Chapter 4
I sighed at my desk. It was five minutes until my overtime started, and Grell had not returned. Of course, it was in his nature to be late. He walks into work every day late because "he had to straighten his hair" or "fix his makeup" or something. It does look good on him… What was that? I thought he looked good? No, I'm not gay, unlike him. He is gayer than gay. The gayest thing allowed before you might as well switch to the other gender and be straight again. Sometimes he can be a little revolting, but he has good taste in his clothing…. Ah! Never mind that. Why should I be getting worked up? He will be back within half an hour. There is no reason to worry.
It's been over three hours since I started my overtime. He still isn't back yet. There is something wrong. I knew it! That doesn't mean anything good. We just lost a valuable worker during a pressuring time. It was near Valentine's Day in the human world. The day the most deaths happen without fail every year.
Five hours now. He hasn't been back. I don't really have a choice now. I'll retrace his steps and hopefully recover some trace of the flirtatious Shinigami. My breath heaved out of my lungs in a sigh and I set down the murder count papers for this month. After quickly putting on my suit coat, I headed down into the world of mankind.
First stop, to the alley where the reaping should have occurred five hours ago. I walked along the cobblestone ground, looking for clues of blood and death. I smelled the air. No scent of death or reaping. No scent of a demon. No scent of a child. No scent of a Shinigami. Wait… What was that dripping blood on the wall? I rubbed my covered hands over it. Still wet. Someone was here in the past twelve hours. It's extremely odd. If that vile demon and that kid had killed a murderer, they certainly would not have cleaned up for the body. They would have left it to some other human in the "Underground". What if there was no murder? No, that's impossible. Our records are never wrong. I have to go over them before I hand out any jobs. What happened here?
I returned to my office, disappointed, and let down. It's impossible for a murder not to happen that we have written down. Grell was missing. Maybe he let Sebastian take him on a midnight trip? I tried to push revolting images out of my mind. No way. Grell promised to be back before my overtime. No matter what that idiotic reaper does, he never breaks promises to me.
Ronald stepped into my office.
"Yes Mr. Knox?"
"Sir, I was just wondering… Do you know where Mr. Sutcliff is?"
"It seems he has gone out to do reaping and hasn't returned."
"Sorry to bother you sir. He wanted to go out for a drink tonight and he's half an hour late. Will you let him know that we are already at the bar if he shows up?"
"Very well."
"Thank you." Ronald left my office, looking just as nervous as I felt.
It's been almost a year since Grell disappeared. I have looked everywhere, and he still hasn't shown up. Dare I say it to him if he ever comes back, but I miss him. His red hair and flamboyant personality cheered everyone up and work is boring now. I used to think that work was boring but without him, it was such a drag. Nothing had ever prepared me for him leaving. He was missed by everyone, but I don't anyone could compare to my loneliness. He was the only one who could approach me without avoiding my gaze or calling me "sir". I don't know what has come over me in the past months, but everything seems to be falling apart since Grell left. Ronald, Eric, and Alan have been saying to give up looking for him, but how could I? He just made work better. I miss him a lot more than he probably imagines. Our last goodbye was a horrible way to bid an everlasting farewell.
That was William's point of view in case you didn't know. What happened to Grell after all this time comes next. Thank you so much for reading!