A Dance With Death

|| Chapter 12 - Disruption ||

                 

Perrie, Liam and Harry are deeply engrossed in their conversation. I can't hear them. I don't even bother to listen what they're talking about. Except for them, the corridor outside my room is silent. Even though I'm just a soul, I'm exhausted after what's been happening.

I'm leaning cautiously against the wall so as to not fall right through it, now that I'm nothing but thin air. I close my eyes, trying to analyze whatever has been going on.

He's back. He wants to kill me too.

My mind is racing. I need some time to myself.

But I'm not the only one facing problems today. Althea hasn't returned yet. I bet she's facing the tantrums of Griffith and Ektor. Again.

It makes me wonder though - what is it that Althea did? The other reapers treat her to as an inferior. Ektor enjoys mocking her. I understand that there is tension between reapers that follow the Natural Order and those that do not. But I can see that there is something else that causes these fights between them. Since they are immortal - or something similar to that - it's more than possible that they've had history.

And Althea acts as if she has done something, something wrong. Something that she's guilty about. Ektor seems to despise her for that. Griffith, on the other hand, seems cool about it and doesn't really care. However, Griffith and Althea are far from being friends. I remember him saying that their last meet-up didn't end up in good terms. Still he's helping her out.

And here we thought that human beings are the only ones capable of intellectual thinking, which is the main reason why conflicts are caused.

Now that I know that reapers can also defy the Order, something Death created himself, I feel a bit vary of them. The seem intimidating. Althea appears to be a helpful reaper, unlike Griffith and Ektor. But even she has created some sort of fear in me. I haven't known her for too long. Nevertheless, she's my only shot.

"Miss me?" a familiar voice says, breaking me away from my thoughts.

I turn around to find Griffith standing next to me. I straighten up from my leaning position.

"You know, you can't go through walls. Not yet anyway," he says, waving his hand and grinning. "So you can comfortably lean against the wall as much as you can, to your heart's content." Hidden in his smile, I find the hint of seriousness. His green eyes are downcast and his otherwise joyful face is masked with tension.

I stare at him for a second. "Uh, hi."

"Sorry for leaving," he says. "But I have a job for which I don't get paid for. Apparently, I gain a lot from it."

"Don't like the job?" I ask smiling.

He doesn't return the smile. "I'm not complaining." He scratches the back of his neck.

He sits down on a chair, next to Liam. Liam, unaware of the presence of a reaper beside him, continues to be engrossed in his conversation with Harry and Perrie. Both of them are doing a great job in keeping her calm.

Griffith motions for me to sit down on the chair beside him.

"Where's Althea?" I ask as I sit down on the chair, careful not to go through it. I am relieved when I don't, so I make myself comfortable on it. It's been a while since I last sat down.

"She'll be here," he simply replies. "It's been a long day for her as well."

"Yeah," I say. "A really long day."

"We're taking shifts to look after you," he says. "We also have our jobs to do. Don't want to upset the boss."

"I don't need to be looked after."