The Necrodancer

Chapter 13- Off

 Midterms came and went and the English weather got colder.

Thomas and Cicero started dating, going out every Friday for dinner or a movie, and, throughout the week, hung out to work on schoolwork together. They held hands and hugged frequently. The closest thing to physical intimacy they got to was Thomas kissing them on the cheeks and forehead. Cicero was not an affectionate person, but they really made an effort with him. They also had to wrestle with the guilt of having to lie to him sometimes, making up stories when they had to go out for a reaping job or pull some more stunts for Forrest Aingeal, often in the company of Carlisle Vanson, their teaching assistant.

In terms of the demon, the two got more familiar with one another and developed a mutual friendship. Carlisle appeared to bury the whole thing about admiring the reaper, as he remained extremely professional and never mentioned it again; however, Cicero suspected he was only acting out of respect.

Forrest Aingeal, however, seemed off.

Ever since the Italy trip, both Carlisle and Cicero noted a significant change in his behaviour.

"He went to church," Carlisle transported over to Cicero's house at 10:00 one Sunday morning during a blizzard to alert them.

"And?" Cicero was still in their pyjamas, as Carlisle's arrival had woken them up. They were too tired and Carlisle was too panicked for Cicero to be mad at him.

"He's atheist!" Carlisle exclaimed exasperatedly. "He's never gone to church before in his entire life."

"How can this dude still be an atheist after summoning a demon?!" the reaper whined. "How can you not believe in Hell after summoning a demon?!"

Carlisle shook his head, appalled. "And... he's nicer," the demon muttered lowly, as if this were a terrifying subject. He looked terrified. Cicero thought they could see him internally shiver.

Cicero scowled. "I've noticed that." In class, he spoke in a more soft, calm way. His speaking was also more organized and deliberate, with less contractions, pauses, stammers, and other things that generally make natural human speech. It was just too different from his usual speech.

"I mean, he changed so suddenly..." He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm concerned that something has happened to him concerning what we gave to him from Rome."

"You know, humans do things like that all the time, usually without any major reason behind it. They're very spontaneous creatures. I wouldn't concern yourself too much." As much as they wanted to believe this, since it was, in most circumstances, true, these weren't most circumstances. The timing of the sudden change in the man and the nature of it was questionable. He was a stubborn man who was very grounded in his beliefs; to change them so drastically, suddenly, and inexplicably warranted investigation and monitoring. "Remain on the lookout for any other suspicious activity, though. This cannot be a coincidence. I sense something different about him, but there's something blocking me from figuring it out."

Carlisle frowned, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I'm worried that something horrible is on the horizon."

"You leave the horizon to me," Cicero assured him. "I can see how he dies."

Carlisle's honey brown eyes went wide. "Really?" The reaper nodded. "Would you tell me?"

Cicero shrugged. "Information like that isn't worth much to me. His death's date is undefined, as it depends on when he makes a certain decision. All I know is that it's going to happen soon, thank goodness, we're the ones who are going to kill him."

The demon took a step back as he stared at them with wide, terrified eyes. Colour drained from his olive skin. "Me?"

"Us," the reaper confirmed, nodding with the tiniest of smirks, "together. It'll be glorious."

"But, he's my master." He said it like it was the deciding factor in him killing Forrest Aingeal or not.

Cicero put their free hand on their hip, the other one clutching their cane. "What about it?"

Carlisle shook his head. "But..." He sounded absolutely stricken with terror. "I've never failed."

The reaper shrugged again. "It may not even come to that. You know, he may fail you, or break the contract with you before then." The demon let out a stress-filled sigh. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's just the way it goes with humans, especially those who make deals with devils and Death." They patted his shoulder. "Everything will be okay." They grinned comfortingly. "Okay?"

The demon nodded slowly. "Okay." He stepped out the door. "Thank you, Cicero." He left the house, closing the door behind himself.

As if things weren't strange enough, Cicero received their first email from the professor that same night. Usually, Carlisle passed on messages and information, either through email or just showing up and telling them.

No, this was different.

Miss Stemple,

I hope your weekend was nice and that you are well. I would like to schedule a meeting with you for a discussion about the terms of our arrangement and on your original research paper, on progress you've made since our last meeting concerning the project.

Please let me know if Thursday evening works for you, as it is before Friday, when you will be doing a workshop on the project as a section.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Forrest Aingeal

He never used a comma after the address, always a colon, and always ended a letter with just his name, never anything like "yours faithfully" or "best regards." Cicero scowled as they typed out an email saying that Thursday night at 19:00 worked as long as no unorderly deaths or souls came up to ruin their schedule. Tuesday night, Thomas and they planned on having a study night, and, on Wednesday night, there was going to be a fire in an apartment duplex that they would need to clean up the souls from. They were very busy being human, student, and reaper simultaneously.

They only wondered what kind of discussion they and Aingeal were going to have about the contract he forced onto them.