Grim

Chapter 9 - To the Death

I hear the swipes of a scythe parting the air followed by more screams. Is there another reaper here? It's very rare that two reapers are assigned the same case. I think it's only happened once to me before. Usually the presense of multiple reapers in one spot would indicate a disaster of some sort with many deaths in the area. But, where are they?

I look around the park to see a scattered assortment of trees and bushes. There is plenty of space between them to allow children to run around screaming during the daytime, or adults in the night. I'm near a play area with slides and small play buildings with monkey bars directly behind me. That's where the noise is coming from.

I feel the motions of a reaper as if they are my own. I turn to my right to see a young woman running. A reaper teleports directly into her path with his scythe raised, waiting for her to reach his attack range. She screams again and leaps to the side, avoiding the reaper's strike. What is that reaper doing? Why would he be tormenting a living person?

The reaper takes a few steps towards the woman, stalking her as she tries to scramble away. This one has chosen a dark path. I cannot sit back and watch this happen. The reaper pulls it's weapon back for another attack. The blonde woman, with tears dancing in her eyes, tries to defend herself with her arms. I teleport between the two in time to catch the blade in my right hand. I say, "You are not worthy of being a reaper. You should abandon that vessel and go to where you belong." The crying woman picks herself up and runs. I must finish this quickly, she sees us.

He responds in a deep rasp, "And where might that be Thomas the Grand Reaper?"

I say, "Hell of course. That is the choice you made after all isn't it?"

"I am choosing to be free. The angels and demons look at us as slaves to do their work and toy with our emotions. I refuse to be their puppet!"

The sound of the scythe scraping against bone echos across the playground. These bones don't have much grip to them. I try to grip it tighter, bending the scythe slightly. The scythe comes free. The other reaper retreats several steps. I warn, "You have two choices. Abandon your vessel and roam free, or you can try to fight me and I'll send you where you belong." I pull a cylinder from under my cloak tapping the bottom with the tip of my thumb. It expands to the size of a quarterstaff. It has been a while since I have needed this.

The other reaper bends his knees, readying for a fight. "You know as well as I do that the angels or demons would pick my soul to pieces if I left my reaper body. No, I'm safe here."

So it begins. He holds his scythe out to the left. I hold my staff out in front of me like a samurai. He rushes forward with a slice towards my ankles. I drop my staff to block. The clang of the two weapons drowns out the sounds of the insects and wind. The other reaper's movements seem slow to me. I block a few more swipes of the scythe then decide to go on the offensive. I crack the other reaper on the side of his skull with unexpected ease.

He falls to the ground landing face first. I step on his scythe before he can get up. He curses at me like so many of the demons I speak with. He crawls back before getting up. He then charges in again with a volley of clawing hands. Each strike is blocked with the staff, but then I see an opening. I step in and trip the other reaper. He begins to fall backwards, but before he reaches the ground I impale him on my staff in between his ribs. The staff protrudes through the lower ribs in the back and the upper ribs in the front. In effect this props the other reaper up a few feet above the ground. I hold the staff in place with my left hand while he claws at it. My right hand plunges into his body grasping his soul. I yank the soul out.

I must send him down. It's what he has chosen. I can feel the doubt in my thoughts. That being his chosen path or not, it is definitely not what he wants. Perhaps Harold is pushing me towards a different path? He isn't on any of my lists. I raise the soul to my mouth, and breathe it in. I must send him to hell. Instead, I swallow.