———

The bus drove north, away from the loud and busy part of the town. Through the outskirts, dull trees with fallen out leaves lined the road on both sides together with the gloomy sky, grayish in color almost black and the foggy outsides, no doubt she's in another side of the town. The darker part.

Today's the seminar Mister Ravi wanted her to attend. She forced herself to get up and catch the bus. As much as she hated getting up and spending her supposedly day off in a boring seminar, she hated socializing too. She wasn't certain about the reason of her indifference but the Reapers tend to be too intense and blistering for her sake. Well she had enough of that since she's been with Sadako for quite long. She barely can even stand her.

"Reapers be ready, bababa na tayo in a few minutes."

Ilang sandali, tumigil ang bus at sunod-sunod nagsibabaan ang kapwa niya Reapers. Fine dust particle suspended in the air to the extent of dimming the whole place was the first thing she noticed. Tenebrous and obscure. Malayong-malayo ito sa town na kinagisnan niya. The town maybe dark but this place was just... darker, she guess.

"Line up. We'll do the head count."

Head count?

Ano to elementary?

Nagsimula ng pumila nang maayos ang mga kasama niya, kaya umayos at pumila na rin siya.

"Council?" Dinig niyang bulong ng isang babaeng Reaper. Probably 4 feet, ginger haired with visible freckles on the face.

"Sa likod lang ng malaking border na 'yan ang Council," sagot ng babaeng katabi nito. May katangkaran ito kaya halos mabali na ang leeg nito kakayuko sa babaeng kausap.

"I've never been there before."

"Sure you haven't. Wala pang ordinaryong Reaper ang nakakapasok sa Council. Only the board members."

The border was indeed right there, infront of them. It was massive almost like The Great Wall except for the exquisite baroque design. The combination of concave and convex forms made the wall seemed undulate and artistic. The details were flawless and breathtaking.

"Alam mo ba kung bakit hanggang ngayon wala pang nakakakita sa mga board members?"

The ginger haired girl whispered, "I heard is not that they don't want to but, their faces are hideous. It's deformed with nasty scars and burnt skin."

"Talaga? But why?"

"There were rumors back then, they say, they actually fell from hell and their faces was burnt there."

Actually, that kinda make sense. Hindi pa siya nakakakita na kahit isang board member in flesh. Maybe once, but they're always in their black velvet cloak. You can't vividly see their faces behind those thick garments.

"At isa pa the Council couldn't get out of the town. Basically they are jailed here."

Jailed?

The girl in irish-ish accent with her red hair and stuff shrugged.

"Kung tayong mga ordinaryong Reaper malaki na ang kasalan, paano pa sila?"

Ang isang Reaper ay may sariling kontrata. Kalakip sa kontratang iyon ang oras o taong nakalaan kung kailan matatapos ang pagsisilbi mo sa town, depende kung gaano kabigat ang kasalanang nagawa mo bago ka pumanaw. Some spent years, 20 years, 50, a hundred.

Ngunit kung sakaling totoo ang mga pinagsasabi ng mga babaeng 'to na ang board members ay hindi na kailanman makakaalis sa town.

That's sad.

"No private talks please."

It was their facilitator. Blond hair pulled into a tight bun, huge spectacles and a grumpy face— the usual Reaper look.

"LCG72?"

She nodded.

Pagkatapos ng head count, pumasok sila sa loob ng magarbong gusali. The gigantic hall welcomed them. The curving patterns on the wall tend to appear wavy with a strong sense of motion. This is just beautiful.

Ang laki lang ng pagkakaiba nito sa town. The town was modernized with all the towering buildings, LED screens and noise pollutions. While here, it's as if she's in another era.

Pumasok sila sa isang silid. The room didn't disappoint her either, it's also as enormous and elegant as the hall. Mahogany chairs, spacious stage and a huge LED monitor screen infront. This hall kinda modenized though.

"Reapers help yourselves and take a seat."

She sat on the second row of the chairs provided. Sitting 3-4 seats apart wasn't a problem at all because the sound system's real and it's as if the room was really meant for this kind of gatherings.

"Good day, Reapers! I'm Miss Gwen, your facilitator for today's event."

Yes she's the blond girl doing the head count a while ago. There were three of them infront, Miss Gwen Masters of accommodations. She reviewed their knowledge about ghost accommodations and proper ghost fetching. Miss Nora, she's a brunette, tackled about the Principle's of a Grim Reaper. Basically the values taught when they were still in the academy. And Mister Vlad, hair in clean cut, blue eyes and grumpy— the usual. He's the driver.

She doesn't even know why he's in front actually.

"Any questions before we proceed?"

Miss Gwen just finished her lessons about Ghost fetching. She discussed the things that they already knew for five years in the academy.

Alam niya na lahat nang mga pinagsasabi nila, but the thing is she couldn't apply it in the Human Realm. When she's in the actual scene it's as if she's filled with a lot of stuff like sympathy, mercy, compassion. End game, she couldn't fetch the ghost.

"Yes Miss..."

"Calli," The girl in black knitted cardigan paused a beat. "Possible bang makaramdam ng awa ang isang Grim Reaper sa kaluluwang susunduin nila? Perhaps, are Reapers  capable or even allowed of that feeling? Isa kasi ito sa main factor kung bakit palaging behind the quota ang isang Reaper."

That was her question! Please answer it!

"Well..." Miss Nora slightly fixed her specs and squinted her eyes for a bit.

"Mercy, compassion, sympathy. These words are quite similar to each other. If you will combine these, it'll be only forming a single word: Humane."

"To answer your question Calli, I think yes. Grim Reaper or not we once lived as humans— that's a fact. Dahil dito mahirap maialis sa atin ang nakasanayan nating gawin. Katulad ng awa, aruga o pagtulong sa kapwa, na kahit pumanaw na tayo ay dala-dala pa rin natin iyon."

She nodded. Miss Nora's right. Maybe feeling sympathetic isn't a bad thing after all. The feeling is alive and burning inside them. It's not like they can do something about it.

"Ridiculous!"

It sounded like a loud growl from an angry an animal. Then he stepped in. Tall, broad shoulders, muscular in black tux and hair gelled perfectly.

"If that's your mindset, you shouldn't be a Grim Reaper in the first place," he continued.

"Mister Ravi!"

The three in front and the rest of the people inside the room were ready to give him a bow but he stopped them.

There's the chills again.

Chills, chills, chills— Geez.

"Pity? Naaawa kayo sa iba pero hindi kayo naaawa sa sarili ninyo? If you lose your job, matutulungan ba kayo ng awa?"

Napayuko silang lahat.

"Compassion, sympathy, mercy and pity. You should give that to yourself, not to a random soul, fellow Grim Reapers, not to anybody! In this walk— this journey you're all by yourselves."

Intense, burning eyes— She can't bear seeing those.

"Why do you think our memories are washed off?"

Silence.

"It was erased and buried because memories tend to trigger unwanted emotions. These emotions make us weak— Grim Reapers shouldn't be weak. Hindi dapat naaapektuhan ng emosiyon ang trabaho. Fetching souls shouldn't be taken personally. You shouldn't let your emotions have control over you.

You control your emotions."

--

She's exhausted.

It was an understatement. Honestly, higit pa sa exhaustion ang nararamdaman niya. Para siyang lantang gulay habang bumababa sa bus. The seminar drained all her energy.

Goodness!

Bakit pa kasi naisipan ni Director Ravi na pumunta?

Ravi scared the shit out of her!

He's sure was a scary beast.

Ang matang matatamlay ay nanlaki nang biglang tumunog ang iGrim niya. At first, she didn't mind it. She was too drained out to check unnecessary notifications probably from her work mates showing off, or perhaps another souls to fetch. But when she over heard a conversation nearby, her hands slowly moved its way to her iGrim to check something.

"Sky of ZICO Band is going to die!" rinig niyang sabi ng isang babaeng Reaper.

Mindlessly, her eyes dropped to the screen. There's nothing much in there. Daily news, editorials, articles, nothing really piques her interes—

Hold on.

Wait.

There.

100 Deaths
of the Month

Lyca held her iGrim between her hands, shaking her head, hot tears pricking the back of her eyes. Lyca squeezed her eyes, hoping that she was wrong. But when she opened her eyes, Lyca's lips parted as she saw Judge's name written on top of the list.

Without realising what she was doing, without even conscious decision she made her way to the Human realm. As soon as she arrived, empty, disheveled bed and Judge no where to be found welcomed her.

Where on earth is Judge?

Malakas at malamig ang hangin nang lumabas siya sa ospital. Base sa mga taong dumadaan na pawang nakasuot ng jacket.  Nanghihinang napaupo siya sa gilid.

Problematically, Lyca's eyes wandered around and drawn to a flicker of movement just behind a parked car. At first sight, she thought it was a statue of something but turned out to be a small black cat— badluck cat, more of a big kitten actually, with bright yellow eyes staring back at her. The cat was calm and casual, unbothered by the havoc of the world.

Naglakad palayo ang pusa at sumunod siya.

Good job Lyca, follow your badluck.

Naabutan niya ito sa malapitang poste habang dinidilaan nito ang katawan. With gentle hands she patted its head.

"Bakit nakikita mo ba ako?" Lyca chuckled when she saw the kitten responding to her touch as if the fury gal actually saw her. This cat must be a stray or perhaps, from a neighboring house or something.

"Meow!"

Such a cutie.

"Totoo bang malas ka?" She pouted. "Bakit, dahil maitim ka? Ang racist naman nila."

Lyca smiled but that curve didn't last long.

"Judge?"

Lean, tall,  shirt and jeans, hair swaying against the cold breeze. He's definitely there, standing on a bridge probably watching the mesmerizing view from its vantage point, only meters away from her.

Ilang sandali ay pumatong si Judge sa railings ng tulay. Naalarma siya at agad na tinakbo ang distansiya nila ni Judge.

Encircling her tiny arms to Judge's waist, she could hear his heart beat from behind.

She whispered... almost begging.

"Judge please... hold on."

###