A Dance With Death

|| Chapter 8 - Ektor ||

                          

"Althea." The man nods at her. He has his smile plastered to his face. "Griffith."

"Not a pleasure," Griffith scorns.

Ektor's smile widens. "You always have been a hater, haven't you?" Ektor says as he walks away from the desk towards us. He's wearing leather shoes. The clacking sound fills the silence around us. He is as tall as Griffith. With a wide forehead and a structured jawline, the man has partially grey hair and beard. A few wrinkles outline his smile and his eyes.

"Why are you here?" Althea asks, clearly annoyed. I can see the tension between Althea and Ektor. I'm sure that they have a bad history. It's almost like Althea has bad history with everyone.

"To do my job," Ektor says, "Reaping the souls. Following the Natural Order." he huffs. "But you wouldn't care, would you?"

Althea clenches her fists. "Ektor you-"

"Now let's not bring out the past," Griffith cuts Althea off. "What happened, happened. Let's all just try and get over it."

"Yeah," Althea says. "People should just mind their own business."

"Mind their own business?" Ektor scoffs. "You were the one who was about to summon a reaper. How could the reaper then 'mind their own business'?"

"Ektor, please," Griffith warns. "You're talking to us for a reason. We never asked for you. Whatever are you doing here? And I know you have a problem with Althea considering..." He looks at Althea who in turn shakes her head. "State your business," Griffith says, with a hint of annoyance.

Ektor's smile fades. He shoots Griffith a glare. "You should respect your elders," Ektor says, his smile reappearing. I don't know how, but that silly smile of his makes him look like more of a jerk.

"Oh please," Griffith says. "It's just your human form, old man. We don't know how old we are."

"Sorry to interrupt," I speak up, surprised at myself. "Human form? Althea? You don't actually look like what I see you to be, do you?" Curiosity is a bitch.

Althea hesitates for a while. Why wouldn't she?

"Trust me," Griffith speaks up, "You don't want to see our true form. No human should see our true form."

He then falls silent as his attention is now towards Ektor. I follow Grffith's gaze and see Ektor looking at me. He has his hands behind his back as he eyes me with doubt. His face tenses. He's figured out what I am.

"A soul," he says quietly. "I sense a terrible problem already."

"None of your business," Althea spits at him. "Go away."

Ektor doesn't say anything. He has his eyes fixed on me. Then, the expression on his face changes. His eyes show a hint of worry.

"You're....scared?" I blurt out. Fear? Is that what he's feeling?

He narrows his eyes. "He was not supposed to die, was he?" He turns to Griffith and Althea.

Althea's anger disappears. "That's the terrible problem you sensed," she says. She scratches the back of her neck.

Ektor's eyes widen. He looks at me, cocking his head to his side, observing me again. "Not good," he states. "Not good at all."

"You think?" Griffith says. "So now you know why Althea had to summon a reaper for help."

Earlier, I thought that my case was just something rare, that reapers may tackle with such rare cases every now and then. Now, looking at the behaviour of the three reapers in front of me, I've realised that the happenings are indeed very serious. Considering the sudden change in Ektor's attitude, I know that this isn't going to end well.