SOUL REAPERS

Rocky 2

Rocky had dozed off on her bed. The night was old and tomorrow was a new day. Being a superstar took a lot of energy from her, and she needed at least five hours of sleep to regain it. She had fun today, arguing with Bow and talking to Ghost. She never imagined cool people would ever surround a superstar like her. Though their cool factor wasn't that high, it was better than nothing.

Her phone rang, waking her up. "Huh? What?" She glanced around with narrowed eyes before seeing it beside her. "Oh." She rubbed the streak of dry saliva down her chin, then grabbed the phone and answered it with a yawn. "Hello."

"Adina, my superstar sister, how are you?" Quincy asked with a cheerful tone.

Rocky scooted to the edge of the bed, leaving her feet dangling. "I'm super, Brother Quincy. How about you?" She rubbed her eyes, chasing away any leftover sleep.

"I'm doing well; thank you for asking."

Rocky—real name Adina—and Quincy Kabendera came from a lineage of battle sorcerers who helped Tanzania fight magical threats. The Kabendera Family was one of seven elite sorcerer families that assisted the country in gaining independence from the British.

Like most sorcerers, The Kabenderas compared soul reapers to exterminators—though the grim reapers argued they were more like pest controllers, which didn't matter that much. Still, soul reapers did the work no other sorcerers wanted. So when Rocky was born with a scythe-shaped birthmark on her wrist, her family disowned her out of fear for their status among the elite. It was the first time a soul reaper had been born in one of the seven elite families.

"How's school?"

"It's good."

"Really? Then why did your teacher call me the other day and say you're becoming a bad influence on Marcos and Solomon?"

Rocky laughed nervously as she thought of the twins. She wouldn't say she was a bad influence on them; it's just that they realized everyone else at school wasn't a superstar once they started hanging out with her. How could she have known that would happen?

"Adina," Quincy said with a fatherly voice, making her wince. She preferred him in his brotherly state. "You won't defend yourself?"

"How can a superstar like me predict how my fans are going to act? People have professed their love to me, stalked me, and even promised to die for me when the time comes. It's the life of a superstar."

"What people? Give me names."

"Ah..." Her mind went blank. Dammit! She couldn't think of one.

"Adi, I'm waiting."

After a few more seconds of silence, the lightbulb in her head flickered to life. "Bow."

"Bow?"

"Yes, Bow."

"Bow, you're so-called nemesis?"

"Yes."

"She's the one who's been doing what exactly?"

"Stalking me."

"How?"

"Everywhere I go, she's there."

"Adina, you two live in the same house, go to the same school, and are in the same squad."

"Exactly." She tapped her temple with her forefinger as if he'd see it. "You see how easy it is for her to stalk me?"

Quincy laughed. "I do."

Rocky had a smug look on her face. She had successfully convinced her brother that Bow was a stalker. Ha! It's what she deserved for calling her short. "Anyway, how are Mama and Baba?"

"Annoying."

The relationship between Quincy and their parents hadn't been great since they disowned Rocky while he was still in high school.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They're trying to arrange a marriage between me and our competitor's daughter. Our two businesses are not doing well, and both families hope the merger will help us take a big share of the market."

The Kabendera Family used to be among the largest magical weapons manufacturers in Africa. But when they tried expanding outside the continent, they faced severe competition from Western companies, which took extreme measures to ensure they failed. Layoffs, record-low profits, and office closures around the world followed.

"What's her name?"

"Jamila."

"Is she a superstar?"

"She's just a star. You're the only superstar I know."

Rocky giggled.

A pregnant pause fell between them. It never used to be like this. After her parents disowned her, Quincy begged them to let him take care of her. They agreed. He raised her until she turned thirteen and enrolled her at Dar Es Salaam Reaper Academy. Because he was friends with Unice, the captain of the Smiling Jokers at the time, he asked her to look after Rocky. It took less than a year before Unice saw the potential in the girl and asked her to join the squad.

But deep down, Rocky always wondered what it would've been like to experience the motherly and fatherly love Quincy had always talked about. He had assured her their parents weren't bad; it was pressure from the family elders that made them abandon her. But she struggled to believe it when they threw her away like trash the first chance they got.

How could they do that? Why didn't they fight for her? What was wrong with being different?

"How's life with the Smiling Jokers?" Quincy asked, chasing away her toxic thoughts.

Rocky rubbed the tears falling down her face. "They're not superstars yet, but someday they'll be."

Quincy chuckled. It reminded her of her father—they had the same laugh. Rocky's heart ached, and tears pooled in her eyes again. She missed them. Was it possible to miss someone you never knew?

After she turned thirteen, Quincy told her everything that had happened. She then spent every day afterward watching her parents' and relatives' moves. From following them on social media under fake accounts to stalking them in real life. She wanted to know who these people were, leading to the discovery of secrets that no one else knew. Not even Quincy.

"Rocky, are you still there?"

She rubbed the tears from her face. This wasn't how a superstar was supposed to act. What would Bow and the others think of her? Superstars didn't cry like babies. They were strong, and nothing could break them. That's what she needed to be: unbreakable.

"Yes," she replied.

"I have to go."

"Alright."

"Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

"Love you."

"Love you too." Rocky threw her phone on the bed and puffed her cheeks. It was going to be another night of her stalking her family on social media while crying her eyes out because they didn't want her.