Seeking Souls

:// Chapter 26 //:

"Do you see them?" Warren stayed hidden across the store. His sister had just wandered off to take a phone call, and Basilton stayed behind. Warren had been watching them ever since they left the house this afternoon, so he knew that the Reaper was in the dressing room but Aspen had only just arrived-so she hasn't seen him yet.

"Scrawny, blonde, big blue eyes and the dopey grin?" Aspen strode through the shoe department with her ear-piece hidden within her hair. "Standard dark jeans and a teal shirt." She spotted the Human boy with ease. If not for his appealing looks then for his semi-awkward social interactions.

"That's him, the Human. The Reaper is in the dressing room. I'm approaching Corin now." Warren wandered through the various clothes racks, easily picking his sister's platinum blonde hair out of the crowd. She's been bleaching it that color since middle school. He wouldn't be surprised if it grew that way now.

"My god, you two look alike." Aspen grumbled absentmindedly, her eyes only moving to her partner in the quickest of glances.

"Keep your eye on the target." Warren scolded just as his sister faced him. "Hello Kitten." Aspen was surprised to hear someone so cold speak so softly (especially Warren of all people), but she tried her best to tune it out. Anything Warren said now would be to his sister, not to her.

Though it was kinda funny. "Aw, you do have a heart."

From what Aspen's heard, this particular Reaper was a strong one with some interesting scythe abilities. The thought of facing a challenge excited her, but Warren's careful description of the Reaper's features and skills had her worried. They sounded far too familiar for comfort...

"Warren." Corin shoved the loose strands of her hair behind her ears. She had to make sure that she wasn't seeing things that just happened to look and sound like her brother. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you." Warren stated clearly, though he obvious wasn't going to explain how he managed to find her in one of the various boutiques on this street, let alone in this part of town. "We need to talk."

Aspen was idly wondering what it'd be like to be the sister of a guy like Warren when her breath caught in her throat. She had been watching Warren and his sister so she didn't see him come out, but when she looked to the Human he had moved and she naturally moved to see the dressing rooms-

Her mind went blank. "Oh F%$#."

"I-I-Elias, I'll have to call you back later." Corin quickly ended the call. Warren knew that name-it was the Angelic name of Crawford, but that would be an issue for another time. "What is it?" She glanced back at her friends, who were thankfully oblivious of her brother's presence here.

"Warren." Aspen hid herself among the clearance shoes. "It's him."

"I want you to stop hanging around Basilton." Warren kept his face blank, but he didn't like the way Aspen's voice sounded. Something was wrong, but he couldn't reply to her without giving himself away to Corin. "His boyfriend Zakariah is a dangerous man that's been getting him into lots of trouble. I want you to stay away from them from now on and your friend needs to move out of our house."

"That Reaper-I recognize him. He's the f%$#ing Martyr, Warren." Aspen continued to ramble knowing damn well that Warren couldn't answer. Her hands were shaking, sweat already caked her forehead, and it was only a matter of time before the Martyr noticed her soul.

That would not be a good turn of events. "I-I need to get out of here."

Corin stared at her brother, dumbfounded. She knows for a fact that Warren hasn't been chatting with their mother again, so that possibility was out, and she also knew that Zakariah and Basil haven't done anything to warrant this sudden warning. The RV was blamed on a drunkard, the mall was terrorists, and the most recent disaster of downtown was wrapped up as an earthquake. So where in the world was this coming from?