The Grim's Daughter

Chapter Fourteen:

"Ellie, Molly, come here!" someone shouted. 

Nevaeh opened her eyes, finding herself under a bridge, seeing the hotel farther up town where she had stayed with her father, before his death. The Humans didn't seem so sad, but then again, to them he was just an old folk's tale, like his immortality. 

A small girl ran past her, followed by a dog with chocolate fur. "Mammy, mammy- Molly and I saw a train!" the little girl cried as she ran into her mother's arms. Nevarh watched the two walk away, Ellie gripping her mother's hand tightly with her own, while keepiing hold of Molly's lead as they exited the train station. 

"Why did we come here?" said Nevaeh, her eyes watering a little. She kept her back to Bones as she spoke. 

"It was Dusk's idea for us to come here; he said this was the only place you knew," said Bones. 

Nevaeh nodded. "Where do we go now?"

"I was thinking you could have a look about the streets," suggested Bones, trying to stop his eyes from meeting Nevaeh's weary ones. "Dusk told me you don't know as much as you need to become the Grim Reaper. So, we're beginning with you taking note of what the Humans do and how they live. Now, I need to go run some errands, so will you be fine by yourself?"

"Sure," said Nevaeh, slowly raising the side of her mouth into a fake smile. 

"I'll find you later; I know this town like the back of my hand now."

"How?"

"Where you chosen?" asked Nevaeh as she folded up the tip  of her sythe and put it in her inside pocket. 

"I was, but Spider wasn't. I had the mark of Hades," he said,  showing Nevaeh a tattoo of a snake wrapped around a key. "I  was born with this tattoo. For a while, Spider was jealous; he  always had his mind somewhere else while I was given all the  attention. But, luckily, that all stopped once Death gave him a  job when he was fifteen... oh, look at the time. I have to go."  Bones rushed away, leaving Nevaeh alone under the bridge. 

The bridge kept the snow away from Nevaeh, but once she  stepped out of shelter, snow fell into her hair, standing out like  stars in a dark, night sky. The snow crunched under her feet  and her fingers felt numb as she brushed the snow from her  face. "It's colder here then it is in my world!" she gasped,  taking her hand away from the frosty lamp post. 

Nevaeh ran through the snow, almost blinded by snowflakes. She walked around the frosty streets before noticing a black bird perched on a branch of a nearby tree, it's black feathers wet and ruffled. 

"Thrindle?" asked Nevaeh, getting closer to the bird. But the bird flew away when she rested against the tree to call it down. "Come here," she shouted, running after the bird. Nevaeh chased after him, calling to him as she struggled to pass through piles of thick snow. 

People watched her when she ran through the busy streets, dodging cars and rushing past houses and shops, while chasing a bird. 

"Is she crazy," a man shouted, pointing to her. 

"Thrindle, come back here!" she shouted.

Thrindle stopped outside a park, where he pecked at the floor for a moment. Nevaeh slowly approached him, until he raised and tilted his head. His eyes were not as bright as Thridle's. "You're not Thrindle, are you? I've ran all this way because I thought a normal crow was Thrindle. I forgot how many of you they were in his world!"

Nevaeh walked through the gates of the park, leaving the crow to fly way with it's beak full of seeds. Not many people were playing in the park, since it was still early in the morning. "I'll just wait here for a while." Nevaeh sat on a bench near the trees. 

"You are really gone, aren't you?" she asked, looking up at the sky and hoping he could hear her. "I know you're gone, yet I still can't believe it. How did you die? Nothing was wrong with you, so how?"

"Who you talking to?"

Nevaeh looked to her side. Chloe, from the hotel was sat on the bench beside her. "How long have you been there?"

"Not that long; who were you talking to?"

"My dad," Nevaeh whispered.

"What happened to him?" Chloe asked, moving closer toward Nevaeh. "Wasn't that the guy from the hotel?"

"One moment he was with me, and then the next he was gone. But a few days later, someone told me he was dead."

"That must of been really hard for you," said Chloe, feeling embarressed for asking the question.

"It still is," Nevaeh sighed. 

"Where are you living now?" Chloe asked. "I haven't seen you around the hotel in ages."

"I moved back to my old place. I've gotta' go!" Nevaeh stepped up from the bench and pushed snowflakes from her wet robes. 

"Bye, Nevaeh," said Chloe, looking at Nevaeh. 

"H...ho...how do you know my name?" Nevaeh asked. 

"Here," Chloe shouted, running over with a dark photograph in her hand. "It flew through my window, and I was guessing that it was yours."

The photograph had been tucked between he mirror and frame. Her mother's pale face met her eyes, but it was only a kept memory. "She looks like you," Chloe said. "The message at the bottom is lovely. 'To Nevaeh, my other little angel."

After shoving the photo in her pocket, Nevaeh walked away. "Sorry, I have to find someone."