Chapter 3 — Chapter 3

"Get out!" the enraged dragon roared.

"But please, I came to do my job..." I felt a bit uneasy; it's one thing to read about what I'm supposed to do, and another to see the incredibly huge ghostly bulk of an attacking dragon! As a modern woman, it's hard for me to accept this as reality.

"Who are you, wretch!" The lizard had safely returned to the cave and hovered over me, examining me as if I were... well, a bug or something.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat, and for some reason, I felt a bit uncomfortable and blushed, "allow me to introduce myself: Junior Reaper of Death!"

"Well, finally! I've been waiting here for three hundred years, you know!" The dragon snorted in displeasure, "You're not very good at your job, you know!"

"Sorry," I felt ashamed, even though it wasn't my fault, since I had just been appointed as a Reaper. "May I take you?"

"Let's get on with it!" He practically exuded dissatisfaction.

I extended my staff and poked the ghostly dragon with it... and nothing happened!

"And?" the ghost protested.

"Sorry, I'm still learning!" I think my neck even started to smoke from embarrassment. I quickly found the work manual in my bag and began to read it frantically. "Ah, here it is, I found it!"

I mentally focused and wished to take the soul, and again, nothing happened...

"They send rookies..." the dragon complained, "I'm going to file a complaint! Is there a complaint book?"

I was reading the manual again: direct your mental energy into the staff, wish to take the soul, don't forget to think about the ball needing to land in your hand, otherwise, you might lose the accountable item!

"Okay," I stared at the staff, desperately wishing it to work. The tip finally glowed, and the dragon, who hadn't stopped talking for a second, vanished without a trace, replaced by a bright green ball. I reached out, wishing it to land in my palm, and almost dropped it when it did. Putting the acquired item in my bag, I exhaled: my legs were shaking, and I was covered in cold sweat.

"Now I need to reinforce what I've learned!" I decided, pulling out the list and scheduling my route by the hour.

The next souls caused no problems or trouble; they hovered silently over their graves, looking at me sadly and resignedly. I was getting the hang of it, poking them with my staff, wishing to take them, and putting the ball in my bag. The bag didn't threaten to pull my shoulder down, even though it should have been full... It seemed bottomless.

I stumbled on the twenty-first ghost... Until then, I had dealt with more or less familiar types - animal entities, but now I found myself... in open space, balancing on a piece of metal. It seemed to be the remains of a spaceship...

"And where should I look for it?" I looked around, but in the darkness, under the weak light of distant stars, it was hard to see anything. Although ghosts are supposed to glow a bit to help Reapers see them. At least, that's what I read in the manual.

"I don't want to leave!" a voice called out from behind me. I tried to turn around, but I had to jump to another piece of metal.

"Why? You have a chance to move on to reincarnation! To find your soulmate and start a new life!" Turning around, I still couldn't see anything. Just pieces of metal, some debris floating around.

"But my old body will remain here... I can't leave it behind!" The voice was practically starting to panic. "It needs to be buried! Everyone has graves..."

"That's not within my jurisdiction," I said regretfully.

"And whose is it? Without that, I won't go!" The voice suddenly weakened and disappeared.

I scratched my nose; the fabric was terribly irritating, and really - who came up with the idea of hiding one's face? I'm not some kind of monster...

How do I do my job if the beast's soul doesn't want to leave? Take the body with me and bury it by the river? But how would I carry it? It's not like a soul ball... And honestly, I'm afraid of dead bodies; it's one thing to poke a staff at a spirit, and another to drag a corpse home...

"Will you bury it?" the voice whispered softly right behind my shoulder; I tried to poke the staff in that direction, wishing to hit the stubborn soul. "I won't let you..." the ghost lamented.

"I'll just take a look..." I muttered more to myself than to him. I was very tired, and it seemed I wouldn't make it through the list today.

Gritting my teeth, I mentally pictured my son: he was sitting on a meadow, eating strawberries... Not much motivation...

"This way..." the ghost called, and I, jumping and balancing on the edge, followed it.

When we reached a large piece, probably part of the spaceship's cockpit, I was already exhausted. I was afraid of falling, although I didn't understand how I was breathing and moving in space at all.

"Here..." the voice faded again, and I jumped onto a large piece of floor covered with some kind of rubberized layer.

"It's dark..." If outside, at least the silhouettes of the spaceship parts were visible, here it was pitch black.

"Raise your hand up, there's an emergency light, it still has some charge," the voice whispered.

I slowly reached up, feeling a semicircle, and after some more feeling around, found a switch and flicked it. A red light blinked and came on, not bright, but enough to easily see the body...

"I thought you were human..." I concluded, looking at the dead creature that resembled an octopus. Or rather, there was a body, two long "legs," presumably many "arms," and an elongated "head-body."

"No..." the ghost finally appeared, and I saw it in full form.

"I'll get used to this..." I sighed, tiredly rubbing my temple. "Maybe cremation? I'll go home, bring something flammable?"

"We are buried in the ocean... Water takes our bodies, turning them into nutrients for other creatures! We came from there, and we must return there!" the soul declared grandly.

"Any ocean?" I don't think it would be hard to find saltwater.

"Of course not! Only on my planet!" What a picky one...

"I need the registration number of the celestial body," I sighed and brought my hand with the watch up to the light.

"H10C364A8..." I quickly entered the required values, bent down, grabbed the cold - frozen limb of the cephalopod, and found myself in water!

"Damn it!" Letting go of the octopus's body, I flailed, trying to set my watch to 00 to return home. I managed to do it, and now I was standing in my office, soaking it with water dripping from my clothes.

Putting down her staff, she placed the bag of souls on the floor. Unfastening her cloak, she kicked off her shoes and stockings, then struggled to pull off her dress. Left in just her underwear, she headed to the bedroom. I was terribly chilled, and I needed to put on something dry and warm, and a hot cup of tea wouldn't hurt either!

Entering the bedroom, she grabbed the necessary clothes from the closet and headed to the bathroom. Just as I was about to slip off my underwear, intending to sit in the hot water that the spiders were quickly filling for me, a voice rang out nearby...

"I'm ready to move on to reincarnation!" A ghost of an alien being hovered beside me.

"You! Get out, and don't you dare peek!" I squealed, regretting that I'd left my wand in the study, trying to cover myself with a towel.

"Actually, I'm female!" The soul showed no intention of leaving. "In my opinion," she declared pompously, "you don't look very attractive with those bulges of yours!"

"Disappear!" I tried to rein her in.

"No problem..." She vanished with a blink.

I climbed into the bath but didn't linger, quickly washed up, and headed downstairs. In the kitchen, a hearty dinner prepared by the spiders awaited me. I crumbled some bread right onto the table for them, and while eating, I watched them pass the crumbs along in a chain. I wonder how many of them there are?

After eating, I cleaned up after myself. Of course, I was tired, but I decided to sort the souls into drawers first. Oh, and I still needed to find the octopus and send her to storage.

"Where's that sea water enthusiast?" I looked at the spiders; they scurried upstairs along the wall and opened the doors to the storage room. Going back to the study for my wand, I found my cloak now dry on the mannequin, the bag gone, and my wet clothes missing. What clever little helpers...

Taking my wand, I hurried upstairs, entered the storage room, and froze. The octopus, deftly maneuvering between the shelves, held a soul sphere in each tentacle. She was carefully placing them into drawers.

"Each of them is designated for a specific type of essence..." I frowned, wondering why she decided to help me. And how she could do it, considering she's a spirit.

"I understand, they're all sorted by type, into separate compartments. The record has been made..." she said as she returned.

I glanced at the open ledger: indeed, everything was documented according to protocol.

"I'm not sure I understand. You're not a human with a soul or essence, just an alien being. Why was it specifically me who had to collect you?" I sat at the table and watched the octopus. She began sorting through a shelf I hadn't yet reached.

"I don't know. I could only change color, mimic any surface, and stay out of water for a considerable time. I couldn't transform..."

I took a sheet from my bag, a suspicion crossing my mind. I stood up and, descending to the study, looked into the sphere again. There were still ten souls on the list, and I had made a mistake with one number, and by some chance, I still ended up with the deceased alien.

"And now what?" I sighed, feeling overwhelmingly tired. "Is there a manual for what to do if I took the wrong soul?" I looked at the ever-present spiders. They stayed put, which meant I had to figure it out myself.

But right now, I'm going to bed before I cause any more trouble...