Wow… two months yesterday. Sorry for the long wait! It's a longer chapter than normal though! Over 2,000 words! That's normally two chapters for me! Ha! Lol. And this chapter gets dedicated to Katydidit for being reviewer number 80! Congrats! Ok, enough of me talking, let's get on with the story, shall we?
Disclaimer: I don't own DLM or else I would have kept it on the air, damnit.
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The girls returned back from their Reap with only a few minutes of their lunch hour to spare. They had just enough time to grab something from the local drive through window.
George strolled through the front doors with the fast food in hand, Scarlet following close behind. "Hey, George, can I get your Post-It?" George slowed down slightly as she dug the piece of paper from her pocket and handed it over. "Thanks." George had forgotten about Scarlet's slightly weird habit. The two began walking towards George's cubicle, passing Crystal with a wave, as George stopped suddenly and Scarlet ran into her with a curse.
"Where do you think you're going?" George asked slyly, turning to face the younger girl.
"Uhh, to your desk to eat lunch." Scarlet raised an eyebrow and tried to pass her elder.
"I don't think so. Why don't you go back to The Pit and eat?" Scarlet growled. "The sooner we get this stuff done, the sooner we can leave." The brunette sighed and spun on her heel, heading towards the elevators. George turned around and with a sly grin, headed towards her desk.
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The rest of the day crawled by as George watched the clock on her computer slowly creep to 5:00. As soon as the digital numbers turned to that sweet, sweet time, George had already gotten her coat on and had her bag strapped across her back. She flew out of her seat, sending it spinning in place as she hurried down the aisle, eager to avoid any extra work Delores was going to give her. The cat-lover herself was nowhere to be seen at the moment, and that was something George was happy about. She passed Crystal with another small wave, which was returned as she rushed to the elevators. George could hear Delores' voice somewhere in the office, and it was growing clearer. She jabbed the button with increased force, as if pushing it more than once would make the elevator go faster. The doors finally opened and George stepped in as soon as the gap between the two doors was big enough for her to squeeze through. She prodded the button directing the elevator to drop down to the basement, and the doors closed.
"Millie! Wait, Millie!" George saw Delores just as the doors shut. She grinned with triumph. The work would have to wait until George came back into the office.
The elevator dinged as it arrived at the destination of the location of The Pit. George stepped off and headed towards filing hell. She passed the numerous aisles filled with boxes of file folders and finally reached The Pit.
There was no sign of Scarlet in the mass of folders. Boxes were piled on top of each other, towers in a sea of file folders. The layer of folders was getting thinner and thinner, almost to the point that you could see the concrete floor beneath it. Scarlet had made a good dent in the mess during her day at Happy Time. 'Damn, I should get a bonus for putting her to work.' George thought. The blonde whistled loudly and Scarlet's head popped out from behind one of the many towers.
"Is it five already?" George nodded. "Finally." Scarlet stood and as she did the pile of boxes she was sitting behind toppled to the floor. A string of curses spilled from the girl's mouth as the organized boxes spewed out the ordered files. She bent and plucked her bag from the mess of folders as George turned and walked back down the hall, smiling. The brunette hung her head, sighed as she saw the mess, and followed George, stepping over the fallen boxes.
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Scarlet's stomach growled loudly as the Mustang headed towards the meeting place for the Reapers. "When are you going to get the Mustang fixed?" She questioned the driver.
George shrugged. "Whenever I get a paycheck, first of all. It might be a problem considering the car isn't even mine." Scarlet shot George a questioning look. George sighed and retold the story of how the car had belonged to a Reap who had ended up slicing his throat on a fruit slicer. Scarlet laughed as they pulled into the familiar parking lot.
The bell rang the ever memorable welcoming as the girls headed towards the regular booth. Everyone was there, surprisingly. They were all eating dinner together. Roxy and Rube sat on one side of the booth, Mason and Daisy on the other. George pushed Mason over as she sat next to him and Scarlet grabbed a chair from the neighboring table. Rube finished up his food and offered the girls the few fries he had left. George shook her head but Scarlet grabbed a couple and ate them silently.
"So how was work today?" Mason asked, smiling.
"Very funny, smart ass." He chuckled.
"Alright, you two, give it a rest." Rube pulled out his ledger and placed it on the table, replacing the empty plate Kiffany had grabbed from him. "Reaps tonight." The five other Reapers gave him a look ranging from confusing to anger as he opened the book.
"Bloody hell! I already got two today, Rube!" Mason half-shouted over his burger.
"Not for you, my British friend." Rube looked at the women at the table. "Tonight is Ladies' Night out." Mason sat back in his seat and grinned. Rube gave the women Post-its. Scarlet and Daisy each received two. Scarlet looked down at hers.
S.F. Jackson
ETD: 8:21
1426 Club Street
And
T.D. Hearter
ETD: 8:22
1426 Club Street
Scarlet leaned over to see George's post as well as the other two women's. They were all at the same place, 1426 Club Street and were exactly if not in minutes of her Reaps. She raised an eyebrow at Rube. "Massacre?" Rube shrugged.
"You never know."
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Daisy, George and Scarlet returned to the house to get ready for a night out on the town. Roxy was to meet them at the house so they could all ride together. The two older women went to their rooms to change as Scarlet grabbed her duffle bag and headed towards the bathroom.
The three emerged sometime later from their separate rooms. Daisy was dressed in a very slinky and classic black dress that stopped mid-thigh. Her heels clicked excitedly on the wood floors. George was clad in her outfit that she wore the night of her VIPR. The short skirt and shirt proved the point that they had only been worn once before. Scarlet wore a knee length skirt and a deep purple shirt. Every time she turned her head, the bangle earrings she wore clinked against each other. The three looked at each other and nodded, smiling.
All four women piled into the Mustang and George pulled away from the curb driving towards the club.
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The line outside the dilapidated building was moving along smoothly as the ladies approached the door. They stood in line, stepping towards the entrance. After some time they were greeted by a man sitting just outside the door on a stool. He nodded to the woman, barely glancing in the way of Scarlet.
"I guess Anya looks older than you are, Scarlet." George muttered as they entered. Scarlet grinned as Roxy and Daisy shot the two girls questioning glances. The Reapers entered the dark room and waited for their eyes to adjust before sitting at a small table in the middle of the room. There were numerous other tables surrounding theirs, each with a single candle in the middle of them. A bar sat in the back of the room and a small stage with a lone microphone was at the front. The tables in front of the stage were crowded slightly. A few men sat at different tables as a barmaid rushed from one customer to the next.
The women had about a half hour before their Reaps were going to die, so as Scarlet went in search of her Reaps, those who could legally drink, Daisy and Roxy, and those who couldn't, George, started for the bar.
A woman who couldn't have been much older than her late twenties hopped up onto the stage and tapped the microphone, sending feedback into the audience. "Sorry about that, everyone. Anyway, tonight is comedy night, so give a big welcome to tonight's act, Frank Rippler!" The small crowd applauded politely as a man in his early thirties replaced the woman at the microphone. He waved at the crowd and began his act. Roxy looked down at her post-it and chuckled.
"This couldn't be any easier." She showed her two companions as they gave her looks of confusion.
F. G. Rippler
ETD: 9:24
1426 Club Street
Daisy smirked at Roxy. "Lucky girl." Roxy pushed herself off of the bar and headed towards the front of the room, sitting in the front row of tables. A man dressed in a crisp black suit sidled up next to Daisy, looking her up and down. "Hello, handsome." She said, looking through her eyelashes at him. He smirked.
"Hello there, beautiful. What's your name?" He inched closer.
"Well I'm Daisy. Daisy Adair. And what is your name?"
"Bill Carow. Pleased to meet you." He held out his hand and she took it. Her post-its were on the bar, soaking in the spilt alcohol. George leaned over and looked at both of them.
W. C. Carow
ETD: 9:22
1426 Club Street
George shook her head at Daisy as the woman reached up and hovered her hand next to his face. "Bill. That would be short for William of course." He nodded. "What about your middle name? I have a thing for middle names." She gave him a wicked smile.
"Carmine, sweet pea." Her fingers touched his face as she took his soul.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, William Carmine Carow." She turned to the bar, plucking the Post-its off of the bar. "I'll see you later." She grabbed her drink and returned to the table. George smirked at the downfallen man and followed her.
The two women watched as Scarlet swiped the soul of a man directly in front of the comedian, reading a book. She looked down and apologized as she headed back towards the table.
"Did you even talk to him?" George shot at the girl.
"I have a hunch." Scarlet smiled as she sat. George shrugged. They watched as Roxy strolled past the stage, running her fingers down the comedian's shoe. She weaved her way through the tables and returned to the group.
"Couldn't have been easier. Now I think I can have a drink." Scarlet smirked. George's attention was drawn from the man on stage to the table next to them. A small man was writing on a pad furiously. She leaned further over so she could read the notes and smiled as she saw what he was writing. Every joke the comedian on the stage told that got good laughs, the man wrote down. She leaned so far over, to read the notes further down the paper that with a gasp the chair toppled. Scarlet burst into laughter as the man looked at the blonde woman at his feet.
"Hi. I'm Millie." George stuck out her hand.
"Phillip Traley." He took her hand as she took his soul.
"Nice to meet you." She got up and righted her chair, returning to the table. Scarlet stifled the giggles that were still erupting. A shout from the crowd immediately stopped her laughter, however.
"C'mon you hack! Tell some better jokes!" The comedian stopped short as he peered into the dark audience, trying to pick out the heckler. A tall man sat in the middle of the room, leaning back in his chair. "My dog is funnier than you! And he's dead!" The comedian slowly turned red as the critic continued.
"That's my cue." Daisy rose and sauntered over to the man. She brushed against him slightly, taking his soul. He took a break from his jeers to look at her ass and then returned to criticize the man on stage. She returned to the table and took a drink.
Suddenly a yell from the front of the room attracted the attention of all of the Reapers. The comedian had pulled a gun from the pocket of his coat. "That's it! I'm sick of you!" He immediately shot the heckler in the head. Screams of terror erupted as the patrons of the club jumped from their seats towards safety, as the Reapers quietly sat at their table. The woman who had introduced the man only twenty minutes ago rushed forwards. Scarlet put her hand out and grazed the woman's arm, taking her soul with a whoosh.
The man pulled off six more shots before he turned the gun on himself. The woman lay dead on the floor, feet from the stage. The man who had been reading in the front row now bled on the pages of his book. The sleazy gentleman had taken a bullet in his handsome face, ripping it to shreds. The stolen jokes were flecked with blood as the thief of those jokes sat in his chair, head whipped back with the velocity of the bullet that had hit him. The room had emptied of all living patrons in seconds, the candles left flickering with the air conditioned draft. Sirens could be heard in the distance. The silence was deafening in the room as Daisy and Roxy took sips of their drinks.
"Shit!" Scarlet broke the silence as she examined her abdomen. Blood blossomed on her shirt. Daisy looked at the girl with concern. "Damnit! I liked this shirt, too." One of the bullets from the man's gun had found its way through Scarlet's abdomen, and was lost in the wood paneling of the wall behind her.
"C'mon. We should get you home before someone gets suspicious of why you didn't die from that shot." Roxy stated, putting her glass down. The four ladies rose from their seats, grabbing their coats and headed towards the Mustang. The six souls of those who had also taken bullets followed them out. The five victims glared at the comedian, as if they all wanted to kill him. The comedian and the sleazy man began to bicker as they left the club.
"Does it hurt?" George questioned Scarlet as they walked down the dark street.
"Just stings a little bit."
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TBA
I hope you liked it. OK, first one to get me to 85 reviews gets the next chapter dedicated to them! Ha! The competitiveness bounds! Ok, I'm off.
I remain,
-Pendragon-