Death's Daughter (Black Butler)

Chapter Two: Reaper Realm

I snickered under my breath, oblivious to what he was going to tell me next. "You call me human as if you aren't one yourself. Why is that?"

"Because I'm not," he said, shaking his head side to side. "Brielle, I probably sound insane to you, and maybe I am. My name is Alan Humphries, and I'm a Grim Reaper."

I felt my eyebrows furrow together as I thought about what he had just said. "Grim Reaper?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "Those are from fairytales, correct? There's no such thing, they aren't real. They're made up."

Alan shook his head, a few strands of hair falling into his face. "That's where you're wrong. You remember the book I had earlier, correct?"

"Yes," I stated with a nod. "You read off a bunch of information about me from it. My parents, birthday, and when I was supposed to die...?"

"That's right. That's the Death List, every reaper or reaper pair is issued one. It contains information about who died, when, where, so on and so forth." He explained. "You remember my friend Eric's saw too, don't you?"

"Yes."

"That's his Death Scythe. Each individual reaper has their own personal weapon, which can be modified into anything they want. You know how when Eric slashed into your father's neck, films poured out?"

"Yes." I repeated.

"Those are Cinematic Records. They contain the memories of the person who had just died. It's a Grim Reaper's job to collect these Cinematic Records. We review the memories from the human's perspective and debate what kind of life they live. Typically, only reapers are able to view the Records. But you were able to see some of those memories, correct?"

"Yes, what about it?"

Alan nodded. "See, that's what leads me to think that you're going to be a Reaper in your next life."

I pursed my lips together. I was beginning to accept what Alan said was true, that Grim Reapers actually existed. Still, I was confused by his last statement "My next life?"

"When you die." He said bluntly. "Grim Reaper's can either born as a human and then die, leading to their next life as a Grim Reaper. Or, they can be born of parents who are Reapers themselves and be born a Reaper. You, in this case, happen to be the 'born a human' variety." I nodded. "I think we've covered the basics," Alan said, standing up and brushing away some dirt from his pants. "Are we ready to go?"

I nodded and stood up behind him. "Where is it that we're going?" I asked as he looped his arm through mine. He tightened his grip on me and pulled me close, as if he was afraid I'd let go or get lost without him. 

"The Grim Reaper Realm," he stated. Although it sounded bizarre to me, I decided not to question it. After everything he'd explained tonight, I knew better than to ask if it was real or not. "But, of course, humans aren't supposed to know of our Realm, and I can't even imagine the trouble I'd get in if someone were to discover that I had a human child with me. You're going to have to stay hidden." He said as he stated walking, dragging me behind him. 

"Wait," I interrupted, stopping in my place. Alan's arm slipped away from mine, and he turned back to look at what had stopped me. I stayed silent for a moment, trying to process what to say. "If you're going to get in trouble for having me in the Reaper Realm, or whatever you call it, why don't you just leave me here, in the-"

"Mortal Realm?" Alan interjected. I nodded my head, I supposed that was what Reapers called Earth.

"Yeah, the Mortal Realm. Why don't you just leave me here if you'd get in so much trouble for bringing me?"