Death and Darkness

Chapter 2

The lights were out. I took my phone out and checked the time.

"Dammit," I cursed under my breath.

"What's wrong?" Delta asked worriedly.

"Nothing, I just..." I trailed off, not knowing what to tell her.

"You scared?"

"Yeah," I lied.

"Me too. Don't worry, we'll get out of here," she told me with a smile.

I smiled back.

"You two okay?" I heard another croaky voice ask. It was the librarian.

"Yes. Are you?" I asked back.

"N-not really. I-I think I got hit by something. I think... I'm bleeding," she said.

Delta ran over to her, vaulting over obstacles. I wove cautiously around the fallen chairs and desks to see the librarian in a small pool of blood, creating a gory halo around her dirty blonde hair.

"She's loosing a lot of blood!" Delta cried, trying to stop the bleeding.

"So that's my client," I mused.

"What?" Delta questioned.

"What do we do?" I said quickly, feigning panic.

"Ow," moaned the librarian.

"It's okay. Stay with me," Delta cooed, pressing the large gash in her head. "Stay with me, Miss. Come on!"

Her breaths were shallow. She was on the brink of death. I checked my phone again. This time, I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"That doesn't make any sense. It's not time yet," I mumbled.

"Stay with me. Stay with me!" Delta shouted, bending to find her pulse. The brunette's dark brown eyes watered as she watched the librarian's still body.

"Wait, what the hell is going on here?" I demanded to no one.

The ground beneath us shook once more, at a lower intensity this time.

"Hades!" I shouted. "What is the meaning of this? She is not due yet!"

Delta looked up at me in shock. I got no response from the Underworld.

"Hades!" I shouted again.

Still no answer. The ground continued to shake. I groaned in frustration. A spark flashed before a small wisp of light detached from the librarian's body.

"Shit. What the hell do I do with you?" I hissed.

"You're a Reaper?!" Delta exclaimed.

I jumped, forgetting that she existed for a moment. "You— What are you?"

"A Shadow," she said.

"As I've died and walked," I chuckled. "I never thought I'd get a chance to see a creature of the Void! However, this is not a time for formalities. Something is wrong in the Underworld."

"What about the librarian's soul? Aren't you trained to deal with it in emergencies?"

"In situations like this, where a human dies before their time, I bring it to Hades so they can be reattached to their bodies. Reapers are not omnipotent. We do not hold all the powers of death."

"Then bring her to Hades!" she urged.

I paused, observing her with intrigue. "For a Shadow, you're awfully emotional."

"Is this really the time, bitch?"

I smiled slightly at her attempt to insult me. "I suppose not, but I can't do anything with the soul if Hades doesn't respond to me. Something is wrong in the Underworld, as I've said before. I can't take her back."

"Then what the hell are you gonna do?" Delta demanded fiercely.

"Nothing," I replied simply.

"What? The soul's gonna become a Wanderer!"

"But I can't do anything about it," I returned calmly.

"That's not fucking fair!" she insisted.

"But I can't do anything about it," I repeated impatiently. "Look, I feel sorry that the soul is gonna turn to a Wanderer, but I can't reattach her back to her body."

Delta glared at me. "She's terrified right now! She has no idea what the hell's going on. I can feel it!"

I groaned. "Hades!"

Yet again, no response. I felt like tearing my own brown hair out.

"Try! Try to reattach her soul!" Delta urged.

I sighed but carefully cradled the wisp of light between my hands and lowered it to its host. I chanted a Latin incantation under my breath as I've heard some Elder Reapers and Hades have done before. Nothing happened.

"'Told you it wouldn't work," I said to Delta.

"Can you preserve her soul? Just long enough until Hades respond," she pleaded.

"I'm not omnipotent," I growled. "I can't control the changing of souls."

The shaking stopped. Footsteps pounded outside the doorway.

"Hey! Anyone inside?!" a man shouted.

"We're in here!" Delta cried.

"We need an ambulance! The librarian is bleeding!" I added, letting fear into my tone.

"Okay, hold on! We're coming in. Step away from the door!"

It took a while until they got through. Apparently, the hall collapsed in front of the door.

"Thank God!" I cried. "Quickly! She's hurt!" I pointed to the librarian.

"Please step outside, girls," a man ordered.

I walked out with Delta beside me.

"What were you doing; she's dead!" the brunette hissed into my ear.

"We can't possibly know that," I told her suggestively.

After a nurse checked up on Delta and me, I sat quietly on a bench.

"Who's the soul you were supposed to reap?" she asked softly.

"A boy named Damien. Dead by suffocation at 12:49 P.M.," I replied. "No point now."

"What do you think's going on down-under?" she shifted the subject.

I sighed. "No clue." My eyes shimmered with worry for a brief second.

"Was that an emotional look I just saw?" Delta teased.

I cracked a small smile. "So, is Delta your real name?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. While we're on the subject, I don't think I've caught your name."

"Just call me Kiara."