Of Demons and Reapers

Chapter 17:Fairy night songs

A few weeks had gone by since her first exchange. The first few days were full of a dull throbbing pain in her body. Her joints ached and her head hurt like she had a permanent migraine. After about a week of that, the pain began to go away slowly and she began to notice small differences. She would be able to see a little better in the dark; she was much more agile and could see more clearly than she could before. In the time that had passed Lord Gage had not come to visit and so Caspian was nowhere near her. Christian as well had been gone this whole time. When she had asked about it, Adrian had said he was just busy with a rather large assignment.

Ariel and Lizzie had made many trips to the spice shop to get items, as well as to see Taran and Akar. Akar had become great friends with Ariel, and enjoyed his time with Lizzie. Lizzie would always be taken away by Taran and they would go off on their own and talk for hours at a time. This left a lot of time for Ariel and Akar to get to know each other. She had found out his family was from the Vaishya caste of India; which meant they were all skilled traders and merchants.

She had found out he didn't like being away from his homeland for so long as he had been. Akar and Taran had traveled over from their country about ten years ago. They had not been back since, and Akar wasn't very happy about it. He wished to once again see his country, even if only for a little while. He did love living in London, but nothing could beat the land he grew up in. Ariel could sympathize with him about it all. She still wished to get back to her home every once in a while. At least Akar could buy a ticket and travel there to see him family. She would never be able to do that with her situation.

Akar had become like an older brother to her, someone she could confide in and vent to if she had an issue with something. That usually only happened when she thought about Caspian and how nervous she was for the future. He would sit there and listen to her ranting and raving. Then he would give her advice or try and help her figure out a way to calm down. He would also sometimes take her to a café and they would people watch; he knew how much she loved to do that. She had also visited him at his estate many times and would have tea with him. When Akar had found out about her love of learning about other cultures he let her learn all that she could from his country.

Taran and Lizzie had become quite close in the past few weeks. Taran had even grown so bold as to come to the shop a few times and take Lizzie out to dinner. Lizzie would come back smiling and acting shy. Ariel was so happy for her friend, she was happy she had found someone to take her mind off of her family. Zwei didn't like Taran at first like Anubis hadn't liked Adrian; he eventually learned to like him though.

Adrian had been busy with bodies lately to the point she wouldn't really get to see him during the day except for breakfast and maybe dinner. He would eat his lunch in between bodies in the back. They still slept in the same bed of course, but sometimes Adrian would be working late into the night and not come to bed until she was long asleep. With the increase in death, Zwei and Anubis had to be kept locked in the rooms during the day. They hadn't been out running in about a week, and their restlessness was beginning to show.

The shop was already closed for the night and Zwei and Anubis were roaming around trying to find a way out. Lizzie was out on a date with Taran for dinner; which left Ariel alone with the hounds since Adrian was still working. She made herself something to eat and brought Adrian's down to him. "Adrian I have your dinner here. Do you want me to leave it on the desk or is it safe to come in?" She asked standing in front of the curtain. The curtain opened up a moment later to show Adrian taking off his bloody apron. "I will eat out here little one. I just finished cleaning up after this last body, so I am done for the night." He walked out and grabbed the plate walking over to the desk and sitting down.

She followed and sat down on the coffin as Anubis and Zwei walked up to her and whimpered. "What's wrong with them?" Adrian asked after putting his fork down for a moment. "They haven't been out in a little over a week and are getting very restless. I will have to take them out tonight or else they might lose it." She replied petting them as they stared up at her with sad looking eyes. "I didn't think you were one to fall for the puppy eyed look that might be good to know." He said laughing. She flicked his hand "I don't fall for it, but they really do need to get out. If they don't they might just break out and then be lose in the city here." "Well that isn't very good at all then little one. Since I am done for the night, after I eat we can head out and let them run for a little while." "You would really come with me? You haven't left the shop in over a month." "That is precisely why I need to get out. A month of being cooped up in here can drive anyone crazy little one; although I do believe I lost my sanity a few millennia ago." He said laughing at his own comment. "I honestly can't even argue with that, my dear crazy reaper." She replied with a smirk on her face. He grinned back at her and finished up his food.