Grim Reaper (Sockathan)

3

3 years later

"Stephanie Malore, time to come with me." I muttered under my breath. No one else was there, that's just how I like it. 98 souls, soon to be 99. Stephanie was number 99, and then one more 'till I could go to the actual afterlife. I was crouching on top of an old building, looking down at the window across the street. Stephanie was pacing back and forth with a phone in her hand. She'd go to bed soon, I knew that. I'd been watching her for a while. As disturbing as it was to stalk my victims, I had to. It was one of the most efficient ways to get the job done.

I jumped down from the roof onto a rusty ally stair way. It creaked and shook, making me shush it. I didn't want to be caught when I'd come so far already. Angels were everywhere, and they'd just love to get their hands on a Grim Reaper like me. I looked back at her window, she was flicking off the lights and climbing into bed. I smirked, pulling my goggles down over my eyes. This was going to be too easy. "Come." I said quietly, holding out my hand. Most people would think I was crazy, but they wouldn't be wrong. I just wasn't crazy in this scenario. The air around my hand fizzled red, sparkling all around. A solid object dropped into my hand and I wrapped my fingers around it.

A scythe, nothing special. It was red and black, long and curved to the top. I grabbed it with two hands, one on the top and one at the bottom. Then I frowned, I thought I'd cleaned this thing. I swung the blade around so my hands switched positions, looking at the dried blood that coated the edges. I could almost instantly tell it was from my last victim, a teenage boy by the name of Zach Melto. I had come up behind him in the locker room after one of his football games and slit his throat. I really couldn't wait until he got home, I had been going through something I call blood withdrawal. It had been driving me nuts. So I killed him then and there, collecting soul number 98. I hadn't even been on the look out for angels. Mephistopheles warned me to be more carful after that. Because if I got caught, it was a permanent game over.

I jumped down. My impact made dust clouds jump out at my feet. I tossed the top of my scythe over my shoulder and began to walk. My footsteps echoed loudly through the empty ally way, the only other noise being that of the wind howling in my ears. It blew around my skirt and my hat, making me smile. The moon shone down a brilliant shadow of silver onto the ground. I looked up at the stars, watching them twinkle and tried to count them, like I had done as a child. There were always too many, too many for me to count. I looked back down at Stephanie's apartment complex. Oh, what a night for a killing.

Her lights were turned off. Good, I thought while reaching the wall. She won't suspect a thing. The down fall to this whole thing was that people could see me. People, Angels, other Grim Reapers, they could all see me. I had to be clean and quick, taking the souls before anyone had the chance to call the cops. Because, almost 75% of all cops were angels. If a human cop got ahold of me, I could easily get away. But if an angel got me, I might as well be doomed.

I closed my eyes and felt a sharp pain in my back, only for a second. My wings ripped out of my back and I moved my scythe. It think it was my 35th soul, I honestly don't remember, and I hadn't moved the thing over. My left wing was sliced open because when it burst out, it cut across the blade. It had hurt like hell, and you only make a mistake that painful once. I began up flap them around, letting my tail slither out too. Most people in the afterlife thought I was a demon, but I'm not. And apparently I had to hurt those idiots in order to make them understand. Demons wait through pester to get their souls, I just go in for the kill.

I flew up to her windowsill, using my nail to silently flip the lock. It switched open, allowing me to pull up the window and slip in. I could hear a siren blare from around the corner. I didn't even check to see if it was a fire truck, an ambulance, a police car, or just a kid with a toy. I just flew in as fast as I could. The window slammed shut after my scythe handle had tapped it. It made a loud slam noise and I winced. I could hear her stir from her bed on the other side of the room and decided I needed to be quick. I pulled my knees up and used them to push as my wings flapped down. I stopped short when I almost hit her dresser.