Welcome back. Now this chapter will be a short one, but it is still an important one. I try to make a point of every chapter playing a vital role in telling the story. A chapter that doesn't add to the story's plot is a wasted chapter if you ask me.

Chapter Four

Emergency Services at your Service

Victor Lazlo, The headmaster, ran down the empty corridor towards the entrance of the school, his footsteps echoing after him. He had only just seen the yellow flashing lights of the emergency services thru the storm, from his office on the second floor and he was now rushing to meet them. It had been a full hour since the call had been made, and this worried Victor.

"Those poor kids, they must be freezing to death" he though as he ran round the corner. He paced the last corner and finally saw the emergency servicemen crowding into the school, wearing thick orange uniforms. Victor saw the one man that was wearing a yellow uniform an assumed he was the man in charge. The man noticed him as well and approached him. He stuck out a hand wrapped in a thick frosted glove to the headmaster.

'Lance Parker, I'm the head of this operation'. Victor grabbed his cold hand and shook it as more men walked inside

'Victor Lazlo, headmaster' he replied. Lance released his firm grip on Victors hand and brushed some snow of his thick jacket.

'So what is the situation exactly' he asked. Victor cleared his throat and began

'we have the students in the cafeteria set up with blankets and anything we could find to keep them warm' he said 'but there are two students trapped in the gym. The roof has begun to collapse and it's completely snowed under'. Lance stood there and nodded. He then turned to the ten or more men in the room and told them exactly what Victor just said to him.

'So that's it' he said to the other emergency servicemen 'Jarred, you take your group and go help the students in the cafeteria, William and Jake, your teams will follow Victor here to the gym where you will analyze the situation. But don't do anything until I return with the rest of the team'. The leaders of the groups nodded and split up, Jarred's team going past Victor to the cafeteria. Victor was just about to turn around, but he saw someone emerge from the white haze, someone he didn't expect.

'Grim' he yelled as the cloaked skeleton entered the school 'what are you doing here?'. Grim walked up to Victor calmly.

'Oh, hello headmaster Lazlo' he said slowly 'I was traveling with these guy's, because it just makes my job that much easier'. Victor looked at Grim with glinting eyes as he continued

'When I heard that we were heading here to help the students that had been trapped here by the storm, I decided I might as well take Billy home' Victor suddenly remembered…Grim was Billy's guardian. A wave of despair hit Victor like a ton of bricks; he was the one who would have to tell him.

'Grim' he sighed 'Grim…the kids trapped in the gym…one of them is…the boy is…Billy' Victor felt like he had just punched the grim reaper in the face. Grim stood there for a second, analyzing the situation.
Victor and Grim had befriended one another due to the mountain of paperwork they had to fill out together so that the school would acknowledge that Grim was Billy's new guardian. He didn't want to hurt him with this news. Victor didn't know the exact details of why Grim suddenly became Billy's guardian, but he knew that Billy's parents weren't, around anymore. Victor felt Grim's bony hand suddenly grab his shoulder.

'We have to get him out of there!' he yelled. Victor grabbed Grim's hand and pushed it off his shoulder

'Calm down Grim!' Victor yelled, getting the attention of the other men in the room 'where doing everything we can'. Grim stopped suddenly, then sighed loudly.

'I'm sorry Victor' he said softly 'I'm just…'. Victor hesitated for a second, then placed a gentle and on his shoulder

'Its okay Grim, I understand' He said. Grim sighed once more and twirled his scythe in his hands. That's when Victor realized.

'Hey Grim, cant you use your scythe to get the kids out?' Victor asked with excitement. Grim looked at his scythe, then back to Victor. He slowly shook his head as he began to talk in a low voice

'Not my jurisdiction' he said simply. Victor didn't understand

'What do you mean?' he asked

'I reap the souls of people whose time has come' he started 'but in this situation I need to wait until I get the heads up from my boss, Fate. Death is actually a very delicate process'. Victor sighed out loud as he made sense of Grim's sentence. He knew all to well about having to wait for approval from the boss.

'Well at least we know they are still alive' he said. Grim nodded and began to talk once more

'Who is the other kid?' he asked in a much more normal tone

'A girl called Mandy' he replied. Grim chucked softly and Victor looked on in confusion.

'Well, at least we know they'll look out for each other' grim said a smile on his face.

Victor was confused, but he knew this wasn't the time or place to pursue it.

Well well…why is Grim Billy's guardian. A question that is bound to be answered as we progress thru the story. Sorry about how out of character grim was. Some people try to add his accent into their stories, but I thought that a novelist wouldn't do this…soo, yeah.