Reaper

Samuel kneeled before Legion’s cursed throne. The throne was grotesque; it was made out of the body parts of the deceased. Legion turned to him with a smirk, despite his ‘occupation’ and his sadism; he had a very pleasing face. He reassembled the ideal face of any human man, what every woman wanted and what every man wanted to be. Samuel knew though, he knew what he really looked like. He was hideous, hiding his disgusting appearance under the handsome façade. His real appearance would frighten others, so much so that he could never trick another person into his servitude again.

“Let me see her,” he commanded through the thick fog that was his raspy voice. Samuel took a deep breath and prepared for the pain of his extraction. The pain was abundant and as always unbearable. He cried out in pain at the top of his lungs, he sunk to his knees and held his chest as the glowing ball floated out of his body. He clutched at the marble floor and looked up as the ball glided to Legion’s hand. Samuel frowned as this ball in particular glowed much brighter than anyone he’d ever seen. Legion looked at it with a raised eyebrow and then smiled deviously.

“She’s beautiful…I want her,” he said to himself, he turned to Samuel and he glared at him, “reanimate her, she will be my little pet reaper,” Legion said with a smile. Samuel frowned and knitted his eyebrows at him.

“But she didn’t have a choice! You can’t take her soul and change her into a reaper without her consent!” Samuel yelled at him, Legion appeared before him in the blink of an eye; he grabbed him by the throat and squeeze. Around Legion’s hand, Samuel’s skin was getting even more pale and gray. Black veins were now visible on Samuel’s face and he struggled to breath. Legion’s other hand penetrated his chest and he gripped Samuel’s heart. Samuel gasped in pain.
“I think you need a lesson in where you belong! Perhaps I should put you in your place!” Legion said in a hushed and evil hiss. Samuel just watched him with wide eyes; he couldn’t utter a word for the pain. “I have your soul and your heart Samuel, never forget that!” Legion hissed. Samuel’s soul was the source of his immortality but Samuel’s heart was the source of his mortal pain. When Samuel was shot the night of his death, he was killed by a bullet to the heart that left a gaping hole in chest. Nothing could cause pain to Samuel but his heart. He phased through solid objects, like all soul stealers but being hit in the wound that caused the soul stealer their death in the first place was the only way to harm them. It was a gaping loophole in the contract of Legion’s impenetrable immortality.

Legion released Samuel and Samuel staggered back, he glared at Legion and stood up straight. There was nothing he could do, he had to obey. He silently transported out of Legion’s presence and to his room. He lived in an old colonial Louisianan mansion…it wasn’t his alone; he lived with about seven other soul stealers. It wasn’t the glamorous mansion either, it was an old, rickety heap of junk that was even on The Ghost Hunters most haunted list. Samuel laid down on his bed and took a deep breath, just as he was getting relaxed, Daniel, Lucas, and Thomas phased through Samuel’s door and walked in. They were all his housemates and all three of them took pleasure in causing mischief and annoying Samuel to no end!
“Don’t you three ever knock?” Samuel yelled at them. Thomas laughed and jumped on the bed with Samuel and grabbed his face and planted a wet kiss on his cheek.

“Brother! I love ya!” Thomas yelled with false enthusiasm. Samuel cringed and wiped his face. Daniel and Lucas all followed and jumped on Samuel’s bed as well. Despite their ages, they all seemed to have the same enthusiasm as when they were alive; they almost acted as if they weren’t fazed by their eternal servitude and damnation. All three of them were killed in the same year of 1833, by a different person in the same street gang, which strengthened their bond as ‘brothers’.
Thomas was by far the most annoying; at six feet two and in the age group of two hundred and three, you would think that he would be a little more serious, but no such luck, he still held his boyish charm. Thomas, or Big Red as he liked to call himself, never had any trouble seducing his prey; he was tall, muscular with a sinister left dimple that never failed at melting resolves. The only problem…his attention span.

Lucas, or Luc, was the brains of the trio. He was an assistant professor back when he was alive, a real boy scout. He was the least bothersome but still annoying. Lucas was six foot one and when it came to seducing his victims…he had to try a little harder. Although Lucas was handsome, he lacked a certain charm and charisma. He was awkward and a little shaky at times, but all in all he got the job done.

Daniel was a different story, at five foot eight, he was the smallest in stature, but that didn’t diminish his loud mouth (which was probably the cause of his death) Daniel didn’t have many glaring flaws, but one just happened to be his loose temper which never failed at getting him in trouble. He never had trouble getting the job done, the ladies loved the bad boy and the men…the men were usually too frightened to refuse.

“Dude, we have ghost hunters here!” Daniel said as he threw his arm around Samuel’s shoulders. Samuel shrugged his arm off and glared at the three.

“So?”

“So…it’s scare time!” Thomas said as he manifested a small flame in his hand. Soul Stealers had one power besides the basic ghostly abilities, and that was the power to manipulate flames. It was a little perk given to them from Legion, it was to be expected. Legion was a demon why wouldn’t he give his slaves fire? That was one of the reasons angels despised them so much, they possessed hell’s fire. “We make a few picture frames fall; add some creaky floors, and then we come in for the kill!”

“What? No! Get the hell out, I want to sleep,”

“You can sleep when you’re dead,” Lucas proclaimed, Samuel gave him a wry look.

“Really? I heard that before,” Samuel pointed at all three of them with an annoyed glare, “it’s a lie,” he hissed at them.

“Damn, Sam, you’re no fun,” Daniel whined. Before Samuel could reply, Axel phased through his door.

“Boys, leave Samuel be,” Axel said calmly but with enough force to make all three of them leave without so much as a smug word. Axel sighed and motioned for him to follow him as he phased out the door. Samuel sighed and followed behind him. Samuel and Axel walked through the mansion, ignoring Thomas, Lucas and Daniel’s pranks on the unknowing living. He stopped him when they got to the front door and looked at him with hesitate eyes.

“Samuel…I’ve been your mentor for a very long time, I feel as though I’ve taught you much, you are no doubt one of the best reapers we have…even if that’s not much of a compliment…the point is that you know enough that now you can pass on your knowledge to others,” he said and paused, Samuel raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to finish. He hesitated; Samuel narrowed his eyes even more.

“What are you saying?” Samuel asked, Axel narrowed his eyes and stepped closer.

“The girl He wants you to reanimate, you are to be her teacher and her guide.” Samuel grimaced at his words, he wasn’t ready to be anyone’s mentor, he still needed his!

“No,” Samuel declared.

“You have no choice,” Axel replied back.

“I’m not babysitting his new toy!” Samuel exclaimed.

“You have no choice,” Axel replied back.

“I can’t!” Samuel protested.

“You have no choice,” Axel replied back. Samuel looked up at him in irritation,

“Is that all you’re going to say?”

“I have no choice,” he said nonchalantly as he shrugged. “No use arguing, I thought you would have learnt that by now, just go get her body from the morgue and reanimate her,”

“Now how do I reanimate?” Samuel asked with a raised eyebrow, Axel shrugged with a wry smirk.

“Figure it out kid,” he said as he started to phased out the front door, halfway with his body through he turned back with a taunting grin. “I hear Google’s pretty good with answers, maybe you should type: ‘how to reanimate dead girl’ see what comes up,” he said as he left. Samuel shook his head in irritation.

“Asshole,”

Two Days Later

Samuel slowly walked down the narrow and dark hall leading to the morgue in Donahue Funeral Home. He saw a small smoke cloud escape his lips and that was peculiar in its own right, considering he was dead and did not breathe. His coat dragged on the floor and his leather boots thump against the cold tile. At the end of the hall, there were two metal doors with a broad sign that read ‘morgue’ there was actually fog leaking from underneath the doors…almost like a omen. Samuel pushed open the doors and walked inside. There was only one body inside and that was Amelia’s. There was a person bent over her body, his head was lying on her chest as if to see if she were breathing, his snow white hair pooled on her body and his white suit almost blended in with the cool blue background.

Samuel narrowed his eyes and slowly stepped forward. The man was a Soul Giver, a rogue Reaper who rebelled against Legion. The Anti-Reapers were the exact opposite of the Reapers: The Reapers stole souls and fed them to Legion, the Anti-Reapers stole corrupted souls to heal the innocent. Reapers wield fire, Anti-Reapers have been stripped of that power but instead can petrify you, an eerie combination of using ones greatest fears to scare and freeze them. Cold will always surround them…despite the warmth of their hearts. To mark them Legion gave them snow white hair, grey pale skin, and black eyes. They looked like majestic yet eerie ghost. Their uniform? Everything white, they wore white from head to toe, a ghost in old times were always depicted as wearing white or even the notorious white sheet and that’s where the stereotypical image of ghost came from, the Anti-Reaper.

It was never understood why Legion didn’t just destroy the rogues, it was rumored that the Anti-Reaper’s leader, Azrael, had become too powerful for him to destroy and only with Azrael’s demise came the surrender of the Anti-Reapers. Samuel had never met an Anti-Reaper until now; they tended to avoid Reapers to avoid conflicts.

The man looked up at him with his piercing black eyes, Samuel chose his steps carefully yet the man’s eyes followed him perfectly. He glared at Samuel and stood upright; Samuel quickly ignited his flames, prepared for a fight.

“Worthless dog of Legion!” he spat at Samuel as he climbed over Amelia’s body. Samuel glared and stepped forward. Samuel’s eyes widened as he saw the man’s jaw extend to inhuman lengths, suddenly hundreds of crows flew out of his mouth and charged at Samuel. Samuel groaned and jumped back. The crows came at him full force and he stood frozen and it wasn’t long before he heard a scream, it took him a while to realize it was his.

**
Samuel stood in the courtyard of his old childhood home. He didn’t know how he got there…or why he was seven years old but all he knew was that he was afraid…he never experienced fear like this. It was so much so that he had to clutch his heart. He looked at his old home and his eyes watered, he didn’t want to go back there, he never wanted to go back there. The doors opened, slowly, painfully slowly, his breath caught in his throat as his mother stepped out. She smiled at him, a devious smile that didn’t reach her eyes, a smile that would never reach her eyes. She motioned for him to come in, he shook his head but against his wishes he was inside…in his bedroom…alone with both his parents.

His father looked at him with the same sullen eyes he remembered, his mouth curled into a wicked smile, his teeth had been yellowed and rotting.

“Take off your trousers my dear boy,” he said in his raspy voice, Samuel cringed and stepped back in fear. He shook his head desperately, almost as if trying to erase their memories.

“No, no please!” he begged as he backed into his mother’s arms. He looked up and screamed but no sound escape, he looked down at himself; he was naked…in the worst place a seven year old Samuel could be naked. He backed away from them both; they looked at him with vile intention. Samuel tried to scream for help, but his voice was lost and so was his hope. A cold hand clutched shoulder and he looked back in fear:

“Samuel this is no time to whimper like a petrified bitch!” Samuel heard Axel’s voice echo in the backs of his head. It wasn’t long before his bedroom was engulfed in flames…and his parents with it. “Snap the hell out of it!” Axel yelled at him as he was brought back to reality. He looked up and saw that Axel was burning the Anti-Reaper alive in his flames; the Anti-Reaper screeched only once and ran in retreat. Only when the Anti-Reaper was gone did Samuel realize he was curled up in the corner, how humiliating. He looked at his hair and noticed that he had a couple of white strands, white hair fear was real and he experienced it firsthand. Before he had any more time to compose himself, Axel snatched him up to his feet, hell burning in his eyes.
“Next time you come in contact with an Anti-Reaper Samuel, don’t hesitate, they sure as hell wouldn’t hesitate for you!” he released Samuel with a hard shove, showing just how pissed he was. “And another thing, you have hell’s fire, use it goddammit!” he yelled at him. Samuel stepped back, he still didn’t like when people yelled at him…especially after that illusion. He also wasn’t used to Axel being angry at him, Axel was very laid-back and Samuel couldn’t recall Axel ever being angry with him, it made him nervous quite frankly.

Axel walked over to Amelia’s body and motioned for Samuel to follow. Samuel and Axel both looked at her. Samuel was transfixed once again, she was beautiful even if she was cold and dead.

“What the hell are you waiting for? Reanimate her,” Axel commanded. Samuel gave him a wry look.

“I don’t know how, remember?”

“I can’t believe you haven’t figured this out by now, I thought I taught you better. Same way you killed her Samuel, kiss her!” Axel said in irritation, Samuel’s jaw twitched and he stepped forward with hesitancy. He wondered…did it work like that for all dead people he killed or was it just Amelia. Whatever the case, it was his duty to make another. He leaned forward and stared at her for only a second, and then he crushed his lips to hers. The kiss was swift and as usual lifeless. He waited for a moment for something to happen…he wait for another and still no response. When he thought that it was unsuccessful, her eyes shot open…her silver eyes pierced him.