"How long ago?" Grim asked the death reaper.
"Around an hour," she replied, looking down at her parchment.
Grim looked at the damage and shook her head. "Why'd he do this?"
"Because he's a demon reaper and this is what they do," the reaper replied rolling up her list and sending it away with a flick of her hand. She turned her black eyes to Grim. "If I was you I'd hurry up, because the council won't take him away until death is working again."
Then the reaper was gone, leaving Grim standing amongst the dozen or so bodies. She could feel the heat of the flames from the cars and had to watch where she stepped to avoid body parts.
She was standing on the highway that led out of the airport. Where there had once been one smooth stretch of road there was now a crack as wide and long as a lamp post. Three cars were half fallen into the crack. She heard the police officers taking statements and they all said the same thing.
"The road just split open. People got out of their cars and that's when it started raining fire."
"The gates of hell opened here today."
"I can tell you everything. This man was there, just appeared in the middle of the road and stopped this shuttle. People were beeping their horns and he didn't like it so he stomped his foot, and my god the road split open like it was glass. People were screaming and crying and falling in. The man then did something and suddenly everything was on fire, it was coming from the ground and raining from the sky. He laughed and then got in the shuttle and it just drove off. Honest to god that's what happened," a man was shouting incoherently, a gash on his forehead weeping blood as he struggled against paramedics.
Grim turned away and stared at the carnage one last time before she was gone in a swirl of smoke. She appeared in the graveyard and she had to stop to cough, hacking up specks of black blood. She growled to herself, sick of this. She couldn't have any delays.
Grim set off towards the mayor's mausoleum which Kenneth had gestured to. She kept an eye out for the tuxedo ghost but he was nowhere to be found. There were other ghost trailing around but as Grim approached the mausoleum they all steadily faded until she was alone.
She touched the chain and padlock on the doors, frowning. She'd didn't know if it would work but it was worth a shot, her scythe appeared in hand and she sliced downwards, watching as the chain disintegrated and the padlock feel onto the grass. Grim allowed one small triumphant grin.
The scythe disappeared and Grim shoved her shoulder against the door. It took several shoves for the door to let out a large grating and for it to move a few inches. She tried again and again until she had enough space to slip through the crack. She'd come prepared, bringing a small torch that she'd stolen.
The first thing she noticed was the smell, it made her recoil, strong and acrid and nose burning. Trying not to focus too much on what she was breathing in, Grim stepped forward.
The mausoleum was large and separated into three sections. The middle section smelled the worst. Piled in the corners were bones, still with flesh hanging on in parts. Grim turned away. In another corner were piles of books, old and crumbling. In the centre was a cauldron. Grim stepped forward and shined the light in.
"My god," she whispered. The bottom was filled with what looked like old blood, and a very human looking skull sat in the middle of it. Grim turned away and to another section. This was where the necromancer had slept, and if she hadn't been sure if it was a child at first she was now. A sleeping bag was on the floor, with a fairy design printed on it. In another corner were a few small dolls and a teddy bear, all old and ratty looking. Grim suddenly knew the toys had been taken off gravestones.
She turned and walked over to the last section, which was the strangest of all. In it was empty bandages and clothing, all for an adult female. There were a number of hats and coats all stained dark brown. There some burnt out candle stubs, and a few ratty looking books that had been read several times.
Grim picked one of them up and frowned, and picked up the rest. She knew these. They'd been books she'd read in class, a couple of them she hadn't read but had seen senior totting around. She let them drop from her hands, still greatly troubled.
She turned and was about to leave when she saw something almost hidden under some clothes. She pulled it out and stared at it disbelievingly.
She knew what this was, because it had once been hers in another life. That was until a bully stole it from her. It was a necklace from a long time ago; it wasn't gold or silver, nothing real. She had liked it though and been upset when it was ripped from her neck ten years ago.
And suddenly, Grim knew who the dead woman accompanying the necromancer was.
Mary wiped away a line of dried blood, pursing her lips as it stained her skin cherry red. She turned to where Jessica stood, worrying away on her thumbnail. It made Mary flash back to when they were teenagers, when they sat on Mary's bedroom gossiping.
She shook it off, she wasn't one for nostalgia.
"Is he going to be okay?" Jessica burst out.
Mary rolled her eyes. "Of course, I made sure Vex wouldn't kill him, just knock him around a bit. He might have a couple new scars but he'll live."
Jessica looked away to the door her daughter was sutting. "Mary," she begun hesitantly, "I'm not sure your plans going to work."
Mary's eyes narrowed and she turned away from the mirror. She smiled at Jessica. "It will work I'm sure of it, your daughter will make sure of it."
Mary stalked out of the room and left Jessica standing there, gnawing on her nail again. In the living room of the hotel the reaper and the girl were talking softly to each other. His features had softened as he talked to her. Mary ignored them both and walked to the small bathroom which had become a prison. Mary looked through the silver bars to where Blake sat on the floor.
At hearing her approach his eyes had narrowed and he was glaring at her intently. Mary smiled.
"How you feeling?" she asked softly.
"As good as I can for being attacked by a demon reaper behind my back."
"Well, you can't blame me," Mary said, looking up at him and fluttering her lashes. "How could I even hope to face the big strong alpha all by myself? I mean, I'm so small and delicate."
"And evil, don't forget that."
Mary grinned, "You compliment me."
Blake stood, grimacing on the broken leg that was quickly mending itself. "What's going on, Mary? Why are you working with a demon reaper and a necromancer?"
"Because I want to take over the world," Mary said simply. "And I need them to help with that."
Blake eyed her and Mary thought she saw the slightest flash of fear and that made her extremely pleased.
"How are you going to achieve this world domination?"
"Oh, are you trying to get me to monologue to Blake?" Mary teased, "Seen too many action movies."
Blake said nothing and Mary rolled her eyes.
"Oh fine, I guess I did cheat a bit when I got Vex to sneak up behind you. My plan is rather perfect, and has actually become quite simple with help from some new friends."
"First of all, you and I will become mates. Once this happens I will be gifted the title of alpha female automatically, and this gives me to ability to command the pack so they cannot run. I can order them to stand still and not move while my army of soulshifters, all unfortunately trapped in the weak bodies of humans, invade their body. Did Vex tell you about soulshifters?" Blake nodded. "Good, that makes it easier.
"Now, the necromancer in the other room will make sure that no souls fade away and my will keep away all other reapers. Once I have control of your pack it will be easier to progress. You see, I'll get a couple of these werewolves to go to other packs, and these soulshifters will take over the bodies of more alphas, until all the alphas are soulshifters. I now have an army of werewolves who cannot physically disobey me.
"I'll have an unstoppable army of killing machines. Of course, I'll get the remainder of my soulshifters to inhabit stronger bodies, more powerful. I think it will take less than a year to subdue the world. Afterward, all the soulshifters will leave the bodies of the wolves and then I'll poison the water with wolfsbane, so that none of them can have petty revenge or rebel."
To think, this plan would have taken years if not for her little necromancer who had stopped death and a new friend found in a demon reaper.
The girl had only to do one more thing for her, one major thing that would most likely drain her but would be worth it. Oh, and then she had to get death started again.
The rest of the population could go back to dying. It was better if death resumed, no more reapers coming to their realm and sniffing around, and Mary could kill people and know that they would stay dead.
The girl had been getting closer to fixing what she had done but was still a long way off. The reaper had helped expedite the process tenfold and once again Mary marvelled at her luck.
Blake didn't seem impressed. "It won't be that easy."
"Oh," Mary said amused, "And why's that."
"Because she'll stop you."
"What are you going on about?"
"Anya Royce, she's back from the dead and she's the reaper sent down to deal with the necromancer. If I was you I'd be scared, very scared."
c.m[a];zZ