A Story Told With No Words Spoken

3

Day soon turned into night, and I could tell that Lilly was desperately fighting her need for rest. I laughed, picking her up and taking her to the guest bedroom. I was getting a bit tired, myself, but I didn't really need to sleep. That was more of a human thing.

Regardless, I soon tucked her in, kissing her forehead and shutting off the light before closing the door behind me.

I also fell asleep soon enough, drifting off into my dreamland.

Not long after, however, that familiar pitter-patter of footsteps suddenly disturbed my slumber. As Lilly ran into the room, I jumped down from my bed and carefully picked her up. She was definitely crying.

"What's wrong? Can't sleep alone?" I asked her.

Lilly frantically nodded, grabbing onto me as tightly as she could.

There was a sudden beeping sound that caught me off guard. Then I silently cursed when I realized who it was.

It was my boss, needing a video chat with me. He couldn't know that I had a human child here. If he knew, he'd send his watchdogs out to kill me.

I sighed, setting Lilly down.

"Hey, kiddo. I need to make a very important phone call, and he can't know about you, okay? I want you to go back to the guest room until I'm done, alright?"

She nodded, hurrying out of the room.

Once she was out of the room, I shut the door. I pressed the button on the screen to start the call.

The video feed showed my boss's face, hard as stone with an anger that shook me.

"U-Uhm.. You needed to see me, Boss?"

He stared directly into my eyes, and I could feel his stare through the screen.

"Yes. I did. We need to have a discussion about your recent lack of performance."

My eyes widened. He couldn't mean…

"You need to kill more humans, Rhialani Dragnos." 

I growled. "Don't call me Rhialani. And I don't have to kill any damned humans if I don't want to!"

"Yes, you do."

"Why?! Why should I have to end more innocent people's lives?!"

Fanrir sighed. "Because the leaders of the Afterlife Worlds have requested that there be more souls brought into their domains."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't care about them.

"Who cares about Marciella and Killua?"

Fanrir glared at me.

"Look, Rhialani. You're one of the best workers I've had, so don't fizzle out on me now. Behave, or I'll send out the watchdogs."

I froze. Those watchdogs would tear Lilly to shreds.

I nodded. "Yes, sir! Did the Afterlife Leaders request any specific types of souls?"

He nodded. "Yes. According to this, they need more young children to be sent, specifically between the ages of 4 and 8."

As much as I wanted to refuse him, I didn't want to risk getting Lilly killed.

"Understood, sir. Who's my first mission?"

Fanrir looked over his papers for a moment.

"A seven-year-old boy in Houston, Texas: Hunter Ling."

"Understood. I won't let you down."

"Good."

The conference soon ended. I sighed, plopping down on my bed. What would I tell Lilly? That I was a child murderer? Would she be able to trust me again?

No. I decided that I would keep my job a secret from her. She would be terrified of me if she knew.