Each chapter features two point of views that are relatively short. One is my friend Lea, and the other is myself. Because we're those kinds of people. The ones that love something so much that they want to be a part of it.

So they make themselves a part of it.

Both POVs are written by their "character", so mine is by me and Lea's is by Lea. Her account is WhitePearlReaper, however she hasn't been active for quite some time.

Black Butler and it's characters, locations, etc (c) Yana Toboso
Vampire the Masquerade and it's characters (c) White Wolf Publishing

Jenn's POV

I walked alongside Lea on the train tracks surrounded by forest. She laughed and watched as I wobbled back and forth on one side of the track. Trying to keep balance was harder than I'd expected. I glanced at her accusingly for laughing with a smile adorning my face as well.

We walked on, stopping every now and then for Lea to take a few pictures of the glistening river peeking through the trees. She brought her ipod out of her pocket and snapped a photo before changing the song. "Lea, if we keep it this loud all the time, I'll be deaf before I'm thirty!" I yelled, even though she was merely a foot away.

I never noticed the vibrations in the metal tracks traveling to my feet and up my legs.

I never heard the horn bellowing to us.

I never heard the screeching train breaks.

Lea, however, did. Her hand clamped around my arm like a dog's jaws, and pulled me out of the way. Horror struck me, as her body was plowed over by the train. Bones crunching, crimson exploding everywhere as it dragged my friend away. Wind from the train rushed by. I was hypnotized and my breath stuck in my throat. Then there was the awful feeling of my skull being hammered mercilessly by the ladder protruding from the train. Dizzy, my entire world spinning, I dropped to the ground. My breath grew shallow; blood gathered in my throat and attempted to choke me off. I sputtered and rolled to my side. The rhythmic sound of the train chugged on down the tracks, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk. Then it was gone, curved around the bend into a tunnel. Whimpering, I touched my hand to my head. It was abnormally warm and wet, and smelled sickly of salt and rust. Blood. A lot of my blood. My eyes tried to focus on the overcast sky, but something- no, someone, a man- obscured my vision.

"Hello, beautiful,"

I knew I was dying.

"It'll be over soon." A hand placed itself on my cheek and stroked it.

Darkness came for the longest time. It was cold, black, lonely. It felt like everything in the world was weighing down on my body. Pressure, so much pressure, but no pain.

I heard voices every second. That is, if time existed where I was. There was an array of types; calm and soothing, crisp and business-like. Then there was downright curious. And whoever prodded me was going to get a smack to the face when I woke up. If I ever did.

Was this what it was like after death?

It felt like an eternity passed before my heavy eyelids opened. I was in a well lit room, curtains drawn around the bed I was in. A hospital? That can't be right. The train...I'm dead, I fought with myself.

The curtains flung back. There was that steel-hard business voice. "This is the Grim Reaper Association."

"The what?" I asked blankly.

The man scowled. "You are dead. The tragic deaths of the world have created new opportunities, because your soul lives on although it is no longer a part of your human body. It sounds wretchedly ironic, yes, but now you have a choice."

I pursed my lips, "A choice of what?"

His eyebrow twitched. "If you would allow me to finish. You are clinically dead. You will be buried at a funeral or cremated left in the soil of the earth. Now, you have a choice. You can pass on to heaven or Hell; wherever you are destined to go, or you can help others pass on to the afterlife as a grim reaper."

"Are you bullshitting me? Am I dreaming?" I've had realistic dreams before, and I could believe it if this was another. He sighed and smoothed his gloved hand over the front of his suit.

Ignoring my previous statement, he went on, "Listen. No matter how you choose to look at it, you are dead. There is no way to go back to your life before. Your family and friends will be left behind no matter your choice. You will pass on and suffer the choice you made, or you can stay and help others pass on as a reaper. You will be able to interact with the mortal world; however you must do so for an eternity. That, too, has its own consequences. What will it be? The afterlife or eternal life?"

His eyes said he wasn't kidding, and what he said was convincing. If this was a dream, I would wake up the next day and nothing would have happened. My voice stuck in my throat. "I guess I'll go with a reaper."

He nodded. "Welcome to the Grim Reaper Association. You'll be put in the system and scheduled for training tomorrow." When he spoke, I felt less airy and more solid, like I was a part of the earth again. Although, I wasn't sure if even that was true. He turned to the doorway and beckoned. "Ronald. You are in charge of her. See that she goes through this process without issue."

"Do you think she'd be too much for you?" There was a cheerful voice on the other side of the door. "You're not that smooth with the ladies so I can understand. I'll make sure everything goes good, but I don't see why it wouldn't."

A young man, no more than a teenager out of high school, waltzed into the room. He wore a suit like the other man, but his jacket was open to show the tie and vest inside. He, too, had glasses, but he had bright orange hair with a bottom layer of deep brown.

"You don't look like you'll be too much trouble, darlin'." Ronald rested his foot on the edge of my bed, leaned over and held his head in his hand. He turned his head to the side inquisitively like a puppy. "Nothing I can't handle." His cockney accent overlaid his words in a thick coating, while Will's was much more refined and proper.

I'm surrounded by British men, oh what the hell is going on? Am I really dead? Or am I dreaming?

Lea's POV

Emptiness. All that was around me was an endless void. Whispers surrounded me. A feminine voice, a business like voice, a bored voice. Where was I? Surely I was dead. I got smashed to smithereens by a train. Yet there was no pain. Pressure, but pain was strangely absent.

After what seemed to be the longest time, I woke up. I was in a… Hospital bed? No, no that couldn't be right. I knew I died. A curtain surrounded my bed, and in the corner was the fuzzy image of red. Grabbing my glasses off of the end table while contemplating how they were still in one piece, I put them on. The fuzzy images cleared, and I saw it was actually a person dressed in red, with long hair to match.

He was filing his nails almost absentmindedly, looking very relaxed. I, on the other hand, was beginning to panic.
"Oh I see you're awake." The red-head in the corner said, putting away his nail file. "Welcome to the Grim Reaper Association. You'll learn all of the boring stuff later. My name is Grell Sutcliff, the deadly efficient reaper."
I stared at the self-proclaimed 'reaper', my brain not fully processing what was going on. He had to be joking, right? This was some kind of practical joke. It had to be! Grell put away the nail file with a sigh and pushed of against the wall he was leaning against. "I can see you're shocked, so I'll explain it once, nice and slow okay? You died. Now, you can choose to move on, or stay here and help us collect souls. We are quite shorthanded on staff."
I bit my lip, thinking it over. This obviously wasn't a practical joke. Perhaps I'm hallucinating… I mulled over in my head. Either way, something in me already knew the answer.
"Count me in; I'm up for a challenge." I replied, a small smirk making the corners of my mouth turn up.
Grell smiled a Cheshire grin, complete with pointed shark teeth. Bright green eyes glinted, causing me to wonder what exactly I just signed up for. "Good. I'll go tell William dear that you're in. He's the manager of this division after all. He'll fill you in after he's finished talking with your friend."
I watched Grell walk out before sighing and lying back down. So Jenn was here too. Well, this should be one interesting job.

Boots and heels clicked on the floor of the marble hall as I was led to a great oak door. The one that Grell called "William dear" had filled me in on what was happening better than Grell had. He had informed me that this was the workplace of grim reapers, and that there were many different professions besides actual soul collection. There were librarians, office workers, doctors, secretaries, and much more. He told me that after an assembly we would be able to choose which division we wanted to work in. The assembly was apparently for the few of us who had decided to join today, and we would be briefed on all the jobs, and what each would be required, and much more.
I stood in front of the door, and took a deep breath. It was now or never. Mustering up some courage, I pushed the doors open and entered the vast auditorium.