A/N: Hi! Elle here. I hope you all aren't too mad about the wait, because I'm hoping on having this fic be something for people to look forward to through the week, so I want to update on Fridays and Saturdays, which means two chapters a week. Last chapter, our protagonist found out that she was paired with the ever-so-annoying Erican Jennan for her final exam. Even though the risk of failure lies in her mind, Mara was even more worried about the fact that she was a goner if her secret was found out. What could the exam have in store for her?

Chapter Three

The students had quickly made their way to the door, and I was ready to follow them. However, Erican had made the executive decision of going out the window.

"What in the world are you doing?" I asked when his leg was already through the window.

"Relax. It's just faster this way, babe." he said, now with two feet out the window.

"Don't ever call me that again, or I swear that I'll make sure it's the last word you ever say." I growled.

"Haha, I'd like to see you try." he said, smirking as he jumped out the window onto a rooftop below.

Sheesh, this guy somehow got even more annoying.

"William, sir?" I called. The senior reaper turned to me.

"Yes, Miss Sutcliff?" he droned.

"If I die out there, could you tell my mother she can split everything of mine between her and my dog?" I asked.

After a moment of consideration, William gave me a thumbs up.

I grabbed both sides of the window, jumped through feet first, and landed on the same rooftop as Erican.

I wanted to find him quickly, as it was chillier than a penguin with frostbite and the humongous clouds in the sky became very dark in color.

I hope there isn't a thunderstorm.

Erican sat at the edge of the flat stone surface, dangling his legs. It was as if he were in a state of boredom.

"Are we gonna get this exam over with, or are you just gonna sit there?" I asked.

"Oh, you're alive. That's fantastic." he said. "I had almost thought you broke a leg or even died after leaping from that height."

"So, you didn't care to check?" I asked.

"Guess it just slipped my mind." Erican said with a shrug.

"Whatever. I just want to get to Blackcloud Alley. That man isn't going to reap himself, you know." Then I took his shoulder and thought about the human world, and we soon went there in a flash of light. I smiled to myself.

My first shift into the human world by myself. Yay! I can't believe I just had to touch Erican. Eww.

After letting go, wiping my hand off, and going about five steps, I felt the infuriating feeling of Erican's arm around my shoulder.

"What are you rushing for, cutie?" he said aloofly. "That bloke ain't gettin stabbed for two more hours, you know. Why don't we just rest for a bit? As much as I'm a bit ticked about being with someone so bossy for this thing, I have to admit that having two full hours alone with you isn't exactly bad news to me. I almost wish it was a month long like it used to be. Could you imagine the two of us spending a whole month together?"

"I don't want to ever imagine going through a month of that kind of torture. Now, why don't you get that filthy, lazy arm of yours off of me?" I said right before I took his arm off of my shoulder and twisted it. I immediately heard a yelp of pain erupt from Erican's mouth.

"Why were you so aggressive? All I did was put my arm on your shoulder!" he whined, as if he was simply a victim who got attacked for no reason.

"Yes, and I believe that I have expressed many times in our five years of knowing one another that I would rather get my arm cut off than let it be touched by the likes of you." I answered, purposely filling my voice with a venomous tone.

"Ugh, I'm just trying to get a bit closer to you. You're real pretty face, you know." he complained.

"Well, unless you want my pretty fist to go into your subpar face, you should leave me alone. I want to get to Blackcloud Alley, and I want us to be invisible to one another for the rest of the exam, alright?" I hissed, not even turning around to face him.

"Do you ever take a break to let loose and have some fun?" he asked. "You're taking this exam way too seriously."

"Too seriously?" I asked through gritted teeth, before pivoting my feet and yelling. "At least I'm actually taking this damn thing seriously, you lazy blonde oaf! All you have done is risk my chance at doing well on this exam and making horrendous attempts to gain my affection! I have been studying, training, and working my butt off for the past three years, only to get stuck with you as a partner for the most important exam of my entire life! Don't you dare think for one second that I'm going to let a little slacker like you get in the way of my dinner!"

We both gone into a deafening silence at what I just said.

Crap.

My right eye suddenly started hurting very badly and shooting pain, as if someone just jabbed me in the eye with their finger or a knife. I put my hand over my eye hand gritted my teeth.

This is worse than the time I - No, I promised myself I would never think about that! Focus on the problem at hand, Mara.

"I mean prey. Wait, no, I meant - Whatever!" I said, shaking my head. "I'm going to go to Blackcloud Alley, collecting George Keens's soul, and acing my exam, with or without your lazy arse following me!"

Then I ran to the edge of the rooftop and jumped to the next, then the next, and kept going until I was above Blackcloud Alley. Then I sat atop the rooftop and waited.

What the hell just happened? I thought, closing my eyes and putting my hands to my head. I have no idea what had made me say that word at the end, and I might have just let my secret slip out to the one person I never wanted to become aware of it. Oh God, I'm so scared. Does this usually happen to reapers, or is it just another thing that only I can experience because I'm part-demon? Damn it, Dad, why couldn't you at least be here to tell me what the hell is going on?

I lifted my head and opened my eyes to see if Erican had followed me, but it didn't seem like he did. The sky was even more ominous and menacing than it was in the reaper realm, and I could feel the cold air wrapping around me like a coat. Aside from the gentle winds, it was silent, and I was alone.

"If Erican isn't following me, then what is he doing?" I asked myself, even though I knew I didn't have an accurate answer. Either he was still being lazy on the roof, or he was running straight to Willaim to spill the beans about me, and I knew it would only get worse from there.

Wow, this is the first time I've actually hoped that he is just loafing around. I thought. Then, the realization hit me that if my secret went out, I wasn't the only person that could've gotten hurt. I realized that my family could be hurt because of my slip up. I simply tried to push that thought into the back of my head, because I could not handle that with everything that was going on.

My right eye still hurt as awful as it did before, so I looked around before lifting my eyepatch very carefully and looking at what was going on underneath it by bringing a small mirror out of my pocket.

Instead of being its usual color of blood red, my right eye was a hot-pink color with a slit through the middle, like a cat's. My mother once told me that demon eyes become like that when they are really energized, around a potential meal, or angry. As far as I knew, I was at least the latter of those three.

"So, this is a demon thing." I mumbled to myself. "It would be nice if I had a demon parent that could tell me about these things."

"What'd you just say?" Erican asked from behind me, making my heart skip a beat.

"Oh, um, nothing." I said, nervously. "I was just… humming!"

Really, Mara? Humming? You could have done better than that! Now, you may have just told the kid who hates demons the most out of everyone you have ever met that you're part-demon!

"Alright." he answered.

Oh, good, he doesn't suspect anything. I internally let out a sigh of relief.

"So, what's up with the eye patch under your bangs? You'd probably look so much better without it."

"So, why in the world would I care about your preference of my eye being covered or not? It's not like it'll make me see you any differently." I said, scooting away. That didn't stop the blonde buffoon from moving closer, so I scooted even further.

"You're so distant, you know that?" Erican said.

"When it comes to you, I can never be distant enough." I said back to him.

"Come on, Sweetheart, wont you just give me a chance?" he asked. "I've gotten good feedback on my flirting, you know."

"From whom, the girl you obviously had to pay in order to get it?" I asked sarcastically. "My answer is the same that I thought I've been expressing to you for the past five years, and that is no. I thought you would get it through your arrogant head that I want you to leave me alone! Besides, today's already just a painful reminder of… of… it doesn't matter, because there's no way in hell I'm telling you!"

"Chill out, cutie. Don't get all stressed. It's not a pretty look for you." he commented. "Besides, I'll know eventually. I always do."

Silence between the two of us filled the air, and the sky grew to be the most threatening in appearance than it had been the entire morning. I felt that there was a storm brewing, and I hoped that it wasn't a thunderstorm more than ever before. With everything that had seemed to go wrong with this exam so far, I really didn't want a thunderstorm to ruin it, as well. The gentle breeze was the only noise in the air.

That is, until I heard a croaking sort of noise not too far away. I looked up to see a crow on the edge of the next rooftop just a few yards away from us. What I found odd about the bird was the fact that it was staring right at me, so I did the same. This continued for a few minutes.

"You were joking about that dinner thing, right?" Erican asked, suddenly having less of a flirtatious tone than he usually did, and having a deadly serious one.

"What are you talking about?" I said, breaking away from the intense staring battle with the crow.

"You know, how you said that you weren't going to let me get in the way of your dinner when you were talking about that soul we need to collect. That brought up a bad memory of a demon encounter when I was younger, so I wanted to make sure that you weren't one. So, were you joking or not? Tell me." he asked.

After realizing he was genuinely scared of that possibility, I told him, "Don't worry, of course I'm not a demon. 100% reaper over here!" I said, pointing to myself with my thumb and winking. Although, since I was winking with my covered eye, it wasn't as if he knew that.

Real smart, Mara.

"Oh, that's good." he said in response. Then, he seemed to return to his arrogant and carefree self with a sigh of relief. "I almost thought you were like some half-demon thing for a few minutes, but, now that I said it out loud, it does seem a bit far-fetched."

It's not as far as you think, Erican. In fact, it's quite close to you, despite hating every second of it.

"Yeah, the farthest." I said, laughing nervously. "However, just out of curiosity, what would you do if you ever met one? I think I'd give them a chance, because they're probably just lonely and feel bad about being a mix of two species that are at each other's throats. In fact, they probably don't really know how to feel about themselves at all."

"Wow, with how open-minded you sound, it's almost as if you might've met one." Erican commented.

Yeah, met one. As if I'll ever meet anyone else like me.

"That isn't what I think at all, though. No matter how desperate they might be to mix in with our kind, if they even have one drop of the blood of those savages, it wouldn't be long before the filthy creatures gobble up souls left and right, and destroy the reaper world from the inside out. That's why I would cut them into the two halves that they're so determined to make themselves become. If they want to be reapers so badly, they'd have to be reaped first." Erican said. "That's just hypothetically speaking, though."

So he's trying to get the affection of the girl he inadvertently wants to brutally murder. Perfect.

"I sure hope so." I answered. "Why would you be so close minded? They have our blood, too, you know."

"They also have the blood of the likes of the savage demon that killed my mother, Mara." he growled, looking at the ground. "So, do forgive me if I seem a bit biased."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." I said sympathetically. Even though the boy had angered me to no end, hearing him say that pulled at my heartstrings and I started thinking that he might have been more than just an obsessive boy with unrequited love for me and a sickle.

"Well, it's not as if I go around talking a lot about it." he said.

"I guess I'm glad I'm not one of those kinds of people, then." I said back.

"Oh, you should be, even though calling them "people" is rather generous, I can't guarantee that you would be walking away from me alive." he said. "That would be pretty unfortunate, since you really aren't all that bad on the eyes."

Okay, the pity party's over.

Then, I heard Erican yell out in pain. I turned my head and saw the same crow I was staring at earlier furiously pecking him.

That is truly a sight to see. You go, Cool Bird.

I gave the crow a thumbs-up.

Erican swiped at the bird and they started bird-strutting away before flying back to their perch on the nearby tree.

"Jeez, I wonder what that thing's deal with me was." he asked.

"That thing is called a bird, Erican. They do not like you, and I do not blame them." I said.

"Oh, so you're back to being Miss Cold Shoulder again, aren't you?" he asked.

"When did I stop?" I asked in return, before checking my watch. "It's about quarter to ten, which means it's about twenty minutes until George Keens is scheduled to die. Do you think that he's worthy of being removed from the list and allowed to live?"

"Of course he isn't." Erican answered. "The book says all he did was invent stuff until his wife and kid died. That's not anything special."

"I guess it is for humans." I said. "Anyway, I think that's actually the best ending for this guy, if he's waited so long to see his family again. I think that seeing how these humans lose their attachment to the world and seeing their whole lives in just a moment is very interesting." I said, smiling to myself.

"Eh, the whole thing is kinda so-so to me." he said, pointing down into the alley. "Look down there, it's his killers!"

We saw two masked men hide in the alley that we were watching over. They were wearing all black, including their masks, and were tall and very buff. This made them intimidate me a little bit. One of them was holding a knife, so I guessed that he was the one that was going to kill George Keens.

"Can they see us?" he asked.

"They can't unless they're near death." I answered. "Do you want me to find out?"

"Sure." he said, before pushing me off of the edge onto the cold, hard concrete below. I screamed out in pain for about one second and I also knocked over a box from the impact. I saw one of the men lift his head attentively.

I hate that blonde bastard so much.

"Did you hear something get knocked over just now, Herbert?" I heard one of the men say in a croaky and hushed voice to his partner, who was apparently named Herbert.

"Nah, it was probably just a cat. Now be quiet, Pip." Herbert said in a guttural voice.

"It's a shame, really. You know what we do with pretty girls who don't know how to mind their own business." Pip said, disappointed.

"Shut up! Someone'll hear you and you'll get us arrested!" he said.

Someone did hear you, you lowlifes. I thought, sitting up. A few seconds later, Erican jumped down near me.

"Great! We're practically invisible to them!" he said joyfully.

"You had to risk me getting killed or kidnapped to find that out? You didn't hear any of the carp that they just said?" I asked before punching him in the shoulder while I rubbed my right hip, which was definitely going to be bruised from that landing. Then, I saw the man who looked exactly like the one in our doomsday book who was about to walk right on by.

"There's our guy." I said.