Not So Grimm Reaper

"Now we go see Todd." David replied.

"Who's Todd?" I questioned.

David thought for a second before he said, "He's my boss."

I raised an eyebrow as we began to walk away from the scene of the accident, "Grimm reapers have bosses?" I asked.

"Not really, but yeah." David replied.

"That doesn't make any sense." I said as I shook my head.

"Yeah...Todd explains it a lot better."

"He better because you didn't explain it at all." I muttered.

"Hey, that's not fair." David defended, "Normally my reaps don't go like this."

"And how do they usually go?" I questioned.

"Well I touch someone, they die, they find their door, and then I don't see them again." David explained.

"What do you mean by they find their door?" I asked.

David shrugged his shoulders, "Well, after you die a door appears in front of you. You go through the door and you go above to Heaven or below to Hell."

"Okay...so where's my door?" Why hasn't one appeared in front of me yet?"

"Sometimes you don't see your door if you have unfinished business. Does it feel like you have any unfinished business? Do you have to set something right? Tell someone something? Seek revenge? Anything?" David asked back.

I was quiet for a moment thinking it through before I replied, "No, I don't think so."

"You can't think of anything you want or have to do right this minute?"

I shook my head, "Nope, not a thing."

"Then officially you don't have any unfinished business." David confirmed.

"Then that brings me back to where's my door?" I asked as we walked into a Denny's restaurant that was practically dead inside. Excuse the pun.

David led me to a table at the back of the restaurant where some guy was sitting. I assumed it was Todd. David slid into the booth across from the guy while I stayed standing.

"Hello? Where's my door?!" I questioned.

"You don't get one." the nameless guy replied.

"I'm sorry, and who are you?" I asked rudely.

"I'm Todd." the guy replied.

I glanced over at David, "You're wrong. He doesn't explain it better."

David shrugged, "You must have caught him on a bad day."

"I don't have bad days." Todd denied.

"Yes you do." David confirmed.

"Hello?! Why don't I have a door?!" I snapped, "I died and he said I get a door. So where's my damned door?!"

Todd leaned across the table and got in David's face as he asked, "You told her she was getting a door?"

"No." David said quickly, "I told her the dead get doors but not that she was going to get one."

Todd began to quietly rant, loud enough for the two of us to hear him but no one else, "She thinks she's going to get a door. Why does she think that? Maybe I should have collected her myself so that way she wouldn't think she was getting a door."

After Todd was finished ranting, David looked a little frazzled and replied, "I just told her what happens when you die."

I stomped my foot as the two guys forgot my existence, "Where the hell is my freaking door?!" I shouted.

"Sit down, Ducky, you're making a scene." Todd said.

"I'm dead, so how can I be making a scene?" I questioned.

"You're not dead, you're undead. Now take a seat because people are starting to stare." Todd said quietly.

Wait...what?

I'm dead.

Like ghost dead.

So people can't see me. Right?

I took a look around the restaurant and indeed the few people who were in it were staring at me. Like directly at me.

I slid into the booth next to David and whispered to Todd, "How can they see me?"

"They can't see you, per say." David replied.

"What do you mean they can't see me? They're looking right at me!" I said quickly.

"You don't look like yourself anymore." Todd said.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"You're dead so people can't see you for who you really are anymore. If someone you used to know knew you were dead but saw you walking around a week after your death they'd freak out. So the living sees you as someone else, but we, the reapers see you for who you actually are." Todd explained.

"That doesn't tell me how they can still see me if I'm supposed to be dead." I said.

"Astrid, you're a reaper." Todd deadpanned.

"I- I'm a what?" I questioned.

"You're a grimm reaper to be more precise." David corrected.

"But why?" I questioned, "I don't wanna be!" I whined.

"Unfortunately reapers don't enlist, they're drafted." David said sadly.

"Drafted for how long?" I asked.

David only shrugged his shoulders, "All reapers have a quota to fill and after they reap that number they are allowed to pass on to either Heaven or Hell." Todd told me.

"Okay, so what's the quota?" I asked back.

David shrugged again, "No one knows."

"Then why not just keep some kind of record?" I asked again.

"It's never the same." Todd said quietly.

"How many reaps have you both made?"

"I don't keep count." Todd replied.

"I sort of lost count." David added quietly.

"If you won't tell me how many reaps you've made will you at least tell me how long you've been reaping?" I knew I was firing questions at them left and right, but I had to find out as much information as I could.

"It's been a long, long time for me." Todd said.

"It's been like six years for me... I think." David said slowly as he counted out the years on his fingers.

"How long is a long time?" I asked.

David shook his head, "Don't bother; he hardly ever gives straight answers. Be happy with what you've got."

"Oh." I said quietly, "...So what happens now?"

"Well, first you receive a reaper phone." David said as he took a sleek black cellphone from his pocket and handed it to me.

"What's a reaper phone?" I asked as I handled the devise.

"Reaper phones are cell phones meant for grimm reaper's eyes only. A text message is sent anonymously to the phone that tells you all you need to know about your next reap. Including the first and last name, the date, time, address, and even how you should dress." David said.

"And what the texts say don't raise a red flag for phone companies?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow.

"They're reaper made for reapers. The living don't know about our phones and they can't discover them. Don't ever lose it." Todd said.

"Don't throw the reaper phone off a bridge, got it." I said as I nodded, "So now that I'm dead and I can't go home because I don't look like me to the living anymore, where am I supposed to live?" I questioned.

"I'll bring you to the reaper boarding house. It's a place where many of the reapers in the district crash until they can get their own place or make other arrangements." David offered.

I nodded, "Alright... Thanks."

Todd raised an eyebrow, "You seem to be taking this surprisingly well."

"Yeah... I think that's cuz I'm still in the denial stage and I'm just along for the ride." I replied quietly.