Title: Price of Freedom

Summary: After graduating from the academy, Abigail Spears has taken a job as a reaper. She soon realizes that London is under the threat of a demon. Will she be foolish enough to try to handle it herself?

Notes: Another companion to my two other longer Kuro fics, First Cut and Academic Success. Firstly, I'd like to thank Aquilla Moore for the help she gave me as I toyed with the ideas in my head. Secondly, I think I might try something new, like some chapters with the reapers and some with the demon. Or perhaps more like this first one.

I do hope my title doesn't sound as threatening as I think it is. I couldn't decide on several, and going through my iPod I found a piece from a video game entitled Price of Freedom and the more I thought, the more I realized it does kind of fit. With Abigail being on her own, she doesn't have her parents to rely on 24/7. Anyway, enough of my ramblings for now.

Chapter 1

Smoke twisted and coiled through the starry night sky as two figures stood on the lawn of the burning house. The shorter of the two stared at the blaze with shock and horror written on her face as the taller one stood by her side, hands clasped behind her back.

Suddenly, the shorter one broke the silence. She reared back and slapped the taller one as hard as she could. "You weren't supposed to do it this way!" she shrieked. As she pulled back her hand again, the taller one grasped her wrist to prevent another slap to her face.

A twist of her wrist left the shorter female whimpering in pain. "You dare, Katherine?" she asked, her eyes narrowing to blue slits. "You dare lay a hand on me?"

There was a chuckle from Katherine. "You do realize, Tatianna, that your contract is complete?" She gestured with a gloved hand towards the burning house. "Evelyn is dead, just as you wished for."

Tatianna bit her lip to keep from crying. Once she had calmed herself enough to speak to her demon maid, she said, "I wanted her dead yes, but not Albert too!"

Katherine let out another chuckle. "Humans are so foolish," she whispered, running her hands through her long hair. "It does not matter whether or not you wanted that man for yourself anymore. So truly, it really did not matter if he lived or died while you took your revenge."

Tatianna's eyes widened in shock as she began to understand Katherine's words. "You – You're – "

"A demon to the core?" Katherine asked with a sinister smile. "You do not think ahead, so I used that to my own advantage."

Tatianna began to cry now, her tears leaving black soot trails down her face. She knew deep down this was all her fault and no one else was to blame, but she did wish to blame the demon in front of her. When she made the contract with Katherine to get rid of a woman who had wronged her, she had wished to get back together with Albert. She did not expect Katherine to have plans on her own.

She stared at the demon before her, taking in everything. The long red hair so dark it was nearly black, the red eyes that shown with hunger, the long black fingernails as she removed her gloves. The dark blue dress she wore as Tatianna's maid was spotless, as though no little speck of soot or ash dare land on her.

Katherine sighed at the sight of her former mistress curled up on the grass, crying and whimpering. She could not wait to be free of this spoiled woman and of her silly maid dresses. She was starving and tired of being a servant. After Tatianna, she decided that perhaps she would not take a master for a little while.

Yes, Katherine decided as she left the burning house and Tatianna's corpse several minutes later, she would be a free demon for a while. Licking her lips, she cackled to herself and slipped into the dark night.


Meanwhile, across London in a small one bedroom apartment, Abigail Spears lay restless in her bed. She and her parents had spent the past few days moving her possessions into her new apartment after work. She had been excited to move out and be on her own. While she loved her parents dearly, she was more than ready to flee the nest.

She rolled over on her side and stared out the window. A small smile appeared on her face as she wondered if her mother was having trouble falling asleep as well. While William had been encouraging, Annabelle was fearful. She had all but demanded that Abigail stay with them. Abigail was certain her father had something to do with that. Even promises of visits, and the reminder that they would see each other every day at work did not seem to soothe her very much.

For the past week or so, Abigail had tried to determine why her mother was acting how she was. Abigail had always been her father's girl and not as close to her mother. That was the only possible reason she could come up with.

With a loud groan she rolled back over on her back. As she stared at the ceiling she thought, 'This is ridiculous. I have work in the morning!' To her, everything seemed to be too quiet. It was not like living with her parents was the loudest of things but they were were always nearby.

"That's it!" she said to the empty room. She could not find sleep because the comfort of knowing her mother and father were right down the hall no longer existed. She shut her eyes, frowning and trying to will sleep to come to her. Not having her parents by her side was something she would just have to get used to.

Despite her best efforts to summon sleep, it took her nearly an hour to fall asleep. She slept until the first light of day. After getting up, she bathed, dressed, and hurried out the door just as she would have done if she were with her parents.