Somebody's Girl: The Manifesto on How to be a Grim Reaper
So what does a Grim Reaper do with her spare time. Unlike popular belief I do not spend my free time dancing naked under the full moon or making voodoo dolls. My hobbies are film making, singing and roller derby. I LOVE to read. Since I was a little kid I'd read anything I could get my hands on. And I love science.
People sometimes blame us for dying. But we're not the ones that cause the accidents, the diseases, the murders and so on. If it's not another human being it was the Gravlings. Ever heard of a show Dead Like Me, if you haven't you should really check it out. A lot of the stuff in there, they got right. I'm pretty sure one of the writers was a Reaper or at least knew a Reaper. Anyway I'm just Death's foot soldier, I show up on time, do my thing and go home.
So what am I doing this Friday night. I'm writing on this blog and listening to the party going on at Lydia Martin's house across the street.
I closed the lid on my laptop and laid back on my bed. My real phone beeped on the bedside table. Rolling onto my side I grabbed the phone and looked to see it was a text from the only friend I had. Gabriel was a Reaper like me. Between us we were the Reapers of Beacon Hills and we all had our separate divisions of death. I was accidental death and homicide. Gabriel was suicides and natural causes. I smiled seeing the message. "Mum, I'm going out." I jumped off my bed and changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and my AC/DC T-shirt that had once been my dad's. I applied eyeliner, mascara and dark red lipstick.
"Where are you going?" Mum asked me.
"I'm going out with Gabe." I ran a hand through my hair.
Mum smiled. "Have fun."
I smiled back. "Thanks." I grabbed my bag and left the house in time to see Stiles jumping into his Jeep and speeding off. I grinned as Gabriel pulled up on his motorcycle. "Ready to have some fun?" He asked me, tossing me the spare helmet.
"Hell yes." I pulled on the helmet and jumped on the back of the bike.
Gabe and I headed to the nightclub known as Dune. It was the only decent club in Beacon Hills other than The Jungle but that was a gay bar and while Gabe and I were not homophobic neither of us were gay either. Gabe handed me a shot of tequila after we managed to fight our way to the bar and backed the shots before Gabe grabbed my hand and we fought our way into the middle of the dance floor.
It was the first time in weeks I actually did something fun. I enjoyed myself.
Somebody's Girl
Saturday seemed to pass in a blur. I reaped a couple of souls, worked a shift at the vets, read a book about Catherine of Aragon the first wife of King Henry the Eighth. It was good. In the evening I watched a little Netflix, finished my homework and read another book, my favourite The Odyssey.
Sunday I was working at the library. Mika had set me up working on the ledgers. I wasn't sure why we needed to keep records of all the souls we reaped.
"Er… Hello."
I looked up from the ledger and blinked seeing Stiles Stilinski walking into the library. "Are you lost?" I asked taking off my reading glasses.
Stiles frowned. "Erin? What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion.
"I work here." I stood up and stepped around the desk. "What can I do you for?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest.
"I'm looking for a book?" Stiles rubbed the back of his neck.
I gasped. "Really? Here? In a library?"
Stiles rolled his eyes. "Do you always have to be so sarcastic?" He asked.
"Do you always have to say stupid things?" I countered. "And this is a reference library, try the other library you might have more luck." I turned to walk back to my desk
"Actually I'm looking for some reference books. On werewolves."
I stopped and turned around. "Werewolves?" I tilted my head to the side. "Why?"
Stiles shrugged. "Just. Online gaming."
"Uh huh." I breathed. "Well I think there's some books this way." I motioned for him to follow me.
"So you work here?" Stiles asked.
"Yep." I put my reading glasses back on and climbed up one of the ladders. "Okay werewolves… werewolves. Ah." I pulled a book out.
Stiles grinned. "You look like a librarian."
I cocked an eyebrow. "I am a librarian." I pointed out and handed him the book. "You can't take these out of the library." I handed him another book. "But if you want to photocopy any of the pages bring them to me and I'll fire up the machine." I climbed down from the ladder and took my reading glasses off allowing them to rest around my neck by the chain.
Stiles nodded. "Thanks. I'll just…" He motioned to one of the desks.
"Knock yourself out." I walked back over to my desk and continued to work on the ledger. About two hours later I got a message on my other phone. I checked the message and sighed. "Mika I have to go. Appointment." I called out grabbing my jacket.
Mika appeared from the back of the office. "Alright. Will you be coming back or will you lock up now?"
"Well since we actually have someone else in the library I'll come back. I shouldn't be more than an hour and I know you can't work the photocopier if he needs a photocopy." I told him.
Mika peered around me at where Stiles was sat. "Oh what's he doing here?"
I smiled. "Reading up on werewolves. Anyway I've gotta go, have fun." I patted him on the shoulder and left the library. Getting onto my bike and cycled off.
So I reaped the soul of an old woman who crashed her mobility scooter into the back of a dumpster truck. I stopped by the cafe to get a coffee and went back to the library. I was surprised to see Stiles still there when I walked back into the library. "You're still here?" I shut the door.
Stiles jumped. "Oh my god. Where did you go?"
"I had an appointment." I sipped my coffee.
"With death?" Stiles asked.
I smiled. "Nah an old lady in a mobility scooter." I rubbed the back of my neck.
Stiles frowned. "You're so weird."
"Funnily you're not the first person to say that to me." I walked past him.
"Yeah but I don't mean it like that. I actually think you're really cool. I mean you don't care what people think about you. You're so… badass." Stiles smiled at me.
I frowned. "Oh." I walked over to my desk and sat down. At closing time Stiles was still at the library. "Er… Stiles." I walked over to table he was still sat at. "We're closing."
Stiles looked up at me. "Holy crap is that the time?" He looked at his watch. "What should I do with the books?" He asked.
"Just leave them on the table. I'll put them away tomorrow." I told him.
Stiles stood up and followed me out of the library, shutting and locking the door. Stiles turned to me. "So will you be at school tomorrow?" He asked.
"I thought we talked about the stupid questions?" I cocked an eyebrow.
Stiles smiled. "See you around Erin." He walked over to his Jeep.
I watched him drive away and tilted my head to the side. Today was the longest conversation I'd ever had with Stiles. It wasn't completely horrible. Shaking my head and turning my back on the road I picked up my bike and cycled home.
But as I peddled down the road thinking about the day gone I knew one thing for certain. Tomorrow was just another day.
