Sleight of Hand
There aren't many guarantees in life, in fact there is only one; someday you will die. Death doesn't discriminate, it doesn't factor in things like wealth, social status or age. You won't know when, you won't know how but it will happen. Most of you will pass on to greener pastures; to your own personal utopia. A select few of us however won't be given this opportunity, at least not straight away. No, we stay behind. We are given a new body and a new identity and it will be our job to ferry the fortunate souls to the other side.
My name was Daria Morgendorffer; I was an eighteen year old high school student. That was me, but now? Now I am a Grimm Reaper.
A solitary young woman stood in front of the entrance of Lawndale High School. She sighed and glanced at her watch; there were thirty three minutes and twenty five seconds until her next reap.
"I might as well get this over with." she mumbled to herself and pushed through the front doors.
As she strolled through the empty corridors her mind was bombarded with memories of her time here. It had been six months since she had walked these halls, when she was still living and breathing. Sure, she was still breathing and blood still coursed through her body ensuring her vital organs still functioned, but she wasn't exactly sure she could still be classified as living since you couldn't kill what was already dead.
She continued until she reached the room of her own fated death, Lawndale High's auditorium. It was here that her meager life had been cut short by a pair of novelty hair pins, the last room she had been in as Daria Morgendorffer.
As she stood at the doors she eyed the poster that had been haphazardly attached to them. 'Charles the Great and his alluring assistant' was written in bold black script at the top of the poster and an image of a top hat and wand had been placed at the bottom. The overall affect of the poster screamed 'Photoshop Newbie' and Daria was sure that, if she had been present, Jane would have attacked the artistic integrity of the creator.
The dull muted voices of the crowd within washed over her in waves as she stood rigid, mustering up the courage to enter the large hall. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she pushed open the heavy doors. The room was at capacity, from what Daria had gathered Ms. Li had organized a fundraiser to raise money for the school. Word had spread of Daria's death and the new school semester had seen the school's lowest enrolment figures in ten years; diminished student numbers meant less funding, and Ms. Li had taken it upon herself to boost the school's money supply.
The bright glow of the stage lights spilled out over the crowd illuminating the hundreds of faces as they waited for the show to begin. 'They would get a show alright, but not the one they were expecting.' Daria thought with a smirk.
As Daria made her way to the stage doors, a light smattering of applause sounded out as the lights dimmed and the warm up act took the stage. Daria checked her watch once more; twenty-one minutes and sixteen seconds left.
She reached the doors and slipped through them thankful that no one had seemed to have noticed her slight form enter the backstage area. The large room behind the stage was cluttered with old gym equipment, broken props and tattered costumes. Hissed voices drew her attention to the opposite side of the room to a partially open door. Daria made her way over, careful not to disrupt any of the forgotten objects strewn on the ground and peered into the small dimly lit room.
"I don't know if I can do this Charles, we've never performed the trick in front of an audience. What if something goes wrong?" Daria recognized the small voice as Quinn's peaky sidekick Stacy.
"Stacy, Stacy, Stacy. Everything will run smoothly. We've practiced it over and over and we've never had a problem." Daria watched as Upchuck placed a hand on Stacy's shoulder and smiled reassuringly.
"I know," Stacy fretted, "But what if I mess up, what if I tie the knots too tight, what if I…"
"Stacy," Upchuck interjected softly and withdrew a small key from his pocket. He took her hand and placed it in her palm, then closed her fingers around it. "Just remember to put this in the hidden pocket and I'll do the rest." He then turned and took a silver sequined leotard from a suitcase on the ground and handed it to her. "Now go and put this on, it's almost show time."
Stacy nodded as she took the costume and made her way to the door. She opened it and jumped, startled to find Daria on the other side.
"Oh, hi!" Stacy said brightly.
"Hey," Daria replied flatly and peered over her shoulder. "I'm… ah, here to…"
Upchuck turned at the sound of Daria's voice and walked over to the two girls.
"My, my, my who do we have here?" He purred. Stacy shot Daria a nervous scowl and made her way toward the ladies bathroom. "Such a vision of beauty, tell me, what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Hi, Up…Mr. Ruttheimer," Daria began.
"No need to be so formal, you can call me Charles. May I be so bold to enquire your name?"
"Um, Morgan," Daria lied.
"Hmm, now that we're on a first name basis," Upchuck paused and took her hand in his. "Perhaps we could get together after the show. I can show you my tricks, you can show some of yours and we can have a little magic show of our own. If you know what I mean." Upchuck twitched his eyebrows suggestively and smirked. Daria watched in horror as he brought her hand to his lips and gently pressed them against her skin. She recoiled in disgust and quickly withdrew herself from his touch, she was thankful to see the bright blue wisp of his soul follow her retreating hand.
"Rrrr, feisty." He purred.
Resisting the overwhelming urge to drive her steel-capped boot through his kneecaps, Daria drew a frustrated breath and closed her eyes to regain her composure. "I just wanted to wish you luck with your show." She said through gritted teeth and turned on her heel.
"You can't resist the Ruttheimer charm!" he called after her.
Daria exited the store room and made her way to the back of the stage and hid in the shadows off the right hand side. She shuddered as she tried to rid herself of the feel of Upchucks touch.
The sound of half assed applause drew her attention back to reality and she watched as the warm up act walked off stage. From her vantage point she was able to see the whole stage and she began to look for the hazards that could cause Upchuck's death.
Her thoughts were soon cut short as a brilliant flash of purple flickered in her peripheral vision.
'Great a Graveling. I hate Gravelings,' she thought. She had come into contact with these creatures often at Reap sites. Invisible to all except Reapers and other Gravelings. These creatures were the cause of the accidents that resulted in the deaths, they set things in motion and they were a pain in the ass.
Daria watched as it pounced up the ruby-red crushed velvet curtain and came to rest atop of the scaffolding high above her head. It turned to Daria, its piercing yellow eyes bore into hers as it began to slowly swing back and forward on the beams, as if taunting her. Its scaly skin glistened in the reflected glean of the spotlight as it rocked. Daria's attention was drawn back to the stage as 'Charles the Great' was introduced. He opened with a few run of the mill tricks; pulling a rabbit from his hat, making an egg disappear and turning the rabbit into a white dove. Throughout the tricks, Daria found herself repeatedly casting her gaze upwards, checking to see that the Graveling was still there. It was. Daria was beginning to get impatient, there were eight minutes exactly until Upchuck was due to die and so far there had been no indication of how it would happen. It wasn't until a large glass water tank was wheeled out onto the stage that she realized how it would happen.
Upon the announcement of Upchucks daring 'Houdini' stunt the Graveling leapt from the rafters and shimmied down one of the many ropes that secured the curtains.
Upchuck walked out on stage, his arms bound in a long white straightjacket. Daria watched as Stacy clumsily secured the jacket and began to tie him up. She could see Stacy quietly talking to herself, no doubt reciting the steps that she had to go through for the trick. Once he was secure, a team of stagehands hoisted him up via a rope and pulley system into the tank and Stacy closed the lid. Daria noted that Stacy ensured that the tank's safety catch was working in case anything went wrong. Daria shook her head, and watched as the Graveling leapt up on top of the case and began to mess with the locks. It turned to Daria and gave a knowing nod as it stuck a taloned claw in the lock and broke off its nail inside the hole. Daria winced and the Graveling gave an uproarious laugh as it jumped up and disappeared.
While Daria watched the creature work its magic, Stacy had pulled a large digital timer onto the stage and it began a countdown from three minutes.
The crowd watched as Upchuck struggled with the jacket, the seconds began to pass in quick succession and it was obvious 'Charles the Great' was making no progress. As the timer ticked over to fifty nine seconds, Stacy's smiling facade began to waver as she watched Upchuck begin to thrash furiously in the tank. Daria could see Stacy's mind begin to turn.
"Oh my God, the key!" Stacy cried as she fumbled with the costume and withdrew a small key that opened the padlock on the back of the straight jacket.
Upchuck's fingers frantically searched the secret pocket in the jacket. He knew he'd put it in there, he had double checked before he had left home. He turned and peered through the crystal water to Stacy and saw the timer count down on the digital display; he should have been almost out by now. His lungs were starting burn under the pressure of the water; the stale air in his lungs was making him dizzy. Although immersed in water, he could feel his face and extremities begin to grow hot.
Stacy lurched forward and began to bang on the glass, her eyes wide and panicked. Tears streaming down her face she mouthed the work 'key' to Upchuck and held the small implement against the glass. In response he let out the last of the air in his lungs.
Stacy turned to the crowd; pleading for help then turned and began a vain attempt at opening the safety catch.
Before long, Upchuck's frantic movements ceased and the water within the box became still. Daria watched on with morbid curiosity as the stagehands came out to help the frazzled assistant. They had realized that any attempt at opening the box wasn't going to work and in a last ditch attempt one of the stagehands ran out with a fire axe to smash the glass.
After three hard blows the glass cracked and shattered, allowing a cascade of water to wash across the stage. Stacy and the stagehands scrambled back to avoid the water. In the frenzy, no one had noticed that the scaffolding that held a majority of the lights had begun to give way, and moments after Upchuck had been freed from the glass box, an exhaustive moan sounded out as the lights came crashing down. In the same instant that the scaffolding hit the ground, Upchuck's limp body had begun to dance in the electric current that pulsed from the lighting equipment.
"Well at least I went out with a bang," Daria turned to him and slowly shook her head. He gave a seductive smile in return.
Daria sighed and gave a small smile, she knew his smarmy attitude was a front, she could tell by the look in his eyes, they conveyed his true feelings; he was scared shitless.
"So this must be heaven, 'cause only angels look as good as you Daria. Roaw."
"Oh can it Upchuck, I'm not in the mood." Daria chastised in her no nonsense monotone.
"It can't hurt to try," he said with a shrug. "So what happens now? Do we go to heaven or…you know." he said as he titled his head at the ground, an uneasy look on his face. "That place..."
Daria shook her head and considered toying with him, but rethought it after seeing the fear on his face, "You're just a jackass Upchuck, you're not evil. But yeah, you move on when you're ready."
Upchuck nodded and a sudden bright flash of light erupted before them. Charles smiled, a dozen scantily clad women beckoned him and Daria watched as he ran toward them.