A new path

"He isn't dead!" The Reaper panicked.

"Where are we?" Lian asked.

Now in the middle of a peaceful field. Cows gradually trot up to them through the barbed fence Lian's little sister takes several tries to pull a simple blade of grass to feed the gentle farm animal now attempting to poke its head through.

"We are near the parlor, Lian we must awaken the scythe soon." He explained.

He pointed down the road to a funeral home. "Merrick's Funeral Parlor" read on the large black sign in bold white letters. A woman came out dressed in a long chickadee yellow summer gown, a translucent white apron over the top.

"Mr. Reaper! I can't find Nour again!" She yelled.

Her pink hair shone brightly against the brightness of the sun behind her. Lian thought wasn't it dark only moments earlier? How did it get so bright all of a sudden?

"Where has your twin gone Nina?" He asked.

She stomped her feet pouting as she grabbed the broom swooshing it around the porch connected to the building. The lone rocking chair moved by itself up and down, up and down without even the slightest wind to push it.

Lian became frightened observing its tottering. Nina noticed the new boy holding tight to the scythe in his hands watching the chair.

"Hey, can you see it?" She questioned.

He was easily nervous in the presence of women. She had a cute round face and perfect pink lips, she could easily be a model he thought looking down at the top of her dress for a few seconds before averting his gaze.

"W-what do you mean?" He asked.

"We leave the rocking chair out for "other" guests" She giggled.

"Other guests?! Ghosts?" He shouted.

"Shhh, don't insult them!" She scolded.

"How am I supposed to react, how is this normal?" Lian replied.

"Close your eyes and stop being ignorant! There is a lovely lady with curls in her silvery hair going back and forth slowly…she is watching you." Nina grinned.

Fingers squirm around Lian's waist causing him to jump in the air with a scream. He turned to find another girl who looked exactly like Nina right in front of his face smiling ear to ear.

"Nour! There you are!" She glowered.

His whole body trembled at the thought of these spirits Nina toted. Staring he saw nothing only the chair moving, not even by squinting could he even see for a smidge what she mentioned to him.

"The dead are dead…" He whispered.

Slender digits curled on his shoulder. He gawked up at Reaper gazing down at him as his other hand was on the scythe of his father's.

"Let's go inside, Lian." He stated.

Lian's little sister caught sight of the whole thing. She dashed over to him carrying her as far as her little feet would take her on foot. She stumbled on a rock smashing her face into the gravel walk attempting to catch up to her brother.

She began to cry. Lian ran back to her lifting her in his arms, she quickly was remedied in his care. He hopped up and down and made funny faces.

"I am sorry were here, Lily." He said.

Lily said nothing pressing her head against his chest. Her eyes were glassy and her nose pinked from her crying, Lian wiped her running nose.

"I have a room you both can stay in." He explained.

"Thank you…"

Entering the household he noticed it was quartered off into many sections. There are many rooms, many pictures hung on the walls. Faces, many faces glared down at him from above in the angelic white of the room.

It felt almost menacing being in a funeral parlor meant for the dead. Nina and Nour were so happy to live in this small place and seemed to care for the residents he pondered.

"If you follow me," Reaper noted.

Lian could hear a conversation being carried on in the next room. Instead of following Reaper, he jumped to the door next to the viewing area to quickly open it to find a man inside a tiny space next to a medical bed covered in a folded green blanket.

An indentation in the mattress spooked him. The man peeked up at him studying his features before getting up to shake his hand. Lian was stunned.

"You are Merrick's boy!" He laughed.

"Were you talking to someone in here?" He questioned.

"Oh, yes! This is a very lovely elderly man here!" He said with a look of delight.

"There is?" Lian questioned.

"He was telling me how it was during the war!" He explained.

The man was dressed in a buttoned sweater and dark brown slacks, his own hair was graying despite that you could still see a light brown color speckled throughout. He was amused by his conversation and captivated by the visitor's words.

You could feel the warmth of the man's kindness alone. The light above them flickered on and off.

"Okay, okay! Looks like he wasn't done with his story, we will chat later!" He announced.

The door was slammed in front of their faces. Lian felt rejected by someone much older than him for the first time. In a house full of odd people, twins already give off the feeling they were not in a safe place, to begin with.

"That was Max, he is a very good listener." Reaper laughed.

He escorted them to their room. It had one bed, a cabinet, and a wardrobe. Lian sat the scythe in the corner as the Reaper left him in the bedroom with his little sister all alone, she squirmed out of his arms plummeting to the floor knocking with a thud.

Lily crawled over to his weapon staring at it for a couple of moments. Lian was confused shooing her away from the spot patting her to come to the bed.

"That is dangerous, Lily!" He chided.

"If you need anything just come to me, everyone has jobs to do please don't bother them." Reaper pointed out.