x.x.x.
Half the names on the list had already been crossed off.
He observed the names that remained, each one attached to someone fated to fall by his hands in the coming days. Carefully, with an almost childlike fascination, he drew his finger along the ink's familiar path, following the cursive letters that spelled out his next victim's calling card.
It would be swift. He would approach in the dead of night, through a window whose locks prove ineffective to keeping him from completing his task. Uninvited, he would steal away into the bedroom with temperature hanging between warm and cold, dying embers in the fireplace a surefire sign that the room's owner had fallen asleep.
Entering dreams did not get easier. Manipulating them was a whole other hardship. And the souls - well, at least they didn't have a tendency to fight back. In the past, few of them had struggled, sure, but even they had to give up eventually.
Besides, he was doing them a favor. They would be thanking him later.
How much later? That much was unknown, even to him.
He was only the messenger, the actor obeying his cues, delivering his victims from reality, felling them one by one as lumberjacks do to majestic oak trees, full of magic and vitality and lifespans that make paltry humans' look meager in comparison.
He likes thinking himself a lumberjack on a mission. It's much easier to carry out the task when one fashions his tool of the trade, the lumbering scythe with notches in it its blade, into the image of a great axe, or a saw instead.
Lumberjacks are heroes of the world, so worshipped they even started a popular fashion trend most worn by those that call themselves "hipsters." He never understood why flannel was a thing or why these "hipsters" were so obsessed with something called a "Tumblr" – but he appreciated the dedication they showed to their broody fabricated identities. Humans are mysterious creatures, he often muses.
Reapers, on the other hand, are always the villains. And he was a Reaper. So by default, I guess he was a villain.
Only this villain has a thing for glitter and sequins and black is not a color you'd find in his wardrobe. He is blonde and blue eyed and has an odd fascination with ascots. Who even wears ascots anymore? Apparently, this guy.
So here it is we return to the start, to a snapshot of a man with a list and a scythe - only now he is less menacing and dark and s-c-a-r-y and more colorful and bold and f-r-u-i-t-y.
18 names. 10 crossed out. 8 more to go.
And then – a lunch break.
If you thought Reapers didn't need food you are sorely mistaken. In fact, everything you know or have learned about Reapers up to this point in your lives is a lie. They do have hearts, they do bleed when they're cut, they do not look like skeletons, and most importantly, they do not like being kept from their food.
Seriously. Do not come between a Reaper and his chicken parmesan sandwich. You will regret it terribly. I would know. That's why I'm the narrator.
Well… ok…that's not exactly why. I'm sure you would like to know why. I'm sure you would like to know who I am, too, or whether I can be trusted. Personally, I find that all the best narrators tend to be the unreliable ones – they tell the best tales.
And this tale, I'd like to think it's a pretty good one. It's a tale of darkness, betrayal, a journey, romance, hope, and light. Oh, and maybe some chips and salsa and no guacamole because guacamole is the devil and makes me want to puke.
And the first chapter, friends, begins with this:
Our dear Reaper, his list, and a game…
x.x.x
Hi! I don't really know where this story is going or how it's going to progress, but if after reading this small sliver you find it interesting enough to want to follow it, thank you! It's been many a moon since I wrote something creative, and I'm pushing myself to get back into the swing of it. This is my horrible first attempt at trying.
With that said, I'll be accepting OCs for this story, so make some characters, and make them good! Tell me all the interesting bits - like the fact that they love eating spaghetti for dinner or whenever they see blue eyes they are reminded of a special person drowning.
This is 100% going to be a story involving Pokemon - or at least, Pokemon related themes - so be sure to give your characters a team as well.
Please send your OCs as PMs! I'll check reviews too but PMs are more fun!
With that said, thanks again for checking out my story :)
-KK