The Detective and The Grim Reaper: A Deathless Murder

"Death is a strange thing. We go through the entirety of our lives knowing that it waits for us at the end, and yet we rarely fear its eternal presence or give it much consideration at all. "

"I suppose this is a form of self-imposed ignorance we all engage in for the sake of our mental wellbeing. I know I'm guilty of it, although I personally always thought I was ready for death, whenever it came for me."

"I was wrong."

The place where I died was against the wall of a closed Italian restaurant in East Brooklyn, slumped up against a leaking dumpster. I was alone; normal for me, but a choice foolish that night.

I saw him ten feet ahead of me, the man I'd hunted like a starved bloodhound for the last nine months. He walked along the sidewalk, a hand in his pocket, not a care in the world. I was enraged.

I wasn't armed, this was my second foolish choice of the evening, but trust that it wouldn't be my last. I rarely left my gun at home, but this little trip out was supposed to be for quick Italian takeout. How fascinating, the way things change.

I walked up to him at a brisk pace, one hand reaching for my badge, the other behind my back, where my sorely missed 45 caliber would have been.

"Police! Get your hands behind your head!" I yelled out as I approached him.

He turns to look at me, his sharp gray eyes scanning me in the light of the neon restaurant signs around us.

"Ah, hello there Detective Lawson," He says calmly, a slight smile crossing his face as he sees my arm tucked behind my back. "Out for a late-night stroll?"

"Put your hands behind your head, Marlow!" I retort in anger, "I won't ask again"

In hindsight, I don't know why I didn't see it coming. His calm deminer, the crooked smile, the fact that his hand never left his pocket. I don't know why I didn't see the knife before it was lodged into my stomach.

He was quick and quiet, the few people walking ahead of us didn't even turn around as lunged forward. I tried to yell out, but the sound was snuffed out by a thin, gloved hand across my mouth.

"Shhh, hey now, it's alright" he whispered to me as he pulled my bleeding body away from the road. "You were so close, and oh so entertaining"

I could feel myself losing consciousness but with my last moments of cognisance I looked into his steely eyes and said, "Even if it's no...not me who gets to do it...someone is going to stop you."

He looked pensive for a moment before looking back at me and saying in a voice with not a hint of venom or anger "No. I truly don't think they will."

With that, he was gone, and my vision was going black. My higher mind was gone, but my body was overcome with feeling. I felt as though I was flying, then suddenly falling, crashing down towards the Earth.

It was several moments before I realized I could open my eyes again, and when I did a strange sight greeted me. A figure, a person was gazing at me with concern, one arm on my shoulder, gently shaking me.

"Hey there," they said gently, "Are you doing alright?"

I then realized the person was female, a young woman with dark red hair that framed her face, and kind eyes. She was gipping my shoulder, and for some reason, it was almost painful.

I focused my faded vision on her, "Am I dead?" I asked her point-blank, knowing the answer in my mind and body.

"Ahh, well yes and no" she replied, immediately taking me off guard. "You died, but I decided to bring you back." She said, "I wanted to talk to you."

My mind slowly began to come back to me as I asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You are dead, but your soul remains on this plane, bound by me." She replied with mild annoyance at my very understandable question. "Have you noticed that the only thing you can feel is my hand on your shoulder?"

I focused on my surroundings and realized the ground below me felt like nothing. There was no breeze on my skin, despite the clearly swaying trees along the street before us.

Seeing my quizzical expression, she continoued. "Currently, I'm the only thing binding you here, I'm sharing just enough of my energy to let you see and think. Aside from that, you can't interact with the world"

'Who are you? I asked, realizing I hadn't even asked the name of the stranger holding my shoulder hostage.

"My name is Roanna, but you can just call me Rui, everyone does," she said casually. "I'm a Reaper, it's my job to help the souls of the dead move on to whatever comes next.

"A Reaper...As in the Grim Reaper?" I asked, only half believing her,

Her face changed as I said the words Grim reaper, clearly reacting to the term with a twinge of frustration. "Technically yes, but we existed before that idea became widely known," She said, "I suppose we adopted the title because what we are didn't have a name beofre"

"I never believed in God, but I never thought something like this was life after death," I said in low voice.

"Oh, it's not," said the girl as she sat down across from me on the ground. "This is certainly an atypical situation."

"I see," I said, not really comprehending her words. "Why have you decided to bring me back here?"

She looked surprised as she answered. "I thought that would be obvious. I'm going to help you catch the serial killer who murdered you."

My head turned toward her as I felt the residual anger swell inside along with the memories of my death. Seeing her confident smile and the fierce determination in her eyes, I made my third foolish choice of the night.

"Alright, I'm in"