In February, my cousin was due with her second baby, and I was godmother, and I’d already promised the unborn child that I was going to buy him his first tattoo. Given that my cousin would never approve, he needed to be eighteen for that, which meant I needed to be alive for at least that long.
And hello, this girl was still single. I couldn’t die without meeting the love of my life.
“Are you done yet?”
Ignoring him, I marched back across the road towards my apartment. “Go away,” I told him, aware he was steps behind me.
“I’ll give you points for being one of the few people to react without the hysterics, love, but can we get through the denial stage already? I’ve got a job to do.”
Stopping abruptly, I whirled back around. “No, because I’m not ready to die. I’m not ready to go to heaven. And I’m sure as shit not letting you drag me off to hell.”
The man arched an eyebrow. “I can’t work out if you’re at the point of acknowledging that you’re dead or not.”
I held my hand up, shaking my head. “What I am saying is that there has to be a mistake.”
The ‘reaper’ pulled a phone out of his pocket and pressed on something. Moments later, he shook his head. “Sorry, love.” He turned the phone around.
7-Eleven. 21:37PM. One soul.
I snorted. “That’s descriptive.” As he rolled his eyes at me, I continued walking back towards my apartment. It didn’t take long for me to arrive at my door.
The reaper was still following me.
As I was just discovering that my key was no longer in the little pocket on the garter belt either, he strode up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “You might think you have all the time in the world, love, but you don’t. There’s a process and even I have targets.”
With no warning, he pulled us towards my door.
Three
I braced myself, closing my eyes, expecting to collide with the solid reinforced door.
We didn’t.
We definitely moved. I felt a woosh of air blow the hair of the wig off my bare shoulders.
Poking an eye open, I found the blond guy staring down at me. “Welcome to Purgatory.”
This close, I could see his eyes clearly. They were blue but stretching from one side of the iris to the other were two black lines. It gave the impression of his pupil being cross shaped. They matched the pattern of his vest.
I slapped his hands off me and stepped back out of his reach. Turning, ready to march down to my neighbor’s to knock on her door, I stopped.
This wasn’t my apartment.
This wasn’t even Miami.
Purgatory was… beautiful.
We were standing on the edge of a lake. Or maybe an ocean. The water was almost perfectly still, and so clear that it reflected back the picture of a night sky full of thousands of stars.
I turned to look behind me, gasping in both surprise and delight.
The ground we were standing on was a thin strip. On the other side of me, more water stretched out, but there was movement in this water from rain that fell from a gray sky. The raindrops fell straight down in a steady flow, hitting the water and creating perfectly circular ripples, which overlapped the one next to it.
That was the moment it hit me.
I was really dead.
Sinking to a crouch, I let out a long breath as I rubbed my hand over my jaw.
Dead.
Oh god, I’d let Claudia go to that party by herself. Was she there waiting for me? Had she stopped drinking or continued—who had her back to make sure she got home safely? And what about my family?
Tears lined the corner of my eyes.
That was it. My life was over, and I had regrets.
Glancing up at the blond, I found him watching me warily. “What is your name?”
He tilted his head. “Tanner.”
“You don’t look like a Tanner.”
Tanner’s head tilted in the opposite direction as he arched an eyebrow. He had good eyebrows. Blond, thick, strong, and surprisingly neat. “What do I look like?”
“Charles or William?” I shrugged. “Something British.”
“Tanner is an old English name. As in a leather worker.”
“Except you’re a reaper.”
“I am.”
Chewing at my lip, I thought that over as I turned and watched the rain falling on the water. Sucking in a deep breath, wiping at my eyes, I stood up. “Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do. What now? Reapers weren’t featured in my Sunday school lessons, so I guess I have no idea what to expect.”
“That’s it?” he asked, his eyes widening. “No bargaining? No anger? You’re just jumping straight to acceptance?”
I raised a shoulder.
Tanner rubbed at his temple. “This whole thing makes no sense. Fine. Follow me, love.”
He turned, walking the thin path between the two strips of water.
With nothing else to do, I followed after him. Unlike the clear view on either side, the road ahead was foggy. I could barely see a few feet in front of me.
Maybe I should have bargained—or at least tried to bargain with him. Only, I got the feeling there was no winning that one with this guy. As for getting angry? That had never really been my thing.
Stepping in line with Tanner, I looked up at him. “So… what now? You never answered my question.”
“Now you speak to the Grims.”
“And they sound delightful.” My eyes narrowed. “Grims…? As in, Grim Reapers?”
Tanner nodded.
“And you’re a chatty fellow, aren’t you?” I did my best to mimic his accent.
As expected, Tanner didn’t respond.
We continued walking in silence and just as I was ready to resume questioning him, the fog cleared. Tall buildings seemed to rise out of the ground. They looked like pictures I’d seen of the Mediterranean or Middle East. Four or five stories, building fronts in varying shades of red and orange, spread around a courtyard.
Beneath me, the dirt ground changed to mosaics of swirls in more reds and browns.
As we walked closer to one of the buildings, I realized there were two people standing in front of one. The building behind us was orange and had two separate black doors to it. It was also the only building that had no windows.
There was a man and a woman guarding the doors. They were both wearing identical flowing robes in black, and both were holding scythes.
Grim Reapers.
Holy shit. Tanner might have thought I was relatively calm and accepting, and maybe there wasn’t anything I could do about the situation, but that was because he looked so… normal. Good looking with a quirky style, but normal.
With two Grim Reapers who looked just like that, with robes and scythes, internally, I was trying to stop my mind from imploding.
“Thank you, Tanner,” the female Grim said. She held up her hand and beckoned me over.
I’d been calm until now. But looking at her extended hand, I could feel the panic in me bubbling to the surface.
“She wants you, love,” Tanner said, nudging me with his shoulder.
“I’m not sure I want her.” I hissed at him.
“Howard Whitworth?” the male Grim said. He was older than her. He had dark skin and dark eyes hidden behind round glasses. His hair was short, but he had a beard that touched his chest every time he lowered his head to look over the top of his glasses.
“She doesn’t look like a Howard, Cosmo,” the female muttered, turning her nose up at me. She was the opposite of him. Short and overweight, with skin so white it looked unnatural. Like death.
“How many souls have to be reaped when we have to have this conversation, Etta?” Cosmo grunted, turning in his seat to shoot her a disapproving look. “Just because Howard is in a female body doesn’t mean that is how they identify.”
Etta turned to face him. “Howard is dressed as a rabbit. I think it’s fair to say rabbit is how they identify.”
/> “That is a Playboy bunny. They could easily be a drag queen.” Cosmo folded his arms, somehow without poking himself in the eye with his scythe. “You need to show more sensitivity. We do not know where this soul is going until they walk through the door that opens for them.”
Watching the two of them, my panic subsided. Instead, I held a hand up. “Excuse me. I’m not Howard.”
Etta and Cosmo fell silent before they both turned their heads at identical speeds to look at me. “Excuse me?” Etta asked.
“I’m not Howard Whitmore. Nor am I a drag queen… or a rabbit.”
Etta’s head turned slowly as she looked at Cosmo.
Cosmo reached into his robes and pulled out a tablet. “Howard Whitmore. Twenty-seven. 7-Eleven. 21:37PM. Cause of death: gunshot wound.” Lifting his head, Cosmo lowered his head as he looked over his glasses at Tanner.
“7-Eleven. 21:37PM. One soul,” Tanner said, reciting the message he had shown me. “And Bunny here was the only soul there to reap.”
The two Grims stared at Tanner as though they were waiting for him to give them a different answer. When it didn’t come, Etta looked at me. “If you’re not Howard Whitmore, who are you?”
“Neva Guerrero.” I folded my arms and pursed my lips.
Etta looked at Cosmo who started tapping at the tablet. Moments later, he shook it. “That can’t be right.”
Etta let out an exasperated sigh. “Is she due tomorrow? She can take a seat and reflect.”
Instead of answering, Cosmo looked back up at me. “Neva Guerrero, no middle name, thirty-two years old, born in Miami. Parents are Hector and Teresa Guerrero?”
I gave him a curtsey.
Rubbing at the side of his face, Cosmo turned to Etta. “She’s not due for another sixty-seven years,” he said, quietly. “We can’t have her sitting around purgatory for that long. She’s not on the list.”
Clearing my throat, I waited until both were looking at me again. “Clearly, there has been a mistake. How about you let this guy take me back home?” Glancing up at the reaper by my side, I found him scowling at me. “What?”
“There is no going back, love,” he told me, irritably. Suddenly, he turned and kicked at the ground. “Fuck.”
“Why are you getting pissed? You’re not the one who’s dead when they shouldn’t be!”
“When a soul is reaped…” Cosmo said, loudly.
Ignoring Tanner’s sulk—seriously, if anyone was supposed to be sulking here, it would be me—I turned my attention back to the Grim.
“There are three options,” Cosmo continued. He raised his scythe, using it to gesture grandly to the two doors behind him. “Most come to choose.”
Tilting my head to see past him, I stared at the doors. The only difference between the two were the sides the ornate gold hinges were on. “What’s the choice?”
“One leads to heaven, and the other, to hell,” Etta said in a bored tone. She waved her hand. “That’s not the important part here.”
My eyes widened.
Not important?
Considering, first of all, I had always expected there to be gates to either location, and second, I didn’t expect either of them to be situated beside each other. My attention drifted to the empty courtyard. “Where is everyone else?”
Cosmo arched an eyebrow. “Who else are you expecting?”
“People die all the time. Shouldn’t there be a steady flow of traffic?”
“Most people have a predetermined fate,” Etta said. She shook her head, her ice blonde bob brushing at her shoulders. “And these aren’t the only doors.”
“Where was I going?” I asked, both hesitant and curious.
Cosmo glanced back at the tablet. “Heaven.”
“Then, if I can’t go back home, which door leads to heaven?”
Etta put a hand on her hip, straightening her scythe so it ran parallel to her body. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“You said I wasn’t supposed to be here, and if I can’t go back, why can’t I go straight to heaven?”
“Because, although you were currently on the path to heaven, you still had sixty-seven years to walk that path.”
I looked to Cosmo. Of the two, he seemed to be the more reasonable one, if only slightly. “Yes, but I wasn’t given that opportunity, and that’s hardly fair. Judge me on the thirty-two years I have lived… Mierda… was I going to live to ninety-nine?” My eyes widened.
“We can’t do that,” Cosmo told me, shuffling on the spot.
My hands settled on my hips. “If you make me sit here for sixty-seven years, I can guarantee that you won’t be sending me through the door to heaven.”
“You cannot wander purgatory for long either.” Etta’s eyes narrowed as she looked down her nose at me.
“Well, if I can’t wander purgatory and I can’t go through a door, what’s the third option?”
Four
“You become a reaper.”
I stared blankly at Cosmo. “A reaper?” I jabbed my thumb in Tanner’s direction. “Like him?”
Etta nodded.
“I guess I can’t do a worse job…”
Tanner whirled around. “Fuck you. There is nothing wrong with how I’m doing this.”
Incredulous, I stared at him. “I’m not supposed to be dead for another sixty-seven years!”
Eyes narrowing, Tanner took a step towards me, his fist tightening around the long staff of his scythe. “Reapers don’t kill people. You’re dead because of your own stupid actions.” He looked at the Grims and shook his head. “I’m not training her.”
“Like hell you are,” I agreed. I turned to the Grims and joined Tanner in shaking my head. “He’s not training me. And I’m not going to be a reaper. Either let me go back or let me go to heaven.”
Etta let out an irritated sigh as she rubbed at her temples. “There is no choice in the matter. On either matter.”
Folding my arms, I cocked my hip out. “Yes, there is.”
“No, there isn’t,” she snapped at me.
I shrugged. “What if I refuse?”
“Refuse what?” Etta looked genuinely confused as she tilted her head.
“To be a reaper.”
“Then you will cease to be,” Etta said, coldly.
I’d never really thought about death and what, if anything, came after dying. I guess I’d always assumed that was it… You died, and death was like falling to sleep with no dreaming and no waking up.
Ceasing to be.
And that didn’t seem like a terrible option.
But it was the finite option.
That was it.
Being a reaper would mean I was still… Alive? Undead?
Either way, I was still here in this universe.
The elder Grim tucked his tablet back into his robe. He took several steps towards me, settling his hand on my shoulder. “Souls have a place in this universe until they don’t. This is the only option to you now.”
“But do I need to have him training me?” I refused to look at Tanner. “He’s not exactly been warm, welcoming, and helpful. Give me a book. Books are great.”
“Now, now,” Cosmo said, gently patting my shoulder. “Tanner will be an excellent teacher.”
“Will he?” Tanner asked, pointing at me. “I’m with Bunny. Give her a book.”
“There is no book,” Cosmo told us. “Which Tanner already knows. Like you know this isn’t up for discussion.”
I puffed out my cheeks before blowing out a long breath.
“If I become a reaper, and that’s an if…”
It wasn’t. If my choice was between that and literally nothing, I was going to become a reaper. “Then I need some form of perk.”
Arching an eyebrow, Etta tilted her head. “Like continuing to exist for an eternity?”
“Dead, alone, with only him to keep me company?”
“Alone? Fine.” Cosmo shrugged his shoulders. “You will have company—companions. They’ll help you, and they wil
l spend eternity devoted to you.”
“They?” That was… plural.
Cosmo nodded, relief flooding his eyes. “Tanner will take you to your new home. You will meet them there.”
“Oh, come on,” Tanner grumbled. “I’m not her pimp or teacher. Give her to Birgit. She’s a people person.”
Etta shot him a look. Whatever message it conveyed, it had Tanner slouching his shoulders.
That was a done deal then.
Tanner turned on his heal and started walking off.
“You need to follow him,” Etta told me.
I started to but stopped and turned back to the Grims. “Do I get one of them?” I pointed at Cosmo’s scythe.
“All you need is in your apartment.”
Apartment?
Hell, yes!
Charging after Tanner, I quickly caught up with him. Plastering a huge smile on my face, I wrapped my arms around his. “Cosmo said I get an apartment.”
“Back off, Bunny, or you’ll be getting a black eye.”
Without letting go, I stared at the empty street we were walking down. “What is this place?”
“Purgatory.”
“Well, how big is Purgatory? Is Purgatory like a world? Or a country? How many buildings are there? How many reapers are there? And my companions, who are they? Are they reapers too?”
“Reapers? Them?” Tanner snorted. He led me up to a blue colored building. It didn’t look much different from the apartment I lived… I had lived in.
“Are you going to answer any of my questions?”
“Not tonight.”
Following him up the stairs to a balcony which wrapped around the outside of the building, I glanced out. It had been nighttime when we’d been in Miami, but here, it was daylight… although… I looked up… there was no sun. “Night?”
“You’ll get used to it.”
Helpful.
Tanner stopped outside a door. “It’s all yours, love.” With a sharp jerk, he pulled his arm free of mine. “I’ll knock tomorrow. Have fun.”
“Tomorrow? Fun doing what?” I called after his retreating back. “Are you just abandoning me here?”
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