice laughed, and Ru joined in, not sure she’d caught even half of the story. “So what have you been up to?”

“Oh, you know. Same old same old,” Ru replied, backing up so she was sitting on the corner of her desk. “Mostly working on school stuff and reading.”

Candice made a face like Ru had admitted her life was the most boring one in existence. “Are Lady Tremaine and the step-sisters leaving you alone?”

Ru felt a pang in her stomach at the mention of her mother and sisters. “Mostly,” she said. “How’s Barney?” Candice loved to talk about her pet poodle, and Ru was glad she’d taken the bait and changed the topic of conversation. The last thing she wanted to talk about was her family.

Candice prattled on about Barney for a good five minutes before she said, “I guess I should get back to my room. I have so much to do.”

“I know.” Ru glanced at the clock. They had about an hour until the staff meeting started. After that, they’d also meet as a team. She wouldn’t have much of a chance to work on her classroom unless she stayed late, which was likely what it would take. The rest of the week would probably be full of staff development. Why didn’t district administration ever allow them time to get their rooms set up?

“Have you met the new teacher yet?” Candice whispered, stopping short of the door.

“I have,” Ru replied. A smile spread across her face, and she watched Candice’s eyes enlarge. “I think… we’ve got a shot at this one.”

“Yeah?” Candice obviously knew she was implying Jane might not have an ally this year. “Is she nice?”

Over Candice’s shoulder, Ru saw Cutter walk out into the hallway. Her smile somehow managed to widen even further. She was excited to see her friend’s expression as she took him in for the first time. “Yeah, I think so,” she replied.

Clearly seeing Ru’s blue eyes focused on something, or someone, over her shoulder, Candice turned to look. The sound she made was one Ru wouldn’t have known how to spell should she be compelled to write it down.

“Hi, you must be the other fourth grade teacher,” Cutter said, stepping forward. “I was hoping to have a chance to meet you soon.” He extended his hand. “I’m Cutter Michaels.”

Candice had turned to stone, as if looking into Cutter’s blue eyes had the same effect on her that Medusa’s stare mandated. Trying not to laugh, Ru stepped forward and gently placed her hand on Candice’s shoulder. “Candice?” she said, quietly, into her friend’s ear.

The mention of her name jarred her back into reality. “Hi. I’m… Candice Stein,” she said, finally taking his hand. “It’s meet to nice you.” She shook her head and tried again. “It’s nice to meet you.”

If Cutter found her inability to speak amusing, he didn’t let on. “It’s wonderful to meet you, too.”

“Where did you teach before?” Ru asked, realizing she hadn’t asked earlier.

“In New York City,” he replied, nodding his head so that his blue tie bobbed up and down a bit in front of his white button down shirt. Ru noticed the tie was a similar shade to his eyes, though she didn’t think that color could be replicated by a mere clothing dye. “It was intense. I’m glad to have the opportunity to join the staff at Thomas. I think it’ll be… rewarding.”

“Were you going to say easy?” Ru laughed. “Because, compared to NYC, I’m guessing it will be, though we have our own form of challenges.” Thoughts of helicopter parents and pressure to keep up the high test scores came to mind.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Cutter replied, smiling at her. “I’m sure every school has its good and bad. And elementary school in the city isn’t as rough as secondary. But this is a nice little town, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to be back in a small community.”

“Oh, so you’re not originally from the city?” Ru was glad Candice had found her voice again.

“No, I’m from a really small town, far away,” Cutter said, turning as if he didn’t want to say more. “I guess I should get back to my classroom.”

Candice must’ve taken the hint not to ask a follow-up question. “Well, we’re so happy to have you here at Thomas.”

“Thanks. I’m very happy to be here.” He smiled at both of them, but for some reason, Ru felt that his eyes were lingering on her. She felt a bit of a blush coming on and looked away. “I’ll see you ladies in a bit.”

As soon as he was gone, back inside his room with the door shut, Candice turned to Ru, and doubling over she said, “Oh. My. God!”

Trying to keep her laughter as quiet as possible, Ru covered her mouth with both hands, fearing he’d poke his head back out, and they’d be caught. Eventually, she gathered control of herself, and Cutter’s door stayed closed. “I know, right?” she managed.

“I mean… if God sent an angel from heaven to occupy that classroom, he couldn’t be a more perfect specimen of male flawlessness.”

Ru raised her eyebrows. “You think?” she asked. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s hot. But… you don’t think God could do any better? At all?”

“Hell, no,” Candice said, shaking her head. “That man is a demigod. An Adonis.”

“Well, he’s also your teammate, so I guess you should figure out how to talk when he’s around.”

“I did.” Candice crossed her arms. “Eventually.”

Ru laughed again. “True. Who knows? Maybe the two of you will end up as an item.” She raised and lowered her eyebrows quickly.

It was Candice’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, right. I might be pretty, but there’s no way a guy like that would be interested in me.” She glanced over her shoulder as if she could somehow conjure up his image before them. “You could maybe.”

Ru waited until her friend was looking at her again before she shook her head and said, “Whatev.” She had no idea why Candice was always telling her how gorgeous she was. Literally no one else in the world had ever even mentioned to Ru that she was pretty, yet Candice insisted she could be a model.

“I’m serious. It doesn’t hurt that you have the same eye color. Your complexions are similar, you’re both blonde….”

“Our eyes are not the same color,” Ru spoke up. “I mean, they’re both blue, but his eyes are….” She struggled for the right word, not wanting to reveal how much about the new teacher she’d noticed herself. Stunning? Brilliant? “Electric.”

“So are yours.” Candice had taken a few steps over. “Okay, maybe not as… sparkly as his, but you guys have a lot of similar qualities. Hmmm, maybe you’re related.”

“Ha,” Ru laughed, though the suggestion made her stomach roll over. Candice likely hadn’t thought about the fact that her statement was actually a possibility. “Listen, girl, I’ve got boxes to dig into, and I think you do, too. I’ll grab you on the way to the meeting, okay?”

“You better. Or else I’ll be late.”

“You’ll be late anyway,” Ru teased.

“True.” Candice paused by her door and smiled over her shoulder. “Byeya.”

“Bye.” Ru watched her go and then attempted to shift her attention back to her work, which was harder than she’d expected. It wasn’t Candice or even Cutter that had her distracted, though. It was that comment. Could she actually be related to Cutter? There was no way to know.

Chapter 3

Cutter was inside the solace of his new classroom, readying it for the arrival of his students on Monday, and even though Ru and Candice were across the hall and his door was closed, he had no problem listening to them, should he want to. Trying to tune them out was not as easy as it might seem since he kept hearing references to himself. Of course, they had no idea he’d be able to hear them on the other side of the building if he wanted to.

Setting up his classroom had been no problem even though he’d never done it before. After about an hour of work, it was perfect, as if he’d been working on it for weeks. He appeared as if he had been teaching for several years, and he hoped the students would learn something from him for the time that he was here, but that wouldn’t be too long. Mimicking an elementary school teacher couldn’t be that hard, could it?

His phone buzzed in his pocket for probably the tenth time in the last twenty minutes, and despite the fact that he was attempting to emerge himself in this new world of Thomas Elementary, he finally decided the texts required his attention. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw that all of the messages were from his cousin, Rider. The early ones seemed nonchalant, building toward: “Do you think you found her or not?”

Sighing, Cutter quickly typed in, “It’s hard to say. Give me some time. It’s been an hour.”

“It’s been years,” his cousin quickly shot back.

“Listen, I need to concentrate on what I’m trying to do here.”

“Trying is the optimal word. Okay, but do you think there’s a possibility that she is actually there?”

Cutter fought the urge to call his older, less patient cousin, but he was afraid the conversation might sound too intense for anyone who might be walking by in the hall, so he continued to text. “Saying ‘okay’ and then continuing to hound me isn’t helpful.”

The phone didn’t buzz again immediately, but Cutter knew Rider well enough to know it wasn’t over. “Fine. It’s just… there are no pictures on the website. It’s under construction for the new year. If what we’ve heard is true, and she really is there, you should know pretty quickly, right?”

Already aware of the problem with the website, part of the reason he’d fallen into this role to begin with, Cutter ran a hand through his short, blond hair. Should he tell Rider what he suspected? It might be too soon to tell, although, if he trusted his gut, she was definitely here. Knowing it would probably result in yet another line of badgering, he finally typed in, “I’ve only met a few people, but there is a woman who could potentially fit the bill.”

“Really? That’s awesome! Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

“Because I enjoy torturing you.”

“What is she like? What’s her name? Maybe I can find her pic somewhere else, social media or something. Will need to do some intel.”

“See! This is why I didn’t mention it. I didn’t want you going nuts. Not yet. I’m not sure. There’s just been some….” How could he best phrase it? “strange activity.”

Once again, Rider went quiet for a while. Almost a minute later, he sent, “Okay. I’ll let you wait till you get back to explain that. What’s her name?”

He never gave up. “Roo Roberts.”

“Roo? Like that rat on Winnie the Pooh?”

“I think that’s a kangaroo.”

“Did you kiss three fingers and hold them up in the air in tribute?”

Cutter couldn’t help but chuckle at that one. “Stop with the movie references. I am not Katniss.”

“It’s what I do man. Okay. I’ll see if I can find her. What does she look like?”

That was a legitimate question, and he definitely had an answer, more than one. What did she look like? Tall, blonde, gorgeous, with blue eyes full of secrets and an innocence about her that permeated with sweetness. It was too bad he was about to obliterate all of that. “She looks like an angel.”

The GIF of fireworks going off probably had a double meaning, but Cutter chose to believe his cousin was simply happy about the wording he’d chosen. “Now, leave me the hell alone,” he sent back, hoping that would be enough to hold Rider off for a few hours. He had a lot of meetings scheduled that day, and the last thing he needed was to slip up because of Rider’s distractions, or anyone else’s. He’d thought he’d been pretty clear about the importance of being left to his own devices here, but apparently some people either hadn’t been listening or had chosen to ignore him. When it came to Rider, Cutter was certain it was the latter.

After bustling around his classroom for a few more minutes, Cutter grabbed his school issued iPad, a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water and ventured out into the hallway. Ru was walking out of her classroom at the same time. She smiled up at him, her eyes flickering with self-doubt. If she was who he thought she was, he wondered how she’d gotten like this, and how she’d ended up here.

“Hey! Headed toward the meeting?” he asked, smiling back at her.

“Yes. Just gotta grab Candice.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.” He took off in the direction of the library, which he’d discovered earlier that morning as he’d been exploring the building. He could’ve waited for her, but he didn’t want to seem too clingy too early. He’d need a few days at the minimum to discover if she was who he suspected. And then the really hard work would begin.

When Cutter walked into the library, a few other teachers were seated at the rectangular tables, talking excitedly, as if they hadn’t seen each other in years—or maybe it was just months. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to work with people you didn’t see for a couple of months every year. As they noticed him, the women grew quiet for a few seconds, one or two even gasped aloud, and then the conversation shifted to whispers, assuring him he was the new topic of discussion.

Normally, he would’ve gathered as much information as possible before subjecting himself to this sort of situation, but in this case, the discovery that the one they’d been searching for might actually be here had come with only enough time to get him this teaching position, and as Rider had pointed out, the website for Thomas Elementary was under construction. They weren’t too tech savvy around here, apparently. The Facebook page for the school hadn’t been updated since late April, and there were very few photographs of teachers. It was as if Reaper’s Hollow operated in its own bubble—a dated bubble at that.

There was one other male in the room. A tall, thin, though well-built, African American sat at a table in the back, his long legs not fitting under the table. He was flipping through a sports magazine, and Cutter noticed he hadn’t bothered to bring anything else but a pencil. He looked up at Cutter and ran a hand over his bald head before declaring. “Dang—they really did hire another dude.”

Trying to curtail his laughter, Cutter stepped over. “Hi. Just the two of us then?”

“Yep, but that’s better than it just bein’ me. Have a seat man,” he said, scooting the chair next to him out with his very large Nike. “I’m Joe Clark, PE.” He offered his hand, and Cutter took it before sitting.

“Nice to meet you. Cutter Michaels.”

“Cutter?” Joe repeated. “And they say we have weird names.” The second part was muttered, but still audible, and Cutter laughed. “Good to see you. What are you teaching?”

“Fourth grade,” Cutter replied. “And you say you’re the PE teacher?”

“Yeah, for going on six years. It’s a good school, though. You’ll like it. Mrs. Long is awesome. And there are some really nice teachers here. They’ll feed you. Seriously, it’s like another potluck every Friday.”

“Good to know,” Cutter chuckled. “You always lived here?”

“No,” Joe said rather quickly. “No, I played in the NBA for a few years. Blew my ACL, though. Never been the same.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He didn’t think Joe’s name sounded familiar, but he’d never been much of a basketball fan.

“Thanks. So… I decided to go back to school. Not exactly sure how I ended up here, but Reaper’s Hollow is a nice place to live. Quiet town, not much going on. But close enough to the action if you’re looking for that.”

Cutter assumed he meant New York City, although there were some other large towns within easy driving distance. There were also some parks and other recreational areas. Before Cutter could say anything else, he noticed his teammates walking in, Ms. Roberts and Ms. Stein lagging a good four feet behind Ms. Owen. They sat at a table in the front, center, and Cutter wondered if he should move.

“Those are some teammates you’ve got there,” Joe remarked. “You met ‘em?”

Cutter nodded. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the tall blonde.

“Now, Roberts and Stein, they’re cool. You’ll like them. Owen—she’s another story. They always sit at that table so she can be the center of everything, especially the center of attention.”

Cutter raised an eyebrow and looked in Joe’s direction. He wasn’t sure what to say. Owen really wasn’t why he was here, although there was a possibility she could get in his way. She sure did try to control everything.

“Now, if I was you, I’d get in good with the nice ones, let Owen hang herself. I like to mess with her; it’s kinda funny to see her get all bent out of shape.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. It seemed sincere. “Like how?”

“I don’t know. Like… telling her we’ll be in the gym, but taking her class out to one of the back fields so she has to come looking for them, walking through the mud in her heels. Sometimes I send out an email to the whole staff that I’ve got cookies in my office—my wife makes the best cookies—but when she gets there, they’re all gone.”

“Wow, you’re a hard man, Joe.” Cutter was laughing though.

“Hey, when you’re the only guy, you’ve gotta do something to entertain yourself. Ru, though, she’s the best. She’ll go outta her way to make things easy on you. She’s never late to pick up her kids. Always gets there on time. If you’re having a bad day, she somehow just knows it, and she does nice things for other people all the time.”

Cutter was staring at the back of her head so intensely, he thought for sure she’d feel it. “She seems nice.”

“Yeah, she is. And pretty, too. Though she don’t know it, which makes her even sweeter. Candice knows she’s miss thing. But she’s a nice girl.”

Nodding, Cutter dragged his eyes away from the back of Ms. Roberts head. “Do you think I should go sit with them?”

“Nah. You’ll get to spend plenty of time with them later. Stay with me. We dudes gotta stick together. Besides, when Mrs. Long gets up there, she’s probably going to mix us all up anyway. We’ll do some ice breaker sh—stuff. It’s never anything that has anything to do with me. You might learn something. Doubt it, though. ‘Specially if you’ve been teaching for a while. And then, once they teach you everything you need to know about such and such, they’ll never mention it again until some sort of a report is due. Next year, they’ll change all of that stuff.”

“That sounds about right,” Cutter agreed, shaking his head. He had to pretend like he’d been around the block a few times, so he couldn’t show that he was shocked at what he’d learned so far about how teachers operate. Hopefully, if Mrs. Long asked him anything directly, he’d be able to come up with something. He’d done some research and had some materials he thought were appropriate should the question arise, but keeping his head down was probably the best idea.

“Okay, let’s get started everyone!” Mrs. Long said, standing at the front of the room. Many of the voices continued to chatter, so she said, “If you can hear me, clap once.” A few people clapped. Cutter tried not to be confused and prepared for her to ask again. “If you can hear me, clap twice.” This time, he was ready and joined in with about half of the teachers. “If you can hear me, clap three times.” This time, almost everyone was with them. “Are we ready then?”

Mrs. Long had a captive audience. She was a short woman, probably in her mid-fifties, with reddish-brown hair that came out of a bottle, though likely the bottle of a stylist. She had a nice manicure and was dressed in a black pantsuit. Though she was a bit robust, she had a kind smile, and Cutter had liked her the moment they’d met. She seemed to really know a lot about education. It was a shame he’d had to lie to her face so many times. It would also be hard to leave her with two positions to fill so early in the school year should things turn out the way Cutter anticipated, but there was nothing he could do about that. Hopefully, two of the candidates Lyric was researching as replacements would work for Mrs. Long. His team didn’t like to inconvenience people if it wasn’t necessary.

He realized he wasn’t listening, and by the time he brought his attention back to the front of the room, he caught the tail end of what she was saying. Luckily, he’d tuned back in just in time. “It will be nice to have another gentleman as part of our Thomas family. Ladies, please help me welcome Cutter Michaels.”

Not only did the room erupt in applause, there were actually some cat calls, which made Cutter blush. He wasn’t sure if he should stand or just wave, so he simply raised his hand and tried to acknowledge each table.

“Now, ladies, keep it civil,” Mrs. Long warned about the cat calling, although she had a small smile playing at her lips. “We need to make sure that Mr. Michaels is comfortable here. Remember, the sexual harassment training video we watch every year? That’s scheduled for later this week.”

Lots of teachers giggled at that, but someone across the room shouted out, “Does that mean we have until Thursday to flirt with Mr. Michaels?”

Cutter looked over and saw a plump, older woman, probably older than Mrs. Long winking at him. He had to look away, his eyes wide. He had not expected this.