“Half-Blood Resources, huh?”
Lucas rubs the back of his head as we make back inside the communal building. Half-Bloods like to stick together and live in the same spaces according to division and location. This location is all muddled and blended together. There is no one division that lives in this antique building. It’s unusual for us. I like it.
“I seriously thought you’d be in the warrior division,” Lucas continues. “Usually, First Gens are bad ass like that,”
I scoff. “I just got my life back and you want me to risk it? Hell to the no,”
Axel and Lucas laugh at my response. We walk into the main area where all the hustle and bustle usually is. The dining hall is to the right, the offices are to the left, and the super small dormitories are all on the second floor. Death’s house is bigger than this place. I am not complaining though. Everything is accessible.
“Hey, who are those people?” I ask, glancing at the new faces. The new people pool around like kids on a field trip.
“Those are newbies. They’re recruits. We should go say hi,” Axel says.
“Why though?” Lucas retorts.
“Let’s not be mean. They’re probably as nervous as we were,” Axel replies, stepping towards them.
I kind of stay behind with Lucas. I don’t know where the shyness came from. We inch closer to wait for Axel but we have no intentions to speak to them. Axel begins to speak with a girl whose back is facing me.
“Are you new?” Axel asks.
“Yeah, I am. It’s so exciting. My name is Taylor by the way,” The girl replies.
That voice. Those movements. They seem familiar.
“I’m Axel. What division are you trying to get into?”
“The caretaking division,”
“Oh, cool,” Axel replies.
I tilt my head. I know that voice. Something is off with her. I know this might make any sense at all but her aura is slightly off. The baby that we gave to the caretaking division this morning, his aura was clear and direct. His aura was like a lighthouse’s beacon constantly going into the night. Hers is like a flashlight with bad batteries, constantly flickering on and off.
“Lucas, something is off with her right?” I ask.
“I can’t sense anything,” Lucas says, eyeing her before sighing. “But then again, I am an Eighth Gen. I might not be able to sense a thing,”
Axel and her laugh and she turns around. Our eyes meet for a second and her eyes become wide before she conceals her shock.
It’s Scarlet.
What is she doing here? She isn’t a half-blood and she’s in a Reaper’s division. She’s up to no good. There is no way. She lied right through her teeth. Her name isn’t Taylor and she isn’t a half-bood.
“Guys, I have to take care of something. Wait for me here,” I say, going off in the opposite direction.
The offices are to the left. There are three halls on the side of the building housing the offices like doctors offices. I glance at the wooden tag trying to remember which one Victoria was in. I think she was in the first hall.
“Roger Williams, Terrence Fletcher, no…She isn’t in this hall…”
I go down the second hall and don’t find her name anywhere. I wonder why no one is here. It’s usually busy here this time of day. I keep on walking trying to figure out what to say to Mrs. Victoria. In my opinion, I think Scarlet is after a ‘rebel’ as she calls it. Or maybe she’s a spy. I don’t know but she isn’t authorized to be here in any circumstance.
Maybe, she’ll get punished or something. Perhaps she’ll get locked up somewhere. Far away from Death. That would be nice. That would be fantastic actually.
I finally loop around to get to the third hall where Mrs. Victoria resides eating lunch presumably. Her door is right at the end of the hall. All I have to do is take three more strides. Someone grabs my hand before I do. The hand is warm and soft. I look back and see the last person I want to see.
Our surroundings sizzle and pop until the office swirls away. We are now in flat land with green grass as far as the eye can see. It would be a pleasant scene if it wasn’t so cold. My teeth chatter even though I have only been here for seconds.
Scarlet doesn’t deserve the half-blood clothes she wears. The signature black suit doesn’t suit her. Her eyes observe me shivering. “Too cold for you? I apologize, it’s just business. I was sent to see what’s really going on with your worthless society,”
This is that baseless hatred Axel was talking about.
“Can’t you guys just leave us alone? Don’t you have your Reaper Board?”
“Scum like you doesn’t deserve a platform,”
“We aren’t scum. We committed no crimes. We didn’t ask to be this way and we don’t even mess with you people! Just stop, you just go back to the reaper board and I’ll go back to the society,”
“Oh, you’re staying here. Why would I let you go back? You’ll just tell everyone who I am. I knew this reaper masking treatment was ineffective. I think I’ll have to take more doses,” Scarlet pauses, sighing. “Well, you stay here. I’ve got to tear that place apart. Your kind’s presence irks us,”
Scarlet begins to walk backwards. “So, I’m going to go. Felix sends his regards,”
I raise my fist and unleash everything I have into it. Scarlet can’t sidestep it . Instead, as soon as my knuckles brush her face, she disappears like she did before. In a puff of smoke.
That cowardly bitch.
I reach for my side to get my crystal. I have full intentions of telling everyone about this snake until I realize my pockets are empty. My breast pocket is empty too. I search myself and then my surroundings.
She took my crystal. She had to have taken it.
I glance around as the temperature drops with the setting sun. There are hoots and the sound of scurrying in bushes from the animals around. I bring my arms around me as the bitter cold realization sinks in.
I’m stuck here.
_____
Hmmm.