Brook X GN Reader || I'm The Grim Reaper

Chapter 48

The footsteps of Scarlet and Liam's feet echoed around the empty street. "...And then, while he held the knife to my neck, out of nowhere comes another guy with a knife! Right from the same alley, the first guy came from! And he stops, looks at the dude who is mugging me all confused, and says, "Hey, George, that was the guy I was planning on robbing! What the hell are you doing on my turf?!'" Scarlet glanced at him from the corner of her eyes as he told the story with a smile.

"And the guy who is mugging me gets pissed off, and turns to point his knife at the second mugger- and they start fighting each other! Like, imagine my luck! Soooo, I booked it! I got away, no problem! And boy, did I count my blessings! That's the third mugging I've somehow wiggled my way out of!"

Scarlet looked to the floor slightly, her eyes drooping as she followed Liam. "...You talk about it so casually. Is getting mugged really that frequent?" "...Huh? Haven't you been robbed once or twice? It happens pretty often..." "Uh... Well, I've seen plenty of muggings. Just never been robbed. Guess I'm just a little luckier than you." Liam turned around to face her with a smile.

"...Or maybe it's just your goth aura! I'm pretty intimidated and I'm not even a robber. I can't imagine how they feel, haha!" Scarlet tilted her head slightly. "A-Ah, yep, my... Goth aura..." They kept walking in silence down the street as the sun started to set, Scarlet occasionally looking at Liam, who was walking with a smile on his face.

After a few moments, Liam spoke up again. "...Um... so..." He looked to the floor, a small smile still on his face with a sad expression. He looked at Scarlet again, his smile fading. "...Are there any updates on Ana?" Scarlet looked up to the sky slightly to watch the birds above them. "...No." Liam turned back to face forward. "Ah." There was another long moment of silence.

"...I've known Ana since we were kids. We were always best friends. She had a really hard childhood. I tried to be there for her as often as I could but at the end of the day... I couldn't make her parents stop treating her so badly. I tried to reach out and help her as much as I could, but... At the end of the day, she chose to follow her parents' wishes. All the help in the world means nothing to someone if they don't want to help themselves... She threw away her dream of being a writer and decided to settle down with a man she had never met... I knew she didn't love him. It was going to take time for her to realize it, and build the courage to take action on her true feelings." Liam looked to the floor as Scarlet watched him speak, intrigued.

"All I could do in the meantime was make sure she had a place to go when she made that decision. Somewhere to pick up where she left off in pursuit of her dream. So, I worked tirelessly to build my own career. If I could make it, then I could use my success to give her a stepping stone into the industry. It's a long story so I'll spare you the details, but I did it. Became the lead writer for Fatecraft, after the current lead passed away. But the entire time that I was working towards that goal, Ana was drifting away from me..."

They had stopped walking, Scarlet barely even noticed. "She barely picked up her phone. Her replies over text got shorter and shorter. And she gave me less and less information about what was going on in her life... Until she stopped talking to me altogether. And after a month, I decided to track her down and make sure she was okay... And here I am." He turned and gave Scarlet another sad smile. Scarlet stared at him.

"I guess finding her is just another little hiccup in this lifelong journey. But it's alright." He looked up again, a smile on his face. Not a sad one, but a hopeful one. "She's somewhere out there. I believe that I'll find her." Scarlet narrowed her eyes. He wasn't going to find her. She knew that. How could she even bring up the point to him? She was dead. She was gone and she was never coming back and he was so hopeful and so in love with her that he would never believe that.

"Liam." "...Yeah?" "I'm going to be a little harsh for a second. Things aren't safe out here. We're living in an extremely dangerous time. Seriously, just a second ago we were talking about how you've been mugged three times recently. That's not a coincidence." He turned to look at her fully now, eyes slightly wide. Scarlet reached up to touch her scarf. "...And it's been over a month since she disappeared, so... Have you considered... That she might be dead?" She looked to the floor trying to hide her face. Liam's eyes widened as he stared at her.

He turned to face away from her and forward again. He gazed up again. "She's not dead. You're making sense, and I appreciate your honest thoughts... But I know she's out there." "Why can you be so confident about that?" "Because I made it this far!" He turned his head to look at her again. "I've managed to not only live... But to accomplish goals that seem impossible, time after time." He turned his body to face her.

"I've survived everything that's happened in this world. I became the lead writer on Fatecraft. Ana kept talking to me despite everything, and sure enough, the ungrateful husband left the picture. It's more than a coincidence. It's more than luck. It's fate." As the sun set more, shadows were cast upon Liam's face, it freaked Scarlet out, his eyes wide as he went on about fate. He looked insane.

"Everything worked out perfectly because God wants me to be together with her." Scarlet held her gaze firm. "This isn't a book, Liam. Events don't happen because they're leading up to a specific outcome. Life isn't like that." "...Well, my life is different. I know she's out there. I just wouldn't feel this way if it wasn't true."

----

Chase panted slightly against the pain as he leaned over the counter in his bathroom. The sound of bottles clinking against the flat surface filled the room as he lifted a bottle of pills. "That was my last pill..." He muttered under his breath, his nose was still bleeding. "...And I missed so many days because I was unconscious. F-fuck... The stab wound still hurts like hell, but... I'm just gonna have to grin and bear it and go get a refill... Or else that injury is going to be the least of my problems..."

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