I was lost. I knew I was lost from the wrong directions I kept taking. It got so bad that I started to try to track down other dead people to get directions from, when I found myself at a park. Judging by how reapers normally guide them to the afterlife and they’re not out wandering the streets, I guess you could say I was shit out of luck.

Sitting down heavily on a park bench I took a look around at how my life was now compared to when I was alive. If experience taught me anything, it was that you can never fully prepare yourself for death.

Life and death are separated by different realms. The living resides in one and we reside in the other, intermixing only in passing – only when the job requires us to.

Although thinking on this, it has been proven possible for the dead to interact with the living via Ouija boards and possession – hey, that’s not a bad idea. I can possess someone, if only briefly so I can ask directions to get home! Sometimes I’m too smart for my own good.

With this idea firmly planted in my brain, I decided to test the waters of my plan; first I would need a host.

Looking around, my options were limited. I had the choice between a young mother - didn’t look more than eighteen – and her infant son who, looked to be about a year old. I don’t imagine that going over too well with Harry if he found out I attempted to possess a child. Ok, the mother?

Looking at the woman and watching her interact with her child, I decided my luck would be best sought somewhere else, so I walked off.

To be honest, the open air and gentle breeze felt beautiful. I could feel the wind blow against my face and tap me gently on the shoulder-oh fuck.

I stopped and closed my eyes, no, no, nooo. Please don’t be Harry, please don’t be Harry…I turn around cautiously, relaxing considerably. It was neither Harry, nor Zayn nor Colton. It was someone entirely different.

“Hey there beautiful, you look a bit lost.” He smiled, holding out his hand. “My name is Aurelian.” He greeted kindly.

I accepted his greeting, giving him my hand readily.

The thing about a wolf in sheep’s clothing is that you are completely unaware of it until one of them comes along and eats your flock. I sensed desperation in my actions – wanting so bad for this man in front of me to be good. So I gave him a chance and took his hand, watching as his suave motion mimicked a perfect gentleman, bringing my cold dead hand up to meet his surprisingly warm lips.

“A pleasure if there ever was one.” He chuckled, grasping his fingers securely within mine. “Little Bo Peep has lost his sheep, huh?”

I frowned; this guy made no sense. He seemed to read my mind and started to laugh.

“Colton Davenport has all us grave makers out looking for you and Harry Styles has about fifty or so more searching the general area as well. You are a very wanted reaper, Miss Calla Death.”

I stomped my foot. I knew he was too good to be true; no wonder the asshole knew I was lost.

“So, what’s the reward for bringing me back?” I asked, trying to twist my fingers from his hold.

“A thank you? I don’t know. We were given a command and we do what we’re told or there’s consequences,” Aurelian shrugged, smiling again, as if it would lighten the mood. “Unless you can give me more, then I might consider closing my eyes, turning my back and letting you disappear off into the horizon.”

I tried twisting my hand from his again before giving him a pointed look.

“Aurelian, I just want to go home and check up on my family. I want closure – surely you can understand, right? I was coming right ba-“ He interrupted me before I could continue.

“No you weren’t. I know if given the opportunity I sure as hell wouldn’t. However, you have to shake on this with me, if I take you home you have to give me something. I already know what I want but we need to finalize the deal.”

“Depends on what you want.” I looked at him skeptically.

“The first born.” He replied jokingly, laughing a little, sticking out his hand.

“First born what? First born child? That’s sort of impossible since I’m dead.” I rolled my eyes as he only continued to smirk with the same underlying smile.

“Do we have an accord? I take you home, you see your family and then I return you to your two overly protective mother hens, sound good? Otherwise, I’ll just toss you up over my shoulder and walk you back to the diner now.Your choice really.” Aurelian shrugged as I grabbed his other hand with my free one without hesitation and shook it.

“Deal, I live at 363 Brennan Circle – please, I just want to see my mom and my brother. I need to know they’re alright.” I explained urgently as he wrapped his arm around mine and we began walking from the park, my plan of possessing the living forgotten for the time being.

“So Calla, any reason why you’re running away from Harry? I get Colton, since, he, you know, kills people and all that but Harry Styles? Most undead girls scream and faint at his feet – some chase him toward the afterlife…pathetic really.”

I shrugged.

“I don’t know, I just don’t like him. He isn’t giving me the answers I’m looking for and Colton even less so. Straight by the books or hung up by the roots with those two. They must have been the perfect little reapers when they first died.” I spat bitterly, noticing we were in front of my house already; I looked at him in shock, which he only repliedto by chuckling.

“Grave maker, darling. We can go through loops holes. It allows us to get into the most secure places…like spell bound houses and all that. Hard to explain. As for Harry, when he first began to reap, he was almost always found up in a certain tree and flat out disobeying orders to come down. Colton as a grave maker – he, believe this or not, he used to give life back. Caused a huge backlog for the reapers. They’d go to reap a soul only to find out that he had put grandma dementia into someone that was a human vegetable. They had to get him to stop somehow, so they did.”

“How? He seemed pretty determined.” I asked, somewhat surprised.

“They reaped his brother’s soul, made him a grave maker – I just unfortunately happen to be his brother.” He smirked as I stepped back from him, my eyes wide in shock.

“I’m Aurelian Davenport.” He confirmed, bowing his head slightly.

My vocal cords were frozen as I stared at him. I knew his personality had a similar wave to it.

“H-how did you die?” I stuttered, which I regretted almost instantly as his smile grew wider…darker even.

“The grave makers paid me a little visit during the night when I was in bed. The same as I’m about to do to your brother...the first born.”

Fear gripped my stomach.

“No! I thought-I thought you meant-“ I screamed, struggling to straighten my thoughts.

“Actions have consequences, Calla, and you unfortunately just made a deal with me for your brother's soul. You don’t shake hands with the devil and not expect him to collect his payment. Let this be a lesson to you from now on.” He laughed before I suddenly found myself alone again on my front lawn. I didn’t waste time; I rushed into the house in panic, going through the walls and toward my older brother’s room, finding him on the ground. I cried and dropped down next to him, realizing he was only asleep. I let out a small breath and looked around, wondering if Aurelian was just trying to scare me. I have way suspected Harry put him up to it – unfortunately, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Calla.” He cried out, his eyes shooting open and his heart pounding fast in his chest. I could feel the anguish of my brother’s pain and it overwhelmed me more than anything else had today.

“Dylan.” I whispered, my hand reaching tenderly to comfort him, knowing he couldn’t see me. He didn’t even know I was there and that hurt the most.

“Calla! Calla come back! I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.” Dylan cried, his body racking with sobs as he suddenly threw the item he had been clutching onto for dear life.

I didn’t know it was possible but I felt tears leaving my eyes, mingling with the ones on his own face. The sadness was overpowering and I felt myself suddenly wanting to run. I probably would have if the voice behind me didn’t paralyze me where I stood.

“I didn’t want you to see this.” Harry said softly, making me turn toward him.

“I had a right to see my family. I had a right to see their pain!” I cried, reaching out to touch him, wanting so much to comfort my grief stricken brother. God knows what mom was like if he was this bad.

Harry was beside me in a blink of an eye, pulling my back against his chest.

“You had a right.” He agreed softly, his fingers gently going to wipe away the tears. “I just wanted to protect you from it, that’s all.”

“We had a fight before I left for work, I was so mad at him.” I cried, feeling my body being rocked gently from side to side.

“I know.” Harry soothed, taking my hand and guiding it toward my brother. Fear ran down my spine as I tried twisting my hand away, somehow knowing what was happening before it happened.

“What are you doing? No! Please, no!” I cried, trying to fight his hand away, my eyes wide.

“There are consequences for what you do, Calla. You have to trust me, you have to stop fighting!” Harry pleaded as I struggled to take my hand back. No! I wasn’t taking my brother’s soul.

Sobs were racking my very core, my struggles weakening.

“You’re just saying goodbye, Calla. Goodbye isn’t permanent; it’s simply an undisclosed amount of time.” Harry continued calmly, keeping his voice soft.

Harry guided my hand through my brother’s vessel.Almost instantly, I felt the warm flow of energy collecting at my fingertips.

“I want you to gently grasp the energy, feel it in your hand and imagine the energy absorbing into you, blanketing to you for comfort. Once you feel his energy, gently pull out again and release it out into the air.” He explained further as I followed his direction.

I watched my brother’s body freeze and his face contort as I did this, the light in his eyes slowly smoldering to glass.

After a few moments, Harry released my hand and stood up away from me, watching Dylan step out from his body.

“Calla? Oh my God, Calla!” He exclaimed, his body swooping me up. “I knew you couldn’t be dead! I told mom!” He yelled excitedly before calling for our mom to share the good news. “MOM! Calla’s home! Calla’s-“His voice died off then, locking in his throat when he looked over.

He stared for a few moments, too caught up in his shock.

Beside me there was a low chuckle. Soft at first but gradually it grew into hysterics. I turned to find Aurelian standing there – the same place Harry had been standing a second ago.

“Stupid girl. I’m a grave maker, I can take on the form of anyone. You’re so easy that it’s pathetic…and since I don’t have all day, say your goodbye and we’ll be on our merry way.”

I hugged my brother tightly, refusing to let him go.

“No.” I cried, the empty space in my heart ignited, his arms going over me protectively.

“I’m afraid you made the deal. I lived up to my end and now it’s time for you to-“

“Not so fast.” A voice intervened, followed by a good six sets of footsteps. I had never been so glad to hear that voice in my entire afterlife.

“Harry!” I exclaimed, my brother holding on tighter to me, his strong arms wrapping around me like a blanket. I felt so safe in them and never wanted to leave.

“Oh I haven’t even began with you Calla Death, you and I are having a long discussion after this is through. Right now I need to take care of the asshole in the room and Aurelian just happens to be a slightly bigger one than you.” Harry growled, his mood and eyes darkening.

I looked forward and saw Louis, Zayn, Liam and Niall had joined beside him, Colton standing by the side, a huge smile on his face.

“Bro, long time no kill. How you doing?” Colton asked, his voice sarcastic. The other reapers clearly unamused.

“Good as to be expected being dead. I’d ask you the same but then I would actually have to care.” Aurelian smirked before laughing and snapping his fingers. “Love to stay and catch up but I gotta dash. So many souls, so little time.”
In the blink of an eye, he was gone – which left us alone in a room with my dead brother and me with no way to explain myself or why I had just fucked up one of the most cardinal rules of reaping, never take a soul while the body is still alive.

“Another day, another fucking mess to clean up.” Harry muttered, walking over to where we stood and stared me down. “Dylan? I need you to let go of your sister because we need to get you back into your body before the time period between the two passes.”

I looked up to my brother and felt a sob leaving my throat, his hand gently reaching to my cheek.

“I don’t want to go back.” He told Harry, our eyes never leaving one another.

“You don’t have a choice.” Harry sighed, reaching toward my brother and taking his soul into him, his hand going back to his vessel and relinquishing his energy back.

I never felt more alone as I did then, especially the touch that still lingered from my brother’s loving embrace. Unfortunately, the comfort couldn’t erase the silence that was screaming volumes.

It was quiet for a few moments before Harry finally spoke again.

“Louis? Colton? Take Calla back to the diner. I will deal with her personally when I get back. Keep an eye on her and if she tries to leave, use whatever force is necessary.” Harry ordered, nodding toward them before addressing me. “You’re on thin ice. I hope you’re prepared to handle the consequences because I’m afraid with the severity, that is cannot be overlooked.”

I felt Louis slip beside me, his hand gently on my back and a small dimpled smile on his face.

“Come on Calla, let’s go.” He instructed, guiding me down the hall, each picture I passed serving as a reminder of something I would never have or experience again.

When we passed the last picture I reached out and grabbed it, holding it to my chest as we continued to walk.

Louis saw the picture I had grabbed but didn’t try to stop me. In fact, it looked like a part of him understood all too well.

“That’s it, let it out.” He soothed, seeing the tears that were now streaking silently down my face.

Colton reached over and petted my long hair in what I could only make out as sympathy. In the end though, nothing could comfort me except the one thing I would most likely never see again.

Notes

intense! so how was it?