Death Inc

Death Inc

Chapter 3

Unrelenting spirit

Two Weeks Later

“Today is the last day of your training; show me what you can do!” Gavreel shouted with a smile on his face as he pressed a button on the wall in the hall. Several wooden dummy’s appeared around Ray as he held his hand outstretched in front of him. “Just you watch and try to keep your mouth closed, having it gaping open is very unflattering you know” He said smirking as long line of black smoke puffed up around his hand. “Let’s do this!” He shouted as he leapt forward dispersing the black smoke and revealing his weapon, he raised it above his head and brought it smashing down in to the wooden dummy. The dummy exploded in a shower of debris as Ray skidded along the floor his hair and coat swinging wildly as he turned around. He pounced towards the next dummy as pieces of wooden debris hit the ground all around him.

Ray swung his arm across his body with all his might as the bar from his weapon crashed through the dummy tearing it in half. He stood up slowly as the upper half of the dummy hit the floor crushing the dummy’s head. Ray turned around and his eyes locked on the last dummy, he ran forward lifting his weapon directly above his head. He then quickly brought it crashing down again splitting the dummy vertically in half. As the bar hit the ground it cracked the floor before finally exploding sending a cloud of dust and debris around him. Clapping echoed around the hall as Gavreel walked across the hall towards him. “Well that was very impressive” he said as the dust finally settled around Ray. “Not bad indeed, it still needs a little work but the fact that you can even carry it is astonishing enough but to be able to wield it so effectively with such little training is even more remarkable” He continued to say as he eventually reached Ray.

“Thank you, I think I’ve even managed to surprise myself with how much I have actually been able to accomplish with such little time” Ray said in reply as his weapon disappeared in a puff of black smoke “But in the cafeteria with Geoffrey, how did you do those things that you did?” He said as he sat down to the floor of the hall. “Hmm?” Gavreel said as he tried to recollect “Oh you mean how I moved so fast and how I knocked him back? Well that’s easy; you see there are eight Reaper powers and eight Documenter powers, they are different from each other but they both do similar things. The moves that I used are called shadow step and shadow force” Gavreel said as a wave of confusion washed over Ray “Powers?” he muttered confused and scratching his head.

“Yes shadow step for a documenter is mainly a defensive move, basically I can retreat in to my shadow and reappear from any other shadow within a ten metre radius but not my own shadow and of course there is a limited amount of time that I can stay in the shadow as it will eventually disappear. The Reaper alternative is rather more basic and is simply a high speed movement technique” he explained but Ray still sat there with a blank expression on his face. “Perhaps it would be easier to just show you” Gavreel said as he took a couple of steps back. Suddenly his body started to sink in to his shadow until he was completely gone “Wow” Ray said in amazement as he got up and staggered forward to where Gavreel had been standing. When slowly Gavreel rose out of the ground behind Ray, from out of Ray’s shadow.

“That’s was amazing!” Ray said as he spun around to face him, “Can you teach me how to do that?!” He said almost jumping up and down with excitement with a huge smile on his face. “I’m afraid not that technique is only possible for documenters to perform and to perform the Reaper alternative you have to be promoted to a senior reaper position first.” Gavreel said as he did a few stretches on the floor before walking towards the door of the hall. “Anyway that is enough training for today Ray, you have done well. Your work starts again tomorrow so go get some rest ok” Gavreel said as he walked opened the door to the hall and exited through it. “I have to be a senior Reaper hey, well that isn’t going to stop me” Ray said aloud to himself as he started to train.

The next day…

The doors to the portal room swished up as Ray ran in wheezing as he bent over the control panel in front of him. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead as his robe hung from his body crumbled and creased. “Well your in a sorry state aren’t you?” A familiar voice came from the far end of the room, as Ray looked up he could see Gavreel in his usual shirt and tie combination with a clipboard in his right hand. “You were meant to be here over an hour ago” Gavreel said with a stern glare as he tapped the watch on his right arm. “Sorry about that” Ray said as he struggled to stand up right, “I got a bit behind and lost track of time” He continued to say as he let go of the panel. “But I am ready now” Ray said as he struggled to manage a smile.

“Good” Gavreel quickly replied as he walked towards Ray, “Press the green button to activate the portal” he said as he stood in front of the steps to the portal. “Ok” Ray quickly replied as he pressed the button, the liquid portal appeared on the podium. “Let’s do this” He shouted as he ran up the steps and jumped through the portal. He went skidding across the floor before slamming face first in to the wall, “ouch” he muttered as he fell down on to the ground with a thump. As he looked behind him, he could see Gavreel enter through the portal, “Your rather energetic aren’t you for a man who could barely stand a moment ago” Gavreel said as held his hand out, “I got my second wind” Ray chirped as he grabbed his hand and pulled himself up.

”So where is the person” he said as he patted the dust off his robe, “His name is Joe Henry, he is eighty three years old and will die of old age and he is just in the other room” He said looking at his clipboard and pointing towards the door. Ray slowly grasped the handle of the door and turned the knob, as he slowly pushed the door open he could see an old man lying on a bed attached to monitors and breathing apparatus. The old man eyes peeled open as the light emerged into the room hitting his cold pale face; he slowly raised his hand up to his face and grabbed the respirator. He started to pant heavily as his fingers clutched it. As Ray entered the room he could see that it was full of items, there were piles of books littered around the room and newspapers were scattered across the floor. The room was almost pitch black with the faintest light poking through the drawn curtains and a strong odour surrounded the room.

The old man slowly pulled the device of his head as his arm flopped lifelessly besides him he started to wheeze and cough as he struggled for air. “Are… you… here… for… me?” He struggled to say as he coughed uncontrollably. “Yes” Ray said as he stood at the end of the bed looking at the old man. “Thank you… I have… spent the last… year alone” The old man said as he clutched his chest in pain. “It is okay, don’t say any more” Ray urged as he saw him in pain. “I… want… to… see my… son again” The old man said as he started to cry, the tears running down his face. “Maybe you should finish him now, he only has ten minutes left to live” Gavreel said looking at the floor, Ray nodded his head as he walked along the side of the bed and held his hand out hovering above the old mans head. “Thank you” the old man said again as he closed his eyes, “It’s okay, it’s time to rest” Ray said as blue light engulfed his hand, he slowly lowered his hand on to the old mans forehead. The man clenched his fists for several seconds before his hands went lifeless.

Suddenly the old mans soul sat up out of his body as he looked around, “I’m dead then?” The old man said as he turned around to see his body lying there. “Well this feels weird” as the man waved his hand through his old body. “Well shall we?” Gavreel said tapping his foot and pointing at his watch. “Oh yeah, sorry but were running a little late would you mind…” Ray started to say before he was cut off by the old man. “Of course no problem” The old man said as he jumped up out of the bed and his old body. “I feel great now” he continued to say as he began to stretch and jog on the spot, “I haven’t felt this way in years” The old man said as he started to jump up and down. “That’s great, but we have a deadline” Gavreel said as he clicked his fingers. A blue portal opened up in the wall, “Wow I didn’t realise you could do that as well!” Ray said in amazement. “Of course I can I am a senior documenter after all” Gavreel said blushing slightly.

”I didn’t realise you were so amazing Gavreel, what else can you do?” Ray said as he walked towards the portal. “Well thank you” Gavreel said as he cheeks turned red before quickly snapping out of it. “Anyway we have work to do” he said as he pointed again at his watch. “Ok already” Ray said as he turned towards the old man “Do you mind walking through this please?” just as soon as he said it the old man leapt through the portal. “Well he’s eager isn’t he? Your turn then Ray” Gavreel said as he stood next to the portal. “Ok” Ray said before something suddenly caught his attention in the corner of the room. “You go first, I need to use the bathroom quickly” Ray said embarrassed, Gavreel let out a sigh “For gods sake, fine but hurry up already will you” Gavreel said as he walked through the portal.

Ray quickly ran over to the corner of the room, sitting there was a dusty wooden guitar. He gently picked it up and blew the dust away from it, he stood there for several seconds admiring it “This will do” He thought to himself as reached behind himself and lifted his robe and placed the guitar on his back and secured it around his waist with his belt. He walked to mirror and saw the end of the guitar poking up through the top of his robe so he quickly flipped the hood over to conceal it. “It pokes out a bit from the back but I should be able to get away with it” Ray said nervously, he quickly turned and ran through the portal after the old man and Gavreel.

As he emerged from the other side a gigantic circular door stood in front of him, it was surrounded by an endless white floor which seemed to stretch out for all entirety. Gavreel and the old man was standing by the metal door, to the right hand side of the door was man who looked well over a hundred. He has a long white beard which almost touched his toes; he had white hair which reached the back of his waist. He was wearing a colourful Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts; he had sandals which revealed his wrinkly feet and dirty toenails. He was wearing black designer sunglasses and was lounging on a deckchair with a side table, which had half a coconut with a straw in it, resting on it.

“Come on Ray” Gavreel called waving his arm, beckoning him over, Ray jogged over as Gavreel and the old man started to walk towards the man on the deck chair. “Hello there” Gavreel said waving as the man raised his face and lifted his sunglasses. A smile suddenly emerged on the man’s face as he took of his sunglasses and sat up right. “Gavreel! How has it been I haven’t seen you in a while, what have you been up to?” The man said with a Scottish accent as Ray finally caught up with them. “Not much, just the usual daily grind. You?” Gavreel replied smiling “The same really, got a soul for me have you? Hmm who is this?” The man said pointing at Ray who was standing at the back of the group. “Oh that is my new partner Ray, he is a little wet behind the ears. Ray this is Gabriel the gate keeper for the world of the living.” Gavreel said introducing the two of them. “It is a pleasure to meet you laddy” Gabriel said as he slowly lifted himself about half way of the chair and stretched his arm out.

Ray reached forward and grabbed the man’s hand; Gabriel gripped tightly as he shook his hand. Ray almost cried from the pain as it felt like his hand was being broken, after a couple of seconds Gabriel let go and Ray staggered backwards gripping his hand in pain. “You’re alright laddy, you know” Gabriel said as Ray smiled and nodded. “Anyway I guess you will be wanting me to open her up then?” He said as he leaned over towards the gate and smacked it with his first. The small rectangular patch of metal moved down as a lever emerged from the hole. “If you wouldn’t mind?” Gavreel said as Gabriel lowered the lever and slumped back down on to his chair. The sound of creaking and gears moving sounded loudly as the door slowly started to part revealing a vortex behind it.

Ray stood in amazement as he stared at it, “What is that?” he said as Gavreel walked with the old man towards the centre of the gate. “This is the soul cleansing machine” Gavreel said as they made it to the middle. “It cleanses the soul, removing memory and physical form and then gives them a new body and life in the land of the dead and completes the cycle. There has been a few cases where the soul retains their memories or physical form but that is extremely rare. If you could step in to the machine, don’t worry it won’t hurt” Gavreel said as he held his arm out pointing towards the machine. The old man took a few nervous steps forward before closing his eyes and stepping in to the vortex. Gabriel leaned over again and lifted the lever as it disappeared in to the gate the doors slowly started to close shut again.

“Have you seen my brother?” Gabriel said as Gavreel walked back over, “No I haven’t sorry, why do you have a message for him?” Gavreel asked. “You have a brother?” Ray said surprised for some reason. “Yes I do laddy, a twin brother. He operates the gate from the other side in the land of the dead.” Gabriel said as he took a sip from his coconut “Why don’t you head on back now” Gavreel said as he clicked his fingers opening a portal behind Ray. “You have done enough for one day” He said as he turned back to talk with Gabriel. “Ok?” Ray said feeling slightly ignored by the two of them as he walked through the portal. “Does he really think that we didn’t notice?” Gabriel said laughing slightly. “Knowing him most probably” Gavreel said as the two burst out into laughter.

Later that night…

A shadowy figure emerged from the elevator as he moved along the glass windows, the dull computer lights illuminating the drones on the other side of it. The figure reached a keypad and quickly entered several digits, the red LED pinged green as the door swished open. The figure kept crouched down as he ran along the desks towards the end of the room, the door closing behind him. As he reached the end of the room, he stopped and looked at the drone closet to him. The drone was female as was constantly typing away at the keyboard. The figure perched himself on to the desk beside her as he removed a guitar from under his robe. “Sorry if it doesn’t sound very good, I am a little bit rusty” Ray said with a smile as he placed the guitar on his lap. “Well let’s see how hard this is” He said aloud as he strummed on the strings, letting out a horribly sound. “Hmm guess it needs tuning” Ray said as started to adjust it before strumming it again. “Better” He thought to himself as he straightened himself up.

“Ok here goes nothing” He said as he started to strum a tune with the guitar before coughing to clear his throat. “Ma…” Ray said nervously before coughing again, “Mama” he sang as he started to gain confidence as he continued to play the guitar occasionally missing a few notes or hitting the wrong cords with the guitar. “Just killed a man, put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now his dead.” Ray continued to sing before he saw a small smile appear on the woman’s face. He instantly dropped his guitar on to the floor and jumped off the desk and looked intently at the woman’s face. “She’s smiling, she’s smiling!” Ray shouted ecstatic, before looking at the monitor. “She just got married hmm, so she wasn’t smiling at me at all” He said sombrely as he picked up his guitar. “What I am thinking? This is a waste of time? Is that all the determination that I have? No! I won’t give up drones are people too, and I will prove it! If I do this every night I am sure that one of them will react, they have too!” Ray said as he headed towards the door. “I won’t give up on you”.

The following night…

Ray yawned as he got up out of his bed and put on his robe “perhaps doing this at the dead of night wasn’t such a good idea” he said as he staggered forward grabbing his guitar, he then opened the door when suddenly he could hear voices from further down the corridor. “You cowards, get the hell out of my sight!” The voice shouted as Ray could hear footsteps heading in his direction. Ray pressed himself against his bedroom wall as two male reapers ran past his door and further along the corridor. Ray poked his head out of his door and looked down the corridor. There was a rather large round man wearing a shirt and a tie and another thinner man in a reaper uniform shouting at each other.

“Master I don’t think this is a very good idea?” The large man said nervously, “Since when does the servant get the nerve to tell its master what to do!” The man shouted at him, Ray recognised the voice instantly “Geoffrey” he thought to himself as he continued to look at the two of them down the corridor. “Well it’s just the director won’t be pleased, there’s no telling what he will do” The man said cowering, “Ha the director isn’t in charge anymore, he is just a useless figure head. The council of eight run Death Inc and therefore the universe and three of them have already given me their blessing. This is the chance I have been waiting for!” Geoffrey said laughing aloud. “But master…” the man started to say before a scythe tore through his neck cutting his head cleanly off. “Learn your place” Geoffrey said as he brought his scythe down to his side.

Ray shrieked in horror before clamping his hand over his mouth and pressing himself back again against the wall. Geoffrey and the documenter’s head looked up the corridor and saw nothing. “Who’s there?! Come out now!” Geoffrey shouted out, “Shit what do I do now? I can’t let him just get away with that! And I am stronger now!” Ray said unsure as he took a deep breath of air, after a few seconds he finally plucked up his courage and walked out in to the corridor. “Well, well, well if it isn’t the nobody” Geoffrey said grinning. “Huh who is that” The documenter said as he saw Ray. “What! You can talk?!” Ray said shocked. “How rude! Of course I can talk I am not an idiot!” The head shouted at him in disgust. “He meant in that condition you idiot” Geoffrey said with a sigh. “Oh yes of course this is the eight time that the master has cut off my head for insubordination this month” The head said as it rolled around on the floor dripping blood.

“That’s horrible!” Ray said shocked as looked at the head. “What do you care? He is just a shitty documenter. A useless necessity, they should be kept in cells or in the state from which they come from” Geoffrey said as he looked down at the head. “Well, Master I would…” The head started to say but Geoffrey quickly turned and kicked it down the corridor and out of sight. “Hmph he wouldn’t of shut up if I hadn’t of done that.” He said laughing out loud. “What did you mean? From the state in which they come from” Ray said puzzled as he stared at Geoffrey intently clenching his fists. “Huh, wait you don’t know do you? Ha ha, I don’t believe you don’t know it, the truth about the documenters!” Geoffrey said almost falling over in hysterics. “Documenters are drones!” Geoffrey shouted revelling in Ray’s surprise as he fell to the floor in disbelief.

End of Chapter 3

Please note this is a bonus story for my other story The Demon Hunter Chronicles