[Present day, Eli Sanguine's POV]
When he enters the bookstore today, their gazes meet. He is taken by surprise. He dashes toward the same bookshelf. This human female can give him a heart attack using her eyes alone.
She seems a little distracted. He purses his lips. She seems tired. Did she not get enough sleep last night? Humans are more fragile than they look. They need the sun and fresh air. She hasn't been taking care of herself lately.
What is she worried about? She is looking at the counter today. But there's nothing on it.
She relaxes her shoulders and leans back in her chair. He wants to go to her and smoothen out the creases on her forehead. Why is this weak human thinking so hard? Too much thinking is also bad for them.
Eli notices something strange about her. She has the scent of death on her. He looks toward the door and sees a glimpse of the reaper. Why are they here? He stares at Nell.
There's no other human here. Is it her time? She is moving her hand in the air as if she's petting something. He knits his brows. Even reapers cannot escape his eyes. He would know for sure if there was any creature on the table.
His sharp ears have caught her mumbling to herself often in the past. He already knows that her soul has been broken a long time ago by something. What did she go through?
"Please visit again."
He doesn't go to the hospital. He has to find a certain reaper. Reapers are always moving. It can't be helped. Someone is dying somewhere at any moment. It's been a long time since he visited a graveyard.
Under the willow tree, a confused man appears before the ghoul doctor.
Eli crosses his arms and asks, "So, when, where and how?"
"Sire, you know that it's illegal to leak such information." The reaper wonders why his luck is so bad. He was only doing a routine check on the person who was close to death. He didn't expect to see this man in the bookstore. Which reaper doesn't know this man? He left, hoping that he wasn't noticed.
Alas!
"It is illegal indeed." Eli claps his hands and grins. "I apologize for this. It's been a while since I visited reaper's world. Maybe I should visit sometimes to reminisce the old times. You know how much I love all of you."
"No!" The horrified reaper raises his hand. He lowers his head and says, "Sire, if you do this, our boss will do something crazy again."
It's not a secret that the god of death hates anything that cheats him. If this ghoul invades the realm of death, they can be sure that the god of death would start planning something insidious again. They haven't gotten over the last mess that he created. They barely have time to breathe because of overwork.
"But I miss my old friends." Eli looks up at the darkening sky and lets out a defeated sigh. "It's been so long."
The reaper swallows his saliva. He has no choice. If he must choose between the lesser evil and greater evil, he would always choose the one that would lead to less work. "Tomorrow at 1307. She will kill herself by slicing her wrist at her home."
***
It's already late in the city. Eli still has time, but he wants to see her just in case. He visits the bookstore. The strong scent of death nearly stops his heart. However, he gets a grip over his emotions. That's not her scent. It's Mr Emerson.
He doesn't bother going inside the bookstore to check. 99.9% of the time, reapers are right about someone's death. She must be on her way home. In the last two years, he has seen her around in the neighbourhood quite a few times. He heads toward her house.
When he inhales the familiar scent mixed with another death, he clenches his teeth and runs in that direction. Did that reaper lie to him? He pushes through the crowd and sees her sitting on the bench with a look that he never wants to see in her eyes again.
She looks down on her hands and laughs. Eli halts on his track. Her laughter is mixed with despair and pain. Even a ghoul-like him can't grasp the situation. Was that cat important to her? The crowd is looking at her with terror and accusation. This is bad. The police are already here. He watches the officer handcuffs her wrist. Suddenly, she raises her head and glances in his direction. She widens her eyes.
"It will be alright," He whispers. But those words aren't heard.
He is unable to help her right now. He can't interfere with the laws of human worlds. Thus, he must find some other way. Eli walks away from that place. First of all, he must find out what's happening. Who dares to play jokes on her? The cat was not killed by a human.
***
"Why do you want me to defend a human?" Benny looks at him with disbelief. Has this ghoul lost his head? "I ONLY work for the creatures who end up in messy situations because of humans, not the other way."
"Come on, Benny." Eli gives his best smile to the dwarf. "How long have we known each other? I wouldn't come to you if a human could do it."
Nell Solomon's situation is trickier than he imagined it to be. She's being targeted by something not human. Deaths of Mr Emerson and the cat aren't caused by a human. He has to find who is trying to drive her to corner like this and why.
Before all that, they have to deal with human's blind laws. Since a supernatural creature is involved, an ordinary lawyer won't be able to prove that it's not her. He needs to convince Benny. He is one of the best in this field.
Benny narrows his dark eyes on him. "Why do you want to help a human? Is being a doctor who treats humans not crazy enough? You are a ghoul. Ghouls eat humans. If you don't want her to go to prison, then eat her."
It's not like he didn't consider that once. But he likes her alive than dead. He doesn't mind eating her in other ways. Eli coils his arms around his small plump friend with curly black hair. "Benny, Benny, Benny!"
"Don't call my name like that. I won't do it," Benny barks at him. They might be old friends, but this is a matter of principles.
Benny tenses his shoulders when he hears a sinister laugh. Trembling, he looks up at Eli is watching him with an evil glint in his eyes.
"Benny, I will tickle you if you don't do it."
"Aaaaaah!" Benny screams. "Don't do that, you evil ghoul. Just eat me alive."
"No, tickling you is better."
Though it takes a while, the tickling monster manages to convince the cynical lawyer.
Eli and Benny go to the police station. But the woman is already gone. Someone released her earlier than the intended time. He lets out a curse. He looks at the time. 10:05 AM. He still has time. Her house isn't far away. He leaves Benny at the station to deal with the police.
He reaches her house in five minutes. He knocks on the door. He is scared of how she will react. Humans are instinctively wary of creatures like him. The woman already makes him so nervous. Will he be able to talk to her? How should he explain?
Blood.
His eyes turn dark. He lets out a command. The shadows seep into the house through the tiny gaps between the door and the floor. They condense into a black hand and unlocks the door from inside. He finds her lying in the bathtub, blood deluging the floor. Her body is ready to embrace death; however, the reaper isn't here to collect her soul yet.