The Grey Truth

The Grey Truth: Chapter Two

Later that night, William and Grell were at the diner, still trying to come up with a good plan. This turned out to be harder than they thought. The plans they had come up with and scrapped were either too simple or overly complicated. Though, going to the diner had been their best 'plan' yet and they realized that when the waitress came over to their table.

"Hello, welcome to Death's Diner, I'm Josephine and I'll be your waitress this evening. Can I interest you in some drinks to start out?" Josephine greeted, in a kinder voice than earlier that day when William and Grell first encountered her.

The pair looked up, surprised at what they were hearing and seeing. William thought that Josephine's only job had been with the Junior Hospital Dispatch Office. Grell hadn't even thought she had a job.

"We'll just have some water," William told Josephine, who nodded, leaving to fetch two glasses of water.

Grell soon began to speak, his voice oddly hushed. "Wonder why the odd one's here, Will. A girl like her should be getting aid by her parents if she's on her own, or still be living with them," the red-headed reaper said to William, whom nodded.

Moments later, Josephine returned with the water, and set a glass down in front of each of the men. "Are you two ready to order, or would you like some more time to decide?" she asked them, taking out a small notepad.

"Yes, I'll have the tomato soup, a bit of cheese on that, with some crackers on the side," Grell said, as he spoke, Josephine quickly took down his order.

"I think I'll have the Caesar Salad," Will said, and Josephine took down the order.

"Those will be right out," Josephine said, and walked away from the table, leaving William and Grell alone.

Will and Grell stayed silent for a moment in case Josephine came back, though, when she didn't, they began to speak once more, again, in hushed voices.

"I know what you mean, Sutcliff. A girl her age should still be with her parents, though, I don't think that's her case. Did you see her arms? Scars are running up and down both her arms, I bet her torso and legs are the same way if what I'm thinking is true," William said, earning a bit of a concerned look from the red reaper across the table.

"It doesn't look it, Will. You'd be able to see the scars through the tights, she hasn't got any scars on her legs. I think it could be, you know, self harm," Grell suggested, and they both knew that is was a grim possibility, though one that could be true. They both knew what it was like to either cut, or know someone who did, they had both been in each situation. It was scary, both to be the victim and the witness, if Josephine was hurting herself, this time, they would need to intervene.

After some time, Josephine returned and placed the dishes in front of the reapers. "Will you be needing anything else at the moment?" she asked, holding her hands behind her back.

"We're fine, thank you," William said, and Josephine left. The two reapers ate in silence, subtly, yet closely watching the waitress.

Josephine was straightening out the empty tables, and nodded to the chef as he left, telling her to lock up when the two reapers were finished. The girl had caught the key as it was tossed to her, and tucked it into the pocket of her apron.

The two eating reapers watched as Josephine fixed the settings at the tables, noticing that she seemed tired and a bit distraught. Neither of them understood why, they could only guess that she had worked long hours through the day. Little did they knew what happened when Josephine went home.

After straightening out the tables, she set her elbows on the counter and slumped down tiredly.

"Are you alright?" Grell asked, breaking the long silence.

Josephine looked over to the red haired reaper, slightly confused. Why would it matter to him if she was alright? It was just then when she recognized the men, Mr. Sutcliff and Mr. Spears. Though still, they had antagonized her in class earlier that day, why should she trust them now? For all she knew, they acted properly at the academy, and could be just like the men from the apartment building, rude and seductive.

"I'm fine," she said, though she knew that her lack of eye contact was a dead giveaway that she was lying to them. She knew that lying was wrong in general, and lying to a superior was even worse.

William was surprised, he had never been lied to by a minor, even in class if a written report wasn't turned in. He wouldn't have even thought that one of his students would attempt to lie to him, and expect to get away with it. Grell was equally surprised, though, for a slightly different reason. He hadn't expected one who was so obviously tired to really try to lie about their state. Both reapers knew that the girl before them needed help, though they were aware that she wouldn't admit it.

"Are you sure?" William asked, obviously not buying the act. His eyes were fixed coldly on Josephine, whom met William's stare with her own cold glare.

"Yes. I've simply been working long hours sense earlier today," Josephine replied, not noticing that her story wasn't quite adding up.

William noticed the inconsistency in Josephine's story, and knew this was how he would catch her in the act. "I thought you worked with the Junior Hospital Dispatch Office," he said, smirking a bit to himself.

Josephine immediately found the flaw in her story, yet struggled to recover from it. "I... Um... Well, I do work for them, though remember, I only said I worked with them during the day," she replied, nervously stuttering. She couldn't pull off this act forever, that much she knew.

"Seems your story isn't quite adding up, Ms. Grey," William told her, and Grell nodded in agreement.

Josephine knew that Will was right, her story wasn't adding up at all. Time seemed to stand still for a moment until William took out his wallet and paid for the meals. He and Grell thanked Josephine, who nodded in response as she cleared the table, not noticing William subtly slip a note into the pocket of her coat on their way out. She washed the dishes, and cleared the counter-tops of the kitchen, and after some time, she finally got ready to head home. She was tired as usual, though even more so because of her run-in with her instructors.

As she entered the building, the girl was once more bombarded with questions and comments. Many of them were things she would often ignore, letting them fade into the background. Though, that wasn't the case now, for some odd reason, the comments were getting to her, and it made no sense. As she climbed the stairs up to the third floor, Josephine was trying to keep herself together. She quickly undid the locks on the door. As she stumbled into the small apartment, Josephine hung up her coat, still not noticing the note tucked into the pocket. The exhausted girl took off her uniform, and changed into her night gown.

Josephine sat down at the desk in the corner of the flat's main room, wincing at the feeling of the pressure on her bruised bottom, and began to type on the type-writer that the previous occupant had left behind. After some time, Josephine found that she was falling asleep. This wouldn't seem troubling to most, but it was a terrifying thought to Josephine. After she had left home, Josephine had the thought, in the back of her mind, that her parents may try to find her in the city. The girl, who once had wonderfully long, wavy, flowing hair, now had it cut to her shoulders, and constantly kept it tied back. Her once slumped, scared posture, now perfectly straight, confident, and defiant. A once silent voice was now being heard. And a once frail body and mind were now strong. Simply put, Josephine had changed everything about herself for one simple reason, not to be discovered.