Life After Death

Chapter 24

"Wait!" I called out to Meg. "You can't just tell me you're a ghost hunter and then casually walk away!"

Shoving a folded slice of pizza in my mouth and slurping up some soda, I scrambled to my feet and hurried toward Meg. She handed a girl with pigtails a Oreo milkshake and ignored me completely. Meg weaved through the tables and booths helping Moira tend to the pizzeria.

"Um, hello?" I called out to her. "Ghost hunter!"

"You don't say it out loud," Meg hissed toward me. I followed after her as she placed the empty tray on the breakfast bar and turned to face me. "What do you want?"

"I want to ask you a couple of questions," I said.

Meg cocked out a hip and placed her hand on it. "What?"

"Jeez, just a couple of questions. Chill." I sat down at the booth. "A friend of mine - a really, really good person - killed himself and I just wanted to know -"

"- where he is? Why he isn't here?" Meg intervened. I nodded. "When you die you become a grim reaper."

"You only become a grim reaper if you killed yourself?" I asked in disbelief. Meg nodded in affirmation. "That means that Roman..."

"Yes, he killed himself."

"Tell me more," I said, frowning.

Meg sighed. "Fine. Where do we begin?" Meg grimaced, and continued, "Humans who committed suicide become Grim Reapers as punishment. Until the day they are forgiven, they are to work hard and continuously observe people's deaths."

"So Danny will be there?"

"I'm ninety-nine point nine percent sure he'll be there."

"Okay. Go on. I want to know everything there is about grim reapers."

Meg arched a brow at me but spoke nonetheless. "Their principal job is to check each dying soul's kaleidoscope of memories—its Cinematic Record—one by one, to determine whether they deserve to die or not. That's all I know. I don't know much. But what I do know is that you won't be able to get into Grim Reaper Dispatch."

"Where is it?"

"Meredith—"

"I just want to make things right."

"That's not your job."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"I can't tell you what you shouldn't do or what you should—either way you wouldn't listen because you don't know good advice when you receive it." Meg said, "But they are strictly forbidden from to intervening in or influencing human affairs. And what did Roman do for you?"

"He—he..."

"He what, Meredith?"

"He helped me."

"And that's why he was put on a hiatus. You have to stay away from him or he will have to remain a grim reaper forever." Meg told me, frowning, "Do you want that?"

I shook my head, defeated, "No, I don't." Taking in a deep breath, I said, "But I don't understand why he did it. Why he helped me. He didn't have to. But he did."

"He likes you. He feels protective of you," she said.

"That's insane." I barked out laughter.

"Its really not. You remind him of someone he knew years ago," she said.

"Who?"

"Clara Clarkston," she said. "But I've said enough." Meg stood up.

"No. You haven't. Frankly, you haven't said enough. I still have a couple more questions for you."

Sighing, she sat back down. "What?"

"Why aren't there ghost hunters killing the ghosts?"

"I'm sure Moira told you why," Meg answered.

"She did. But what I don't understand is why you aren't out there, killing some ghosts."

"Because I can't. I haven't got my weapon back," she said. "Each ghost hunter receives a Soul Weapon. A weapon specifically designed to match up with your soul—your own, perfect weapon. But once its broken or harmed in anyway it takes a while to be fixed again."

"How was yours harmed?" I asked.

"I was helping this girl and wasn't taking note—this little girl was harmed pretty bad and was going to die pretty soon—when a demon reached deep inside me and since your weapon comes from your soul; I sort of had a seizure and I'm not to go in. Until I'm fully recovered. So I'm here. Recovering." Meg shrugged, she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Wow."

"Yes. Wow." Meg stood up. "Now if that's all you need to ask—"

"Where's Grim Reaper Dispatch?"

"Meredith, if you go there you are being selfish. Plus, you're not a ghost hunter, or an elder, or a grim reaper; you can't go in there. Even if you tried. Its impossible."

"I always wanted to be a ghost hunter," I said, offering her a smile.

"You can't be unsure. Once you're a ghost hunter you can't not be one again. Not until the world ends. You're stuck in that field for life," Meg looked at me earnestly. "You don't want to become a ghost hunter." And she got up and walked into the kitchen.

I sat there, immobile for a couple of minutes before I slumped in the stool and picked up the soda and slurped up some. I made a promise to myself—I would deliver the message to Danny. I sort of felt obligated to. After everything he deserved to know that someone truly loved him. Not only that but I had this urge to talk to him. To find out everything there was to his relationship with David—or maybe that was my crazy ex-girlfriend tendencies; but I felt like I needed to.

I felt like I should bargain my way out of this. Find some way to find him. And who else that I knew was a grim reaper?

Roman, thats who.

To me, he was my guide to Grim Reaper Dispatch. Only problem was: how do I contact him.

I spotted Moira walking toward the bar. I grinned. Maybe she could help me get to Roman.