Wow, how long has it been? Sorry for such a long wait between updates. I never did update before school started. School has taken over my life. I do enjoy the creative writing class I've been taking, so hopefully that will keep my creative juices flowing for the rest of the year and I'll churn out a bunch more chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own DLM… I've already told the lawyers that! Just don't tell the graveling in the closet.
R, E & R
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The morning passed quite slowly, as files on top of files had piled themselves onto George's desk. Scarlet sat quietly in the corner as George slowly worked through her ever growing collection of folders.
"I'm bored, Millie." Scarlet had been calling George by her pseudonym the entire day, both to annoy her and to keep her cover at Happy Time. But mostly to annoy her.
"And I have work to do, Anya. Keep yourself occupied with something."
"Like what? A paperclip?"
"Stop being such a smart-ass. I need to do this stuff before we leave." And then just as suddenly as Scarlet had appeared in George's un-life, George had an idea to make her disappear, at least for an hour or two. "Follow me." George stood up; leaving the Excel program she was working on open and strolled out of the cubicle towards the elevators. Scarlet hurried after her as the rotating smiley face took over George's computer.
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"Welcome to The Pit." George and Scarlet were standing in front of what seemed to be ground zero for the file folder massacre. Manila folders were strewn everywhere, some in boxes and some just on the floor. George's very first job at Happy Time was to conquer the mess, but never got around to entirely finishing it before her appointment with a space-age toilet seat.
"You're kidding me right?" George just laughed at Scarlet's bewildered look.
"Not at all. You said you were bored. Make yourself useful. Scan and sort 'em. The scanner's somewhere in here. Have fun. See ya at noon." George turned on her heel but just before she was able to even take a step she ran smack into a familiar face. One she hadn't seen since the day she died. One she didn't even know the name to, even though he had shown her the ropes down in 'The Pit'. "Holy shit!"
"Easy there... Millie, right?" George stepped a respectable distance back and nodded.
"Brian!" Scarlet's voice rose an octave higher than it's normal register. George turned and saw the look of recognition on Scarlet's face. The guy who George had just collided into looked up from George and at Scarlet. His expression went from one of easy going to completely ecstatic. "Oh my god!"
"Scarlet? How's it goin'? How'd you end up here?" Scarlet stepped out of the mess of file folders and hugged the so-called Brian.
"Not too damn bad." She said as they pulled apart. "How'd you get stuck down here?"
"Got here and this was the first job I took. Next to the great destiny of course. How about you?"
Scarlet's expression dimmed a little bit once the question was out of Brian's mouth. "Long story. Ray decided I needed a bit of time out of the Windy City. But I can't believe I'm seeing you again! Small world, eh? Is this where they send all the Chicago transfers or what?" The old acquaintances laughed. A small cough interrupted their joking, however, as they both turned to the left out George.
"What the hell?" Was all she had to say.
"Oh! I'm sorry, George. This is Brian. He's an old friend from back in Chicago. We were in the same group of Reapers." Brian turned to George with a puzzled look.
"George?" The blonde nodded and a sudden look of recognition lit up Brian's face. "Toilet-seat!" George rolled her eyes. "You're that girl that pissed of Delores aren't you? I remember you. I didn't know you came back though! Too bad, we coulda hung out."
"Oh yeah, too bad." George said. She was tired of being left out and could just feel the file folders piling up on her desk as this little reunion continued. "I gotta go finish my stuff, so you guys have a good time. I'll be back down in a few hours to get you, Scarlet." George turned on her heel before even waiting for an answer and headed back up to civilization. She could hear the two friends recounting old memories as she walked down the rows of shelves.
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A few hours had passed and it was almost noon by the time George made a visible dent in the mountain of folders that had accumulated on her desk. There had been no word from Scarlet since she left her and Brian down in The Pit. George rose from her seat and started down to the place where files went to die to check on her little shadow. Maybe they could get the Reap done earlier and actually have a lunch, she figured.
As she arrived at The Pit, Brian was no where to be seen. Neither, it seemed, was Scarlet. Until, of course, a pile of boxes toppled over to expose the teenage girl sitting Indian-style among the mass of folders.
"Damn it!" She yelled as the boxes belched out their contents all over the piles that had been forming and toppling those as well. George could see that the girl had made a better cavity in the mess than she herself had on her first day.
"C'mon. Reap time." Scarlet swore once more and then lifted herself off of the floor, snagged her bag off a hook and followed George out.
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The girls drove in silence as they approached the location on their post-its. Once they found 365 River Road Building A, there was ten minutes left before the ETD. Both girls got out of the car, Scarlet used the traditional way this time, and went in search of their Reaps.
The building was painted a dull grey with an outside balcony wrapping around the entire structure to provide an outdoor hallway. It didn't take much effort to find the high risk factors associated with their assignments. One look at the apartment building showed the girls their job wasn't going to be too hard today.
The Reapers took the steep stairs up to join the crowd that had gathered at one of the higher floors to watch a spectacle. Two half circles formed around two men on the balcony. George and Scarlet pushed their ways through the crowd to the front and they immediately knew they had found their Reaps without having to ask for names.
Two men were standing about seven feet away from each other. This would not seem so intriguing; however, what made them interesting was that they were throwing knives at each other. Juggling them to be precise. One false slip of the hand and they were goners.
Scarlet tapped one of the audience members on the shoulder. "Who are they?" She asked.
"The Elliot brothers. They live in 365 A. Twin brothers who are jugglers for the circus. They come out to practice every day when they have a vacation. This is one of the first days they've used knives, though."
"Cool. Do they whole names?"
"Apparently they don't have middle names, but the guy farther away is Alex and the one closer to us is James."
"Thanks." Scarlet turned to George, who had overheard the entire conversation. Scarlet nodded to her counterpart and took off down the stairs again. She couldn't get to her Reap through the crowd without being shish-cabobbed, so she had to go up the opposite set of stairs. There were only a few minutes left before the ETD, Scarlet figured, so she increased her speed. She jogged across the parking lot and up the stairs, finally coming up on the other side.
She pushed her way through the thickening crowd until she was right behind the juggler named Alex. Scarlet could see George looking at her watch, counting down the seconds. She made eye contact with her fellow Reaper and they both reached out to the brothers, their assigned kills. With a smooth, sweeping motion, Scarlet grazed her fingertips down Alex's back, taking his soul.
"Faster!" Alex's twin yelled. The brothers increased their speed and the swords swished back and forth faster and faster. "Switch!" They were starting to show off for the crowd. They grew closer and closer to each other until they were near enough to switch places in the confined space, but continue throwing the knives. George stared at her watch, starting to grow slightly bored. Alex and James nodded at each other and each took a step toward their new positions. However, one of them, Scarlet couldn't tell who, suddenly lost his footing. The knife he was holding shot out of his hand as he went over the balcony railing. A woman behind George screamed, but it wasn't entirely for the man now lying in the parking lot, but for his brother who was lying on the floor with a knife sticking out of his head.
The crowd erupted in a panic. Those in the back pushed forward to see what the problem was and those in the front pushed backward to get help. Both Reapers finally made their way out of the crowd and down the stairs, leaving the citizens of the River Road Buildings to call 911.
"Holy fuck." George muttered. The twin who had fallen had just skimmed the Mustang's hood, denting it slightly. Both girls got into the car, joining the souls of the two brothers that were sitting in the backseat.
"Hello, boys. Nice show." Scarlet turned and smiled. "Don't worry, you'll be better soon." Even though Scarlet was considerably younger than the two men, they seemed comforted by her. George started up the car and drove towards a small park.
The four passengers got out of the car and walked up a small hill, once George had parked the car. The sun was high in the sky, making it hot for George, who was dressed in her professional best.
The two brothers looked at each other and then at the Reapers. Gravelings weren't even involved in these deaths. It was just pure human pride to be the best and impress a group of people. Scarlet smiled at the men and looked at the sky. They followed suit as George looked at her watch. Now there definitely wasn't time for lunch.
The usual light show descended on the group. A small one-ring circus had appeared and the men suddenly looked right at home. Two trapeze bars hung low, just near enough to the ground that they could reach them.
One twin looked at the other. "Well we've always wanted to try our act on the trapeze, right bro?" His brother nodded and they each took a bar in their hands and began to be lifted into air. Slowly, the scene began to swirl and turn into baubles of blue lights as the men were lifted higher and higher. Soon they disappeared altogether.
George turned to the brunette, whose gaze was still watching where the men had vanished. She gently pushed Scarlet's shoulder, to get her attention. The girl looked at George, who nodded towards the waiting and slightly injured Mustang. They made their way down the hill and once situated in the car, drove off towards Happy Time.
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TBC.
Hope you liked it. Review! First person who makes the review count an even 80 gets the next chapter, whenever it is written, dedicated to them!
I remain,
Pendragon4.