Chapter 75 - Two Reports
The scars around her eyes and mouth made it obvious who this other reaper was. If that wasn’t enough, ‘Master’ could only be referring to Death himself. This was the girl from the diary—Alice; Death’s last apprentice.
Morrigan wasn’t sure what to say. Normally, a greeting would be the natural way to start, but considering the way she chose to introduce herself, Morrigan had trouble finding any pleasantries. ‘I’m planning to give you bad marks on a test you didn’t even know you were taking’ certainly didn’t set the stage for a friendly meet and greet. Especially when the results of that test would determine if she was going to be sent to limbo or not.
Noir didn’t seem to have any warm greetings reserved for her either. “Alice, what are you doing here?”
“Why do you think?” she said, her lips curling into a sly smile as she pointed at Morrigan. “I’m here for her.”
“Explain yourself!” Noir snapped. “What is this nonsense?”
“What part are you having trouble understanding, exactly?” Her head tilted back just slightly as she smiled. “I recently got a promotion, and an apprentice reaper named Morrigan Livingston is my first case.”
“You lie! Why would you of all reapers be chosen to be made an Arbiter!”
“Oh, you’d be surprised. It has been sixty years, Noir, and let's just say I’ve been putting in overtime. I’m sure you and Master would be quite proud to hear of my achievements.”
“Wait,” Morrigan interjected. This felt like witnessing some unpleasant family reunion, the type Morrigan normally wouldn’t interrupt, maybe even quietly excuse herself from, but considering this seemed to directly involve her, she had to clarify what exactly this all meant. “So… you said something about a report?”
Alice’s eyes instantly shot back to her, tunneling in with a predatory gaze. “That’s right. I’ve been tasked with evaluating your performance, and so far, I am underwhelmed by what I’ve seen.”
Morrigan clenched her fists, trying to steady her nerves. She had just met this girl, but could already sense the hostility radiating from her. “And what if I fail your evaluation? What happens then?”
Alice’s smile returned, but it was colder this time. “Well, that part isn’t really up to me. You can always ask your master, though. I’m sure he’ll be able to fill you in.” She turned away and began heading back down the alley. “I’ll be stopping in from time to time to check on you. Please be sure to tell Master I said hi.”
“Hey, wait a second!” Morrigan said, following her, but as soon as she stepped into the alley, Alice melded with the shadows, turning into a black blur of motion that disappeared within seconds. Morrigan looked to Noir, her expression pleading for an explanation.
“This isn’t good…” Noir said in a low voice.
“What do you mean?”
“Alice is… Well, in my opinion, she is ill-fitted to be an Arbiter, and the fact that she is evaluating her old master's new apprentice is completely inappropriate.”
“Okay… but why do you seem so worried?”
“Because I don’t know what she is planning, but whatever it is, I’m sure it isn’t good. Come, let’s get back now. We must inform Master of this development right away.”
***
“She’s really back?” Death asked, sitting up straighter on the couch with the gaming headset around his neck, controller still in hand.
“Yes, Master… I could hardly believe it myself,” Noir answered.
Morrigan stood by with her hands in her hoodie pockets. They filled Death in on everything that had transpired, and he now seemed to contemplate the situation.
“Well, if she says she is an Arbiter now, then it is probably true. Though I wonder how she managed to pull the strings into being the one to evaluate Morrigan.”
“Why am I being evaluated in the first place?” Morrigan asked. “I thought if I got back on track with reaping, there wouldn’t be any problems! I’ve done everything I was supposed to these last couple of weeks.”
“Yes, you have… and I believed there would be no issues, especially since I’ve handled those names on your list which you were not able to do yourself. Technically, you are up to date and very much still in the learning phase. Normally there is a little more leeway.”
“So why now?” Morrigan pressed.
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“It is hard to say. One theory would be that the council was unsatisfied with my last apprentice and, therefore, wanted to make a closer assessment of you. In such a case, it would, therefore, be more a mark against myself and not you that you are now in this situation. However, considering they saw fit to make Alice an Arbiter that theory does not exactly check out. Surely that’s a sign they are satisfied with her performance overall.” Death removed the headset from his neck and set it on the coffee table along with the game controller. “Yes, there is certainly something more at play here. No doubt Alice found a few strings to pull towards this outcome.”
Morrigan spoke carefully. “So… you don’t think it’s just a coincidence she ended up being assigned to evaluate me? You think she… arranged for that to be the case? Why? Because I’m your apprentice?”
Death chuckled. “Oh yes, absolutely. Ah! This is so typical of her! Always such a schemer! I do wonder how she pulled it off, though.”
Death at least sounded more amused than worried about the situation. It relaxed Morrigan’s anxiety somewhat. Noir, however, ruined any relief she might have felt. “Master, what are we to do about this? I suspect it is Alice’s intention to facilitate sending Morrigan to limbo.”
“Wait! What!?” Morrigan yelled.
Death chuckled. “Well, there is not much we can do at the moment. Either way, as long as Morrigan does her job, Alice cannot outright lie on her report.”
“I don’t get it, what does me being your apprentice have to do with anything? Is she just jealous or what?”
“Ah, don’t take it personally,” Death consoled. “You see, I'm sure it’s more about me than you. She must still be holding a grudge even after all these years. You’d think four hundred would be old enough for her to mature, but she really hasn't changed at all!”
“Well, why do I have to be caught in the middle of it then? Can’t you just go try to work things out with her?”
“Oh yes, I do fully intend to speak with her, don’t worry about that,” Death assured. “Now, tracking her down may be difficult. One option is to just tail you until she decides to reveal herself again, but that may not work. If her intention is to avoid a direct confrontation with me, it could take some time…”
Morrigan thought about it for a moment and instantly had an idea of how her witch friends could help. Granted, it had been many years since Alice had lived here, but there must be some trace of her left behind. Especially since Death had left her room untouched. “How about… having Hilda make an Alice GPS?” Morrigan suggested.
Death clapped his skeletal hands, making more of a clink than a clap. “Yes! That is an excellent idea! Are Miss. Hilda and Miss. Emma planning to come over today?”
“Yeah, I think when Hilda’s done work, she’s going to pick Emma up. Hang on, let me check.”
Morrigan checked her phone and saw several missed calls and text messages from Emma. From the text preview she saw Emma sent, ‘Call me when you get a chance.’
Morrigan felt her heart jump. It wasn’t like Emma to blow up her phone with multiple calls and texts like this. She quickly dialed Emma’s number. It rang only once before Emma picked up.
“Morrigan! H-hey, are you okay?” Emma’s voice was a mix of relief and concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s going on, Emma? You called a bunch of times,” Morrigan said, her own concern growing.
Emma exhaled. “Um, okay, so where are you right now?”
“I’m back at Death’s cabin.” Time slowed to a crawl with anticipation, this was so unlike Emma. What could have possibly happened? Morrigan could hear it in her voice that something was wrong. Did Alice do something already? But that didn’t make any sense… What could she have done?
“Alright, Morrigan… I just saw it on the news, and nobody really knows all the details yet, but…” Emma hesitated a moment. When she spoke, it was not something Morrigan ever could have anticipated. “Your mom’s in the hospital.”
Morrigan instantly felt her blood run cold. “What? W-was it an accident, or…” She felt the words leaving her mouth as if someone else were speaking them. It had already been a bad day, but then, as Emma continued to explain, Morrigan felt like she was hit by a wall of unreality where everything just felt completely surreal.
“Morrigan… it said… she tried to commit suicide.”
All of her other concerns and anxieties were suddenly washed away in a state of numbness. Her mom attempted suicide? That couldn’t be right! There had to be a mistake!
“Are you sure?” Morrigan said blankly, shaking her head. “W-what did it say?”
“There’s not much; the report just says, um… ‘Anna Livingston, suspect in missing persons case, has been rushed to the hospital in what police are investigating as an attempted suicide.’ I’m so sorry, that’s all it says.”
“Is she alive? What’s her condition?! Is she going to be okay?” Morrigan said, trying to keep herself under control, but her voice was cracking.
“I really don’t know anything, I’m so sorry,” Emma said. “I figured you’d see the report sooner or later, so I thought it’d be better coming from me. And I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
Morrigan looked over to Death with a lost expression on her face, then her gaze switched to Noir. “Is… my mom… on a list?”
“I do not know,” Noir said. “All I can say is neither you nor Master has been assigned to her as of right now.”
Morrigan more fell into the couch than sat on it. She felt a panic attack setting in. Her mind was racing. Why would her mom do something like this? Or did that girl Alice have something to do with it? No… that was paranoid thinking but… what if…
It’s my fault, it’s my fault, it’s my fault, it’s my fault…
No matter what precisely happened, this was her fault. She knew that. Why didn’t she try to contact her mom sooner? She could have sent an email, or a text—anything! It wouldn’t have been undeniable proof of her innocence, but Morrigan could have at least let her mom know she was okay!
She realized she was heaving, and Death’s cold embrace wrapped around her as comfortingly as the ancient skeleton could possibly manage. He was saying something to her, but she couldn’t make it out, and she was vaguely aware of her own words leaving her mouth and asking Emma to come over.
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