The Reaper Child: Book II [Child!Reader Protagonist]

~Chapter 10~

"(Y/N), come join me on the couch!" Grell summoned you over. "That show were watching is still on!"

You raced back over to join your mother on the couch.

"So, what do you think of your new father? Isn't he just wonderful!?" Grell said as you climbed up on the couch next to her.

"Yes, he's great!" You forced a smile. It was a lie. But you didn't want to cross your mother by expressing any dislike towards Will.

Grell chuckled. "Look, I know Will isn't exactly the type that's good with children," she told you, clearly not believing you. "He may act cold, but once you get to know him, you'll see that he has a soft side. But I'm the only one who knows of it. He would never admit it.

"If you think about it, it was Will that made it possible for us to have a hot meal after the stove got destroyed. He also helped sign the documents I needed to be able to bring you here in the first place. That must surely mean something, right?"

"I guess..." You couldn't really argue with that.

"Anyway," Grell changed the subject. "Why don't we just watch our show before for awhile?"

You nodded. Grell grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. The channel remained where it was before and the show was still having a marathon. You curled up next to Grell and watched the repetitive drama scenarios that occurred in every episode. Since there was always a twist within the drama, that helped it become less tedious and maintained the audience's focus.

By the time the show played for the fifth time, drowsiness gradually snuck up on you. But you did everything in your power to keep your eyes open. After all, you didn't want to miss what happened.

"Alright, off to bed with you," Grell said when she caught you nodding off one too many times.

"But I'm not tired..." you whined.

"Like I believe you." Grell rolled her eyes. "Remember earlier today when you said you weren't tired? I came to check on you fifteen minutes after we made our deal and you were fast asleep."

Stubborn, you made a grumbling sound. In response to that, Grell used her foot to nudge you forward.

"Oof!" You grunted when your small body landing on the floor in front of the couch. It didn't actually hurt, you were more surprised than anything. But even then, you shot Grell with what you thought was a venomous glare.

Grell laughed. "Be grumpy with me all you want, darling. It's very late. Come on, you're going to bed now." Before you had the chance to debate, Grell stood and picked you up. Holding you in her arms, she carried you up the stairs and to your room.

"Don't worry darling," Grell reassured you as she tucked you in. "I have another day off tomorrow. The fun shall continue. It's impossible to be bored with me around." She smirked before planting a kiss on your forehead.

"Sweet dreams, (Y/N)," Grell said before she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

You were now alone in a dark room. Within minutes, you drifted off into a deep sleep.

When you woke up again the next morning, you were no longer in that room. But somewhere else. Your eyes frantically scanned your surroundings.

The walls were no longer red. Your comforter wasn't red either. There was no bookshelf next to you. There was no wardrobe.

The bed you were in now was nothing like the one you slept in the night before. Instead of a full size bed, you were sleeping on a bunk bed. The room may have been bigger, but hardly anything was exclusively yours around here.

You were back in the foster home.

Heart racing, questions raced in your mind.

What happened?

Why are you here?

Weren't you just adopted yesterday and living in a new home?

Where was Grell?

She didn't decide she was already tired of you and just dropped you off here while you were asleep, did she?

The other children, who you were familiar with, were still asleep. It was still early in the morning.

Laying on the lower bunk, you climbed out of bed. Instead of the soft carpet at Grell's place, your feet landed on cold wooden floors.

Suddenly you had an intuition to check the area next to your bunk bed. You did, and saw that your luggage was still there.

Didn't Grell destroy it yesterday? Somehow, here it was, completely intact.

You looked down at your outfit and saw that it was one of the clothes you used to wear before that luggage was destroyed.

Puzzled more than ever, you ventured out until you saw one of your former foster parents who was preparing breakfast.

"Good morning, (Y/N)?" She greeted you. "You're up early."

"Why am I here?" You asked.

Your foster parent raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Grell adopted me yesterday!" You said frantically, getting more worked up by the second. "Yesterday I was there and now I'm not!"

After a long pause, your foster parent said, "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of this Grell person."

"Look, I know it's not easy living in a foster home," she continued. "You're not the only one here who wants to be adopted. I have no doubt that a family will want to adopt you someday."

"Does this mean that Grell has never stopped by at all?" You asked slowly.

In response, your foster parents shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not."

That was when waves of various emotions collided over and over with one another within you. Unable to continue this conversation any longer, you turned and slowly headed back to the bedroom.

You laid back down on your bed and covered your face with yours hands.

There was no doubt that Grell herself existed. Her partner, Will definitely existed too, unfortunately. You've seen her many times over the course of your life, including yesterday, or so you thought.

Does this mean that every event that happened yesterday was all just a dream? So Grell never actually came to pick you up? You never went through her thrill ride all the way to that crimson-painted home?

That meant that you never had your own bedroom at all. As far as you were concerned, that room could be a storage room, never to be made into a comfortable, homey bedroom for you.

Grell never almost burned the house down and flat out destroyed her stove trying to make you a nice meal.

She never introduced you to her husband, though you didn't mind that part very much. And that means you certainly never watched a silly reality show until late in the night with her.

But didn't she stop by days ago informing you that she was going to sign some documents to make the adoption official? Though your foster parent just told you that she has never heard of a person named Grell.

That meant she never came by at all.

From the sounds of it, you went to sleep one night and just dreamt that long, vivid dream.