Holy, this was a doozy to write. Longest chapter yet, and completely continuous *gasp*. Hope you guys enjoy, I worked extra hard on this.

Chapter 10

The Other Side

The reason why she was so familiar slammed into me like a ton of bricks. Everything about her suddenly made sense. The cocky way she tilted her head upwards, the playful grin she wore as though such an expression was made for her, they were practically Ronald Knox trademarks. Her hair colour had thrown me off in the beginning, but there was no mistaking it now. She was a relative of his, and therefore the single most likely person to piece together my real identity. I would need to watch my step around her.

Catherine held out her hand, and I hesitantly shook it, infinitely glad that the look of dumbfoundedness on my face would not seem all that unusual in a situation like this. "And you are?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Your name?"

"E-Eva, Eva Blackmoore."

"Welcome to the afterlife Eva." She said with a pleasant smile, and turned to Grell again. "I'll take it from here, I'm sure you have plenty more souls to collect."

"Have fun then, Catherine darling." Grell said in a singsong voice, and with a swish of his long red coat, he was gone. Catherine gestured for me to follow, and so I did.

We walked up the same path William had practically dragged me along when I had first got here. His grip had been so painfully tight, and the way he looked at me, it was though he'd like nothing more than to wipe me off the face of the planet. How different things had been then, when we were both content with seeing nothing good in one another. Hate is simple that way, because in hate there is no second-guessing, no doubt…

"Hey," Catherine's voice interrupted my thoughts. "I know how you're feeling right now, but things will work out in time, I promise. Things tend to sort themselves out if you give them time, and as reapers we have plenty." Maybe for her that was true, but once I had what I needed I'd return to my life of numbered days, and the reaper Eva Blackmoore would cease to be. As nice as the idea of immortality was, I knew I couldn't stay this way. Unlike Catherine, whose ties to the mortal realm were long gone, I still had something, someone to return to. "Besides, you're lucky," She said, in an attempt to comfort. "Sometimes it takes up to a week for us to find a turned soul, but by then things can get... ugly."

"What do you mean, ugly?" I asked, though I had a feeling she meant exactly what I thought she meant.

"They lose their minds," she explained, "become so far gone that we have no choice but to put them out of their misery. Plenty of them we never even find. Goodness knows what happens to those ones." A shiver ran down my spine, as I realized now that my nightmares were not simply nightmares, but shadowy omens of a far crueler fate. "But you don't have to worry about that," Catherine added quickly, noticing my uneasiness. "You're with us now. You'll be fine." I nodded silently, and she seemed satisfied by that. Catherine sighed.

"Well, now that I've already dampened the mood, might as well continue." She grumbled, shifting into a mockingly pleasant tone as she continued. "The Council would like me to inform you that any and all unnecessary trips outside the realm are prohibited for all non scythe wielding employees, for reasons which are, of course, totally unrelated to the continuing disappearance of reapers travelling outside the realm." I opened my mouth, about to ask her which reapers had gone missing, but immediately shut it. If she hadn't mentioned it already, they were likely all safe, at least for the time being.

"Stupid old men, think we can't tell when they're trying to cover their asses." Catherine muttered bitterly under her breath. "Whatever. It's Collections' problem now, not ours." She opened a door labeled 'General Affairs Department', and we walked in. It was considerably less grand than the Collections Department, but neat and spotless all the same, reminding me much of normal offices in my own world. The most notable difference however, was that the workers were almost all female, and unlike when William had taken me to the Collections Department, there were a lot of them.

We waded through the crowd to the nearest open counter, and were greeted cheerfully by the dark haired girl I recognized from days before. "Has the uniform I ordered come in yet Thea?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, I think Alice has it. I'll go get it." Thea did a double take as she left, probably having sensed something vaguely familiar about my presence. She returned moments later, a standard female uniform in hand. "Here." She said, handing it to Catherine.

"Thanks Thea. By the way, has my brother dropped by at all today?" Catherine asked. Thea shrugged.

"Not that I know of." She replied. "Why?"

"Doesn't matter." Catherine shook her head. "I just wanted to talk to him that's all." Thea frowned, an expression that seemed painfully out of place on her, but said nothing. "Anyways, we should get going. Newbie's gotta get changed, and then I'm gonna show her around the office." Thea perked up again.

"Have a nice day then." She said, sending us off with a wave.

"You to." Catherine said, giving her a short wave over her shoulder as we left.

I once again found myself a spectacle. This time though, I just another oddity, a sore thumb sticking out of the crowd. It wasn't much different than what I was used to in my own world. I had always had trouble fitting in, and no matter what I did, I'd always be one step away from that seemingly unattainable normal. One, tantalizing, step.

"Ignore them." Catherine said, nudging my arm. "They'll always find something to look at."

Catherine took me to her office, a small room tucked away by the crook of a corner. She flicked the lights on, and astonishment fell upon me. Two desks were jammed into the small room, which contained no windows besides the one on the door. Filing cabinets lined the far wall, leaving barely enough space for one person to wiggle through. One of the desks was decorated with a potted plant and several ornaments in a futile attempt to liven up the place. The other, which I assumed was Catherine's, was covered in papers such that there would have been no room for decorations like that. Catherine it seemed, had no interest in such things. How anything got done in this dismal corner of the department, I found difficult to wrap my head around.

"Glamorous, I know." She said, her sarcasm less subtle than a tank. "I share it with someone else, but they're out right now. You can use it to get changed. Just don't forget to close to blinds. I'll make sure no one walks in on ya." There was a click as she closed the door behind her. I reached for the shutter on the blinds, and immediately ducked out of sight, heart racing at speeds that would surely be fatal for a mortal human. Ronald was standing there, just beyond the door, and of all the things I could change, my presence, which he would instantly recognize, was not one of them. William had warned me against resuming contact with his reapers for this specific reason. But besides a brief glance through the window, it seemed he did not know I was there. Not yet at least.

I watched through the half closed blinds as they talked, their voices, though muffled carried into the office.

"Thea told me you wanted to talk. What's up?" I heard Ronald say.

"Are you… doing okay, Ron?" Catherine frowned, biting her lip.

"I'm fine. Stop worrying, okay?" Ronald sounded mildly irritated, as though this were a conversation they'd had many times before.

"No, you're not." She snapped back, her concern quickly turning to anger. "Thea is worried sick about you. Don't you dare give me that crap."

"Thea worries a lot. I'm fine, seriously." Ronald insisted.

"Yeah, being around someone like you, of course she does." Catherine retorted, jabbing her finger upwards towards his face. "Look." She said with a sigh, her voice returning back to a gentle tone. "I know you. What happened to Eliza isn't something you'd get over so quickly. If you won't talk to me, at least talk to Thea. She cares about you, you know?"

"I… I know she does." Ronald mumbled, his voice almost too quiet for me to hear behind the door.

"Then let her help…" There was a pause.

"Cath?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you… do you think she'll come back?"

"I don't know." Catherine closed her eyes and shook her head, her somber expression saying otherwise. She was softening it, the truth she didn't want to tell him. "Even if she did, she wouldn't be able to come back here, and by now… I dunno Ron, it doesn't look good."

"I see…" He said, the sound of his voice telling me he saw through it all too well. After a short pause he spoke again. "Well, I've gotta go… pick up my scythe from repairs."

"Repairs? What the hell did you do to it?"

"Demons okay. You'd understand if-" Catherine shot him a scathing glare. "Nevermind, I'm just gonna go now." And so he did. Catherine rolled her eyes, and knocked on the door.

"Hey, rookie. You done?" She called.

"Uhhh, yeah just give me a second." I said, throwing on the uniform quicker than I had ever put on anything in my life. Guilt gnawed away at me as I did so, telling me every time it sunk its teeth into my stomach that I'd heard something I was never meant to hear. I didn't know what would be harder now, keeping them from finding out, or holding back from telling them myself. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door.

"Took your time. Let's go."

"Good afternoon Ms. Knox." Catherine whirled around at the sound of Williams voice, narrowing her eyebrows as their eyes met. I froze on the spot, having not expected him to make contact with me so soon after arriving. "I'm afraid I'll be needing to borrow your new recruit for a moment, that is, if you have no objections of course." He said, his statement more a demand, than a request.

"Right, and I'll just hand her over so you can terrorize her like you did to the last one." Catherine said sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's standard procedure Ms. Knox." He tilted his head downwards, glasses glinting menacingly. "I could write you up if that is what you wish." Catherine scowled, looking as though she were using all her might to prevent some extremely unrefined language from spilling out of her mouth. They stared at each other this way for an amount of time that made me slightly uncomfortable, not due to awkwardness, but rather the feeling that I might drop dead again just watching them.

"Fine." Catherine responded tersely, the tension in her answer tighter than twisted rope.

"If you don't mind, I would like to borrow your office."

"Do what you want." She snapped. "Not like I have a choice anyways." And with that she stormed off.

"Honestly." He said, adjusting his glasses with his scythe. "Even her brother has more charm."

"So… her and Ronald, they're really siblings?" I asked once we were inside the office, unsure of what else to say to him. This was after all, the man that had both openly resented me, and risked everything to ensure my safe return. Was there really a right way to open a conversation in such a situation?

"Yes, though tragically neither of them knew each other for long as mortals. Catherine died of a respiratory illness when Ronald was only seven." William explained. "We have more pressing matters to attend to, however." He parted the blinds, looking out to ensure we were not being listened upon. "I would normally use my own office for matters such as this, but it seems as though the Council no longer trusts me as they once did, and are keeping tabs on me. This may be our only chance to meet." He turned to face me, and our eyes met. Something had changed in his since talking to Catherine, as though a switch had been flipped. I looked away quickly, prompted by the realization I'd been staring.

"Are you… adjusting well?" His question came out oddly, as though he wasn't quite sure of the tone he was supposed to use.

"Huh?" Was the automatic response that popped out of my mouth, my brain seemingly unable to comprehend him asking such a thing. "Oh, um, yeah. I'm fine, though still getting used to all… this." It suddenly dawned upon me why our conversation felt so weird. This was the first time we'd had anything close to a normal conversation, and while it was strange, I kind of liked being able to talk like this.

"I thought, perhaps three days would stretch your limit, but I am… glad to hear that." William adjusted his glasses again as it seemed he often did. "But, moving on," He said, resuming his usual, more official tone. "I have received important information regarding your physical body. It is being held in the Research and Development Department, un-deteriorated in the conditions of our realm it seems. However, I strongly advise you do not procure it quite yet."

Before I had the chance to respond, a sudden, gut-twisting feeling overwhelmed me. I doubled over, feeling as though I might be sick. My thoughts shouted at me chaotically, overlapping with one another in an incoherent mess, but all in terror.

"Eliza?" I heard William's voice, but it sounded as though I was hearing it through several thick layers of cotton. The sensation of that creature's frigid touch returned to me, as though its ice-cold hand was pressed against my face. I was overcome with the desire to run, but it seemed my legs wouldn't do what they were told. I had felt this way only once before, as the memory eaters crept out of the alleyway that cold night in the graveyard. They were here. How, I didn't know, but it should have been impossible.

All at once everything went completely silent. The pounding in my ear, William's voice, all gone. Then that's when I heard it, a scream pure and unimpeded by all, echoing eternally in the empty air.