Parallel Lines- *RAYOR*

Chapter 8

I can't think of anything more appealing to someone than someone who loves their mother.

I'm worried about Nicco, but I don't say it.

I guess at the moment he doesn't want me worrying about him. He keeps denying his headache and it's affecting his mood a lot. I've been doing his reaping for the past few days and it's keeping me on my toes. Sometimes I go out with Blake and Aster for swimming, but I don't tell Nicco. He'd get jealous and mad and have a headache again which would make him madder and that would be horrible.

Aster isn't home much. He just stays with Blake maybe twelve hours a day. I wish I knew how it felt to be such good friends with someone you didn't notice time passing in each other's presence. Whenever I had friends Nicco got jealous. It was worth shunning them for him. Just another one of his 'rules'.

No friends. Compliance. It's times like these when I wonder if it's worth it.

There's a boy who reaps in the same part of me. Kay. He has dark hair, mirroring many of the reapers here. But his eyes are an odd colour. A blue colour, but warmer. Almost violet in shade. I made an attempt to socialise.

"Hello, Kay," I say.

A look of annoyance flits across his face. "Was it Levi?"

"Levy," I say.

He doesn't say anything, but draws out his scythe so fast my heart skips a beat. But he just strikes down a lady passing by. Her spirit, vaporous and murky, rises up and seemingly evaporates.

"You're the one who knows the girl from the palace," says Kay.

"Blake," I say. "She's the half-reaper."

Kay looks up at the sky pointedly. "Everyone knows that."

I'm not deterred. But I wonder why there's no in-between of personalities. Everyone's either as nice as Kyran, or as shy as Kyle, or as sharp as Blake or Kay. Nicco might be an exception. But he's a twin, and twins are volatile.

Kay watches a man through narrowed his eyes. Everyone here had sun-kissed skin and dark hair, apart from a few tourists. Some person was barking at a little boy in a strange tongue I didn't recognise. He didn't seem mad but his voice was. Also, the sun was scalding.

"You know, my mama once liked a man like that," says Kay, pointing to the man. I'm sweating in the hot sun, my brain is being cooked and I'm trembling with the effort of keeping invisible, whilst Kay is cool as a cucumber.

"What? You're also half reaper?"

Kay gives an ironic bow. "I'm not Kay," he says after a few long moments. "I'm Kei."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I say, reddening.

"Everyone calls me Kay. But my dad taught Mama how to speak Mandarin." He says the word 'mama' as if it's something in a different language, not just an abbreviation for a nickname he couldn't pronounce.

"But we're not in China," I say, confused.

"Other people speak it too," says Kei. "Not just people from that country. And Malaysia is pretty close to China."

My legs don't agree. They're wobbly from teleportation. "What happened to your dad?"

"Oh, he died," says Kei as if it doesn't matter. "What about yours?"

"I don't have a dad," I say.

Kei looks at me pityingly. I don't like it- well, I don't know. It's how Nicco looks at me. Condescending.

"Wasn't your mum upset when she died?"

"I guess."

"I haven't seen you around the other reapers. Do you have any friends?" I don't feel guilty asking the question. I don't mean it badly. But Kei's face hardens.

"I don't like them," he says.

"They're nice," I say, secretly thinking it's because he's so cold that he doesn't have any friends. He seems to follow my train of thought.

"They don't like my mother. They call her names. She's Kezia- you might have heard of her." Reapers go by first names. Last names aren't really a thing. But now I realise that I must have a dad, because I do have a last name: Vigilanco.

"Oh, I remember," I say. She's a sweet woman, shorter than average with eyes that sloped at the edges. She gives of 'single aunt' vibes. I feel bad for it but I can't imagine anyone loving her, but she is friendly, and not at all like Kei.

"They call my mother things. Because of what she wears, and does," says Kei. I know that Kezia likes to wear white. I didn't know she was made fun of it. "White's the colour of death," says Kei.

"No it isn't," I say.

Kei rolls his eyes. "Whatever. I don't care if they don't like me. No one messes with my mama."

My perception of Kei changes. I can't think of anything more appealing to someone than someone who loves their mother.

Kei strikes down a man. "Well. Get on with your reaping," he says. I do. He doesn't speak to me that day. Or the day after that. But I'm glad that I know more about him except for the fact that he's moody.