“Really?” Kyle asked. Before she could answer, he dropped to his knee. “Hey, Ira, how would you like to go to a place where everything is made of Legos? You can build whatever you want to, all day long. No school. No interruption. Sounds cool, doesn’t it? Wanna go?”
She could tell by Ira’s excited reaction he was considering it. Regardless of his preferences, she put both hands on his shoulders. “No!” she said, pulling him back a few steps. “You can’t do that! You can’t lie to him to get him to come with you.”
“I’m not lying,” Kyle protested. “It’s true. What do you say, buddy?”
Ira pulled away from her, giving her the harsh look he dealt to those who touched him without permission. “Stop, Ms. Roberts,” he insisted.
“Ira,” she said, ducking her head to look into his eyes, “this isn’t really Mr. Dawson. This person is a bad man. Do you remember when we talked about stranger danger?”
Ira’s head bobbed up and down, but he didn’t look convinced.
“Do you remember when I told you never to go with anyone without asking your mom or dad, no matter what they promise you?”
Once again, he indicated he remembered.
“You cannot go with him, no matter what he says. He’s lying to you. There are no Legos.”
“Ira, buddy, Ms. Roberts is just jealous because she can’t make anything nearly as cool as you can. Now come on, my friend. Let’s go.”
His hand was extended, and Ru realized if Ira reached out and took it, he’d be gone. There’d be nothing she could do to save him. For some reason, she’d thought Reapers weren’t allowed to invent stories to trick unmarked souls into going with them, or maybe there really was a Lego Heaven. Either way, she had to do anything she could to keep Ira from taking that hand. She desperately wished Cutter or Rider or someone else, could show up to help her. Thinking of them made her remember she could call them, but it might take them a while to reach her, and she didn’t even know if they were in the realms or sleeping. She desperately sent out a message to any Keeper that might be listening, concentrating on the faces she trusted most.
“Kyle, you can’t. Please. Don’t.”
Her pleading didn’t seem to get her anywhere. His smirk widened. “Tell me what I want to know.”
“No!” How could she betray her mother? She was in an impossible position, forced to choose between a child she loved and the mother who had given her life.
Kyle shrugged. “Come on, buddy.”
Ira took a step forward. She knew he wouldn’t want to take that outstretched hand because he hated to touch people, but his fists were clenching and unclenching just the same. “I said no!” Ru raised her hands up, suddenly remembering she had handled this particular Reaper pretty well on her own before. She hadn’t even tried out her powers in days and wasn’t sure if she could do it under the circumstances, but she’d try.
“Ru, if it’s not tonight, it’ll be another night. Or another student.”
“No, it won’t be. Sky is coming for you. She’ll keep you away from all of my kids. Your plot has been foiled, Thanatos. Go away!”
She saw him flinch at her words, but he didn’t give up. Not yet. “Ira, let’s go.”
“NO!” Ru threw her hands out in his direction. And nothing happened. Kyle began to laugh, and Ira reached for him. Grasping deep down inside of herself, Ru tried again, and just as Ira’s hand was about to make contact with the hand of death, blue light shot out of her palms, hitting Kyle squarely in the chest and knocking him across the room, into the closet door. His head went through the particle board, and his body convulsed for several seconds from the discharge of her powers as Ru and Ira both stood staring in shock.
It seemed he wasn’t getting up, not right away, anyhow. Taking advantage of the situation, Ru spun Ira around. “Wow, Ms. Roberts. You’re magic.”
“Listen, Ira, we don’t have time to talk about that right now, okay. I need you to wake up.” Thanatos made a groaning noise from the ground, and his legs began to move, as if he was trying to regain his footing.
“What?” Ira asked. “What do you mean? I am awake.”
“No, you’re not, sweetie. Could Ms. Roberts shoot blue lights out of her hands if you were awake? This is all just a dream, honey. So… I want you to concentrate on waking yourself up, okay? Try really hard.”
More movement from over by the closet door caught their attention, and Ira turned to look for a full five or ten seconds before she shook him, and he said, “Okay, Ms. Roberts. I’ll try.” He closed his eyes, as if he was really concentrating.
“And Ira, promise me you will never, ever go anywhere with a stranger in a dream or in real life, okay?”
His eyes still squeezed tight, he said, “Okay.”
As Thanatos sat up, Ru decided to do whatever she could to help Ira. She’d heard of people taking others to different realms and assumed that’s what Thanatos had done here. Maybe she could pull Ira back into his own body. But just as she was about to try, she realized he was fading. In a flash, Ira was gone.
Ru breathed a sigh of relief but then looked up to see Thanatos, looking every bit like himself, no longer needing the ruse of Kyle, standing by the closet door. His forehead was bleeding and she assumed there was another gash in the back.
“You ready for more?” she asked, raising her hands.
“You know I can hurt you, too?” He stuck out his hand in her direction, as if he were about to shoot something at her, and Ru took a few steps backward.
“I already sent for the others!” she shouted, hoping it would be enough to deter him. “They’ll be here any second.”
At first, he seemed to be in doubt of her proclamation, but then something changed, and Ru wondered if someone really was coming. Perhaps he could sense it. She was likely not as sensitive as he was. With a loud exhale, Thanatos said, “This isn’t over!” and just as he had disappeared in the woods that day, he was suddenly gone in a poof of black smoke.
Ru took a deep breath, but then his words hit her, and she thought perhaps he was off to hurt another one of her students. She couldn’t let that happen. If she could keep track of him long enough, maybe Cutter, or Rider, or whoever was headed there, would be able to find him. Closing her eyes, she felt the space around her for his essence and got a good feeling for him near the place where he’d melted away. With a sharp inhale, Ru propelled herself into the realm where Thanatos had exited Ira’s room.