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My whole body turns cold as the words sink in. I thought enrolling at the academy would be my ticket out of the controlling environment of the Association, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm not sure I understand why they want someone who clearly doesn't want to be a part of whatever it is they have going on. If I was running something like that, I wouldn't want someone who doesn't want to be there.
I clench my fist, ignoring the crinkling of the page as it scrunches up. I don't know what I'm going to do about it. I don't want to go to the Shadow Oath ceremony. I certainly don't want to take it. I'm still completely clueless about what it is. Maybe if the Association had been more forthcoming about that, I wouldn't have been so eager to leave.
Who am I kidding? A chance to discover who I am while making an actual difference to people would probably have been enough to pull me away anyway. And that's what the academy offers me. A life I never thought would be possible.
I'm not going to let this change that.
I shove the letter in my pocket and make my way over to where Mathias is already set up.
"Is everything okay?" he asks.
"Fine." I force a smile.
The expression on his face tells me how little he believes me, but he doesn't say anything about that.
I'm not sure why I don't want to tell him about the contents of the letter, especially when he can probably help me deal with the situation. But it feels bet
ter to keep it to myself.
"What do we do now?" I point to the computer to make it clear I mean about Denise.
"We look up the records and find out everything there is to know about Denise and Daniel. We have their names, dates of birth, and address, which should be enough to get what we need."
"Isn't it strange that people willingly give up that information to teenagers?" It doesn't exactly seem like the most sensible thing to do.
"People are strange when it comes to the death of a loved one. And everyone knows what reapers do. They'll all know someone who knows someone who has been reaped. It helps with the trust factor."
"True. But it still seems like it'd be something very easy to take advantage of." And that's not a good thing. I hate the idea of someone scamming the bereaved.
"Then we need to make it our mission to ensure people don't lose faith in the system."
"That's a good way to look at it." And I guess it makes sense. The only person's actions I can control are my own. "Let's get on with this, hopefully then we'll be able to help Denise."
He nods and types into the computer, pulling up several programs at once. It all looks very complicated, but I'm sure he'll explain it with an intense amount of patience like he has everything else.
With his help, I'm sure I can become the best reaper I possibly can.
Chapter Eleven
I lie back on my bed and stare up at the ceiling, only just managing to resist the urge to reread the letter again. The words are already seared into my brain, I don't need to go through them again.
Someone knocks on my door, breaking through my haze. I contemplate ignoring them and keeping to myself, but that isn't fair of me. My friends have all been so patient and caring, I don't want to turn away from them when they've been doing so much for me.
"Come in," I call.
The lock clicks, reminding me that I put the catch on when I came into the room earlier. I keep forgetting the amount of privacy I have here.
"Sorry, I'm coming." I roll off the bed and pad over to the door.
I unlock it and pull it open, revealing Juliet standing on the other side with a large ice cream tub in one hand and a pair of spoons in the other.
"Ice cream?"
"Is it a good flavour?"
"I suppose that depends what you like. But isn't all ice cream good?"
"True." I step back to let her enter the room.
