A/N: HEY GUYS! Sorry for not posting another chapter right away. I was engrossed in watching youtube vids and playing the sims 4, and now it's already 8pm… Whoops!

But, if I was sick with something, hopefully I'm getting better!

And BTW, Mrs. Hopkins isn't Nina Hopkins, but her mother… yeah, at first I was thinking maybe she is Nina, but then, with the timeline, I decided it was better to have the seamstress her mother. It just works a bit better, age wise.

Lastly, this chapter is a tad short… now that I read it over. I wanted to jump into the next chapter… and maybe I'll post the chapter 9? Maybe not? Tonight? We'll see.

I think that's about it… so, I hope you guys ENJOY, and if you have any COMMENTS don't be afraid to review! I'll try my best to respond to your messages, and I'm curious to know if anyone is enjoying this story or not. But YEAH! That's about it! So have a good rest of your week, and have a good night!

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

You sighed as you stared at your side, now noticing that the wound has relatively healed. You still needed to keep a tight bandage around your side, just in case, but you could tell you've healed.

Which means it's about time you find out if anyone traveled to the past with you… or if you're the only one.

It didn't help that Undertaker didn't actually tell you if there are others like you, appearing out of nowhere, in the reaper realm. From the way he avoids talking about the place, you can only assume he left… forcefully. Maybe he is a rogue.

But, whatever. It's not like you care about that.

What you care about are the kids. Rosie. Your friends and associates. Did they make it out? Were they stuck there, destined to die brutal deaths, while you got the easy way out?

It's been about a month. The date was April, April 3rd, and…

Easter was fourteen days away. You couldn't believe you've been missing out on Lent, and now for Easter to be right around the corner…

You groaned to yourself.

You're going to get yelled at by the kiddos, for sure. You doubt any adult actually brought them to the human realm for any service, and if they've realized…

Well… oh well. You just have to decide when and where you'll start looking for them.

For now, you had a day to start.

You threw off your clothes, put on your bloomers, and sucked in your gut as you wrapped the corset around your body, snapping the fronts into place, before letting out a breath of air. Yeah… you still hate this, but at least Undertaker didn't tighten the lacing so much that you couldn't even breathe!

But, you decided as you put your skirt, or rather the 'bottom half of your dress' around your waist, you're going to have to buy another one of these 'everyday' outfits. Maybe two, just in case. They were perfect, for a mortuary, and you're going to need more clothes. Not a whole bunch… but a bit more to get by.

But the entire thing was a bit of a workout. Taking up a good ten minutes extra compared to just throwing on whatever shirt you could find, a pair of pants, and shoes. This, well… you needed to think things over, snap and button things into place… it's a mess. But, at the end of it all, you didn't look half bad.

You wore a long black skirt, with a gray, warmer fabric underneath, that looked nice, and felt nice as well. It was strangely comfortable, and you could easily help Undertaker around the mortuary in this attire… though digging in plots… you're going to need pants, still. You'll end up with dirt and mud up your skirt and past your knees, dirtying everything in the process, but when it comes to cleaning and working, you even had a little apron you could wrap around your waist, and a full body apron for the basement.

But your upper 'shirt' thing complimented your skirt… even if it's a bit… odd to wear, still. The corset is what's uncomfortable, but it does help shape your figure to fit into the tight fitting parts of the fabric. It makes your waistline look a couple of inches smaller, but smooth. Mainly smooth. A strangely perfect hourglass figure…

You're not sure how you feel about that, but hey. It works.

It just accentuates your figure a bit more, you suppose.

Your upper clothing consisted of a white collared undershirt, which you could buy more of if you wanted, and an outer long sleeved black blouse/vestment, which had interesting blue embroidery stitched around to make it look a bit more fancy. It must have taken time, so… you wonder how Mrs. Hopkins got this done in only a few days.

But it was kept together by heavy duty buttons on the front, and now that you think about it, buying a bunch of tops to compliment the skirt would probably be easier. That's for sure.

But you were a bit disappointed that you weren't given some gray sash to wear, like the Undertaker, but an apron that covers part of your skirt, around your waist, will have to do. You combed your hair, deciding to be a bit more stylish, today, by braiding your long locks of dangling hair, and eventually braiding all of your hair until you twisted it around, pinning your hair up with a thick hair tie, black clips to match your hair, and lastly a long black ribbon, which your tied around your bun, stylishly, and you let the ends dangle behind your back, but not too far. You didn't want your head getting caught in anything.

Lastly, you put on some long black delicate looking gloves. You tend to take them off once you head into the back of the building, but hiding a woman's hands is fashionable… apparently. Something to do with 'delicate skin'… but whatever. They work, you suppose.

They kind of remind you of the gloves a reaper wears, but they are a bit more reliable. You're more afraid of accidently ripping these, then those reaper gloves.

So, after putting some things into your skirt pockets, which you absolutely love since you never realized even skirts can have pockets, you made your way out of your bedroom, downstairs, where you figured Undertaker would be. "Hello," you spoke as you stepped into the parlor room, watching as he flipped the sign to say 'open' from the outside, before he turned to you and grinned widely.

"Good morning! You are certainly in a good mood," he grinned, and you chuckled as you leaned against his paper filled desk.

You should really organize that… again.

"Coffee tends to wake me up," you exclaimed, and as he grinned in response while you continued, "so… there's something I wanted to tell you."

"Yes?" he questioned you while you propped yourself up onto a nearby casket, letting your stylish, slightly heeled, Victorian black street boots hung off of the side, swinging as you continued.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for everything," you began, noticing he seemed to pause, but you sighed and smiled towards him, "and I don't want to seem ungrateful, but… I still want to make sure I'm the only one here, you know? If I was thrown back into the past, maybe someone else was. Plus, there's still the problem about the apocalyptic future. If I could, maybe I could stop it, or at the very least prevent a worse outcome," you told him, but then you paused, noticing he didn't seem to be replying or commenting to your words, and you sighed again. "I-I'm sorry if you're mad, but this is something I need to do."

"I see… but, are you leaving?" he asked, and you gave him a slight unsure look, before you shrugged your shoulders.

"Maybe. Unless you want me to."

"Of course I don't want you to leave, but –"

"Firstly, if the kids are around I need to make sure they're being taken care of," you stated, "and secondly, if there's something I can do, then maybe I should do it. Other then that, I'm a living, breathing human. Living amongst humans is something I should be doing. Not… living my existence with a bunch of grim reapers. No offence, but I didn't commit suicide and receive an eternal punishment. So, ah," you paused, unsure if you should say it, but you decided, hey, why not. What can you lose, at this point? "If you don't mind… I was hoping to stay as your assistant. Unless you'd rather I leave for good."

"I've enjoyed your company, my dear," he smirked, suddenly sitting down next to you and sighing to himself, "and you've brightened my life up, immensely."

"So you reapers say," you responded back with a smirk, and he gave you a curious look in return, but you just shrugged your shoulders at him. "When I say 'living and dead' I mean it. You reapers are dead, and tend to have one trek minds. Using knowledge and reason over any sort of emotions. Well, humans are alive, and there's a lot more swimming around in our minds then a reaper. I've just figured… You're like… ghosts that just kind of… linger, but still have to work, so you're grumpy all the time. Plus, it's hard to get any interesting emotions out of you, unless I try very hard to cause a reaction," you scoffed, leaning back on your hands as you pouted to yourself.

"… That's another reason why I enjoy your company," he continued, and you cast him a curious look as he continued with a content smile. "Humans are very~ interesting. Each one is unique, in their own little ways. Reapers tend to be boring, only caring about their rules and not taking a joke," he scoffed, but you nudged him in the arm, getting his attention.

"You miss my jokes too. Okay, maybe it's mostly sarcasm, but sometimes I'm joking around," you huffed, but then you felt a poke against your head, and you pouted at him as he grinned deviously at you.

"I understand~. It doesn't mean it's funny."

"Ah. You must like slapstick humor," you decided to say, but when he didn't respond you continued, "you know? Like, someone running into traffic to catch a carriage, only to be run over by that exact carriage. Or someone tripping and falling. Stuff like that. Physical comedy," you elaborated, pausing for a moment before giving him a smirk. "And of course, what you find funny is probably morbid, in nature."

"True," he snickered, pausing for a moment before sighing to himself. "I'm that readable, huh?"

"Perhaps, but then again I spent a lot of years trying to make a strict reaper laugh. It's very hard," you scoffed, causing him to eye you curiously, but you continued with a huff. "The easiest ways to make you beings laugh is anything ghastly and morbid. What makes you laugh is the hard part," you stated, but he simply smirked in reply.

"Interesting~. Is that what you do? Try to make us laugh?" he snickered, and you shrugged your shoulders in reply.

"You reapers spend all your time being serious and stuck up. I get it. Reaping the souls of the dying is exhausting, but you have all this extra life and you're not having any fun. So… I try to get your guys to laugh. I figured it's better then being moppy all the time."

"I love~ the way you think," he smirked, and as you gave him a curious look he continued with a grin. "I've spent ages attempting to bring some sort of humor to my fellow reapers. Doesn't mean it works."

"Yeah… though then again, when you give up on life then living much longer is a cruel joke," you decided to say, and he nodded his head in agreement.

"Very true –" he began, but you both paused and looked towards the door as the bell rung, indicating someone was walking into the shop. You watched as the Undertaker stood to his feet, giving the group of about three a wide, yet creepy smile, but you watched from your perch, deep in thought as he took care of the new clients.

Your mind just keeps floating back to the others. If you don't figure out your questions, how are you going to continue to live like this? Now that you're healed, at least mobile and not feeling too much pain, maybe it's time to find them…

But you bet they'd laugh when they see you in this outfit. Not that you dislike it, but you obviously look like a Victorian, working class woman. Not some gal that wears the same pair of pants every day and changes her top whenever she thinks it's starting to smell. Or actually attempts to make an effort, and puts on some makeup or does her hair.

Yeah, that's not what you look like at all…

Or some grim reaper field officer, wearing a feminine business suit, or even just a reaper in general. This outfit isn't that. A dress doesn't work…

But hey. This is the most fun you've had in ages. It's been a while since you got to work with the dead and the dying; a while since you got to enjoy the company of other humans. You didn't realize how much you had embraced your deathling half… Not that it's a problem, but you had become cold. Calculating. Even cruel, at times. You were cut through just because you let it happen. Not because you couldn't prevent it. You let your body deteriorate… even though you shouldn't have been self-sacrificing yourself, like that. It isn't healthy.

Yet, the end of days and the chaos that followed. The thought of losing everything… losing everything. You're trying to become that girl you used to be, but… you're not even sure if Clara is still there. If you still even care, about yourself…

But you need to find the others. That's your goal. That's your next step. At the very least, you can get some answers.

As you glanced at the Undertaker's backside, a calm and calculating look on your face, you figured he wouldn't let you go, willingly. He's probably lonely, being the only reaper living amongst humans like this, having no one who truly understands him. That's why he's being a tad clingy. You get that. You've seen it, before. Still… you need to do this, for yourself. No matter how hard the truth will hurt, this is mandatory.

Tonight.

Tonight, you'll make your way into the reaper realm… and hopefully, you'll find some answers. Not more questions that need answering.