Free A Reaper Made by Liz Long Page A

scene, his handsome face showing no emotion. The officers tried to block the path off and shoo bystanders away. Students were crying, their phones out as they texted frantically to spread the news around campus.
    I had to admit, I was shaken. Why hadn’t I been warned? I chastised myself; if I’d gone to her instead of stayed with Allison, I might’ve been able to save her. Where was her Reaper when she needed them? Patiently, I waited for this dead girl’s soul to rise from the physical plane and join me. I could help her cross over and felt grateful about being in the right place at the right time. At least she could have the choice to move on.  
    A full minute went by and I frowned. Why hadn’t she risen yet? That fall had killed her instantly. The police clearly thought she was dead as no ambulance or paramedic rushed in to stop the bleeding or bring her back. Had I missed the window? I looked around, puzzled. Maybe suicides worked differently from what I knew so far; after all, I’d only worked with the blue-haireds who were eager to head on out. An officer commented on her still-warm wrist.  
    Tully popped up beside me and I hardly gave him any attention as I kept my eyes glued on the body. Tully said nothing, instead looked around at the crowd and back to where I stared. After a moment:
    “Where is she?” he asked.
    “You didn’t help her?”  
    “No, not I,” he said.  
    “Maybe her Reaper beat me to it while I wasn’t looking?”
    He shook his head. “You were here when she fell, aye? Besides, we don’t spend much time on college campuses. I doubt there is a Reaper around; the hospital is several miles away.”
    The crowd began to break up. I explained what the girl had screamed as we walked closer to the body and crowd, unconcerned as we were invisible to everyone. While people couldn’t see us, it still amused me that they managed to avoid walking through us, as though they could feel our presence. Nurses, students, it was all the same - somehow they went around us without ever realizing it. I went to the girl’s body while Tully went to eavesdrop on surrounding conversation.
    “Brittany Green,” someone behind me murmured in shock. “That’s who that is. Oh, god.”
    I didn’t look too hard at Brittany’s body there on the ground. Reapers didn’t have queasy stomachs, but something this violent was not an image I wanted in my head. I’d grown used to peaceful passings or at the very worst, ER traumas. Nothing like this terrible image of a person that’d been dropped to the earth from such a height. My nose wrinkled and I raised my eyes slightly above the body to find her soul. Still she didn’t arrive and worry flickered in my heart. Beneath the red beard, Tully’s mouth twisted with confusion.  
    As I headed back towards my sister, guilt flooded through me at what had happened. Seeing something like that, regardless of whether you knew the victim, could change you. What an awful thing to witness, especially in her case when she’d already lost someone close to her. Forcing her to relive death in different ways wasn’t how I wanted things for her.  
    Allison stepped back, wiping her eyes, and murmured something to Brady. He leaned in to comfort her, casting a look around. As Brady’s eyes roamed the grounds, his face remained calm, a curious thing considering the awful suicide in front of him. When his gaze fell around me, I felt that odd sensation that he could see me. Before I could question it, his eyes flicked to another spot, making me wonder if I’d imagined it.  
    “Did you hear her?” Allison asked in a hushed tone. My ears perked up and I leaned in for a better volume.
    “What?” Brady asked, distracted by the crowd.
    “She didn’t want to go to Hell. Maybe she was Catholic?” she asked. Brady didn’t answer and they both went quiet, their eyes on Brittany’s body.  
    “Is that possible? For a suicidal human to lose their soul?” I asked Tully. He raised