Chapter : New Start, New Life. Part-3

Reapers appear when humans are at death's door to harvest their lives. To this end, they follow the list of souls to properly execute their duties. They eliminate anything in their way. They are called grim... and deadly Reapers!

Their job is to check each dying soul's kaleidoscope of memories, its Cinematic Record, to determine whether they should die or be left alive.

                                      ☯︎

A young woman looked up at the curse in confusion, her eyes seemed cloudy like she was brainwashed as the curse brought her to the back of the alleyway, pinning her to the wall. A blush came to her face at his serious look.

She blinked owlishly as the cursed spirit sat his hands on the sides of her head yet again, tracing circles on her cheeks.

*SPLASH*

The female stood there till her body fell limp, her arms hanging. The curse took a step back, the girl's body falling down to the floor. The curse spirit grabbed the fallen girl's arm and tossed her back. It may have sounded and looked like it was nothing but her body was sent flying, soaring through the air. Miles away from where she last stood.

The curse spirit walks away from the bloodied wall. Two figures that sat on the roof watched as the curse threw the girl away. She practically moved in the air like a damn ragdoll!

"Ayana, I will deal with the curse, you take care of the girl," Alastair said and Ayana nodded. 

"Ok", she sighed and hopped across the buildings, following the book as it slowly started to descend. Once it hit the ground, she dropped down as well.

Looking down at the body, Ayana saw that her face was squished in at the sides. Her jaw was unshackled and her head was blown open. Thinking about what she came here to do, Ayana went to business and let the records call out.

As soon as they were fully confiscated, Ayana looked down at her book.

𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬

With a stamp, she let it dissipate in the air. Her blood-crimson eyes were narrow and cold. Ayana scoffed, looking back in the direction she came. Having to chase after the body wasn't bad but it's not like she liked it. She scorned at the thought of the creature Alastair has to deal with right now. 

                                      ☯︎

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵"

𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭, 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦?"

"𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺" 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭, 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳.

"𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴?! 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤!"

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯, 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦. 𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.

𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺.

"𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦"

𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬.

"NO!"

Mifa sat up from her bed, sweat dripping down her face, and tears creeping out of her eyes. Deep gasps of air could be heard throughout her  room.

A knock reached Mifa's door, pulling her out of her night terror state. Quickly wiping the tears from her eyes and regulating her breathing, she placed her feet onto the cold floor and made her way to the door. Opening slightly to peek through the gap, Ayana was the culprit behind the knock.

"Mifa, are you okay? I heard a scream," concern reach Ayana's face.

"I'm fine, is there anything else you need?" Mifa's face shifted back to her normal one, not giving away that she just had a panic attack.

"Nothing else, just get ready we have work to do"

"OK." shutting the door closed and walk back to her bed and sit down. 

'ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇʟʟ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ, ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɢɪʀʟ'

                                      ☯︎

After the door had closed on the creepy waiting room, Mifa looked over to Ayana. "What the hell is that room anyway? And why do they all look like they're on high doses of Thorazine or something?" She had noticed that the people out there were different from the ones from yesterday, but they all had that same vacant look in their eyes.

"That is the place where the newly dead wait for their... I guess you would call them guidance counselors. They go through a kind of processing, just as you did, to determine if they will be haunting spirits, monitoring spirits, Reaper or moving on to their own versions of heaven or hell." Ayana led her through the large room with people in front of their computer screens and opened the door to their office. A plaque on one side of the door now reads "Ayana and Mifa."

"Monitoring spirits? Is that what we are?"

"To a degree, yes, but there are other types."

"Like what?"

"Let's get you past the things you have to know first before we start venturing into the world of things that are nice to know, shall we?"

Mifa arched an eyebrow and shook her head, chuckling. "Sometimes I almost forget you're English. Then you go and say something that just smacks me right upside the head with your Englishness."

"I'll take that as a compliment, actually I was born in England but my Father was from Japan," Ayana said as she sat down and gestured for Mifa to do the same.

"Okay, Ayna, so what is it I have to know?" Ayana held a disapproving brow aloft at the nickname she seemed so determined to foist upon her. Ayana shook her head and sighed. "A lot, actually."

"Should I take notes?" Mifa asked in a teasing tone.

"Only if you think they'll be helpful," she said, annoyance creeping into her tone. Ayana was glad that Mifa seemed to have gotten her emotions in check, and that she was bouncing back as quickly as she seemed to be, but the banter at times just grated on Ayana's nerves. Ayana wanted to get her up and running and ready for the job, but every jibe she made was just wasted time.

"Wow, someone put on their cranky pants today. Okay, okay," she said with a sigh of resignation as she threw up her hands in surrender. "Teach away."

Ayana paused for just a moment, giving her a reproachful look then pulled a folded map out of her desk drawer and some push pins. "Help me hang this on the wall between both desks." She unfolded it and put it against the wall, sliding it over to her a little. "Yes, that's it. Now make sure it's straight."

They pinned it up and then they both stepped back. "Right, now what you see there, colored in light blue, is our area. We monitor all haunting spirits there." Ayana watched her closely as she took in the area, and Ayana saw what she was looking for. Those hazel-colored eyes of hers lingered on a specific area on the map.

"Is this?" she asked as she pointed to a specific spot.

"Yes, it is the college your brother attended, and no," Ayana said and headed off the question before it was voiced, "you are not allowed to go there."

"But it's in our jurisdiction," she said.

"True, but you are still adjusting to your life... or death; however, you wish to phrase it, here. Going there... I wouldn't recommend it unless we have to, not yet."

Mifa frowned but nodded. She understood. Just because a fresh wound is starting to heal doesn't mean you should pick off old scabs to see if they still bleed. "Is there a reason we got the area around my old neighborhood where I grew up? And doesn't our area seem kind of small?"

"We're just starting out. This is my first time as the senior partner, and you're one day dead. Once we get traction, get our footing, and have proven we can adequately handle this then we'll likely be granted a larger area."

"So we're basically starting off in the kiddie pool then?"

"Something like that, yes."

"And we monitor haunting spirits, which means what exactly?" she asked and sat back down at what was apparently now her desk.

Ayana sat back down as well and sighed, searching for the best way to put it. "Well, we make sure that they aren't giving away too much for one thing."

"Too much what?" she asked, confused as to what he meant.

"Too much evidence of their existence. Apparently, interest in the paranormal has skyrocketed and science is trying to catch up with the interest by making all sorts of gadgets that can detect and record evidence of our existence."

"Oh you mean like the stuff they use on those ghost hunters shows on TV?"

"I've heard of those, have you seen any of them?" Ayana asked, her interest piqued.

"I've caught a few. It wasn't really something I spent a lot of time on, but around Halloween, I would catch a few episodes of one of those shows. Believe me, there are tons of them out there now."

"What equipment do you recall them using?"