A Dance With Death

|| Chapter 39 - Company ||

                   

I shift uncomfortably in my chair as I stare at the pair of unrealistically green eyes bear into me. The reaper, Zebediah (or Zeb, as Griffith liked to call him, much to Zebediah's annoyance) eyes me doubtfully, even though I have answered all his questions truthfully. His gleaming silver hair is tied back into a ponytail and his pale skin reminds me a lot of Jack Frost. His facial features are quite cold and stern. His formal attire and authoritative posture has managed to keep me intimidated.

"You're saying that he has your friend's face," he implies, his thick Swedish voice making me wonder how reapers have different accents. "Your dead friend's face?"

"That's what I've been saying this whole time I narrated my story," I say, my voice coming out as no more than a squeak. "He's still out there, Niall. I want him back."

Griffith, who stands just behind Zebediah, shakes his head, as though telling me that it was the wrong thing to say. Althea, meanwhile, is standing in the other corner of the room, keeping an eye on Ektor, who wants to join the conversation, but can't due to our little deal.

I was quite suspicious of these reapers, considering they may be like Ektor. Althea assured me that all of them would be the last ones to join Caius' side. The reapers have pestered me with questions for forty minutes or so, starting from the moment Althea introduced me to them. And the same questions were repeated again and again. I answered each of them patiently, not wanting to enrage a group of thirteen reapers. Mostly, I was asked how it felt being a strong soul. They also kept asking me whether I liked being 'a mortal'. Some of them were even fascinated by my 'celebrity' status.

The dark haired reaper who looks to be of Safaa's and Ava's age, Dawn, kept on emphasising on the fact that the human she's taken the form of was the biggest 'Niall girl'. I also subtly emphasised on the fact that I was just not interested. Then there's the oldest looking reaper, Ellery, who is mostly just fascinated by the amount of power I'm radiating. There's Cormac and Felix, both of them with faces of forty-year old women, who show no interest in my presence. There's Raiden, who looks like a skinnier version of Morgan Freeman, and carries the same intelligent air around him. He seems to be more like Althea; caring and understanding. There's one with dreadlocks who didn't introduce himself to me. He comes off to me as a 'hippy' reaper, considering his baggy pants and worn out shirt. There are other reapers too, whose names I can't possibly memorise.

What I've gathered is that none of them have had an actual conversation with a human being, and now finding one before them, they've got an opportunity to know what they've always been curious about. Looks like Althea's not the only one who wants to be closer to humans.

And then there's Zebediah, who scares the hell out of me. He was quiet the first few minutes. After listening to all that I had to say, he started asking questions which were directed more towards facts relating to Caius. I can tell that he's very serious about finding him. I can also tell that 'Zeb' isn't fond of Griffith, considering the glares he would give every time Griffith made a sarcastic comment. Griffith, being the proud jerk he is, enjoys annoying Zebediah.

"Do you think we care about Niall right now?" Zebediah asks.

"I care about Niall," I reply. "I want him safe." Griffith's glare intensifies at my words.

"We have bigger problems at hand."

"And you have no idea how to deal with them." Griffith hides his face in his palm.

"We're finding a way," Zebediah's tone is becoming impatient.

"I know you are. But Niall's soul is in danger, and it's still out there. If he keeps on using Niall's soul, he'll finally kill him."