“I’m glad you guys are safe,” Mason says as he reaches us again. Now that he’s in front of us I see the worry etched on his face. “There have been a lot of reports of missing souls. The reapers are showing up and no one is there to reap. I’m not sure what it means, but the elders want to keep it quiet. I disagree. I wanted to at least let you guys know.”
“Did they ever find the missing reaper? My second day here, Arianna had to train me because there was a reaper who didn’t report in.” His solemn look is answer enough. I hate that innocent souls are going missing, they deserve their peace.
“Reapers are showing up to the freshly dead bodies, but the souls are already gone. Only two reapers have disappeared so far, but they won’t send anyone to search for them. We can’t travel between realms, so if they’re beyond that scope then it’s an automatic loss.” His expression is full of sadness.
“What happens to us when we die?” I ask. “Can we die?”
“Not really, we’re practically immortal. Though we aren’t truly invincible. I’m guessing we just return to the void or become a soul here,” he admits. “It’s not been an issue since I’ve been here and the council doesn’t like to answer those kinds of questions.”
“Well we haven’t run into that, and we’re up to twenty a day.” Thea says, giving him a bit of reassurance. “Cheer up big bro, I’m sure we’ll find them.”
“I’m more afraid of you finding them in the wrong situation, little sis,” he counters. “Keep your scythes handy, they’re a weapon, not just a reaping tool.”
“Thanks for the warning Mason, we’ll be cautious,” I promise and he gives us a resigned nod. From his reaction, I have a feeling he’d hide us away from all this if he could.
“Don’t worry, Luz. I still get soul dreams sometimes, so I’ll try and talk to one of them about it,” she reassures me as we make our way back to our rooms.
“I’m not worried about us, we’re badasses. I’m just so sad for the souls. They’re just stuck somewhere, not getting an afterlife,” I explain.
“I have a feeling they won’t be stuck for long,” she says in her usual mysterious way. Even though I don’t share her optimism, I can’t dismiss her feelings, since they seem to always be on point.
“Alright, meet me in the morning for breakfast?” I ask and she nods with a yawn.
“Yes. I’m turning in early tonight, just in case,” she replies and walks into her room. She’s been getting tired now that we do twenty souls and I’m half tempted to ask to be put back down to ten, or even fifteen to stay ahead of the others. I don’t want her suffering from it.
Unlike her I’m not ready to turn in so I head back downstairs. A cup of coffee at the diner sounds too enticing so I’m willing to brave the masses.
It’s a quiet night in the city and I only pass a few random reapers on the way there. I take a moment to just breathe in the cool air and center myself.
Though, when I walk into a packed diner all of that falls away. There’s not a single seat available and the place is buzzing with gossip.
“The soul was just gone,” someone says to their group. There’s extra emphasis in her voice that draws the crowd right in.
“I heard Timothy never came back from reaping, that’s why we haven’t seen him.”
“There have never been missing souls before.”
The comments go on and on in a similar fashion. Everyone knows and they’re doing exactly what the council wanted to avoid. Panicking.
“No seats tonight,” one of the friendlier souls tells me.
“I just need a coffee to go tonight, Olivia,” I say with a smile and she nods, hurrying off. When she comes back to hand me my coffee she has a donut in her other hand, dropping it into a bag and passing it to me as well.
“You’re too good to me. Thanks, Olivia,” I say with a wave, ignoring the looks of shock on nearby reapers’ faces.Good, maybe that will teach the assholes to treat souls with respect.
The moment I’m far enough away the buzz of noise from the diner fades, I pull out my phone and call Sam’s number, glad Liam gave me all three of their numbers after the council meeting. It rings for a moment before his deep voice answers the call.
“Luz, is everything alright?” he demands in that deep rumbling voice of his. Having it directly in my ear sends a shiver down my spine. It almost distracts me but the worry keeps me focused this time.
“I’m alright, I just wanted to tell you that the diner is bursting with talk of the missing souls and reapers, everyone is a bit panicky,” I inform him and he curses into the phone.
“I don’t know how the fuck it got out already but I shouldn’t even be surprised. Thanks for the heads up, Luz. I’ll let the council know in case they want to do some kind of damage control. Be careful reaping tomorrow. I don’t trust this at all. I need you safe.” His tone is harsh, but the sentiment is sweet. Honestly, it sums up Sam’s personality perfectly.
“I’ll be fine, Sam. I promise to be vigilant. Can you also tell the council that Thea can’t keep doing twenty souls? We can try fifteen tomorrow and see if it gets better,” I ask him.
“Of course. Is she alright?” I smile at his concern for my favorite girl.
“She’s fine, just overly tired by the time we get home. She went straight to bed tonight without eating,” I explain. “Don’t worry, I promise we will be careful and she will be fine with less reapings, Dad.”