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  Table of Contents

  Don't Fear the Reaper (The Death Chronicles, #1)

  Don’t Fear the Reaper

  DON’T FEAR THE REAPER

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 1

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 2

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 3

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 4

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 5

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 6

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 7

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 8

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 9

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 10

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 11

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 12

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 13

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 14

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 15

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 16

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 17

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 18

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 19

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 20

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 21

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 22

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 23

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 24

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 25

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 26

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 27

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 28

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 29

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 30

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 31

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 32

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 33

  Don’t Fear the Reaper | Chapter 34

  About the Authors | William F. Houle

  J.E. Taylor

  Don’t Fear the Reaper – The Death Chronicles Book One

  © August 2015 William F. Houle and J.E. Taylor

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For additional information contact:

  www.JETaylor75.com

  Cover Art © 2015 Cora Graphics

  Edited by Dragonfly Editing

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Don’t Fear the Reaper

  The Death Chronicles

  Book One

  by

  William F Houle

  &

  J.E. Taylor

  DON’T FEAR THE REAPER

  The day Nick Ramsay’s eighth-grade teacher drops dead in his classroom, Nick sees his first reaper. When another cloaked figure appears at his grandmother’s bedside, Nick issues an order for the vile creature to leave her alone.

  This simple act of defiance creates a domino effect that brings Fate and Death to Nick’s door and reveals his true lineage, throwing his world into chaos. To make matters worse, a group of rogue reapers declares war on humanity and Nick is the only one who can stop them.

  Don’t Fear the Reaper

  Chapter 1

  The first time I saw a reaper, I thought I had fallen asleep in class again.

  Mr. Sanchez was in the middle of reaming out Clyde for not having his homework for the hundredth time this year, and mid-yell his red face turned purple and he clutched his chest. When Mr. Sanchez fell to his knees, the sight of the black cloaked figure behind him nearly gave me a heart attack. My chest burned with the sudden rush of adrenaline and my throat tingled around the scream that begged to erupt, but I clamped my lips closed.

  His silver gaze peered out of the hooded darkness, staring directly at me, like he knew I could see him. His bony hand reached out and came to rest on Mr. Sanchez’s head. The rotund teacher’s grey eyes rolled back and his breath wheezed from his half-open mouth.

  “Call nine-one-one!” The cry broke my paralysis and I bolted to the front of the room, trying to recall the CPR instructions I had in health class last year. Thirty chest compressions then blow in the victim’s mouth. The silent instructions replayed in my head and I went into action.

  It wasn’t until the E.M.T.s wheeled the dead body of Mr. Sanchez out of the room that Julia took my hand for support.

  “Nick, you tried,” Julia said.

  I looked into her golden brown eyes and that’s when I knew it wasn’t a dream. Her warm hand, her soft, teary voice, cracked through my defenses and I started to shake. “I couldn’t stop him from taking Mr. Sanchez.”

  “Stop who?”

  I opened my mouth to speak but before the words could tumble out, I snapped my lips closed. She was already looking at me like I had a few screws loose and this would only topple that look into the realm of disbelief. I didn’t want her to think I was any crazier than she already did. I turned away, wiping my misting eyes on my sleeve.

  “Stop who?” she repeated, taking my arm and swinging me toward her.

  “Death, who do you think?” I snapped, my tone harsher than I wanted, harsher than I meant to be and she recoiled. “I couldn’t stop death,” I said, softening my tone and taking a deep breath to cool my nerves. “I couldn’t stop Mr. Sanchez from dying.”

  Before she could speak, the PA system whined into action. “Dylan Nicholas Ramsay, please come to the office.”

  Aw, crap. What does Principal Murdock want now? I hung my head, grinding my teeth together for a moment as anger wiped away any trace of despair. “I gotta go,” I said to Julia, and stepped out of her grip, trudging toward the office wondering just what Principal Murdock was going to lay on me this time. Was he going to throw that sappy sad expression at me again, the one that always made me feel like a lost reject? The look that made me feel like crap.

  Mr. Murdock offered a tight smile when I entered the office. “Nick, how are you holding up?”

  Jeesh, how the hell do you think I’m holding up? I just saw my teacher die. “I’m fine, sir.”

  “I think you should talk with Mrs. Lambert for a spell,” Mr. Murdock said, and delivered the look I expected.

  “I said I’m okay.”

  Mr. Murdock raised one of his wooly-mammoth eyebrows. “I understand you were yelling the entire time you were trying to revive Mr. Sanchez.”

  Shock slammed into my chest, drying my mouth and shooting tingling waves over my skin. “Wh-what?”

  “A few of the other students said you were yelling at someone or something while you were doing CPR.”

  “I, uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I knew I was cussing the hell out of the reaper, but I didn’t realize I was swearing out loud.

  “I think you should talk with Mrs. Lambert for a while.”

  Don’t Fear the Reaper

  Chapter 2

  The conversation with Mrs. Lambert went pretty much the same way, the syrupy concern and the doting questions, all of which drove me mad. I couldn’t wait to get out of school and go home where it was quiet and I could lose myself in v
ideo games.

  “Now Nick, you can’t keep everything in,” Mrs. Lambert said, her ancient bouffant hair bobbed with the shake of her head like one of those funky bobble-head dolls you see on some people’s dashboards.

  I had to bite my lip to keep the laugh from rolling out and she mistook the gesture as a sign of despair, and she reached across the space, laying her wrinkled hand on top of mine.

  “There, there,” she said, and before she could say another word, the school bell rang and I didn’t wait for her to dismiss me. Instead, I scooped up my book bag and high tailed it to the bus without a second look back.

  I never thought the vinyl-clad bench would feel so good, so free, as it did today and I closed my eyes, letting my body melt into the seat for the half-hour ride home.

  “Nick?” Julia’s voice interrupted the stupor I had fallen into.

  I opened my eyes to her soft brown eyes so full of worry that I had to smile.

  “Scoot over so I can sit down,” she said, shooing me aside. When she settled in the seat, she turned toward me. “Are you really okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. I just needed to get away from the school.” I leaned over and kissed her warm cheek, catching the sweet scent of strawberry shampoo. My stomach dropped through the floor from the rush I always get when my lips touch her skin.

  Her cheeks flushed and I leaned back, studying the red hue and her almost shy smile. She settled back in the seat and took my hand for the remainder of the ride.

  I closed my eyes, remembering the first time I saw her. The moving truck pulled away from the house next door and there she was, this little princess dribbling a soccer ball across the yard with her long golden hair flowing in the breeze behind her. And all I could think was, smoking hot.

  I snuck a peek at her. She’s still smoking hot after five years and she’s all mine.

  Don’t Fear the Reaper

  Chapter 3

  I walked into the house and headed for the stairs but a stern voice from the living room stopped my escape.

  “Dylan Nicholas Ramsay, where do you think you’re going?”

  I turned in the direction of my mother’s voice. She stood in her nurse’s uniform, with her hands on her hips and that piercing stare that makes me want to either run or spill my darkest secrets.

  “What are you doing home?”

  “I was able to get someone to finish my shift when I got the call from the school. Mr. Murdock said your teacher had a heart attack in class and you tried to revive him,” Mom said, her tone filled with worry accompanied by those small concern lines between her eyes. “He said you were yelling at something the entire time you did CPR.”

  “I was yelling because I didn’t want Mr. Sanchez to die and I thought if I yelled, maybe he’d hang on.”

  “Are you sure that’s the reason?”

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Yeah, Mom, I’m sure. Do you mind if I go play Zombie Disaster Three, now?”

  “Isn’t that rated for Mature audiences?”

  “Yeah, but all my other friends play online too.”

  “Do their parents know it’s rated M?”

  “C’mon Mom, it’s not that bad.” Okay maybe it is, but I’m not telling her that, besides, I’m in the mood for a little blood and brains to block out the image of Mr. Sanchez’s blue face and the hovering reaper that ripped the life from him.

  “Nick, I don’t want you playing that game and if I find out you are; I’ll suspend your online privileges for a week.”

  So not the answer I was hoping for, but I knew she’d find out if I snuck onto the gaming board. I don’t know how she does it, but anytime I defy her, she finds out and bam, I’m grounded. I guess I’ll just have to settle for a little Medal of Honor instead. “Fine,” I said, and started to march up the stairs.

  “Nick?”

  I turned, meeting my mother’s gaze.

  “I’m proud of you for trying to save your teacher,” she said, and sent a smile my way.

  I couldn’t help but smile back and I mumbled, “Thanks,” before continuing to my room and swinging the door closed. I tossed my backpack in the corner before settling into my gaming chair.

  Right when I was about to take down the general of the European force, my mother barged into the room and in the second I looked away, I was annihilated, shot dead by multiple enemy guns. “Mom!”

  “Nick, we have to go.”

  The tremor in her voice tore my attention away from the game for more than a quick glimpse in her direction. What I saw in her face made me switch off the game and jump to my feet. “What’s wrong?”

  “Your grandmother is in the hospital.”

  The initial shock of those words ran through me like a stun gun and I managed to stutter a simple, “W-why?”

  “I don’t know, but they said to hurry.”

  The fifteen minute car ride seemed like an hour and I slumped in the seat, frightened by all the ‘what if’ scenarios that kept circling in my mind. At the hospital, I followed my mother through the emergency room maze to where they put my grandmother. The beeps and whooshes filled the room, echoing off the hard tile floors and gray drab walls. Beyond the tubes and gauze and institutional blankets covering the frail form of my grandmother stood another black-cloaked figure.

  Without thinking, I pointed my finger and growled a command. “You cannot have my grandmother. Leave. Now.”

  The hooded figure raised his silver eyes in my direction and they transitioned to a glowing red. Although all I could see was a skeleton, I could have sworn the thing scowled at me and then it was gone.

  I blinked, wondering if my shot nerves imagined the monster and I glanced at my mother. Her gaze was glued on me, her jaw askew and her eyebrows arched with a million unasked questions.

  “What?” I asked, shrugging.

  “How long?” she shot back at me.

  “How long what?”

  “How long have you seen them?”

  Stunned, I glanced back at the empty spot. “You saw that?”

  Her silence pulled my attention back to her. She shook her head and swallowed, refocusing on her mother in the bed. “Is it still here?”

  “No.”

  My answer seemed to drain what little color remained in her cheeks and she fell into the chair, her mouth working at words that never made it past her lips. Before either of us could speak, my grandmother opened her eyes.

  Don’t Fear the Reaper

  Chapter 4

  The three of us walked into my grandmother’s house and after my mom tucked Gram into bed, she cornered me in the living room. “Nick, you need to tell me exactly what you saw today,” she said in hushed tone that belied her intense stare and trembling hands.

  “I didn’t see anything.”

  My mother’s hands suddenly clasped my arms, her grip almost painful and her face rigid in her intent. “Nick, don’t lie to me.”

  I should have known. Her ability to detect a lie was epic.

  She released me and took a step back, taking a deep breath before framing the question again.

  I didn’t give her a chance. “Death, I saw Death.”

  Her expression became guarded in a way I have never seen. “What did he look like?”

  The question threw me and I stumbled on words trying to describe the manifestation. “He looked like those cheesy Halloween costumes. You know. The skeleton in a black robe thing.”

  Concern spread into the lines in her face. “That’s not what Death looks like honey.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure it was Death, Mom.”

  “Death never wears black. What you saw was a reaper.”

  I usually don’t question my mom when she tells me something, but I saw the thing with my own eyes. I should know. “How do you know it wasn’t Death?”

  “I know.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, Mom, whatever you say. Can we go home now?”

  “Don’t you roll your eyes at me, young man.”

  I did
n’t know where my mother was going with this and I didn’t understand her reaction at all, but I didn’t want to argue with her either. At least not at Gram’s house. “I’m sorry, Mom. Can we go now?”

  She glanced at the ceiling and nodded. “Just as soon as I can get a visiting nurse lined up. I’ll be back down once I get that arranged and have your grandmother settled in for the night.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief when my mother disappeared from view, but it was short lived. She came back a few minutes later with that determined look that meant she wasn’t going to let up on this, but at least I had a reprieve from the battery of questions until the visiting nurse arrived.

  Once we were in the car, I slumped in the passenger seat, and fidgeted with the zipper on my sweatshirt all the way home.

  As soon as we walked into the house, my mom started in again.

  “I’m sorry for getting upset with you at Grandma’s house, but I’ve seen a reaper before and they aren’t very nice, but Death is a whole other matter.”

  “How do you know the difference?”

  “Death is a man, not a skeleton and he rules over the reapers,” she said.

  A chill bit the air and my skin broke out in little goosebumps. I wanted to ask more, but I couldn’t find the words. Something about her tone told me she knew more than she was telling me and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

  “I don’t really want to talk about this now, Mom,” I said and yawned, hoping it was convincing enough to let me escape to my room. “It’s been a really long day.”

  She sighed and nodded and I turned, trotting upstairs with both relief and dread pumping through my skin. I knew this was just the beginning and tomorrow might bring on another set of dark figures.

  Don’t Fear the Reaper