As Far As I'm Concerned [Ziam Palik AU]

vii. The Downfall of a Reaper

Dedication: @brontepie, this one goes to you for leaving such a sweet comment about my writing and the story in general! There haven't been a lot of people leaving comments lately *insert sad face* but you have and I really do appreciate the feedback you offer! [I'm also 90% sure that I've seen you commenting/voting around on some of my other works in the past so... yes] Thank you! :)

[Chapter Seven: The Downfall of a Reaper]

 

            “Help, someone!”

            Zayn forced himself to block out the woman’s shrieks, the desperate pleas that no one but the dead could hear. Really, he wasn’t so heartless that he actually enjoyed hearing people in agony, but it had become part of the job. The guts and the gore and the pain had to all be blocked out, or nothing would work.

            This woman certainly had all three of those things too though, guts, gore, and pain. She was trapped at the moment under a heavy wooden beam in her basement that had nearly speared her through the middle, leaving her pinned against the dusty floor. It was nothing but misery and woe and Zayn knew he had to end it, just not yet.

            Again, it wasn’t because he liked seeing her in pain, not at all. It was because everyone had their time, and though he had that gut pull to reap, it wasn’t just yet. Some people were just fated to have ugly deaths with drawn out sufferings, and though he had no idea why, he knew he had to let them run their courses.

            “God, please,” the woman choked out, losing strength and faith with every growing second.

            Zayn suddenly reached out and touched her then, brushed his fingers against her hand and held on as she finally died, finally lost everything she was holding so desperately onto.

            It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, Zayn was suddenly telling himself as he stood, which was kind of weird because he hadn’t been telling himself that since he first started reaping, when he still had more morals to try and hold onto.

            What was going on with him?

            Telling himself to brush it off and forget, Zayn focused in on his home again, satisfied for the moment with his reaping. It was just another one in a long list; it had to be nothing.

            When Zayn looked around his house, the first thing he really thought of was the day he spent with Liam. It was strange that it would be his first thought after all this time in solitude, but seeing his stupid, old couch suddenly reminded him of nothing more than the human he sat with, the human that actually was beginning to feel like… a friend.

            It was even stranger, because when time actually did come for Liam to leave, he almost didn’t want him to. He nearly asked him to stay even, to spend yet another (conscious) night with him. That probably would have been too weird though, and though Zayn didn’t usually care about what others thought, he found Liam almost being another exception of that.

            Maybe it was just his loss of connection talking. Zayn had no friends, hadn’t for a long time, so maybe Liam was just sparking that little part of him that… wanted that again.

            It was a stupid thought though, and he knew it.

            “Nice place you’ve got here,” a voice suddenly spoke in his ear. “Subtle.”

            Zayn whirled around so suddenly he surely would have hurt himself if he were still human. The fact that anyone was in his home, and even worse, that he didn’t sense them seemed so impossible it was almost horrifying.