Reapers, Inc.: The Hunter

By B.L. Newport

It's been five years since Brigit Malone joined Reapers, Incorporated with the intent of keeping a promise to her partner, Maggie, to always be with her. Since Brigit's death, though, Maggie has started to move on with her life, leaving Brigit with little choice but to focus on the business of being the Assistant to the Grim Reaper.
Everyone is suffering from burnout and John Blackwick, the Grim Reaper, wants to go on holiday. This means a temporary promotion for Brigit and she decides to ask Katuri-Buttercup to sit her chair while she fills in for John. Brigit thinks it's an easy solution until Katuri-Buttercup goes missing.
In the effort to find the missing Reaper, Brigit comes across a ghost town and the soul (the hunter)responsible for Katuri-Buttercup's disappearance. Brigit is ordered to recruit the hunter or cross him to his eternal fate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B.L. Newport
• Release date: Jun 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476161754

B.L. Newport

B.L. Newport was born with a strong belief and sensitivity in the supernatural side of life. A habitual observer of real life, she writes what amuses and interests her imagination. After growing up in the small Northwest Arkansas town of Siloam Springs, she has lived in New York City and Las Vegas, Nevada. During these journeys, B.L. has discovered the joys of hard work, good friends and a good cup of coffee.

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Reapers, Inc.,-The Hunter

By

B.L. Newport

Smashwords Edition

© 2012, B.L. Newport

This book is available in print at www.Amazon.com

ISBN: 1477570616

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents are purely a product of the author's imagination. Any similarity to actual persons - living or dead - places or events are entirely coincidental.

Also by B.L. Newport on Smashwords.com

Reapers, Inc. Series

Brigit’s Cross

Rogue Reaper

Dark Souls

Mackleberry Ridge Short Stories:

Buddy Hatch & The End of the World

Dani Mackleberry & The Bike

1: Tick-Tock

She was waiting. She had been all night, waiting as she had done every night for almost a month. The reading chair by the window had become her post, the perch from which she could see the street and anyone who happened along it. Though her dark eyes remained focused on the sidewalk cloaked in the darkness of night, her heart hoped to see what her mind repeatedly told her would not be there. Maggie was not coming home.

Brigit glanced at the clock on the wall. Its steady tick- tock echoed in the silence of the apartment. The pace it audibly set kept time with her thoughts and memories as she passed the night waiting. A part of her was grateful for its presence and consistency in helping her keep track of her down time away from the office. The other part of her resented it, for almost the same reasons.

The touch of pink that had begun to show itself in the sky between the buildings lining the street had already announced the arrival of the new day. The visible sign to the end of another empty night caused her to check the time. It was almost six-thirty A.M. – the time Maggie should be preparing to head out the door for work. Brigit held her breath for half a second, listening against the silence of the apartment and the gentle tick-tock for the memory of Maggie’s bustling down the hall to make sure she had herself together enough to face the day.

Slowly, Brigit let go of the breath. Even her memory was quiet today. There was only the steady tick-tock to greet her.

I guess I should go, she announced against the silence.

With one last hopeful glance out the window, Brigit resigned herself to the announcement she had just made. She paused after rising from Maggie’s reading chair. The pale blue stripes were fading with the years. She wondered if they bore the representation to other things she adored…

I’ll be back, she promised before turning away and stalking out of the empty apartment where she had lived two lives for so long.

A nip of cold was on the air as Brigit stepped onto the sidewalk and turned to the direction she would follow to the office. Fall was finally shunning the sweater of warmth it was carrying, as if it dreaded being the precursor to winter this year. Brigit inhaled deep. Once upon a time, the crisp chill that greeted her now would have filled her with glee. Fall and winter had always been her favorite seasons. They were the most active in their displays of change. Since her death, though, the seasons had only served as a reminder of the beginning of her second life as a ghost.

It had been five years now since that Halloween night. She had died after keeping a promise to her friend, Rachel; to visit the nightclub she and her boyfriend, Scott, were opening. She had died by the hands of the old Bailey. At the time, Brigit had believed her death to be an accident, that the Bailey had misunderstood the direction he had been given. He had been a simpleton, after all. Yet, as the time had passed, Brigit’s understanding of how the Bailey operated had grown clearer. Her death had not been an accident. It had been a Divine direction that could not be ignored. That knowing, though, did not give Brigit comfort. In truth, it was a pill of resentment she swallowed on a daily basis. Lately, it was becoming an especially hard pill to swallow.

Maggie was dating again. Brigit knew it. She had told herself repeatedly that she couldn’t honestly expect Maggie to live the rest of her life alone. She had reminded herself that Maggie was human and humans needed to be touched, stimulated to feel. Brigit had never believed that Maggie would be satisfied with the mere knowledge that she was not alone, that her dead partner still watched over her because of a promise made when they were young. She might have hoped otherwise, but Brigit knew a day would come when Maggie’s physical loneliness would dominate everything. That day had come a couple of years ago, and despite the false starts of a few relationships, Brigit had secretly wished her hope would win out.

Why couldn’t she just get a cat? Brigit grumbled as she trudged along the sidewalk. Cats can snuggle.

Maggie was seeing someone seriously. The fact that she had not spent a night in her home for a month told Brigit that much. She was aware when Maggie had been in the apartment, perhaps to pick up a few things or to return a few other things, but she was not living there. The new person had only been inside a couple of times, but not long enough for Brigit to get a sense of the energy Maggie surrounded herself with now. They were always gone before Brigit came home. She had the sense this was intentional on Maggie’s part.

Brigit entered the Bleecker Street Café still lost in thought. Though her dark eyes scanned the room, her mind didn’t register the faces that glanced up at her as she passed by. It wasn’t until she stood at the counter that her thoughts were interrupted and pushed aside.

You look like you’re angry at the world this mornin’. Brigit turned to see Mama Dee staring hard at her from where she perched on the barstool. Are you okay?

Brigit swallowed hard as she searched for an answer. Mama Dee had been her friend for a long time in both the previous life and the present. It would be hard to tell her anything other than the truth.

It was a long night, Brigit offered gently.

Giuseppe Cincotta appeared to her left. Though his lips never moved, she could hear him clearly in her mind asking if she would be staying or going today. Mama Dee heard him as well and interrupted.

You better take it ‘to go’, baby. John’s waiting for you at the office.

To go, then, Giuseppe. How long has John been in? Brigit returned her attention to the little old lady beside her.

He came in this morning, so not too long. He passed me on the way in and told me to tell you he was waiting for you if I saw you. Now, are you goin’ to tell me what’s buggin’ you? Is it Maggie? Is she all right?

Brigit turned to watch as Giuseppe prepared her coffee. Mama Dee rarely stopped by to check in on Maggie herself. She relied on Brigit to inform her of any new developments in Maggie’s life.

Maggie’s fine, I guess. I don’t know. I haven’t seen her.

The statement came out with a slight note of bitterness despite the effort Brigit had made to sound nonchalant. Mama Dee cocked her head to the right and peered hard at Brigit’s profile. Brigit could feel the intensity of her dear friend’s gaze against her cheek.

What do you mean you ‘haven’t seen her’? Mama Dee asked. Brigit shrugged.

She hasn’t been home.

For how long?

A month, Brigit answered quietly as Giuseppe set the paper cup containing her coffee on the counter before her.

A month? Where has she been?

I don’t know, Mama.

"WHY NOT?"

The question came out as a demand. It was a question Brigit had asked herself on occasion. She knew she could find Maggie anywhere at any time if she wanted to. There had been a few nights when she had fought hard against that wanting.

She needs her space, Mama. I can’t always be running around trying to keep her safe. She has to figure things out on her own.

Mama Dee continued to stare hard at the young woman beside her. There was more to the story than Brigit was telling.

"She has to figure what out on her own? She’s seeing someone, isn’t she? Mama Dee asked coolly. When Brigit didn’t answer, the lady simply clicked her tongue and shook her head. Well, it was bound to happen. The living have to keep on living, Brigit. We couldn’t expect her to just wait to die so she could be with you again. It’s not like it won’t happen anyway."

Brigit turned to look at her friend. Mama Dee was being rather blunt in her honesty today. If she hadn’t already been in a borderline bad mood, Brigit knew she would have ignored the lack of empathy coming from her friend. At that moment, though, Mama Dee’s bluntness was a blow to her gut. It hurt.

I shouldn’t keep John waiting, Brigit said quietly as she slid from her stool.

Before Mama Dee had a chance to say anymore, Brigit turned and strode out of the café. Once she was out in the crisp morning air, she tried to silence the echo of Mama Dee’s words. Yes, it was bound to happen. No, Brigit couldn’t just expect Maggie to wait to die so they could be together, and yes, it was going to happen eventually. All the obvious that had just been uttered did not mean Brigit had to be happy about how Maggie spent her time. Especially since time was all they had…

2: Katuri-Buttercup

She opened her eyes and exhaled slowly. She had been meditating, cleaning the visions of her work from her mind. It had become a daily ritual for her to do this. It was what allowed her to accept the new day’s assignments with a clear mind and, sometimes, a clear heart.

The Department of Dangerous Assignments was still relatively understaffed. Katuri-Buttercup was the sole constant Reaper. On occasion, a few of the others would be assigned to assist her when it was considered best for her safety. Sometimes, Brigit Malone would step in herself to assist with a decidedly hazardous assignment. Katuri appreciated the help. Especially when it was a case that would in the soul to be reaped being sent to Limbo rather than through the door to their fate. When she worked those particular cases alone, Katuri would return to her meditation room with a heart so heavy she wanted to quit the work for good.

When Yoshiro Takamoto had approached her to join his office, Katuri had agreed with the hope that it would help her pass the time. She had been a ghost for almost four hundred years by then, wandering the region of her birth, life and death searching fruitlessly for her heart’s happiness. She had asked many of the spirits she encountered if they knew where Katuri could find the source of her happiness, but none of them knew. They had never heard of such a spirit passing through their plane of existence.

Yoshiro Takamoto had put Katuri to work immediately. The cases were not separated in Japan as they were in the North American office. All assignments were treated the same. If a spirit to be passed was benign, it was approached accordingly. If the spirit was deemed malevolent, Katuri kept her guard up and reaped by any means necessary. In her current position, she found that she was not given such a broad field to work in. All the spirits in her assignments were dangerous on some level. Her guard was constantly at a heightened status. Some days it greatly tired her.

As her eyes focused on the stack of portfolios waiting for her on the desk, Katuri allowed her mind to wandered to the past. For half a second, she called to the image that had buried itself so deeply in her memories. She dared not to call out the memory’s name. She had never been worthy to utter it out loud, but she had carried it silently in her heart since the moment it had been spoken to her. Instead, she called gently for her happiness, the source of her peace, the love of her soul.

From the shadows – for a brief glimpse – Katuri saw her and she felt her heart skip a beat. It was the ghost of a memory, but it was enough to sustain her spirit until the next time…

They had met only once, briefly, and that meeting had been enough for Katuri-Buttercup to know where her heart belonged. It had been a chance encounter, a moment that had frozen itself in time under the mid-day sun at the market. Katuri had never seen her before. Of that fact, she had been confident. No one had ever looked into her eyes and examined her soul. No one had ever smiled so lovingly at her. No one had ever giggled so softly when she stammered a surprised offering of a steamed dumpling. With her parents bowing profusely before the smiling girl’s chaperones, it had been the only thing Katuri could think to say to break the ice. The smiling girl was related to the emperor. Katuri could tell that much, but she did not have the courage to ask for more than her name. Whether it was real or not, Katuri didn’t care. The smiling girl had said it in a voice only Katuri could hear. To her, that voice meant the name was for her knowledge alone. It was the name she carried in her heart.

When the ghost returned to the shadows of her mind, Katuri sighed. She felt light again. She could return to work soon. She wanted to wait, though, until Brigit passed out the day’s assignments before taking leave of the office. Katuri did not like returning to find work waiting for her. She found it to be the quickest way to destroy any sense of accomplishment she might have in the job. It was better to receive the work when it was handed out and to go from there. If there were any cases to be completed by the time Katuri reached the end of her day, they would be combined with the next day’s assignments. It was simply better that way.

3: 666 ½ Bleecker Street

Brigit sighed heavily as she stood before the door. She did not search for her skeleton key. There was no longer a need to even carry it really. The main office, the world headquarters for Reapers, Incorporated, was never empty of souls these days. There was always at least a half dozen Reapers inside that could easily expel a surprise visitor. The main door was never locked anymore.

She paused to shake off the mood she had left the café in. Mama Dee’s statements of truth had been rumbling through her mind, truths that reinforced what she had already been telling herself every night she spent waiting for Maggie. This was her last chance to quiet them before fully engaging her day. John had been away for almost two weeks. She couldn’t let him see her like this.

Opening the door, Brigit shut the lid on her personal thoughts and stepped inside. Even from the front door, she could feel the myriad of energies present in the building. The staff had grown significantly over the past five years. In answer to that growth, new offices had been opened on secret floors above her. A stairway had appeared on the right side of the main hall and the gargoyles that had once hung where the stairs now entered the second floor had repositioned themselves to hang on that space of ceiling directly in front of the door. When Brigit had suddenly noticed their relocation, she pondered whether the grotesque heads truly were a defense against evil or if they were mere decoration. That pondering had briefly led her to the wondering of whether the gargoyles possessed a thought one way or the other as to their purpose. When she had caught herself fancying a conversation with them, Brigit shook those thoughts from her head and locked her attention on her work for the day. She had never been one to possess that kind of imagination – at least, she hadn’t been so during life. Five years of walking the other side, however, had shown her the possibilities of what could have been if she had been one for imagination. Yet, she had seen so much on this side of living that it no longer mattered she had lacked a healthy imagination.

John had been the one to open the new floors to the office. He was the only one that knew the secret trick. When he had offered to teach it to Brigit, she had politely declined for selfish reasons. John was so busy with his travels, recruiting and training that Brigit barely saw him. If there was a reason for John Blackwick to be in the office for longer than a few minutes, Brigit welcomed it. She had grown fond of the Grim Reaper during the beginning of her career as a Reaper. Even when he was cross with her – or she with him – she still held fond feelings for him. He had, after all, provided her with the opportunity that allowed her to keep her promise to Maggie. John Blackwick was not only her boss. He was also her friend and she missed him when he was gone away too long.

A movement to her right caught her eye as she closed the door behind her. Belinda Yaris, now the Senior Records Keeper, stood in the doorway to her small office, her bright blue eyes trained on Brigit’s face.

Hey, Bree, Belinda greeted cheerfully.

Brigit smiled at the use of her nickname. Mama Dee had called her ‘Bree’ once in joking chastisement while in Belinda’s presence and the Goth girl had quickly adopted it in addressing Brigit. She didn’t mind. Maggie had used it often. In a way, it was the signal to Brigit that everything was right in the world.

Good morning, Belinda, Brigit greeted in return. How’s everything?

Ho-hum, you know, Belinda shrugged. John came in this morning.

So I’ve heard. Where is he? I was told he’s waiting for me.

In the office, but you might give him a few minutes. Jean-Pierre just went in and I know they haven’t seen one another in almost a week, Belinda advised.

Good lord, Brigit sighed. They’re ghosts. It’s not like they couldn’t just pop in on each other whenever they felt like it.

"Apparently, John’s been super busy in the new office."

How do you know all this?

I hear things, Belinda smiled mischievously. Ghosts really don’t keep secrets, you know?

Well, that blows that legend out of the water doesn’t it? Brigit chuckled. All right, they’ve had long enough. I’m going in. I’ll see you in a while.

Good luck, Belinda sang out before disappearing back into her office.

Brigit chuckled to herself again as she began walking the hall toward the office she shared with John. As she passed each open door, she involuntarily looked in. If a Reaper was present within, they would acknowledge one another with a simple nod. It was a rare occasion that Reaper would interrupt Brigit’s morning approach toward her office. If John was in-house, it was almost guaranteed Brigit would not be delayed in going to meet him.

She entered the room and paused long enough to scan it as she shrugged out of her coat and hang it on the coat rack she had found and propped against the wall two years ago. John was sitting behind the large mahogany desk and Jean-Pierre occupied one of the visitor’s chairs. The two had been in a quiet conversation, but upon Brigit’s entrance, they ceased talking and turned to face her. Both men looked exhausted, but happy to see her.

Good morning, gentlemen, Brigit greeted. She would not apologize for interrupting their conversation. Even though she shared the office space