The Grim's Daughter

Chapter Ten:

Nobody else seemed to be around Reaper Manor, leaving everything quiet, but made it even scarier. Nearly every room that could be opened was empty, apart from a ghost here and there. Nevaeh had jumped at the sight of Mrs Agnes, the librarian ghost, when she opened the door to the library. Nevaeh had been walking about Reaper Manor fir half a hour with Phantom and Dawn, who both seemed to like her. At first their vicuous features and brutal scars scared her, but they crawled around around with their puppy-dog eyes staring straight at her, making her heart warm everytime.

The house was far bigger than she would have guessed. A few minutes after breaking the dogs up from a fight, starting from Phantom trying to bite Dawn's tail, they came to a large room with three armchairs and a sofa in the middle, a small table with a dozen books on top, and a narrow kitchen to the side. 

Nevaeh watched Phantom and Dawn take comfort around her as she tried to get comfortable herself on the sofa, her eyes dropping tiredly. She hadn't been awake that long and it still seemed early in the morning. 

It was still hard to come to terms that she had seen Death being buried only yesterday and that she Luko was trying to force her into becoming a Grim Reaper. She dreaded seeing what the other two reapers were like and prayed they weren't half as bad as Luko. He was a liar, someone she couldn't trust with anything. "At least I still have Dusk to watch over me," she told the hell hounds. 

Her eyes began to close as she waited for the silence to come and the darkness to join it, which would surround her while she slept. Nevaeh could hear Phantom's heavy breathing. Dawn rested on the floor, with her head resting upon her paws, but the hell hound moved position every time Phantom disturbed her sleep. 

"Wakey, wakey!"

Nevaeh opened her eyes to find a man with ice blue hair standing in front of her. She could tell her was another reaper by th elong, black robes he was. Nevaeh could see his face however, because his hood was down. 

"Who are you?" said Nevaeh, thankful that she hadn't hesitated between each word. Nevaeh sat up and looked at him. 

"I'm Bones. And this is Spider," he told her, pointing to another reaper, who was reading in the middle armchair, his legs resting on the arm as he read upside down. His twin brother looked over, waving with a smile. He rolled off the chair, causing a BANG when he hit the floor. Spider than sat back on the chair, upright. "But we all know I'm better looking out of this lot."

Spider took off his hood, showing his spikey blue hair as well. "We're twins you idiot!" he said, chucking a book at his head, but luckily, Bones dodged it and the book hit the wall a few metres away from the sofa. Bones started to laugh. 

"Where's Dusk?" Nevaeh asked, looking around the room. She needed to say something before anything else happened. "I need to speak to Dusk, now!"

"He disappeared earlier," Bones told her. "Luckily he's never gone long in the day. But I think it's his shift. You'll be able to tell him what you have to when he comes back. I-"

"So..." interupted Spider, tickling the few hairs on his chin. "You're Death's daughter. Nevaeh. Am I right?"

"Yes," replied Nevaeh, staring at him. "How many reapers are there, exactly?"

"Four," said Bones. 

"Including me and Bones," added Spider. 

"Bones, me, Dusk and Luko- he's a bit wierd if you ask me."

"I though that," said Nevaeh. 

"He's fun to wind up, but he's too upsessed in his job. Work, work, work- that's Luko," said Spider, taking another book from the pile on the table. 

The door to the front garden oppened suddenly, and Dusk walked in with Luko trailing behind. "We've had a little talk, haven't we, Luko?" said Dusk, looking at Luko who stood without saying a word. "Bones, you will be Nevaeh's teacher when you go to The Human world. And Spider will have to be Nevaeh in her other lessons. Luko will be doing double time now, so he won't have time for lessons."

Luko walked over to the armchair on Spider's left side and rested his head, his eyes still open. His hair clung to his raw red face. Dusk walked into a room opposite the kitchen. 

Spider's eyes widened with delight as he leaned over to Luko. "So, Luko. What did you get busted for?"

"It's not really any of your business," snapped Luko. 

"What's in that room?" asked Nevaeh, pointing to the door Dusk had just walked into. 

"Nobody knows," said Bones. "We think it's a portal to another world inside. Nodody can actually prove that the Human's portal is the last one existing, apart from ours. It's only old Luko here who think it's another bedroom for Dusk. I mean, who has a house and then a bedroom somewhere esle?"

As Bones said that, Nevaeh started wondering why he called Luko 'old' since Luko only seemed a few years older than him. 

"I'm the only one who can open the Human's portal," said Bones, boastfully. "It's the last portal where, apart from the Underworld one, as I said. We created a key, so only Reapers can enter, but only the reaper holding the key can open the potal. That would be me." Bones pointed to himself. 

"That's when you haven't lost the bloody thing," said Luko, before pulling himself out of the armchair and into the kitchen, where he leaned on the counter top. 

"See, he does have a sense of humor. He just doesn't like to shwo it most of the time," smirked Spider. But Bones didn't look to pleased. 

"I'm looking for it," moaned Bones. "Will you stop bringing that up?"

"Then, find it," said Luko. "And there's no such thing as humor when you have this job."

"No, you've just lost you touch, oldman. Don't blame the job," mocked Spider. 

"I'm not old!" shouted Luko. He bit his clenched knuckles. "I'm only twenty-three, two years younger than you!"

I think I'd better stay out of this argument, thought Nevaeh. She walked away, the hell hounds following, but Spider grabbed hold of her arm lightly. "Wait!" he yelled. "Luko has to show you to your new room. Don't you, Luko?"

Luko grunted and rushed ahead of Nevaeh. Nevaeh ran to catch up with him, almost tripping on Phantom. She read each plate, one by one. 261 Bones's room... 262 Library... 264 Nevaeh's room. 

"Here's your room," said Luko, unlocking the door. It had a few scratches engraved into it's clear white door. Nevaeh could smell fresh paint inside. "Dusk expects you at your next lesson at two o'clock, and no later then that. After that, come to the dining room. Your lesson will last two hours now, since you missed the first one." He spoke so fast that Nevaeh could hardly understand anything he said. 

Luko had left the key in the door for Nevaeh, and then she could easily turn the knob and walk through. 

Phantom and Dawn chased eachother into the room. Phantom ran in first, but Dawn bit his leg, making him yelp. Dawn was definitely tougher than Phantom and she liked to show it, even though she was a scrawy little thing that looked weak and helpless. Phantom, on the other hand, had a moon-shaped scar on his shoulderblade, and his broad body made him look vicious. 

Behind the door was a bed with long, purple drapes hanging from poles that curled up as they hit the floor, a light brown warbrobe in the corner of the room, holding robes that looked about her size, and dark, purple rooms. Nevaeh looked at the only window in her room and quietly stepped closer to it. "I need to get out of here," she said, trying to push the window open. It opened only a few inches, but it was jammed. "Let me out of here, please," she whispered. She pushed hard on the window, trying to push it upwards, but she lost grip on the frost and slipped over, landing on her back. Nevaeh looked up, only her elbows supporting her. "I will get out!" said Nevaeh, rubbing the arm that she had scraped on the carpet.