[Bonus chapter] The fourth reaping

Once Valeria is inside her old bedroom, she shut the door and locked it. She didn't want Mark barging in suddenly to vent his anger on her. His face had darkened considerably after he transferred the money over to her. He looked like he wanted to turn her into a punching bag and then murder her. And repeat. She shivered at the memory of the many beatings she had taken from Mark and her legs almost buckled underneath her.

Valeria went to her bed and sat down. It was nicely made up, as if waiting for her to come back to it. She wondered if Erin had ordered the servants to clean the room to prepare for her to come back. She very much doubt it. This is possibly the housekeeper, Penny's doing. Valeria turned to look at Ari. The reaper is standing by the window watching the circus outside the gates of the mansion.

"How long do I have to deliver the evil soul to gain the power up?" she asked him.

Ari turned to her and his eyes glinted silver.

"ASAP," he said cryptically.

Valeria rolled her eyes. So typical of the damn delinquent demon, she thought.

Ari suddenly appeared in front of her, his face a mere few inches from hers, making her gasp and fall back on the bed. He jumped up and leaned over her, his face almost touching her, his silvery eyes looking deep into hers.

"NOT a delinquent. NOT a demon!" he snarled.

Valeria stared up at him in shock. This is the first time Ari had behaved in such a manner and he is so close to her, she couldn't help noticing his wide shoulders, his unique scent unlike a human's and fortunately not like a corpse and the gorgeous multicoloured specks in his grey-silver eyes. She noticed his luscious pink lips again. It was so inviting and she remembered the time he kissed her to transfer the reaping information to her. Along with it the excruciating headache afterwards.

Ugh. No thanks. She gave herself a mental shake to stop staring at his lips.

"I am not a corpse either! What is wrong with you, mortal?" Ari moved away and stood by the bed to glare down at her. "Also, stop thinking about my shoulders, lips and eyes, I am not kissing you again, it is uncomfortable and I am sure, this constitutes sexual harassment," he added.

Valeria cleared her throat in embarrassment and sat up. What was she thinking? It must be a moment of insanity.

"What you did constituted sexual harassment! You were leaning over me on the bed! What was I to think?" she retorted.

"That I do not like being called a delinquent demon?" Ari pointed out. "I was trying to scare you, not seduce you, please, are you sexually starved or something? Maybe you need to get some male escorts or one of those adult toys…what do you call it…oh right, dildos,"

Valeria spluttered in anger and jumped out of bed.

"I AM NOT some nymphomaniac craving sex!" she exclaimed.

"Really? Didn't seem like it…you were almost begging me to kiss you a few seconds ago," Ari crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow as if challenging her to say otherwise. Valeria glared at him silently, unable to come up with a comeback immediately.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" Ari asked, sticking out his tongue at her.

Valeria lunged at him and grabbed his tongue out of anger, without thinking it through. His tongue was moist and slippery. Ari uttered a muffled 'laaaaa le laaaaa' in surprise and Valeria released his tongue just as suddenly as she grabbed it. She wiped her reaper-saliva covered hand on her pants. Who knows a reaper's tongue is as moist and slippery as a human's.

"Stick your tongue out again, I will cut it off!" she threatened him.

Ari wiped his mouth and backtracked from her warily.

"You are insane, Maeve," he muttered.

"What did you just call me?" Valeria asked. No one has ever used her middle name before. She doesn't even use her middle name.

"It's easier to call you Maeve than Valeria," Ari shrugged. He glanced at the clock. "Oh look, it's time to reap your beloved sister-in-law," he said, pointing at the clock.

Valeria looked at the clock. It is 1.45pm. Where did the time go? Did she really spend more than an hour standing outside with Mark facing the media circus? It seemed to be the case.

"Fine, I'll go wait outside her room," she told Ari.

She walked to the door and unlocked it. Then she walked stealthily to Neshi's bedroom on the other wing. She didn't want to bump into Mark or worse, Erin. Once she reached Neshi's bedroom, she stood outside it. She could hear muffled moaning and slapping sounds inside the room and wanted to gag.

Ugh. She did not even want to think about the kinky sexual stuff her sister-in-law is doing inside. Gross. Much too gross. She shuddered in revulsion. She looked at her watch. It is now 1.59pm. One more minute. She patted the scarf inside her pocket.

Wait. She will need another reaping device since this one already has an evil spirit in it. She searched her other pocket and there it was, another scarf. She didn't know how to conjure it but it seemed to materialise on its own. She could also sense which one is the empty reaping device and which was the one containing an evil spirit.

She took out the empty reaping device and stood waiting. There was a slight scuffling sound inside the room. Her watch showed 2pm. There was a flurry of rustling and scuffling inside the room followed by a female voice saying 'no, no, no' in an anguished tone.

There was a male voice too. He was going 'Wake up! Wake up! Miss please wake up!' Somehow, he sounded familiar. Valeria couldn't place where she has heard the voice before. There were more hushed anguished tones as the female and male conversed. Just then, Neshi Brinstrone's soul emerged through the door. She was stark naked with a tie around her neck. She stared at Valeria in surprise.

"What's happening to me?" she asked Valeria.

Valeria avoided looking at her naked body. "Neshi Brinstrone, it is your time to go. I will help you on your way to the afterlife," she told her sister-in-law.

Neshi stared at her in confusion, as if she couldn't understand what Valeria just said.

"What? Afterlife? What are you talking about?" she asked. Valeria regarded the confused soul for a moment. The mean and evil streak in her was gone. A dead Neshi is so different from a live Neshi, she thought fleetingly.

"You are dead Neshi and once you let me tie this scarf an your hand, I will help you on your way to the afterlife," Valeria explained, showing the soul the silk scarf she was holding.

"Oh. That is nice, I would like it, thank you," Neshi said and offered her hand. It seemed that she didn't understand what Valeria just told her.

"No, I am not giving this to you, once I tie this on you, you will be going to the afterlife," Valeria tried to explain again. Was Neshi this dumb when she was alive? Possibly so but Valeria did not really sit down and have deep conversations with her before.

"Oh. Right." Neshi shrugged. "Okay, tie me," she said and giggled. Somehow it sounded so wrong coming from her, considering how she died, Valeria thought. In any case, Neshi didn't seem to mind being dead at 30 years old.

"It was nice knowing you Neshi, oh wait, not really but whatever, be on your way then," Valeria said and tied the scarf on her wrist. Her soul was gone within a second.