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"Don’t even think about it, you little punk" He starts to haul es of his death course throughto the ground

I wiggleto slip it out of , just belowdown to hold onto the edge

The cop’s fingers wrap around"Just let--"

The cop abruptly releases s My knee crashes into the fence I scralance behind rass The tall, dark stranger stands over hi me The dusky shadows of the trees dance across his face and his untahostly voice encircles around me like smoke

I inch forward until the tips of e of the fence and my hand powerlessly reaches for hi sound of his voice, and I can’t seem to keep my hands to myself I want to run them all over his body, feel his skin, touch hiainst his

"Co ar me his hand

My other hand elevates tohim, and desperate to touch hiate and red and blue lights flash across the ce me back to reality I flinch and quickly crouch down as a police car sla stop on the other side of the ceate, hollering over their radios I glance dohere the tall stranger used to be, but all there is is a single raven feather floating across the grass It floats up to aze sweeps the ceo?

The cop on the ground stirs and begins to wake up Spinning around, I leap onto the sidewalk, and sprint down the street towardback

Chapter 2

"Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty," s as she fluffs , you crazy woily "Now leave me alone"

She blows in my ear, careful not to touch h I’ve seen it before "Ember, come on Wake up"

"You are such a weirdo," I murmur sleepily

"I’m the weirdo," she teases "You’re the one who sees death"

I roll h my rooliestures at s and depressing poetry A thin black curtain veils the closet doorith photos of dead poets and authors tacked along the fraers along a penciled drawing of a fe across the wall The Angel’s black dress flows to the floor, her eyes are shut, and there’s despair in the way she carries her head and how her arms curl around herself

"Do you remember when I drew this for you?" Raven asks

I clih the dresser drawer for soht sits on top, ruffled and bent in the middle I don’t knohy I kept it, other than I couldn’t bring uy like that before and it seems like a shame to throw the feather and ? It was right after I moved back and accidentally told you I could see death"

"I thought it would protect you frohs bitterly "I was too little to realize that nothing can save you froel"

Painted on the opposite wall is a bone-faced creature in a long black cloak, holding an hourglass in its es is suspended on the shoulder

"You know he swears it’s not a Gri her eyes "But it sure as hell looks like one If I didn’t know better I’d swear your brother put it there on purpose, because he knows about your little death thing and wants to drive you mad"

"He doesn’t know about it," I remind her "No one does but you"

She assesses the Reaper’s hand "And what’s with the hourglass?"

My shoulders rise and fall as I shrug "It’s one of the symbols of the Reaper, like, ‘your tilass with her finger "Well, your brother could have at least put sand in it then, so it wasn’t like your ti that far into it," I assure her "Besides, he only did it to impress you He wanted to show you that you two share an artistic side"

She chews on her bottoht? I’ve had one too uilty face "Sorry, Em I didn’t mean it to come out like that"

"It’s okay I know h too ?"

She shrugs, staring at the drawing "Fine, I guess I haven’t gone to visit her in a while"

Raven’streatment facility She suffers fro on for years A couple of o, Raven ca roo and barely registered a pulse Raven called an ambulance and the para her it was coatives toto die, because I knew she wasn’t going to die that day I refuse to tell Raven when anyone in her fa herself--because no one needs that burden on their shoulders

Raven was mad at me for teeks and wouldn’t talk to me at all It was the loneliest teeks of my life Raven is my one and only friend and it’s pretty et old, I’ll probably end up a spinster with ten cats and maybe a bird Raven will pay me visits every so often with her children and make sure I stay sane

"What is that?" She stands on her tiptoes, leaning in ernail, she chips away a flake of mud off my cheek "Why do you have dirt on your face?" She turns ers are rubbed raw"