*AN: I don't own any characters from Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler except my OC. Thanks for reading and don't be scared to give constructive criticism! This is my first Kuroshitsuji fiction, so please enjoy! Thanks! *
Riley Fairchild stalked into the dark night shadows, blending herself in with the blackness.
She pressed herself up against the stone wall and waited.
In about ten minutes, a man would walk around that corner.
And when he did, he would die.
This was what she got paid to do. Riley was an assassin; she wandered from city to city, receiving jobs from serious strangers who didn't want their identities known. Amongst those who wanted someone dead but didn't want to do the dirty work, the way Riley worked was well-known.
She received letters from people, usually anonymous although sometimes she'd get a name, which she would then chew up and spit out into a river or lake.
And she never had any other contact with her dealers. Once she had done the dirty work, she would receive an envelope full of money.
Nobody had ever cheated her, and not paid her before. Usually the customers were quite honest in that way.
Riley pressed herself up against the wall even further, and waited.
She held a gun in her right hand. She was a natural with weapons.
She could shoot a running man from a rooftop with frightening accuracy.
She could throw a knife and hit whatever she was aiming at, no matter the distance.
Even though she was young, Riley was skilled.
The man she going to kill soon: he was a man who had gotten away with armed robbery. In the process of robbing the town bank, he'd also shot and killed a little boy.
The boy's parents were the ones who'd sent her the letter.
Riley did as the letter requested; that this man be killed in return for killing. A life for a life.
Death was not something that Riley took heavily.
She'd been around it so often that it was a part of her life. She'd grown used to the passing of someone's soul.
Hell, most of the time, she was the cause of it.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps padding across the cobblestone, and she snapped back into attention.
It was the man.
She could see him, walking toward her, a suitcase in his right hand.
Riley waited until he was close enough to see her, then she stepped out into the light.
"Theodore Corbin?" Riley asked him.
"Yes?" he replied, stopping in front of her, with a confused look across his face.
Riley studied him for a moment, then whipped the gun out and shot him in the stomach.
The man collapsed, dropping his suitcase onto the ground. It broke open, and money flew out, circling in the air around them.
It looked like he'd just robbed another store, Riley thought. She wondered if he'd killed anybody else.
As the man's dying eyes looked up at her, she squatted down next to him.
"That's for the little boy," she whispered, putting the gun in the inside pocket of her coat.
The man stared up at her, blood dripping from his mouth, with knowing eyes. He understood.
Then, his head fell to the side and his ragged breathing stopped.
Riley stayed there for a moment, and closed her eyes.
It was all just part of the job.
She stood back up and walked down the cobblestone, the weight of the gun against her chest like her heart had been weighed down by grief.
Riley walked down the street, wondering why she couldn't make herself leave the town she had just killed the man in.
There was something that was making her stay.
Riley wasn't known for nonsense like this. Usually, the only unseen force she believed in was gut instinct, but she couldn't make herself leave the town.
Whenever Riley killed someone, she always got away from the scene as quickly as possible for several reason.
This time, Riley wandered around town, her hands in her pockets, her hood pulled over her head.
She started walking back to where she had killed Theodore Corbin.
The money.
Maybe that's what was keeping her there. She needed to return the money to the police station, before someone wandered across the body and stole the suitcase.
Riley started running and finally turned the corner to the murder scene.
But... In the darkness, Riley could see that the body was still there. And all of the money.
But... There was someone standing above them.
The person rubbed their hands together as if they had just finished a dirty task, and took a deep breath.
Riley waited for the person to walk out into the light, and wondered if he were going to steal the money.
As the man took a step in her direction, the light finally shone against him.
He was tall, with bright red hair. He had glasses, with a chain, in front of yellowish-green eyes. The man was wearing a dark vest against a white shirt, with the ties around the shoulders like a banker or stockbroker would usually wear. And the man had on a red jacket, which seemed to be a bit too small for him and hung off his shoulders, as if he couldn't get it all the way on.
Riley stared at him in disbelief. Never in her life had she seen such a ridiculous-looking man.
What was he doing here?
"You can stop hiding," the man said in a dramatic and nasally voice. He held out a hand in her direction. "I know you're over there."
Riley gathered up her courage and bravely walked up to him.
"Who are you?" Riley asked.
The man grinned at her, revealing pointed teeth, and spun in a circle.
"I am Grell Sutcliff- reaper extraordinaire!" he exclaimed, and stuck his tongue out at her.
Riley quietly studied the man. He was odd and different, and he seemed to not care at all about her opinions of him.
Riley kept her face indifferent.
"Well, what are you doing here, then?" she demanded. "I've got a job to finish."
"Job?! You mean he wasn't dead?!" Grell looked appalled at himself.
"What?" Riley asked, confused. "Of course he was dead, you imbecile! I'm talking about the money. I have to sneak it back into the police station before someone steals it."
Grell seemed to calm down a bit.
"Oh, good," he said, waving a hand at her. "I thought I'd taken his soul early!"
"Taken his... Soul?" Riley repeated. "What are you talking about? Are you a lunatic?"
Grell barked a laugh in amusement.
"That's up for discussion, darling!" Grell replied with a wink. "Anyway, like I said, I'm a reaper. I have a list of souls that I must take, then I track them down and take them."
He leaned in close to her face and gave her a dramatic expression.
"Take this money back to the police first, because when you hear what I have to say, things are gonna change!" Grell added, standing back up and grinning at her again.
"Don't you tell me what to do," Riley told him, angrily. "I was planning on taking this money back anyway."
She walked around and gathered up all the loose notes before shoving them back into the suitcase. With a heave, she picked up the case by the handle and started walking down the street.
Grell caught up with her.
"Wait up, darling!" Grell called, and Riley could hear the clack of his boots. "I'm coming with you!"
"Don't call me darling!" Riley snapped. She didn't like the way he pronounced it. He was so dramatic that he put an odd emphasis on the word and it made Riley uncomfortable. "I have a name."
She didn't offer it to him.
"Want to tell me what it is, then?" Grell asked, purposely walking up beside her and waiting expectantly.
Riley huffed in irritation, but didn't answer.
"Well, that's just not fair, darling!" Grell exclaimed. "I told you mine! It's only appropriate for you to tell me yours!"
Riley rolled her eyes at his dramatics and growled as she lugged the giant suitcase.
"Riley," she replied in a mumble.
Grell was quiet a moment as he pondered.
"Riley, Riley, Riley!" Grell repeated, dancing in a circle around her as she walked. "Hm! I think I like darling better!"
Riley set her jaw and decided not to reply.
Maybe if she just ignored him, he'd leave her alone.
She quietly lugged the suitcase down the cobblestones, and grunted as she pulled.
"You want some help with that, cupcake?" Grell asked, stopping a few feet in front of her and staring down at her with a hand on his chin.
Riley seethed in anger but didn't answer. She just ignored him.
Grell laughed, and started to help her drag the heavy case, but Riley stopped him.
"No, I don't want your help!" she finally growled. "I want you to leave me alone!"
Grell stood back up and grinned mischievously at her.
"Whatever you say!" he replied, putting his fingertips to his chest, as if he'd been insulted. "But I can't leave you alone! Dear me! Like I said, I have a deal to make with you!"
"I don't want to make any deals!" Riley mumbled, trying to pass him up.
Grell quietly followed along behind the girl, watching as she struggled with the case, smirking as they neared the police station.
They finally stopped in front of the station and Riley tried to silently move the suitcase up the few steps.
"Watch out, and let me do this!" Grell exclaimed, and Riley looked up at him in surprise.
"Sh!" Riley quieted him. "They'll hear you!"
"They wouldn't dare!" Grell replied, bumping her off to the side with his hip. He picked up the suitcase with one hand and held it up with an extended arm, straight out in front of his body like it weighed merely nothing. "Ugh, you're right!" he cried dramatically, laying his free hand on his forehead. "This is heavy!"
Then he walked up the steps and carelessly tossed the heavy suitcase inside the door. Riley heard it land with a soft thump on the floor a few feet away into the darkness.
She stared at him in disbelief.
"There!" Grell said, satisfied, clapping his hands together. "They should find that! Now let's go so I can tell you all about this little deal we're going to make!"
"Wh-what?" Riley demanded, still wondering why no police had come out and arrested them. Grell was practically screaming and clapping his hands. And the suitcase had made a loud thump as it landed.
"Hurry before the police show up!" Grell exclaimed happily, grabbing her arm and leading her down the steps again.
Riley snatched her arm away from him and followed him into the dark path that led around the edge of town.
"What do you want from me?" Riley asked, actually a bit curious now. The man wouldn't have aided her thus far without having a good excuse.
Grell turned toward her once they were far enough away from the police station.
"Now!" Grell said, studying her with wide eyes. His glasses caught the moonlight a bit as he looked at her. "I want you to do a little assassinating for me!"
"You- you want me to kill people?" Riley repeated in surprise. This man had seemed too happy and exuberant to want anyone killed. Unless he had a dark side. Of course, he'd said he was a reaper, but Riley wasn't exactly sure if he was just a lunatic.
What kind of person believed they were a reaper?
It was absurd.
"Of course!" Grell exclaimed, waving a hand in the air. "It's this man! He keeps popping up on my list but he just won't die! I followed him around for a week once, but he's just beyond death's grasp! Now, people usually don't just skip around my list like that, and it's a bit insulting. My superior reapers are threatening to have me demoted again if I can't take this man's soul. But I don't want to kill him. I'm just not much on dirty work, darling. So, fate just had it that you are an assassin!"
Riley stared at Grell in hesitation.
He really was off the deep end.
But, hey. She WAS a hit-woman, after all. She'd killed people before. Maybe this would be like any other job.
"Right," Riley accepted. "I can kill him for you." She crossed her arms and gave him a serious look. "You're able to pay me, then, of course."
"Hah!" Grell laughed, giving her a wicked grin. He put a hand on his hip. "This is the part where everything changes, honey!"
"What are you talking about?" Riley demanded.
"My payment for you," Grell said. He took a deep breath as if he were about to give a long speech. "Well... Just look at this, darling, and tell me what you think!"
Grell pulled a book from somewhere behind him, and flipped it open, scanning the pages, turning them and studying them some more.
"Aha!" he cried, fixing his glasses. "Here it is!"
He held the book open toward her.
"This is my list, the one I've been telling you about!" Grell added.
Riley scanned the list, reading the unfamiliar names.
They were all in groups, maybe arranged by location.
Under the very last group on the page, a name stood out to her.
"Riley Fairchild!" Grell said, snapping the book shut again. "That's you, isn't it?"
Riley looked up at him in shock.
"I'm on your list?!" she gasped. "That's ridiculous!"
"Afraid not, my dear!" Grell grinned. "There you are! September 13th, eleven thirty-nine pm!"
Riley was in shock.
Death had never meant much to her, although it was a large part of her life. But... When it was her own death...
She had this sinking feeling in her stomach that Grell was not a lunatic- well, not in this manner, anyhow.
He was a reaper. And her name was on his list of souls to take.
"And after you've killed this man for me," Grell added, with an extravagant flair, "then I will take your name to my superior reapers and ask them for a Reconsideration."
"Reconsideration?" Riley asked. "They do that?"
"Well, yes, if I think that a person on my list should be spared. If the superior reapers agree that you will go on to do much positive change in the world, they will accept the Reconsideration!" Grell replied with a grin. "And look at you! You just saved a suitcase of money from being stolen! Surely you'll do SOME good in the world!"
Riley didn't know what to say.
She'd had to face her own death before, in her past. But this was here in front of her, in black and white, a statement saying that her death would occur on September thirteenth at eleven thirty-nine in the evening.
She looked up at Grell with a steely gaze. If there was one thing she knew, it was that she wasn't ready to die yet.
"Alright," Riley agreed. "I'll kill this man for you."
"Wonderful!" Grell exclaimed happily.
"But-" Riley added. "I'm going to need this in writing. In case I kill this man for you, and you just disappear."
"I am a reaper of my word, darling!" Grell replied. "But of course I'll put it in writing for you. I can relate. I, too, trust no one."
He gave her a wink, and grinned.