Death is a Girl

Chapter 70 - Wake-up Call

By the time they retired for the night, Morrigan had so little energy she wasn’t even able to freak out about sleeping next to Emma. Though, she kept her back facing away from her since her hoodie was still hanging up to dry, and she was worried about the changeling acting up while they slept. Dawn was nearly breaking, so she fell asleep to the sound of chirping birds, and despite everything that happened, no dreams plagued her.

She was eventually woken by the sound of Hilda banging a pot as a makeshift alarm bell, making Morrigan’s head feel like it was on the verge of splitting open from each metallic clang. Cracking one eye open, she saw Emma already up and stretching, an equally groggy look in her eyes. Morrigan didn’t know what time it was, but she was sure it hadn’t been a full eight hours.

“Uuuuuhhg, what’s her problem?” Morrigan moaned as she wrapped her pillow around her head and curled deeper into the blankets.

Emma let out a long yawn. “Probably doesn’t want us sleeping too late.”

“COME ON, GIRLS!” Hilda called. “IT’S ALMOST NOON!”

Morrigan wondered about the possibility of penning Hilda’s name on her list. It would almost be worth it for a couple of extra hours of sleep. “Tell her thirty more minutes,” Morrigan whined from under the blankets.

“Sorry, I’ve been camping with her before, and there’s no chance of that happening.”

“But we didn’t even get to sleep until almost morning!”

“Doesn’t matter,” Emma said, just as another round of banging pots assaulted Morrigan’s eardrums. “Trust me, she’s not going to let up.”

“I’m never camping again,” Morrigan mumbled.

Emma chuckled softly, shaking her head. “You say that now, but give it a few weeks, and you’ll be begging to come back.”

Morrigan peeked from under the blankets, red eyes squinting at Emma. “Doubt it.”

“Alright, you two,” Hilda called out again, her tone slightly more gentle now. “Breakfast is ready, and we need to pack up soon. We’ve got a long hike back to the jeep.”

With a groan, Morrigan reluctantly pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes. “Fine, fine. I’m up.” Her eyes met Emma’s, and the blonde girl instantly started chuckling, hiding her mouth behind her hand in a failed attempt to stifle it.

“What?” Morrigan asked dryly.

“You just look so miserable.”

Morrigan sighed and let her eyes drop back to the comforter over her legs. Despite the pounding in her head, Morrigan couldn’t help giving a tired smile as well. Whatever horrible events unfolded last night, waking up to see her best friend right next to her, sharing the morning with her, made everything a little more bearable. Then as Emma moved closer, Morrigan’s eyes were drawn back to her.

“Here, turn around, I’ll fix your hair,” she said, sitting with legs crossed as she positioned behind Morrigan and pulled out the brush. Morrigan tensed, feeling her heart thud as Emma began, but soon the rhythm of the brush became soothing, and she relaxed under Emma’s gentle touch. She felt her eyes become heavy as she nearly fell asleep again while sitting up. Even the changeling seemed placated, as it gave no indication of its presence, even when Morrigan thought about it.

“There you go,” Emma said after a while. “You look a little more alive now. Let’s get up before Hilda actually comes in to get us.”

“Mmm, yeah. Thanks,” Morrigan said. She didn’t know precisely what the thank you was for, she just felt like she owed Emma one.

They both crawled out of the tent. The morning air was warm, with a soft glow coming through the trees that surrounded their little clearing. Hilda had set up a cast iron skillet over the campfire and was frying eggs and bacon, the smell instantly greeting the two girls as they made their way over.

“Good morning, sleepyheads,” Hilda greeted them with a grin. “Hope you’re hungry.”

Morrigan gave her a dry look. “How the hell do you have so much energy?”

Hilda lifted a metal thermos. “Magic potion!”

“Well, give me some,” Morrigan mumbled, not expecting her to actually hand it over. Morrigan raised her eyebrow suspiciously, then carefully smelled it. “Wait, isn’t this just coffee?”

Hilda laughed. “Yup. Caffeine is certainly a wonder of the natural world, don’t you think?”

“I’m not really a fan of coffee…” Morrigan said, squinting at the thermos. Though, she imagined the caffeine would help with her headache, so she took a resigned breath and tried some. She initially winced as the liquid touched her tongue, but her expression gave way to a more satisfied look. “Huh, not bad, actually.”

Hilda winked and took it back, gesturing over to the cooler. “Cream makes a big difference. I’ve also got gourmet beans, and nothing beats coffee brewed over an open fire. Want your own cup?”

“Uuuh… yeah, sure.”

“Me too!” Emma said, raising a hand as she took a seat next to Morrigan.

Hilda carefully poured more coffee into two mugs and then handed them to the girls. Emma reached for the cooler and added cream, then Morrigan did the same. Soon, Hilda was handing them plates of eggs and bacon. The breakfast was good, and the caffeine quickly worked its magic. Morrigan almost instantly felt some relief from the pressure building behind her eyes, and her head started to clear.

She sat back after she finished eating, still sipping her coffee, and stared past the boulder and over the distance where she could see a sliver of Mount Hood. The forest chirped harmoniously, and it was hard to believe such a nightmare had occurred here just last night. Morrigan could barely remember it; it was like a dream. But as she thought about it, she had flashes of the horrific battle coming back to her.

She shuddered, pushing the thoughts away and focusing on the warmth of the coffee mug in her hands.

Emma nudged her gently. “You okay?”

Morrigan nodded, giving a small smile. “Yeah, just... processing everything.”

Emma’s brown curved sympathetically. “Yeah… it’s over now, though. We survived.”

Morrigan stared into the dark liquid in her mug. She wanted to agree with Emma, but she wasn’t sure if that was true or not. She kept learning that her new life as a reaper wasn’t as simple as guiding the souls of the deceased. Even that alone was a lot to process and deal with, but more and more nightmares kept coming into her life. First, the demon who killed that child, then the changeling, and now this.

She felt her back bubble a little and looked toward her hoodie hanging off a tree. She downed the last of her coffee and stood up.

“At least we know the seal works as intended,” Morrigan said as she checked the hoodie, finding it a bit stiff but dry. She slipped it on and zipped it up, ignoring the fact that it was going to be a hot day. She couldn’t wait for winter when it’d be more natural to dress like this. At least the basketball shorts spared her legs from the heat.

Morrigan then went back to the tent to grab her phone. No signal, of course, and when Emma saw her raising it toward the sky, she pointed to the boulder. “Try up there. You might have better luck.”

Morrigan followed Emma’s suggestion and climbed up onto the boulder, holding her phone up in search of a signal. After a moment, she managed to get a weak connection and searched her own name. She saw a news article, but it seemed to repeat all the same information that was already out. Then she checked Read-it for more wild speculation and overly confident posts about how her mother had probably killed her.

At least she’s not in jail or anything yet…

She stared out over the mountain ranges, Mount Hood standing tall on the horizon, and for a moment, wished that life could just be easy. She wished she could just hang out with Emma and Hilda, and never have to worry about anything serious. Even if she couldn’t take back dying and becoming a reaper, she wished things didn’t have to be so complicated. She wished she could just live in the woods and reap animal spirits like Lawrence. She wished her mom was safe, and that she could see Emma as often as she wanted and never have to worry about demons, including the one grafted into her back.

“Morrigan,” came Noir’s voice.

Of course, even a few minutes of peace is too much to ask for.

“What?” she asked, looking down to see the black cat sitting on his haunches in front of her.

“When you have a moment, check your list. You have three names that must be reaped before midnight tonight.”

She sighed and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll check it when we get back to the cabin,” she said, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice. She carefully climbed down from the boulder and rejoined Emma and Hilda, who were busy cleaning up the remains of their breakfast.

Emma glanced up and saw the troubled look on Morrigan’s face. “Everything okay?”

Morrigan forced a smile. “Yeah, just got a reminder from Noir. I have some reaping to do tonight.”

Hilda gave her a sympathetic nod. “Well, I hoped to make good on teaching you some glamour today. We’ll get you back to Death’s cabin first, though, and if you have enough time, I’ll at least give you the basics. For now, let’s finish packing and head to the waterfall. We can freshen up before hitting the road.”

***

The trio then made their way to a nearby waterfall to freshen up before their journey back. Once again, their serene surroundings were at odds with the battle from last night. As she brushed her teeth along with Emma and Hilda, she thought about her duties as a reaper that lay ahead of her for a day, and she started to feel like this was a dream. One she would inevitably wake up from.

After finishing at the waterfall, they went back to camp and started packing up, then began their hike back down the mountain, Noir moving ahead to check for any threats. Though, after his patrols the night before, he was convinced there was no longer anything to worry about.

Getting back to the jeep turned out to be a much easier hike than going uphill the day before. The orange vehicle revealed itself through the thickets much sooner than Morrigan anticipated, and before long, they were driving back down the mountain.

Emma cracked open the astrology book, and Morrigan found herself just staring out the window. The dull drone of anxiety that had gripped her heart came back in full force by the time they were back on the interstate, but she couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why. Well, there were plenty of viable reasons she could think of, but what exactly would cure her of it, she wasn’t sure.

She subconsciously let out a long sigh, wishing she knew how to stop herself from feeling this way. It just attacked the pit of her chest and stomach all the time, and she was sick of it.

Emma glanced over at Morrigan, her eyes filled with concern. “You sure you’re okay?” she asked again, her voice soft.

Morrigan forced another smile, though it felt strained. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired, I guess.”

Emma frowned, apparently not accepting that answer. She closed her book and said, “You know… if you’re not okay, that’s alright.” Morrigan raised an eyebrow, not expecting those kinds of words. Usually, when giving the affirmation that everything’s fine, people just accept it and move on. “You’ve been through a lot and… last night was…” Emma exhaled. “If I’m being honest, I’m not fine after seeing that. And it was way worse for the two of you. I wasn’t in the fight; I was just watching…” Her hands gripped the astrology book a little tighter. “I wish there was more I could have done. I wish I was a proper witch and could have helped.”

“No, I preferred you didn’t have to deal with it,” Morrigan said. “Besides, I was unconscious through part of it… I don’t even remember much.” That was partly a lie.

“Neither of you should have had to deal with something like that,” Hilda spoke up from the driver’s seat. “You’re still kids; you’re only sixteen. You should just be having fun. When you learn magic, do it because it’s fun and you like it, not because you feel like it’s something you need to do to be safe.” She looked in the rearview mirror. “That’s how people end up getting too deep into black magic.”

“Okay, I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Emma said with a smile.

Morrigan nodded, still feeling her anxiety gnawing at her, which only got worse as she pulled out her list. Her first client would be at 8:00 pm, four hours from now. “Hey, how long until we get back to the cabin?”

“About an hour,” Hilda answered.

Morrigan nodded and rolled up the list. “Alright, I’ll probably have an hour or two to practice glamour with you; after that, I have to get ready for work.”

“Alright, that should be enough for me to teach you the basics, but I’ll want to get in a full day of practice with you before you properly utilize it, alright?”

Emma seemed to consider asking something, then finally did. “So, Morrigan. Have you decided what you want to do about your mom’s situation yet?”

“Well… I can’t just leave her hanging, so I guess I’ll have to go home. That means talking to the police too, so they know she didn’t kill me.” Morrigan let out a dramatic sigh. “Just hope I can actually pull it off.”

CLICK HERE TO READ NEXT CHAPTER!