DESPITE THE INITIAL CHAOS, her first two weeks at college went well. James was completely convinced of the fact that she was actively being recruited into a cult, but honestly, even if she was, she wouldn't have minded. It sounded like a fun time for a short while, so why not? It wasn't like she thought that was what was going on though. With Niccolo intending on dying, she doubted he had made any long term plans to pull her into his group of believers. Honestly, he didn't even seem to like his believers.
The first weekend she had spent with Theresa doing a sleepover and watching very bad yet somehow kind of good movies, so she could get to know the girl better. She had done a tarot reading for her and they had talked until the sun came up. Now however she was going home to see her mother again. It had been a month since she had last sat down with her, her mother's job often keeping her so busy she had no time at all. Delilah didn't mind, she knew the woman loved her.
"So catch me up," Roshan said as he drove towards their home, James having stayed behind this weekend to do his homework," I hear you went on two dates."
"I ran around town with Jonathan and briefly went to the planetarium with James, you mean," Delilah chuckled.
"Scandalous," Roshan smirked, the wind blowing through his hair," who knew you'd become a heartbreaker in college, Delilah."
"For that I'd have to have hearts to break," Delilah said, tilting her head back to relish in the feeling of flying. She looked back at Roshan then. "Is it too much to ask for someone to touch my soul? To name stars after me and praise me fairer than the moon?"
"Girl, yes," Roshan said," have you seen the college guys nowadays? I had to remind one of them that he should give his girlfriend something on her birthday and that his presence alone would not suffice."
"Devansh is truly lucky with you," she smiled," you're always thinking of others, Rosh."
He was, even if he never wanted to show it. Where she liked to romanticize every part of life, Roshan looked at it all with a certain dry realism. She didn't blame him for it at all, not when he was abandoned by his parents at birth. His aunt had raised him, a lovely woman with freckles and flower-patterned dresses. Six months ago he had met Devansh while painting outside and after meeting him again and again in the same place, Devansh had eventually asked him out.
Delilah hadn't met him yet, but she was really excited to. Roshan had promised her he would organize a meeting between them soon enough, but for now he liked the idea of it being something just for him and Devansh. She understood that, the way privacy felt more intimate than anything else. It had been years since she had been truly alone after all, a ghost always around the corner.
Mateo had gone to visit his family this weekend, but her neighborhood always had been more crowded with ghosts than the most. Probably because rumor of her had gotten around, but she didn't mind that much. They always smiled so bright when she helped them, the joy almost seeped through.
"If you want to know on whose team I am," Roshan said," I will have you know it's neither Jonathan nor James. I find both of them too straightforward for you, Delilah. Hell, if I'm imagining you with someone it's like this mystical guy who's murmuring about the afterlife above a cauldron with you."
He pulled up to her house not much later, Delilah pecking him on the cheek in goodbye as she got out of the car.
"See you back on Sunday, Rosh," she said, waving at him.
With a smile he drove off and she walked up the steps of her house. She had barely set one foot inside when her mother pulled her into a hug, apparently having waited for her by the door. Delilah smiled as the scent of apple pies enveloped her, her mother always baking something when she got home. When the woman pulled back, a wide smile was on her face, her dark hair pinned up in a messy bun on her head and her face devoid of any wrinkles, despite the fact that she was in her forties. With how young she looked people had always told them they looked like sisters.
"Delilah!" her mother exclaimed warmly," how I've missed you. I worry so much for you when you're away from me."
"I've missed you too, nanay," Delilah smiled," how was work? You've been busy this month."
"As much of a headache as ever," her mother sighed, shaking her head," I'm just happy to have you here now. Thankfully Roshan is there to watch over you in case something ever happens, otherwise I'd take you along with me to work if I could."
Her mother always had been a contrast in that way, Delilah thought. She was overprotective to a fault almost, always trying to keep her from danger ever since she was a child, but it had never kept her from going to work. It wasn't like she had blamed her for it, having a child who could see ghosts probably stressed her out more and she was the head of her fabric company, so it wasn't like she could be absent all the time. At least her mother trusted Roshan, so it had eased her concerns a little when he had said he was going to the same university.
"I got you new jewels," her mother said, causing Delilah's smile to widen.
She wouldn't fashion herself as materialistic, but her mother always got her colorful stones for good luck and protection, all of them carrying a different meaning. It was nice, because she did love collecting them, and often she had them made in jewelry as well, like the necklace with the opal in it Delilah always wore and her earrings, glittering blue. Absentmindedly Delilah brought her hand up to her collarbone, but when she didn't feel the necklace her eyes widened.
"I'll be right back," she said, slightly panicked," I think my necklace has fallen into Roshan's car."
Her mother began to say something but she had already run out of the door, off to retrieve her favorite necklace. Thankfully Roshan lived two streets away and right as she arrived there he already was walking out of it, her necklace catching the light in his hand.
"I was about to bring this to you," he said," you got here fast."
"Thank you," Delilah said, happy when she had it in her hands again.
When it was back around her neck again she felt calmer, letting out a sigh of relief. She didn't see her mother often and it was a family heirloom, so it meant more to her than any amount of money ever would. Happy again she walked back, her voice humming a soft song as she walked past the colorful frontyards towards her own home.
"I demand you get away from me right now, creature."
Before she even turned her head she knew who it was going to be, but still, the sight of the Grim Reaper pressing himself against the wall of a home as a white cat purred by his feet was something she hadn't expected. His cap had come off, not fitting in against the yellow wall and blue flowers around him with his all-black ensemble. He looked terrified, but somehow the cat didn't mind his threats all, simply continuing to rub his head against the Reaper's legs.
"Why are you not scared of me?" he said, almost sounding offended," what kind of mutant are you?"
Right at that moment he looked up, locking eyes with her, and immediately he straightened his back, scraping his throat to get his voice as low as normal.
"Hello," he said.
"Need any help?" she replied.
"No," he said," I am in this position because I wanted to be. One move of my scythe and this cat will scatter, I am sure."
"Why haven't you done so then?" she asked, curious.
"I don't want to frighten it too much," he frowned.
"But you are frightened."
"No, only silly people would be scared of a cat."
Delilah crouched down then, tapping her fingers on the sidewalk to get the cat's attention, and soon enough it came towards her, purring as she petted it's head. The Reaper looked surprised at how quickly she had done so, but he didn't move from his spot, a certain expression in his eyes which almost seemed like other things beside the cat were keeping him from coming any closer.
"Animals are fond of me," Delilah said, breaking the silence.
"They usually hate me," he said with a shake of his head," because I am death itself to them. I don't know why this one likes me."
"Do you hate them as well?" Delilah asked, glancing up at him.
"I -" he began, before evading her gaze," I'm just not used to them nearing. I like black cats though."
"I do too," she smiled," they've always brought me good luck."
The look in his eyes was undecipherable for a moment, before he pulled his cap up again.
"I'm sorry for bothering you," he said," I'm the one who keeps saying I can't see you and then I disturb you like this, even if I didn't mean to."
"No, it's fine," she said, the cat having settled by her feet," you are simply doing your job around here."
He nodded at her, ready to walk away when she spoke again, unable to keep herself quiet.
"I saw Niccolo," she said.
His body had frozen, but she knew from his expression that he wasn't surprised. So he had been there after all.
"Why didn't you say hi?" she said," when you saw me running off that day."
"I wasn't spying on you, I promise," he said, lifting his head to the sky then as he groaned," I can imagine how it looked. It was just because I was tasked with updating Eloise of Niccolo's location."
She didn't say something, but he elaborated, walking towards her as he did so.
"Eloise is his bodyguard," he said," he can't die, but he has a knack of getting on people's nerves and he has been kidnapped a couple of times already. He isn't weak, but he never protects himself for some reason, so she was assigned to him a couple of centuries ago. He stresses her out all the time though."
It felt like he wanted to say more, but he didn't, the silence between them only broken by the cat purring still.
"What did he say to you?" he said finally, words clear in the afternoon air.
She looked at him, at the way his hair blended in with his dark cloak, the way he seemed so tired the shadows underneath his eyes were almost blue, the way he was staring at her like he was almost afraid of what she was going to say. One of his hands clenched, the bone tattoo on top gleaming in the light, before he swallowed and reached out to her.
"He said you'd be the end of me," she said.
"What?"