When she unexpectedly dies, Mackenzie Bowen lacks the paperwork she needs to pass into The Beyond. To avoid sitting in a waiting room for centuries, Mack is paired with Leon, a miserable Reaper, and hopes to either undo her death or earn her spot be...
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It usually took more than a light tap tap tap to rouse me from sleep, yet that was precisely the noise which dragged me away from my nap and back into the land of the living.
Or the dead.
Whatever.
I lifted my head slowly and felt my back and neck crick and crack, relieved to be out of the uncomfortable position they'd been forced to maintain in sleep. I'd expected to see a Reaper. It was my understanding that the study room was used by them all whenever they had a chance of a break from their duties. Leon wouldn't have knocked, but the others seemed too polite to wake me if they caught me napping. Then again, Lola was a bundle of energy. She probably would've crashed through the door singing to herself without any consideration to whoever was inside.
Colour me surprised when, instead of a soul-ferrying spirit, I was confronted with the vision of the girl I'd seen on Earth. At the time I'd written her off as a kid who just happened to be able to see me. I mean, people in movies said that children were more in tune with the supernatural. Kind of like animals. It didn't seem beyond the realm of possibility that she knew we were there. Hell, it was just as realistic to think that she'd been a ghost lingering on in the veil.
It hadn't crossed my mind that she'd followed us through from The Beyond.
Then again, she might have followed us from Earth back through the gate. I hadn't noticed her slip by when we'd returned to the station, but I'd been preoccupied with keeping Leon from bleeding to death at the time. Not death. Look, you know what I mean. Clearly, the author hasn't quite thought this glaring plot hole through so I can hardly be expected to keep track. Believe me, I'll be lodging a complaint about how nonsensical this entire plot is becoming.
Once I had a chance to examine her properly, it was a wonder that I'd considered her to be anything but paranormal. Her resemblance to an old-fashioned doll didn't go amiss. Porcelain skin, black hair, and eyes so large and inquisitive they were disarming in the most chilling way. Taking the lingering silence as an invitation, she stepped into the room, her gaze darting to the dark corners as though suspicious someone might be hidden in the shadows.
"Are you lost?" I asked.
The girl said nothing. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end when she approached and reached out with her fragile fingers. They were splayed and expectant. When I didn't move, she furled and unfurled them, snatching at the air pointedly. My little sister used to do the same when she wanted people to take her hand and either couldn't or wouldn't communicate it with words. I stood from the chair and reached down. Happily, she gripped one of my fingers and tugged me to the door. She was deceptively strong for a child, and I didn't trust that I could easily pull my hand free and return to the study. It wouldn't be impossible, of course, but I couldn't help but believe she'd break one or more of my fingers in her grip if I tried.
The last jaunt I'd taken into the corridors and tube system had led to me getting lost. It was only thanks to Clark's intervention that I hadn't been condemned to a hundred years of aimlessly meandering through beige office blocks. I didn't believe that Leon would've come looking for me in that time. In fact, he'd have done all in his power to ensure that I stayed lost. The Reaper was hardly my biggest fan even if he had saved my neck a couple of times.
