Grim

Chapter Four

As I dreamt that night I heard a woman yelling out in pain. I found myself standing in an old 18th century home. Her screams grew louder, then I heard another woman's voice.

"It's okay, breathe dear you're doing wonderfully." A midwife? I made my way towards the screaming. As I approached the door the midwife spoke. "Almost there dear." The woman screamed out one last time, then the crying of an infant began. I heard the woman's sobs and breathing soften. "There we go dear. A beautiful baby girl. Would you like to hold her?" The midwife's footsteps tapped across the floor. "Miss?"

A concerned gasp came from the room as she rushed back towards the door and opened it slowly, infant in arms. She then walked right through me as if I were a ghost. I turned around and was shocked to find a man pacing back and forth. "How is she?" He asked.

"She lost a lot of blood. I'm afraid... she didn't make it." Then man took a step back, the color faded from his face and he collapsed to the floor.

"No. No this isn't true, this can't be true." The midwife stood above him, cradling the infant while he sat there, kneeling in front of her.

***

When I woke up I was drenched in sweat. I wiped my eyes and decided it best to have a shower. I couldn't help but think of my strange dream. What would compel me to have a dream like that? I tried to shake it out of my head.

As I made my way to headquarters, the thing I found most strange was that the woman in my dream died. She just died, no reaping. What happens to all the souls that die without getting reaped? I'd made up my mind to ask Kellen about it.

I went straight to Kellen's office when I arrived and found him reading his agenda. "Hello, Vea. What can I do for you?" He looked up at me, smiling.

"I had a dream last night, and in my dream a woman died." He continued to smile at me, waiting for more. "She just died, Kellen. Her soul wasn't reaped. Kellen... what happens to all the souls that die without getting reaped?" Closing his agenda, he sighed.

"There are some questions that I really shouldn't answer. However, you're going to find out eventually." He stood and led me to my office, where he opened my agenda for me. "Every reaper is assigned one death. That soul," he pointed to the name in my agenda, "can pass on immediately, leaving nothing but memories behind. The souls that aren't reaped stay in the world of the living for up to a year after death. These souls," he gestured vaguely to the air around us "have unfinished business."

I nodded slowly, only partially understanding. He started to walk back to his office, and a thought came to mind. "My soul wasn't reaped!" I called out. "Kellen, my soul wasn't reaped. Did I have unfinished business?" He looked at me and pulled me to the side, speaking quietly.

"You, Vea Harris, are a reaper. You didn't die. You were born. You don't have unfinished business." I looked into his eyes, they were cold and sad. "Go to your office and check your agenda." With that he walked away.

Ladell had unfinished business. My soul was never reaped. The year that I lost after I died, I was meant to do something. But I broke a rule, so Death didn't let me. I intended to find out what it was.

Rushing back to my office, I grabbed my agenda and quickly found my client's address. I made my way over and reaped yet another healthy, aged soul. I then rushed back to my apartment and started to take note of everything in Ladell's life that I left unfinished. I didn't say goodbye to my parents, I didn't graduate college, I didn't pay off my loans. I could only think of trivial things. Ladell didn't live a very exciting life. What could it have been?

For hours I sat at my desk, searching through the trivial aspects of Ladell's life. When I checked the clock, it read 2:36. I'd stayed up past midnight looking for answers and found nothing. I was beginning to lose hope.

Suddenly I was drawn, like a moth toward a bright light in the dark. Flashes of a woman flew through my mind, my vision blurred, and I fell out of my chair. Pain shot through my head like a migraine on a summer day. What was happening?

I crawled over to my bed and laid down, hoping the pain would ease, but it only grew stronger. Stronger and stronger until eventually my vision went totally black and I was immersed in my mind.

There was a woman, tall and slender, standing in an old home. Not unlike the one from my dream last night. She stood in a night gown, covered in blood from the waist down. In the distance I heard laughter. The laughter of a small child. Could this be the woman that gave birth?

Making the assumption that I was ghost-like as I was the night before, I made my way toward the laughter. A small little girl waddled around laughing and playing with the man I'd seen last night. So that woman must be...

"Hello." Startled, I jumped back and turned toward the voice. The woman in the nightgown. "It's alright, I won't hurt you. They can't see us." She tipped her head towards the man and child.

"Last night I saw—I mean I think I saw..." I looked at her and saw a tear run down her cheek. "Is that your child?" We both looked towards the little girl.

"Yes. Lucy is her name. Isn't she wonderful?" The woman smiled and began to cry. I walked towards her and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. And the man, is he your husband?" She nodded. Lucy. That was the name of Kellen's daughter, wasn't it? I needed to wake up. I shouldn't be here.

"Is everything alright? You look ill." She lowered her face to mine with a concerned look on her face. I looked into the room where the man stood playing with his daughter. It isn't fair. That little girl must be around a year old, which means she doesn't have much longer. And if that man is who I think he is, neither does he.

"I have to go. I can't be here. I need to leave." I stepped back, away from the woman. As I took a step the floor creaked beneath my feet and both the man and girl looked at me. "I need to leave now. How do I leave?!" I shouted, and a book fell off a shelf. I'm not a ghost. I shouldn't be here. I closed my eyes and curled down onto the floor. "No!" I shouted, squeezing my eyes shut as tight as I could.

When I opened my eyes again I found myself in my room. No ghosts, no little girls. Should I tell Kellen? Afraid to fall back asleep, I made myself a cup of coffee and went back to researching into Ladell's life. I checked the clock once again and it read 4:52. That's close enough to 6:00 to stay awake. I had a feeling I had an interesting day ahead of me.