Case #2-Zach Reaper vs the Perverted Ghost

"Ughhhhh…" I groan. "Back to school already…?"

I let out a sigh as I mope my way down the hallways of my school and towards my classroom. After staying up 'til, like, seven in the morning for a case without a wink of sleep, I still have to shelp my ass to school the next day! And you wanna know what the worst part is? I get up for school at six.

So, just like every day, I'm late. And my ass is gonna get chewed out by Evelyn …again. My good looks can't take this, you know! I need my beauty sleep, seriously! It takes at least…ten hours to look as dashing as I do, man!

Luckily, my ears are saved from an awfully annoying chewin'-out from Evelyn, 'cause today when I spot her for the first time I see Evelyn chatting with a few of those cute friends of hers.

"Looks like I'll have to take the short way to class," I grumble through clenched teeth as I do a full one-eighty before Evelyn can spot me. But before I can walk away from Evelyn and her friends, something catches my ear.

"Did you guys hear about the rumor that there's a ghost in our school?!" A frantic Evelyn nervously asks.

Swiftly, duck behind the corner so that Evelyn can't see me. Slowly, I then peep my head out and continue watching Evelyn.

"Ghosts, eh…?" I whisper to myself. "This sounds like a job for me!"

Evelyn's two friends look at one another, sigh, then turn back to face her.

"What about this ghost now, Evelyn?" One girl sighs. "That recent suicide is waaay more interesting."

"Well the ghost has made its way to the girls' locker room!" Evelyn exclaims. "All of our underwear...IS GONE!"

"What do you mean stolen?" The second girl asks as she raises an eyebrow at her and places a hand on her hip.

"The ghost...the ghost stole them all!" Evelyn exclaims, causing her two friends to laugh in her face.

"And what makes you say that?" The first girl spits.

"Jessica said she saw her underwear floating!" Evelyn exclaims.

"URK!" I recoil. "Okay…maybe this isn't a job for me! This sounds more like a job for…Chris Hanson, with this perverted ghost! Besides, I'm not exactly allowed into the girls' locker room…"

But my recoil must have been a little too loud, because Evelyn then turns to my general direction and exclaims: "Huh, who's there?!"

Swiftly, I duck behind the corner so Evelyn can't spot me.

"I think you've been watching too many horror movies, Evelyn!" The two girls laugh.

"Zach, is that you?" Evelyn asks as she takes a step towards the corner.

"Um…no…" I answer.

"Ah-ha, so it is you!" Evelyn exclaims as she continues approaching me.

"I mean…yes…?" I reply, but it's of no use, and after a moment Evelyn rounds the corner and the two of us are standing face to face.

"Zach, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Evelyn exclaims.

"Well tough luck, considering I only got here a half hour ago," I grumble as I stand up to face Evelyn.

"And why are you late, Zach?" Evelyn asks as she places both hands on her hips and scowls at me.

"I was up all night killing werewolves," I answer.

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

"Either way, do you have your homework, Zach?" Evelyn then asks.

"My homework?!" I exclaim. "Does it look like I have my homework?! Look at these bags under my eyes, see, see them?!"

"Well they're a little hard to notice when you're always wearing that eyeliner," Evelyn smugly fires back.

"Oh, it's not eyeliner," I answer as I point to the black markings around my eyes.

"Then what is it?" Evelyn asks.

"Um…natural?" I answer, causing Evelyn to sigh.

"Come on, Evelyn, let's go to class now!" One of Evelyn's friends exclaims as she rushes over to Evelyn and hooks her arms around hers. "Hey, Zach," she then says to me with a small wink. Like I said, I'm popular, eh?

"Sup," I reply with a small smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Evelyn replies as she allows for her friends to drag her away, although their attention remains focused on me.

"So what are you going to do about our little ghost problem, class prez'?" I hear one of Evelyn's friends ask her as they strut away from me. "It is your job to protect us, right?"

"Yeah, are you gonna call that shady 'Reaper's Paranormal' business that everyone's talking about?" The other girl laughs. "It's probably fake, you know, they're just gonna steal your money."

Hey! Not cool, I am not a fraud business!

"Well, I… you know...if I have to…" Evelyn awkwardly replies as she fiddles with her hands.

***

"Wouldn't ya' know it, she really did it…"

The second that school ends and I make my way to El Coffee Café, I can't help but to sigh upon opening my laptop.

"You know, I didn't really expect Evelyn to become my client. Whatever, let's see what this is about," I grumble as I click on Evelyn's request,"So she wants me to meet her after hours at school tomorrow to check out this while "girls' locker room ghost" situation. It looks like I have no choice, I'll accept it," I sigh as I accept Evelyn's job request.

"She must not realize that the 'Reaper's Paranormal' representative is a dude…"

***

The very next day, I make my way to my school Lincoln High School at five o'clock once all classes and club activities have ended, as per Evelyn's request. This is probably the first time I've ever been at school past, like, two o'clock.

When I get to school I see Evelyn nervously pacing back and forth in front of the school doors, which is understandable considering the odd (and paranormal) nature of what Evelyn is about to dive into.

But when Evelyn spots me (not that she knows it's me) she perks up a little.

"Um, hello…are you the person from Reaper's Paranormal that I contacted to take care of my little ghost situation?" Evelyn awkwardly asks.

"You betcha', sweety," I answer with a small smirk beneath my mask. Paranormal problems? We'll solve 'em! If you want to hire a supernatural investigator without breaking the bank, then call Reaper's Paranormal today!" I exclaim as I strike my usual pose.

"Um…what are you doing?" Evelyn asks.

"Oh, it's my slogan," I answer, leaving Evelyn dumbfounded.

"So why don't you come in?" Evelyn asks as she motions towards the door.

"Lead the way," I answer as Evelyn leads me into the school as if I've never been here before.

"So, er, how does this Reaper's Paranormal stuff work?" Evelyn asks as the two of us stroll through the hallway and towards the girls' locker room. "Like…is there a group of you guys taking these cases , or…?"

"Nah, it's just me," I answer.

"So you deal with all of those cases yourself?!" Evelyn exclaims as she pauses in her tracks, seeming shocked.

"Surprisingly, I get good business, but not enough where I can't handle it all myself," I answer. "You were actually reaaaally far back on my list of cases."

"Then why are you taking my case the same day I requested it?" Evelyn asks as the two of us continue walking again.

"Urk," I recoil, and now it's my turn to pause. I can't exactly tell Evelyn that this case is an issue plaguing me as well, since this is my school. Well…I could, but I don't want any of this Reaper's Paranormal nonsense being tied to Zach Reaper. There's already enough people after the Reaper's head, I don't need people to know his secret identity too.

"Well…this seemed like an urgent job for Mr. Reaper's Paranormal, so I figured I'd accept it right away…" I awkwardly lie as I sheepishly rub the back of my head.

"Oh, so you're a guy…" Evelyn gloomy replies.

"I thought that was obvious," I grumble in response as I motion up and down my own body

"It is, it's just…I was hoping for a girl because of...you know..."

"Yeah, yeah, I got 'cha."

Evelyn then pauses.

"Is…there a problem?" I ask as I pause as well.

"So…it's all real…?"

"What's real?"

"All of it!" Evelyn exclaims as she turns up to face me. "Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, all of them?!"

"Oh yeah, I've seen them all," I whistle as I continue walking, "Zombies, mummies, and creatures that you can't even begin to dream of, they're all real."

Evelyn pauses in response and stares down at her feet, looking gloomy.

"Oh…maybe I shouldn't have told her all of that…" I mutter to myself.

The number one rule is to never tell humans about the existence of Heaven or Hell, that would lead to mass chaos. Of course, I haven't told anyone about that yet, but I should probably stop before I accidentally do…

After a few moments, I hear a meek voice tremble: "I knew it…"

"Eh?" I ask as I turn back around to face Evelyn. "Ya' say somethin'?"

"I knew it!" Evelyn exclaims as she turns up to face me again, and when I get a good look at Evelyn's face, I see that she's no longer gloomy, but looks more…excited than anything.

"HUH?!"

"I knew it, I always knew it!" Evelyn cheers as she throws her hands into the air in celebration. "I knew that the paranormal was real, but no one ever believed me!"

Ah, that's right, Evelyn's friends always laugh at her when she geeks out about paranormal crap.

"You're a fan?" I ask.

"A fan?!" Evelyn scoffs. "Are you kidding?! I'm the fan! I'm the biggest fan of old school horror movies that you'll ever meet!"

"Psssh, nerd," I scoff, causing Evelyn to pout.

"You just don't like the films because they're in black and white, you have no taste!" She fires back.

"Eh, supernatural shit just isn't as fun when you live it everyday," I grumble as I continue walking towards our destination, causing Evelyn's eyes to widen. Evelyn seems none the wiser as I lead myself towards the locker room.

"Just…who are you, anyway?" Evelyn asks as she jogs after me. "Who are you?"

"I dunno what you're talking about."

"You're not just some dude, I can tell that much!" Evelyn continues. "You know waaay too much about the paranormal, unless you are just a con-man. So tell me, who did I hire?"

"A fan of the paranormal, just like you."

***

Eventually, Evelyn leads me through the hallways of our school, then down to the gym and finally; the girl's locker room. Though I already would have been able to find it myself, of course.

"Alright, we're here," Evelyn announces once the two of us are standing outside of the locker room.

"Lead the way," I order.

I heard Evelyn take an audible gulp before reaching out and grabbing the doorknob, and pushing the door open with an apprehensive shove. Evelyn takes a step inside.

"Hmm, looks the same as a dude's locker room," I say as I follow Evelyn inside and begin surveying the locker room. I've never been in a girl's locker room before… obviously. "Only with more…pink."

"Yo, so you said that our little ghost friend was stealing the girls' bras n' shit, right?" I ask as I turn to face a blushing Evelyn.

"Could you not be so brazen about it?!" Evelyn snaps.

"What, was your bra stolen too?" I ask Evelyn, causing her to blush even deeper, and I swear I can see steam spewing out of her ears.

"SHUT UP!"

"Well it was in your request," I chuck;e, causing Evelyn to sigh.

"Yeah, so lately all of the girls', er…undergarments have been going missing," Evelyn explains. "I even had to go to class command-nevermind…"

"Interesting…interesting…" I mutter as I whip out a small notepad and begin jotting down notes.

Evelyn peeps over my shoulder and raises an eyebrow at me. "You're seriously writing that down?"

"Lay off, this is how I work!" I snap as I clap my notepad shut.

"So…what led you to believe that your locker room is infected with a poltergeist rather than a peeping Tom?" I then ask.

"A friend of mine said she saw her underwear floating!" Evelyn exclaims.

"Ah, well that's something," I reply as I slip my notepad back into my pocket. "Don't mind if I take a look around."

"Oh, no, help yourself," Evelyn replies as she plants her commando booty down on a bench.

Alright, quick Paranormal Lesson with Zach as I investigate the locker room!

Many people use the term "ghost" and "poltergeist" interchangeably. Ghosts are those souls you see wandering around Purgatory, awaiting judgment from God and the Devil. Poltergeists on the other hand, are a result of a human soul expiring before a Reaper can do their namesake job. Poltergeists usually have some unfinished business left on Earth or don't realize that they are dead, leading them to interact with their surroundings to either try and accomplish their final task or to try to go along with their daily lives. In order to put a Poltergeist to rest, one needs to either convince a poltergeist that they're dead, or help them soul accomplish their unfinished business. Or both.

Or, if you're me, you can reap their soul.

"Find anything?" Evelyn asks me once I'm done looking around.

"So I have two theories as to how our little ghost friend is," I explain, "The first one is that this poltergeist is some teenage boy who died in the basement. Due to the poltergeist's antics, I think you can understand my reasoning. My second theory is that the ghost is a girl who died in the basement and is seeking revenge against any girl who uses this locker room."

"Which one is more likely?" Evelyn asks.

"Considering the poltergeist has yet to physically harm anyone, my guess is the former, that we have an...excited teenage boy on our hands."

"Like you?"

"My age is confidential."

"So what's your plan?" Evelyn asks. "Should we…lure out the ghost, or something?"

"Yeah, good plan, give me your underwear," I answer as I hold a hand out to Evelyn.

"PERVERT!" Evelyn screams as she slaps my plastic skull mask.

"Did you get that out of your system yet?"

"No!" Evelyn snaps as she clutches her wounded wrist.

"But in all seriousness," I continue as I hold my hand out to Evelyn.

"Wait, you were serious?!"

"Yep."

With an apprehensive sigh, Evelyn strolls over to a particular locker before kneeling down and fiddling with the lock. After a brief moment, Evelyn roughly swings the locker door open before reaching inside and picking up a small bundle before tossing it over to me.

"Here!" Evelyn exclaims.

I snatch the bundle out of the air and hold it up to my face to see…"Your underwear?"

"Well you did ask for it, didn't you?!" Evelyn snaps as a deep blush creeps across her face.

"I didn't actually expect you to oblige," I snicker, causing Evelyn to sigh yet again.

***

"Well, this isn't working."

"What's wrong?"

I've been wandering around the locker room waving Evelyn's underwear around for a while now, yet nothing has taken the bait yet.

"The poltergeist isn't showing itself," I answer. "Oh…who am I kidding?! It's not an idiot, it sees some dude dangling a pair of girl's underwear, it's not fun to take it from me!"

"So who is it fun to take it from?" Evelyn asks.

I turn to Evelyn and smirk at her from behind my mask, but my eyes tell Evelyn all that she needs to know.

"Oh, no, I am not doing that!" Evelyn protests as she takes a step away from me.

"Hmm…well you did say you want this ghost gone, right?" I ask, causing Evelyn to cross her arms and sigh.

"Alright, what do I have to do?" Evelyn asks as she turns back to face me.

***

"Hah...hah...hah…" Evelyn pants. "Is this really going to work?"

"Eh, we'll see," I answer.

In order to make our bait as authentic as possible, I had Evelyn do some jumping jacks in order to get all nice and sweaty, so now she's going to hop into the shower and leave her clothes all unattended in hopes that our little poltergeist friend will finally show its face.

"Can you stop sitting on our butt and help?!" Evelyn snaps.

"Whattttt, but I am helping?" I groan from my position laying on my back on the bench and staring up at the ceiling. "I'm making all the plans here."

"I don't know how you get away calling yourself an investigator…" Evelyn grumbles as she begins to retrieve a fresh outfit from her locker.

"Could you turn around?!"

"Nah, I'm good!" I laugh, but I do so anyway.

I hear some rustling noises, as if Evelyn is changing her clothes, and then a cry: "Um, excuse me, Mr Reaper!"

"Huh, what is it?!" I exclaim as I jump out of my seat and turn towards Evelyn.

"I set my sweaty clothes down, and now…they're gone!" Evelyn cries as she points to an empty sweat stain spot on the bench in front of her.

"Alright, we've got some action!" I exclaim as I bring my gloved hands up and clench them into fists. "It's Reaping Time!"

But before I can really do any reaping, Evelyn cries: "Look out!" I spin around to where I heard Evelyn's voice, only to see an entire locker room bench flying towards my face.

"Woah!" I cry as I roll to the side, just narrowly avoiding the bench which slams into the wall and shatters into hundreds of pieces behind me. "That would'a hurt!"

"Ohhh…I am so getting detention…" Evelyn groans.

"Girls I love…" a young voice begins to say. "BUT GUYS CAN STAY AWAY!"

I look up, only to see yet another bench flying towards me.

"Alright, that's it!" I begin to say as I reach across my back and grab the hilt of my sickle-sword. "I was gonna play nice, but it looks like you want to do things the hard way!"

The bench keeps flying towards me, but before it can slam into my face, I swiftly draw my sickle-sword and swing it downwards, slicing through the bench and cleaving it in half, prompting the two halves to fall to the ground on either side of me.

"Wh-what is that thing…?" Evelyn asks, and I turn to see a trembling Evelyn extend a shaky finger to my sickle-sword.

"Ah, this…? This is just my weapon, my sickle-sword," I proudly answer as I hold up its gleaming blade, "Pretty cool, right?"

Evelyn hugs herself in fear.

"Oh, it's not for you, alright?!"

But mine and Evelyn's brief conversation is interrupted when a locker comes flying towards me, which I cleave in half with my sickle-sword with ease.

"You should stay out of this…" a young voice grumbles as a slightly-transparent pale-green teenager manifests into existence besides Evelyn. In his ghostly hands are Evelyn's sweaty gym clothes, "You have nothing to do with all of this!"

Evelyn lets out a shriek then ducks behind me for cover. "Wh-what is that?!"

"Soul Sight!" I exclaim as a small purple flame flickers around my right eye, which I use to look the ghost up and down. "That -or should I say he- is our poltergeist friend!"

The poltergeist responds with a roar as he sticks his hand out to a nearby bench which begins glowing with a ghostly green aura. The poltergeist then lifts his hand up before swinging it towards me, prompting the bench to fly my way.

"How is he doing that?!" Evelyn shrieks.

"It's the ability of poltergeist," I answer. "They can control the area where they died, as well as other areas important to them while they were alive, to a degree." 

"Wait, so does that mean-" Evelyn begins to ask, but she's interrupted by the shriek of metal as my sickle-sword slices through another locker.

"Why are you doing all of this?!" Evelyn cries.

"Why am I doing this…? Well you should know, shouldn't you!" The poltergeist roars as I slash through another one of his flung lockers.

"I…should know…?" Evelyn asks. "So a poltergeist's powers are strongest where they died, which means that this poltergeist must have died in this locker room…"

"You figure something out yet, Evelyn?" I call to the girl over the clangs of my sickle-sword slashing through a few more lockers.

"Yeah…I might…" Evelyn mutters in response as she touches a hand to her chin.

I continue charging towards the poltergeist as I slice through a few more flung benches, until I'm standing directly in front of him.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" The poltergeist roars as he flings another bench towards me.

I bring my sickle-sword high above my head before swinging it downwards, slicing through the bench and slashing the poltergeist in the process.

"H-how…can you touch me?!" The poltergeist cries as he trembles in fear.

"Because I am the Reaper!!!" I roar as I bring my sickle-sword above my head again.

The poltergeist falls to the ground at my feet and begins trembling. "Please… don't…please!

But the poltergeist's pleas are futile as I swing my sickle-sword downwards. But before my sickle-sword can slash the poltergeist, Evelyn cries: "Mr. Reaper, wait!"

I pause. "What's up?" I ask as I lower my sickle-sword and peer over to Evelyn.

"I think I've figured out who the poltergeist is!" Evelyn exclaims, but before she can finish, a rogue locker comes flying in and cracks me in the side of my head, causing me to fall limply to the floor. I feel a warm, sticky moistness trickling down the side of my face and realize "oh yeah," I'm bleeding bad.

"Mr Reaper!" Evelyn cries.

"Ghahaha, thanks for the assist, girl!" The poltergeist cackle.

"Alright…" I grumble as my grip on my sickle-sword tightens. "NOW I'M PISSED!" I roar as I leap off of the ground, causing Evelyn to gasp.

"What, what is it?" I ask as I turn to face Evelyn.

But then…I feel it.

An unfamiliar coolness against my face.

"Oh no."

I touch my free hand to my face and pat around for a moment, and sure enough: "Oh-no."

I look to the ground by my feet, and there I see it: my flimsy plastic skull mask.

"Zach…" Evelyn begins to say. "YOU'RE THE REAPER?!"

"You should be focused here, dude!" The poltergeist shouts, and I turn to face the poltergeist, only to see yet another locker flying towards me, which I slice through with ease.

"Zach, how…what…HUH?!" Evelyn stammers.

"I'll explain later, let me just finish up here first!" I reply as I slice through another bench.

"Um…well I think I've figured out the identity of this poltergeist," Evelyn stammers.

"Oh yeah?" The poltergeist scoffs. "Well then who am I?!"

"Your name…is Raymond Gray!" Evelyn exclaims, causing the poltergeist's eyes to widen. And when I turn to face the poltergeist again, I can see him trembling in shock, but also in a way…happiness?

"You…actually remembered…?" The poltergeist trembles.

"Who's this creep?" I ask as I turn back to face Evelyn.

"Of course you wouldn't remember," Evelyn begins to say as she takes a step towards the poltergeist.

"Evelyn, don't, it's dangerous!" I exclaim.

"Don't worry, Zach," Evelyn says as she turns to face me and flashes me a small smile, while continuing on towards the poltergeist. "Don't worry, he won't hurt me."

"It happened last school year. A freshman, I think, asked out, like, every girl to the dance, only to get rejected by all of them," Evelyn continues, her voice trembling. "The poor guy had no friends and was bullied every day. Eventually, in order to make a statement, he…killed himself in this locker room. It was a huge thing last year, but the school swept it under the rug. I only knew because I'm the student council president. The suicide was only found out about to the public around the time that the underwear-stealing shenanigans began. I was one of those girls who rejected him…"

My eyes widen.

"Oh, so of course you only care about me when I'm dead," the poltergeist cries. "None of you girls gave a damn about me while I was alive!"

"But that's why you did it, right?" Evelyn asks. "Kill yourself, I mean. You only did it to finally get attention from the girls. That's why you steal our underwear, too."

"Sheesh," I whistle. "Nice detectiving, Evelyn!"

"You don't even care that I'm dead, none of you do!" The poltergeist cries.

"How could you even say that?!" Evelyn shouts back, as tears begin forming at the edges of her eyes. "I cried every day for months, knowing that I caused someone to kill themself."

"STAY BACK!" The poltergeist screams. "DON'T TALK LIKE YOU KNOW ME!"

"Evelyn, look out!" I cry as the poltergeist launches two lockers towards Evelyn, but they merely crash into the ground beside her.

"See, you won't hurt me," Evelyn says with a sad smile, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You're not evil, you're just sad and alone, Raymond."

"DON'T SAY MY NAME!" The poltergeist roars as he tosses another locker towards Evelyn, which just narrowly grazes the side of her head, causing the girl to go down.

"EVELYN!" I scream.

But when Evelyn stands back up, there's no malice in her eyes. Blood trickles down the side of her head as she continues making her way towards Raymond.

"It's okay, Raymond…"

"STAY BACK!"

*CRASH!*

Tears form at the edges of the poltergeist's eyes.

"It's okay now…"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Raymond screams as another locker begins to float in the air, Raymond looks down, seeing Evelyn standing before him now. The rogue locker crashes to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"I'm here for you…"

Evelyn stops in front of the poltergeist, who now, is sobbing.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you," Evelyn says with a sad smile, sobbing as well. "I…I'm the student council president, yet I couldn't do a thing to help you. But…I see you now!"

"Don't…please…" the poltergeist sobs.

"This is getting good…" I say to myself.

Evelyn takes another step forwards, and wraps her arms around the poltergeist.

"I'm sorry, Raymond," she whispers. "And yes, I'll go to the dance with you."

Tears begin streaming down the poltergeist's ghostly cheeks as he begins sobbing. "I'll pick you up at six, okay?" He sobs. Raymond's pale-green body then begins glowing brighter and brighter as he sobs, and then poof…he's gone.

Evelyn lowers her arms and opens her eyes to face the poltergeist again. "Wait …where did Raymond go?" She flatly asks.

"He's gone," I say as I take a few steps forwards and place a hand on Evelyn's shoulder. "Raymond has moved onto the afterlife."

"I see…" Evelyn says with a sad smile as she wipes her nose.

"Wait a minute!" I exclaim. "Ohhhh…" I then groan as I slump down in defeat.

"Hm? What's the issue?" Evelyn asks as she turns around to face me.

"I didn't get to say my second catchphrase!" I groan

"Which is…?" Evelyn asks.

I perk back up at Evelyn and smirk.

"YOUR SOUL IS MINE, BITCH!"

***

*Hic, sob…whimper…*

"This sure is awkward…" I mutter to myself under my breath. "Evelyn's just been sitting on the front steps of the school sobbing for almost an hour now…should I just make my escape now?"

I turn towards the sky and see that the sun is in the middle of setting, before looking back down to the sobbing Evelyn and sighing. "I guess she has gone through a lot today."

"You okay?" I sigh as I take a seat next to Evelyn.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Evelyn answers as her sobs slow down and she wipes her nose. "You, on the other hand, don't seem all too phased by all this."

"Yeah, well you get used to it after a while," I sadly answer. "Suicides are a Reaper's greatest weakness, the one soul that they can never save. No one truly wants to die, they just don't want to live with the pain any longer."

"How much do I owe you?" Evelyn asks with a weak smile.

"Usually I charge ten an hour, but…it feels wrong taking your money now…" I answer, causing Evelyn to recoil. "What is it?" I ask.

"Nothing, it's just…I never realized you were so…nice, Zach," Evelyn answers.

"Thanks," I grunt as I roll my eyes.

"Just…who are you, anyway, Zach?"

"That I can not tell you," I answer as I stand up and thrust my hands into my pockets.

"The Grim Reaper, right?" Evelyn asks as she peers up at me with tearful eyes. I don't reply.

"Anyway, see ya' at school tomorrow!" I begin to say.

"Wait, don't go, I still have so many questi-" Evelyn begins to say as she leaps up, but before Evelyn can finish that line I've already leaped onto the roof of our school and disappeared out of sight.

***

"Zach, we need to talk!" Evelyn shouts as she storms over to me.

Currently, it's the afternoon after Evelyn and I successfully put Raymond Gray's soul to peace, thus solving our little perverted ghost in the girls' locker room fiasco. But, of course, Evelyn's got some questions for me after last night.

"Oh shi-" I begin to say as I spin around and instantly begin walking out of the school's doors, but Evelyn grabs onto the back of my hoodie, keeping me held in place.

"What, did you stake out the entrance waiting for me to come in, or somethin'?!" I snap as I turn and peer over my shoulder at Evelyn.

"Yes!"

"And you missed class for this?"

"Yes!"

"Well no matter what you do, I'm not answering any of your questions!" I exclaim.

"I don't care, you're coming with me anyway!" Evelyn snaps as she spins around and begins dragging me away.

"Evelyn…people are staring!" I groan. "Unlike you, I care about my popular image!"

But Evelyn says nothing as she opens the door to a nearby broom closet and shoves me inside, before closing the door after us.

"Is this about the homework?" I sarcastically ask as my back knocks into a mob behind me.

"No this isn't about the homework!" Evelyn shrieks.

"Well we are in a broom closet, sooo…" I begin to say as I rub my chin. "Are we here to make out?" I then ask as I turn back to Evelyn with a dazzling smirk. only to be met with Evelyn's bewildered -and somewhat scared- expression.

"Who are you, Zach...?"

With a sigh, I reach behind Evelyn and attempt to grab the door knob, but Evelyn slaps my hand away. 'You're not allowed to leave until you give me some answers!"

"So if I answer your questions, will you finally stop pestering me?" I sigh as I take a seat on a large mop bucket.

"Yes!" Evelyn answers as she crosses her arms again, promoting me to hang my head in defeat and sigh.

"But if I tell you all this…he won't hesitate to kill you..." I say as I glare at Evelyn from underneath my eyebrows.

"Wh-who's he…?" A trembling Evelyn stammers.

"I can't tell you, he won't hesitate to kill me either!" I snap.

"I…I don't care!" Evelyn stammers. "I just want to know the truth!"

"Alright, here it goes-" I begin to say as I peek back up at Evelyn. "I…am the son of the Grim Reaper."

Evelyn is silent.

"What, you asked and I told!" I snap.

And then, much to my surprise, Evelyn busts out laughing.

"I told you the truth and now you don't believe me?!" I snap as I jump off of my bucket.

"No, no, I do, really, it just sounds so absurd," Evelyn chuckles as she wipes the tears from her eyes, "Continue."

"As I was saying, I am the son of the Grim Reaper-" I continue through clenched teeth, promoting Evelyn yo try and stifle another laughing fit, "And so, it's my job to reap the souls of humans who are about to die. Not that I do that. I don't really like doing that whole soul-reaping stuff, it feels too dirty, that's why I started my Reaper's Paranormal business. I'd rather save people than kill them, you know?"

Evelyn's eyes widen as she takes a step backwards.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Y-you're not going to reap my soul…right…?" Evelyn stammers.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you all of this," I reply as I stuff my hands in my pockets with a sigh. "Now…you're afraid of me. Not that I blame you. All humans would be terrified when faced with death incarnate."

I begin walking towards the broom closet door, but Evelyn takes a step in front of me, blocking my way. 

"What?" I ask as I peer down at Evelyn and raise an eyebrow at her.

"No, Zach, I'm sorry," Evelyn apologizes. "You're right, I'm the one who wanted to know all of this, so I shouldn't be fearful of the answer.

"Now, if that's all, I'd like to go to class now," I scoff. "And I know, I can't believe I'm saying this either."

"No, actually, there's just one more thing…" Evelyn begins to say. "Zach, I…I WANT TO WORK AT REAPER'S PARANORMAL WITH YOU!"

"What?" I recoil. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!??!"

"Y-you can't do that!"

"Why not?" Evelyn asks as she cocks her head at me.

"Y-y-" I stammer. "You'll be subjected to horrors behind human comprehension, your life will be in constant danger, y-"

"I don't care about any of that!" Evelyn exclaims, cutting me off. "Fighting Raymond with you…it was the most exciting day of my life! Up until no...I haven't done anything with my life. I've only studied and became the school council president to finally make my dad happy, I've done nothing for myself! But this…with you…I feel like it can finally be something to make my life worthwhile! I can make the world a better place. And you said it yourself, that I'm great at detective work."

"Urk! I did say that…" I recoil. "But how can you help me, you can't even fight?!"

"Oh, I don't know, I can be your receptionist, or something!" Evelyn answers.

"I don't need one, I have the entire business running smoothly!" I shout.

"Imagine how many cases you can take if you have someone sort through them for you!" Evelyn shouts back. "How many more people you can save?!"

"Would I have to pay ya'?"

"That's what it comes down to?!"

"Yup."

Evelyn sighs.

"No, you don't," she answers.

"Your grades will slip," I continue.

"I know!"

"You won't have time for an actual job."

"I know!"

Now, it's my turn to sigh. "Should I do it…?" I whisper to myself as I turn away from Evelyn. "I mean…she does drive a good point with this unpaid intern crap. And besides, Evelyn is smarter than me, that'll help a lot with detective work…"

"Alright, I've made up my mind," I begin to say as I turn back around to face Evelyn, causing her to perk up. "Before I say yes…do you swear on these two things-" I continue as I hold up two fingers. "First: is that I am your boss and you will do everything that I say! Because your life will be in danger otherwise!" I exclaim as I point to my first finger. "And second-" I begin to exclaim as I point to my second finger. "If you reveal my secret identity, you're kicked out of Reaper's Paranormal!"

"Yes, of course!" Evelyn answers with a beaming smile, causing me to sigh.

"Well then, Evelyn Thompson-" I begin to say. "Welcome to the te-"

But my recruitment speech is interrupted when a janitor barges into the closet. "What the Hell are you two kids doing in here?!" He snaps. "I don't get paid enough to deal with this…"

Evelyn lets out a shriek and ducks behind me to hide. Some employee, huh?

"Oh," I begin to say as I peer up at the janitor and smirk. "Just making out."