Grim

Chapter Ten

There was a part of me that knew this would happen. A part of me that had a bad feeling about these dreams. But I didn't listen, I got Kellen's blessing and I stopped caring. I stopped thinking it was wrong. It was wrong though, it was so wrong.

When I woke up the next morning Kellen was still sleeping. I got dressed and hoped to escape unnoticed, I didn't want the first thing he heard to be that I killed his daughter. I made my way to the front door where Kellen appeared in front of me.

"Where are you going?" He walked towards me and I stepped back. "Vea? What's wrong, what happened?" He reached out to console me, and I started to cry.

"I broke the rule, Kellen. I caused the death of a human. I'm so sorry. Kellen I'm so sorry." I pulled my hands up to my chest and sat down on the floor. "Don't come near me, you should never forgive me."

"Forgive you? Vea, what are you talking about. You have to tell me what happened." I avoided looking at him, not wanting to make eye contact. "Talk to me Vea, let me help you." He reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder, I pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry, Kellen. I can't." I closed my eyes and I jumped. I didn't care about my car, I didn't care about my reap, I didn't care about my life. I started packing all of my belongings, though I'm not entirely sure why. I wasn't planning on going anywhere, not literally anyway.

I thought about what Kellen had said to me when I first became a Reaper. That I could feel free to quit and spend 19 years in psychoanalysis facility. I contemplated it for quite some time, but I deserved to suffer for what I had done.

I made my way to headquarters and went to the top floor where Death himself assigned souls to his Reapers. I barged past security and ran down the corridor to His chaambers. The doors were at least 10 feet tall and carved from the most beautiful dark wood I had ever seen. I pushed the doors open and was pulled inside by some otherworldly force that I couldn't explain.

It felt as though my body were being torn down the center, or from the inside out. I saw nothing but blackness and felt incredibly cold and damp. There was no air, not that Reapers needed air, but my lungs felt like they were going to collapse.

I saw a faint glow in the distance and directed my gaze toward it. Toward Him. My eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, but it was definitely Him.

His being was around 30 feet high, black billowing robes making up his body. A faint glow surrounded Him like an aura. Looking up I locked onto His face, or where his face should be. Instead I saw souls, swimming and whirling around in what should have been his head.

There was no ground, and when I tried to walk I'm sure I was just making a fool of myself. I jumped closer to him, as he must have been about 100 or more feet away from me. The closer I got, the tighter my chest felt.

As I approached the proximity I was comfortable with, I started to be pulled towards Him. I began moving faster and faster until eventually I was right in front of Him. It was then that he spoke, not out loud, but directly to me.

"Why have you come here, Vea Harris?" His voice was slow and deep, it had whispered tones making it sound ghost-like.

"I've come to turn myself in. I'm cursed, I caused the death of a human." I spoke out to him as He did to me, without making a sound. It stayed silent for several moments, before eventually He spoke again.

"You want me to take your soul." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. And it was true.

I tried to speak again, but my thoughts were draining from my mind. I had no way of speaking, no way of communicating with Him.

One by one all of my thoughts and all of my memories began to leave me. I guess that was it. I closed my eyes and wished for Kellen to have a good life. I wished that he would find happiness, without me and without Lucy. He could find happiness again, I knew he could.

I shed a tear, and the darkness of Death's chambers was replaced with light. A bright flash overwhelmed me, the cold dampness replaced with a burning heat. It became unbearable. My arms turned to ash and started to crumble. Then my legs, followed by the rest of me until I was nothing more than a spirit floating in the void.

***

I opened my eyes and found myself sitting with three girls around my age and a psychic. She pointed to me. "You", she said, "Come here, come closer." I moved towards her and she spoke.

"You are not of this world, are you?" I laughed and flicked my hair. I always knew I was pretty, but this is beyond a compliment.

"No lady, you're not from this world. I'm just Ladell." With that I walked out, the other three girls following me. Psychics are all frauds.