Friends With The Monsters - Albany Walker Page 0,17

toes, trying to get a better look at him.

“What some hot cocoa?” I toss the towel I was using on my hair over on my vanity chair.

The robes shift again. “You’re asking Death if he wants hot cocoa?” He sounds almost mystified.

“What, you don’t like it?” I ask suspiciously. Even I like hot chocolate, and I can barely stomach food.

His hood tilts. “I don’t know. I’ve never had it.”

“Well…you don’t know what you’ve been missing.” I walk past him to the bedroom door. When I turn, he’s standing in the same spot. “Are you coming? I can’t rectify your lack of chocolatey experience if you don’t.” I raise my brows.

When he still doesn’t move, I give him a small wave over my shoulder. “Your loss. The offer still stands anytime.” My heart is beating faster than usual. I want him to follow me, but I don’t want to pressure him either.

I open the few windows I pass on my way down to the kitchen, letting some of the cool evening air filter into the house. Someone has a fire going. I can sense the burnt cedar and ash even though it’s probably a mile away. It smells like fall.

I light a few candles and grab a small saucepan from the cupboard. I can feel him before I can see him. I go about getting the sugar, milk, and chocolate as if I expected him to follow me all along. I break off a few big chunks of the chocolate and set it aside while I heat up the milk and sugar.

“I haven’t seen many of my friends lately.” I pause and look over at him. “Do you know Uncle Skinny Legs? He always comes by a couple times a week, but I haven’t seen him in days.”

“I’m not the reason you haven’t seen them.” He sounds almost defensive.

“I didn’t think you were.” I give him the side-eye. “I think he knows I want to know where Radmon went, so he’s avoiding me.” I start chopping up the chocolate. “What can I call you?” I jump topics.

“Grim is fine.” He moves a little closer, still obscured behind the heavy cloak.

“Really? Grim? Isn’t that kind of cliché?” I inquire, before thinking about how it might sound.

“It’s my name,” he tells me slowly.

“So, you really are the Grim Reaper?” I drop the knife and examine him.

“Last I checked.”

“That’s so fucking cool. Are there more than one of you? Do you know how everyone is going to die? When they’ll die?” I scrape the small bits of chocolate into a glass bowl and pop it in the microwave for twenty second intervals, stirring it in between.

“I know when I need to collect someone’s soul.” He comes even closer and pulls out the chair to sit. I pretend not to notice, I don’t want to spook him. Instead, I check to make sure the milk isn’t heating too fast. I don’t know how to cook a lot, but I love hot chocolate, so I made it my mission to find the best recipe I could, and to learn how to make it.

“It’s almost ready,” I chirp, with just a little too much excitement in my tone. “Do you think there’s weird shit going on lately?” I tilt my head, wishing I could see his face…I wonder if he’s a skeleton.

“You ask a lot of questions.” Grim puts his arms on the counter, and one sleeve pulls back enough so I can see some of his human looking hand.

“Not a skeleton then,” I comment more to myself. He pulls his hand back into his robe. “I haven’t had anyone to talk to in a few days—sue me,” I mutter, completely unapologetic. “The lion was the last person…whatever…that I talked to, and he wouldn’t even respond to me. He hid in the trees when I tried to go down to introduce myself.” I roll my eyes and grab two mugs.

“A lion, you say?” Grim actually sounds interested.

“Not just a lion.” I smirk. “He was rocking a golden mane. It was hard to tell from my window, but he looked really big, too. Not that I’ve seen many real lions. So, I don’t really have a comparison,” I ramble. Damn, I need to get out more if I’m this excited for someone to stop by.

After pouring half the liquid deliciousness in his mug and the other half in mine, I turn the handle so he can reach for his own cup. “It’s hot,” I warn him, probably uselessly