A Reapers Obsession

It was a rainy night in New Orleans’ French Quarter when Patty and Orville heard the knock at their door. When they opened the door they were greeted with a car seat in which their niece Veronica was safely tucked away. A note and some paperwork in an envelope, her onesie, blanket, and car seat were all she had with her. With no trace of Orville’s brother in sight he and Patty brought their niece inside and began brewing a pot of coffee. “What the hell did he get himself into now” Orville asked aloud while handing Patty her mug of decaf. Patty sat silent for a moment, cradling the baby in one arm and sipping her coffee with her other. Together they read the note: “Orville & Patty, I hate to do this but it’s the only way to keep her safe. Here are the documents for her trust, she is my sole heir and will get everything once I’m found deceased. I can’t keep running. Please keep my baby safe. When she asks tell her how loved she was. But please don’t let her find out who she is until she’s 21, it’s the only way to keep her safe. Until I see you again through the veil. Love always, Luco “ The realization slowly crept through their bodies like the first gulp of cold water in the morning chilling out their organs as it made its way through to their core. They’d always had suspicions, of course. However, this solidified it. Veronica’s mother was a Reaper. An act of taboo and defiance those in the know wouldn’t dare commit. A human breeding with a Reaper was almost unheard of. Usually Reapers make their human forms to be unappealing and unremarkable as to go unnoticed by those around them. Daphne however stood out to Luco no matter how unremarkable she may have been. It was her eyes that caught his in a trance. Pools of warm honey cradling a burst of icy blue inhuman enough to be noticed. After Veronica was born Daphne had to go back through the veil to keep the Reapers Council from catching on. Luco was a single parent for the next 8 months until the day he left his only child with his brother and sister in law. “You think she’ll come looking for her?” Asked Patty finally breaking her excruciating silence. “I truly don’t know my dear, but in an odd way, I can’t help but be grateful we now have a child to raise.” Orville responded while softly stroking the babies cheek still in his wives arms. They weren’t able to bare children of their own. Although the circumstances grim, they took in the moment and relished in the idea of raising their niece in a loving home. In the years to come they did just that. Veronica grew up knowing they were not her parents but she loved and regarded them all the same. Her earliest memory is of Christmas morning when she was four; watching her aunt Patty shed a single tear as she watched little Veronica burst at the seems with wonder and amazement at her new dolls. Now 20 years old, Veronica still had those dolls. Although she grew up to be a much different person, that little girl still holds a special place in her heart. Even with her all black clothes and love of the night time, she knew she would always love that little girl she once was the way she loved her dolls. It was just a week before her 21st birthday, but with the help of a fake ID she was working the night shift at a local hole in the wall bar. Veronica lived with her Aunt Patty in the same little apartment her aunt and uncle had been in when they took her in. She was grandfathered in to the old lease when her uncle passed away a few months after her 18th birthday. Patty added her to the lease to ensure when she went too, the rent would stay low enough for her niece to survive on her own. Heading into to work for the night she locked up and left her building. Passing by her neighbor Xavier on the way out she politely nodded as she always did. Xavier had always been there as long as she could remember but he didn’t seem to age much. He was tall and muscular but lean. He had dark features of but bright eyes that she could never pin point the color of as he always kept his head down. Veronica finally made it to work and greeted her regulars as she got herself settled. She noticed some new faces and began her way over to greet them when she got an uneasy feeling in her gut. She switched courses and sent the other bartender on shift to do it instead. She ALWAYS trusted her gut. You have to in this town. A bad feeling meant danger and for Veronica these feelings happened often. She had a knack for knowing when someone was going to pass. It creeped her out so she self soothed by convincing herself every single time was a mere coincidence. The remainder of her shift was uneventful. She made her average tips from her regulars, and closed up. She made her way home guided by the sound of jazz filling the void that was the witching hour. When she got to the street her apartment was on she noticed some strange figures lingering and then leaving when they noticed her. There it was; the bad feeling. Her heart began to pound as she rushed into her building and up the stairs only to find the door busted at the hinges. “AUNT PATTY?!” She called with desperation only to be met with silence. She scanned the apartment but there was no sign of her aunt anywhere. A sound on the patio spiked her adrenaline even more. She was careful, in case the figures she had seen were still around. Peeking outside she noticed her aunt cowering underneath some patio furniture. “Oh my hell what happened?! Are you okay?!” Veronica asked breathlessly. “They came for you not for me. It’s not my time yet. My beautiful niece they’ve found you.”