Grim Business

Chapter Sixteen

Two weeks passed, Phoebe training on the weekends and most of the weekdays after school. It was difficult, her body struggling to respond to the sudden change in pace. No longer did she have time to blast kids on GTA, or cook giant meals just to put them in the fridge for later. She got food at Grim Inc., then came home and crashed every day.

Despite the toll it was taking, she was improving. She had mastered Shadow Travel, which cut commute time between home and work tenfold. She also could summon her scythe at will, though it wasn’t a very solid one just yet. Hel had promised her that when it tasted of its first spirit, it would grow, become stronger, change colors. Phoebe hadn’t liked the way she said it ,but she was definitely looking forward to seeing what her scythe could become. Apparently, each one was unique.

Today, she was meant to be practicing her fighting with the shadow monsters that Grim Inc. seemed to have just lying around, the kind of thing she had watched fighting those two kids the first day she’d come here. She wasn’t sure she was ready, but Hel had felt like she was, so Phoebe was inclined to trust her.

She and her supervising officer had become somewhat close these past two weeks. Hel provided her with regular updates as to the search that Grim Inc. was conducting to find her father. So far, they had established that he was still alive but unresponsive. The unresponsive part was what worried Phoebe, but Hel told her that it wasn’t uncommon for strong spirits to keep their captives in a near-comatose state whenever they bothered taking captives. There was still no clue as to where he was—every time they got close, it seemed the spirit vanished—or why the spirit wanted him. It was all nerve-wracking.

But Phoebe found that it took her mind off of things to immerse herself in her training. She felt like she was contributing, if only in a small way, and it helped to keep busy. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew she’d find her father. She knew he would be alive when she found him, too. It was just a matter of time.

“Are you ready, Phoebe?” Hel said, stepping out of the shadows in front of her. Phoebe turned to her supervising officer and nodded.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she said.

“You’re  doing well, Phoebe. Believe in yourself.” With that, Hel retreated to the safety of a controller’s box, where she would be safe from whatever went down in the practice room and could also control everything. Phoebe didn’t expect much help to come from her—Hel had it in her mind that Phoebe was some kind of genius at this, and had been pushing her harder than Phoebe thought was entirely necessary. It was yielding results, though.

Phoebe closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching into the air. A small hole seemed to appear out of the air, and she reached her hand inside. With a sharp breath, Phoebe pulled, and a scythe exploded out of the hole, which closed behind it.

Phoebe spun it around, the way that Hel had taught her, and then held her ready pose. Her nerves were frayed, but she was also excited. She wanted to prove that Hel’s faith in her was deserved, that she could be a useful member of the team while also being someone that could save her father when the time came.

A moment later, Phoebe watched as the shadow on the ground began to grow, expanding with a noise like nails scratching on a chalk board, or cats fighting. It was high-pitched and awful, making her wince.

“Ignore the noise, Phoebe,” Hel said from the control room, her voice echoing from the microphone she was using. Phoebe swallowed and nodded, forcing herself to drown out the god-awful noise.

Slowly, the shadow shifted, growing more solid until it was standing immediately in front of her. It was easily nine feet tall, and half that across. It had been fearsome through the window…it was even more so in person. Still, she had a responsibility.

The thing roared and threw a tendril of shadow at her. She quickly jumped aside, avoiding it as she ran headlong at the creature. She kept her shadow leaning away from the beast, following the light as she made her way closer to it—if the thing grabbed her shadow, she knew it would be able to latch onto it and use it against her.

“Easy, Phoebe, if you approach too carelessly, the thing will—“

Hel didn’t finish; the beast’s shadowed claw reached out directly for her, lurching forward. Phoebe let it; she had a plan.

As the claw came close, she jumped up, landing on it. It was as solid as the ground she had been walking on; it had to be, if it intended to hurt her with it. But she only had so much time before it became incorporeal again; she had to work fast.

She ran up the claw. The stunned creature didn’t know how to react fast enough, and by the time it had figured itself out, she leaped and swatted at it with her scythe…and watched as it went straight through the thing’s head.

Phoebe overbalanced and toppled through the creature, cursing as she hit the ground and rolled to her feet. Her ankle throbbed a bit since her landing was less than perfect, but she stood anyways.

“Good  try, Phoebe. You almost had him. You’ll have to move a little faster next time, and careful with your landings; you would be amazed how much a hurt ankle could cost you,” Hel said through the intercom.

Phoebe had to fight not to roll her eyes; as if she didn’t already know that.

The fighting went on a lot like that—near misses, calculated risks, bumps, bruises, you name it. In the end, Phoebe finally defeated the thing. She crumpled to the ground against the wall of the practice room, breathing heavily. Sweat dampened her hair and body, making her jumpsuit stick to her skin unpleasantly(especially in extremely uncomfortable places). Despite her exhaustion, she couldn’t quite extinguish her sense of pride and accomplishment.

Hel came out of the control box, her heels clacking on the hard floor. Phoebe didn’t have the energy to turn her head and mark her progress; it wasn’t a long wait, anyways. A short moment later, she stood in front of her, then squatted down so that they were on eye-level with one another. “You did well today, Phoebe,” she said, gracing her with one of those rare genuine smiles.

“Thanks,” Phoebe managed and when Hel offered her a hand up, she accepted it and pulled herself to her feet.

“Now, go home and get some rest; tomorrow, we do it again. Only this time, I want you to half your time.”

Phoebe stared at her incredulously. “By half!? In one day? You can’t be serious!”

“You show tremendous promise. I would be remiss not to press you harder; you could be the greatest Grim that House Thanatos has ever seen. You owe it to yourself to be challenged, wouldn’t you say?”

Hadn’t this been challenge enough? Did his woman honestly expect her to half her time in just a day? Phoebe hadn’t even gotten to rest in the past few weeks. Whenever she wasn’t training, she was doing schoolwork; the few chances she actually got to close her eyes for a moment, she was plagued by awful nightmares. Her whole life had fallen apart since her father’s disappearance. And this woman wanted more of her? She didn’t want to be the best; she didn’t need to be the best. She needed to be good enough to save her father. And just as importantly, she had a right to have some kind of life. Georgia had been right; Hel did push way too hard. Well, Phoebe wasn’t going to stand for it.

“Impossible,” Phoebe said, folding her arms stubbornly and standing her  ground as firmly as she could given her state of general exhaustion.

“If it were truly impossible. I wouldn’t have asked it of you.”

“And I’m telling you, I can’t do it. I’ll show up, and I’ll train as hard as I can. I’ll cut my time alright, but by half in one day isn’t something I can do. I’m giving you all I have.”

“Fine,” Hel said with disappointment thick in her voice. “But if you wish to impress me, you’ll accomplish just what I ask of you.”

“Well, lucky for me and maybe not so lucky for you, I’m not here to impress you. I’m here to learn at my own goddamn pace.” With that, Phoebe opened a Shadow Portal and disappeared into the darkness, intent on getting home as swiftly as possible.