The Reaper’s Tale

The mysterious man locked the door and the world again fell into silence, "Don't worry, I just isolated this room to ensure it's security." I nodded at him, then he looked me in the eye and began.

"My name is Ciel as you may have heard when I spoke to Ian, but people call me Chasster", he said, "my occupation is basically what people call a reaper, or to be exact an angel of death". I felt my throat dry up, I swallowed, in a normal situation i would have laughed but he didn't seem to be joking.

"To start, i can't tell you when you'll die it's going to be troublesome for me if ever. Next, this whole thing that we are going to talk about isn't as bad as you think, it's actually much worse", he laughed, "it's going to hurt a bit, are you ready?"

Before I could answer I felt his hand touch my wrist and in the blink of an eyes I was sitting inside a very ancient looking room. The reaper was standing beside me wearing his usual suit, and I was wearing a very exquisite period clothing - a long white sayâ with a tapis with beautiful embroidery of flowers, paired with a white camisa with an intricately embroidered pagoda, and finally a silky white panuelo accented by a gold and pearl brooch, for footwear i was wearing a bakyâ. 

"Wow you look good in old ladies' clothes!" he said to me

I shot up and said, "why in the world am I the only one who's wearing these kinds of clothes!?" which is really not the point but somehow I was really fixated at the fact that I was wearing period clothing.

"Because, I don't look good in those kind of clothes, plus wearing them is quite itchy," he said then pulled me towards a different room.As we entered I immediately recognized the place as the study in which i had found myself studying in a dream once, but this time I was looking at a third person's point of view. By the window a woman was looking outside she seemed no older than eighteen, she was forlorn, her arms are folded and her face was tear stained. She was a beautiful woman, a shapely body, a well sculpted nose, long lashes and amazing brown eyes, her lips were like two Pink petals resting just below her nose. I didn't know her but it felt as if I have met her before, then she looked at us, but then a person walked through the reaper and myself.

"Whoa!?" I exclaimed, "what exactly is all of this?"

"A memory. One that i had been keeping," i felt a sting on my wrist where he pulled me in the beginning.

"Is it yours?"

"No, its hers", nodding towards her direction

"Who is she?"

"She is Maria Antonina Alfaro Zarragoza, your many times great Aunt. She was a very good friend of mine and the first Traveller that i have met."

He looked at her with gentleness and a bit of grief it's as if to him she was more than just a friend I wanted to ask him about his connections to her but his eyes shot towards the door. Then a man came into the room and spoke to the woman. Their words were inaudible and the sight of the man made her smile, it was Domingo Alvarez De Leon. He was taller than I remembered, a bit more muscular and possessed a pair of dark eyes. His hair was longer than before and had lines around his eyes. This must a time long after the dreams i have been having.

"You know him, don't you?" Ciel said to me

"Yes", I saw him in a dream before, and Ciel seems to know, "Domingo De Leon, right?"

"That's correct", he nodded, "he is quite special to her, the last time you saw him was a little after he was assigned as her tutor. He is a high class man that her father really wants her to marry but that time Antonina was innocent and didn't really care nor understood why her father decided to give him a male tutor. All that mattered to her was that she was able to learn about the things that wasn't taught to her in school because of the discrimination between men and women."

Then the scenery suddenly changed, the whole place became dark and the rain was pouring. We were no longer inside a house but rather a field, and Antonina was groveling in the mud holding what seemed to be a body. She was crying in pain, then from a distance the sound of gunshots were incessant. I felt a pain on my chest as I watched her clinging to the body, people was running towards them and when they saw Antonina they were horrified to see her holding the body of the man. Antonina was crying and held the body tight, the people that came to her begged her to leave for they were being pursued. She didn't want to let go or leave the body behind, but an elder woman hugged her and slowly eased the body away from her, it showed her bloody and muddy clothes. The men that accompanied them had took the body away and must have buried it somewhere.

"This is the night Don Ignacio Zarragoza died", I jumped as i heard Ciel spoke, I forgot that he was with me. We were drenched in the rain as everyone else. "He was shot at point-blank range with his own gun, this was supposed to be the night that they will hide away his family because the war has flared in their province and he wanted to keep his wife and daughters safe. That night she was the first to leave their mansion with her father and Domingo, it was on that night that Domingo de Leon was set to die and I was already preparing to welcome him to the afterlife, but as he was shot by a pursuing guardia civil on his deathbed he made a deal with a devil. As a reaper we cannot control his actions and even if I wanted to stop him has already made the pact with it. But unlike your sister, the demon he had made a deal with has required a  sacrifice, life to be taken for a life that was given. Don Ignacio wasn't supposed to die that night but that time Domingo chose him because he can't bear to hurt Nina, but what he didn't understand was he had hurt Nina in ways that he could never imagine, and that type of pain never went away. Antonina was twenty five back then when it happened, and she saw how the love of her life took her father's gun and shot him, she tried to stop him but he was already possessed by the demon and it was too late. This was the night that she became a traveller, night that she scorned. Her face was candle white as she watched Domingo walked towards her dying father and shot him again. His eyes were filled with malice as the demon took over his body. The demon almost killed her but before the demon could kill her Domingo was back to his senses, he went to Nina but she pushed him away and Domingo ran away as he heard people coming. I met Nina shortly afterwards, and the first thing she did was throw a vase at me", he chuckled, i couldn't help and raise an eyebrow. 

Once again the scenery changed, this time we were back in a house, but not as extravagant as the one before. As I looked at the house it was almost automatic to recognize that it resembled my family's home, even the location. I walked away from Ciel and mare my way to the cliff. Yes it was the same place, i literally am where the first house stood and burned down as dad used to say. 

"You have a keen eye", Ciel was behind me, "this is where the current Villafuerte mansion stands. It was the Zarragoza's property before."

Ciel pulled at me leading me towards the house, on the second floor window someone was looking out towards the sea, it was Antonina, this time there was a smile on her face and she seemed calm. Ciel stared at her, mesmerized, but it was interrupted by a running of a child towards the door. A carriage arrived and the child with a maid was eager waiting for it. As it stopped the person that got off was unmistakably Domingo De Leon, i held my breath as i watched him walk towards the boy. Everything about him was different, and yet the same. 

"He feels different doesn't he?" Said ciel, I nodded, "Domingo made a deal with the demon on his own accord unlike your sister who was forced into the situation".

We followed them inside the house and up to the second floor the child was excited to see Domingo and apparently clueless on who he is, I wanted to stop them from going to where Antonina was but my hands were just passing through them, it's not going to end well, I thought.

When we arrived inside the room, I watched how Nina face drained color and how her eyes widened with shock. She turned to the maid seemed to have ordered her to remove the child from the room and was concerned for his safety. Then the maid looked so flustered that she almost carried the boy out of the room. 

"That boy is Ramon, her nephew and will be the last male of the Zarragoza. He was the son of her older brother," Ciel said, "his mother died at childbirth and he was raised by Nina. Nina never gotten over Domingo and never got married."

Nina looked straight at Domingo, he spoke to her and then shouted, a moment later Ciel appeared out of nowhere, then Domingo spoke then a man walked out from behind him. The man wore a black tailcoat and a had a wooden cane, he looked like an english gentleman but there was something sinister about him. 

"When Nina called me, I wasn't expecting to meet Domingo De Leon face to face and his demonic lackey. He was trying to be sweet to Nina, but it spooked her that's why she called me. I told Nina to kill him many times before if she ever sees him, and that time too, then and there it told her to kill him but inside, I knew that Nina was too in love him to kill him. When she called me, Domingo went into a jealous rage and seemed  to have lost it and tried to attack Nina" I saw how Antonina was trembling and how Ciel was trying to hide her. Even as I was with him, the way Ciel looked at her was always gentle but filled with sadness, "I couldn't hurt him, because his life wasn't at the end and there was nothing I could do to stop him from attacking her except block it. Nina... She..." Ciel was cut off, as he told nina to run away, Domingo's demon made a lunge toward Nina that Ciel protected her with his own body. The demon slashed Ciel with its razor sharp claws, in attempt to get to Antonina, Ciel was slashed and stabbed numerous times but he couldn't fight back. Bloody and bruised he was about to fall but he used his remaining strength and made an opening for her to run. Nina made a break for it and ran away, though greatly weakened Ciel protected her until she was out of the room. 

The Ciel beside me was not looking good either he was candle white and stared at the scene in silence. His crimson blood was on the floor along with snow white feathers, it was the first time that I have seen real angel wings. Yet despite his battered appearance his eyes still followed the running Nina.

"You fell in love with her didn't you?" I suddenly said, Ciel looked at me suddenly, his face was in shock as if it was the first time he has heard it. We stood silently in the room, Ciel was staring at me in shock, he opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it again.

Before I could say anything more i felt a sudden unbearable pain on my chest as if I was stabbed. I felt my knees gave way, i felt the world around me began to shatter. The ground beneath me became nothing and i was falling, my flailing arms was caught by a strong grip, I looked up to see who it was but my vision began to blur until everything has turned dark.

I felt my arms was held by a strong grip and when i had opened my eyes sunshine was streaming through my window, and my hand was held by Albert Saldivar. I shot up as i saw him, smile at me, my eyes widened and i tried to smile back but I knew I failed. Albert let go of my hand and sat beside my bed, he was wearing a suit and seemed to be on his way to work.

"I apologize for holding your hand", he said calmly, i must be making a weird face at him, i nodded in silence i haven't brushed yet so i didn't want to say anything.

"Well, I... better go, I'll talk about the project when you are recovered", he said, he stood up.

"Thank you for taking me to the hospital", i said to him and smiled

"Your welcome" he replied and turned his back to the door. I felt a sting on my wrist, and the weird sense of malice and fear hung in the air. It was constricting as if i was being choked, as he opened the door to leave when Uncle Ian walked inside the room with Ciel right behind him the feeling vanished as they arrived. Albert seemed to tilt his head to  them as acknowledgement and went on his way. They looked at the leaving philanthropist smiled and walked up to my bed. Uncle Ian was wearing his usual polo shirt and khakis, paired with a pair of slippers while Ciel was in a Metallica shirt, denim overalls with the sleeves tied around the waist, and sneakers. It was the first time that I have noticed that he had a tattoo on his neck saying, "how's life?", i stopped myself from laughing from the pun. Ciel looked like a hip band member while Uncle Ian looked like a rich doctor that he is, but both had the look of irritation on their faces. I smiled at them both as they walked up to me.

"Your doctor says that you have to go signal to be discharged, your sister is already on her way", Uncle Ian said to me trying to hide his irritation.

I smiled at them but the feeling of malice had left an impression on me, but seeing the two of them made me somehow at ease. Uncle Ian sat on my bedside while Ciel sat away from me and by the the window.

"I understand, Uncle", I smiled back at him, then his expression changed and became strict all of a sudden.

"Beth, do you know how dangerous to dive into the memories of other people?! You could have died!" he said sternly trying to control his voice, Ciel stood up to try to object but before he could Uncle Ian shot him a glance, "And you!" he spat at him, Ciel sat back down.

"You know what could have happened to her! If she died divine punishment will befall you! Have you lost your mind or your scythe! You idiot!"

Ciel was silent as Uncle Ian said those words, I felt the need to stop him and clasped his hand tightly, but as he spoke the room began to grow dark and shake.Uncle Ian held on my hand as if her was trying to control himself but it was obvious that he wasn't doing a good job at it. Ciel just stared at him with a blank expression, but then when he opened his mouth and said, "Irithiel, calm down, your scaring her", he sounded strong and was ready to take my Uncle Ian head on. Uncle Ian calmed down a bit, the lights were back and the shaking stopped, I breathed a sigh of relief, but nothing was okay.

"Who exactly are you people?" I found myself saying out loud, my hands felt cold and my whole body was shuddering in fear, these people who are they and why do they keep on doing things that I can't understand. I wanted to cry, I wanted to run away.

"Bethany", I heard Ciel spoke, his voice low and soothing, like smooth jazz music. But somehow I wasn't one to be relaxed, I stared him down and said, "can somebody tell me what is going on!? Uncle Ian?"

Uncle Ian looked me in the eye for the first time, and said calmly, "I am a vessel Beth and Ciel is a reaper. He is death, and he has the sole duty to bring people to the afterlife, and you are a Traveller. A person who was granted by God to execute divine justice, since you are the ones who has suffered by the acts of another."

I stared at them, divine justice, what do they mean, who has done something to me that has merit them to be punished by Divine justice, Ciel spoke, "Travellers are not born into being Travellers, they are those created by circumstance Bethany. You on the other hand are different, as you may have known, Nina, is dead, I saw how another reaper took her to the afterlife. But because Nina died before she could have done what God has tasked her to do, the gifts of the Traveller has been passed down through your family, but had only manifested with you."

"We have been alive for hundreds of years Bethany but we have never met a Traveller like you or Antonina Zarragoza. Nina couldn't take the life that she was meant to take and you, are the daughter of a man who made a deal with a demon and yet born to be a Traveller. It took a Traveller to save your sister, now you must do what must be done to balance the scales."

It was too much to take in one sitting, killing demons, that's not the job of an architect. I design buildings and houses for people so that they can have a better life or live a better life, This whole thing must be a mistake, I can't do things like that. This all feel like an episode of Grimm. I wanted to say something but Carmie arrived with a medical intern and we began the process for my discharge.

"Hi", Carmie said seeing that Ciel was inside the room, "I'm Carmie, Beth's sister", she said holding her hand out to him 

"Chasster, I'm Beth's boyfriend", he said and my eyes widened, my jaw dropped and so did my sister's, "it's great to finally meet you".

What the hell, I mouthed at him, Ciel smiled at me and continued to talk to my sister. Uncle Ian was also silenced by shock with just happened. Ciel talked to my sister so flamboyantly and all i can do was stare at them, Carmie was laughing and smiling at him. She seemed really happy to know that I have a boyfriend.

After my final check up the intern signed my discharge forms and told my sister to pay the bill, Carmie obliged asking Uncle Ian to accompany her.

Soon as they were out of my room I threw a pillow at Ciel, he laughed at me. 

"What in the world was that!?" I said to him.

"I was just giving your sister what she wanted. She wanted you to have a boyfriend so i gave it to her." He laughed again

"How did you - ugh!" 

"We were given many talents Beth, one of them is to see the hearts of those around us. Your sister desperately wants you to be happy, that's why I told her that I am your boyfriend".

I stared at him angrily, I don't need a guy to be happy. I'm happy being single, this person is infuriating and I am at my patience' end. Next thing I knew, I have exploded and it was a horrible scene. It ended with Ciel walking out of the room leaving me all alone.