Of Demons and Reapers

Chapter 19:The truth of the matter is...

After returning to the shop from visiting Taran's house, Christian took his leave to go talk to the Reaper Council. Ariel did her chores in the shop as well as Lizzie's since she would be gone for a while. Adrian changed back into his work outfit and went back to taking care of the bodies. The walk back had been quiet minus the times Christian had tried to cheer them up. About an hour after returning, the rain had begun to pour in the streets. Ariel watched it come in from the windows as she cleaned them. The rain came in a giant sheet that could easily be seen.

The rain pounded down on the city as the skies grew dark and the wind howled. It tore its way through the streets making the rain hit harder than it would have. Ariel went and put a few candles to light around the shop. It had grown so dark it looked like night, when in reality it was only about three in the afternoon. After finishing the chores, she decided to close the shop since no one would be crazy enough to be out in this kind of weather. She then let the boys loose and sat with them back downstairs by the window watching the storm.

By the time she had sat down, she could see the lightning etching itself across the sky. It was a beautiful color of purple and silver-blue, in all honesty it mesmerized her as she watched it. The thunder shook the very ground with the force it gave off. Anubis and Zwei had cuddled themselves up against her as the storm only grew in violence. She knew she should probably get away from the window and close the shutter; she just couldn't look away though. She had grown to love thunderstorms growing up; she learned to see the beauty in the chaos that came out of it all.

As she sat there on the coffin, she pet the hounds as they shook when the thunder boomed overhead. "You know you shouldn't sit so close to the window little one, it isn't safe." She could hear Adrian say behind her. She felt herself smile at his words as she continued to sit and watch the storm. "Perhaps not, but I do love to watch them." She replied patting the spot next to her. She felt him sit next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder pulling her into him. "Have you always loved storms little one?" He asked as he let his head fall onto hers and rest there. "Not really, when I was little they scared the ever loving crap out of me to be honest. It wasn't until I grew older that I realized how beautiful they really were. I've even danced in the rain during a few thunderstorms before. Not that smart I know, but it just felt like the right thing to do at the time." She let herself rest against him as she spoke; never letting her eyes leave the sight of the skies.

They sat there watching the storm for another half an hour until Adrian kissed her head and got up to close the shutters. "Awe do you really have to close them on me?" She asked getting a frown on her face. "I'm sorry little one but the storm is rather violent and you are not a reaper yet. If you were to get hit you would very likely die. Besides we might as well head upstairs since the shop is closed and no one in their right mind would be out in this monstrosity." He said closing the rest of the shutters and blowing out all of the candles but one. "Come little one we will head upstairs for the night. I have no more work to do and neither do you." She sighed as she stood up and followed him as Anubis and Zwei ran ahead of them.

After reaching the top landing, they could hear whining and scratching down the hall. Looking down they could see Anubis and Zwei trying to get into their room to hide from the storm. "The poor boys don't know what to do with themselves with this weather." Ariel said giving them a sympathetic look as she walked over to the door and let them in. "Why is it they both must sleep with us?" Adrian asked getting a scowl on his face. "Because you promised Lizzie we would take care of him and letting him cower alone in her room all night would be cruel and unfair." Ariel said turning her head and closing the door in his face. "If you have such an issue with it you can sleep in a coffin tonight." She yelled through the door.