and she loved him chapter 1

My screaming woke me. Again, I had my nightmare. The nightmare about when he left me one year ago. It’s hard to believe it was one year ago; to me it was just yesterday. How could one forget the day when The Grim Reaper himself leaves you? I couldn’t. I missed his long black cloak, and his protective skeletal hands, and the manor in which he walked. I missed his voice in my ear…..
After he had left me in the very ally when we had met and he had saved my life from that thug, I was sent to an orphanage and got adopted by one extremely sweet single woman named Shannon. She was 25 years old, and specialized in Herpetology. In her living room she kept at least a hundred snakes, lizards, and who knows what else. After getting to know them all, I actually began to like the little fellas’. She taught me all about them.
Every morning, I plastered a halfway false smile on my face and spoke with her while she made me breakfast with, of course, a python comfortably around her neck in her gorgeous kitchen. I’d act like any other “normal child” would. I did my homework, I washed behind my ears, I laughed at lame jokes, but none of it brought me as much joy as he did.
I glanced at the clock. 6:00 AM. Seeing that I wasn’t sleepy, I got up, dressed, and brushed my teeth. I examined myself in the mirror, glad to have short hair that looked scruffy anyway. I stopped in the kitchen to grab an apple and write a note to Shannon. I scribbled on a sheet of crunched yellow paper,

Shannon, went downtown. I’ll be back by 8 ‘o clock. Love ya, Sarah.

I thought that was good enough. I ran out the door, hearing it slam behind me. I knew it was going to be a long day. I grabbed my skateboard from the side of the house and hopped on, speeding down the street like a maniac. I was not afraid of dying on the street; it would only let me see him again, so why should I be scared? Downtown was about a ten minute skateboard trip, so I used the time to plan out my agenda for the day. First, I would stop at Downtown, run a few errands, and see if I could make any sense of it. Then I would make my way back “home” and eat breakfast with Shannon, then I would see if she had anything for me to do. She probably needed me to handle and feed some of her snakes. My favorite was her King Cobra, who was about as friendly as a puppy!
I made good time and hopped off my board, leaning in against the wall of a crumpled old building. Walking inside, I noticed how dusty it was inside the old Voodoo shop. All around the walls were antique skulls, shrunken heads, bottles of who knows what, and skeleton keys, lots of them.   
I walked to the front desk, covered in dust and cob webs. The least the owner could do was give the place a good cleaning! I stepped onto a little stool in front of the desk, and asked, “Hello? Is anyone here?” I waited impatiently.
“Hello?” I asked again.
“Hell-” Almost fast enough to make my heart stop, a withered old woman shot up in front of me, knocking me off the stool and onto my back. I landed with a thump. “OW!”
“I’m very sorry my dear,” the woman said, no hint of apology in her crackly voice.
“Huh, I’m sure you are,” I snapped back. She crept along the desk and to the side of me, and stood there as if waiting for me to get up. I looked up at her. “What, no help?”
She stood there like a zombie. So I decided to help myself up, and with a “umph” I was able to.
“So, my dear child, what is your name?”
“Sarah,” I mumbled. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Sarah, I am Madame Stigla, and I am the one who is pleased to meet you.” She bowed respectfully. Now this was getting weird.
“Um..yeah. I was wondering is I could get my umm.. tarot cards read for me, if that’s what you call them, or even how you ask.”
“No problem sweety.” She lead me to a small table in the back of the room. On it, there were decorative blankets and sparkly cloths, topped with three crystal balls and a stack of what looked like tarot cards.
She sat down, so I mimicked.
“Okay miss Sarah, I want you to pick a card from the stack.”
I did, and my card was Queen of Pentacles.
“Show me your card, sweety.” I handed it to her, and she snatched it away from me examining it. “This card represents you. You are a very caring motherly figure. You are able to do things your way..” She continued about motherly stuff until my mind drifted a bit. I began to think of Death, and how he would protect me from anything that stood in his way. He’d always stand in front of me with his wigs flared, saying whatever wished to harm me would have to get through him first. I was awaken from my reveries by a crumply old hand snapping in my face. “Hey, child, do you want your fortune read or not?” She demanded. “Oh, yes I do. Sorry Madame.” I apologized, a little embarrassed.
“So, now I want you to shuffle this stack of card in any order you want. Then put them into three stacks.”
I did so.
“Now put them into one, and concentrate on one question that you want answered. I did as she said, stuffing the cards together and thinking intently on my question. Does he remember me? Does he miss me? Does he love me? I had more questions but decided to stick with that main category.
“Okay my dear,” she said, closing her eyes. “Give them to me.” I handed the whole deck to her, and again she snatched it viciously away from me.
“Ah, yes.” She laid down one card, shocking us both for different reasons. She stuttered. “My..dear. This card is rare to get. And for some reasons, it doesn’t mean the same for you as it does with others.” Her eyes locked into my mine.
I looked at her, then looked down at the card. Maybe there is hope I thought.
I glanced at her eyes again. “What does it mean for me?”
“My dear, I don’t know how you got involved with him, or what he wants, but I do know that you should stay away from that monster.”
I snapped. “He is NOT a monster. He is a very caring and compassionate…..man.”
Her eyes shivered. “My dear, it is not a man, ‘tis a thing. A creature. A monster!”
“And I suppose you know that how? I thought that this card was a good card to get!”
“You do not fear it, my dear?” She seemed astonished.
“FYI, no I do not!”
“Intrigue me.” She challenged. That’s when she noticed my key. She looked like she fell back. “It does not have feelings, my dear child. Oh no. It has deceived you.”
“Intrigue me.” I mimicked.
“Out!”
“But I still have questions-
“Out!” She stood, pointing towards the door.
“Does he miss me?”
“It has no feelings my dear fool. No off with you!”
“How do I contact him?”
She seemed a little sympathetic now. She sighed and said, “There is a way.”
“Besides getting myself killed.”
“Like I said, there are ways.”
“You didn’t say that.”
She lead me to one of the walls, grabbing two skeleton keys off the rack.
“Give me your key,” she said, reaching her hand out. I automatically snatched in into my hands. “No way, man! This belongs to Death!”
“I’m not gonna take it from you! Whatevah.” She designed the two keys that she had in a weird shape. The two key handles were facing each other.
“Place them like so, and put your key on the top, to make a triangle with all the key handles facing each other, my dear.”
“Then what?”
“Hold a séance, calling him to you. He won’t be able to resist.”
“This won’t harm him in any way will it?”
“Of course not my dear.”
“Thanks.” I snatched her keys away like she snatched everything from me.
“You do pay me, ya know.”
“Oh, right. I should pay you for insulting The Grim Reaper in my face!”
She held out her hand.
“Oh, alright.” I gave her a five and sped out of there like a cheetah.
See you soon Grim!