Lies & Guilty ~ A Grim Reaper's Top Secret

A Perfect Erica ~ The First Sign of Recurrence Fragility~

Alan Humphries let himself sat upon a roof of a five-storey building which was covered in thick snow, his yellow-green orbs were transported to and fro from glancing the watch on his left wrist to the dark sky as the nighttime came to bathe the world in her comforting black. He felt uneasy as his mind was still very much distraught by the details of his target he read in the document that morning – the target that he had been observed right before the boy and his family entered a restaurant located opposite to where Alan was sitting.

Alan had just arrived at Colchester to retrieve the last soul of the day. He had gone to Newbury, Swindon and Abingdon during the day and to Salisbury and Whitchurch later in the evening before departed to Colchester. So far, throughout his career as a Shinigami, he was only assigned to fetch souls of elderly people and common adults. Unlike his mentor and idol, Eric Slingby who had vast experience in reclaiming spirits of high-profile human beings ranging from aristocratic clans and members of royal family to young children inclusive newborn and unborn babies. Even rule-negligence Shinigami like Grell Sutcliffe who was also Alan's senior at work had accumulated such precious working experience just like Eric.

Unconsciously, he brought his hand towards his chest, as if it held onto his heart, feeling tightness of all sudden. He felt there was something sharp poking his heart and the pain became more intense as he committed to breathing process.

Cold sweats appeared on Alan's forehead, the pain in his heart sent a chill up his spine. "Ma...masaka.... the old sickness comes back.... Ah, Alan Humphries, you can't let the pain dwells in you...refrain yourself from exhibit deep emotion towards your target...You'll get hurt even more, so please stop!" He told to himself in stern voice as usual every time the pain struck him.

The Shinigami closed his eyes tightly, trying to calm himself and discarded any thought that clouded his mind by repeating inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. After a few moments, his heart seemed to relax as the pain faded away. He then let out a huge sigh before deliberately opened his eyes and let them observed the moonless night sky. Clouds were covering up the sky with snow had falling down for more than a month. The weather was depressing, its chill killed the warmth of the people and the world for as long as the sky cried his magical flakes.

How much longer do I have before Death beckons me?

Alan's eyes shifted from the sky towards a clock tower, towering alone not far from where he sat, amidst the white blanket covering the rooftops. The yellow-green orbs followed the clock's hands as they moved towards the hour; one second felt like a minute, a minute felt like 30, no matter how long the time passed, to Alan the moment felt endless.

Tick...tock...tick.... tock.... The Shinigami awaited his execution, hearing the order of the clock, counting every second until he no longer had to stay, letting his conscience to be mocked by the clock tower as his fingers ran on his death scythe's blade.

Suddenly, a woman's scream echoed through the darkness of night after a loud bang, causing the Shinigami to divert his vision to where it came from. Alan jumped down from the rooftop to the land and walked solemnly towards the sound; his orbs caught the side of shattered glasses and squealing wheel lying on the road nearby where the restaurant – a dinner place where his young target went to celebrate his birthday with his family, was located.

A few people had gathered at the scene whereby Alan's target would soon meet his destiny. He saw that his target was lying helplessly in the embracement of a woman who screamed earlier, with a man and three young girls surrounded the woman. Blood spurted from the young boy's mouth, legs, arms and abdomen, slowly causing him to lose his consciousness after being hit by a horse drawn carriage. The carriage was badly damaged due to collision against a lamp post; however, the driver was stupefied, yet unhurt as he managed to jump off himself from the driver's seat before the collision took place. Unfortunately, the driver's master did not share the same fate as him. Alan's eyes caught the sight of the master who was injured on his head, the right side of his arm and leg and he also suffered from backpain. He was curling his body as he endured pain while being soothed by his driver.