Rescued by the Reaper

Death with Purpose

"Three Senators are dead, just this week." Annette sighed as she looked over her newspaper and sipped her coffee. "I'm not surprised that this whole armageddon is going on without you. I suppose if you want something done, you do it yourself." 

"I also felt the pain. It affected me the same way that it did for him. It's amazing!" Ben took his short turn to speak. 

"It's just not making sense to me, though. If the Earth can be fixed in a different way, why would he still want to kill everyone?" She asked into her cup. 

"I suppose I can bring back my Reaper half to get into Hell. I don't know if it works that way, but it's worth a shot." 

The back-and-forth conversations reminded him of Alice when they both had exciting news to tell each other. It didn't save time, and there was no useful purpose, but it always led to a connection down the line. Annette and Ben had fell into that pattern somehow, and it made him feel like he was still loved by someone. He trusted Annette and he felt that she trusted him, too. It only added to the list of reasons to get through the rescue. 

"Wait, you have two sides? I just thought you could do both." She squinted at him. "I guess that might be why you got this new look. Maybe it's a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type thing. You can swap between them." 

"Maybe." He nodded. "I just wish I had a target so I could see if I change back when I take a life." 

"You haven't reaped someone's soul in how long?" She asked. 

"A week or two, I think." He waved her off, trying to pin together thoughts. "Maybe I could go to the resting home in town?" 

"Ben! You can't just go kill someone." Annette looked shocked. "If it isn't their time to go, then you can't just take them." 

"What if whoever I take is meant to die when I take them?" He wondered. "What if I'm not breaking the natural law, but it's working in my favor?" 

"Ben!" She snapped her fingers in front of him. "Don't make me 'mom' you." 

"Okay, okay. How do I find out, though?" He asked. 

"You could kill a small tree." She nodded. 

"Trees don't have souls like humans do. I need to find out if I can still hold a soul in my hands. Do I still have the locket?" He touched over his chest where the cold thing used to dangle and wait for him to collect. "I won't know until I reap again." 

"Try and see if you can switch back without taking a life." She suggested. He was starting to grow tired of her useless suggestions, until he realized that it wasn't entirely objective. It could work. 

"Okay. We will try that, first." He nodded. 

The next few hours went by with him focusing on the dark mists that boiled inside of him, just behind a thin barrier. He called to them. He could hide himself, but it was as much as his body would allow. He kept pulling at the other side of himself, focusing on how it wasn't his life that was on the line, but the ones he loved. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't slide back into the skeleton that he was. 

"It isn't working. I have to take a soul to slide back into that part." He sighed. 

"What if you stay this way? Could you still reap while you look this way? Although, Life is dominating your body, could you still be Death?" 

"I don't know!" He yelled in frustration. "I just don't know! I wish I could get answers from the God, but I can't just call out to it and make it appear. Each visit, I was left with more questions than answers. It just doesn't make any sense!"