Hi again! Sorry for leaving you all hanging for so long. I've been having an extended period of writer's block, but I've finally managed to cook up a new chapter for you guys. Thanks for you patience and enjoy! :)

Chapter 9

The Return

"I wish that I could be brave.

I must become a lion hearted girl.

Ready for a fight,

before I make the final sacrifice."

-Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) by Florence + The Machine

I opened my eyes, vibrations of rattling metal reverberating in my skull. The windows were filled with the blackness of night, and only my own reflection stared back at me, its image tinted a ghastly blue from the fluorescent lights. Where we were going, it was impossible to tell, but I didn't care. That seemed to be the case more often than not these days anyways. Noticing my earphones had fallen out, I jammed them back in. A generic rock song blasted into my ears, but anything was preferable to the sound of the whispering around me. The bus jolted as it switched gears, and slowed down. My stop, I thought, and instinctively stood up.

Murmuring my thanks to the faceless driver, I stepped out into the night. Dead leaves scattered across the pavement, an empty street stretching out infinitely before me. I pulled my hood down, and shoving my hands into the pouch of my hoodie, I began to walk. Where I was going, I did not know, but I knew no matter how long it took I had to get there.

There was no moon or stars tonight, and only the orange glow of the streetlights remained to light my way through the suffocating darkness. Pine trees waved in the distance, tossed around by the storm swirling around me. No matter how fast I moved though, it seemed as though I was in the eye of the storm, watching but never touched by the winds of destruction. So mesmerized I had been by this, that I had not seen the light of headlights rushing towards me, or heard the squealing of breaks.

Everything froze in that moment. The pine trees stopped waving, the leaves stopped scattering, even sound had ceased to be. I turned my head, and my heart stopped. I was standing face to face with a three-ton pickup truck, which had it not been frozen in time, would have slammed directly into me.

'What is your greatest wish?' A familiar voice echoed through the night, though I could not remember where I had heard it.

"I don't understand, who… what are you?" I asked, bewildered.

'Answer me, human."

"To see that world with my own eyes." My own voice whispered from behind, and I whirled around. There, stood another me, head bowed, eyes hidden by her hair. She shuffled slowly towards me; her laces left carelessly untied dragged on the ground.

'Is that your final answer?'

"No, stop!" I screamed, finally realizing what I was witnessing, but the other me showed no response.

"Yes." The other me replied, and her head snapped upwards, revealing a pair of glowing green eyes.

I snapped bolt upright as I awoke, thoughts in disarray as my mind struggled to separate dream from memory. That scene, it felt so familiar, but twisted and mangled into something that belonged more to the realm of nightmares than reality. It was as though it was a word on the tip of my tongue, there just barely enough for me to remember, but far away enough to escape me, an unknown destination on the horizon. I searched my memory for an answer, but in the end the truth still evaded me. I chose not to dwell on it any further, and got up to splash my face with water.

Nightmares like this one had been plaguing my dreams since arriving at the manor, though I was not about to let them bother me, especially not today. Today was day number three, the day when all our plans would come together, and I would enter the realm of the grim reapers for the first time since becoming one of them.

After some struggle putting on the dress set out for me, I made my way towards the training room Ciel had set aside for me. It was an odd feeling to be wearing shoes indoors, but I had to admit I somewhat enjoyed the sound of them tapping on the marble floors.

Sebastian was waiting at the door. He bowed slightly, smiling as a cat would. My foot hadn't even strayed a toe into that room before I felt his hand on my shoulder holding me back. Knowing by now that there was no way out of this, I stood reluctantly as he fixed the bun I had sloppily put my hair into. I muttered a disgruntled thanks to him, and finally stepped into the room.

An exaggerated yawn filled my ears. "My, my, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty, awake at last." Grell called out in his usual singsong voice. His chainsaw materialized in his hands, motor already rumbling. "Are you ready to push yourself to the limit?" He asked, glasses flashing dangerously.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I took a deep breath, hands and feet in ready position, eyes carefully trained on him in anticipation of any movement. Grell favoured quick and heavy first attacks. I learned this the hard way.

With barely a twitch as a warning, he leapt into action. As I predicted, he went for a direct hit. I shifted myself to the side, pushing aside his death scythe as he sailed past. I cursed in my head, realizing I had not given the push enough power. He used the opportunity to relentlessly double back for another attack, leaving me only just enough time to throw up a wall in response.

"Oh. Done already?" His death scythe ground against my barrier, causing it to emit a hair raising metallic screeching noise. I smirked, though the effort of keeping the barrier raised was becoming taxing.

"Not even close." I said, suddenly ducking out of the way as my barrier gave out. Grell's death scythe slammed into the marble floor. I leapt at my red haired opponent, projecting a barrier in front of me with the intent of slamming directly into him. For one triumphant moment I thought I'd finally had him, but then he flashed his toothy, shark like smile, and I realized that it was in fact already over. He dodged in a flurry of red, and before I had the chance to recover from the weight of my attack he was already coming at me. There was a deafening crash as his death scythe clashed with force of an uncontrolled barrier.

My barrier fizzled out, and I breathed a sigh of relief. That was the cue for our match to end. I closed my eyes for a moment, and crossed my legs where I sat. It wasn't long enough, and I knew it wasn't long enough, but for the time being. I was simply glad it was over. Grell was not exactly a forgiving instructor, and our sparring matches were more like a fight for my life. He didn't hold back. Ever. And it was terrifying. I hoped to goodness that whatever beings I would have to face, they would not be as vicious fighters as him.

"How did she do this time?" I heard Ciel's voice coming from the doorway.

"Half a minute longer." Grell said idly as he checked his nails.

"Not ideal but it'll have to do." Ciel said. "I've received word from the reaper William via carrier pigeon. There's been a change in plans. We leave in a couple hours."

"What?" I leapt to my feet. "Why?"

"The girl you were supposed to disguise as, Helen Farnsworth, had her memories eaten this morning." Ciel looked me dead in the eye. "That reaper, William believes it too specific to be a coincidence." The freezing sensation of that cold hand on my face returned. My chest felt tight all of a sudden, and I clutched the edge of my collar. They knew I what I was planning. How, I didn't know, but this feeling told me without a doubt that they did. "Your new disguise will die in a couple hours. William suggested you review this picture and the information inside carefully." He said, handing me an envelope. "And you," he said turning to Grell now, "you'll be the one collecting her soul. I suggest you get moving." Grell let out an exaggerated yawn, and pursed his lips into a pout.

"I didn't even get to spend any time with Sebas-chan. How boooring." He lamented, dragging his scythe along the floor as he marched out of the room. When he was gone Ciel turned to me again.

"Meet us on the garden terrace in a couple hours. I'm sure you know what needs to be done." With that the Earl turned his back, and followed closely by Sebastian, he left the room.

I stood on the stone terrace, my shadow barely poking out from my feet under the midday sun. The trees of the distant forest waved lazily in the breeze as though they were waves in a pond of green. A grey cloud sailed in front of the sun, casting a shadow over the garden beyond the terrace, further deepening the ominous feeling that'd been lingering in my chest since this morning.

I pat down my now dark chestnut coloured hair, still in awe of how different I was able to make myself look. The plan was for me take the identity of seventeen-year-old Eva Blackmoore, who had died in an accident while tending her father's shop. According to plan, Grell would escort me into the realm under the guise that this girl had already become a reaper before he'd arrived to collect her soul. He would then hand me off to a reaper from General Affairs, and from there it would be all up to me.

Sebastian clicked open his pocket watch. "We are approaching the scheduled time." He announced.

"Are you ready?" Ciel asked, looking me directly in the eye.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I said, taking a deep breath. Grell held out the slip of paper I assumed was his pass. It disappeared as though it'd turned to dust in his hands, and from it grew a vortex of purest black, looming in front of me like a vast, shadowy mouth. Noticing my hesitation, Grell flashed me one of his signature shark like grins.

"After you." He said with a distinctly airy tone. Biting my lip, I pulled my jacket tighter. I closed my eyes, remembering what William had once told me to do, and with one last deep breath, I took the plunge and stepped into the portal. The familiar rush of air greeted me, and I opened my eyes again.

Stretching before me just as it had that time, was the realm of reapers, in all of it's sparkling grandeur. Absent though, was the wonder that once came with such a sight. I was aware of them now, the dangers that lurked below the surface of this seemingly perfect world waiting for a chance to swallow me whole. But I was also more prepared now, and not about to let that happen.

Grell appeared beside me just as a woman in standard reaper uniform came running down the path towards us. She was a rather tall woman, with long, wavy black hair, and black framed glasses. There was something about the way she looked and the confident, almost cocky way she carried herself that felt vaguely familiar, but why I couldn't put my foot on. "Sorry I'm late." The woman apologized, clearly out of breath. "You wouldn't believe it, someone dared Alice to-" She stopped abruptly as she noticed my presence. "So, this is the new recruit you have for me?" She asked, looking me up and down. "Looks strong, you sure she wouldn't be better for collec-"

"Catherine darling, we both know that's not possible." Grell interrupted. Annoyance flashed across Catherine's face, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

"I know." Catherine replied, looking away slightly. "Sorry about that rookie." She said, her face brightening again suddenly. "Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Catherine Knox, I'll be your supervisor and mentor. It's a pleasure to meet you."