Young Writers Society

While Taber kept his paws over his eyes long enough for Kirux to shove him into the building, Taber immediately lowered them on entering the dark space. It was a little disrespectful to break his promise like that, but Taber wanted to see Grim again. Besides, he could (sort of) cover his face with the jacket, so Grim wouldn't notice Taber's stare, and the people who really didn't need to see Grim had probably followed Taber's lead earlier and had covered their own eyes. The wolf felt a little guilty, but he had the feeling that everyone else would see Grim soon enough.

And, sure enough, the skeleton came into view. There was something surreal and impressive about how big he was, how he could move and talk so quietly, and how he could get Queenie back onto her feet (literally and otherwise).

It was almost enough for Taber not to notice when Kendrik whispered "s***!" and darted behind him.

"Ya know this thing?" the hound hissed.

Taber looked back at Kendrik, who'd gone back to pressing his paws over his eyes and was probably trying to convince himself he hadn't seen a giant skeleton. Kendrik didn't much like things that were new to him. "Yeah?" Taber whispered, "But he's a pretty cool guy, once you get to know him."

The moment it became apparent that almost everyone in the group had started peeking at the grim reaper, the giant skeleton vanished from sight.

Ryder stared.

Kirux did, too, for a minute, only to reach his hands out and wildly wave them through a spot of what looked like thin air. Nothing happened. Kirux looked like he was on the verge of tears - he didn't say/sign that it was all their fault, but it was clear that he was upset about only Meryl following his instructions and the grim reaper deciding to...do whatever had just happened.


Kirux gave up trying to catch Grim, instead frantically glancing around in the hopes that he was making eye contact with his friend. "Please don't go!" he begged. Taber was here, but he wanted Grim to be, too. And they had found each other first - back at the restaurant, and now here, too.

Grim had done this before. Kirux had seen him seemingly disappear into thin air. He had said it was because he was becoming like a ghost - impossible to hear, see or feel by people who couldn't interact with ghosts in those ways. Kirux couldn't do any of those, but he knew that Grim still had to be nearby. They were friends, and Grim never just left him.

"I won't go," Grim suddenly whispered into his ear, making his voice normal just for the sake of speaking. Kirux almost turned around, but realized that Grim was trying to be secretive. He was close enough for only Kirux to hear what was being said. "It's just better if I'm not here."

"But you are here," Kirux signed.

"Yeah," Grim replied. His voice was still as soft, but he was speaking into the other ear now. "I'll stay as a ghost for now, and talk to you and Taber if I have any ideas on what we need to do."

When the reaper vanished, Queenie jumped, I guess Briar really does deserve her nickname, she thought with an internal laugh.

The look on Kirux's face reminded her of the first time her dad had nearly been assassinated, the way his eyes welled up with tears and his face fell slack. Of course, Carlson had been faking, the blood splatter across his face was more inconvenient than anything in reality, the same didn't appear to be true for Kirux.

She was about to say something when Kirux signed something, but you are here. She chuckled, if that thing were to remind her more of her sister she might just have to shoot it. Invisible but not gone, really, it may as well have been the Reaper of Kroy's signature move.

"He's still here then?" she signed to Kirux with a smirk.

Taber's heart sunk when Grim vanished - had he disappeared because of Taber? Kendrik? Everyone? - but leaped back up again when Kirux started signing to something invisible.

"Grim?" Taber signed, following Kirux's eyes.

Meryl opened her eyes for the first time and saw Grim for the first time leaning over Kirux's shoulder and whispering. He...looked like the grim reaper. No wonder his name was Grim.

The others were looking at the air around Grim, and that made her realize he was a ghost. It wasn't surprising, given the building they were in. As she watched the conversation, she wished again that she had learned some.

She noticed Queenie was upright and looked fine. Good. "I'm glad you look better now," she said. "Is your injury healed?"

Queenie looked Meryl up and down, "No, I just haven't keeled over from the pain just yet," she said sarcastically, "And it wasn't that bad in the first place."

Ryder looked wildly around at the group gathered - it seemed like everyone but him had a better grasp of the situation than he did, save for Taber's friend. It did seem like the grim reaper hadn't truly left. Kirux had signed something to him, and everyone was staring around him.

He thought over his options for a moment, and then he approached Kirux. He reached a hand out to try touching the grim reaper; Meryl had been looking right behind Kirux, and Ryder knew that the only way just Kirux could hear the reaper speak was if he was right behind him.

But all he felt was air.

Cold air.

He drew his hand back, staring down at it as Kirux shook his head in denial to both Taber and Queenie's comments. That was...weird. He could have sworn that the grim reaper was standing there. He reached his hand out again. It was just as cold as before, and a chill emerged as he kept his hand lingering behind Kirux.

Kirux finally noticed what he was doing. He tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, a confused look flickering across his face as he looked Ryder over.

"I know he has to be standing right behind you," Ryder plainly said. Kirux froze, and Ryder kept his hand where it was. "He must have used an invisibility potion. I just have to find him."

Taber took a step forward, dragging Kendrik with him. The wolf reached out and grabbed Ryder by the shoulder. "Can you not?" Taber said, trying to ignore how cold Ryder's shoulder was. "It's a little rude, and we, uh, don't even know where he is" - not technically a lie, but he didn't like saying it - "And maybe we should leave him alone?"

Queenie laughed, "Yeah Ryder, you should know better than to mess with reapers. I mean, I come from a place where they don't exist and everything and I know better. The closest thing we have is The Reaper of Kroy, but I prefer to call her the idiot who leaves her murder-sketchbook lying around in the hidden compartment under her desk, like it isn't going to be found there, honestly."

Ryder didn't know what to make of half of what Queenie had just said, and was fully convinced that Taber had a good idea of where the giant skeleton had gone. But he knew that he was on the right track - he could feel it. The cold air had to mean something, even though he wasn't exactly sure what that something was.

Maybe the grim reaper acted like the ghosts of stories, making the temperature around him drop?

But he hadn't felt cold when he had healed Queenie near him earlier...

The cold suddenly disappeared, and he found that a tall, menacing skeleton had appeared beside him.

Ryder stared up at the grim reaper, and the grim reaper stared down at him.

It would have been a very ominous staring content if it wasn't for Kirux's sudden introduction - the boy, realizing his "friend" had appeared, threw his arms around the skeleton's shoulders and nearly toppled him to the ground.

Whoop - Grim had showed up a lot sooner than Taber had been expecting. Between Grim staring down Ryder, and Kirux hugging the skeleton, Taber needed no motivation at all to run up and wrap his arms around Grim too.

Kendrik let go of Taber as the wolf ran over to Grim. "What are ya doin'?" Kendrik yelled, getting onto his feet.

Taber ignored him; he was happy to see Grim again.

Queenie took a step back when the reaper reappeared and stifled a laugh when the others ran to give it a hug. She couldn't help imagining if the same happened to Briar, the carnage that would ensue in the wake of such an event.

She addressed the reaper, "So are you just showing off your magic tricks or what? Because I happen to remember that we've all been transported to another world and I'd really like to get home in time for my best friend's birthday, so if we could focus on that, that would be great, thanks."

The grim reaper hesitated for a moment before wrapping his skeletal arms around both Kirux and Taber, his gaze switching from Ryder to Queenie. Ryder didn't think it was the best idea to antagonize the grim reaper like that, but he also had a different kind of relationship with death than most. He wasn't truly worried about dealing with the grim reaper; it was why he was alright trying to find him earlier.

"I'm not," the grim reaper replied. He sounded almost embarrassed. "I was going to stay like that, but then he started putting his hand in me." He gestured over at Ryder with a nod of his head.

"Putting my...?" Ryder repeated, staring down at his hand before looking up at the grim reaper again.

"I became a ghost," the reaper clarified.

"...Oh," Ryder said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "That, um, explains the cold feeling, then."

As the reaper continued to look at Queenie - presumably to come up with a longer reply - Kirux showed no signs of wanting to let go of him. It threw him off a little to see someone so enthusiastic about death, but the grim reaper didn't seem like a bad person. He seemed like a nice one, although he was a little quiet.

"The f***?" Kendrik said, glaring up at the giant skeleton. Nope, he still couldn't handle that; the hound looked into the darkness, catching glimpses of those bones out of the corner of his eye. "What are ya? How in the f*** can anyone put a hand through ya? And why does Taber like ya?"

He could hear something hissing at the edge of his hearing, but the hound ignored it - this whole giant skeleton and "ghost" (whatever that was) thing was getting to him.

"I'm a god," the grim reaper finally said, wiggling free of Kirux after turning his attention to Taber's friend from within his cowl.

Ryder stared. The gods he knew of didn't work like that; they weren't skeletal creations. They couldn't utter a few words and cause people to heal - they were pure, elemental beings who just had the ability to look human. But he wasn't supposed to know the specifics of gods. Ryder was just supposed to accept that fact and be a little wary, not bowing down just like he didn't bow down to Notch.

"Not in the traditional sense," the grim reaper hurriedly added. "It's what people like me are called. I was created by people believing that I existed. Because I'm the grim reaper, I can act like a ghost-"

He stopped and leaned forward a little bit, almost like he was trying to get a better look at Taber's friend.

"Have we met before...?" the reaper asked. "I think I've seen you somewhere, but I don't know where..."