The Grey Truth: Chapter Four
William sat behind his desk in front of Josephine, his eyes fixed on her. For a time, neither one said anything, causing Josephine to shift uncomfortably in her chair. After several tense, silent moments, the man finally spoke, in his cold, emotionless tone.
"Now, Ms. Grey, I have your student file here, I was wondering if I could confirm a few things," he stated, and Josephine nodded a bit, not seeming the least bit nervous. "Your birth date is 15 October, correct?"
"Yes sir, making me 16 years of age, the minimum age the academy accepts," Josephine replied.
William nodded a bit, and continued his questions. "What about your parents, I don't seem to have met them during the meetings concerning your entry to the academy,"
"My parents are often out on business and are rarely ever home. That may be why you haven't met them," Josephine replied, keeping her voice cold and serious.
"That brings me to my next question. Why is it that you would like to be a Shinigami in the first place? I would think a girl would go into something more low-key," William questioned.
"I had thought the same thing before making the decision, though something more low-key would involve leaving the city," Josephine answered.
"Now, would you mind telling me if you enjoy your jobs?"
"Which one?"
"Both if you wouldn't mind."
"Why do you want to know about them in the first place?"
William smirked a bit to himself; Josephine was trying to avoid the question. "I am simply wondering if you enjoy what you do."
"I do enjoy working at Hospital Dispatch, as well as the diner. Both have their own, appeal," Josephine stated, though her lying was starting to show itself, she was pausing between certain words, and William took notice, though said nothing of it.
"How much sleep do you get per night, Ms. Grey?"
Josephine answered abruptly, "Eight hours approximately."
"Eight? I would have thought you got less than that from the dark marks under your eyes."
"As I have told you in the past, I work long hours, that may be what causes them."
'She seems to be losing it, starting to mix up the times of when she has or has not told me something…' William thought. "You never told me the hours you work," he stated.
Josephine took off a glove and casually wiped a hand over her forehead, she was beginning to sweat. The girl tried not to show alarm at this and simply put her glove back on.
William took notice of the slight gloss to the girl's face. "You seem to be perspiring a bit, would you like a glass of water, Ms. Grey?"
"No, thank you, but I'm fine."
"Apparently not fine enough. I've seen them, the scars on your arms."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Mr. Spears. I am perfectly fine."
"Are you sure you're alright, would you like me to open the window a crack?" William asked, almost ignoring the recruit's statement and getting up to open the window.
"I said I was fine," Josephine said quickly.
Will nodded and sat back down in his seat. "Are you aware of when your parents will be returning from out of town?"
"My parents have both passed away, I mentioned that earlier."
"You told me that they were often out of town on business, I would have thought you'd remember that."
"Well, um, oh, yes, I did tell you that, didn't I? No, I don't know when they will return," Josephine replied, it was obvious she was becoming uncomfortable. She was starting to allow her eyes to stray around the room, she was also starting to shift nervously in her seat.
"Are you sure that you are alright?"
At this, Josephine got up from her seat. "I assure you, Mr. Spears, I am fine," she said, and started towards the door.
Quickly, Will got up from his seat behind the desk and firmly grasped Josephine's shoulder, stopping the girl and turning her to face him. His kept a strong hold on the recruit as she tried to get away from the superior Shinigami. His eyes look coldly upon the younger reaper.
"Ms. Grey, I would like to inform you that it is very important for you to tell us the truth. Mr. Sutcliff and I simply intend to help you, not to harm you," he said, and shortly after, the girl relaxed her shoulders a bit, and turned her head away.
"How do I know I can trust you? Everyone else in my life has gone back on their word, how can I be sure that the two of you won't do the same thing?" she replied, pulling away from William as he slowly took his hand away.
William had no idea what to say to this. He hadn't put any thought into this sort of thing happening. The man hadn't expected that Josephine, seemingly such a strong-set, determined girl, wasn't all what she seemed to be on the outside, at least, that's what he was thinking at this point. He had to find out what had happened, what Josephine had been like before, and what had happened to change her. After a moment, he began to speak again.
"You can trust us, I assure you. Mr. Sutcliff would tell you the same thing I already have. He and I can and will certainly help you, if you will let us, that is. We cannot do anything for you if you don't tell us of anything that has happened," the dark-clothed shinigami told the recruit, who simply nodded a bit.
Josephine was taken aback by William's sudden kindness, though she refused to let herself show it. The only thing she couldn't hide was the bruise from the previous evening that was now starting to show entirely across her right cheek. She could feel hot tears pricking in the corners of her eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.
Several moments passed, and neither of the two said anything, and they jumped as there was a knock at the office door. William stepped away to answer it, and saw Grell standing outside the office.
"I think you had better wrap up with her, Will, it's almost nine o'clock, everyone's gone home at this point. It's you, me, and the girl," Grell said, and finally looked over his partner's shoulder, seeing the recruit in the office, who was now looking out the window at the dark streets below.
"Sutcliff, we will be finished when we are finished. Which, I do believe is now at this point, we really should be heading home," Will said, and Grell nodded in agreement. "I am going to see that the lights are all turned off, why don't you talk with her a bit?" he added, in a slightly hushed voice, and left the room.
The red shinigami walked into the room and stood to the side, just behind the girl at the window. "The night is beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, almost as if he was simply talking to himself, though Josephine could tell that the question was directed to her.
"It is, if you haven't got to worry about heading all the way across the city in the dark, or whether or not your worst nightmare could be waiting on any corner for you to walk by," she said, not realizing that she concerned the elder shinigami with her statement.
"What do you mean by that?" Grell questioned, genuine curiosity showed in his voice as he spoke.
"I live on the other end of the city, Mr. Sutcliff. And, well, I've been afraid for years that my past would catch up to me," Josephine told him, not bothering to turn and face the man behind her.
"You could go home with one of us for the night, or Will or I could walk you home, see to it that you're safe," Grell suggested, and the girl looked over her shoulder at him.
"As I said to Mr. Spears, how do I know I can trust you?"
"Well, we are your instructors. It's our job not just to get you trained for the job of being a reaper, but to make sure that you're safe along the way. The two of us are both concerned, especially after seeing those scars of yours. We simply want to help you."
It was now that what William has said started to click. The two did simply want to help her, they just wanted to keep her safe. "This is a first for me," the girl said, her voice was quiet, and a fairly obvious, tired tone came through as she spoke.
"What is a first?"
"Someone actually caring about what happens to me."
Grell softly sighed to himself, and pat the girl's back gently, then put his hands into his pockets. They stood in silence until Will turned up at the door again. "Everything is in order, it seems that we can head off for the night."
As the dark reaper walked out, Grell fell into step next to him, while Josephine followed them. As they walked down the steps, Grell began to speak with William.
"She's on the other side of town, Will. I've been there, it's rough, and she's just a kid, and a beautiful young woman, an easy target for any of those quacks out there," Grell said to Will, who nodded a bit.
"I'll take her with me, I live closest to this building, it'll be safer that way," William replied.
Grell nodded in strong agreement. It would be safest for the young recruit to go with his partner, who just happened to live three blocks down from the dispatch office, while Grell lived five blocks away, almost at the boarder of the good and bad parts of town.
As the three reached the door to the building, Grell parted ways with the two dark-clad reapers and began his trek home. Josephine was obviously trying to figure what she would do, this was when William spoke.
"Mr. Sutcliff and I decided that it would be safest if you came home with me for tonight," he said.
The recruit said nothing, she simply nodded and followed William as he began walking down the street. For a few minutes, they walked in silence, before Will spoke up.
"Well, Ms. Grey, I may be sounding a bit like a parent, but I expect you in bed when we get to my home, I'm sure that you've had a very long day, and I know that you weren't telling me the truth of how much you actually sleep each night."
"Sir, though it may be your expectation, but you cannot hold firm to it. The truth is, Mr. Spears, that I tend not to get much sleep, if any each night."
"And why is that?"
"Simply put, a fear of the past."
William nodded simply, and they walked to his home in silence. He unlocked the front door and walked in, followed by the young woman. He led her down the hall and to a spare bedroom. The room was furnished simply, with black furniture, a nightstand, desk, lamp, and bed with a black headboard and black comforter, along with white pillows.
"They may not fit, though there are some pajamas in the closet, as well as some as my old uniforms from my time in the academy, the uniform hasn't changed all that much, so it should be fine, and, admittedly, I was around your size when I attended," William explained, and Josephine simply nodded curtly and thanked him. "If you need anything at all, I will be down the hall in the living room," he told the girl, and he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Josephine sighed to herself, and went over to the closet, finding a set of black pajamas. She put them on, and spoke softly to herself as she looked out the window at the dark sky that blanketed the city.
"Maybe they are different… Mr. Spears and Sutcliff, they really do seem to care, just like they said, but, how would I know? I've never experienced anything along the lines of anyone caring… I suppose, in time, I'll see…" she told herself, and she went off to bed. Though, the peaceful night was about to end. Several quiet hours passed, then, the silence was broken by a young woman's yell, and William rushed to the guest bedroom, where Josephine was sitting, bold upright in bed, her head hung low, and breathing heavily. Something had happened, but what?
((A/N: Hey! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and yes, I know, slight cliff hanger there at the end. Also, a shout-out/thanks to Sabri Quet for helping me with this chapter! I wouldn't have gotten it up at this point without the help!))