Chapter 1

Lennon sits at his desk at work as it grows closer to midnight. The office has been empty for hours now, and the only light in the room is his computer. He sighs deeply as he finally begins to pack his bag and leave. Work is beginning to feel tedious, he thought to himself. He proceeded to head for the elevator, and leave out the front door of his building. Although Seattle is incredibly busy during the day, it is almost earie at night. He opens his phone to call and cab, but notices someone standing in front of him, dressed in all black, with a black tattered cloak on. It was a woman, with brown hair with blonde tips, with a bronze complexion.

"Oh, hi, didn't see you there." She gave him a surprised yet confused look as he acknowledges her. Feeling awkward now, he quickly moves left of her to go around the corner to call the cab. As he turns the corner, he slows his pace to pay attention to his phone. The app on his phone is struggling to work, and his phone is close to dying. He lifts his head to look around to see if a yellow cab is per chance nearby. None were in sight, however, he did notice the girl seemingly following him.

He kept his eyes on his phone as he continued to walk down the sidewalk. He didn't fear the girl, but it was very common for the homeless to interact with you if you made too much eye contact, and Lennon barely had enough brain capacity to make it home at this point. If only Tara wasn't at work, I could just call her to pick me up, he thought to himself. At this point, the woman was closing the distance, and Lennon grew tired of this cat and mouse.

He began zigzagging across the street back and forth to see how she would respond, but almost as if she predicted his movements, she was already crossing the street as he looks back to check. He groaned and huffed as he became more frustrated. Finally, he broke out in an all out sprint in an attempt to lose her. He looked back to see her keeping up with his speed, never actually closing the distance, but also never letting the distance lengthen. Lennon hurried back across the street, but he was so focused on her, that he didn't look both ways first, and was quickly reminded of that by the bus headlights.He quickly jumped back, and the bus came to a crashing halt right in front of him, exactly where he was just standing. The bus driver yelled some harsh words, and the bus proceeded on. As the bus finished passing him, the woman was standing on the sidewalk, staring at him with wild eyes.

"Why have you been chasing me?! What in the hell do you want?! You almost got me killed!" He bursts out in anger. "I have been trying to lose you for six blocks now!"

"First of all, YOU almost got yourself killed." she says with a strong but calm voice. " I was following you, but I can't stop you from looking both ways before crossing the street. Second, you shouldn't be able to see me."

"What do you mean I shouldn't be able to see you?" He asks, believing he already knows the answer. It is very common for the homeless to have some kind of mental issues, as they weren't often abandoned by society when help is not easily accessible.

"Because I'm a reaper. You know, like the grim reaper." She replied, sounding annoyed on the second half. "Which I must say, I really hate that I have to relate myself to him, like it's his name, not his job title."

"Oh, okay, well Miss Reaper, if you don't mind, I'm going to get home. You know, after the long day of work, at the building in which you have been following me from. So please, just stop following me." Lennon says sarcastically as he walks backwards. This time, he was not reminded by the headlights. A bus smashes into him, launching him ten feet down the street. The woman walks over to him, and looks down on him.

"This has been the weirdest collection I've ever had." She says. "And I've been collecting for a very long time." She taps his chest in an attempt to collect his soul, but he just groans in response. "Wait, you still aren't dead?"

"Lady, call an ambulance." he manages to groan. "Probably for the both of us, but mainly me, you know, as I have just been hit by a bus." His voice was heavy with sarcasm. The bus driver was now running up to them, panic in their eyes as they looked down at Lennon.

"Please tell me you're okay." She said.

"I'm okay, I think."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you, somebody was distracting me. Why on earth were you in the middle of the road?!" She voice was going from panic to anger as she spoke.

"This woman has been chasing me, and I just wasn't paying any attention." He responded keeps his eyes locked on the woman in black. The bus driver looked around to see what he was looking at.

"What woman?" She said, now confused.

"This one!" He exclaims as he slowly gets up. "This woman right here has been chasing me for six blocks." He says as he point at the woman. The bus driver looked mortified at him.

"Oh no, baby, there is nobody there. Please, let me call you an ambulance." He looked confusingly at the bus driver.

"No, it's okay. Long day at work, my meds must have worn off early again. I'll be fine." The bus driver slowly nodded her head as she turned to walk back to the bus. Lennon slowly walked over to the side walk and sat down, and wanted for the bus to pass him.

"Believe me now?" The woman in black asked as she watched the bus turn a corner. He didn't respond. He didn't even look at her. "I don't know what meds you are taking, but I can promise you, I am real." Still no response. "You asked why I was following you, right? My job tonight was to kill your guardian angel and collect your soul. Your estimated time of death was when you were about to get hit by that bus. I was watching your timer count down all the way to that moment. To further prove that point, I watched you work for a full hour before you finally left, because, as I said, I was suppose to slay your angel and collect your soul. To my surprise, you don't have an angel anywhere in sight, so I met you in front of your building to see where you would go from there, as I can't exactly directly kill, yet, again, to my surprise, you could see me, which only spirits should be able to see me. Does that suffice?" As she spoke, she began speaking faster and faster. It was almost verbal assault to the ears.

"Look, assuming I'm not hullicinating, and assuming I was supposed to die there, why am I not dead? I'd even go as far as to say I am unharmed. Why is that?" He responded.

"I-I have no clue." She said after a brief pause. "On one hand, you shouldn't be dead since I haven't killed your guardian yet. On the other hand, you should be dead from getting hit by a bus, so I am almost as confused as you are."

"You haven't ever met anyone who didn't have an angel?"

"Well, you either have an angel or a demon, but I've never met anyone who has neither, atleast till now it would seem. May I test some things on you to figure this out? You really are an anamoly."

"Can it be tomorrow or something? I'm exhausted." He says with bloodshot eyes.

"Yeah, I think that is a good idea, it does seem like your timer reset, so not much of my job to get done tonight. I will come find you tomorrow. Get plenty of rest, the tests can be tiring." He groaned as she disappeared before his eyes. Well, atleast she is gone, he thought as he ran his face through his hands. His long night was finally over, as a yellow cab drove up to him.