Blurred by Tara Fuller Page A

face to the pillow and tensed, trying to ignore the shadow slithering up to perch at the foot of the bed. With Emma here and my eyes shut, things felt halfway normal again. They felt right. I didn’t want it to end.
    “What’s wrong?” Emma turned over to look at me, afraid. “Are they here?”
    Her arm curled around me protectively, as if she’d actually be able to do something if they decided to make a move. A flurry of darkness swept past the open window. I shut my eyes and grabbed her hand, forgetting about the awkwardness I’d created between us, and pulled her against my chest. “They’re always here.”

Chapter 8
    Anaya
    The Inbetween.
    The place where souls came to be reborn. Or die.
    I shivered as I approached the gates. It felt strange not having a soul in tow. I usually tried to avoid this place at all costs. And that usually wasn’t a problem, but since Finn had left, I found myself having to visit at least once a day. Only this time it was different. This time it wasn’t a soul that had brought me here.
    I stepped up to the big iron gates and raised my chin at the hooded guard.
    “No soul?” he pushed his hood off, revealing a head full of dark curly hair, then pulled open the gates.
    “No,” I said, breezing through. “Balthazar wishes to see me.”
    His brows furrowed together and he nodded, as if he were sending me to my second funeral. Under normal circumstances, Balthazar would call a reaper in for a one-on-one meeting only if something had gone awry. Usually these meetings ended in punishment. These weren’t normal circumstances, though. No, if this turned out the way it was supposed to, I was getting a reward at the end of this journey. I could only hope that he was calling me in to tell me we were at the end.
    I skirted past each hollow soul with ease, ducking under the shelter of shadow shapes to go unseen. As long as I didn’t make eye contact with any of them, I wouldn’t have to feel guilty for sending some of them here. There were too many children. Some souls were already approaching their ten-year mark. You could see the decay setting in. The madness was driving their transition into shadows. I couldn’t stand it.
    Someone grabbed me and I flinched. Thin white fingers dug into my arm with a desperation I couldn’t fathom. A young girl emerged from the hemlock-shaped shadow and gazed up at me with dark eyes and feathery blond curls that she kept tucked behind her ears. The blackness had already eaten away the whites of her eyes, and whatever color they used to have.
    “Y-you’re a Heaven’s reaper?” Her voice was all static.
    I nodded, slowly.
    “Help me,” she whispered. Her eyes darted around. “Please. You could take me across. I don’t belong here.”
    Pain blossomed inside my chest. I wanted to. I would have given anything to take her hand and lead her home. But her chances of getting through those gates weren’t any better than mine. I looked down at the black spidery veins creating a road map up her arms and down her neck. No. Her chances were even worse. The darkness had already taken hold. She was beyond help.
    “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, squeezing her hand.
    Her eyes widened. “No! Please!”
    “Anaya, dear.” A voice boomed from ahead. I jerked my hand away from the girl and turned around. The mist parted and revealed Balthazar, a light among the dreary darkness. He motioned for me to follow him. I fell into step behind him, my chest constricting with fear as he led me up the marble steps to the Great Hall. I’d never been inside. Few had, and the few that had never emerged. Balthazar lifted his hand and two mirrored doors swung open to allow us entrance.
    Inside, the walls and floors were glass. Thousands of images flashed across their surface. Humans. Each in their last moments of life, in the cold grip of death. One by one the life left their eyes, and they were replaced by a new face. A new death. Balthazar cleared his throat, snatching my