"Ach, shit, did I get lost again?"

The man frowned, moving in and out of the hallways of the house. He was careful not to make any noise-well, technically speaking any noise he made wouldn't be heard by anyone anyways. After all, Gilbert was entrusted with the job of collecting life when it expired, to lead them to the great beyond. Or something like that. Either way, he was more of a…guide of sorts. It was an interesting job, even if there was no pay. In any case, he would be late for his next client if he didn't find the body quickly-well, the poor soul would probably have to wait a bit or something the like. The fellow did live at house number thirty, right? He couldn't be too far. Best make his way out of the house to make sure it's the right one. Gilbert made his way through the hallway, hearing a slight creak, a small pattering of footsteps. He gave a brief glance- a small child, no older than six of seven by the looks of it, nervously glancing towards his direction. No matter; humans couldn't see him anyways. The kid was probably looking for his mum or dad, bad nightmare or something.

"Um…what are you doing here, mister?"

Now that caught his attention. Gilbert halted, turning his gaze at the small figure.

"Eh?"

"Mom said that I shouldn't talk to strangers, but you're in here, and dad said that we don't let strange people in our house. And he said that I was brave and should protect what belongs to us." The child puffed out his (boy, right? Gilbert couldn't really tell, especially with the young short haired sort.) He couldn't help but grin at the bold confrontation from such a small being. He knew that young children and the elderly could sense his presence, somewhat, but this is the first time someone could actually see him and communicate. Interesting.

"Your dad's right about that, kid. And I don't wanna be messin' with anyone as fierce as you- in fact, I was just leaving."

"Are you lost?"

"Something like that."

"I thought adults never got lost. My parents never do, at least."

"You've got a smart mouth, don't you?"

"That's what dad says too."

Gilbert snickered a little. "Look, kid, it's real nice talking to you but if I ain't at the place I'm supposed to be things'll get tricky...hey, what house number is this?"

"Twenty…eight."

"Damn it all, it is the wrong hou-"

"Dad says you're not allowed to swear. Mom said it too."

"Heh, that's 'cause it's adult talk and you're still a squirt."

"Nuh uh!"

Gilbert laughed, making his way through the door, his form easily slipping out of the house. His arm was the last to slip through, giving a small wave to the small figure. The young brunette was left standing in the hallway, making a face at the door before making way back to their own bed. After all, children should be sleeping at this hour.

At the house next door, a old man in his sleep breathed his last.

Ten-year old Elizabeta Hedervary (Elizabeta's too long! Just call me Eli!) sat outside her family's house, climbing the large oak tree that grew in front of their lawn. Her parents were inside, though she was sure her mom was probably keeping a watchful eye on her, her father in his study hard at work. She climbed up a particularly large branch, giving her a proper view of the neighbourhood. She enjoyed these moments, being able to take in all that the world had to offer. Of course, her mother didn't allow her to explore the area on her own quite yet, but her own front lawn provided plenty: the flowers by the garden, or the line of ants by the sidewalk, the other children passing back and forth and-well, hm. There was something she didn't see every day; amidst it all, a silver-haired crimson eyed man walking past everyone. Hair and eyes aside, there wasn't much that separated him from everyone else, minding the fact that no one seemed to notice him at all, and on top of all that he was heading straight for her house. There was something oddly familiar about the man too, Elizabeta thought, on her way to scurry down the tree to block the other's path. She was still a few branches away from the ground.

"Hello there." She called out, drawing the man's attention to her.

It had been a while since Gilbert seen this child. He gave a slight snort. "What are you doing up there, boy?"

Elizabeta wrinkled her nose, grabbing onto another branch to lower herself to the one below it. "I'm not a boy. I can run and jump just as high as any other, and do it better too." After steadying herself, she took a step forward and let herself drop before grabbing onto the branch below, a slow one-two swing, releasing her grip and landing on the ground, dusting herself off. "What are you doing here?"

This wasn't a question that Gilbert particularly wanted to answer this day. Death went on its course, just as life did…though the fact that someone could see him, and he happened to be collecting a relative of hers seemed to complicate the matter. He gave a small sigh. "Look, um…"

"Eli. Elizabeta, if you want to be fancy but that's too many letters."

"Right, Eli. Look, I don't know if you're old enough to understand but…well, look, I'm sorry."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Sorry 'bout what?"

"I'm…I'm seeing your father in a bit."

"He's working right now."

"I know."

The two stood there for a moment.

"You're kinda familiar, mister."

He gave a sad smile. "Everyone sees me sooner or later, but you're an odd one…" Gilbert's voice trailed off, giving a slight frown again. Right, he was here on business. Whatever the living did, regardless of the fact that this one could even see and maintain a conversation with him, was none of his concern. Gilbert's first and foremost priority was collecting and guiding the souls of the deceased, which was why he was here in the first place. "…Anyways…after today, I don't think you'll be wanting to talk to me much, kid." Gilbert gave a short wave before making his way to the house, through the door. He wouldn't blame her if she ended up hating him. Most do, anyways. But it was a job and someone had to do it, he thought, making his way up the stairs. He reminded himself that it was his own mistake to interfere with the living, regardless of the fact that someone could see him.

This left a very puzzled young girl standing at the front of her lawn. It wasn't long before a mother's panicked voice echoed through the house, that the ambulance would arrive, that Elizabeta would lose a father.

(It's been a while, sorry, I've been really busy with lots of life events. But here's a new fic, hopefully I'll be able to churn something out from this AU I've had in the backburner for a while now...

...I should also issue a deep apology for my other fic, "Horizons", which will be put into hiatus for now. There's an ending in sight, but I'm having trouble finding a way to reach it so for now I'm going to focus on this new project and hopefully see to it to the very end. As usual, I'd love to hear your comments and/or critiques, thanks!)