AN: Sorry for anything that might be religious in this story. I might go there. When I put XXX it means a time skip. Thanx!

Ponyboy's POV

I've been studying about my abilities and the other beings. Its clear to me that this is no game. It certainly is serious.

I meet with Shadow at the park tonight. Its been approximately four days since I had last met up with him. Shadow is pretty nice for a Reaper. As far as he told me, Reapers are usually hostile. I don't want to be like the other Reapers. I want to be as human as possible.

Actually, I still am human…As long as I don't take any souls…

But Shadow told me its almost impossible to not take any souls while I'm a Reaper. It's a Reapers duty to make sure that a mortals life is not too long. At least not like the old days. A long time ago, humans would live at least a hundred years. But things changed.

I haven't taken any lives yet, so I am considered human. But once I take a soul…I'll be a Reaper.

But I won't take a life. I refuse. I want to be human, not some monster.

Who says I'd be a monster? Shadow looks pretty human to me…

I waited until I was sure both of my brothers were asleep before I snuck out. When I closed the front door behind me, Talon perched on my shoulder. I was so used to having the bird around, I almost hadn't noticed he was there at all. Talon was a nice raven, but Darry, Soda, and the rest of the gang were still cautious around him. I guess it's because whenever someone besides me tries to pet him, he hisses.

Its odd, but then again, everything is these days.

My walk to the park was not a long one. The park was only a block from our house, so it wouldn't take any more then ten minutes to get there. Maybe not even that.

I sat down on the fountain as usual, and didn't even notice when Shadow appeared sitting next to me.

"How do you do that?" I asked.

Shadow just smiled.

"You've read the book?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Good. How about I take you out for your first reaping?" A pleasant smile spread across his face.

My blood went cold. I didn't want this. I was hoping it would never come to this. If I did this, I would loose what part of me is human. I don't want that.

After a moment of my silence, I looked up at him calmly.

"No." I said.

Shadow looked taken aback. "Why? You need to. You know what would happen if you didn't. Please Ponyboy. Don't let it come to that. No Reaper wants the punishment." Shadow pleaded.

I shook my head. "No. if I do this, I wouldn't be human anymore." I said.

Shadow nodded. "That's true…" he trailed off.

I looked at my Guide. "What? What is it?" I asked.

Shadow looked down. "I didn't want it to come to this but…"

"Yeah? What is it?" I was getting annoyed.

Shadow sighed. "If you don't reap, you don't live." he said.

"What?" I asked. What does that mean? This is confusing.

"If you do not take souls, then you will not be able to live. You have to reap to keep alive. If you do not take souls like you are supposed to, you will slowly fade away…" he sighed.

This is something new.

"Why haven't you told me before?" I nearly screamed.

Shadow looked up. "I didn't think you would need me to tell you. Its in the book. In section 12 of the consequence chapter."

Oh. I faked a laugh. "Oh. Right. Yeah. I remember reading that…" I smiled, trying to show Shadow I had read the entire book. (When, in reality, I hadn't even gotten that far.)

Shadow looked at me skeptically. "…You hadn't read the book, have you?"

"No…" I said, defeated. "At least, not all of it."

Shadow sighed. "Its fine. I want you to read the whole book before we meet up again. But remember, you must take a soul soon. Rumor has it that your on the list."

"The list?" I asked.

The question hung in the air, because Shadow was gone.

XXX

I sat down in my room the next day, and started to read more of the book. I've learned a lot, and its been helping me understand more. Shadow has mentioned to me before that Reapers have special abilities. He's never told me all of them exactly, just the ones I've questioned about. But reading the book, I have found out more about them.

I can walk with no sound. I'm soundless.

I have excellent hearing. I could hear a penny drop from a block away.

I can jump higher then a normal person. So I wouldn't have to use a latter to get on the roof.

I have telepathy. So I could talk to someone with my mind.

I can see in the darkness. At night, my eyes switch into a sort of night vision.

I am stronger then a human. That means I could beat Darry in a wrestling match!

I chuckled. I could win Darry in a wrestling match. This might not be such a bad thing after all…

AN: Sorry for any mistakes. So how do you like it? I am sorry if my chapters are short. A short chapter is as good as any though, right? Please give me your opinions!