Grim

Chapter Two

I had been training with Kellen for about a month now and it was time for my final exam. It's more complicated than I thought, but Kellen and I had become good friends as he trained me. "Step one: find your client. This is the most important part. If you accidently reap the wrong soul nothing good will come of it. I can assure you that." I searched through the dummies until I found my client.

"Good. Step two: Introduce yourself. This may seem old fashioned but it is crucial. If you forget to introduce yourself, you can't claim the reaping. If you can't claim the reaping, then we have an unmarked soul on our hands. Unmarked souls can't pass on. They hover in the world of the living." As I introduced myself, I had to remind myself of my new name. I had messed up a few times.

"Well done Vea. You remembered. Step three: execute the reaping process. Sub-step one: place your left hand on his or her chest. Sub-step two: make eye contact. Sub-step three: extract the soul. Make sure there is eye contact Vea, you can't mess this up." Kellen watched as I performed the reaping. Making eye contact with someone whose soul you're about to extract isn't exactly easy.

I went through the steps. Place my left hand on the dummy's chest, look into its eyes, and extract. Then it came, the moment that always made me falter. A dark glow emits from the dummy's eyes, the soul leaving as it made its way to my hand. I couldn't lose eye contact.

The glow became darker than ever as I watched the dummy's life drain helplessly from its face. Then I felt it, for the first time I felt the soul entering my body. I watched in my peripheral as my arm glowed a faint white while the soul passed through. Then the glowing stopped, the dummy disappeared, and the reaping was over. I did it. I reaped a soul.

"Congratulations, Vea. You're officially a Grim Reaper." He smiled and walked towards me. "Just remember... When a Reaper approaches a human, all of themental blocks He puts up preventing humans knowing about are existence aretaken down. They will beg. They will plead for their lives. They will plead for you to spare them, but you must not, under any circumstances. Understood?" Kellen grabbed my shoulders firmly. "No soul is savable once it's dead." He released my shoulders and took a step back.

"I understand. Kellen, thank you. For everything." I looked at him and he smiled, extending his hand, which I took. It's official. I'm a grim reaper.

***

Three weeks of successfully reaping souls had passed. Not one person asked me to spare their soul, and nobody cried and clung to me as they remembered their families. I'd had an easy go at it; until today of course.

Fifteen months ago, I was Ladell Stone. A tall, 19-year-old Hispanic girl with straight black hair. I had a mother who loved me, a grandmother who spoiled me, and friends who meant the world to me. Now I'm Vea Harris. A short, 22-year-old fair skinned girl with curly red hair. I have no family and no friends. In the past year I'd never run into anyone Ladell used to know.

But today, when I opened my agenda, I saw a familiar name. Mariana Stone, my grandmother... Ladell's grandmother.

"Kellen! Kellen, fix this. There are plenty of other Reapers. Why would Death- uh... He... assign her to me?" He looked down at the agenda, a blank look on his face.

"I don't understand. Who is she? Do you know her?" He looked up, genuinely confused. He can't be serious.

"Yes I know her you imbecile! She's my grandmother; was my grandmother!" I slammed my agenda shut.

"You are Vea Harrisson. You are not related to this woman. You have never met her, never even seen her before. You will reap her soul and you will do it properly. I trained you to be a Reaper, not an emotional child. Now go." Kellen's eyes went black and he pushed past me.

"How could you do this. You never had to reap your family's souls! You didn't even have any friends! How dare you push past me like this is just another soul!" I shoved him.

"You don't know what I had to do! You don't know what I've done! I had to reap my daughter's soul! She was only three and I had to reap her soul. So, if you think reaping your healthy grandmother who is dying of old age is so horrible, feel free to quit and spend 19 years in psychoanalysis facility. I don't care what you do, Vea. Just quit acting like you've got it bad." He walked away, and I let him.

How could He make him reap his own daughter's soul? Why would anyone do that? I guess it's true what people say. You should never wish Death upon anyone. He likes to be cruel, especially to his reapers. Nevertheless, once you start taking souls things get complicated. And right now, dying doesn't sound so bad.