And Then There Were None [Job]

Spoiler:

This really wasn’t a place for her.

As people passed by many stopped to give her a double take as the short woman entered the city. Catcalls rang out here and there, guys nudging one another and muttering to each other with smiles and she refused to pay a single one any mind. They bored her. Dreadfully so. In this city filled to the brim with dirt and grime from the very nature of their love over vehicles, a city built on crafting and mechanics, the girl may as well have been an apparition with her mostly white attire and snowy hair cascading behind her. Even the vanilla colored rabbit in her arms with his occasional bits of mint colored limbs stood in stark contrast to the dingy, dirty atmosphere. By the time she left no doubt the girl’s garments would be a light tan color.

Shade didn’t mind dirt.

Far from it, her favorite aspect of the color “white” entailed its blank canvas status. It held all the potential to become anything time and time again, each stain a new tale added to the story. Everything was about experience, every puddle worth splashing in and many mud wallows worthy of a romp – as long as it was soft enough, she so did hate when it remained too clumpy. It might bring out some aggravation in those who had to deal with her wardrobe after the fact, but the girl cared neither here nor there about such facts. They weren’t her problem after all.

As someone approached her the mage glanced at them for but a moment before determining they weren’t the client. No, they were just another peon in this enterprise, spying a white rose amongst the weeds and hoping to pluck it. She pushed passed him, barely halting her gait and ignoring the subsequent laughs of his friends and perhaps jealous female coworkers. Their follies were hardly any of her concern, though the girl let a small smirk slip for but a moment. She did like when people occasionally embarrassed themselves over her.

Briefly her thoughts wandered towards a monkey-tailed boy, cheeks lightly turning pink before she dismissed them. Now wasn’t the time as her mind shifted gears and back to the task at hand.

The job intrigued her as she met with the client, the man an older gentleman, clad in jeans, a white t-shirt, and a leather vest. Long, gray hair cascaded down his back even as a trimmed beard lined his face, gruff voice detailing the issue he had as of late. As he spoke about these ghosts his voice trembled a bit, an entertaining contrast compared to his tough “biker” persona, the man at his wits end and desperate enough to call upon mages, any mage who could deal with the issue. Why the fellow didn’t merely call for a priest…well she supposed a ghost biker might be a little hard for them to deal with given their penchant for riding around and causing mayhem and havoc. It’d require a steadfast and stubborn fellow.

Lucky for him Shade offered to help.

She may not have been a priest, but getting rid of pesky spirits came as something of a specialty for her. The girl refrained from mentioning that the living wouldn’t be an issue much either, the man remarking that there were also some troublesome thugs mucking about, but they weren’t as important as the specters. About the only thing Shade might’ve sported an issue with would’ve been zombies, and that was mostly because she disliked decaying flesh, more likely to prod them with sticks rather than outright touching them. She wasn’t partial to the goopy dead.

”I think I can solve your problem,” she said with a smile, ignoring the way the man stared at her in silence. Thanks to the sunglasses she couldn’t outright feel it, but the girl felt pretty sure he gave her a look of doubt behind those tinted lenses. ’Then again he’d been surprised to see me at all…I guess I really don’t look like I belong here.’ She wouldn’t mention the slight delight she got out of a spot of speed, hardly looking the type to mount a motorcycle unlike this gentleman, but it wasn’t too different from joyriding on Hallowed or Amarylis…or any of the other denizens she could get away with it. ’I guess I won’t tell him how I plan to get rid of them though…I’m not sure how he’d feel about that. Though they are causing an issue so…perhaps he wouldn’t feel much.’

If there was one thing she’d learned over the past couple of centuries it involved keeping her abilities simplified in human terms. Death fascinated and frightened so many that the fact she could claim souls pitifully easy left many afraid of her. The weaker the person the easier it came without even locking them down in some kind of twisted contract, though…those happened every so often as well. ’People are so easy sometimes…a bit of power for a price they can’t fully comprehend, or they think they can wiggle out of it…such a pity.’ She refused to look down on all of them however, not every deal made so selfishly. Some of the reasons she despised on a different level, one she often chose to ignore to save her heart.

Finally the man thanked her, admitting he was currently supporting his daughter and grandson and so couldn’t afford to have his profits chipped away as they currently were. He wasn’t sure why the ghost was doing this; but he needed the thing gone whether she could scare it off in turn, beat it down, or somehow send it on its way. Unfortunately he couldn’t give her an exact time of when it might show up since the thing could be a bit static in its appearance, completely without routine as it did a mess of things. Sometimes it drove around like a madman yelling and screaming, cackling with all its might to make as much terrifying racket, and other times it took on an intimidation approach by specifically speaking to people and threatening them away with a haunting. For the most part she’d be stuck awaiting its arrival for the better part of the day, possibly staying or coming back to deal with it if the thing didn’t show up.

”Oh, I’ll have no problems returning, but I’ll try to get this done by tomorrow if not today, ghost permitting of course.” This time when she smiled the man seemed relieved, perhaps her confidence somehow assuaging him, or maybe he’d finally reached a desperate enough level to believe her despite the calm and light voice.

This unfortunately left her sitting outside his shop, rump planted on a barrel drum and a parasol in hand as she mindlessly rubbed her thumb over Desa’s plump belly. Bored eyes stared into nothing, her mind more occupied conversing with things that weren’t even there than focusing on the people milling about. Most left her alone however despite the looks and whispers, a sight to behold but not one to approach since she sat outside the “haunted shop” and nobody in their right minds wanted anything to do with the ghostly (and non-ghostly) gang currently harassing the shop and its owner.

Finally after what must’ve been hours some people started to approach, the sun starting to set over the distant mountains. She paid them as much mind as everybody else that day, more interested in the display of colors overhead and the wandering thoughts of the souls in Paradise. It seemed as of late their thoughts had veered a bit more positive, a fact that intrigued her…

”’Ey, girlie! GIRLIE! You bettah be listenin’ to me girlie!”

Lazily eyes drifted down to stare at him, though he balked as her gaze appeared to pierce him more than anything, looking beyond at something else. She watched as the oily-haired man in his grungy clothes and jacket took half a step back, body tensing a bit. Tanned skin stretched over his body, leathery looking from too much time spent in the sun, eyes hidden behind shades not unlike most of his buddies. Straight as his hair was, she would’ve preferred to touch a zombie over that greasy mess as the man may as well have dunked his head in a vat of fry oil, his buddies a little better on the hygiene front. She suspected one of the two was actually bald given how well the bandana hugged his head, but the other sported a mullet poking out from the headband wrapped bandana – washed at least. In fact she rather thought it looked soft, though her mind remained far away and so the words to ask failed to eject themselves from the back of her throat.

”What do you want?” she finally choked out.

”Heh, girlie’s hopped up on somethin’! Didn’t think the old man would juice up somethin’ so young and leave her out here as a gift, but he’s got decent tastes I’ll give ‘im that! I’m sure the ol’ boss won’t mind if we accept on his behalf: nothin’s gonna stop him from terrorizing the place anyhow.” The leer slid into place easily despite how baked his skin looked, intriguing the summoner even as his words started to fully register.

”How do you simply not tear to pieces?” her faraway voice muttered, a half-hearted frown in curiosity marring her features as the comment temporarily confused them. As anger slowly started bubbling up her head lolled to the side as she continued to stare through them, ”I can’t imagine why you’d do that to yourself…such an odd thing really. Is there a benefit to it? Maybe you merely like the color…but it doesn’t seem natural on you…or for you…”

As he took a hasty step forward again confusion struck as she held up her plush companion, beady little black eyes jutting out of his vanilla and mint-colored exterior. Adorable smile in place, they couldn’t help but bark in laughter as she declared with that vacant voice, ”Don’t come any closer or Desa will claim you.”

Chuckles continued escaping as the overly-tanned “leader” managed to get out, ”Oh? “Claim us” you say? And what’s ‘at ‘sposed to mean, girlie?”

”Just what it means: you’ll become a part of him. Well…somewhat,” she tacked on, eyes sliding away in slight disgust, ”I don’t really want your dirty selves touching his soul…but absorption is…well, absorption. I don’t really care if you continue to exist or not, but something tells me nobody will really miss you either.”

Again they laughed, the two buddies in the background nudging each other in their raucous chuckling as their leader turned back, jerking his head as if to say “this girl, amIright?” When he turned his smirking mug back to her it took his brain to process a few seconds on why the picture seemed odd…wasn’t the rabbit originally off-white? Or…had it always been brown? Something didn’t sit right in his stomach, a sinking feeling pulling at his innards and just as it reached rock bottom a sickening crash sounded behind him. Gun at the ready, the greasy haired biker didn’t expect one of his buds to be laying in a pile of trash, groaning as the other one could only watch as the ridiculously large hand came back to swat him away. Fear kept him locked in place, quaking in fear and confusion as the tall, lanky, and grinning rabbit’s gaze turned to him. Arms almost the length of his body hung at his sides, long fingers almost reaching the ground as equally long tassels danced in the dusk wind, sun glowing between some of the threads in a waterfall of light.

Jerkily the man’s hand raised, fighting through the muscle lockdown in a meager attempt to save himself before the voice rang out over his shoulder, ”There’s no point really…you’ll never hit Desa…you’re not nearly clever enough. However I’ll permit you a bit of freedom in exchange…”

”F-for…?”

”Information…of course.”

Patiently he waited, dropping the gun as hopes of getting away began to swirl. He hadn’t thought her a mage, this girl almost doll like sitting there, dazed, and yet his gang members currently laid in two different directions – one in a pile of junk and the other slumped against the building he’d slammed into – and the man had always been a survivor. If maybe, just maybe he offered enough to wet her whistle then he might escape without any injuries or none too the worse for wear.

”Explain this…”ghost biker” fellow…I get the feeling you must be connected if you’re harassing the man as well. Barely anybody else wants to come near…” Her eyes lit up when he murmured “boss?” beneath his breath, surprise too great to fully hide the exclamation. ”Ah…so he’s your boss…well…’ex’ if we’re going by rules of the living versus dead, unless you all plan to join him?” When he shook his head Shade pushed on, her voice remaining relatively flat despite her mind returning to the present, ”Very well, it seems your loyalty remains intact for whatever inane reason – be it out of gratitude or fear I don’t particularly care – you’ve opted to harass this man and his family for a reason I’d very much like to know. Did he cause the death of your boss somehow? Is this an act of vengeance? A spirit unable to rest out of grief or anger? Mayhaps this is merely his way of trying to obtain peace and utterly failing?”

”N-n-no!” he stuttered out, ”Dat damn o-o-old man refused to p-pay! Our boss was the biggest and baddest rider in these parts: you don’t tell a man like that “no” or that he has to “pay full price!” It just ain’t right! But that old man up n’ decides he don’t have to pay him any respect! Treats him almost like some mongrel, even tried to ban him from his shop! ‘Sides it was probably a faulty part a’ his that caused the accident so the boss has e’ry right to harass that old geezer and make his life hell cause its his fault boss lost his life! Old man and his stupid kin deserve it all!” By the end he’d taken on a righteous fury of sorts, one that impressed Shade just a hint as he overcame the fear in favor of protecting his boss’s reputation.

Shame she didn’t really care.

Nodding in satisfaction Shade lightly said, ”Very well, a silly attempt at revenge it is then. Well no matter, this will be a very simple manner since he hasn’t passed on of his own volition-“

”Don’t you dare harm him you witch!” he barked out.

A small huff escaped: she disliked being interrupted. It was rude, especially coming from someone about to see judgement as far as she cared. ”That’s not for you to decide: you’ve already forfeited your life.”

Cockiness welled up in him, though the man couldn’t spy any tattoos on her. ”Ain’t you one of them nice little girls? What’re you gonna do: put me on timeout?” Arms crossing and bravado rising, the thug had half a mind to off the little wench right then and there, then go inside and perhaps teach that dumb old codger a thing or two. Sinister thoughts started brewing in that sundrenched mind of his as a tongue flicked out to lick along his lips. Yeah, that sounded like quite the plan to him, already forgetting about his buddies and their pain.

”Nice? I guess that’s relative…all my denizens adore me…and you won’t be any different from the rest!” A dark little note of glee slipped in as finally a smile slipped into place, her eyes alight with someone about to watch a show.

A sense of dread crept into him again as the white rabbit now stood behind him, towering over the man with his broad grin baring down at the cocky grunt. Five sharp points of pain erupted in his back as something plopped itself on his head. Those black fingers curled around, the pointed tips pricking his skin beneath his jaw. He barely managed half a word before the crack rang out in the crisp night air.


It wasn’t terribly long before he finally reared his ugly head, perhaps an hour or so before the racket interwoven with ghastly wails filled the air. If the girl hadn’t known better Shade might’ve believed she’d stepped into some over-the-top campfire tale. A little spurt of jealousy welled up.

’I didn’t get a cool bike like that when I died…so unfair…’

When he pulled up it made some sense why the other men so happily followed him. The man – even ghostly – radiated a certain alpha sense about him, muscles rippling if he’d been alive with a thick mid-section that probably allowed him to grin despite taking a punch right to the gut before clocking out his foe. The thick bushy beard and ethereal sunglasses only furthered the look as one couldn’t get a good grasp on his emotions at the time aside for the cockiness he currently oozed with that smug smirk. It slipped a little as he peered around lazily for something, though she couldn’t discern if it was disappointment or mild annoyance at what the white haired girl could only surmise stemmed from the lack of his companions. The scales tipped a bit in her favor them, a small smirk now mirroring his.

”It’s rude to keep a lady waiting you know~”

”You weren’t the date I was thinkin’ ‘bout, but I’ll take it. Heh, and here I was thinkin’ those fools would have the family tied up and ready by now.”

She watched as he leaned back, the bike now simply puttering with a low, continuous growl as he sat there, sizing her up behind the safety of his ghostly shades.

How she couldn’t wait to burst that little bubble, a sick sort of happiness filling her as she fought back the grin from breaking out…at least too soon. ”Yes…I’m afraid they won’t be joining you for your nightly – and daily – romping around anymore, and sadly I must ban you from harassing this family any further as well. I seem to be such a party pooper tonight, what a shame…”

There, that downturn of eyebrows and grimacing twist of the mouth: the glare she’d been hoping to see. This wasn’t a man used to being ridiculed, but one used to being followed and obeyed. Already his wrath had been incurred when the owner of this shop refused to be kowtowed by his personality and he definitely didn’t appreciate it from some fragile looking young lady. He revved the bike a few times, the engine’s volume increasing with each twist of his wrist and his glare increased equally as Shade’s grin broadened. Finally some internal straw snapped as he shot forward, war cry barely heard over the sounds of that wailing engine cut all too short by a single touch.

Sound refused to leave him aside for an odd, small whimpering, whining sound he didn’t know could leave those thick lips of his. That small hand sat so casually on the tire and not a sound escaped his precious ghostly motorcycle, not even the slightest peep.

”You don’t seem particularly fearful of mages…not like your friends were after I showed them a slight trick, so I’m guessing you have some experience dealing with them?” A nod confirmed this as still the man’s voice refused to heed his call. ”I thought as much. You are – unfortunately for you – a young spirit…you have no experience in this new “life” of yours if it can even be called such. Even your friends, well, your second-in-command who really, really could’ve used some sunscreen started to realize better even if too late. I don’t need to toss a fireball at you, a beam of ice, or a bolt of lightning…or whatever else you might’ve imagined! The dead are a specialty of mine you could say, and I’ve absorbed older entities than yourself without much effort – it’s honestly the living that’s the hard part at times! They can put up a fight but you…you’re not aligned. You chose not to move on, and now you’re going to pay that price because I get to decide for you. I get to force you into my world, my home and bend you every which way I please. No matter what you think, what you feel, what you desire all that will matter is me and my desires, my whims. Though I suppose you won’t really be conscious for any of it…most of those I break and rebuild only gain fragments of recollection after all so really…it matters very little in the end. There’ll be plenty of friends for you though in whichever of my friends I decide to toss you into, and if you’re even five percent lucky you might get to room together with a piece of one of your friends! Okay…I exaggerate it’s a lot lower than that, but I can’t help being a little nice here and there…it’s really hard when there’s so many miserable people in the world…no, I won’t waste time explaining it all to you: it’s pointless after all.”

To the normal eye the specter evaporated without so much as a peep – merely a horrified expression. It’d be his last willful one after all, though Shade hadn’t cared much for him so the general conscious would cease to exist, becoming little more than material and fuel for a new one. A happier one. One that liked to occasionally attend tea parties and perhaps protect her when Shade saw fit. Or she’d leave him as little more than a rag doll somewhere to become a project later when she’d forgiven (forgotten) his crimes.

”I suppose all that’s left is to inform the owner…though I doubt he’s still asleep after that racket…at least I won’t be waking him up then!” She really didn’t want to stay there much longer, keen to find a nicer place than this junky town to sleep in for the rest of the evening.