章 23: Chapter 23: The Grim Reaper

There was a moment of utter silence after Mom's casual pronouncement that sounded far too much like a command for my comfort. And then Dad lost it. I'd never seen him angry, not really. Irritated, frustrated, worried, all of those things. But full out furious? Dad was far too compassionate and levelheaded to lose it. At least, from what I knew of him.

Turned out dealing with Mom was a trigger of his.

The death mask of the Grim Reaper persona appeared over his face, only this wasn't some false image he wore, a costume for the masses. I watched his skin shrivel and retreat, the bones of his cheeks and jaw and eye sockets suddenly white as the flesh withered and peeled away in a grotesque show of power. His hands rose, bone and tendon, clenching before him while two white flames flared in the pits of his black sockets, his voice dropping from its normal soft almost bass to a deep, threatening boom.