Angels of Death
A group of students entered a class and immediately came to the bench of a student sitting in the back row. One of them talked to the student rudely and often cursed her. While the friends she brought just laughed as if enjoying the girl behavior who became the leader of their gang.
But then, there was a reply from the schoolgirl who got ridiculed. Sharp sarcasm began to be thrown at them, and she even dared to look back at the gang leader. She smiled viciously and unexpectedly pulled the gang leader's body to the ground. She sat on her body, tugged at her hair, and threatened the pretentious student back.
"That's good. We must repay people like that," commented a woman dressed in all black with her eyes, not leaving a woman's smartphone screen in front of her.
"These days, teenagers are getting more immoral." A young man who was also dressed in all black also commented. He shook his head as if he couldn't believe what he saw.
"Times have changed a lot." Another woman beside the first woman chimed in.
Yes, they—the three people who commented—enjoyed the drama presented by the woman in front of them through her smartphone screen. They joined in watching and did not hesitate to surround her when the scene turned critical like this. When the scene of the girl swearing back at her bully and taking her cellphone to record the reaction of the girl's face below her, the drama suddenly ended. The woman brought her gadget with her when she heard her line number being called.
"Wait-Wait," prevented the first woman named Erin from holding the woman on the cell phone away. However, her words were like a gust of wind that did not receive any response from her.
"It's in the fun part." Luna, the second woman, joined the protest against the now missing woman behind a brown door marked ENT Specialist Doctor. "What's the point of having this thing if we can't watch a movie or drama on this?" she groaned in annoyance, referring to the black tablet in her hand.
"To prevent you from getting carried away with human drama stories and forgetting an important task to do." A deep voice interrupted the trio's unimportant chat.
Erin, Luna, and Bara suddenly turned to the source of the voice. Instantly, they were silent after realizing the presence of Adam, their senior. The three looked away in unison when his sharp eyes turned to them.
"Aren't you here to work?" he asked, full of sarcasm.
"That's right. We're waiting for the time to come," replied the only man among the three who was caught relaxing at work.
"Instead of gathering here, it would be better to wait near your target. Remember. If anyone escapes, you'll have to pay the price."
Being threatened that way, obviously, made the other people freeze in place. "W-We're going." Erin, representing the three, said goodbye to Adam. Then they separated. Each of them moved to where they belonged.
Luna walked down the hospital corridor, which got fewer visitors. Only a few people were walking around in the vicinity. The silence was even more pronounced because there were several warning boards not to make noise. Understandably, because she had entered the inpatient area. Silence must be prioritized so that their rest is not disturbed.
Her feet followed the information board that directed her to the most elite building area in the hospital. That was where her work would take place. She didn't work as a nurse, doctor, or officer of interest there. She was also not an acquaintance of the patient, much less their family. Her only job was to pick up the patient's soul.
That's right. You didn't read it wrong. Luna was one of the thousands of grim reapers--or in better words, an angel of death--scattered throughout the world. And their job was the same. Picking up the human spirit to be brought up above. One angel of death for each human soul. This was to avoid the possibility of the spirit escaping.
"What did he do? He's older doesn't mean that he can act so powerful," she grumbled, coloring her lonely journey. Who else was she meant besides Adam? They were wrong, but there was no need to be scolded like that. She and all the angels of death who were there know the rules and sanctions for every violation committed. No need for him to remind her. The guy was only... Wait. How long had he worked? Her fingers began to count the years that had passed. "Ah, apparently, he's indeed old," she said when he had finished counting and got eighty-three as the answer.
Obviously, she, who had just served nine years of service, was nothing compared to the eighty-three years that Adam had spent. She imagined how many human spirits he had brought. Thousand? Tens of thousands? Or even hundreds of thousands? The angel of death not only picked up one soul in one day. The number could be over ten. Or, if it was a busy day, there was more to pick up.
Luna entered the VVIP particular inpatient building with positive steps. She was getting closer to her target, and that excited her. A job was about to finish. Hopefully, there would be a long pause before the next assignment came. She wanted to relax for a bit. Maybe, with a cup of coffee at Mystic Cafe, the only coffee shop up there.
Luna read the number of the inpatient room in front of her. Then she matched it with the information on her tablet. Without hesitation, she walked through the door a moment after discovering her presence there was correct. Her feet swung toward the patient's bed and stopped right beside her.
Once again, she compared the information on her black tablet with the patient looking helpless on the bed. An old grandmother with various medical devices attached to her body. She then looked at her watch. Five more minutes. She slightly walked away from the patient. Then she leaned her body against the wall, but her eyes did not leave the old woman. There was an uneasy feeling inside her heart. Although her days in the nine years were filled with death, she was never used to seeing that. But there was nothing she could do. Human destiny is like that. The living will surely die. And unfortunately, death became part of her job.
This room was silent. The patient's attendant, who seemed to be the grandmother's grandson, was sitting quietly and playing on his cell phone. Maybe he didn't want to disturb his grandmother's sleep. However, the silence did not last long. The cardiograph in the room made a deafening sound as its lines became straight. Instantly, panic hit him. The grandson moved quickly to call the nurse and doctor. And as they arrived, actions were immediately carried out.
The grandmother's spirit came out of her body during this precarious condition. She looked confused when she saw her figure lying on the bed, especially when no one noticed her existence.
"Mrs. Bald?" called Luna to get the grandmother's attention. "I know you're still confused. That's right. You're dead, and the body in front of you is lifeless because you've come out of it." She paused for a moment to see the spirit's reaction. "Please come with me. I will explain everything to you," she continued by maintaining the formality of her speech.