Absolutely, Positively, 100% Normal

Chapter Four

Gray waited for either of us to respond to what he'd just said, dusting the remains of my last chocolate chip cookie off his fingers with one of Shay's napkins. Shay saw the storm gathering in my eyes and wisely inched away from Gray, taking his soda with him. I struggled to wrap my mind around the now empty cookie pouch and the smudges of chocolate on the tissue Gray had just let fall on the tabletop.

"Did you get that, Raina Carlisle?" He asked me, oblivious to my growing anger. He was reaching for my still-untouched chocolate milkshake when I suddenly lunged across the table and gripped his shirt collar, pulling him forward roughly.

"Why don't you buy your own shit, you vampire-looking bastard?" I snarled, my hands bunching his collar as if to choke him with it. Shay pressed his back against the window, his expression one of shock.

"What? Is this over a cookie??" Gray's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Damn right it is! Give it back! Choke you thieving asshole!" I hissed out, my face contorting in anger. By this time, Shay had managed to wiggle under the table and slide out, walking away from the small scene I was causing.

"How am I supposed to give it back?" Gray demanded, a hand gripping one of my own. He began  trying to pry my hands off his collar.

"I don't know! I want it back!"

"That's a fucked up reason to threaten to choke someone", he pointed out.

"Shut your pale ass-" And suddenly a hand had jammed a warm, gooey, double chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips into my open mouth. Two more were set down in front of me in the thin paper pouches the restaurant distributed them. Shay's hand grasped my shoulder and eased me back into my seat. Mollified, I complied, releasing Gray in order to hold onto the end of the cookie in my mouth. Shay then motioned for me to move over so he could take a seat next to me, thus putting himself opposite Gray instead of me. Pushing the cookies in front of me, he smiled politely at Gray, who was looking quite annoyed.

"Sorry about that, Gray. You should probably start over from the beginning", he said pleasantly.

"Don't you think she overreacted over a cookie?" He aimed the last three words at me. I simply shrugged and continued to slowly consume the two remaining treats, confident that Shay could do the talking while I was so pleasantly occupied.

"Raina likes chocolate. A lot, as you can tell. Sweets, too. She's only allowing herself one day every two months to indulge in both as much as she wants - she has cavities, you know, so cutting down was necessary. Today was one of those days."

"And you should learn better manners", I interjected. I mean who stole people's food, in public, when they were practically strangers to you? And without even bothering to ask? Gray looked from me to Shay and back again. Shaking his head disbelievingly, he huffed in exasperation.

"Women", he muttered.

"You were saying, before all this?" Shay pointedly asked, bringing us back on topic. He looked expectantly at Gray, his palms flat on the tabletop.

"Raina has been commanded to work for us. She shouldn't refuse. It's her fault for interfering with our work too much."

"Who do you work with?" I rolled my eyes at how polite Shay was being to this thieving bastard.

"Probably a gang", I growled around the last half of the remaining cookie. Finishing it off, I wiped my fingers on a napkin, licked my lips, and took a slurp of my chocolate shake. "Thanks for those cookies, Shay, you really saved me there." I nudged him gently.

"That's my mandate, Ray", he said with a mischievous grin,"to save you." We sat there grinning at each other until Gray cleared his throat. 

"As to who I work with, I'm not allowed to say in front of other humans."

"But you'd have to tell Raina before she can work with you. Aren't you contradicting yourself? She is human, you know." Gray looked as if he was about to protest, but, after studying us for a suspended moment, seemed to have changed his mind. He laced his fingers together on the table in front of him and said: "Fine. I think it's alright to tell you." His dark gaze bored into mine as he uttered the words that began the slow, painful process of destroying the normal existence I wore like armor. 

"Raina has been interfering with the work of us Reapers." I could feel the color draining from my face. Gray noticed my reaction.

"I see you already understand what I'm talking about. Yes, your interference in our work has caused our branch to miss our yearly quota. My supervisor thinks that it's only fair you be the one who helps us regain our yearly reaping numbers and get back in our boss' good graces. I am to give you a license to reap, and we will be partners until you pay back your due." 

"I don't understand", Shay blurted into the brief silence that had enfolded our little table in that restaurant that day. He frowned, puzzled. I stayed silent. I understood. My instinctual warning that Gray Immens was trouble; that he was not someone normal people should interact with, was right on target. I had suspected and yet had walked right into a situation of the precise kind that I had been trying to avoid for the majority of my life.

"It's rather simple. Raina must work for us. We are-"

"Grim Reapers", I finished in low tones, my mind whirling as it searched for a way out. 

"I knew you had a good mind somewhere in there, Raina Carlisle!" Gray applauded lightly, that smirk back in place. Shay blinked a few times, his expression one of surprise.

"Seriously? You're a Grim Reaper?"  Gray nodded.

"I am." I flinched at the verbal confirmation of their existence. Shay leaned forward, studying the other male. 

"What?" Gray asked him. 

"Where's your cloak and scythe? And how come you're not a skeleton?" Shay flopped back in his seat. "You don't look like a Grim Reaper at all."

"Of course not. Other humans can see me right now. I might end up killing off people who aren't on the list yet." He returned his attention to me. "What is your answer, Raina Carlisle?"

"I refuse!" I snapped. They couldn't make me do it, right? 

"That's not a good idea." Gray was suddenly completely serious. 

"If I don't want to, I shouldn't have to."

"Then someone else will have to pay in your place. Death does not like to be cheated."