Throughout time, humanity has had different names for the ruler of death. Anubis, Thanatos, Bakunawa, Hades, Hel. But, these aren't the names of the deity, no. These are the names of the Grim.
The Grim have but one purpose. To claim those that are marked by Death. Each Grim has their own mark. Hel's mark is that of a wilted rose appearing on the person's chest, in front of the heart. The Grim are apathetic creatures who never think twice about claiming a mark. Only the Grim can see the mark, and each respects the others' right to claim a person's soul. In case of a person having more than one mark, the older Grim gets the right to the person's soul. It was in one such case where Hel first felt something strange within her.
Night had fallen, and a lone car travelled the streets. It's driver shivered, cursing at the sky. On the his chest, a wilted rose glowed. Hel swooped close to the vehicle and rested on its hood. The driver cursed at the wipers to move faster, and she notice a faint outline of a hole on his forehead. She had never seen that mark before. With whom will I share you? she thought. The driver's expression turned to that of surprise, and he immediately hit the brakes.
"What the fuck are you doing in the middle of the road?!" shouted the man. Hel turned her head, for no mortal can see her, and saw a small hooded figure. The man, clearly impatient, shouted "I'll run you over!! Get out of the way you fucking idiot!" Hel saw the figure smile and moved closer to the vehicle.
"Miss, can you please move? I'm here for him, not you." said the figure.
Hel's eyes widened. "You can see me?" she asked as she slid off of the car's hood.
Her shocked turned to something else however, when the figure lifted a gun and fired. The driver didn't have time to react. Hel took a physical form as the figure turned to her.
"Of course I can see you. I'm not blind," the figure pointed the gun at her. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I was gonna kill him anyway." Hel said. The figure, which she now saw as a young male, didn't seem to have expected that, and slowly lowered the gun.
The man stared at her for a while before saying "Jim. You?"
"Jim…" she said. There was something about the young man that entranced her.
"Jim? Funny name for a girl."
"Wha- oh!" Hel started, then realized what he meant. "I'm sorry. I'm Hel."
"Hell? Funny name," Jim said, smiling. "C'mon, there's a diner nearby."
Hel smiled. She turned to walk with him, and they talked about their killings. She felt something inside her, like how she would feel after she claimed a mark, only stronger. She felt like she was floating in air, with his presence as her wings. Hel was so captivated with him that she didn't notice a wilted rose floating in front of his chest.
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"You played with two marks last week," asked Anubis, the eldest Grim. He acted as a father to the Grim. "I had to send Beth to clean up after you."
Hel stared out into the fields of the netherworld. She kept thinking back to a month ago, when she first met Jim. After that night they often met up to claim souls, sometimes experimenting with how to do it. She hasn't had fun like this in millennia, when she first became a Grim.
"Are you listening?" asked Anubis.
Hel absent-mindedly nodded. Anubis sighed, and twisted Hel's chair around so she was facing him.
"I ignored the fact that you let a mark get away last month, but you won't get away with your little shenanigans." Anubis paused. "Our job is to claim the souls, not destroy the bodies."
"But this is the most fun I've had in-wait what mark?" Hel started. "The driver?"
"Your little friend. I don't know how long you plan to keep him, but it'll just end badly for both of you."
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Later that day, Hel stood in the basement of Jim's house. Jim's basement was filled with all sorts of fun things they used in their experiments. In the middle was the table where they strapped down the marked, and next to it was a gurney filled with blades and scalpels. Behind her, were shelves lined with all sorts of chemicals. She heard the door open, and heard Jim saying hey.
"Something wrong?" asked Jim. "We don't have someone to play with today, huh?"
Jim walked around the basement, fiddling with their toys.
"You don't," said Hel softly. "But I do." She was trying to hold back her tears. She hasn't cried before, even when was alive.
"Solo mission?" Jim said, fidling with the chemicals. Hel could smell something familiar, but she ignored it.
"I'm so, so sorry Jim," she turned to face him. "I have to claim you." She couldn't hold back her tears anymore. They flowed down as she hugged him.
"Don' cry," said Jim, returning the hug. "You won't kill me." Hel felt something prick her skin, and she felt woozy.
"What do…" she started, before fainting.
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When Hel woke up, her body felt numb. Her mouth tasted like blood, and she couldn't see anything. She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. She felt panic rise in her. Where's my tongue?! I can't feel my tongue!
"You woke up! Finally!" she heard Jim say. "I've been chopping you up for hours, but your limbs kept growing back." She felt a cold metal touch her stomach. "It's like your wolverine or something." Jim pushed the blade into Hel's stomach.
Hel twisted her body in pain. He was right, she could her tongue growing back, and she screamed. Slowly she began to see. The pain of her organs growing back, plus the feeling of Jim's blade slicing open her stomach, was too much for her. In her millennia of existence, she's never felt something like this.
Jim stop slicing her stomach, and waited for it to heal. Hel tried to pull her arms and legs free, but she can't somehow. She looked down at them, and saw that they were nothing more than blackened stumps."Fuck you!" she screamed. "I'll kill you!"
Jim chuckled. "Yeah, thing is," he pulled Hel's tongue out and sliced it off. "I found out something cool." He took a lighter, and burned what remained of her tongue. "You don't regenerate when you burn."
Base on: http://idareyoutowrite.tumblr.com/post/147750398042 Constructive criticism is always welcome.
