My Soul to Reap (Archived)

I Know Who Killed Me

Brie looked like she wanted nothing more than to slam the door in the face of the pink-and-blonde blur that tackled her into a hug. I tried to sink lower into the bed as Brie made a face of pure terror and disgust. Whoever this girl was, she was hugging Brie tightly enough to prevent the other girl from escaping.

"I missed you so much!" The girl squealed, and she stopped moving long enough for me to look at her. Brie's claim of "solemn black robes" the other reapers wore constantly seemed pretty doubtful at this point, because nothing about this girl was dark. Her white-blonde hair hung curled at her shoulder, softer than Brie's, and two small pieces were pulled up into pigtails on either side of her head. She was wearing something almost more strange than Brie's outfit- a knee-length pink dress that poofed at the skirt to make it look like a cupcake. Everything on her was covered in lace and frills, from the rose in her hair to the few rings she wore. She was grinning and bouncing, eyes wide and excited and a dark shade of pink. I looked at Brie, confused and more than a little concerned, but she was preoccupied with the hyperactive ball of pink frills in front of her, who was still babbling on. While she was jumping I noticed the pastel-pink tights and shoes with small hearts on them, and that was pretty much the last straw in the strangeness that no one was explaining.

"Um, hello, nice to meet you," I cut in, and the girl finally seemed to notice me. She turned sharply, breaking into a grin"I don't think I got your name...?" I was hoping Brie would take the hint, but she was staying quiet. So I was left to deal with the girl's hyper directed entirely at me.

"Oh! Of course!" This small Japanese girl was honestly the most hyper person I'd ever seen. "My name's Rina! Please excuse my rudeness," she gave a tiny bow, and I used her momentary distraction to lock eyes with Brie and exchange a silent "how do we get her out?".

"Oh, uh, not a problem," I responded uncertainly, and she brightened right back up.

"You should've told me you made a friend!" Rina chided, pushing Brie playfully on the arm. The taller girl looked like she'd been slapped.

"Slipped my mind," she said, strained and clipped.

"We'll have to catch up another time then!" Everything she said was so enthusiastic it was exhausting. She was moving gracefully, like a doll, but somehow her movements managed to be quick at the same time. She gave Brie a small kiss on the cheek and gave me a small wave. "See ya!" she called over her shoulder, and the two of us left behind watched the poof of the skirt disappear out the door. We didn't talk for a few minutes.

"What," I finally said, not really a question. Brie joined me, face-down, on the bed, and groaned.

"I hate her so much you don't even know," I patted her back, even though I couldn't quite agree. Sure, she was Brie's polar opposite, but she didn't seem bad. Just... excitable. I couldn't help but laugh a little a her pain.

"She did have a cute dress though..." I said, earning another pained groan and a weak slap at my arm.

"It's hideous is what it is," she sighed, turning so her face was no longer pressed into the sheets. "She's older than me and she insists on dressing like a child."

"Says the girl who wears nothing but leather and studs," I replied, earning a glare.

"How are you supposed to fear her in a fluffy pink dress?" She complained. "Hello, yes, I'm here to take your soul with my lacy fucking umbrella."

"Please tell me her scythe isn't an umbrella."

"No, although she does have a parasol that doubles as a sword and a gun."

"You reapers are all psychopaths," I concluded, forcing myself to sit up. Brie reluctantly followed, standing and stretching upwards.

"So... who was she exactly?" I asked.

"My best friend." Brie replied, stalking over to some paper Rina's entrance had scattered. I thought for a minute.

"You said you hated her."

"I do."

"Then why is she your best friend?"

"Because I love her too."

"Ah. That makes sense," I said sarcastically, but my eye had caught the clock, and memories of Aryan's visit flooded back. I didn't want to say anything, because his words kept nagging at the back of my mind. She hadn't even said a word when Rina was here, and mentioning they were close enough to be best friends didn't even seem to cross her mind. I watched her as the gathered the papers, warring with myself. By the time she stood up I'd decided to keep quiet. "So, what exactly happened?" I asked, sure that getting her to rant would help me forget my guilt.

"Usual stuff. Demons trying to steal souls before we could get there." I looked at her hopelessly.

"Demons are normal for one of us Brie. Keep that in mind." She sighed, jumping onto the bed and making the whole thing bounce.

"Okay, fine. A few fairly weak demons tried to steal the souls away for themselves before we could reap them, which is a bad thing because the more souls a demon has the more powerful it is and, by extension, the more of a problem it is." I nodded and muttered a thank you under my breath.

"I assume you're tired by now," I guessed, and she shrugged.

"Eh, I work on very little sleep. And Rina's taken all my jobs for the day, so we can focus on you." Something about her words didn't sit right.

"Focus on me how?" I asked, and she laughed at how wary I was being.

"Focus on you not being totally helpless," she clarified, and I scolded myself for being so suspicious. Here it was again, proof that at some point between the zombies and now she'd stopped trying to be terrifying and was almost acting like my friend.

"Right, that," I laughed, shaking my head. "Sorry, I think the frills have invaded my brain." Brie laughed at this, shaking her head and walking towards her closet. My heart sank, but I couldn't think of any reason to stop her from going in. Not a legitimate one, at least. I could feel panic building, because of course, of course I'd forgotten that there was literally a broken mirror as proof of the twins' visit. And now my silence was about to come back to haunt me.

"Rina has that effect, pray you don't get used to it. I've spent enough time with her that..." She saw it as soon as she opened the door, and the bracelets were dripping off her arm before she even walked into the room. I gulped.

"Brie?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Stay there," she warned, and there was such a sharp edge to her voice that I stayed, even though I probably would have anyways. My heart was pounding, terrified that she'd know it was because of me and that I didn't tell her. But she was nowhere near as paranoid as me. I watched her pick her way over to the glass, bending carefully to inspect it. She held up a single sharp shard, and my pulse felt like it should have stopped. There was a mark like someone had kissed it, someone with darker lipstick than Brie. The reaper crushed the glass in her hand, fuming, and all but stormed out of the closet. I expected blood, but there wasn't any. The tiny shards trickled onto the floor.

"Brie?" I asked again, truly concerned this time as she began pacing and swinging the blade. I didn't like how close I was to it, or how angry she was. The camaraderie was gone, and now I was actually scared.

"That bitch," she growled. There was real, true anger there, something I'd never seen on anyone's face before. I stayed back, avoiding her pacing.

"What happened?" I asked, almost whispering out of fear.

"Reapers are born when a soul is so shattered it has no way to be put back together again," she explained. I frowned, unsure how that was relevant. "And a soul is strong. It can go through a lot, and it breaks rather than shattering. You can fix a broken heart or a broken soul. Shattering one-removing any chance of it ever being whole again- is the more difficult and painful thing on earth." Brie kept on pacing. "And she- her and her brother-" She took a deep breath and turned to face me. I could see now that there was more than anger there. There was pain and sadness, something covered up for years but never really forgiven.

"They shattered mine. They're the reason I'm a reaper."