Chapter 3

~~ Scythe ~~

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Jack's loud snoring coming from the hallway at the front door. I sleepily got up and poked my head around the corner, looking down to see that he had barely made it past the front door. He lay on the floor, room key still in hand, and a bottle of booze snuggled against his chest. Several bright red kisses were printed on his face, the same color that was smeared across his lips, he must have gotten one of the girls to go with him. I let out a sigh as I took the bottle from him and placed it in the kitchen, grabbing his pillow and shoving it under his head before draping his blanket over top of him.

"You owe me." I said, snatching his key from him and placing it on a hook next to my house key before heading back into our room.

I begrudgingly pulled off the warm comfortable sleep clothes and changed into something more casual than what I wore yesterday. I threw on a dark shirt, jeans, my favorite black trenchcoat, and a pair of black steel toed boots. I headed back into the kitchen, the bottle on the counter staring at me, I quickly caved, picking it up and taking a quick swig hoping it'd wake me up. Immediately I started coughing, the burn in my throat strong. I promptly shoved it back into the fridge, I never understood why he liked this stuff, it was so bitter. Now feeling wide awake after that shot, I started fixing myself something to eat, making Jack a hangover tonic while I was at it.

I shoved the slightly burnt piece of toast in my mouth and headed out the door, my strides still a bit sluggish as the rest of me tried to wake up. I made my way towards the dorm's weapons room, needing to retrieve my scythe before I headed to the human world. The second I stepped into the room though I saw Jack's bloodied chainsaw sitting on a table, two soul servants hovering over it as they vigorously tried to clean it. I shook my head, letting out a sigh as I finished off my toast. I knew that there would be consequences for the blood that had been spilled, and that I would have to be the one to deal with them like always instead of Jack cleaning up his own mess.

"Who was it this time?" I regretfully asked.

"The bartender." One of the souls replied, a blankness in her voice, not looking up for a second as they worked.

I walked over to the counter in the corner, telling the soul servant behind the counter my name and weapon, she nodded and went into the back room. I drummed my fingers across the counter while I waited for her to bring me my weapon, the vigorous scrubbing of Jack's chainsaw the only sound in the room. The soul returned with my Scythe in hand, setting it on the counter and marking that I'd taken it before handing it to me.

I took my scythe from her, running my fingers lovingly across the blade, the cool metal glinting in the light. The blade had been freshly sharpened and polished, allowing my fingers to glide smoothly across the surface. Using a spell, I stored it away for later and then continued on my way. I've had my scythe for a long time, it's been mine since I was about ten years old, still a young soul who barely came up past his fathers knee. I was barely big enough to hold it without it falling over, let alone be able to swing it around. But it had been a gift from my mother, the very last gift she had ever given me, so it was important to me.

Everyone here in hell is immortal in some way or another, but many demons and other creatures of anarchy could still die in certain circumstances. Meaning that they will naturally live forever, but their life can end if they are killed. My mother was one of those exceptions, and her life came to an end when she was murdered by a jealous nymph three days after my birthday. My father was never the same after that, his heart shattered by the loss of the love of his life. We never celebrated another one of my birthdays after that, and after a few thousand years I forgot when my birthday even was. After her death he buried himself in his work and alcohol, I barely ever saw him after that. That's why Nine has been such a father figure to me, he's the one who stuck by my side, he practically raised me in my fathers absence.

I grew up on violence, and the stories Nine told of his glory days before he had joined the council. I was around demons and reapers, taught how to fight and collect souls, and taught the tricks of their trades by demons. But Nine always did his best to try to teach moral values, that even though we weren't humans that doesn't mean that we should act uncivilized, that even though this is hell we should make it better than the human world. These values were taught to me and Spirit, but she was always more of a peace keeper than I ever was.

I made my way to the portal that lead to the human world. I tried to rub the remaining sleep out of my eyes, feeling a bit sluggish as the shot began to wear off. I reach the door and punched in yesterday's location into the keypad, my fingers flying across the numbers, the portal beginning to whir to life. I stepped through the swirling black vortex and onto the same rooftop from yesterday, the sun already high in the clear blue sky. I pulled out my phone, opening the GPS app and checking to see what hospitals were nearby. There were two hospitals close by and a few more scattered around the area, which was expected for a big city like this. I decided to start with the ones closest to me, but first I needed something to help me blend in a little, and I knew just where to find it.

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As soon as I stepped foot into the store my nose was bombarded with the scents of a dozen different flowers. It was like being sprayed in the face with twenty different perfumes at once. It was a quaint little shop, small but filled to the brim with a variety of flowers and arrangements. A woman stood behind the counter, staring at her phone until she heard the door shut behind me, she looked up, her face quickly shifting to the fakest of smiles when she saw me.

"Welcome to David's flower shop, how may I help you?" She said, her lips pulled tightly into a smile as she tried to pretend to care.

"I was looking to purchase some flowers." I said, approaching the counter, continuing to look around the store, a little overwhelmed by all the choices. As a guy, and someone from hell where no flowers could bloom, I had no clue what flowers were best for "get well" flowers, did it matter which ones I chose, or would it be too obvious that I had the wrong type of flowers.

"Are they for your girlfriend?" She said, agitated that I didn't already know what I wanted.

"No, she's a… friend."

"Well then what's the occasion?" She said, her smile becoming more and more forced by the second.

"Uh, well, she almost got hit by a bus yesterday, so I guess something along the lines of get well."

"Wow, way to be blunt about it." She said, her agitation growing.

"Excuse me, do you have some sort of problem with me?!" I said, getting a little agitated myself that she was judging me, tsk stupid human, I could crush her right this second if I wanted to.

"Marie! Watch your manners around the customers." A man said, scolding her as he came out from the backroom.

"Fine, whatever, you handle it." She huffed, storming away into the other room.

"Please excuse my wife, she's been a little grouchy lately from the pregnancy hormones. So how can I help you?" He said, smiling at me.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket just before it dinged. "One moment please." I said, pulling my phone out to check if it was what I had been waiting for. It was, the message was from Grim, it was an attachment with the information I had asked him for. Her name is Lily Celestia, she was nineteen, an only child, and her parents had passed away two years ago. Well that made my job easier, she had no one that would be there that could prove that I didn't actually know her and try to kick me out.

"Sir, are you ready to place your order yet?" The man said.

"Yes, I'd like one bouquet of lilies please." I said with a smile.

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I had been to all of the neighboring hospitals, and none of them had a patient by that name, nor any Jane Doe's that had arrived around that time or matched her description. And after several hours of searching I was confused and frustrated, where in the hell was she, she couldn't have gotten that far from the accident site. I had expanded my search, and yet she was still nowhere to be found, and the only hospital left was a fancy private hospital for rich folks, which she was not, but I guess it was still worth a try.

I flew over to the hospital and landed in front of the entrance. The hospital looked like one of those extremely fancy hotels for rich people, even the inside looked like a fancy hotel. As I approached the front desk, the nurse behind it looked up and the sound of my footsteps and eyed me up and down, the look on her face said "you don't belong here". To be honest I was feeling a little awkward under the sharp point of her stare, humans may be inferior to immortals, but can still be rather intimidating sometimes.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my friend-" I said, stepping up to the desk.

"Name?" She said flatly, cutting me off.

"Um… Lily Celestia."

"One moment please." She said as she began clicking away at her keyboard. "I'm not seeing anything…" She pushed up her glasses, looking closer at the screen. "Oh wait, here she is… Mr. Carter's guest. They're in room 66 on the second floor." She said, pointing towards the elevator.

"Thank you." I said, but she ignored me.

I flipped her off as I stepped into the elevator, and then cursed her with an hour of bad luck. She immediately spilled her coffee onto her lap, cursing about it and frantically trying to dab at it with napkins. I burst into laughter as soon as the elevator doors closed. Before the doors opened to the second floor I made myself invisible to the human eye, and then stepped off the elevator. As I made my way down the hallway I passed a fellow reaper , we both gave a nod of acknowledgement, knowing not to get in the other's way. Reapers never mess with another reaper's job.

When I reached the room, I peered into the room through a window next to the door. It was a relatively large room, with a bed on each side of the room, a curtain of heavy drapes separating them. It was lavishly decorated, and even the beds were real beds instead of the usual hospital beds.

The girl… I mean Lily, lay asleep in one of the beds, Maxwell lay in the other, a curtain separating them, he appeared to be just waking up. His injuries appeared to be significantly less than hers, which didn't make any sense logically, but when was magic that broke fate ever logical. Phasing through the door I started walking towards her, placing the flowers on the nightstand next to her. I turned towards her, placing a hand over her head and one over her heart. I traced the spell symbol onto her forehead, casting the tracking spell, a slight glow emanating from her forehead for a second when I finished.

When I had finished casting the spell I noticed Maxwell making his way towards Lily, a plush robe wrapped loosely around him, unlike the thin hospital gown the girl was wearing. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and stroked her cheek as she slept peacefully.

"You look like a radiant angel when you're asleep, I'm so glad that you agreed to move in with me, we're going to have so much fun together." He said, pressing her lips apart with his thumb, leaning and kissing her.

Her eyes began to flutter open and he pulled away. "Mhm, what are you doing?" She said sleepily.

"You're my girlfriend, am I not allowed to kiss you?" He said, leaning in for another kiss.

"Well… I mean yes, but we just started dating… and I don't really think that I'm ready for that yet… plus I'm not really in the mood." She said, gently pushing him away.

"Oh come on baby, you said yes while you were in this bad mood, so why can't I kiss you while you're in it." He said, pretending to pout and wrapping his arms around her.

"Max, we're both still recovering from being in an accident, I don't know if now is really the time to be fooling around." She said, her fingers shakily touching the bandage on her forehead.

"You're no fun." He said teasingly, kissing her neck. "Mhm, you smell good." He buried his face in her neck, taking in a deep breath.

"Stop it." She said, pulling away. "I can't smell good, I smell like the stuff they used to disinfect my wounds."

"Well, maybe I like that smell." He said, pulling her back into his arms and tightening his grip. Kissing her neck again despite her previous protests.

There was a knock at the door, he stopped, grumbling.

"What!" He growled, looking at the door, a sharp glare on his face.

"I… I'm sorry to disturb you young master, b-but I have the clothing you requested for the young lady." A maid said nervously, opening the door, a box in her arms. "I-I'll just set it down on the table and be out of your way." SHe said, shrinking under his glare. SHe quickly came in, setting the box down on the table and scurrying out of the room.

"I'm not in the mood to tease you anymore." Maxwell said, letting out a long frustrated sigh. He stood and grabbed the box, handing it to Lily. "Here, put this on, we'll head to my house afterwards."

"Okay" She said, standing up and setting the box on the bed about to start getting dressed but then pausing.

"What are you waiting for, go ahead and get dressed."

"Could you go back to your side of the room, I'm not very comfortable with changing in front of people." She said, her hands nervously fidgeting with her hospital gown.

"Aww, is my baby shy." He teases. "There's no need to be shy, the hospital gown is so loose that I've already seen everything." He said, tapping her nose with his finger, her face turning beet red. "But if you want me to leave, then I will. Although you really should start getting used to it." He whispered in her ear.

He waved at her as he went to the other side of the room, closing the curtain behind him. I wasn't sure of what I should do at this point, I had finished my task, but should I stay and watch over her or should I go, I wasn't sure. And then she started changing and I decided that it wouldn't hurt to stay, maybe I could figure out how to right the timeline and kill Maxwell if I stuck around long enough. I moved so that she couldn't see me and sat in a chair in the corner, definitely not watching her.

She seemed rather dazed as she pulled a red satin dress out of the box, laying it down on the bed before slipping off her hospital gown. She stared at the dress, not seeming to like the dress he had provided. Gingerly she picked it up again and slid it over her head. She was small, somewhat frail, not very much going on in the chest region, I'd say at most a B cup. She looked almost like a doll, her hair long and shiny, cascading in slight waves around her small frame. Her hair somehow still perfect even after all that had happened. She pulled a long black ribbon out of the box, it had a cute little bow in the middle, and she tied it around her neck. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Maxwell hadn't actually closed the curtain all the way, and that he was now secretly spying on her through the curtain, a kind of pervy look on his face.

"Are you done yet?" He said, pulling back the curtain, asking even though he already knew the answer.

"Y-yeah… but there uh… there aren't any shoes." She said, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Well I could just carry you." He said, flirtatiously. "But there are shoes in the box." He said, pulling back a layer of cardboard in the box, revealing a pair of black flats inside.

"O-oh" She said, embarrassed. She took them from the box and quickly slipped them on "I um… I appreciate the clothes… but this isn't really what I'm used to." She said nervously.

"I know, but I thought that you might look good in something different, and you do, you look adorable." He said, kissing her forehead.

I don't know much about fashion, but I have seen my fair share of fashion trends throughout the centuries, and she was right. The outfit didn't seem to fit her style, it looked forced. The dress was far too sexy for her delicate appearance, she looks like a doll, and dolls wear lacy frilly dresses, not something slutty. She looked uncomfortable, but she said nothing more about the subject.

"So um aren't you going to get dressed?" She said, sitting down on the bed, her fingers playing with the folds of her dress.

"Do you want me to strip for you?" He says flirtatiously. "But no, I'm already dressed." He said, slipping off the plush robe to reveal him fully dressed in a suit underneath.

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that." She says, getting embarrassed.

"Oh I know, I was just teasing you. Now come on, let's go, the car should already be downstairs waiting for us."

She lets out a sigh and follows him out of the room, lagging slightly behind him.

"I wish you would at least thank me for saving you instead of going straight back to messing with me…" She whispers quietly to herself, her expression sullen.

Poor thing, risking her life for someone who didn't value it. Such a waste of her powers, she should have just let him die, it was own fault for being so impatient. I couldn't fathom why anyone would say yes to going out with this guy, he seemed like a dick that was abusing her kindness and the fact that she seemed too shy to stick up for herself.

However I was more surprised that she had yet to notice my presence yet, I mean she may have, but she'd yet to show signs that she had. I mean she still seemed pretty dazed and out of it, so maybe that was why, or maybe her seeming me the first time had just been a fluke, and the whole accident had just been some random glitch in the universe…. No, that's just wishful thinking, and hoping that my job could be easier.

I continued to follow them as he led her down to the front lobby and out the front entrance where a limo sat waiting for them. I knew that she'd see me and that'd blow my cover if I simply just got into the car with them, so I silently slipped into her shadow where she hopefully wouldn't see my eyes blinking back at her.

The limo pulled out of the parking lot and they sat in silence as the limo whizzed past streets and buildings. He stared at his phone while she stared sorrowfully out the window. I stared at her, studying her face and the immense sadness her eyes seemed to hold. She was pretty I guess, she seemed to match what humans considered their beauty standard. Her face was symmetrical, and she had round doe like eyes that could be considered cute I suppose. But the only time so far that I had seen her smile was the picture in her profile from before her parents had died, the rest of the time her face held this sad, lost, look.

The limo screeched as it took a sharp turn into a driveway and continued towards a gate that was slowly opening. It continued up the driveway, the gate shutting behind us, slowly an enormous mansion came into view. It looped around a cul de sac with a fountain in the middle. A greek looking statue of a woman pouring water into the fountain out of a jar stood in the middle of the fountain. Of course a pervert like him liked art like this, art where the women showed more of their body than what was acceptable in today's society. The limo pulled to a stop in front of the manor, the driver getting out and opening the door for Maxwell. He climbed out, Lily following behind him, Maxwell not even bothering to be a gentleman and help her out of the limo.

The front of the manor was covered in flower gardens aragened in intricate designs, and intricate landscapes spread out past the manor. A row of maids stood along the path leading up to the entrance, "Welcome home master", they all said in unison, each bowing slightly to him in turn as he walked past. In true fashion to what was quickly becoming his character, they all were wearing somewhat slutty uniforms. This guy was a pig, and he absolutely disgusted me, and I found it sad that most demons in hell knew how to respect women better than him. Hell, even Jack was more gentlemanly than this guy, and he was the biggest pervert that I knew.

"This isn't quite what I was expecting when you said that you had an extra room that I could stay in." Lily said, looking nervous and somewhat overwhelmed.

"I thought that I had already told you that I was rich, you really shouldn't have expected anything other than a mansion."

"All you said was that you got a very large inheritance after your parents passed away, you never said how much it was or that you were rich. So I thought that maybe you lived in a lavish apartment or… something like that."

"Oh that's right, I had mentioned it when we were talking about the loss of your parents and how we had that in common. But I suppose I never did mention it because you started bringing up your financial troubles and I decided that it probably wasn't the best time to brag about my riches while you were complaining about how poor you were and that you were about to lose your house."

"Wow, way to be such a gentleman and not shove your success in her face while she was confiding to you her troubles. Mystery girl you can seriously do better than this guy, if he really loved you then he would have used all that money to help you keep the home you love so much. Instead he let you become homeless and then just coincidentally offered for you to move in with him." I thought to myself, not daring to voice my thoughts aloud and blow my cover.

"I can't believe that they took everything from the house, how can they do that… I mean even the pictures, they're only worth something to me…" She said, her voice choking up, tears welling in her eyes.

"I'm truly sorry that I didn't step in to help you sooner, I just didn't think that it was appropriate for me to interfere with your affairs." He said, turning and giving her a hug, his expression holding no trace of sympathy as he stroked her hair.

"It's not your fault, its mine, I… I didn't do enough… I didn't try hard enough to make earn enough money to save my home. I… I failed, I'm so sorry… Mom… Dad… I failed you. I should have just taken your job offer sooner Max, I… I'm so useless."

"It's going to be okay now, you have me, I'll help make you feel not so useless anymore. I'm sure you'll do a good job working for me, and I'm sure it'll make you feel so much better." He said, a smile that made me nauseous spreading across his face.

"Y-yeah, you're right, I'm sure not having to work three jobs anymore will help things start to feel a little better."

"Come, let me show you your room so that you can relax and start to feel more at home here." He said, his expression changing to a friendly smile when she looked up at him.

I had heard of toxic human relationships, but I had never seen one in person for myself. I had originally thought that this was some sort of whirlwind romance that he was trying to orchestrate, but now I'm starting to realize that its much more complicated than that. This had been going on for awhile, he had been slowly working away at her, manipulating her, trying to control her. It seemed like she had ignored his advances before, but now she'd fallen into his trap, coming here was a mistake on her part. A mistake that he had cornered her into making.

He grabbed her hand and started leading her inside and up the central staircase in the entrance hall. I followed them through the complicated maze of hallways and parlor rooms, well technically I was still hitching a ride in her shadow. Eventually he led her inside one of the rooms, and my eyes watered from the explosion of pink. You could tell that whoever decorated this room had no clue about what she likes or how to decorate a girls room. Everything, and I mean everything, was pink, pink pink pink pink, everywhere you looked was pink. There was so much pink it almost physically hurt to be in the room, even in her shadow, oh gods this was almost to much to stand.

"So what do you think?" He said.

"It's uh… very pink." She said, the fact that she didn't want to hurt his feelings was very apparent in her voice.

"I wasn't sure about what you would like, so I talked to one of my friends and he said that girls like pink. But I went a little overboard with it, didn't I?" He said, faking a boyish smile.

"No its fine, I don't mind, I'm the one who's imposing on you anyways. So where ever you want me to stay is fine."

"As long as you're okay with it, but if you aren't I can have it changed if you like." He said. "Why don't you go take a bath and wash the smell of hospital off you, and then maybe we can do something fun before dinner." He said, smiling at her as he pushed her towards a door at the back of the room.

"Do I put this dress back on when I'm done?" She said as he pushed her through the bathroom door.

"Oh heavens no, theres a fresh change of clothes waiting for you next to the tub."

"O-oh… okay." She said, then he shut the door behind her, leaving her staring at the wall confused.

"... its different here than what I imagined." She said quietly to herself. "I don't remember him being so pushy before… what do you think Mom." She said, her fingers tracing the line of her neck until they suddenly stopped and her hand dropped back to her side. "Right… I forgot that I lost your necklace in the accident…. I've probably disappointed you haven't I… I lost everything that was important to me, to us, and now I have nothing left but memories, and even those are slipping through my fingers…"

She took a deep shaky breath before slipping off the dress, letting it fall to the floor in a puddle at her feet. She untied the ribbon at her neck as she stepped into the large tub, the warm water slipping around us, her presence disturbing the water, causing the rose petals in the water to bounce around the tub as she settled in. She curled into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest as she started to cry, her tears mixing with the water.

"I know that you would be upset Mom, but sometimes… sometimes I think about just ending it all…. I have nothing left to live for, everything I loved is gone, there's nothing left that truly matters. I mean there's Max… but I don't love him like he says he loves me, we only just started dating, and I don't really know why I even said yes. I guess it was because he was really persistent, and I needed somewhere to stay, and he was offering me a job… so I thought why not just say yes to it all, give a relationship a shot. And it's nice to have someone trying to take care of me during this difficult time. I don't know… what do you think Mom, Dad, if you can hear me wherever you are, do you think you could send me some kind of sign, I don't know what to do anymore."

She spoke as if her deceased parents could still hear her, which was ridiculous, even if they hadn't passed on already they still wouldn't be able to hear in whatever plane they went to. I couldn't understand life chose this girl of all people to be given Life's blessing, she was pitiful and weak. She wasn't very smart either, it was so painfully obvious that he was manipulating her and yet she couldn't even see that. She's not special, there's nothing that seemed significant about her, so why her when giving someone like her something so precious is such a waste.

"Either I hit my head or you're already sending me some sort of sign Mom, because I think my shadow is staring at me." She said, staring right at me. "Although this is a weird sign, so I must just be seeing things." She said, her hand reaching towards me through the water.

I tried to sink further into her shadow, not expecting for her to have seen me in the water, and I wasn't prepared yet for us to have an encounter. I couldn't let her see me, at least not yet, I knew I wasn't supposed to speak with her, that would be interfering with events, but I knew that her seeing me was eventually inevitable. But thankfully her hand froze inches from her shadow.

"I guess I was just seeing things… probably exhaustion." She said, then stood up, tightly wrapping a towel around her torso.

She stepped out of the tub, her bare feet tapping against the cold tiles of the floor. She picked up the dress he left for her and held it up so she could see it.

"I am not wearing this." She said, dropping it and picking up the red dress from before.

She carried it over to the mirror and sat it down on the sink, then began drying and brushing her hair. She stopped, staring at her reflection and brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"I'm not sure what to do with my hair Mom, you always knew what to do with it." She said, brushing her fingers through her hair. I know you loved my hair long, but I just never know what to do with it when it's this long. Maybe I should trim it shorter, that would help with a fresh start right? Oh who are you kidding, you could never cut it, you're just stalling." She said, staring right at her reflection. She started slowly getting dressed, seeming to be reluctant to get dressed.

When she finished she stared at the mirror again, she seemed to be staring at one spot, and then I realized what she was staring at, me. Her shadow lay against the wall in a way where she could see it in the mirror, and in the reflection of the mirror you could partially see me hiding in her shadow.

"I knew I wasn't seeing things, there really was something in my shadow." She says to herself, turning to look at me. "Are you some kind of guardian angel, I think I saw you in the crowd after the accident too. Are you here to watch over me?" She said, waiting for me to respond.

I remained silent, staring back at her for a while.

"So then you aren't going to speak, or are you not able to?" She says, looking slightly disappointed.

"Are you done in there yet?" Max calls from her bedroom.

Before she could respond I rose from her shadow, taking only two broad steps before I reached her, and in one stroke I pulled the ribbon from neck and laced it through her hair with magic. She looked shocked, parting her lips to say something, but I held a finger to my lips. The door creaked open, and by the time Maxwell stepped in I was gone, back in her shadow once again.

"Why aren't you responding…" He said as he walked in. "Why aren't you wearing the outfit I said to put on?"

"... because I didn't like it, it's too… it's not my style." She said quietly.

He sighs. "I guess it's fine, that dress still works." He said.

She starts walking out into the bedroom, stopping at the edge of her bed, staring down at her suitcase. Maxwell walks up behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I do like what you did with your hair, it looks sexy with that dress." He said, sliding his hand along her back and under the strap of her dress, his fingers lacing around it as he tugs on it.

"What… what are you doing?!" She said, pulling away.

"What I'm paying you to do, so why are you pulling away?" He said, trying to move closer but she pushed him away.

"What do you mean what you're paying me to do, you said the job was as your assistant and that I don't start working until next week." She said, her body shaking.

"Oh, so that's what you thought I meant by assistant. Sorry sweetie, but for me you being my girlfriend and my assistant are one in the same. I guess I didn't make it clear that I wanted for you to be, well the only way that I can think to word it is that you're going to be my sugar baby."

"E-excuse me?!" She said, trying to back away from him, but he grabbed her wrist and in one fluent motion he twirled her towards the bed and pushed her down onto it.

"You said that you needed money, and you agreed to be my girlfriend, so I assumed that we wanted the same thing. You'll let me do as I please with you, and in return I will give you a place to live and the money you need." He said, leaning over her and pinning her arms to the bed.

"You… you assumed wrong, I don't want this." She said, struggling under his grasp, but he pinned her down further by pressing his legs against hers.

"It's too late for protests sweetheart, you've already agreed to everything, so just stay still like a good girl and let me have my fun." He said, ripping the strap off her dress and pulling the top of the dress down. "Guess this one was the better option, it's easier to rip." He said as he kissed her neck, this thrilled creepy smile on his face.

"Stop it please." She cried pitifully, her struggles useless beneath his weight as he continued to roughly pull her clothes off as well as his own while he held her down. "Someone help… please… anyone!" She cried out as loud as she could, her voice falling short, her struggles slowly stopping.

Without thinking I whispered to her. "I can help you, I just need you to do a favor in return for me first, and then I can take care of this problem for you for good." I don't know why I'm bothering to help her, it's not like she can die, but I know that it would gnaw at me later if I didn't stop him from what he was about to do. I made it so only she can see me, her head tilting to look at me. I pulled myself slightly out of her shadow, and held a finger to my lips. "Don't speak, just nod if you want help, then I'll tell you the condition I need in order to help you."

She took no time to think it over as Maxwell continued to pull at her clothes and kiss her body, she nodded her head as vigorously as she could without him noticing.

"All you have to do is take back your wish, and then this problem will be gone forever."

"What wish?" She whispered, now struggling against him again once I had given her some form of hope.

"You wished to save this pathetic man's life when you tried to save him, this resulted in his life being saved from his fated death. I believe that all you have to do is take that wish back, and then I'll be able to work my magic and take care of him for you."

"But what if… what if it doesn't work?" She whispered nervously.

"Who are you talking to, there's no one here but me." He said, wrapping a hand around her neck and forcing her to look at him. "Or are you talking to your precious mother like you always do." He said, starting to squeeze her throat, her eyes going wide. "No more talking, just shut up, sit there, be pretty, and hold still."

Her eyes welled with tears, she looked at me out of the corner of her eye, her gaze begging me for help.

"If it doesn't work I still take care of this, it just means that I'll have to deal with the consequences later."

"Please… make it… stop…" She choked out, using her free hand to try to pry his hand off her throat which angers him further.

"Who the hell are you talking to you little bitch!" He said, using his other hand to slap her across the face.

Her expression filled with shock, her cheek turning red with a slight swell where he hit her.

"You… you hit me…" She said, shaking, her eyes filling with more tears that ran down her face.

"If you want him to stop then say it, say that you take back your wish, that you want him to die." I said, itching to let him taste the sweet kiss of my blade.

"Why… why are you doing this? It's bad enough that you're trying to force yourself on me… but now you're hurting me too? What happened to the kind Max that I knew, you used to be so sweet and would crack funny jokes, but now…. I saved your life and you couldn't even muster a thank you, and now you're choking me." She says weakly, his grip having loosened just enough for her to speak.

"Why should I thank you, it's your own damn fault that I was anywhere near that street in the first place!" He shouted, letting her go and standing back, the only piece of clothing he had yet to remove yet were his boxers.

"How was it my fault? I never asked for you to pursue me, and yet I still jumped in front of an oncoming bus for you!" She said,raising her voice too.

"Oh please, you were practically begging for me to keep asking you out, and you were so clearly rejecting me so that I'd pursue you harder, and you just confirmed that when you agreed to go out with me!. Don't deny it you little slut!" He shouted, grabbing her by the wrist and throwing her to the floor.

"What are you talking about, that's not what I wanted at all." She said, groaning in pain as she tried to pick herself up.

"Well there can't be any other reason why a girl would reject me, I'm the prince of princes in this town. So why would anyone reject ME!" He shouted angrily, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her up to meet his face as he leaned over her.

"You're… you're hurting me." She whimpered, the fight starting to drain out of her again.

"I don't care bitch, if you won't behave then you need to be taught a lesson." He spat.

"I wouldn't recommend thinking so highly of yourself buddy." I said, stepping fully out of my shadow and making myself visible.

"Who said that!" He said, quickly turning, causing him to let go of her hair.

I kicked him right in the gut with the heel of my boot, sending him crashing against the wall. "I did."

"What the hell, who the fuck are you! How dare you kick me, I'll sue you!"

"I'd like to see you try, you piece of shit." I said, pissed, but a smirk still danced on my lips as I picked him up by the throat and punched him square in the face, letting him fall to the ground.

"What the fuck man, I haven't done anything wrong, why the hell are you beating up on me for no fucking reason!" He shouted, clutching his face as blood streamed from his nose.

"Ha! That's hilarious, you've done nothing wrong? What a load of bull. So then you call trying to rape this for girl doing "nothing wrong"!" I said, picking him up by the throat again, squeezing tightly this time.

"It's not rape when she's my girlfriend, besides who the fuck are you to judge when you're obviously some creep who broke into my house. So let's see how high and mighty you are after I call the cops."

"It doesn't matter if she's your girlfriend, its still rape if she doesn't consent to it. It won't work, but go ahead and try, call the cops, let's see how smug you are after they call you crazy for trying to arrest the air."

"Ha! Me? The crazy one? Hilarious! You're the one who's crazy, you broke into my house, assaulted me, and now you're spewing nonsense about being air. Are you high or something?!" He said, starting to laugh like a crazy person.

Gods I hate rich people, they always think they're so entitled, even in death they still think they're better than everyone else just because they were better off wealth wise. It makes me want to scream, news flash humans, your money does you no good once you're dead!

"Let's get things straight, buddy, one never call me crazy, especially when you're the one who's bat shit insane, and two its never a good idea to fuck with a demon." I said, just loudly enough for him to hear, but not loud enough for her to hear, and then I flashed my demon form at him.

"D-d-demon!" He said, the smugness draining from his face, revealing a delicious fear underneath.

I dropped him, then walked over to Lily, offering a hand to help her up.

"Now my dear, would you please kindly finish your end of our bargain so that I may finish mine." I said gently, trying to get her to hurry up without forcing it.

"I… I thought you were done with your end, y-you stopped him, that was all I really wanted." She said, still shaking with fear.

"Oh no, this is far from done, you messed things up for me yesterday by saving this waste of space, so now you get to fix things. But all you have to do is close your eyes and take back your wish to save him, it's as simple as that, I'll handle the rest."

"I… I don't really know what I did or what I messed up… but I'll do what you asked." She said, she paused for a second, took a deep breath then looked over at Maxwell. "Do you regret what you did at all, would you apologize for what you've done to hurt me, would you ever even consider thanking me for saving you." She said, pointlessly trying to find some way to redeem him.

"Ha, why should I thank you, you little bitch! And why the hell should I regret my actions when you were stupid enough to let it happen, so that counts as consent because you could've stopped all of this at any time you wanted, but you didn't. So why the hell should I be sorry about it! The only thing that I'll ever regret is choosing you, you ungrateful bitch! Do you know how many girls would kill for the offer I gave you, and you just rejected it like some goody two shoes who thinks she's better than everyone else!"

"My silence doesn't count as consent!" She shouted, her fists clenched tightly at her sides, her whole body shaking as tears filled her eyes. "I tried to say no, to tell you to stop, but you… you wouldn't listen! I… I hate you, I wish that I had let that stupid bus hit you!" She shouted as loudly as she could.

"You bitch!" He shouted, lunging at her.

Instinctively she went to protect herself, but before she could, I placed a hand over her eyes, kicking Maxwell back hard. Then I leaned down and whispered in her ear "Go to the corner, close your eyes and cover your ears, that is unless you want to hear his screams and watch him die." She nodded and ran over to the corner, doing as I said, a spell preventing her from hearing what was about to happen.

"Now it's just you and me." I said, turning back towards him, a wicked grinning dancing across my lips as I summoned my scythe.

There it was, that beautiful red X that I have never loved more than in this moment. I took a step towards him, an evil glint that made him skuttle back in fear. He quickly stood back, trying to run, but with a swing of my blade he stopped short, his neck just short of being impaled. The blade gently kissed his neck, causing a thin stream of blood to trickle down its shining surface.

"And where do you think you're going? You don't want to miss your date with destiny."

"You're fucking crazy, how dare you try to kill me? And you, how dare you cover your ears and cower you spineless bitch!" He shouted, his mind becoming more frantic as the fear of coming closer to death began to sink in.

"There is no point in blaming her, death was your fate from the start, she just mistakenly chose to try and get in the way. Did you know she technically died trying to save your pathetic life, but the gods favor her and changed the very course of time to save her. You chose wrong when you chose to mess with someone who has been blessed by the goddess of light herself."

"T-that's nonsense, how could such a pathetic bitch be blessed by god, that's impossible." He sputtered.

I continued on like I hadn't heard him. "Well at least now you'll get to die at the hands of the number one reaper in hell, instead of being killed by something as lame as a bus." I said, pressing the blade further against his neck, turning the trickle into a stream. "But it's not like a scumbag like you deserves such a death, so I'll make this quick but very painful."

I pulled my scythe back, letting it rest on my shoulders. "Any last words?"

"Wait, please, don't do this, there has to be something that I can give you." He said, getting on his knees and begging. "What is it that you want, money, fame, power? I can give you any woman you want, you want her, then take her, just please spare my life-" He cried, pitifully begging for his life.

Before he could even finish I swung my scythe down hard, cutting him cleanly in half, blood and guts spilling everywhere as his scream slowly died out.

"There isn't anything I want, at least not anything that a pathetic mortal could give me. But have fun in hell." I said, licking the blood off my lips and grinning as I watched the rest of his life slowly drain out of him.

"Job complete." I said, snapping my assignment book shut.