James Thanatos pulled up to a crumbling structure on the edge of Scarlettville, the quiet town sitting far behind him now. The late September moon cast a pale light over the trees and overgrowth, illuminating the weathered house just off the road. It stood crooked in the woods, rotting where it had been left, the kind of place time didn’t bother with anymore.

  He stared at it for a moment, then shifted his small, beat-up car into park. Gripping the wheel, he caught his tired, aging face in the rearview mirror and let out a sigh. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he then reached over to the passenger seat where he grabbed his fall jacket and slipped it on. His phone lit up in his hand with a soft glow, displaying a single notification:

  Jonathan Reeds – 506 Clyburn Road @ 3:00 AM.

  He stepped out of the car and made his way around to the driveway. A light, crisp breeze stirred the air. Leaves crunched under his boots, their sound sharp in the stillness, broken only by the occasional creak of the swaying trees nearby.

  At the front steps, he climbed onto the patio and leaned toward the stained glass window on the door. Just a blur of color and shadows. Nothing useful. He moved to the window on the right and pressed his face against the cold glass. Up close, the place looked even worse than he suspected. The walls inside sagged, their paint peeling in long strips. The ceiling drooped in places, warped by water damage. Dust clung to every surface he could make out. Then something shifted.

  Down a hallway near the back of the house, a soft light flickered across the far wall. It moved slowly. A flashlight. James stepped back from the window, annoyed. Tonight’s assignment just got more complicated. He wasn’t alone.

  “Great…” he muttered under his breath, “...just great.”

  Crouching low, James crept along the right side of the house, scanning for another way in. One that wouldn’t get him caught. His assignment depended on it. He paused when he spotted a ground floor window left slightly open. Perfect. Rising to his feet, he gripped the bottom edge of the frame and eased it open, careful not to make a sound. A rusted metal bucket sat nearby against the wall. He dragged it over, stepped up, and hoisted himself through. He landed softly on the old wooden floor inside, wincing at the creaks beneath his boots.

  The room smelled of mildew and stale air. Dust floated in the moonlight that spilled through the window behind him. It was the kitchen. As his eyes adjusted, James stood still and listened. Somewhere deeper inside the house, where the light had come from, he could hear faint muttering. More than one voice.

  He frowned. What the hell would a group of people be doing here at this hour? He edged toward the kitchen doorway, hoping to get a better listen. But as he moved, his hip bumped into a nearby table. A plate slipped off and shattered on the floor. The sound cut through the silence like a gunshot. Screams echoed from the other room.

  James froze. He then backed into the darkest corner of the kitchen, pressing himself against the wall. His heart pounded in his chest. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid…’ he thought, shutting his eyes tight. When he opened them again, the flashlight’s glow had reached the wall outside of the kitchen. The voices had gone quiet, replaced by low inaudible whispers. They were getting closer.

  ‘Alright, James…’ he thought. ‘Think of a cover story. Just… think of a cover story.’

  Light flooded the room as a flashlight swung around the corner, blinding him. James shielded his eyes with his arm, and as his eyes adjusted he noticed standing behind the beam was a young man, his hand shaking as he held the light. More faint outlines appeared behind him, a group huddled together in fear.

  “Uh… hi,” James said, casual but tense.

  The group immediately screamed, and the flashlight clattered to the floor. It rolled toward James who quickly picked it up and aimed it back at the group. Four people. Two guys. Two girls. All young adults. The one in front, clearly their leader, stammered, “Wh-Who are you?!”

  James hesitated, then realized the balance of power had shifted in his favor. He cleared his throat and tried to play it cool. “Name’s James. I’m a, uh… contractor for this-”

  “Are you a ghost?!” the guy yelped, cutting him off.

  James blinked. “What? No,” he blurted, caught off-guard. “I said I’m the contrac- A ghost? Seriously?!”

  One of the girls peeked her head out from behind the others. “What’s a contractor doing here in the middle of the night?”

  “I should be asking what a bunch of kids like you are doing at a run-down place like this, also in the middle of the night,” replied James.

  “We’re ghost hunters,” the group’s leader said, dead serious.

  James stared at him, completely unamused. “Ghost hunters? …Really?”

  “Yeah,” the guy admitted, puffing up a little. “We’re kind of famous. Over a thousand followers on Instagram.” He held up his phone to show James, even though it was too far to see anything. “We film ourselves catching ghosts on camera.”

  The leader then gestured to the other guy, who was holding up a phone and recording everything.

  “I’m on video?” James asked, voice tight.

  “You still didn’t answer my question,” the girl cut in. “If you’re really a contractor, why are you here this late, and why did you come through the kitchen window of all things?”

  James quickly pivoted. “I was actually just coming home to Scarlettville from a very important business trip over in Syllica. This place was on the way, and since I’ve been assigned to fix it up, I figured I’d stop by and get a look at what I’ve gotten myself into.”

  “Still doesn’t explain why you came in through the window,” the girl said, folding her arms.

  James shrugged, trying to sound innocent. “Lost my keys.”

  “The door was unlocked,” the second girl said quietly from the side. “That’s how we got in.”

  The guy with the camera chuckled and elbowed the leader. “Dude, this is gonna make such good content. ‘Guy breaks into haunted house at 3AM, Caught on Camera!’, just picture the thumbnail.”

  James snapped. “Alright, that’s enough.” He walked past them, ignoring their instinctive flinch as they backed up in unison. Stepping out of the kitchen and into the front entrance, he turned to face them again. “I think you should all leave.”

  “No way, man,” the leader protested. “We were here first!”

  “Look,” James snapped. “This is private property, and you’re trespassing. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m sure there’s a whole list of creepy old abandoned buildings or ruins scattered around the outskirts of this town. Go explore one of those.”

  He pointed toward the door. “This one’s mine, and I don’t need a bunch of kids making my job any harder than it already has to be.”

  “Well, we’re not leaving without Jonathan!” the more outspoken girl blurted out.

  James again blinked, this time surprised. “Jonathan?”

  “Yeah, where is Jonathan again?” the leader said, glancing around. “He said he was going to check upstairs, right?”

  “Upstairs?” James repeated, confused. “This house didn’t look big enough to have a second floor from the outside?”

  “I was with him before he went up,” the quiet girl spoke up. “There’s a staircase at the back of the hallway. I think it leads to an attic.”

  “You didn’t go with him?” James questioned.

  Her demeanor shifted in an instant. “He practically begged me to go with him so we could be alone. So no, I didn’t.”

  There was a pause. James narrowed his eyes. “...Wait a minute.” He pulled out his phone. The same notification glowed on the screen reading Jonathan’s name. He looked up at the group in the awkward silence before slowly slipping the phone back into his pants pocket, putting on a nervous smile. “I’m, uh… sure he’ll be fine.”

  “Why wouldn’t he be?” the outspoken girl asked, her suspicion sharpening.

  “No reason at all,” James tried to play it cool. “You said he went up some stairs back there? I’ll go grab him for you guys. Just stay here and I’ll-”

  A loud creak came from the ceiling above them, cutting him off.

  “Oh look,” James sighed. “That must be him.”

  He turned and started walking toward the hallway that led deeper into the house.

  “What about us?!” the leader called out.

  James didn't stop. “Exactly, what about you?” he muttered under his breath.

  At the end of the hall, James pulled out his phone and switched on the flashlight. The beam lit up a narrow staircase, just like the quiet girl described. It led to a cramped crawlspace in the wall, ending with a metal trapdoor set into the ceiling. “Who the hell designed this place?” he said to himself. “Of course everything has to be a roadblock, of course.”

  He climbed the staircase and knelt in the crawlspace, grabbing the handle and giving it a pull.

  Locked. Typical.

  Frustrated, James shouted over his shoulder, “None of you mentioned there was a trap door! Did you see him close it behind himself?”

  “I… didn’t stick around to watch him go up,” the quiet girl called back.

  “Great. Helpful,” James muttered, giving the door one last useless tug before letting out a grunt and climbing back down to return to the group who, to his surprise, had managed to shuffle out of the kitchen and now stood awkwardly in the front entrance.

  “So this Jonathan guy,” James said, raising a brow. “I guess he’s known to be the type to lock doors behind him?”

  Another creak echoed above them, louder this time. Dust sifted down from the ceiling.

  “...That’s gotta be him, right?” James murmured.

  The guy with the camera raised his phone toward the ceiling. “Hey Jonathan! Can you hear us at all?! What’s going on up there?!”

  No response. The creaking grew louder. Angrier.

  Small bits of debris began to fall. James and the group instinctively stepped back. The leader moved up beside James, staring at the ceiling. “The hell is he doing up there? Jon, you okay?!”

  Still nothing. The creaking quickly turned to rumbling. More dust, bigger chunks of debris. The entire ceiling started to buckle. Then someone screamed. One of the girls pointed forward at a dark liquid that had started dripping down, slow at first, but quickly forming into a small red pool on the floor. The dripping then turned to a steady pour.

  “That- Is that blood?!” she cried.

  “Everybody, back!” James ordered, arms out as he guided the group toward the kitchen by walking backwards.

  They stumbled away just as the ceiling gave in with a deafening crash. A gaping hole tore open above them, sending debris flying across the room, and through it fell the mutilated and disfigured corpse of Jonathan Reeds, landing with a sickening thud in the center of the floor.

  The group stood frozen and silent, staring in horror.

  James looked at the body, frowning. Not horrified, but confused. He glanced back at the group and saw their faces. Then he looked at the body again. Right. They were looking at the mangled corpse of their friend. He turned back, eyes wide and teeth clenched in an awkward grimace before muttering to himself.

  “Ah, shit…”

  “Oh my God, Jonathan!” screamed the outspoken girl, hands clamped over her mouth. The house erupted with sobs and frantic breathing, drowning out the silence that had filled it moments before. Even the camera guy had stopped recording, its screen casting a glow that illuminated the blood splattered across the dusty floor.

  James moved quickly, his boots crunching over debris as he guided the stunned group back toward the kitchen. “Alright, back, back, back…” he repeated. “Everyone back into the kitchen, everyone in here. You don’t need to see that.”

  They retreated, clustering together like startled animals, pale-faced and shaking. “Oh god, oh my god, ohh…” The leader dropped to his knees, gripping his head as reality sank in. “Jonathan’s dead. He’s… he’s…”

  “Look, I’m sorry, alright? Really.” James interrupted, trying desperately to steer control back into his corner. “But this house is falling apart and you all need to get the hell out of here. I don’t want you going back in there, so you should all crawl out the window I came in through and-”

  “Wh-what happened to him? Why was he…” stammered the quiet girl, eyes wide and brimming with tears.

  “I… I have no idea, actually,” James said, realizing that what happened to Jonathan was not just an accidental fall through the floor. “Look, I’ll investigate and figure out what’s-”

  The leader regained composure and looked up at James “...w-was it you? Who did this?”

  James froze, eyes wide. “What?! Me?! Why would I-”

  The camera guy stepped forward, backing up his friend. “Y-Yeah, you’re just some stranger who’s here in the middle of the night… and then… then this happens…”

  “Oh my god, you are like… some serial killer, aren’t you?!” shrieked the outspoken girl, backing up further.

  “What?! No!” James shouted. “Hey, just-Just calm down, alright? I’m here because I’m a-”

  “A contractor, right?!” she snapped. “How the hell does that make any sense?!”

  “L-Like I said, I was-” James began, exasperated, but the leader cut him off sharply.

  “Prove it!” shouted the leader. “Prove you’re a contractor!”

  James looked at him, confused. “How the hell does one prove that they’re a contractor?!”

  The camera guy shakily stood up and, in an uncharacteristic act of bravery, said “I-I’m going to call the police.” He started toward the kitchen entrance to retrieve his phone, but James rushed over and blocked his path.

  “N-No, no, no,” James pleaded. “You don’t have to do that. L-Look… I’m not a contractor, okay? You guys happy? You got me! Not a contractor!”

  The camera guy backed up towards the rest of his friends. The entire group stared at James. The mood had turned. Whatever trust they had with him was now gone.

  The leader’s voice shook. “You really did kill Jonathan, didn’t you?”

  “No!” exclaimed James. “I didn’t kill anyone, that’s not why I’m here!”

  “Who are you then?” the quiet one said.

  “I can’t tell you,” James said, putting his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry, I just can’t. I know it doesn’t make any sense and sounds sketchy as hell, but you just have to trust me.”

  “How can we trust you?!” she snapped back. “Our friend is… now dead… and we have to trust you? Let Henry have his phone!”

  “Okay, camera guy is named Henry!” James said, awkwardly trying to break the tension. “That’s good, we’re getting somewhere! Henry, please listen to me, I-”

  Henry ignored James and walked to the entrance of the kitchen, picking up his phone while trying to avoid Jonathan’s body across the room. He returned to his friends and began dialing.

  “Okay, Okay! Look… I,” James rubbed his face. “I can prove who I am, but… PLEASE do not get scared or take this the wrong way. Promise me that after what I’m about to do, when we all walk away from here, you make sure I was never a part of this!”

  “W-What do you mean?” said the leader.

  “Okay…” said James, bracing himself. “...Okay…”

  James slowly lifted his right hand in the air above his head and in one quick motion snapped his fingers. In an instant, a full-sized scythe appeared out of thin air and into the palm of his hand. The entire group let out a scream at the sudden appearance of the scythe and backed away from James even more.

  “Y-You’re a-” the leader trembled.

  “I know,” said James in a calm demeanor, trying not to startle the group any more than he already had. “It’s a lot to take in. Look. I’m a Grim Reap-”

  “You’re a wizard!” exclaimed the leader in fear, cutting him off.

  “Wha-no, I’m a Grim Reaper,” said James in a more serious and confused tone, lowering his scythe to his side. “The hell do you mean wizard? Where did you get that from this?!”

  “How did you do that?!” the outspoken girl screamed.

  “Like I said, it’s hard for me to explain,” James muttered. “This is my scythe. It’s my tool. I can make it appear with the snap of my fingers, and yes, Reapers are real, and yes, the reason I’m here is because of that in there.” James pointed his scythe at the entrance to the kitchen towards the other room with Jonathan’s body.

  “S-So you knew this was going to happen?” said the quiet one. “You knew Jonathan was going to die?!”

  “Well, in my defence I thought he was already dead,” said James, speaking without thought. “...I guess I showed up too early…”

  “Wh-what told you this was going to h-happen?” the leader cowered.

  “Jonathan was my assignment. Look-” James said, quickly reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone to reveal to the group the notification that read Jonathan’s name. “I had no idea you guys were going to be here, I thought I was just going to come in here alone, do my job, and then leave. That’s usually how these things go!”

  “Wh-what are you going to do to him?” Henry stuttered.

  “Who? Jonathan?” questioned James. “I’m a Grim Reaper, what do you think? I’m going to reap his soul and take it to… uh…”

  “Heaven?” the outspoken girl said.

  “No,” James snapped. “Well… kind of- no. No. Nope, we’re not talking about this! Like I said, I don’t want any of you kids saying anything about me once this is all over with. The less you know the better. Now, please… PLEASE just sit here and let me do my job. I’ll do my best to find out what happened to your friend so you can have closure, or something. Just sit here for now where it’s safe and… I don’t know, grief I guess. It’s healthy.”

  James sighed as the group remained huddled, staring at him with the same look of untrust. Giving up, he exited the kitchen and walked into the living room where Jonathan’s corpse fell to the ground. Moving some small bits of debris out of the way and trying his best to not inhale the dust, he then knelt down beside the disfigured body and began to observe it. James raised an eyebrow at how unnatural the body looked. There were no visible scars or cuts, but instead blood seemed to pour out of the holes of Jonathan’s face. It was as if everything inside of him was consumed and poured out through his orifices. Being a Grim Reaper, James was used to the sight of bodies, and while the sight of the dead never got easier, he at least learned to tolerate it. However, the more he observed this corpse the more it unsettled him. This wasn’t a natural death. Something did this to him. Somewhere…

  About to finally do the job that brought him here in the first place, he reached out towards the body only to hear the sound of a footstep behind him. Startled, he quickly turned around and saw the quieter girl standing in the doorway looking back at him.

  “Hey!” he exclaimed. “I told you to stay in the kitchen with the others, you don’t need to see this!”

  “P-Prove it.” she said, clearly still shaken up.

  “What?” said James, not expecting defiance to come from her of all people. “Prove what?”

  “Prove that you’re a Reaper,” she firmly replied. “...T-Then I’ll trust you.”

  “...Kid I don’t know if you were paying attention in that kitchen but I did snap a scythe into existence out of thin air-” James said sarcastically before being cut off.

  “I know about the s-scythe thing, but…” she muttered. “...You said you’re going to reap Jonathan’s… soul. Prove that…”

  “I really don’t-” James started before looking down and sighing. “You shouldn’t be involved in any of this. The stuff I do, it’s not something you people should know about. I really think you should go back with your friends-”

  “I don’t know you,” she continued. “I can’t trust you. Our friend just died in front of us and… and…”

  The girl’s expression quickly went from defiant to fearful as she glanced past James mid-sentence to see Jonathan’s body lying behind him. Her voice started to tremble. James looked behind him, picking up on this, and moved to cover her view of Jonathan.

  “Alright, I get it…” James said in a calmer tone. “Just… please keep this a secret, um… you have a name?”

  “M-Monica…” she said, barely above a whisper.

  James exhaled, tired. “Just… Keep this between us, okay? Monica?”

  Monica nodded and James turned around to view the body. He calmly hovered the palm of his right hand over Jonathan’s chest and closed his eyes, trying to focus. Monica could hear him mutter to himself, “Please still be there…”

  Then out of nowhere, a pale light began to emerge from the corpse. Dim at first, but quickly growing in intensity to the point where the whole area began to cast shadows from the light that formed. At its peak, the light suddenly collapsed into the shape of a glowing pale blue orb that sat in James’ hand. Monica stood speechless, and couldn't believe what she was witnessing.

  “Oh thank god,” James said to himself. “... Hello Jonathan, my name is James Thanatos. I am your personal Grim Reaper. I’m not sure what happened to you exactly, but I want to let you know that you’re safe now. Everything is okay.”

  “T-That’s Jonathan?” Monica stammered. “C-Can he… hear us?”

  “I’m not actually sure,” James said, face turning puzzled. “I always just talk to them in case they can. Although I guess it makes it pretty awkward at times if they can’t.”

  James then closed his hand that contained Jonathan’s soul, and the light appears to absorb into James directly, travelling upwards into his arm until it fades away. The two sat there in silent for a minute, before James stood up and turned around to Monica.

  “Like I said,” he calmly said to her. “I’m a Grim Reaper. Jonathan’s going to be okay.”

  Monica began to cry, all of this was too much for her to process. James stood there stiff, not sure how to address her tears. He reached out his hand, but held back and left her there crying as he awkwardly glanced around the room.

  “I-I don’t even know what to say to this-” she breathed.

  “You don’t have to say anything,” James said, trying to verbally comfort her. “You should probably head back with the others.”

  “Wh-what happened to him exactly?” she said, looking back at the body. “Why does he look like that?!”

  “...yeah,” said James scratching the back of his head. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

  He then turned his gaze to the hole in the ceiling Jonathan’s body fell out of. Taking out his phone and shining his flashlight upwards, he tried to get a better view of what was above them. Nothing. Just pitch black, even with the light. “You said all he did was walk upstairs to check out what was up there, right?”

  He turned his head back to Monica and she nodded.

  “Then…” James said, returning his gaze to the hole. “Whatever did this, might still be up there.”

  He nods his head towards the kitchen, gesturing to Monica to go back with him. They return to see the group of friends trying to comfort each other. James noticed that Henry had his phone open.

  “I… I called the police,” he stuttered. “They said they’re on their way.”

  James closed his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh, poorly hiding it from the others. “Great, just what we needed…” he said, rubbing his eyes with his hand. “Look, Jonathan is going to be okay. I will make sure he stays safe, and I strongly recommend you all now get the hell out of here and-”

  “How can you stand there and say that!” the outspoken girl shouted in anger. “His body dropped from the ceiling covered in blood! He’s-”

  “H-He’s telling the truth, Ariel.” Monica interrupted.

  The group, now even more confused, turned their attention to Monica and stared in disbelief.

  “I saw him uh,” she struggled to find the right words to say. “Reap a soul? I guess? God, I don’t know, I…”

  “Wh-what did he do exactly?” questioned the leader.

  “I reaped Jonathan’s soul.” James replied with a serious face. “It’s now my job to take him somewhere safe. Technically my job is done. I WAS hoping to get a chance to find out what happened to your friend by investigating what’s upstairs, but with the police on the way I gotta get out of here.”

  James sternly eyed Henry. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

  “I’m sure as hell not letting any of you go out there,” James said to the group, snapping his finger with the same hand that held his scythe, causing it to immediately vanish. “So what we’re all going to do as one big group is head out the window and I’ll be on my way. You’re free to stick around on the front porch of the building to wait for the cops. C’mon, let’s go Monica, Henry, Ariel, and uh… what was your name again?”

  “G-Gary.” the leader said.

  “Nice to put a name to the face Gary,” James replied with a sly smile. “Let’s go-”

  James walked past Gary to come face-to-face with a wall where the window to the kitchen once was. It was gone? James took a step back and a mix of panic and confusion washed over his face. “Wh-what?” he muttered to himself.

  “What the hell happened to the window?!” Ariel shouted, the group began to panic and huddle back together again, with the exception of Monica who stood by James’ side.

  “Ohhh…” James whimpered. “You just can’t give me a break, can you? What now…”

  “What’s happening?” Monica said, beginning to also panic.

  “Nothing, nothing just…” James hastily replied, voice trembling. “Okay, well. No, this isn’t nothing. This is quite something. There was a window here, how does a window just stop existing?!”

  Henry stood up from the group and ran out of the kitchen in a panic before screaming from the other room. “Oh my god, everything’s gone! The windows, the door!”

  James quickly followed him and used his flashlight to look around the entrance and living room of the house. Henry was right. The front door and windows all disappeared, replaced with flat solid surfaces.

  “Okay…” James said to himself, trying to make sense of things. “This is new… this is new, this is… oh god…”

  The rest of the group quickly followed into the room. Seeing this, James quick on his feet pulled the curtains off of the frame that was once the living room window and used them to cover Jonathan’s corpse.

  “What kind of sick joke is this?!” Ariel screamed.

  “Okay, Okay!” James pleaded. “Nobody panic! Clearly something is going on here. Something is messing with us… I think…”

  “You think?!” she snapped back. “What the hell does that mean?! Who would, HOW would anyone do this kind of thing!? I want to go home!”

  “I know, I know…” said James, getting slightly annoyed at her shouting. “I have ideas… I don’t like any of them, but they’re ideas. If true then we could be in a lot of troub-”

  Suddenly Gary let out a high pitched scream and quickly embraced Henry, pointing at the hole in the ceiling above them. “I saw something move up there!”

  James quickly pointed his flashlight up at the hole. Again, just pitch black. “What did it look like?”

  “I-I don’t know,” Gary stuttered. “It was just like, a shadow that moved from one end to the other! Something’s up there!”

  James kept trying to get a better look but nothing would show. He let out a frustrated sigh before stepping back and now setting his attention on the hallway back that led to the staircase with the trapdoor. “I’m going up there.”

  “A-Are you sure?” said Monica.

  “No, but whatever is doing this, that’s our way up.” he replied to her, trying to hide that he was glad someone in the group seemed competent and asked the right questions. “I’m going to try and pry the trapdoor open with my scythe. I’ll need someone to keep my light steady. Monica?”

  “I-I guess…” she said, her trust slowly regaining towards James.

  “Wh-what about us?!” Gary exclaimed.

  “Look, Gary…” James walked over and calmly put his hand on his shoulder. “You’re clearly the leader of your friend group, right?”

  “I-I guess?” he replied, confused.

  “That’s great!” exclaimed James. “That’s why I like you, Gary!”

  “Y-You do?” he replied, even more confused.

  “I do! You seem like the type who can keep these people safe. Can you do that for me, Gary?” James leaned in, trying his best to put on a charismatic face.

  “I guess I could-” Gary muttered.

  “Perfect!” James exclaimed. “Now c’mon Monica, I got a hatch to bust.”

  James snapped the scythe back into his hand and nodded for Monica to follow. She hesitated, glancing back at her friends who were still frozen in fear, still reeling. A dozen reasons to stay flashed through her head. Still, she followed anyway. They moved quietly down the hallway, James sweeping his flashlight across each doorway they passed. Bedroom. Bathroom. Another bedroom. Nothing useful.

  At the end of the hall, he turned to the right and froze. The stairs were gone. “Great, of course…” he muttered, jaw tight.

  Monica quickly spun around in fear, her heart skipping a beat. The hallway behind them was gone too. Solid wall. No trace of where they came from. They were sealed in. “Hey!” she screamed, beginning to slam her fists against the wall. “G-Gary?! Ariel?! Help! We’re trapped!”

  James rushed over, gently pulling her away from the wall as she sobbed, her fists still clenched from pounding it. He pressed his ear to the surface, knocking a few times. Completely solid. Muttering under his breath, he continued to tap. Shifting positions from one spot to another like that would change anything.

  “Y’know, I expected this assignment to take 5 minutes tops,” he said, annoyed. “I should be just getting home by now. Cracking open a nice cheap can of mediocre beer, binge watching whatever junk is being streamed on whatever platform is all the rage these days but…” He slowly backed away from the wall and stood next to Monica, defeated. “...Here we are.”

  “I…I just want to go home,” Monica whimpered. “I can’t do this, I-I can’t…”

  “Hey,” James placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Don’t give up. If I’ve learned anything from my job, that's the last thing you do. You give up, you die here. Simple as that.”

  He paused for a moment before adding, “I know it’s scary. And yeah, pressing forward feels like walking into a trap. But at least it’s not a guaranteed death like sitting here and, I don’t know, dehydrating in… a wall… maze…”

  Monica shoved his hand off of his shoulder in frustration, “I don’t even know who you are! Why did I even trust you?!” James backed away, not offended, just tired.

  “Trust me, Monica,” he said, eyeing the corridor ahead. “I’m your best bet. I didn’t ask to babysit a bunch of panicked kids playing ‘ghost hunt’ tonight, but here I am. Doing it.”

  Monica continued to glare at him.

  “Look,” he said, quieter now. “You are currently trapped in a paranormal house with a guy who could literally be classified as paranormal. I get your worldview’s in shambles, but I’ll get you out of this. I promise.”

  Monica let out a shaky breath and gave a small nod, brushing the tears in her eyes. They started down the rest of the hallway together, passing the same peeling doors and sagging trim as before. Another bedroom. Another bathroom. Then again, and again. The walls felt like they were looping, the same rooms repeating over and over. Until they didn’t.

  One doorway finally gave way to something new. A playroom. Or what was left of one. Dusty toys lay scattered across the cracked floorboards. Shelves lined the walls, each crammed with porcelain dolls, their blank glass eyes fixed forward like sentries. James lingered in the doorway, studying it, then stepped inside while giving Monica a quiet nod to follow.

  “This is different,” he said, taking in the surroundings. “It’s like whatever is doing this wants to creep us out. I get luring us away, wolves do that to dogs, but actively tormenting us into fear? That’s… something else…”

  “Wh-what exactly are we dealing with?” Monica trembled.

  “I would tell you but,” James slowly said, inspecting the room for anything out of the ordinary. “Well, to be honest I don’t really know. I have an idea but you’re traumatized enough as it is, the last thing I want is to make it worse and- Oh here we go!”

  Opening a closet door, James finds it to be empty, with a small iron trapdoor built into the floor. It was identical to the one on the ceiling. Same markings, same build.

  “This is the same trapdoor as before,” he said, kneeling down. “It even has the same patterns and everything. Except now it’s on the floor… interesting.”

  He tugged on the handle of the door but just like before, it was locked. “Can you hold this for me?” he said, handing his phone to Monica with the flashlight still on. “Keep it steady.”

  “O-Okay…” said Monica, taking the light and shining it down. Using his scythe, James began shoving it into the cracks around the outer frame in an attempt to pry it open.

  “C’mon…” he muttered. “Any day now…”

  Monica nervously looked behind her and around the room. It was just pitch black apart from the faint outline of the dolls staring at her and making her uncomfortable. “I feel like I’d be less scared if I knew what the hell was happening…” she said.

  “Like I said,” James grunted, still prying at the door. “It’s a lot.”

  “Well try me,” she said. “I’m currently trapped in a shapeshifting house, apparently with a Grim Reaper. How could it possibly be any worse?”

  “You know the way you worded that makes me sound like one of the bad things?” James sarcastically replied, trying to lighten the mood. “Besides, I feel like you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “I said try me.” Monica replied, sounding a bit more confident this time.

  James turned back and looked at her, before being slightly blinded by the flashlight. “Okay, okay.” he said, taking a pause from trying to open the door. “Picture the universe as a sort of bubble,” he said, using his hands to gesture. “Now, picture that bubble sitting in a Realm that exists outside of it. Then picture that there’s an infinite amount of realms that exist alongside that realm and that every realm is inhabited by beings who don’t follow the laws of physics and things you come to appreciate inside of the universe. Now picture that these beings find out about the universe’s existence. They really like what they see, and now they covet it. So they sneak their way inside to try and make it their own. It’s rare, but it’s something I’ve experienced several times in my-”

  He was then caught off guard by Monica who was now just blankly staring at him with the biggest look of confusion one could possibly have on their face.

  “See,” he said, annoyed, turning back to prying the door open. “This is what I told you would happen and why I didn’t want to say it, what’s the point…”

  “I… okay…” Monica stuttered, trying to process everything. “...but why would something want anything to do with us in a random shack in the woods?”

  “Yeah…” James pondered. “That’s the piece of the puzzle I’m still trying to work out.”

  After a moment of prying some more, the hatch finally flew open causing James to fall backwards. Monica let out a small involuntary chuckle, a brief distraction from the horror. James got back up while rolling his eyes. Peering down the trapdoor, was a ladder that led into darkness. Gesturing to get his flashlight back, Monica returned it and he pointed it down. Nothing. “Well,” he sighed. “Whatever’s doing this clearly loves theatrics. Let’s play along.”

  James grasped the bars of the metal ladder and begins climbing down with Monica following. What seemed like forever, they continued to climb down into the void until James suddenly lost his grip and dropped his phone. “No!” he shouted, as he looked down and saw the light fall for quite some time before making a thud and shattering, turning off the light. “...Man this just isn’t my night.”

  “What are we going to do?!” Monica panicked, the two of them now suspended in darkness.

  “What do you mean?” James said with a puzzled tone. “We keep climbing down?”

  “But we can’t see anything, what if I slip?!” she exclaimed.

  “Millions of years of evolution led to you having a good sense of touch,” he muttered. “Maybe use it?”

  “Oh my god,” Monica whined. “The Grim Reaper is an asshole.”

  “Yep,” James scoffed while climbing down. “My specialty.”

  Completely blind, the two continued to climb down until James finally felt the ground beneath his feet. “Careful.” he warned Monica as he reached down to feel for his phone. Picking it up, he could tell the screen was shattered. Reaching for the power button, he soon found there was no longer a power button. “Okay, I’m tired of this now. HEY!” he screamed into the dark. “If your whole goal was to show us fourth-dimensional manipulation then color me impressed, great job!”

  Monica reached the bottom of the ladder, hearing the echoes of James’ slow claps in the wide open darkness.

  “Now if I could just make one small request,” James continued. “Can you please hurry up and actually get to the point?! I’m a busy guy, places to be! Bodies to rea-”

  James was then cut off by a sudden lightbulb turning on by itself, illuminating the room and revealing that they appeared to be in some sort of attic. James rolled his eyes. “Wow, we went down to go up, very cool.”

  “We’re in the attic?” questioned Monica, trying to adjust her eyes to the brightness. “But we were going down!”

  “Monica, please…” James pleaded. “We saw the walls transform around us on a whim, a creepy doll room appearing out of nothing, and an unrealistically long ladder going down into a void. I feel like now being in the attic should not be that much of a surpr-”

  “Where’s the hole?” Monica interrupted.

  James looked behind him. She was right. The hole Jonathan fell through, it didn’t exist. Was this even the attic after all?

  “Okay!” he shouted into thin air. “Again, please can we speed this up! Can you tell me what it is you’re trying to accomplish?! We’re here! You got us trapped! What’s next? You’re going to kill us with boredo-”

  “J-J-James…” Monica said sheepishly, trembling in fear.

  “You know,” James said, turning towards her. “I would appreciate things not cutting me off so muc-”

  James then stopped himself, seeing Monica shaking and pointing at the far wall of the attic. He turned to look where she was pointing only to see a dark shadowy mass appearing on the wall, defying the faint light that illuminated the attic. Stepping back and shielding Monica from it, he raises an eyebrow in suspicion.

  “It’s about time you show yourself.” he scolded.

  The shape remained still, its edges appearing to struggle with keeping a consistent shape. Eventually, it began to take a very rough outline of a humanoid body without arms and legs, and in the shape of the head two gaps appeared as long pointed eyes, and a wide grimacing smile soon followed. It stared at them, making no sound until a faint distorted and otherworldly voice could be heard coming from the shadow itself.

  “...REA…PER…” it muttered.

  James continued to shield Monica. “Yes, that’s me.”

  “...REA…PER…” it continued.

  “... Yes,” James said, patience thinning. “That is me.”

  “...I… HAVE… COME FROM… BEYOND…” it said, struggling to speak.

  “I kind of figured with the whole shape shifting house stuff,” replied James. “What’s all this about? Trapping us? Murdering an innocent kid?”

  “...THE CHILD… WAS NECESSARY…”

  “What do you mean?” questioned James.

  “...TO BRING… YOU TO ME… HE WAS… REQUIRED…”

  James took a moment to process what he was being told, until it clicked in his head.

  “Right…” he realized. “Something like yourself, being from outside. You’d have to require some form of energy to manipulate the house to this degree. Energy that exists within this world… the energy being that kid’s life essence, I’m guessing?”

  “...CORRECT…” it boldly stated.

  James internally patted himself on the back for making the right guess, but quickly remembered that this was not the right time to inflate his ego. “But why?” He continued. “Why go through the effort of doing all of this?”

  “...TO SHOW… YOU OUR… POWER”

  “Our?” James questioned. “So there’s more of you?”

  “...IN TIME… REAPER…”

  “...You know, you’re really not making this easy for me.” James snarkily replied.

  “J-James…” Monica stammered.

  “It’s okay, Monica” he said, back still turned to her.

  “...WE APPROACH… MANY…” the shadow continued.

  “What exactly are you? What is we?” replied James.

  “...A MESSENGER…” it said. “...OUR CUSTOM… TO WARN THOSE… WE SEEK TO CHALLENGE…”

  “Challenge? What do you mean, challenge? What for?” James continued to question.

  “...REALMS… WE BLEED THEM… THIS ONE… WE CRAVE…” it replied.

  “J-James I… I…” Monica continued to stutter.

  “Monica, it’s fine.” James said, back still turned. “I got this.”

  He glared at the figure on the wall. “So tell me Mr. Shadow, why me? I’m not exactly the one in charge of this realm. It’s controlled by beings much greater than myself, trust me.”

  “WE DO NOT CARE FOR ITS CREATOR.” the shadow proclaimed. “WE HAVE WAITED... IN SHADOWS... WATCHING... YOU ARE THE THREAT.”

  “...What?” James said, genuinely confused. “How the hell am I the threat? I’m just some guy!”

  “IF WHAT YOU THINK IS TRUE, THEN WE HAVE ALREADY WON.”

  James continued glaring at the shadow. Fear began to sweep over him, but in his mind he knew he had to remain stoic. “Well if all of this was simply meant as a warning, I consider myself warned. By the way, glad to see you finally started to get a grasp on the whole speaking thin-”

  He was then cut off by the sound of a gurgling gasp behind him. Quickly turning around, to his horror, James witnessed Monica choking on her own blood, as streams of it poured out of her body. With her hands around her throat, she let out one desperate “Ja-” before collapsing to the floor in a loud echoing thud.

  “Monica!” James shouted, ignoring the shadow and quickly kneeling down beside her. Her body began convulsing, as more and more blood began to pour out of her. After a moment, her entire body went limp as the life was drained out of her. “M-Monica… oh god… no…” James said, glancing over her whole body.

  “SHE WAS REQUIRED.” the shadow said.

  James, now looking up at the shadow in a look of rage, blurted out “She was required?! What the hell was she needed for?!”

  “TO BETTER UNDERSTAND MY WORDS OF WARNING, REAPER.” the shadow replied, its tone of voice not changing at all. “ THE PREVIOUS VICTIM WAS USED TO MANIPULATE THE WORLD AROUND YOU... AFTER, I BECAME WEAK.”

  “I…” James stuttered, realizing that he was responsible for bringing Monica along with him. “Oh god, shit…”

  “TO BE BETTER RECEIVED… I EXTRACTED THE NEW CHILD.” the shadow muttered.

  James looked back at Monica, tears in his eyes. “I told her… I told her I’d get her out of this…”

  “AS MESSENGER… IT MUST BE AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE.”

  James said nothing, still staring at Monica’s lifeless and disfigured corpse. It was hopeless. She was gone.

  “DO YOU RECEIVE MY WARNING CLEARLY, REAPER?” the shadow continued.

  “Oh my god,” James lashed out of anger. “Will you just shut up? I understand! Okay?! Get the hell out of here!”

  “SO BE IT, REAPER.” the shadow said as it slowly faded away from the wall, disappearing as if it was never there. It echoed one final warning, “IN TIME…”

  James sat frozen in silence, staring down at Monica’s lifeless body. His eyes burned, vision blurred by small tears forming in his eyes that he angrily wiped away. Guilt churned in his chest, thick and suffocating. Monica wasn’t on his list. She wasn’t supposed to die. Not here, not tonight, and especially not because of him.

  A sudden sharp pop from above plunged the attic into darkness again, startling him out of his thoughts. “Oh… perfect,” he whimpered, slouching over.

  Slowly, his vision adjusted, revealing a soft blue glow seeping through the attic. Confused, James turned to notice the hole in the floor had reappeared. The same hole Jonathan’s body had fallen through. Early morning sunlight poured in from the windows below, now restored.

  “The windows are back!” came a distant, relieved voice from below. James barely registered it. He glanced back at Monica, a deep ache settling in his chest. He knew what needed to be done.

  Gently, he placed his palm over Monica’s chest, closing his eyes and breathing deep as he felt her soul slowly gather beneath his hand. A familiar feeling, but this time almost unbearable. His voice trembled quietly in the silence. “Monica… I really do hope you can hear me because I am so sorry, I didn’t… I never wanted any of this to happen.”

  He caught himself and regained his composure, taking another deep breath. “Monica, I am James Thanatos and I will be your personal Grim Reaper. I will take you somewhere safe.”

  James carefully closed his fingers around the small orb of light, absorbing it gently into himself. The warmth traveled slowly up his arm before fading entirely. He sat for a moment trying to clear his head before turning toward the hole in the attic floor.

  Moving quietly, he lowered himself down in the living room below, carefully stepping around Jonathan’s covered corpse and the surrounding debris.

  The group of friends screamed at the sudden appearance of him and, like always, huddled into the exact same shape. “H-How’d you come from there?!” Gary stuttered. “You and Monica went down the hallway and then… the hallway closed behind you guys and we thought you were dead!”

  James didn’t say anything and just gave them a look of despair. None of them knew what happened above.

  “Wait, where’s Monica?” Ariel questioned, looking for her. “Monica?!”

  James continued to be silent. The faint sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. The police Henry called were finally on the way, as if time itself barely progressed at all while everything was happening. Glancing down the back hallway, James noticed at the far back there was a back door to the house that he could leave through.

  “Is that… blood?” Henry said, staring at James’ hand.

  Looking down, James realized some of Monica’s blood had gotten on him. He rolled his eyes in a look of distress, he just couldn’t catch a break. Slowly, he began walking towards the back door. “I-I have to go.” he muttered softly.

  “Where’s Monica?!” Ariel screamed. “Oh my god… Y-You… Did you kill her?”

  “What?!” James exclaimed, turning around and staring her down. “Me?! Why the hell would I do that!”

  “Where is she!?” Gary said, backing her up.

  “She… she…” James calmed down, realizing the devastating news he had to deliver. “She didn’t make it…”

  Ariel screamed, “Oh my god!”, and Gary, shocked by what he just heard, began to gasp and sob. Henry just looked at James, eyes widened and in fear. “Oh my god…” he muttered. “...it was you, wasn’t it?”

  “No!” James defended. “It wasn’t me! We were led into a trap, she… she…”

  “You moved the walls, the same way you made that thing appear in your hand out of nothing!” Henry continued. “You lured her away from us, and you have her blood on you!”

  “That’s not what happened!” James said. “God, can you kids actually be smart for once? Why the hell would I have anything to do with this! You think I wanted this?! You think I wanted-”

  James trailed off as he noticed all three friends standing shoulder-to-shoulder, glaring at him with accusing eyes. It didn’t matter what he said. They had already decided what he was. Sirens pierced the silence, growing louder. Through the windows, James saw red and blue flashes tearing through the trees, rapidly closing in. His pulse quickened as he stepped back, trying one last time, voice cracking, “I… I didn’t…”

  But it was pointless.

  He turned sharply, quickly pacing toward the back door. Bursting through it, he sprinted into the woods. Branches clawed at his jacket and leaves crunched loudly beneath his boots. He ran blindly, chest tight, lungs burning, until the house and its accusing faces disappeared behind him.

  Finally, out of breath and heart hammering, he collapsed against the rough bark of a nearby tree, gasping for air. Anger surged through him, hot and sharp, overwhelming the exhaustion. He raised a trembling hand, snapping his fingers to summon his scythe.

  With a shout that echoed through the forest, James swung his scythe into the tree. Once, twice, again and again, each strike followed by a frustrated grunt. Splinters scattered, leaves fell, and his hands whitened around the handle until his fury finally drained away, leaving him numb and trembling.

  He sank to the cold hard ground, scythe slipping from his grasp, and stared upward at the pale morning sky. Red and orange leaves drifted softly around him, a stark contrast to his swirling thoughts. He watched the final remaining stars in the sky slowly begin to disappear until an unusually bright one caught his eye. ‘Venus’ he thought to himself while focusing on it to distract himself, anything to anchor him.

  “Focus James…” he whispered shakily. “Just… focus…”

  Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. His heartbeat slowed and the rustling of the leaves gradually faded, replaced by a calm silence. And there, in that forest just outside of Scarlettville, after a night to be remembered for the rest of his life, James Thanatos released his hold on reality and returned to the Afterlife.

  - End of Chapter One -