Killing Me Softly (On Hiatus)

What Exactly Am I Looking For?

A loud ringing filled the halls of Grimm Manor as Roderick groaned. He stomped past several frightened servants before slamming the door open to reveal a smiling, blue-eyed angel.   

“Roderick Grimm, I have to say I am extremely surprised you called me out of the blue like this,” The olive skinned man remarked cheerfully as Roderick scowled at him.

“Believe me, Raphael, I didn’t have much choice,” he replied darkly. Raphael frowned at his friend’s face as he brushed his mahogany curls from his face.  Everyone knew that Roderick Grimm hated asking for help from anyone outside of his reapers.

“Is she really that bad?”

“She’s gotten worse since I called your department,” Roderick answered as he unconsciously glanced up the stairs that led to Alexa’s room.

“And what took you so long?” Raphael almost jumped when Roderick turned back to him with a unnatural fury.  He patted the Grim Reaper’s shoulder.

“I got here as soon as I could get away. One of the Roman cardinals was poisoned and I was called in to help heal him. I hope you don’t mind, but I brought along one of my brightest angels,” Raphael explained as a young woman peeked out from behind Raphael’s massive white wings. Her own wings were pressed tight against her back and were not nearly as massive and magnificent as her counterpart’s.  Roderick gazed at her red head with a look of suspicion.

“She is but a child,” he growled as Raphael smirked.

“To us, yes. However, the same could be said of your little one,” Raphael reminded the Reaper.

“Her name is Anna and I can assure you, she is marvelous. She helped end the Black Death and the Spanish Flu,” Raphael bragged as Anna let out a squeak of both fear and modesty.

“Sir, no,” she whispered as she kept her blue eyes pinned on the dark man in front of her. Roderick scoffed.

“Alexa,”  Roderick spoke almost silently. Raphael frowned and motioned for the Reaper to lead him to his patient.

Roderick stopped short of Alexa’s room when the door opened and three of his Reapers exited as they whispered among themselves. Karina Romanski and Isis folded their arms across their chests as Elijah Bennett readjusted his weathered Stetson.  Roderick regarded the three with pride. They were the best reapers he had under his command.  Isis quieted suddenly and all three looked over to where Roderick and Raphael stood. They looked surprised when they found their leader escorting two angels.

“Grimm,” Elijah greeted; his accent was that of a quintessential cowboy as it should be. He tipped his hat and a pile of blonde hair fell down just past his ears. A hawk feather was tied in a braid on the left side of his head. Elijah had been one of the best Marshals Colorado had ever produced. After being gunned down by a group of bank robbers, Elijah had taken the Reaper job with pride. He was even able to reap the souls of the men who killed him.

“My leader,” Isis stepped forward and bowed. Roderick easily touched her shoulder. Isis was upright in less than a second. Isis had been a goddess worshiped by the Egyptians during their early civilization.  However with no throne or pharaoh to watch over, the goddess became bored and stumbled across Roderick reaping a soul. With the reluctant permission of her family, she joined the Reapers and has never looked back.  Isis stepped back and returned to her place in between Karina and Elijah.

“Karina, I’m surprised you’ve stayed quiet for so long,” Roderick remarked as he turned to the final reaper who looked unhappy. Karina Romanski stomped over to her leader and kicked his shin. Roderick tilted his head to the side at the action. Karina often turned to violence when she was angry or frustrated. A Romany fortune teller in life, she had learned that violence was often the only way to get her point across or to survive.  The golden hip belt she still wore jingled with every move she made.