Chapter One
"Will! You have to listen to me! I'm innocent! It wasn't me this time! Will- for once in your life, would you just listen to me… PLEASE!" Grell pleaded and thrashed as he was dragged down the hall, struggling the entire way. The cold eyes simply stared at the pathetic redhead as the taller reaper looked down upon Grell who was being held much below his usual height do to being dragged across the floor. Grell winced as the two Shinigami Officers tightened their grip around his wrists and upper arm from his immense struggling,
"Grell Sutcliff, you have committed crimes beyond unacceptable. Unfortunately for you, offences like these will not go unpunished. Your hearing will be in three days," William growled as he followed slightly behind,
"You have no proof!"
"Sutcliff! No one else in the entire dispatch, nor anyone in the human realm could cause that amount of damage without your death scythe- the wounds are precisely from that of a chainsaw blade. Now be quiet or you'll just cause yourself more trouble," William glared at the younger, but wished he hadn't. He couldn't keep back the slight guilt as Grell's tearful eyes stared back with what William could only explain as the most betrayed, hurt expression he had ever seen as the silent, drooping shinigami was dragged from the building.
With a panicked yelp Grell bolted into a seated position on the uncomfortable cot, hands tugging at his crimson tresses. Another nightmare…
Willing his breath to calm, he stared around the dreary cell with a sigh, outside at the hallways blocked by the metal barred front wall. He hated it, the fact he was ridiculed every day with something he didn't even do- terrified of the punishment he would receive at his hearing for simple innocence. But what also puzzled him was the fact of the murders and how they were committed:
Grell had been framed for the murders of important humans in London, ones who were not even close to being on the 'To Die' list, and even then would have been erased right away due to their importance, and not only that, but as soon as he had been placed in confinement, the murders stopped, leading everyone to nearly hold no belief in Grell's innocence. He had no idea who was doing it, how to prove he was innocent… He sighed bitterly, resting his chin to his knees that were pulled against his chest and closing his eyes. There was nothing he could do except wait and hope that some miracle happened to show it wasn't him. He jumped and glanced up as the barred door opened, two guards and an officer looking at Grell expectantly for him to get off the cot and over to them. Hesitantly he slipped off the thin mattress and into his heels before silently heading over.
"Mr. Spears would like to have a word with you," The blonde officer explained simply, his voice a void of cold hatred towards Grell, the redhead put up no hassle as shackles were locked around his wrists, dull eyes simply staring ahead at the floor as he was lead down the hall. It was as if he'd given up, knowing fate had him clasped in its iron fist and wasn't losing its grip at all. Being roughly shoved into one of the small, plain white questioning rooms, he sat silently in one of the chairs at the table. The door locking behind him and quiet footsteps of William approaching behind him was deafening, his heart pounded in his ears, his breath quickening slightly,
"Will…."
"Don't bother trying with a cover story, Sutcliff," The older reaper muttered coldly as he took to occupying the other seat across the table from Grell, "This is honestly beyond anything I've ever seen from you- from anyone in the dispatch, Sutcliff. What do you have to say for yourself?" Grell shrank back as he met William's eyes, staring at him with more anger and disappointment he'd seen from William in his entire time at the dispatch.
"Will, please, you have to listen to me! I'm innocent! What is it going to take for you to listen and believe me?!" Grell's voice trembled,
"Nothing, Sutcliff, you've shown us enough to know,"
"Please-"
"Grell Sutcliff! You are a disgrace to the shinigami name with these actions! You disgust everyone around you; I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I am in you… Disappointment doesn't come even close to it." William growled, giving Grell a glare that made him shrink back in the chair even more. Right now he wanted the ground to open beneath his feet and let him fall through,
"And Will, I can't even begin to explain how scared I am…" The trembling in Grell's voice was growing more and more apparent as he fought back tears, "Let me prove it to you, I'll do anything, please! It's not me!" Chains clanked as Grell's shaking hands clung to the table in a white-knuckled grip.
"There is nothing you can say or do you prove your innocence, investigations pinpoint exactly to you… Chainsaw wounds, no traces of anything else except the blood- only a reaper is capable of these actions, no human would be able to leave no evidence, and the soul is not even close to being disturbed, so no demons are involved either."
Grell slowly closed his eyes, obviously William would never believe him,
"And it seems your scythe has mysteriously disappeared… to avoid us checking the cinematic records, I take it?"
"My scythe is… it's gone?!" Grell's eyes widened, whoever his framer was had thought this out extremely well… they knew who they were dealing with, and it scared him.
"Well with that reaction there's a sliver of doubt…" William remarked, referring to Grell's rather loud screech and horrified expression.
"See?! How can I prove it to you, Will? Take me on an investigation or something, I'll prove it! I swear!" Grell rambled, William sighed, rubbing at his temples from the headache that was beginning to blossom behind his eyes.
"Obviously you're not going to keep your mouth shut until we give you some sort of chance… but you do know if you try anything your punishment will be upped," Grell nodded solemnly,
"And if I can't prove anything?"
"You're still convicted and will be proven guilty, followed by whatever punishment you've been sentenced to."
"Very well… I won't try anything though, I promise." Grell replied. William sighed,
"I still can't believe I'm doing this…"
"You can trust me, Will, please, don't go back on your word!"
William didn't know if it was the urgency in the other's voice, or his pleading, frightened eyes, but it was something that panged deep within him with a small amount of sympathy for Grell,
"Two hours tonight to look around London, that's it. Be ready at midnight…" William replied impatiently, the huge sigh of relief from the redhead was the only sound in the room as the others returned. William stood with one last glance to the bound reaper before turning to the officer,
"Whitlock, plan one last investigation tonight for midnight; Sutcliff claims he'll be able to prove his innocence,"
"…" Jason Whitlock glanced up at William with green eyes that seemed to be looking at the other to double check he wasn't insane, "Uhm… sure thing Mr. Spears," He stepped aside with a polite nod before glancing at Grell,
"Looks like you got lucky…" Jason muttered. Grell submissively stood as he was roughly manhandled, not bothering to fight back or argue. Normally he would fight back over how the men were handling a lady, but right now he didn't care, all he felt was numbness. He was only thinking about tonight, and how he was going to prove himself innocent. He had spoken without thinking, and now had no idea what he was going to do. He rubbed at his chaffed wrists as his bonds were removed and stepped into the now familiar cell.
"Good luck for tonight," The second guard was last to leave as he spat his words sarcastically to Grell, eyes burning with disgust as Grell stared boldly back. He then settled to the cot once more, staring at the clock and sighing as the entire day needed to pass by before midnight.
Now all he could do was sit and wait- and it would be one of the longest, most frightening waits of his entire life.