"Happy Friday!" James said smiling as he sat down at the lunch table.
"Why are you so happy today?" Camille asked.
"Just in a good mood. I'm excited for our double date."
Kendall and Jo smiled and Carlos sat there awkwardly. He was waiting for Logan to tell him the news. Logan and Carlos made their deal the night before and he couldn't wait until Logan got out of the lunch line. He needed to know about what was going on with Jennifer and Jett. Jett is such a jerk and I'm.. well not. She has to favor me over Jett! I mean, she loved me, right? Logan sat down next to Carlos and Carlos could barely contain his excitement.
"Did you do it?" Carlos said quietly while kicking his feet under the table.
Logan shifted his eyes. "…No."
Carlos' smile quickly turned into a frown. "But you swore!"
"I know! I know! I'm going to do it!"
"When?" Carlos demanded. He started gulping down his milk, he was pretty upset with Logan.
"Tonight. But, you're coming with me."
Carlos spit out his milk everywhere. The whole table looked at them, Logan waved awkwardly. Kendall gave them a strange look. "Are you guys okay..?"
Logan chuckled. "Yeah… Carlos' milk is just… spoiled."
The four of them shrugged and then continued to talk about their double date. Carlos brought his attention back to the issue at hand. "So why do I have to come with you!"
"Because! You probably have more of an idea as to where her diary is than I do!"
Carlos started to clean up the milk he spit up. He sighed. "You're right. I'm pretty sure I know where her diary is…"
Logan began to help Carlos clean up. "Alright, meet me at my house today after school and we'll go the minute I get a job. You're going to have to tag along on a Reap with me…"
Carlos grew wide-eyed and gulped. "You can't be serious…"
"Do you want the diary or not?" Logan snapped.
"Alright. I'll meet you there after school."
Logan and Carlos had been sitting in Logan's room for hours, waiting. Carlos was growing extremely impatient. Well this is no fun at all… Stupid Logan, he swore. He should have just done it himself. Then all this would be done and over with. Logan looked at the clock, it was almost midnight. He'd been getting only late jobs lately, sometimes they would give him an early evening job, but he hasn't had one since that day with Carlos when he was forced to tell him the secret.
Carlos was growing tired; he yawned loudly and was starting to fall asleep. Logan grabbed a shirt on his floor and threw it at him, Carlos jolted awake. "You need to stay awake. Do you want this diary or not?"
Carlos yawned again and curled up in a ball. "Just five minutes Logan, I promise."
Finally, Logan heard a burst of flames. He threw another shirt a Carlos. "Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty, it's time for a Reap."
Carlos jumped up excitedly. "This is going to be so cool!"
"Cool it, slick. I still need to get ready."
Logan got up and did his routine. He grabbed the envelope from the edge of his bed, made his way to his closet, grabbed his cloak and scythe and put his gear on. Carlos chuckled when he saw his friend in the ghostly uniform. "Well, the media's depiction of Death sure is accurate."
Logan smirked. "Ha. Very funny. Now lets go!"
Logan grabbed Carlos' arm. He read the location in the letter and snapped his fingers. The boys disappeared in a burst of flames. Carlos screamed the entire duration of their flight. He was still screaming even after they'd arrived.
"Carlos! Calm down!" Logan whispered trying to quiet him.
Carlos stopped screaming. "I'm sorry."
Carlos looked around the house they landed in. It looked somewhat familiar to him. Logan probably knows where we are. I'll just ask him I guess.
"Logan… Where are we…?"
Logan took a quick look at the letter. "We are in the home of Ms. Margery Garrison."
Carlos knew that name. "She's my neighbor! I love Ms. Garrison! We can't kill her!"
"Carlos, she's already dead. All we're doing is taking her soul to the place where it belongs."
Carlos sighed. "Okay."
The boys made their way up the stairs to Ms. Garrison's room. Carlos was nervous, this was such an adventure, but at the same time it was extremely creepy. He had to lead the soul of his neighbor, whom he had known for years, to her Fate. This will be the last time I see her. Carlos felt tears well up in his eyes.
They finally got to Ms. Garrison's room. Carlos was reluctant to look in, but forced himself to. Logan deals with this every single day of his life, you can face this once, Carlos told himself. She was lying in her bed, eyes closed. As scary as the situation was, Carlos wasn't scared anymore. She looked quite peaceful and as long as she went to Heaven or even the In Between, it wasn't a very unsettling sight.
Logan made his way toward the elderly woman in her bed; he shook her a little and her eyes shot open. She looked frightened, especially when she saw Logan in his cloak. Her eyes set on Carlos and her fear went away; an essence of familiarity painted over her face.
"Carlos, dear, what are you doing here?" she asked weakly.
Logan grinned at her. "Ms. Garrison, ignore Carlos, it's time to go…"
"Well, what ever do you mean?" She turned back to Carlos. "Sweetheart, why is your friend dressed like that?"
Carlos looked at her with a sad expression on her face. She doesn't know, shouldn't she know? Why doesn't she know? He wanted to cry then, the tears were trying to escape. I have to be strong. He fought back the tears and tried to smile.
"Ms. Garrison, I'm Death. You died in your sleep tonight, I know you're probably not going to believe me because Carlos is here. But look…" Logan snapped and flames erupted in his hand. "I'm special, see? It's time for me to take your soul where it belongs." He smiled at her then. "Mr. Garrison is waiting upstairs for you in the clouds."
Ms. Garrison looked confused, but then smiled. She slowly got up from her bed, but it wasn't her, it was her soul. A white, transparent Ms. Garrison tore from her solid body and got out of the bed. She was crying, but they were tears of joy. "I get to see my Martin again?"
Logan gently took her hand. "Yes, Ms. Garrison. You get to be with Martin for eternity."
Logan started to lead Ms. Garrison toward the door. How are we going to get to Heaven? Carlos asked himself as he followed the two. They walked like spirits, flowing and gentle in nature. Carlos looked back at Ms. Garrison's bed, there lay the still body of Ms. Garrison. He waved at the body; he didn't know why, but it felt right.
Carlos followed Logan and Ms. Garrison out of the house. He looked up at the sky, it looked quite different. The sky was blue and filled with puffy white clouds, it had a golden glow to it; Carlos looked at his watch, confused, thinking it was day. It was one-thirty in the morning. He was amazed by the site.
"Wait here." Logan told him.
Ms. Garrison, looking forty years younger embraced Carlos. "I'm going to miss you dear. Keep well, and tell your mother I said hello."
Carlos nodded at her request, speechless. Ms. Garrison floated up into the sky with Logan as her guide. As she floated upward, the sky seemed to grow more golden. It was the most beautiful site Carlos had ever seen. He heard wind chimes and harps coming from the atmosphere. Heaven is more beautiful than I ever thought it would be.
"Martin! How I've missed you!" called Mrs. Garrison from the clouds.
The sky was starting to close up, and the light was starting to fade. Logan was descending from the sky. The mission was over, he had delivered Ms. Garrison to where she belonged. Carlos couldn't help but stare at Logan in wonder, Logan was smiling wide at him.
"And that, Mr. Garcia, is a Reap."
Carlos ran up to Logan and gave him a giant hug. He didn't understand what exactly had just happened, but he knew that he was grateful that he got to witness it.
"You ready for Jennifer?"
Carlos nodded. "Yeah." he muttered.