Book 2: Hearts and Hades
Hearts and Hades
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Chapter 1
I was having the nightmare again.
The dream was always the same. I relived my first reaping, where I brought the soul of Michael Conway, the notorious serial killer of over thirteen girls, to the underworld. You see, I wasn’t your average sixteen year; I am a reaper of the underworld. It was a job given as a punishment, and I thought I’d be able to handle it better than I did. It didn’t help that my trainer, Jericho, wanted nothing more than torment me for his own amusement. Reaping souls sounds simple, but what they don’t tell you until you’re on the job is that souls can resist, rebel, and ultimately fight back. And if a souls escapes, of course, pandemonium ensues.
I was told to watch the death, wait, and reap the soul. When I captured the soul’s essence, I put it in a small black box called a vessel. From there, I use the vessel to drag the soul to the River Styx, where Hermes ferries the soul’s to their ultimate destiny. There were only two options: Underworld or great beyond. It sounded so simple when Jericho explained the process to me.
“Alright Macy, let me put reaper into simple terms for you. Step one: watch the death. You won’t know who is dying for sure until it happens, we are just told where to go.”
I nodded as I mentally wrote down the instructions. What I wouldn’t give to have my Aphrodite phone back now.
“Step two: When the soul escapes the body, captures its essence. You do this with a simple gesture, you open the damn box and the essence goes inside. But try to be discreet and fast, so the soul can’t protest or fight you.”
“What happens if they do?”
“Well, Macy, if you just do your job, they won’t No hesitating, remember? Most souls don’t even know they’re dead, except for the sinister ones. Some darker souls come out fighting, expecting us. They know what’s coming for them, instinctively, and they will resist.”
“And if I face resistance, what do I do?”
“Use your damn scythe, child! Remember, that’s how Helena bagged and tagged you. In addition to ripping a soul from a body, it can ripped a soul that resists the reaping. But be warned, it is only to be used as a last resort. Souls can bleed, and it gets messy. No matter, bring the soul back, even if it is brought back in pieces.”
“Ok,” I said. “I am guessing step three is bring the soul to the underworld.”
“Turn the ring, Hades’ ring that is, and you’ll deliver the soul to Hermes. He ferries all of the souls. Just don’t lose the soul, and don’t lose the box.”
“I got it,” I said. “Death, box, turn ring, and then deliver to Hermes. This sounds easier than cupid duty.”
“Yeah, we’ll see princess,” Jericho smirked. Jericho was one of Helena’s many friends in the underworld, so naturally, he hated me. Little did I know he was responsible for the reaping assignments? So naturally, he gave me the Conway job for my first time around.
I was handed the assignment and told to turn my Hades ring. Of course, I was the weird reaper who had two rings. One was from Hades to do my reaping duties, and the other was from Eros, for my protection. So when I turned that ring and caught myself beholding a real time reenactment of silence of the lambs, I freaked out just a tiny bit. I let out a small scream when I saw it, the girl strapped to a table, wearing nothing but her underwear. She was cut up and bruised, and she looked like she’d been there for a while. A bright light shone above her head, blocking her eyes. I took a deep breath, thinking to myself I’d have to reap the soul of some frightened girl. A man entered the basement, walking down the stairs. He had a shaved head and menacing eyes, wearing nothing but overalls and a crooked grin. I shuddered just watching him, and the girl seemed to respond with an appropriate amount of terror in her body. I glanced down at her hands, noting the straps were loosened. Was she going to die, or the bald man with the devil eyes? I had to watch and take the soul that was there, no intervention. I knew better then to break the rules, again. Conway approached the girl, leaning in close to her face and inhaling.
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Bows and Eros
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