The Medium Kid

Chapter 72

Morlen stared at Miss Pecan for a long while. He didn't know what to say at first. He was so conscious of the silence that he forgot to think of things to say. The woman who had been teaching Morlen's son art for over a year was his mother. Processing the information would take time. Morlen had about 70% left to load.

"Do you and the Reaper have different lives?" Morlen asked, sitting back down on one of Alfie's velvet black chairs. The medium's office had a strange feel to it. Morlen would've liked to sit in the office alone. He would have found it extremely calming. He was even tempted to touch Alfie's huge collection of gems and stones.

"It's hard to explain. In my human form, I have desires to follow my human traits. For example, I get rather sad if I don't fill my time with activities that I'm passionate about which is art. My human form loves art which explains why Koda loves art too."

"What about my dad?" Morlen asked, staring with his eyes like sharp shards of glass. The subject was uncomfortable, but he had to know.

"He's dead. He has been for a while. He wasn't a nice man and personally, I would say good riddance and collecting his soul was the best day of my life," Nikki said, proudly pushing her glasses up her nose and sitting up straighter. She meant what she said. "And yes, my human traits include cravings for the touch of another human."

"Sorry I asked," Morlen muttered, realising she was just as insensitive as him. "So, do you choose humans to use until they die, and move on? I'm assuming that your Grim Reaper side is older than well- everything." Morlen's questions had been cooking since he found out that the Reaper existed. He would wake up in the night with questions. After being introduced to the world of the paranormal, Morlen often caught his mind drifting on what else he could learn. Sometimes, he was plunged to his childhood.

"Yes, that's exactly what I do. Only with this body, I had a child. Awfully painful if you ask me," Miss Pecan chuckled.

"I didn't ask." Morlen stood up and released a long sigh when Miss Pecan did too. "This is too strange."

"Let me spend some time with you. Let's get to know each other," Nikki Pecan said quickly, hurrying around her son before he reached the door. Her jewellery jingled against each other. For an old lady, she could move fast.

"No thanks," Morlen said bluntly.

"Do you need more time?"

"Look," Morlen said and crossed his arms, "I'm guessing that you have no idea what you're doing, so I'll say this..." He leaned closer with an intimidating scowl. "Stop trying. I don't care."

Miss Pecan slowly reached up to touch his cheek, but Morlen flinched away. "I'm sorry that you're hurting. I'm sorry that you're overwhelmed. When you leave this room, go to Connor. He can help distract you from your grief," she said.

Morlen clenched his jaw, and Nikki saw the sadness in his eyes. "I'll do what I want," he growled and shoved her aside.

Nikki Pecan watched him storm down the corridor. She leaned against the door frame, twisting one of her long metal necklaces around her finger. "That's my boy," she smiled.

* * * * *

Alfie put his reading glasses on and sat at his desk to write about how summoning the Grim Reaper felt. It was important for him to keep a journal of who he summoned and what he was capable of when he used his strengths. He also wrote down the side effects. In this case, his headache was extreme and his nose bled a substantial amount.

Koda stood by the window and pretended to watch the setting sun, but he stared at Alfie in the reflection, smiling to himself. "You look so cute with those on."