The Life Extension - Wattys 2015

Prologue.

{Twyla Reaper}

Jayce and I walked towards the Place de la Concorde where Marie Antoinette had been executed earlier in the day. The executioners had used a guillotine as a method of execution because I could smell her uncleaned blood. She was executed for treason to the principles of the revolution. It made me snicker to hear about her execution.

It was quite eerie to be walking through the streets at night, but we couldn't walk through the day groping her body. There was a full moon high in the dark sky and the pale, ghostly light threw itself on the shop walls of the two of us. The jet black silhouettes on the shabby stone path made our shadows taller than we actually were. The pale, ghostly moonlight was like a pathway, guiding us to her body and head.

Earlier in the day, Jayce and I were looking through our little black book. In the book, I read that Marie Antoinette was going to be executed for treason, which is why Jayce and I were here. We planned to come collect her soul under the cloak of darkness during the middle of the night. It was one of the hundreds of souls we had to collect for the day. The remaining souls were for our demon "slaves" to collect. Well... More like... Colleagues.

"We must be getting closer to Queen Marie's body. We've been walking for ages," Jayce whispered to me, keeping his arm around my waist. I kept my spine aligned as I walked along with my brother, uncomfortable with how we were meant to act.
Jayce's dark, carmine hair was tousled around while he wore his French-styled clothing. He had tan colored pants, cut off at his knees, along with white socks that looked like tights. He had a red jacket that he'd buttoned up to conceal everything he had brought along: The little black book and a jewel that brought us back and forth between the mortal world and our Death realm.

On the other hand, my silver hair had been tied into a tight bun with a lone strand falling onto my face. I had a purple dress on with a front corset to squeeze my waist and maintain posture. Split in the middle of the skirt, a white satin area simmered gently in the moonlight. I had a black veil to cover my face in case someone bothered to walk through the streets. I brought my Soul Necklace to collect the mortal souls and it was hanging around my thin neck. The necklace comprised of a black jewel chain with a large, oval shaped onyx to hold the souls. We would be emptying the souls into the Death Realm's atmosphere later on.

I attempted to take a deep breath, but I was suffocated by the tight grasp of my corset. Jayce took out the black, leather bound book and attempted to read it with the limited moonlight. I repeatedly glanced behind us with a sneaking suspicion that someone had been following us silently. When I was somewhat positive that no one was behind us, I looked back at Jayce.

"According to The Book, Queen Marie should be ahead," Jayce told me, closing The Book with a slam. I shuddered from the sudden blast of sound, but continued to walk alongside him.

"I wish we could go back to our own realm soon. Walking around the streets of France after dusk is quite... Nerve-racking," I admitted, apprehensively palming the Soul Necklace that hung loosely around my neck. My brother stopped and kneeled down beside Queen Marie's body, making me bump into his back lightly. I kept my lace veil over my face and attempted to not look at her detached head. I looked down at my brother as he continued to take note of her head and body. "Is Queen Marie's head... Damaged?"

"Not much. Would you come a bit closer? You can't collect souls standing so far away." I squirmed as he looked up at me. I hated being close to blood in general, not to mention dismembered bodies. To this day, I do not understand how I am the child of Life and Death. Jayce's eyes were narrowed at me as he looked at me. "Twyla, now is not the time for your pointless squandering."

"You know how I feel around this sort of stuff." He waved me off as I walked towards him. I was rather close to her as she lay on the rough cobblestone. The moonlight was like a spotlight, mocking me by showcasing her detached head and severed neck. I kneeled down and unclasped my necklace from around my neck. I held it in my hand as Jayce wrote down information using his scrawly handwriting, not paying attention to me. My hand began to tremble as it approached Queen Marie's chest. I dropped the necklace onto her unmoving chest and retracted my hand quickly. Jayce glanced up at me and nodded.

"Good. Only a few seconds until we can leave." I watched the necklace snatch the queen's soul, creating a black swirl that circulated the air for a few seconds. The aura lingered, but was not visible to the mortal eye. The necklace suddenly glowed a black-gray color, signaling that the soul had been sealed within.

I swiped the necklace from her chest and clasped it around my neck again. Jayce stood up, taking out the finely cut ruby from his jacket.

"Thank goodness, we can leave now," I mumble, holding onto the jewel in Jayce's hand.

~

"Another day, another death," I sigh, walking on the sidewalk with Jayce. He rolled his eyes and dug around in his pocket.

Today, the two of us were walking around the streets of Los Angeles, California. They've been getting crazier as time passes and we're here to witness it all. They've been smoking cigarettes until their lungs turned black. Like I said, they're getting crazier.

Our plan is to break into Marilyn Monroe's mansion to collect her soul because she had a drug overdose. That was going to be difficult task with all the publicists swarming the front of her luxurious mansion.

"I hate this stupid dress. The scoop neck is so itchy," I complain, itching at the sky blue scoop neck of my dress while still trying to look a little ladylike. I look down at the pleated skirt that I was also wearing and frowned. "How come women can't just wear pants like men?"

"Because mortals are sexist and they think women aren't good enough. Besides, you're not the one with a whole can of grease in your hair," Jayce complained, pointing to his shiny, deep red colored hair that had been slicked back. I sighed, feeling the cummerbund buckles tighten around me like an iron maiden. Women just love making themselves suffocate to try and look beautiful to men. "To add onto to that, I'm the one wearing a full suit with a sweater in the summer."

"That stinks then. Let's just get this over with and leave." I tightened the high ponytail and adjusted the blue headband. A couple people looked over at us, noticing our odd appearance, but I misted their vision to make them look away. I sighed. Jayce shoved his hand in his pocket, trying to find something.

For once, Jayce wasn't looking for the Black Book in his pocket. Instead, he was looking for his box of cigarettes that he had stolen from the corner store.

Over the past couple millenniums, our book has been growing in number of pages from the population growth. There were more than 3 billion people in the world now, making our job much more difficult. We have to distribute the job of soul collection between the two of us and the demons. Now, we only have to collect 250 souls a day, giving us more than enough time to rest. The job of soul collection pretty much belongs to the demons.

Jayce pulled out a cigarette and placed it in between his lips. He pulled out another for me and I followed his actions. I snapped my fingers at the end of the cigarette, igniting a tiny flame. I did the same for Jayce and then let out a puff of smoke.
"Stupid mortals don't know what cigarettes do to their body," Jayce chuckled, taking the cigarette from his lips and blowing a puff of smoke into the air. I rolled my eyes and blew small wisps from my red lips.

"They take life so lightly. That gives us more to do," I smirk. We both chuckled darkly and finally approached the fence of Ms. Monroe's mansion. Jayce tossed his cigarette and hoisted me up over the fence. I swung my legs over the fence and rolled onto the grass. The impact made me drop my cigarette. I stood up and brushed the grass off my dress.

"Open the fence gate for me, Twyla." I walked towards the fence gate and unlocked the door. He slipped in and closed the gate behind him with a soft click. I looked at him with devious smile.

"Where to, Jayce?"

A/N

Hi! So this is my new book, The Life Extension, and I hope you've enjoyed this little preview into the life of Twyla. There isn't much to talk about except for the fact that my best friend is editing and helping write this. Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed it and please show some support. :3