The Grey Truth

The Grey Truth: Chapter Five

William saw the dark outline of his young guest sitting on the bed. He listened closely, and he could have sworn that he heard the girl's usually steady breathing was now quick and shaky. He slowly entered the room and turned the lamp on. To the man's surprise, he saw that there were damp streaks running down the girl's cheeks, and he could tell right away that she was crying.

"Are you alright, Ms. Grey?" he asked, kneeling at the side of the bed.

The girl said nothing in response. She simply tried to calm herself, though she knew it wasn't worth it, she knew for sure that William had seen her tears.

William frowned to himself. He sat on the edge of the bed and carefully shifted a bit of hair out of the girl's face, just as another tear fell from her eye. "Did something happen, Ms. Grey? You are well aware that you can safely confide anything to me," he said, causing the girl to nod, ever so slightly. Will took this as an indication that something had happened.

After a moment of silence, Josephine began to speak in a hushed, shaky voice. "It was simply a nightmare, Mr. Spears..." she told him.

"It seems to me that this was more than a simple nightmare," just then, it clicked for him. 'A fear of the past' that was what the girl had told him. Now he understood. Something had happened while Josephine was a child, something she couldn't manage to forget.

"I feel it is of my concern. At this time, you are under my roof, and therefore, at least for tonight, you are of my concern," William told her.

Josephine sighed, knowing that the elder shinigami wouldn't take her fabricated story. He knew the lengths she went to, to make it seem like she led a normal life.

"While I was growing up, my parents fought nearly every time they passed one another. The two didn't even know I was there most of the time. I had to grow up quickly to really have a chance to live. I ran off one night while my parents were fighting in another room and I heard the fight start to turn violent. I got into the city almost two days later, arranged for a flat and for a couple of jobs to sustain myself. I was worried that I'd be recognized, so, I did whatever I could to change myself in the eyes of anyone who came across me. I came up with the original story you had known from my academy file. Though, I'm guessing that you've already noticed that I still have had some, trouble, coping with the past..." Josephine told him.

'So she is hurting herself... that would explain the scars on her arms...' William thought. He looked over and saw that, once again, Josephine was crying, with her head turned away from him. Without thinking much of it, the man gently pulled the girl over to him, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and began running his thumb over her shoulder.

Josephine tried not to show her weakness, she tried not to show that she was comfortable in her instructor's arms, but after several minutes, it was too much. The recruit allowed her head to softly fall onto William's shoulder, as sleep took over once more.

William looked coolly down upon the sleeping girl in silence for some time, and then he began to whisper to himself, trying to figure out what he would do next.

"This certainly is something to look into... the girl is obviously going through more than what many see in someone's Cinematic Record... and that surly is saying something. It's tougher than with Sutcliff's case... it seems we'll be working around everything to get to the bottom of... Grey... the Grey's... well, it looks like I'll be doing a different kind of overtime, then. I simply hope that this plan will be simple enough to work out... as long as she finds no fault in the story..."