The Blight Reaper, Return the Debt

My brother brought his new girlfriend home today. The moment his fiance, Lexie, saw me, she slapped me across the face.

Caleb! I'm warning you! If this little bitch doesn't get my brother out of prison, we are done!

My mother looked at me. I was pale and coughing up a storm, but she just screamed, "You useless girl! You're going to take your brother-in-law's place in jail. If you mess this up, I'll beat your face bloody every single day!"

My father threw his heavy glass mug at my forehead. "You're nothing but a money-pit. We should have sold you off when you were ten! Prison has free food and a bed. You should be grateful for the luxury!"

They all knew my secret. I am the only Blight-Bearer in the world.

I can absorb any disaster or illness meant for someone else.

But what they didn't know was my second secret.

I am also a Blight-Reaper!

I can take the hits, but I can also give them back.

And when I return the debt, they won't be able to handle the cost!

If I remembered correctly, Lexie Vance had been a nightmare since middle school.

She had already done time a couple of years ago for brutalizing another girl.

Her brother was even worseDa total waste of space.

He spent his days gambling, drinking, and picking fights. He was a regular in the county jail.

I held my burning cheek and stared them down. "Your brother is in for murder, Lexie. His execution is scheduled for two months from now."

"I can't just swap places with a dead man walking."

Being a Blight-Bearer meant taking on misfortune.

But dying for a stranger? That was insane.

My mother immediately lunged at me, trying to kick my ribs. I spun away just in time.

"You ungrateful brat! We're just asking you to take the heat, not actually die! I gave you life, I can take it away if I want!"

My father stood up, towering over me. "Girls are worthless. Now that we actually need you, you try to run? I should have married you off to that sixty-year-old pervert years ago."

Eight years ago, when I was ten, my powers hadn't woken up yet.

My parents tried to sell me to a creepy, one-legged old man from the edge of town.

If Caleb hadn't stepped in to save me, I would have been tortured to death back then.

I looked at Caleb. He was the only person in this house who ever spoke up for me.

He was also the person I had absorbed the most pain for.

"Caleb, did you bring her here just to watch me die in two months?"

Ever since Caleb dropped out of school, he'd been running with gangs. If I hadn't taken his hits for him, he'd have been buried in a ditch years ago.

Caleb looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

"Skylar, it's not what you think. I finally found someone I love. Just just stop making things difficult, okay?"

I leaned against the cold wall, my heart sinking into my stomach.

Of course. Birds of a feather flock together.

Caleb was just as rotten as the rest of them now.

Lexie saw my silence and took it as submission.

She started stuffing grapes into her mouth, spitting the skins onto my shoes.

"Hurry up and use your voodoo, you little freak! That cell is no place for a human. My brother needs to be out of there yesterday."

My parents nodded like eager dogs.

Everyone knew prison was hell, yet they were more than happy to shove me into it.

"I won't do it," I said firmly.

Lexie's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

The next second, she threw herself onto the living room floor, screaming and thrashing.

She started pounding her own stomach with her fists. "Fine! If the Miller family wants to treat me like this, I'll just kill this baby right now! I'll make sure your bloodline ends today!"

"Caleb! We're over! I'm going to the clinic to get rid of your son! You'll be childless by dinner!"

The moment Lexie mentioned ending the pregnancy, my mother scrambled to grab her hands.

She was terrified for her precious grandson.

Caleb rushed to pull Lexie off the floor. "Lexie! Baby, you know I love you! I promised I'd take care of it, and I will!"

My mother chimed in, "Don't worry, honey. This house isn't run by that little brat. You're the boss here!"

They hovered over Lexie on the sofa, while three sets of hateful eyes glared at me.

I looked at Caleb, feeling a deep sense of betrayal.

"Caleb, I never said no when you asked for help before. I took every hit, every sickness you earned. But this? You're asking me to die."

Caleb didn't even listen; he was too busy stroking Lexie's hair.

He looked at her and promised, "My sister does what I tell her. Don't worry. I saved her life years ago; she owes me this much."

Mother rubbed Lexie's belly gently. "A daughter is nothing compared to the boy you're carrying. She'll do it, or I'll break her legs myself."

Lexie crossed her legs, a smug look on her face. "Then tell her to get my brother out today! If I don't see him by tonight, the baby is gone!"

Hearing her threaten the pregnancy again made my father lose it. He lunged forward and grabbed me by the throat.

"Go to the damn jail and swap with him now!" he roared.

Caleb actually stepped forward to pin my arms down so I couldn't struggle.

He looked at me with pure venom. "You selfish bitch! You only have this power because you inherited it from Grandpa. You've had it easy for too long!"

"Giving your life now is just paying back what you stole from me!"

Looking at Caleb's crazed expression, I finally understood.

He didn't love me. He was jealous of the protection I provided.

Over the years, that envy had turned into a burning hatred.

He wasn't the brother I remembered anymore.

He only saw the magic, never the agony I endured behind the scenes.

I had absorbed disaster after disaster for this family until my body couldn't take any more.

I had traded my health for their safety.

If it wasn't for me, all three of them would be corpses by now.

I was only eighteen, but I had the heart of an old woman, failing kidneys, and scarred lungs.

I had over a dozen chronic illnesses raging inside me at once.

The only reason I was still breathing was because of my destiny as a Bearer.

But even then, every day was a living nightmare of pain.

I had wanted to fight back before, but I was clinging to the memory of Caleb's kindness.

Plus, the ancient laws of my bloodline forbade me from leaving my family before eighteen. If I ran before then, my body would have literally imploded.

But they didn't know that rule.

"You're doing it today, one way or another!" Caleb screamed. "If you don't use your power, I'll choke the life out of you myself!"

They had planned this whole thing.

Today was supposed to be my funeral.

Luckily for me, today was also my eighteenth birthday.

I struggled wildly, the sheer will to live giving me the strength to break free from my father and Caleb.

I collapsed on the floor, gasping for air. "In your dreams!"

I pointed at them, my voice trembling with rage. "I'm not dying for a piece of human trash, and I'm done being your shield!"

"I've paid back every cent of your 'upbringing' with my blood. From this moment on, I am dead to you!"

I couldn't stay in this suffocating house for another second. I saw them for the monsters they were.

My loyalty to Caleb was officially a joke.

Caleb realized I was serious about burning bridges, so he tried to change his tone.

"Skylar! What are you saying? We're family! Where will you go without us? It's just one little favor, why are you being so dramatic?"

A little favor?

Swapping a death sentence was a little favor?

Lexie saw Caleb softening and decided to up the stakes.

"Caleb! If your sister saves my brother, I won't ask for a dime in dowry! In fact, I'll bring eight hundred thousand dollars to the marriage!"

My mother's eyes practically turned into dollar signs. "What! Eight hundred thousand? I've never seen that much money in my life!"

My father smiled, his temper vanishing. "Lexie, you can't take those words back. And we won't take back our promise to help you."

Lexie snorted dismissively. "You people act like you've never seen cash. That's nothing. My dad is also giving us a penthouse downtown and a brand new BMW."

"Marry me, and you'll be living the high life forever."

Caleb grabbed Lexie's hand, his face flushed with greed. "Lexie! I promise I'll be the best husband ever. I'll do whatever you want!"

Mother slapped her chest in a vow. "Forget her dying for him once, she'll die for him twice if she has to!"

Father nodded. "Ask for anything, Lexie. We'll make sure she works for us until her last breath."

I watched the circus with a cold sneer.

If I remembered correctly, I had walked past the slums yesterday and seen Lexie's family.

Loan sharks were beating her parents half to death, and Lexie was almost dragged away to pay their debts.

Where was this sudden fortune coming from?

Only the idiots in my family would believe her lies.

Mother approached me with a fake, slimy smile. "Honey, just do it. If your brother marries into wealth, you'll have a grand funeral! You should be proud."

Caleb nodded eagerly. "When you're gone, I'll make sure my son burns the best incense for you. You'll be the richest ghost in the afterlife."

Father actually gave me a rare grin. "Your brother's success is your success. I raised you for eighteen years; it's time to settle the bill."

I thought I couldn't be more disappointed in them, but they kept lowering the bar.

They were ready to free a convicted murderer at the cost of my life for a phantom dowry.

I turned toward my roomDthe tiny, cramped closet they let me sleep in. "We are done. I'm packing my bags and leaving."

"If you want to save her brother so badly, go die for him yourselves. Don't ever call me again."

Seeing that I was truly walking away, my mother snapped.

She lunged at me from behind, wrapping her fingers around my throat.

My father threw open the living room curtains.

A ritual circle was already drawn on the balcony floor, hidden away until now.

Caleb pulled out a lighter and began lighting the candles at the edge of the pentagram.

Panic flared in my chest.

I had seen this in my grandfather's old journals. It was a sacrificial ritual to force a Blight-Bearer to take someone's place.

This was a trap from the very beginning.

Whether I agreed or not, they intended for me to die today.

Caleb handed a thick rope to my mother, and together with my father, they tied me up like a pig for slaughter.

They dragged me into the center of the circle and plastered cursed talismans all over my body.

Suddenly, a cold, unnatural wind whipped through the room.

The ritual was active.

Lexie clapped her hands, laughing. "You little bitch! Acted so tough, didn't you? Now you're just a trade-in for my brother's life!"

Caleb waved at me with a sickening grin. "Don't worry, Skylar. A Blight-Bearer's body is worth a fortune. Once you're dead, I'll sell your remains to the highest bidder."

"Don't hate me. You're dying anyway, might as well make me rich. Think of it as your final gift to me."

Mother rubbed her hands together. "A collector offered two hundred grand for a Bearer's ashes! I'm going to be rich!"

Father threw holy water on me, his eyes wild. "Finally! This curse of a daughter is finally paying off. You were always a jinx to me anyway!"

They were so incredibly stupid.

They knew I inherited Grandpa's power, but they didn't know the full extent of it.

I wasn't just a Bearer. I was a Reaper.

A ritual meant for a Bearer didn't work on a Reaper.

I focused my mind and shattered the magic from the inside out.

If they wanted to be heartless, I would show them what true cruelty looked like.

Since they all wanted me dead, they could give me back every second of health they stole from me!

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