Chapter Eight

As much as she disliked pink, the dress didn't make her look completely horrid. Vivian dressed in it the next morning and reported to work as usual, handing over a few coins to her family to keep buying food for the night and paying the rest of living expenses.

The moment she opened the shop, Undertaker was there straightaway, speaking to a man in a suit and tie, and beside him was a child with charcoal black hair and bright green eyes.

"Ah, perfect," Undertaker looked over his shoulder. "I must say, you look rather fetching in that."

"Good morning," Vivian replied.

"Come here," Undertaker said, and she obliged. He turned to the two.

"This is Vivian Elizabeth Addams," he introduced her, though she found it rather odd that he'd said her full name like that. "Vivian, meet Albert and William Spears."

She extended her greetings, noting that William wasn't exactly the most sociable boy, so she inferred the situation as someone needing a coffin fitting or a delivery of one of their guests. Undertaker gave a smirk.

"Something of the like," he replied. "I believe the coffin is in the back. Would you fetch that for me?"

Vivian walked into the back, looking for the last name of Spears, but there was no coffin bearing that last name, nor an order under such. Turning her head, Vivian looked around some more, until she stumbled across something she was unsure should have been stumbled across.

Leaning upon one of the shelves was engraved with an inscription of her full name. The coffin was a shinning black with silver writing in a handwriting that would astound anyone who read the side. There was no cross on the lid, but a silver lining around the edges. She took a few moments, staring at it, unbelieving that it was right in front of her. Her name, the color, everything was elegant and beautiful about this coffin. A silver rose was printed next to her name on both sides. This was a custom coffin, exactly her size, and just subtle on the side of becoming perhaps too fancy for one such as herself.

She felt it. She felt him, and she closed her eyes.

"I...understand," she said.

"Good," replied Albert. "I shall bare witness."

"And I as well," William said.

"Vivian," she heard Undertaker's voice and it was right behind her. "Trust me."

"What do you want me to do?" Vivian asked, her eyes still closed.

"Turn around," he said and she did. "Now, take my hands..."

She looked to see that his hands she stretched out to meet hers. He didn't even have his death scythe. Taking his hands, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Don't let go until I tell you," he said, giving a nod behind her. A few words were exchanged in Latin after she'd taken both of his hands into her own from the two that just walked in. There was a clicking sound and a piercing ache in her back, extending to her chest.

She shut her eyes, trying to conceal the pain, but she never let go of him. Vivian gave one cry before the pain was too intolerable to even allow her to speak. Grasping him tightly, she was hoping he wouldn't tell her to let him go just yet.

"Look at me," he said, and she managed to bring her head up, noticing that his bangs were being held back by a gale force that had surrounded the room. He knew she was in a lot of pain, but all he did was hold her hands.

"Let go," he said, though she didn't want to. He let go of her hands, breaking their connection, and that's when Vivian realized she was barely able to move.

"You may close your eyes," he said. She did so, but she could still hear the drawing of a death scythe. There was a cry, but it wasn't hers. Pain persisted into her back and to her heart like she'd been stabbed over 1,000 times.

But, it all just disappeared, nearly as soon as it had begun, though it felt longer. Catching her breath without pain was a great relief to her, but her vision was blurry.

"I can't...see," she said. "It's very...fogged."

"Here," Undertaker said, placing a pair of glasses on her face. "That should do nicely."

Royal purple frames in a cat-eyed lens provided her with a clear picture of what was around her. There was a circle on the floor and the person across from her was on the floor, disappearing into ashes.

"Oh my God!" Vivian exclaimed.

"It's all right, he knew this would happen," William said, looking up at her. "He never liked being here anyway. Most ungrateful."

"But he was...he was your-Will!" Vivian exclaimed.

"It's perfectly all right, I knew," William said, and she looked back Undertaker.

"Let us have a look at you," he said, holding up a mirror, and she walked towards it. Her eyes had changed color into the same green as William's and Undertaker's. Her skin was always pale, so if it had become any more pale she didn't notice.

"You look lovely," he said. "Now, I need to tell you a few more details before we get started with your funeral..."

"My what!" she exclaimed. "Oh...right." She remembered that doing this meant she had to everything go. That's why Undertaker had the coffin made, but he soon explained that the coffin sitting before them would not be buried underground. That was hers to keep, after all she paid for it herself. Undertaker went over the accident staged and the body that was actually going to be buried was just a body that resembled her, nothing more, and it was fashioned by the reaper's society.

The utmost rule was that she was not allowed to reveal who she really was for the next 100 years or until all her immediate relatives were in the ground. Since the aging process of her body was slowed immensely, none of her future generations would suspect it was her, especially if there wasn't so much of a picture of the family to reference back to. Of course, everyone else in this new world would know exactly who she was.

Other grim reapers would know of her existence and the fact that she would not collect souls like a regular reaper would do every night or take a shift. Nope, she was the exception, not so much the rule, since she was being compensated for mental scarring and a mistake done by the dispatch association. Undertaker had pulled a few strings to make this happen, so there was no turning back on the deal now.

With her details filled out, Undertaker seemed to have planned the most marvelous funeral for her, and she wasn't even really dead! It was an act for the time being.

"You...you prepared all of this for me?"

"You said you wanted this," he said. "I'm willing to give it to you." As difficult as it was to beat, Vivian knew she'd wanted this, she wanted him, and she wanted to watch as people changed.