Death Has a Daughter

It's All About the A+

The morning arrived quicker than I had expected. I awoke with a startle and looked at my clock: fifteen minutes to get ready and go. On my dresser, neatly folded on top of my uniform and mask, was a note.

"I know you'll do great and take that top spot. Just follow your instincts and you'll succeed. Love, Dad"

My lips formed a smirk that lasted until I looked at the clock again.

When I busted through the door, everyone had already taken their seats. Herald gave me the stink eye as soon as I entered the classroom. Sometimes, I swore he had it out for me. I brought it up to Dad once and he said that Herald hated all kids equally. Ever since his son had been killed by an Angel, in a battle long ago, he had become bitter. It made me feel sorry for him at first, but one can only take so many comments and snickers before the pity fades.

One seat to Dave's left remained open, so I took it and eyed the clock. I still had sixty seconds, so Herald could shut his stink eye; I wasn't late. Maybe I could even use my sixty seconds to study one of the five hundred books that were on the bookshelves against the wall to my left. Thank Lucifer, we didn't have to read through those things again. Humans had so much history that we were forced to learn about. Herald would say it would be to our benefit to know what we hunt—inside and out—so nothing would be a surprise, blah, blah....I shuddered at the memory of all the studying I used to have to do as we finished each of those books, one by one, with an exam at the end of each. An exam that was pass or fail, with no in-between. A failing grade meant you didn't get to move forward. Today would finally be my last exam.

"As you all know," Herald began in his monotone, "today is your last day of training. So many of you have long awaited this day. The first part of your final exam will be a written test, which I am about to hand to you. The last part will be the Reaping. As you are all aware, the Reaping is a tournament style match where you will pretend your opponent is a Guardian and you will attempt to take their soul. You will each be given a chest armor that will have a fake blue heart in the center of it. Once you have placed your scythe into the other's "heart," and hence, taken their soul, you win and move onto the next round. The two final contestants will battle for first and second, and then you will all have graduated. Lucky for you all, your scores, up until this point, had assured that no matter how you place, you will all pass. Do not let that deter you from doing your best. Remember that scrolls are handed out according to rank, so try to get to that top spot. How you place on this test will determine where you are placed in the Reaping!" he shouted. "I will now give you your test." The papers appeared in his hand, and he slowly moved to each student and handed them an exam.

"Always have to cut it close, huh, Cendall?" he said when he came to my desk and placed the test in front of me.

"I had sixty seconds," I said and looked down to start; I didn't feel like bickering with Herald today. After this test and the Reaping, I wouldn't have to deal with his 'old school, no breaking any rules' attitude.

**

The test was a lot easier than expected. I figured there would be way more definitions about every role in our under-realm. Hopefully they hadn't expected me to add those myself.

As soon as my arm rose in the air, Herald came and collected my test. It didn't matter how I scored anyways, because I would still graduate. But it would be nice if my answers were mostly correct. A detail here or there may have been left out. But who cared about details? The Reaping would determine everything.

Tomorrow's Reaping would be long, and I would have to face at least three before I met Drake at the end. No way could anyone else defeat him, unless I got lucky. This wasn't something I wanted luck in though. No, I wanted to face him and finally show him that I deserved to be there.