Haunted Death

Strobe lights danced around the room, illuminating patrons for the briefest of moments. The only ones in the entire building that could be seen clearly were those on the stage. Six of them; three women and three men. They were Honteddokira, an up and coming band that was quickly growing in popularity.

At the front of the stage were the lead singers; Furawa Shinouta and Senshi Buraddo. Furawa had coal black hair that was let loose around her voluptuous body. She had a melancholic look in her light blue eyes.

Senshi's blonde hair was cut shaggy and had streaks of black and white through it. It had been pushed out of his face so that his emerald eyes could be seen clearly. He seemed to be having fun, despite the dark song that they sang.

Shinokuro cradled his guitar to his body with his legs spread wide. His hair had been dyed a dark purple and fell to his shoulders. He would occasionally wink at one of the women in the audience with his almost black eyes.

Utsukushi had extremely long, wavy platinum blonde hair. her eyes were crystal blue and her skin seemed to be kissed by the sun. She held a truly mischievous grin on her face as her fingers plucked expertly at her guitar strings.

Heiwana Yoru had her eyes closed and her dark red hair was pulled back into a ponytail to show extremely pointed ears, which were obviously due to aesthetics. her body swayed with the music as her fingers danced over the piano keys.

Kuro held a somber expression as he beat his drums slowly. His hair was so black that it appeared to be tinted with red in the light, even the goatee that adorned his chin. He had his pupiless eyes shut as he lost himself in the music.

Furawa stepped back and Senshi took the microphone from its stand and began singing by himself. His voice was deep and carried a tone that fit well with the meaning of their band name; Haunted Death.

"I walk in the shadows

Avoiding the windows

There is no hope for me

Can't you see?"

Furawa stepped back up and began to sing with him. Their voices together held their audience captive, as if they had a hold of their hearts and wouldn't let go.

"The darkness is poison

Not an illusion

We embrace it fully

They call us unholy

No need for a savior

To right our behavior

Give us a devil

Envelop us in evil!"

The music slowly came to an end and all the lights shut off, only to come back on without the band on the stage any longer. They had gone backstage and were leaning against opposing walls. Senshi was grinning broadly as he took a drink of his bottled water. "That was great! Did you see how everyone couldn't stop watching us? At this rate, we'll be famous in no time." He finished the bottle of water and tossed it into a nearby trash bin. Furawa just rolled her dark red eyes. As soon as she had left the stage, she took out the contact lenses that had turned her eyes blue.

“Fame isn’t the reason we originally started this band, we started this band to start a trend among our people, to show that we can all get along, as the six of us have almost from birth,” Furawa told him, her tone sharp with disapproval of his words.

“Yeah, I know that. But, if we get famous then more people will see that, right?” he turned his grinning face towards her and for a quick moment Senshi’s eyes flashed a brilliant amber gold. Kuro stepped forward at that moment, between the two of them. He glanced between them, turning his head in their direction so that they knew he was looking at them.

“Stop it, both of you. It was a good show, that’s all that matters. Hopefully, a few who needed to see it, saw it and will tell others about it. Don’t forget, we’re going against the grain by doing this and they will come for us in an attempt to stop us,” he told them.

“Kuro’s right, guys. We have to be prepared for that, especially since we’re giving out secrets that we’re not supposed to, even if we’re the only ones who realize that that is what we’re doing. Those of our people will realize and they will not be happy. And you two are going to really get it since you’re the ones who thought of this idea, and are the ones singing the lyrics. They will pit all the blame on you and go after you guys first, and then the four of us,” said Heiwana as she placed a hand on Furawa’s shoulder.

Senshi scowled and slumped his shoulders, “You guys are such a buzzkill, my gods. Can’t let a guy bask in his glory, can you?” he muttered. He walked away from them, towards his room, so that he could rest in there.

Shinokuro, who had been quiet up until that point, suddenly burst out laughing, causing the others to give him a strange look. Though, honestly, they should all be used to it by now. He did that quite often.

“Go do your thing, Shino. You’re being weird again. We all know that means you need to feed,” Utsukushi said as she stepped away from him. She didn’t want to be the one he fed on. She was pretty sure neither of the other girls did either. She’d been on the receiving end of one of his kind before, and while it had been amazing, she’d been so drained afterwards that it far outweighed the good.

The man smiled and mock saluted her before he walked off to go find a willing participant. Though, it wouldn’t technically be willing. The woman would think that she was only getting sex, when in actuality she would be giving Shinokuro her energy and life force, in other words, part of her soul. He was, after all, an Incubus. Just as Utsukushi was a dragon, Furawa was a vampire, Senshi a werewolf, Kuro was a reaper, and Heiwana was an elf. Most of their fans thought their strange physical attributes were fake, but in reality they weren’t. It was all natural.

Kuro’s hand went to his head and he furrowed his eyebrows. “I have to go, I have an assignment,” he told the others with a sigh. A moment later, he wore a black robe that showed nothing of his body, save the bottom half of his face since the upper half was shadowed over by his hood. He had a large black scythe attached to his back. The scythe handle was as long as his body and the blade was half as long. It had skulls hanging from the top of it and red runes adorned the steel.

The reaper slowly faded from sight, and into sight in front of a large skeletal being that sat upon a throne made of obsidian. Death looked down at Kuro, or seemed to, seeing as he didn’t have any eye sockets. He brought a bony hand up to finger the necklace of animal skulls that hung around his neck before speaking.

“Blood Reaper Kuro, it has been brought to my attention that you have begun a musical group with others not of your kind. What do you have to say for yourself on this matter?” His voice was spoken aloud, but in Kuro’s head. Death didn’t speak, for if he did, it would bring about the end of the world, it was said.

Kuro raised his head and took a deep breath, “You are correct, Sire. I believe that we should get along, and we all feel the same. We thought that this would be a good way to show the others of our kind that it is possible for those of different races to co-exist, while doing something that we’re all good at and enjoy.”

“And why do you want the races to co-exist?”

“Because, if we are a unified front, not much would be able to rattle us. Perhaps eventually, we would be able to even co-exist peacefully with humans without having to hide what we are. However, I do not think that will be possible for Reapers, as death is something almost all humans have an innate fear of, and they will see us as bad omens. They will think that seeing us means that their death is imminent and there will be mass panic. So, I do not believe that Reapers should come out of hiding. We are meant to live in the shadows, and I think that is where we shall stay.”

Death nodded at his words, “I approve of your thought process on this matter. You have my support in this. Also, there was one other thing. Your last assignment put you at your 10,000th soul collected in one century. That means you are up for a promotion to the top rank of reaper, a Death Reaper. The ceremony will be held in two night’s time. Do arrive on time.” Kuro’s eyes widened, he hadn’t even realized it had gotten to that many already. To be made into a Death Reaper at his young age was almost unheard of.

There five ranks among the reapers. The first and lowliest were the Grim Reapers. They took the souls of humans that had lead a corrupt and evil life. Next, were the Black Reapers, which took the souls of those humans that had lead a relatively good life. Then there were the Grave Reapers which took the souls of children and anyone who had a pure soul, meaning that had never committed any type of sin in their lifetime. Blood Reapers took the souls of warriors, most especially warriors that gave their lives for their comrades. The thing with the first four ranks were that they were only allowed to take human souls. Death Reapers were the ones who took the souls of all the other races, including gods.

Kuro bowed low and then knelt on the ground, in the customary subservience to their master. “I am honored to accept such a privilege. I will be here in two days to receive the rank.” He wasn’t sure how his friends would react to his promotion, but he was seriously hoping they would be happy for him. He was jumping for joy internally.

“You are dismissed, Death Reaper Kuro Batoru.” Kuro stood at his words and slowly vanished once more. He once again reappeared near his band mates. They all five jumped at almost the same time.

“My gods Kuro, warn us before you do that!” Heiwana crossed her arms and glared at him. She blinked after a moment, “What happened? I think that’s the closest to smiling I’ve ever seen you come.”

“I am being promoted to a Death Reaper in two days time,” Kuro said, he watched their expressions and saw them go from shock to happiness and then ultimately to fear. They were going to be scared of him. He supposed it made sense. After all, he now had the power to take their souls from them if he so wished. He would have thought that they knew him well enough to know by now that he wasn’t that type of person. He never did anything out of anger. Hell, he rarely got angry. Whenever he took a soul, it was by order only. The only one who didn’t seem afraid at all was his best friend, Utsukushi. She grinned and walked over to him, giving him a hug.

“That’s amazing! Congratulations Kuro!” She kissed him on the cheek and glanced back at the other two girls. Senshi was still moping in his room, and Shino hadn’t come back yet. “What’s with those face? Come on guys, we’ve known Kuro since we were this high.” she held her hand out flat at about mid-thigh. “You guys know as well as I do that Kuro won’t do anything to us on the rare chance that he gets angry. So wipe those expressions off your face.” she turned towards them fully and placed her hands on her hips. Her fine brows were furrowed and her eyes flashed with anger and indignation at them.

Kuro stared down at her, his eyes slightly wide. She...he wasn’t sure how he was feeling about Utsu right now. He’d never seen her get angry that fast. It was why they were such good friends. Neither of them were fast to anger.

Heiwana bit her lip and walked over to Kuro after a moment and then smiled. “I’m happy for you, honestly I am Kuro. I’m sorry, I guess it’s just a gut reaction to fear the Death Reapers. We’ve all been told horror stories about them...about you. I never thought I’d be friends with one. You know what? I think this is going to be awesome. Who’s going to fuck with us now?”

Furawa glanced at the three of them and sat down. She wasn’t going to go over there, because well, that would be crowded. “I guess you two are right. Who’s gonna tell the other boys? Not that it matters, they won’t care. They’re going to think it’s awesome right off the bat too. And why am I worried? I don’t have a soul!” she laughed at something that wasn’t really funny. They all knew that Fura hated being a vampire. She hadn’t been turned like so many others had. She was what they called a Noble vampire. One that was born from two other Nobles. While most vampires didn’t have souls, Noble vampires did, because they were living creatures. They didn’t have the same weaknesses as those that were Turned did. They could go out in the sunlight , they could wear silver and crosses, and churches didn’t bother them at all. The reason that all of that bothered Turned vampires was because they didn’t have souls. Since Nobles did, it didn’t matter at all.

Heiwana raised her arms above her head and linked her fingers together and stretched, arching her back much like that of a cat. Her dark red hair was still in its usual ponytail. As she brought her arms down she removed the hair tie that held it back and the wavy tendrils fell down around her shoulders all the way to her elbows. She smiled at the three others in the room, “All right, I think we should all go to bed. We can tell Shino and Senshi the amazing news about Kuro in the morning. We probably won’t see them tonight anyways.