Chapter Three

None of their Business

"What?" The girl objected. "Why do I have to start?"

"Because I said so," The man replied, giving her a harsh, I'm-the-boss-here kind of look.

"Well why don't you start? Since you're gonna play the fucking leader!" She threw back at him.

"Fine! I'll start." I could tell this man could be easily angered. But I really didn't want to see him get so, and was glad to know he could also take a hit and try to calm himself down. "My name is Rube Sofer. I died almost immediately after being shot five times when I almost successfully robbed a bank. And I've been dead since 1926. Now Red, I daresay it's your turn, so please entertain us." He chided.

I wanted to laugh just because of the look on her face when he said that.

"Fine. My name's Macyn Cunningham. I was stabbed three times by my psychotic stepsister and died shortly after she decided to slit my throat."

"Why would she do that?" Another spoke up, looking curious. She looked taller than the rest of us girls, and she probably was. Her hair was black and sleek looking, barely reaching her shoulders, and her eyes were a dark brown. She didn't appear to be Caucasian but I could only say she looked half-Hispanic to describe it. She was pretty though, with an exotic choice of clothing.

"Because, as I said, she was crazy. And she was determined to steal my boyfriend from me no matter the cost. Though I must say, he wasn't worth it. He was a true player, and I can't even say how many times I had fought with him for his cheating tendencies," Red explained. "And to finish my self-introduction, I've only been dead for seven years."

"Okay," Rube said. "Your turn," He pointed to the boy sitting next to Macyn.

"Um, my name's Hunter Davidson. And three years ago, I was driving home late at night, when a drunk driver drove straight into my side. I died in the ambulance before they even reached the hospital from the loss of too much blood. And I've been a reaper ever since."

Hunter was hot, he had short black hair, a tan, and green eyes. Honestly, he could have been a fucking model with those looks.

But back to the here and now:

He and everyone else looked to the next person beside him. But me, I was taking these deaths all into consideration. And from what I have learned since my death is that… a suicidal reaper is not a common creature. Everyone else in my old group was there because of murders and freak accidents. Sure, our division does include suicides, but I'm dead serious when I say that when you compare all three, suicides are truly the minority.

And in my opinion, my death was my business. And I didn't feel these people had the right to know that I killed myself. It doesn't concern them so why should they know?

But the next guy was speaking now, so I chose to listen while I came up with a good lie.

This boy had spiked blonde hair and blue eyes. A perfect match if you wanted the Arian Race. But he seemed a little bashful; from what I got from his speech, he was a Laughing Bashful.

"My name is Daniel Farley. And… Heh, I um, I drowned while trying to prove I could really hold my breath for four whole minutes. I've been a reaper for six years."

"How did you drown?" Macyn asked, looking confused. "Why didn't you come for air?"

"Well, you see, my friends were holding me down under the water and when I tried to come up for air… they wouldn't let up," he replied, looking bashful yet still smug. "It doesn't really bother me though, I don't think they meant to kill me; it was an accident."

"That's very noble of you not to blame them," the dark haired girl spoke up, sounding impressed. She was sitting next to him though and knew it was now her turn to introduce herself. "Okay, I'm Esmeralda Divakaruni, and I know it's a really long name. Get over it. And, I died, I think it was twenty years ago, in an electrical fire at a nightclub. To be honest with you, I was actually knocked on the ground and trampled to death by the screaming crowd before the fire even got to me. But I did burn in the fire, and the only proof my mother ever got that I was dead was my necklace, which she keeps in the top drawer of her bedside table, always."

Wow. That's really sad. I wonder what my mother would have done if it was me who had died that night, and not her…

"Okay, my turn," the gorgeous blonde girl next to her finally spoke. I didn't notice her at first since she'd been quiet all this time. But I was starting to wonder how they could all be so freaking attractive. I felt out of place. "My name is Lynette Donoghue. And I was pushed off a cliff by my supposedly best friend for only one reason that I can come up with and that would be jealousy. I've been reaping for ten years."

"Yay for jealousy," Macyn added in.

Instead of laughter though, Lynette looked a little more solemn.

Now, it was Brian's turn.

"Okay then, my name's Brian Klass and I, um, before I died, I was a drug-dealer, and a successful one, too. And one of my buyers got the idea that it would be nice to take my place. He tried to beat me up first, and lost… Since he knew fighting me wasn't going to work, he chose poison instead. That was… back in '91."

I was shocked.

The first thing I wanted to scream at him was: You were a drug dealer!

But I chose against it.

For it was my turn.

What was I going to tell them?

"Um, my name is Phaelin Barker. And I was killed… by my father, shortly after he, um, raped me." Well I should have. "And I've been dead for two months."

"At least I'm not the only one who's family is fucked up," I heard Macyn mutter.

I smirked at her, lightly.

I looked at Brian, who looked shocked. And then, I saw Lex's face. She was looking at me in that condescending way in which she always looked when she told me lying never solved anything, Phaelin.

Thankfully, she wasn't going to say it right now with everyone watching.

And coming to the end of our circle, it was now her turn.

After one last solemn look at me she began to speak, "I'm Lex Haddon and I was strangled to death by my fiancé… the night before we were to be married… forty years ago."

After a few extra moments of silence, Rube decided it was time to end this. "Well, I have all of your keys here, to the rooms that you will be staying in. Macyn and Lynette, you will be rooming together. Esmeralda and Phaelin. Daniel and Hunter." He handed each of us our own keys. "And Brian, I believe you already have your own key?"

"Yes, sir," Brian spoke out.

"Wait," Macyn had to speak out again. "Why does he get his own room?"

"Because he was the first one here, Red, and they don't have any rooms with three beds in this pub, either." He spoke, harshly.

"Now before you all leave, I just remembered one thing I forgot to tell you. The moment you stepped into London, even to the living, you now don your true physical features. Your covers were removed due to the fact that the magic surrounding Hogwarts would have broken through them anyways. And I just thought I should let you know before one of you figured it out on your own and came yelling at me," He looked mainly towards Macyn at this. "Now off with you all. Your rooms are upstairs and I don't care to see any of you until I have to, and that isn't until Saturday, which is the day you all will go off to Hogwarts by train and Lex and I will see you there later that evening. All I have to say is you all better have your asses down here, and on time, at ten o' clock sharp. Do you understand?"

Most of us nodded our heads yes and we all began to stand up from the table.

I was about to head towards the stairs when Lex grabbed my arm and pulled me away from everyone else.

"Phaelin, you shouldn't have done that," she said to me.

"Done what?" I asked, not wanting to hear it.

"You shouldn't have lied to them. Haven't I taught you anything?" She looked about ready to stomp her foot at me.

"Lex, my death is none of their business. Besides, it's not like what I said was really a lie. I should have died that night. Not my mother. It should have been me. And it would have been if my father wasn't a stupid drunk who couldn't take care of his old guns."

I pulled away from her grip.

"Phaelin, this is your chance to make a fresh start. So why won't you?"

"Because maybe I don't want to," I stated honestly.

"This doesn't have to be like Detroit, Phaelin. You can learn to be that better person I know you are deep down. I know you blame your mother's death on you, but it's not your fault. That death is strictly on your father's conscience."

"My father doesn't have a conscience!" I yelled at her. "And if he won't repent, than I will."

I walked away from her, heading up the stairs by myself to the rooms.

I looked at the key in my hand. It was a normal key, which I thought was funny. I guess wizards don't know about keycards. But on the plastic piece on the key ring next to it, I saw the room number.

"Room thirty-two."

I counted the doors along the hallway until I found the one I needed.

Knowing I was rooming with the dark-haired girl, I first attempted to open to door without the key. Yep, just as I figured, she hadn't locked the door.

Slowly, I began to open it.

She was lying on one of the two beds carelessly while listening to her green iPod.

"Hey," she said when she saw me.

She seemed cheerful. How could she be so happy?

"Hi," I said.

"It's Phaelin, right?" She asked, taking off her headphones.

"Yeah," I nodded. "You don't really go by Esmeralda do you?" I was curious. I mean it was an eccentric name.

"No. Oh, I completely forgot during the introduction." She said sitting up. "I go by Esme; as it's a lot shorter. And always a lot easier to write on papers."

"Esme?" I repeated. It still didn't suit her. "I don't like it."

"Ha, thanks." She laughed. "That's always good to know."

I put my bags down on the floor and sat myself on the other bed. They were only about two feet apart. The room was small and pretty bare.

"I'm sorry, it just doesn't fit; in my opinion, of course, don't take any offense on it." I said.

I liked this girl. She made me feel easygoing. Maybe having a cheerful friend wouldn't be so bad. God knows, Lex's group was not a cheerful one. They were all kind of mean. Grouchy. I'm starting to reconsider my opinion on this whole England thing.

"Then what do you think does suit me?" I liked her curious nature, too.

"Hmm… let me think about this." I leaned back on my hands. "What did you say was your last name again? It was hard to grasp after Esmeralda."

"Divakaruni," She spoke.

"Divakaruni, huh?" I repeated. "That's interesting."

"It's Hindu."

"Oh! I'm sorry. At first glance, I thought you were Hispanic. My bad. I never was good with culture."

"It's okay. Actually my mother was from Spain. My father was Hindu." She answered. "So really, you weren't incorrect in your guessing."

"Ah. Well, what do you think about the nickname Diva?"

"You make me sound stuck-up."

"No, not at all." I said. "It's creative. I think it'll stick well."

"You really think so?" She asked, tilting her head. "I did always want to be an actress."

"That's cool." I said.

"Yeah. What did you want to be? When you were alive, I mean?"

"Um," I thought carefully. "I don't know. I'm a bit of a wanderer type."

"Oh, I see."

"I guess, as I kid I always had this fantasy of being a singer. And I like to play the guitar."

"Is that why you carried one in here?" She asked, play-sarcastically.

I kind of forgot about that. My guitar was one thing I couldn't leave behind at home. And I had to argue with Lex to let me keep it, and, hence, as the guitar was sitting on the floor next to my duffle bag and small backpack, I won.

"Yeah, that would be why." I told her.

We both smiled at each other.

It's funny. How one day you think you're life just flipped upside down for the worse. Or your death, I'm sure you know what I mean. And then, all of a sudden, you see the sun shining outside and everything just feels like it's never been better.