Lucas stepped out of the mansion during the time of midnight when everyone had fallen asleep. He strolled down the streets, passing by the creatures he belonged to without looking at them and making it look like he didn’t see them. The need to hide, he thought to himself was important right now. There were far too many people who didn’t like him, for who he was and he held the same feelings towards them only that he was in a higher position compared to the rest of them.

Coming to stand in front of an old church that had its doors closed. He raised his hand for the door to turn transparent and he stepped inside. His footsteps barely making any noise on the ground he walked on.

A woman was found to be seated on the first bench, a book in her hand as she read until she finally sensed someone’s presence in the church. She placed the book on the bench with a leaf at the page so that she would be able to continue reading it later. She stood up to face him. Her long straight black hair was parted at the center to leave it open. She appeared to be in her late twenties.

“Welcome back, Lucas.”

“Isa,” Lucas could feel his skin itch because of the place he was in. A holy place was no place for a person like him, “Is there no spell to reduce the weight I feel on my shoulders?” he was annoyed.

“You do know that even if there was one the witches would never reduce the spell that is placed on the church,” she gave him a smile, “How is the little one?” asked the woman.

“Weak right now. But she should be able to bounce back in time,” Lucas answered on Belle Adams’s health.

“Thank you,” the woman thanked him, “The Adams’ have been calling me every once in a while because the girl kept fainting and at times she didn’t wake up for a whole day or two. I thought it must be something to do with her bloodline but who knew there were scavengers in there,” after his first day, he had come to meet the white witch to let her know what was going on.

“Don’t mention it. I am looking for some potions. If you don’t mind,” he raised one brow of his and started to make his way.

“Go on.”

Walking towards the side door, he made his way to the small room where he didn’t have to worry about the door being locked. All he had to do was stare at it and the door opened by itself and he stepped in. Picking up some of the tiny little bottles that were on the shelf, he returned back.

“Someone came looking for you,” said the woman. To the local people, she was a priestess to confess and send the word of God but to some of the higher officials and others who knew her, she was a white witch.

In the four lands of Bonelake, Mythweald, Valeria, and Wovile, each of them had their own population of different creatures in them. Mythweald was filled majorly with humans, the land of Wovile was a mixture of humans as well as witches, leaving both Valerian and Bonelake with a higher population of vampires in them.

A white witch was always reliable when compared to the black witch who often betrayed and was made of the elements like selfishness, cruelty, and being not merciful. The white witches were of the good kind.

“Let me guess,” Lucas said as she closed the door, “Baltimore.”

“He is very fond of you,” said Isabell, making Lucas chuckle, “Said you were on a run and had to be caught and sent back to the gates. What did you do?” she asked him, her eyes looking at the man who had a smile on his lips.

“Someone framed me for taking a soul away before it was time,” he explained to the woman who gave him a stare.

Curious, she asked, “How away?”

“It touched the tick before showing he had several more years before he would die.”

“You got framed. Grim reapers have it hard,” stated Isabell.

“Tell me about it.”

The woman looked at the man keenly. If she didn’t know him personally, she wouldn’t have believed. The watch never lied and it always worked according to the time of the person which was what the grim reapers used in bringing out and taking the soul to the gates, “You should be careful not to get caught. Knowing your reputation, I am sure everyone wants to welcome you back to the gates. Why are you here for, Lucas?” the white witch asked him, her expression as serene as the butler. The scavengers were dead and the girl was safe. She knew he was here for something. This grim reaper didn’t appear out of no reason to meet people.

His soulless looking eyes looking at the multicolored windows and the paintings that were painted on the walls of the inside of the church. The church looked dark, only a few candles that were lit in front of the altar leaving the rest untouched without any light.

She then said, “You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t tell anyone I know anything.” A few years ago, she had taken the help of the grim reaper and it was only right to return back the favor to him.

“The probability of Baltimore coming here is high and the others. I need you to let me know who is showing up at the church’s footstep so that I can figure out who framed me. Right now the guards of the gates have already been released to find me.”

“You cannot blame them. Your rules, your land’s rules are very strict but I thought they would slide it as it is you, the mighty thirteen number of the thirteen cards…I will make sure to let you know if they show up here. You have my word, Lucas.”

“Sounds fair,” he responded back to her, “I don’t think I can stand the smell of the church. There’s just something in the air and the way it feels that makes my skin crawl,” his expression was serious as his eyes reached to the corner parts of the church that had no light. Isabell could tell the man was irritated.

Reaching the door, in a blink of an eye he disappeared. The churches that were built in the land of Bonelake had magic around it, magic that protected and concealed from anything to happen which was why it made it difficult for the reapers to be able to stand in there.

In the mansion, Lucas walked through the corridors when he caught sight of the little girl dragging her stuffed down across the hall again. It made Lucas wonder if he should ask her parents to have a chain tied around her feet to keep her in the room and avoid getting into trouble. It wasn’t a bad idea, he said to himself and followed the girl like a ghost. She didn’t go to the dining room this time but to the kitchen. Once she finished drinking the water, she went back to her room and fell sound asleep.

He rubbed his temples. What was he doing following the child? He rolled his eyes. Turning back, he went to his own room.

Two weeks more passed and he decided that he would leave the mansion. He had spent more than the required time. He had to move, he had to hunt some of the grim reapers down for his own personal reasons but for that he needed their names. The land he came from, Lucas was one of the grim reapers who was in a higher position. A person to be envied for the ability he held like none other. It was only time that someone was digging a grave for him but Lucas was much smarter, he would push the person and compact the grave so that the digger would never come out of it.

He was a grim reaper, a creature that held no emotions and even if they did, the creatures always held dark emotions in them. Lucas raised his hand, ready to snap his fingers and when he did, nothing happened. He was still there at the Adams’ mansion.

He snapped his fingers again but nothing. After a couple more times he finally realized that his ability wasn’t working anymore. When he took a look at his hands, his long, slender fingers didn’t change in the first minute. Though the next time it did, it appeared as if his body was unstable and was getting back to his false appearance.

When he went back to the white witch, she said, “There’s no spilled magic around. Looks like fate wants you to stay here.”

“Fate is fucked up.”

Right now he was more human than a grim reaper. Though some of his powers were still working, a lot of them failed to work. He wanted to hunt the creatures down but with the lack of some of his abilities, he gave some thought before deciding to stay back at the Adams’ mansion.

He was a grim reaper with infinite time in his hand.

He would hunt them down later but for now, he would enjoy his vacation in the land of the living. As weeks started to pass to months, seasons changed where leaves turned from green to dry as they fell over the years to be washed away by the rain. Repeating the process such that eleven years passed in the land of Bonelake and the other lands.