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Prompt #20: Reaper - Her silhouette inspired the greatest kind of fear.

Words: 965

They say the Grim Reaper is a cloaked man with a skeleton's face. They say he wields a scythe and comes after you when your time is up.

They're right about one thing. The Reaper does wield a scythe.

But everything else is dead wrong.

How do I know? Because I saw the Reaper when I was nine years old.

A monster had been killing children in my hometown for almost two months. Curfew was enforced, everyone was afraid, and all my older sister's friends were determined to sneak out one night and get drunk around a bonfire. Too scared to risk being left alone, I went along with my sister, my best friend Elena, and her older sister Marie.

The monster came for us at midnight. Sliced through Marie and her boyfriend like they were made of paper, then lunged for the other teenagers as they ran for their lives. I hid inside a holly bush and curled up into a ball, praying that the monster wouldn't find me. I remember hearing the screams echoing through the darkness as it ripped through the fleeing teenagers. I remember fearing that it had killed my sister and my friend.

That's when I saw the Reaper. She stood in the light of the full moon, her black trenchcoat fluttering behind her like dark, spiky wings. Her pigtails whipped around her face like whips, glowing with a white golden aura in the moonbeams. Standing beside her was a man with white hair and demonic red eyes.

"Whitechapel Slasher, I've come for your soul this night!" announced the girl.

Her words made the monster laugh. It was a horrible grating sound, and I covered my ears in pain.

"You're obviously thinking you've got a chance in Hell," came a drawl from the demon-eyed man. When he smiled, I could see razor-sharp teeth that reminded me of a shark. "Lemme tell you, you're dead wrong."

The Reaper held out her hand. "Let's go, Soul."

"Right."

I couldn't understand why they didn't run. What could a girl and a boy do against a monster?

The monster yelled and lunged for them. The demon-eyed man cackled as his body glowed whiter than the moon. It shrank and lengthened into a scythe, which the Reaper brought around and sliced at the monster. It roared in pain and jumped back, but not without losing its arm.

I clapped my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming. The boy was a monster too!

The Reaper jumped after the monster, her scythe's blade flashing in the moonlight as she swung. The monster howled again as blood flew in the moonlight, spattering on the ground with wet slaps. Another swipe of the scythe made the monster lose his head. Its body dissolved into a mass of black ribbons, revealing an orb that glowed sickly red.

The scythe glowed and transformed back into the man. He grinned again, shark's teeth glittering in the light of the moon and the glow of the red soul. "Looks delicious. Thanks for the meal." He picked up the soul between his forefinger and thumb, tilted his head back, and dropped the soul into his waiting jaws.

It's dead. I leaned forward, not realizing that I'd revealed my location. They killed the monster.

Suddenly my vision was blocked by a black coat. I screamed in horror and backed away, but when I looked up, it was to see the pigtailed Reaper staring down at me with concern. "Are you all right?" she asked. She pulled off her bloodstained glove and held out a hand to me. "Did he hurt you?"

"N-N-No," I stammered. I took her hand and let her pull me to my feet. "Wh-What did he d-do to the m-m-monster?"

A belch drew my attention to the demon-eyed man. His lazy smirk scared me almost as much as the monster's. "What's it look like, squirt? I ate his soul." He burped again and patted his stomach. "What a meal. Thanks, Maka."

"Soul, you're scaring the poor girl!" she scolded him. She gave me a sheepish smile. "He's really not that bad. Just an idiot."

"N-N-Not a monster?" I stammered.

The Reaper's smile softened as she shook her head. "No, he's not a monster," she said. "He's my partner. We hunt monsters together."

"And we save little girls too." The man took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders. "Come on. Let's get you home, okay?"

I got to ride piggyback on his shoulders on the way back to my home. Everyone was awake and waiting for us, including Elena, who had managed to escape and warn everyone, a bandage over her eye where she'd been grazed by the monster's claws. The Reaper and the scythe-man dropped me off and assured everyone that they would no longer be troubled by the monster. Then they bade us farewell and disappeared into the night.

My hometown still holds onto the memories of that time. Parents of the murdered children visit the tiny graves and sob for the lost lives. Elena bears a scar over her eye from that night. My sister doesn't venture out of the house after dark, even on a full moon. The night becomes a time of fear and revulsion, and nightmares are frequent visitors.

But I still have the demon-eyed man's jacket. I still remember the Reaper's soft smile and kind eyes. And I know they continue to hunt the monsters in the night.

Knowing that helps keep the nightmares from growing too strong.

This was so different from what I was expecting. Enjoy it!

Review please! We passed 100, let's go for 150!