Full of a delicious steak dinner, I passed out in my stiff bed without changing out of my clothes. As often happens when you sleep with a stomach full to bursting, my dreams were wild and unusual. First, I found myself on the edge of a cliff. The air behind me was peaceful, but over the water on the other side, a massive storm was brewing, and powerful winds whipped at me, threatening to knock me off my precarious perch.

Then I was in the underground training room of The Nook Inn, and a hundred Marishas were attacking me. They swarmed around me, all striking at once, but I wasn’t falling. They failed to land a single blow. I looked down and my body. I wasn’t wearing my blue denim jeans. I was wearing the robes that hung on my body when I shifted to my Reaper form. But they were a little different.

It took me a few seconds to realize the difference. These robes were pure black. They were so dark that they almost seemed to absorb the light around me. They were also tattered as if they’d seen a score of deadly fights. I felt the scythe come to my hand, and let out a cry of shock. My scythe was a simple wooden stick, with a slightly curved, unadorned metal blade attached to the end. This was larger. The staff was made of what looked like bone, and the blade had strange markings etched into it.

The horde of Marishas continued their onslaught as I studied my strange appearance. Suddenly irritated, I moved in a blur of speed. A silver streak flashed across my vision, as it had in my fight with the Gray Folk, and the crowd of Marishas disappeared into a large cloud of mist that dispersed slowly into the air. Now I was in an empty room.

“Thousands of years later, and you have not changed,” A woman’s voice sounded behind me. “You claim to fight for peace, but your bloodlust is insatiable.”

I turned to face whoever was speaking to me, but the ground gave out from under me as I moved, and I fell into a black void, the light of the training room quickly rising out of sight. I was conscious of more whipping winds, then a woman’s voice laughing, then my vision went black.

I shot up in my bed with a shout, and, by some weird instinct, rolled to the side. When I popped onto my feet, I was in my Reaper form, and the scythe was raised in my hand, ready to block an attack. Or maybe cut something in half. I couldn’t be sure.

“Silas?” My sister Lily’s voice sounded just as the door opened. “You okay?”

I froze as her eyes slid over me, glancing nervously at the large weapon in my hand. This wasn’t good, I told myself. In the best-case scenario, my sister would think I was wearing a Grim Reaper costume. Worst case, she’d think I was insane and would call the police.

But then her eyes slid over me, taking in the rest of my room. A confused look appeared on her face, and she shook her head slightly as she closed the door behind her. I barely heard her as she shut the door.

“Thought I heard him yell,” she said. “Weird.”

Confused, I tried to run after her. Reaching out to grab the doorknob, I found that my hand passed through it easily. Finding nothing solid to collide against, I fell right through the wood and toppled into the hallway. Letting out another cry of shock, I jumped to my feet again. What the hell was going on?

Then it hit me. I was invisible. Not just invisible. My panicked mind sought desperately for the word, then found it. Incorporeal. It was the word often used to describe ghosts. Otherworldly entities that could exist in our world, but they were invisible and couldn’t interact with us. Did that make me a ghost? Maybe, in my Reper form, my body temporarily went somewhere else, and it was just my soul left behind?

Shaking my head in confusion, I went back into my room and shifted back into my physical body. After a few minutes in my Reaper form, I could feel a little heavier now than I was back to normal. Strange. Shaking my head again, I began to pull off my clothes from the previous day. Time to take a hot shower, and enjoy a somewhat normal morning.

After cleaning myself off, I pulled on a long pair of baggy black jeans that I’d bought yesterday. They had pockets down the legs, and a lot of unnecessary silver buttons going down the sides. After that, I pulled on a white tee-shirt with an intricate wolf’s head printed on the chest. I’d grabbed it as soon as I’d seen it, reminded of the wolf head’s crest on my Reaper robes.

Finally, I pulled out the expensive black coat I’d wanted to wear for so long. It fit me perfectly, much to my surprise. I looked at myself in the mirror for a few seconds, admiring the straight shoulders and long straight fit. Buttoning it up, I couldn’t help but grin at my reflection. It was edgy, sure, but god damn I looked cool.

Mom and Lisa were waiting at the table when I came downstairs, plates of eggs and bacon in front of them. There was another plate for me, and I sat down at the table with a slight sight and picked up my fork.

“Did you yell this morning?” Lily asked me at once. “I heard you.”

“Uhh, yeah,” I said slowly. “Sorry about that. Slipped on the bathroom floor.”

“Oh,” Lily said, visibly confused. “I thought I heard it from your room.”

I only shrugged at her as I began wolfing down my breakfast. The meal was basic, but my mom did good basic. The bacon was nice and tender, not crispy, which was my favorite. Speaking of my mother, she sat silently, toying with her food as she stared blankly at me.

“That’s a nice coat, dear.” She said with a slight smile. “You like your black clothing, don’t you?”

I grinned. “Yep. Plus, it looks cool.”

“Too edgy,” Lily said, wrinkling her nose. At 14 years old, she, of course, saw herself as a fashion guru. “You’d look better in a dress shirt.”

“You wear what you want,” I threw back. “My money, my choice.”

“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Thanks for the gift card.”

I nodded, my mouth too full to speak. “No problem. About time we got some new clothes.”

My plate empty, I brought it over to the sink and quickly washed it. We didn’t own a dishwasher. Even if we did, I would be too used to washing by hand to remember it was there. My mother had us helping with chores at an early age, so they were second nature by now. I set the empty plate on the dish rack to dry.

“I gotta go, Mom,” I said. “Mr. Mikel wants me there early to start training.”

“Okay dear,” she said. “Do you need a ride?”

“No, it’s okay,” I said. “I’ll call a cab. Rest before you have to go to work.”