Slowly, and reluctantly, James emerged from under his bedsheets. It was early. Getting out of bed meant abandoning the warmth of his duvet. He sat up, dragged his feet off the bed and rubbed his eyes. He hated having to get up early, but in his occupation, not getting up early could be fatal. James stretched his arms above his head and yawned. He glanced over at his radio alarm clock. "Shit!" It hadn't gone off, and now he was an hour behind schedule. Letting his feet touch the floor, James stood up.

After making a cup of coffee James wandered through to the bathroom. He stopped in front of the mirror and sighed. James had the height of a man but none of the bulk. There were definitely muscles under his shirt, but not the kind you get from years of weight lifting. From behind he could be anywhere in his late twenties. But his face was all boy. He sighed, "I need a haircut." James turned around and stepped into the shower. His chestnut brown hair flopped over his eyes. Since he was running late, he wouldn't have time to wash it, so after a quick rinse he turned off the tap and stepped out of the shower. He was about to grab his towel when someone knocked on the bathroom door. "What the heck?"

"Um, I think you mean, who's there!?" There was a voice from the other side of the door. James froze. He knew that high pitched giggle. "Come on James, are you gonna let me in or what?" Before James had a chance to reply the door handle began to turn. He tried his best to cover up with his towel.
"Hold on," James grimaced, "I'm...I'm still naked." But it was no use. The door swung open and the girl walked in.
"Here, I brought you these." She held out a clean pair of jeans.
"Thanks...I guess." Slightly embarrassed, James grabbed them from her.
"Gosh don't be so dramatic, it's not like I haven't seen it before." The girl blew a kiss at James and disappeared into the bedroom.
"Seen what!? Jenny!" James looked down. His cheeks flushed red. He had accidentally dropped his towel, exposing himself to his female colleague.

Jennifer Adams was older than she appeared. Willowy and without a pronounced bust she was often mistaken for a thirteen year old, but in truth, she was closer to sixteen. Her long blonde hair and petite body figure meant she was considered "cute" by many people. She didn't want to be "cute", because fifteen years of "cute" was more than enough. Extroverted and attention seeking, Jenny got on everyone's nerves. Her quirky, bubbly attitude meant she stood out from most of the other reapers. Being unique was something James both admired and disliked about Jenny.

James emerged from his bedroom dressed in a clean pair of jeans and his signature charcoal black hoodie. The kitchen wasn't much to boast about. Coffee stained counter tops, curling linoleum and dirty dishes. James shrugged. He'd deal with that later. His thoughts were interrupted by the faint buzz of his dying smartphone. He dug it out of his back pocket and hit the answer button. It was Jennifer. "What do you want?"

Jenny cleared her throat. "I want you to hurry up, I'm already in the car." She giggled.
"How did you get in without a key!?" James hung up. That car was his child. He couldn't leave it alone with someone like Jennifer Adams. He grabbed his keys and rushed out of the door.

After several flights of stairs James had made it to the underground parking lot where he found Jenny sitting in his car. His car was old, and probably needed some repairs, but due to a lack of money, James had never seen it as a priority. He opened the car door and chucked his backpack on to the backseat. "Sit down and put your seatbelt on." He looked at Jenny who had somehow managed to drop every CD in the car on the floor. She smiled.
"What took you so long?"
"Shut up." James pulled his seatbelt across his chest and clicked it into place. "Right, let's roll."

James parked his car outside a small suburban apartment. The journey to work took longer than he had anticipated. He mostly blamed Jenny for his tardiness. Being late was unprofessional. "This looks like the place. I hope we didn't miss them." He grabbed his backpack and hopped out of the car. Being a reaper meant following three strict rules; Don't be late, work by the book, and never kill in anger. So far he had broken one of them.

"Gosh James...You could have at least opened the door for me." Jenny huffed. She stepped out of the car and skipped towards the house. Reaching into his pockets, James grabbed a small silver pen. Looking at it, you'd think it was just like any other writing utensil, but, this one was special.James clicked the pen three times allowing it to morph into a large, curved silver blade.
"Right, let's harvest some souls..."

Not long after Jenny had entered the house, James heard a loud crash. "Jenny!?" He ran towards the front door. "Are you okay?"
"I'm down here!" James looked down to see Jenny sitting in a pool of blood. Her clothes were slowly becoming a dark shade of red.
"Oh my God, what happened?"
"I tripped over this lady." Jennifer rolled on to her knees and stood up. "I wasn't expecting her to be dead already." She rubbed her nose leaving a red splotch just above her mouth.
"That's really weird..." James was right. The sole reason reapers exist is to collect the souls of those who are dying. So finding a dead body was a little unusual. "So where is her soul?"
"Gone..." Jennifer giggled. "I did, find a note though." She pointed at a small piece of paper taped to the woman's back.

"A note?" James bent down and picked it up. It was a message... for him.

~ ~ ~

To James

I took the liberty of doing your job for you, her soul is on its way to purgatory. You owe me...

P.s meet me at Rob's cafe on Riley Road