The Reaper's Apprentices #1: Awakened

by CS Patra

  “Demon slayers won’t come anywhere near here,” Gideon promised. “We’re protected. Soon enough, the humans will forget about demons and catch the real bomber. Things will be fine.”

  But things weren’t fine. All four were angry about the whole thing, and Avani was keeping her word. She now hated her duties and wanted to go home. She would have called if it weren’t for the fact that it was so late at night. Tessa was just too sad to think about anything. She kicked the wall a few times, but not with enough force to damage it. There were other demons sleeping in the rooms next to hers so she hit it gently. Yuka was numb and simply wanted to escape from Tartarus Sanctum. The only problem was that she didn’t know where to go and frankly, she was too tired to move. As much as she hated mouthing off to Master Sebastian, he needed to know how she felt. This wasn’t the life any of them wanted.

  Kaska turned out to be the angriest about Paris. The other three could handle this punishment, but this felt like they were being burned on purpose. If she knew her master, he would keep her locked away forever. She opened her drawer and pulled out the embroidery design that she had been working on. It was wine glasses and grapes on a tablecloth. So far, she was only half done. Her original intent was to try and finish it in Paris, but there was no chance of that now. It was better to get it done while she could keep her focus. If she could accomplish a little more on the tablecloth, it wouldn’t make the night a complete waste. In her mind, she could still hear what Avani had said. How she didn’t want to be a part of this anymore, how she was just a girl who wanted to live her life, how she hated her new destiny.

  And maybe I hate it too, she thought, shoving the needle through the cloth. She tried hard not to ruin the work, but her anger wasn’t dissolving. A lot of the blame did fall on them, but their masters should have seen it coming. One couldn’t keep demons locked away forever. They had to explore and get out and understand the human world all over again. This was one of the few good things about tonight — she learned what it was like to be a person again. No training, no talks about Grim Reapers — just relaxation. She was envious of the people at the pizza place, enjoying their sports and talking amongst themselves. She saw it on the college campus as well and wished she could see what else they did. Joining the cheerleading squad made her feel like one of them. But would she have time for it now?

  Probably not. This job has no free time for anything.

  She slowly worked on a few of the wine glasses, carefully trying not to poke too many holes in the cloth. She was almost through when there was a knock on her door. No doubt one or all of their masters had come upstairs. It was talk time again, but she was in no mood for it. She shoved her embroidery things into the drawer, pulled the covers over her body, and turned off the light. The last thing she needed was for them to get angry because she was still up. Not only that, she just didn’t want to talk.

  “Kaska?” Fabian pushed the door open while she pretended to be asleep. Maybe if she was convincing enough, he would go away. He had already told everyone else he wasn’t in the mood to talk. Why was she going to be the exception? She rolled over in bed and closed her eyes.

  “Okay, I take it you’re asleep.” He sighed. “I guess it will wait until morning. I know you probably aren’t listening to me now. I’m sure you won’t care but understand that we don’t want to lose you. You’re not ready to tackle demon slayers on your own. Not to mention, we can’t jump them just because they are demon slayers. They’re people, and they’ve done nothing to you. There are going to be times where you can’t just attack someone because you feel like it. You invaded their privacy. You threatened them by being there. They reacted the only way they knew how — to attack. I’m glad I was able to find you in time, but never do that to me again.”

  Kaska listened and tried not to move. She felt his weight shift on her bed . He kept talking. “One day, you’ll understand why we did this. There’s still a lot you have to learn.”

  Maybe I don’t want to learn, she wanted to reply back. Instead, she lay still and waited for him to leave. He shifted his weight on her bed and continued to talk her as though she were listening. Maybe he sensed she was or that his words would get through.

  “I guess I was a little harsh on you today, but you had me worried. I’m not used to looking after someone. Then again, you’re probably not used to being a demon. But we’ll get through all of it. You just have to trust me and trust your own instincts. It’ll be okay.”

  She waited until he got up and left the room, closing the door behind him, before she moved. The bed didn’t feel so empty now, but she was tired for sure. It was little relief that he felt bad about what happened. Tonight had blown up in their faces. She only hoped that the others would understand why they were being punished.

  There was a scraping sound at her door. She got up and opened it only to find Oscar. He must have followed his master but was choosing to stay with her. She let him in. He sniffed around her bed before she picked him up and put him on top of it.

  “You know he’s going to come back in here,” she told him. Oscar curled up next to her and lay his head down. “And I take it that you don’t care.”

  Despite the fact that he was a dog, she was glad for his company. For one thing, he would listen. For another, he couldn’t talk back or scold her. It would be nice to spill her feelings to something that didn’t have an opinion. Master Fabian would ramble about how he was doing it for her own good, but she didn’t want to hear it. True or not, she wanted to get away from him.

  “I know I messed up, Oscar. We all did,” she began, pulling her knees up to her chest. “But I’m not mad about that. I just hate the fact that everything is moving fast. One minute, I’m thinking about cheerleading and painting by the Eiffel Tower. The next, someone’s telling me that I’m supposed to take care of the world, which I have to be the one who protects the living and the dead. That’s more than I bargained for. What happened to being nervous about starting college and dating guys?”

  Oscar rolled over on his back, and she scratched his belly. “Yeah, I don’t know what to do. I want to go home and start all over. I’m not even sure I want to be a demon anymore. After that plane crash and everyone blaming us for it? None of this is fun.”

  She envied Oscar as she continued to pat him. Being a dog had some perks. He didn’t have to worry about this brewing war between humans and demons. All he had to do was eat, run, and play. He didn’t need to worry about punishments, unless he tracked mud inside or chewed up the drapes. Even then, his punishment was usually putting him in his bed or no extra treats. It didn’t mean he was kept from vacations or a real life.

  “What I wouldn’t give to be in your place right now.” She sighed. “I wish I could go home.”

  Oscar got up and ran out of the room. Feeling tired and depressed, she decided to get into bed and try to sleep. Hopefully, the dog and Fabian would not come back in here again. She wanted to sleep and forget about this night. She wanted to forget that she was a guardian.

  “I wish I never came here. I wish I wasn’t a demon,” she murmured as she closed her eyes. “I wish this place never existed.”

  I wish this place would disappear from my life.

  Chapter 10

  Fabian had failed to talk with Kaska, but he wasn’t worried as he knew they would get a chance later on. As it turned out, he wasn’t the only one who had missed his chance. The others had no luck trying to talk to their protégés either. Both of them had fallen asleep before Adair or Gideon could speak to them. Whether it was because they were exhausted or angry, they would never know. But the one who couldn’t sleep at all was Yuka. She had tried to get into bed several times but sleep wasn’t coming. She looked over at where Sebastian had neatly piled up his books and things. This made her frown.

  “He even packs perfect?” She wrinkled her nose and kicked a stack of books over. They fell into a pile with a soft thud that made her feel worse. Why couldn’t they collapse into a mess like books wer
e supposed to do? It made her sick to know that he was so neat and organized and she was a slob underneath it all. “There is no way I have a part of his soul, unless it’s the messed up part that they gave to me.”

  It did feel that way to Yuka. Sebastian had almost no flaws that could have been passed down to her. And she had so many. There was no way they could be in the same line. Grim Reaper Linn had to be mistaken. He had to have meant someone else. Giving up, she sat down on her bed and looked up at all the trophies that Master Sebastian had placed in her room. He had so many of them that they didn’t fit in his house and room combined. Some had to be moved over to hers, which she didn’t mind because it was motivation for her. If Master Sebastian could have so many awards, why couldn’t she? She was as capable as he was at getting things. She had a piece of his soul inside of her. All she had to do was work hard.

  She took one more glance at those trophies and groaned. It would take a million years before she managed to impress her master or anyone else. The only thing she could do that he couldn’t was dance, and she wasn’t even great at that! She took lessons but still had a lot to learn. It would be a while before she got enough trophies to fill her room. How in the hell would she ever become like Master Sebastian, who was an A student, Olympic swimming hopeful, and a damn good Reaper’s Apprentice? No doubt he would be a great successor to Grim Reaper Linn.

  But what about me? she wanted to know, looking out the window. The night was quiet, and no one else was outside. How much time had passed since they came home? Why didn’t she feel like sleeping? What was she doing wrong and how could she fix this? All the questions were in her head, and no answers were coming out.

  “Yuka? Are you awake?” Sebastian knocked on Yuka’s bedroom door. She was a little startled but quickly composed herself. There was no need in pretending. Now was a good of time as any to talk about what happened.

  “Yes, I’m still awake,” she begrudgingly offered.

  “Can I come in? I was hoping we could talk for a little bit. We don’t even have to talk about tonight if you don’t want.”

  “I…I guess so.” She turned away as he opened the door. She knew if he looked at her, he’d ask questions. “I didn’t think you had anything else to say. But you can come in if you want to.”

  He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. It was then that she noticed his hands. They were a lot bigger than hers, and his fingers were quite long. He didn’t have those stubby toe-like thumbs that she had. No wonder he was able to fight off all those demon slayers. He was older and stronger and could intimidate them. Why would anyone be intimidated by her, a short thirteen-year-old with stubby fingers and an inability to punch hard? Sure, she would get stronger as time went on, but she wasn’t capable of it now. No wonder they were all angry.

  At least the other girls don’t hate me, she thought, finding some relief in this. It was all her fault, but they didn’t hate her for it. If anything, they had her back. At the moment, Master Sebastian’s back was turned to her. She slowly approached him and tried talking to him. He had given her an alternative option, but the night’s activities were digging away at her mind.

  “Do you think we can talk about the incident? I know you said it’s okay not to, but I can’t help it. It’s all I’ve got on my mind. Then you told me about the bombing, and I finally caught up with that news. I had no idea it was so bad,” she began. “I know you probably don’t want to go into it but--”

  “I was very disappointed in you tonight,” he admitted, finally looking at her. There was a look in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before. She wasn’t sure if it was sadness or anger, but she never wanted to see it again. “This is one situation demons are not supposed to be in. The only reason I let those demon slayers go is because you invaded their territory and went after them, not the other way around. I told you not to approach demon slayers, and you disobeyed me! You left. And for what? To see what the other side is like? To learn what a demon slayer would do to you?”

  She swallowed. “I know. I…I really shouldn’t have…”

  “You could have been killed back there! Those were skilled demon killers, and you are damn lucky that you caught them in a moment they weren’t armed!” He went on, raising his voice, “And worst part is that all of you were involved in this! All of you decided to risk your lives and for what? Just to see how far you could go? Do you know what would have happened if we hadn’t showed up?!”

  Yuka wanted to cry but stopped herself. There was no use in crying over this since she knew she was to blame. She tried to hold in her sobs and keep her composure. So far, she had been doing a cruddy job of everything else. At the very least, she could try and act like everything would be fine. The one thing she never wanted to do was have him or any of her predecessors mad at her.

  “I understand what I did wrong, Master. I’m sorry. I just…I just wanted to see what they were about. See if I couldn’t figure out what they were up to. I wanted to do what you guys do when you’re chasing after them.”

  “But that’s a different situation, Yuka.” He lowered his voice when he realized that he had frightened her as she had turned away from him now. “There’s more to being a Reaper’s Apprentice than chasing demon slayers. And you most certainly don’t go after them when they have done nothing to you. They’re humans and should be treated like other humans when they aren’t in your way. You leave them alone, and they’ll do the same. There’s no reason to scare anyone like you did tonight. I felt the worst. Believe me when I say that there is nothing more frightening than coming home and seeing your successor missing.”

  “I scared you, huh?” She turned around at last, no longer shaking. It was tiny moments like this that she knew he was like her; he might have been more powerful, but he got scared too. He worried about her as much as her parents did. She understood that. Right now, he was in charge of her safety. He had to set the rules for them. He had to be the guardian while her mother and father weren’t around.

  “Oh yeah. I freaked out when I couldn’t find you.” He held out his hand, and she slowly took it. Neither one seemed afraid of the other now. “You’ll see what I mean when you’ve got to look after your successors later. “ He chuckled at that. “You know, I think I gave Grim Reaper Linn a lot of trouble when I first came here. She still complains about the times I tormented her.”

  “You did?” she asked. “What did you do?”

  “You name it, the four of us did it. Although I don’t think I ever thought to chase after demon slayers. They were usually chasing after me. I’m amazed we managed to escape them every single time!” He laughed. Then he became serious again, narrowing his eyes. “I hope you understand why I was worried. When we were getting chased, we were older, and we had a lot of experience dealing with them. You just learned the truth and have barely started training. Much as I hate to say it, you wouldn’t be a match for them if they caught you. I encourage your curiosity, but I don’t want you dead because of it either. You understand what I mean?”

  “I guess so.” She felt relieved now. So Master Sebastian wasn’t always perfect, and they got into some trouble as well. “Now that I think about it, I deserve that punishment. It was a little too close for us back there. But the demon slayers also need to watch their backs now.”

  “How come?”

  “Because when I’m older and I learn all the other powers, no one will be able to stop me!” she exclaimed, taking her pillow from the bed and throwing it at him. “Pillow fight!”

  “Hey, I’m unprepared for this!” Sebastian exclaimed, taking the pillow and throwing it back. “That doesn’t count, Yuka! You don’t mess with your master!”

  “You just don’t like losing!” She reached out and touched his arm. “Tag, you’re it!”

  “Wait, what the hell are we doing now? I didn’t know we were playing!”

  “Well, now you do!”

  “Yuka! That’s not fair!”

  They began running around the room and laug
hing until Sebastian finally landed on his knees, and she dropped down on her bed. It felt good to have fun with him again. It felt like the old times when she first came to Tartarus Sanctum. No worries about being a guardian. No anxiety. No responsibilities. For a few minutes, it felt like they were friends and not master and apprentice. Sebastian got back on the bed and started to pant and slow down his laughter. This was the perfect opportunity to ask him all the questions she had.

  “Master?”

  Sebastian calmed down and looked at her, no longer angry. He sat up and ran a hand through his copper-colored hair. “Yeah?”

  “Being a Grim Reaper means you are immortal, right? You never have to die or get hurt again?”

  “Yeah, that’s more or less what it means. You’re immortal until you decide to go into the chamber. Then you get to sleep there for ten days until your body disintegrates and becomes dust.” He saw her cringe at the word ‘chamber’ and tried to calm her down. “Relax, you don’t feel anything during that process. You’re asleep, and you know absolutely nothing. Not to mention, I’m not going into the chamber after I become a Grim Reaper, Yuka. Don’t worry about that part.”