Free Don't Fear the Reaper by Michelle Muto Page A

aside, kiddies. Demon coming through,” Daniel warned.
    The two boys stood resolute alongside Metal Girl. The uglier, beefier of the two stepped forward. “Demon, huh? Well, we’re your updated replacements,” he announced.
    “What a loser,” Metal Girl exclaimed.
    “Either you haven’t been earthbound long, or you’re really stupid,” Daniel said. “I said, step aside.”
    The thinner guy flipped Daniel off, then folded his arms in defiance.
    Daniel grinned. I didn’t find the situation particularly humorous. Worse, something in Daniel’s stone-cold eyes and hardened expression chilled my blood—if I had any to chill. The big, ugly guy lunged forward. Daniel caught the kid’s fist and squeezed until bones snapped. The kid screamed and dropped to his knees.
    “Pleased to meet you, too,” Daniel said, finally releasing his grip.
    The kid cradled his broken hand to his chest, swearing and gritting his teeth in agony, unable to hide the fact he was in a lot of pain.
    Daniel cracked his knuckles and the sound set my spine on edge. “Still feel like playing?”
    The skinny kid took a step forward. Daniel shoved him in the chest, setting him on fire and sending him flying backward. The kid screamed and rolled on the ground in an attempt to put out the flames.
    Everyone around us scattered. Everyone dead, anyway. The living walked past as though nothing had happened.
    “Stop it!” I yelled. “Daniel, stop it, you’re…” I paused. He was what? Killing him? No, far worse. Here, in this nightmare of mine, you could feel the pain, but you couldn’t die. You’d just continue to suffer.
    Daniel waved a hand and extinguished the flames. Metal Girl ran to her friend’s side. The ugly kid with the broken hand glared at Daniel and cursed a few times, but Daniel ignored him.
    “How do you like me now?” Daniel asked the burned kid who lay groaning on the ground. His blackened and charred flesh had miraculously begun to heal all on its own, but it still looked incredibly painful. “I was just warming up. Sorry. Was that bad?”
    I clasped a hand over my mouth and nose. The stench of burnt flesh made me nauseous. I wanted to scream for Daniel to walk away now that he’d made his point, but I was too stunned. All I could do was shake my head in horror.
    Daniel looked at me long and hard. “Is that the kind of stuff you wanted to learn?”
    I couldn’t answer.
    As mortals continued to walk past us, one of them shivered slightly. Others I knew had to be earthbound by the way they looked at Daniel and me—as though we were hungry wolves and they were sheep. Some moved away, others went about their conversations like nothing had happened. Just another wonderful day in Deadsville, nothing to see here, move along.
    Daniel tugged at my arm.
    “Show’s over, let’s go.” He strode toward the glass and silver-framed door at the front of the building. A small group of men and women had collected on the sidewalk, the same expression on their faces as those men who’d watched Daniel and me earlier—contempt. I wasn’t a demon—yet, but in their eyes there wasn’t any difference. To them, I’d be one soon enough. If I’d hoped to find a friendly face in this crowd, I wouldn’t now.
    Without wasting any time, I scrambled up the small set of steps and passed through the front doors after Daniel. I’m not even sure I held my breath that time. I found him in the lobby, pacing. The young woman who sat behind the Formica walnut reception area continued to type away at her computer. I glanced back through the floor length windows to Metal Girl, her friends, and a few other earthbounds who seemed less than thrilled with the commotion we’d caused. If the receptionist had any idea of the number of dead people standing outside she wouldn’t have remained so calm.
    “Daniel, what did you do out there?” I had no idea why his actions had surprised me, but they did. Maybe because people didn’t self-ignite in the living