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As I take in the greasy comfort food I realize how damn ravenous I am. After the first bite of warm bacon I practically inhale my food, not stopping until I have a clean plate. When I groan and push it away, I find Zoey gawking at me.
“Damn, girl! You know how to eat, I like it,” she laughs and shakes her head. “When I finally ate after waking up I had two entire pizzas. Coming back to life, or whatever it is we are, is hard work.”
“I was really hungry, I guess.” I give her a small smile and take a huge gulp of my black coffee. The bitter taste helps to take any lingering weariness out of me as I savor my cup of liquid gold.
The rest of the meal is fairly quiet, and though I can tell silence makes Zoey uncomfortable, I think she is giving me time to process. That alone gives me a little more respect for my insanely chipper comrade.
When Zoey finishes off her food, I have that awkward moment of not knowing if I’m expected to pay. Zoey realizes my discomfort and waves off my concern.
“There’s no money exchanged here in the city, just on the human side,” she reassures me.
We leave our dirty table and I follow her outside. As we walk down the sidewalk I realize just how empty the place is. Outside of a few lonely souls there are no other reapers like us.
“Why aren’t there more reapers around?” I finally ask.
“You are the first in a hundred years, our numbers aren’t growing and we still have countless souls to find. Most are working or sleeping now. There are only a couple hundred of us remaining.” I’m obviously not an expert, but a few hundred reapers doesn’t seem like nearly enough to cover all of the people who die daily on Earth. I open my mouth to point that out but she’s already forging ahead, pointing out each building as we pass them.
“This section of the city is for reapers, trainers, elders, and of course those sexy Master Reapers I mentioned. The rest is divided into the soul sectors. Oh and there’s a basic supply shop on the other side of our apartments.”
“Soul sectors? And what the hell is a Master Reaper?” Apparently I asked the magic question. Her excitement is so intense she’s bouncing as she walks. I swear this woman can’t be real. This has to be some fucked up near-death experience or a fever dream.
“The city is broken up into three sectors, each run by a Master Reaper and his personal guard. Think of them like our enforcers, they’re above us normal reapers.” She pauses at the outskirts of the tall buildings and points out the three sections that branch off from the rest of the city. “Sam runs the sector of the city we call the Hollows. The Hollows is where souls that are evil or beyond redemption go. Think of it as Hell. Mason runs the Sorrows. The Sorrows is for the souls who can’t let go of their lives or can’t accept that they have to leave their loved ones behind. The third section, called the After, is run by Liam. It’s what humans call Heaven. The souls who are worthy go there and it’s the biggest sector we have.”
“What’s that?” I ask, pointing to the large circular platform in front of it. There are throne-like chairs on one side of the circle and everything is covered in gold. A group of old men in dark cloaks sit in the thrones.
“That’s where souls are judged. Each one you bring in will meet the gatekeepers and they will tell you which sector to deliver the soul to.” I feel like I’ve been punched in the face by information overload. “Oh look, Ben’s here with a soul.”
For once she shuts up, and I watch as a man dressed in all black leads a soul onto the platform. His scythe is held over his shoulder and the chain trails between it and the soul, tethering them together. He doesn’t speak and neither do the gatekeepers, for close to five minutes. They stare at her as if they’re reading everything about her life and she drops to her knees, shaking. Finally one of the gatekeepers speaks.
“This soul is bound for the Sorrows,” he states. There’s a regal air to his words and just like that it’s over. The soul starts wailing loudly as the reaper yanks her up until she’s standing, roughly pulling her toward the Sorrows. I flinch at her treatment. Fuck him. If they think I’m going to be an asshole to forlorn souls, they’ve got another thing coming. I’m not a fucking monster.
“Is there a reason he’s being such a dick?” I ask angrily, trying to stop myself from stomping over and punching him square in the jaw. She chuckles nervously as she studies my face. I’ve never been one for hiding my rage and I’m glad the afterlife isn’t changing that.
“The reapers are just a little overwhelmed I think. Don’t judge them too harshly,” she offers. Her posture is stiff now and I can tell she’s uncomfortable. Good. She should be.
“He literally yanked someone that is too sad to cope with death. If what you say is true, and this is about bringing the souls to the afterlife, then why the fuck is this happening? Why are they being mistreated? And why the hell are you all just accepting it?” My voice drips with disgust and I see a few of the gatekeepers turn my way.
Zoey, not so subtly, leads me out of the area, claiming we need to get back to Arianna. Though there is probably a hint of truth in her statement, I think she’s more afraid of me causing a bigger scene. Not to mention I have no clue what gatekeepers are capable of. As of now I could care less. Fuck them all.
From the way her face darts from side to side as she drags me away, she’s ready to ditch me and never look back. It’s probably for the best; I don’t respect her after that.
A vague memory pops up and I try to place it. It was the same feeling of annoyance and disrespect I felt for the souls. Me and B… his name escapes me. My boyfriend? It’s impossible to recall any more. Every time I think about my family, the further they seem to slip away until I can’t even picture their faces. We were walking into our apartment, past the same homeless man I saw every day. As I tried to hand the man a wad of cash, my partner freaked out and snatched it away. The memory faded again before I could grasp the full brunt of it.
By the time we reach Arianna’s office, I have my temper in check again, but my head is pounding from trying to force the memories to cooperate.
“How did the tour go?” she asks. It’s the same bored tone she used earlier.
“Fine,” I reply in a cool tone, giving nothing away. Zoey lets out a breath of relief. Clearly she expected me to snap at Arianna. But now that I’m away, I know I need to learn more before I act. Otherwise I’ll find myself back in the void or gone from existence. Who knows what the other beings here are capable of.
“Great. Here is your card and documentation. I trust you know where to find food and anything else you need by now. You train with Elias in the morning, so report to the lobby at six a.m. sharp,” she says dismissively, waving at the items in front of her. She looks down and starts shuffling through her papers, completely ignoring us. I take a deep breath to hide my annoyance and grab the stack from the table in front of her.
“Are we able to shop on the human side of the veil?” I ask Zoey and she looks at me curiously as we leave the office and head down the hall.
“Yeah, some do. Though the stores here have almost anything you could need,” she says. I’m getting that strange look again, the one that means she can’t make sense of me.
The moment she points out my door, I escape from Zoey. She tries to say something but is cut off as my door closes behind me. I revel in the blessed quiet for a few moments, the headache ebbing away.
As I drop my boots and jacket on a bench nearby I take in the bed. It looks comfortable and now that I’ve been with Zoey for a few hours I feel like I’m ready to drop. There’s an alarm clock on my nightstand and I quickly set it for thirty minutes before six.
