"I should have known that you were still alive, Sutcliff," Will said coldly, fixing his specs by lifting them up with the edges of his scythe. "Even with how unreliable as you were, you were not the type who would just get yourself killed like that."

He approached me. I tightened my grip on Edna, my gut instinct telling me run and get her away from him as soon as possible. But my legs refused to move, my heart pounding in my chest as Will's figure morphed and changed from my memories trying to take effect. He stopped right in front of me.

"I should kill you where you stand, however you do not seem to be a deserter, since you still have your specs," Will said, studying me carefully. "And from the way you are looking at me, along with that twitching your body is giving..."

His eyes gleamed.

"I assume that the reason you have been 'dead' this whole time is because you have foolishly caused yourself to get a severe head injury. Am I right?"

"'Foolishly caused?'"

I took a few steps back, my breathing thickening as I refused to remove eye contact.

"You're making it sound like it was my fault to get injured, that I purposely caused myself memory loss!" I exclaimed. "You think I wanted to be almost killed? If it wasn't for the humans in this manor, I might have been dead!"

"Like this human you have here?"

Will glanced down at Edna. Taking out his To Die List, he skimmed the pages of it till he eventually landed on a specific page. My heart stopped in my chest.

No...please don't tell me...

"...Edith Ayre, also known as Edna Redwood," Will read out loud. "Yes...she was one of the humans that you were originally going to collect their cinematic records from until you disappeared. Ever since then, her death date, along with the other residences of this human manor, have been changing without reason."

He narrowed his eyes.

"And now I can see why."

"So if you knew all along that something was going on, then why haven't you done anything about it till now?!" I demanded, trying my best to keep myself all together. "Why haven't I heard from any of you till now!? Didn't you care what happened to me, that I could have been dead?"

Will sighed.

"Calm down, Sutcliff. You are getting too emotional about this."

He met my gaze.

"You must remember, Sutcliff, that our numbers are very few, and thus taking the time to investigate these type of things can cause much strain and chaos. When you disappeared, we had one less member of an already small dispatch unit and could not spare a single member of dispatch to search for you. Nor could we afford to investigate the sudden change in deaths for the humans here. The only reason why I'm here now is because many of the rumors of a demon in the area, where many of the humans here at this manor were suppose to die today. I had no choice but to come."

I could feel my fearful panic pick up again. I opened my mouth to make a reply, however Will immediately cut me off.

"Before you ask, as I have no doubt you will lose your head over it, but no, the woman you hold right now is not set to die on this day."

He moved closer to me, where I defensively pulled Edna back, however Will was able to get a glimpse of where her injury was.

"Though she has lost a good amount of blood, the wound is not fatal. She just needs to be bandaged up and given proper medical attention. Within a proper time period, she will make a full recovery."

He glanced down the hall.

"If you can lead me to a place where we can lay her down, I can bandage her up till you can get her to a human doctor. I need to keep you as calm as possible, and if it means aiding this weak human, so be it."

He moved right past me. I was stunned.

The way he talked...he did not care about Edna's condition, or regarding if she will even recover or not. No, all he cared about was to make sure I was under 'control,' that I wouldn't inconvenient him! Before I lost my memory, I would have been turned on by how unfeeling he felt towards the situation, how powerful and unbreakable he was...

But now...all I felt was disgust, anger that he disregard life like that. And to think, that not too long ago, I was the same way... So much so that I killed...

"Sutcliff."

Getting a hold of myself, I gently carried Edna, who was unconscious at this point, to her bedroom, which I led Will to. Out of all the beds in the manor, I knew this would be the most comfortable for her till I got her to a hospital in London. Once I sat her down, Will got some bandages and we were able to cover her wound completely. After putting a few layers on, to where the blood didn't bleed through, I looked up at Will and said, "What are you going to do about me, now that I'm suddenly alive?"

Will took off his black gloves that now had blood stains on them.

"I'm not for certain, as it is not just my call to make," he answered truthfully. "Because of your memory loss, you should be accepted back into the shinigami and you will get your job back. However, you will have to go through some sort of rehab to regain your ability to fight, as well as remember how to collect souls and recall how our society works."

"You say if I get accepted back," I commented. "What makes you doubt that I would be accepted back?"

Because obviously I'm not wanted... No one cared if I was gone or not, if it wasn't for the low numbers we had.

"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, you will gain the sympathy of many," Will replied. "Or the fact that we have no choice to bring you back because we have so few in the dispatch. Most likely the latter."

Oh, you son of a...

I took a strong grip on Edna's hand.

"So, who is suppose to die today?" I asked. "Do you need help collecting their cinematic records?"

I hated to hear those words come out of my mouth. But I couldn't afford to anger Will, I had to protect Edna and the others the best I could. Or...the ones that were still alive. I tried to hide the grief I was feeling, but I sensed that Will could see right through me.

"If you won't get in the way. Or you could tell me where that deserter is. I will need to deal with him."

My eyes widened.

"...I'm surprised you didn't try to kill him on sight," I pointed out. "Why would you let him get away?"

I didn't want to bring out the fact Undertaker still had his death scythe, in case Will hadn't seen him kill Lord Black. I hoped Undertaker had seen Will before he entered the manor, because if he didn't and came up to check up on me and Edna...

"I saw him slay the demon and save you from it," Will said. "I would have taken care of him, but he had spotted me when you idiotically ran off and escaped. It was either chase after him or continue to do my job. Hard choice, but I chose my assigned job."

He glared at me.

"Even with your damaged mind, you must have known he was a deserter. And from the look of things, it looked like you were working with him."

I narrowed my eyes.

"There was a demon here and I had no way to fight it. I didn't have my death scythe."

"Yes, which you foolishly left on the ground. Unattended."

Pulling it out, Will placed my death scythe at the end of Edna's bed. I clutched my fists to gain a hold of my anger.

"I had no choice to ask for his help. And I'm glad he got away from you!"

I stood up.

"And why not? He did more for me then any of you did!"

There was a short silence, Will's right eyebrow twitching for a split second.

"...Apparently you need to go through much more rehab than I would have guessed. You've really lost your mind, Sutcliff."

No, I've only just now gained it.

Will turned his back on me, heading for the door.

"Can I trust you enough not to lock you in this room till I'm done here?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "But I'm coming with you. If any of my friends are alive, I want to help them."

"...So not only did you fall in love with a human, again, but you also gained the friendship of a small group of humans..."

Will sighed to himself, muttering about how I'm more trouble then I'm worth. I had no doubt that he wished that I had died, that I would have just disappeared and never showed my face again.

This man...how could I have ever wanted him?

Leaving Edna's bedroom, Will took out his To Die List again and lead us to the room where Lord Black had imprisoned my fellow servants. I expected them to be held up in the attic or something, tied up and badly wounded or even dead. But Will did not step towards that direction, no, he actually ended up leading us to the bedroom Lord Black was staying in.

Will silently opened the door, where my eyes grew wide as I saw my friends all scattered around the room, hands and legs tied up with many injuries. They all had lost weight since the last time I saw them, indicating that Lord Black had them like this for a long time. My guess was that he did this the moment he figured out Edna and I left, and he held them like this till we returned. How torturous that must have been for them, how horrific...

"Matilda Gavan, also known as Martha Alcock..."

I blinked, realizing that Will had approached Martha's tied up body, using his death scythe to absorb her cinematic record.

"Born February twenty-six, 1824, died May third, 1889. Cause of death, internal bleeding. Has been a maid all her life with minimal medical training."

His voice was steady, not a single emotion it be heard. I could feel my eyes tear up as I saw parts of Martha's life through her cinematic record. I saw clips from her childhood and youth, her servitude with Lady Holloway and eventually with Edna. I saw from her point of view her tending to me when I first lost my memory...how she was hoping I would make it even if it looked against all odds.

"Nothing of significance."

Once he finished collecting her soul and marking it down on his list, Will walked over towards the bed where Simon laid in an awkward angle, right next to Jasper. Unable to watch, I moved further into the room, my mind wondering how I was going to tell Edna that we failed... I went over to the opposite side of the room.

Near the chair that Lord Black had sat in when I had served him tea that one time, laid Christine and Daniel on the floor. I leaned down next to them, noticing the bruises and cuts on Christine's face and wrists while Daniel had his clothes all ripped and blood stained. Not wanting to see them like this, I began to remove their restraints. I started with Christine, where I gently untied her blindfold.

When the cloth left Christine's eyes, I saw her face twitch, her eyes opening slightly. I froze, my heart pounding as I looked into her exhausted, pain filled blue eyes.

"Christine..."

Tears appeared in her eyes, me removing the cloth over her mouth.

"...S-sebastian..."

Upon hearing her shaky voice, I saw Daniel move slightly too. I felt a tear run down my cheek.

"...It is alright, Christine," I said softly, my voice cracking. "You are safe. You'll be okay."

Christine smiled weakly before she closed her eyes again and fell unconscious. She was just tired, nowhere close to death, and Daniel seemed to be alright too.

"What are you doing, Sutcliff?"

I looked up to see Will glaring at me.

"I was checking them, to see if they were alright," I answered coldly, standing up. "The names Christine Doyle or Daniel Knight don't appear on your list, do they?"

Will glanced down at it.

"...I have them, but their death dates have changed...again. They are not due to die today."

"What about Simon Pattison or Jasper Forrester?"

"I just took their cinematic records. One died of a neck injury, the other of dehydration."

There was a long silence.

"...Will, I know you will want to take me back to the shinigami as soon as possible," I said firmly, looking deeply into his eyes. "However, I want to make sure Edna, Christine, and Daniel are stable before I leave. I owe them that much. Please...allow me to see them out of the hospital before I have to go back."

A second past, and then another. Will and I stared each other down. I would not lose my ground to his heartless gaze, I would not allow him to take me away until I knew that they would be safe! Even if it means fighting a grim reaper who I would surely lose to...

A whole moment past.

"...Fine. I can see that I would have to fight you otherwise," Will finally said. "Plus I want to observe that you are no threat to the shinigami if you do return, so I will allow it."

He turned his back on me while shifting his glasses.

"You have three weeks, since humans are slow to heal. From afar, someone from the office, whether it is myself or another, will be watching you. Don't try on anything, Sutcliff. Just because we are in need of hands, does not mean we will not kill you if we find it necessary."

He then stormed off. I blinked a couple of times, not expected Will to go along with my plea. This was not like him, but frankly, I didn't care.

I had to get Edna, Christine, and Daniel to a hospital. And fast.