Case #12-A Deal with the Grim Reaper

"What is it, dad?" I ask as I walk into the living room, after my dad had called me over.

"I would like for you to accompany me at work, today," my dad answers.

I was only eight years old at the time, when my dad said those words to me. That was the day where my dad first took me to "work" with him. My entire life, I grew up knowing about the existence of paranormal creatures, the duties of God and the Devil, and…my dad, as the Grim Reaper. Though it would have been very difficult for my dad to hide all of that from me, being that we live in Purgatory and all. Back during those days, I saw my dad as a hero, he was the coolest creature alive to me! In my eyes, he was a superhero who would kill scary monsters and reap their souls, with his powerful silver scythe and otherworldly Soul Energy abilities. But all of that changed when I first saw my dad in action.

Little me didn't know just how wrong he was.

"R-really?!" I exclaim as sparkles light up in my eyes. "For real?!"

"For real," my dad answers with a small nod. "Although you can't use Soul Energy yet, you've been practicing with your sickle-sword of yours for a while now, and you can still reap souls, so I'm comfortable bringing you along. I think it's time for you to come see what us Reaper's can actually do. Are you ready, Zach?"

"Of course I am!" I answer.

"Great," my dad smiles. "Just beware, what you will see today will be a little… gruesome, but you, like every other Reaper, have grown up in Purgatory, so you shouldn't be fearful of gore, or blood."

"Man, I can't wait!" I squeal with excitement.

***

"So...what do you even do at work?" I ask as my dad leads me down the streets of Nestant Town with our guitar cases holding our scythes slung over our shoulders. The ground is moist from the rain, and the clouds are blocking out the light from the sun. Not many cars are out today, nor pedestrians. The perfect day for Reaping.

"Zach, focus all of your energy on your right eye for a second, now, will you?" My dad asks.

"Uh… sure thing," I reply, annoyed by my dad ignoring my questions. Either way, I do as I'm told. I close my eyes for a few seconds and concentrate, and when I open my right eye again, a small purple flame bursts around it, which allows me to see the names and species of every organism I look at, humans, bugs, birds, all of 'em! On top of that, they all have a mysterious glowing blue orb floating in the center of their chests.

"Holy cow, this is crazy!" I cried excitedly. "What is this, dad, it's amazing?!"

"It's called Soul Sight," my dad answers. "It's an ability that us Reapers can use, it allows us to see the names and species of every creature that we lay eyes on. Now… do you see those glowing blue orbs in the center of their chests?"

"Er…yeah…" I answer as I squint my right eye and concrete on those orbs.

"Are there any purple souls?" He asks.

"Um…" I mutter as I look around. "Yeah, over there!" I answer as I spot a purple soul, and point towards it, seeing that it rests in the body of a little girl. "Hey, I think she's from my class…?" I then ask.

"Perfect, Zach, let's go," my dad orders as he grabs my wrist and begins dragging me over to the girl.

"Wait, dad, what does a purple soul mean?" I nervously ask.

"It means that the soul is about to expire," my dad explains. "Which means that she's about to die, furthermore, that we need to reap it."

"But…dad, I don't want you to reap her soul…" I whimper as I dig my heels into the ground. 

"Perfect, Zach, because today you're going to reap her soul as your first day on the job!" My dad happily replies as he turns around to face me.

"N-no, I don't want to reap her soul…" I stammer. "I…I don't want her to die!"

My dad pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "Maybe I shouldn't have let him go to school…he is different after all…" he mutters to himself under his breath. "Look, Zach," my dad then continues as he drops to the ground on one knee and grabs my shoulders, looking me in the eyes. "This is our job, Zach, we have to do this!"

"But why?!" I cry. "Won't you live if we don't reap her soul!"

"That's not how it works…" my dad sighs.

"THEN WHY ISN'T IT?!" I snap. "WHY DIDN'T GOD MAKE IT LIKE THAT?!"

"I DON'T KNOW, ZACH!" My dad snaps, causing me to flinch. It was the first time that he's ever yelled at me like Zach.

"Look, Zach, I'm sorry," my dad apologizes as tears begin welling up in my eyes. "But if we don't reap a soul before it expires-" my dad then continues, but he's interrupted when we hear a loud *crash* followed by a blood-curdling scream come from behind us, causing the two of us to flinch and look to where we heard the crash.

"Come on, Zach, let's go check it out!" My dad orders as the two of us begin running towards the noise.

After running for a brief moment, my dad and I round the corner, where we see a horrible sight.

"I-I didn't mean to, man, I didn't mean to!" A panicking man stammers as he gets out of a completely totaled car, which had slammed into the brick wall in front of it. The car is soaked in blood. In between the car and the brick wall, is…a body, the body of a little girl, also soaked in blood. My classmate. Her face…is unrecognizable. Her shattered bones jut through her scorched flesh, as her organs begin to slip out of her wrecked body and splat onto the ground. I can't help myself, I double over and puke.

"This is the gore you warned me about…?" I sob as I wipe the puke off of my mouth. "This?!"

"I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to…" the man repeats over and over.

"It's alright, accidents happen" my dad replies as he passes by the man and walks towards the front of the car. "Zach, come on, you have to reap her soul," my dad orders, but I don't reply.

"Zach!" My dad snaps.

I'm silent for a few more seconds, but then, I finally speak. "Was it…quick? Was it painless?" I ask.

"No," my dad answers. "But if you had reaped her soul beforehand, it would have been."

"I see…" I reply.

"Now come on, Zach, you need to reap her soul!" My dad barks.

"But why, she's already dead?!" I cry as I spin around to face my dad.

"Yea, but if you don't reap her soul, then-" my dad begins to say, but he's interrupted when he hears a small growl come from behind him. My dad then turns around to face the growl, where he sees that the flesh of the little girl has already turned gray and began rotting.

"She's…alive?!" I cry.

"No, Zach, far from it," my dad answers as he unbuckles his guitar case. "If a Reaper fails to reap a soul before it expires, the soul mutates. And depending on how the body of the soul dies, it turns into some sort of monster. For example, a soul mutating and turning into a swamp monster if the soul's body died via drawing, or a werewolf if the soul's body died from a wild animal attack."

"So…what is she now…" I ask.

"A zombie."

With a roar, the zombie girl flings the car off of her, sending it flying into the driver, and slamming him into the wall behind him, crushing him to bits instantly and sending blood and guts flying everywhere, causing me to gag. The zombie then turns to face my dad, and with a growl, begins slowly approaching him. My dad then draws a long black staff out of his guitar case, armed with a wicked, long, curved silver blade jutting out of it. The scythe of the Grim Reaper. With a roar, the zombie begins charging my dad, who takes a step forwards as the blade of his scythe begins glowing with bright purple energy. Soul Energy.

The zombie continues charging my dad, as he swings his scythe towards her. "Grim Reaper's Hunt!" My dad shouts as he decapitates the zombie, causing her head to roll to the ground as blood squirts from her neck like a fountain and dousing the surrounding area, before the rest of her body flops onto the ground, as well. The Soul Energy brimming around my dad's scythe then dissipates, as he places it back into his guitar case.

My dad then walks over to the body of the little zombie girl as he raises his right hand, and a purple flame then bursts out of his palm, just like when I used my Soul Sight earlier. "I'm sorry that we couldn't get here in time, you must have suffered a lot," my dad softly says as he kneels onto the ground next to the zombie. "May your soul rest in peace," my dad then says as he sticks his hand into the zombie's chest. But, rather than his hand physically piercing the zombie's chest, it seems to...phase through it? My dad then pulls his hand out of the zombie's chest, and with it, her soul. A purple soul. My dad then flips open his messenger bag and slips the soul inside, transporting it into Purgatory.

"If a Reaper reaps the soul of a human when it's about to expire, then they feel no pain or fear as they're about to die," my dad explains as he stands up then turns around to face me. "That is our job as Reapers. To make sure that humans safely pass into the afterlife when their time comes. Now do you see why we reap souls?"

"Yes…I do…" I meekly answer as I stare at my feet, unable to look my dad in the eye.

"Now, our work here is done, let's go home," my dad orders as he begins walking back the way we came, leaving me standing alone in my sorrow.

On that day, at that very second I learned some very important things. First off: that I'm not a super cool Reaper with super powers, I'm a monster. Secondly: that I despise Reapers and despise what they do, as well the fact that I'm one of them. And finally: I learned that I hate who my dad is.

And I wished that he wasn't my father.

***

"Thank you, Grim Reaper," a voice says, and Grim turns around as the Soul Energy swirling around his scythe dissipates.

"Agent Faustus, hmm?" Grim asks as he watches the Chief of the Supernatural Investigators stools over to him. She has long red hair tied back in a bun and is wearing a military uniform. Hanging from her belt is a silver shaft assumed to be her plasma weapon.

Alongside Faustus, are two Supernatural Investigators. A tall, bulky man (brimming with both muscle and fat) holding a shield with dark green hair and eyes, and a much, much smaller short woman with blonde hair ending in fiery pink and orange tips, and matching pink eyes. She's juggling what appears to be grenades. "Are you here to kill me yourself?"

"No," Faustus answers with a smile. "We're just here to retrieve our Agents." Faustus then lifts a hand into the air and snaps. "Gaumond, Smith!"

"Right!" The two agents reply as they make their way over to Agents Sniper and Kardos and scoop them up, carrying them off of the former flaming battlefield.

"The Devil sure did do a number on Sniper and Kardos, huh?" Chuckles the man assumed to be Agent Gaumond.

"Maybe we should take over the Reaper case?" Laughs the woman assumed to be Agent Smith.

Soul Energy begins swirling around Grim's scythe again. "You're brave...aren't you?" He asks. "Threatening my son before me?"

"Woah!" Smith yelps as she spins around and looks Grim up and down. "Chief, is this...THE Grim Reaper?!"

"It is," Faustus nods. "The man with the largest bounty on his head."

"Already, Gaumond, let's get him!" Smith shouts as she drops Kardos' limp body to the ground before laughing a multitude of grenades towards Grim. Swiftly, Grim swings his scythe outwards and slashes through the grenades, which explode, but leave Grim unwounded.

"Smith, stand down!" Faustus barks.

"Aw, how come?" Smith asks as she lowers her grenades

"Even if the three of us now all attempted to take Grim Reaper's head...we would die," Faustus answers.

"Seriously?" Smith asks as her eyes widen. "Even you, Chief?!" "Especially me," Faustus nods.

"Well then," Smith sighs as she reaches down and scoops up Kardos again.

"Let's go, Gaumond."

"I was going anyway..." Gaumond says to himself as he follows after Fautus and

Smith, carrying Sniper across his back.

Grim watches the three Supernatural Investigators for a bit, before sheathing his scythe. "Well then, what should we do with you?" Grim asks as he turns around to face Crimson, only to see a giant, flaming hole in the ground open up beneath her.

"Woah!" Grim cries as he leaps backwards. Grim watches in amazement as dozens of black, scaly hands reach out of the hole and latch onto Crimson, slowly dragging her down.

"Into the pits of Hell she goes..." Grim says to himself. "Let's hope Satan takes it easy on her..."