Sam Walker and the Grim Reaper Services (ONC 2021)

6 - The Arrest

The trip back through the Void was just as dizzying as before and, combined with his headache, made the confusion in Sam's brain from all the new information so much worse. When they exited the Void, Sam scraped his knees and hands on the asphalt outside his apartment building as he stumbled and fell.

Cate released his hand with a wrinkling of her nose, wiping her hand off on her jeans. "Your palms sweat, you know that?" she said, glancing around. "All right, see you tomorrow."

Then she turned and disappeared back through the Void.

Sam pushed himself up onto his feet, brushing the small pieces of gravel out of his hands and off his jeans. Bits of blood beaded on his palms and he grimaced. Gingerly, he moved into his apartment building, climbing the stairs to his floor only to realize he didn't have his key.

"Dammit," he muttered, rapping at the door with his knuckles and praying one of his roommates was home.

Within moments, Raj opened the door, his eyes wide with concern when he saw the disheveled Sam standing there. "Sam!" he exclaimed. "What happened to you?"

"I fell," Sam said lamely as he brushed past Raj and entered the apartment. Marcus, his neurobiology book lying open on the coffee table in front of him, looked up as he walked into the living room.

"Damn, you look like you got run over by a truck, then it backed up to make sure it had got you good," he observed. "Bad day?"

"Understatement," Sam grunted, wandering into the kitchen and carefully washing off his hands. The water stung the scrapes and he winced, gritting his teeth. Glancing at the time, he saw it was six o'clock; he had missed every single one of his classes. Oh, that's just great.

Raj returned to the table, which was spread with all his history stuff. Sam opened the fridge door and took out a soda. Cate and the Grim Reaper's words concerning serial killers raced through his mind, disentangling from everything else that had occurred that day.

"This defect enhances their perception, allowing them a more thorough knowledge of us and of the world this side of the door."

"They can beat death."

Other words joined them, Selena's voice reminding him of what she had said about death after finding Jake dead.

"I see death."

"I don't kill people. I watch them die, but I don't kill them."

Perception. Death. Selena watching people die.

Could she have that altered perception Cate and the Grim Reaper had been talking about? Is that why she was able to "see death," as she put it?

What does that even mean?

Sam's phone buzzed and he checked it. His sister Brianna's name showed on top of the message. We should catch up this weekend. A coffee cup emoji ended her message. Shaking his head, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and returned his thoughts to Selena. He needed to talk to her about all this. He needed to know what she was talking about.

[----]

"Hey! Selena!"

Selena turned, eyebrow arched, as Sam ran up to her. "What?" she snapped.

"I wanted to talk to you about the other day," he said, panting. "About...about something you said."

Selena sighed in exasperation. "What is there to talk about? Your roommate died, you and I found him. The end."

Sam shook his head. "No, that's not the end. Most certainly not the end. What did you mean, Selena? When you said that you see death?"

He expected her to roll her eyes, but she didn't. Instead, Selena fixed him with an intense stare. "Okay. Fine. I'll tell you. Ever since I was a kid, ever since I can remember, I've seen people die. Not in person, though; in my head. It plays like a movie that never ends. It just goes on and on and on and on...."