24. New Reaper Open Arena #2
“Strip, baby, strip!” Keith sang, shoving his machete through the back of someone’s head, out through their mouth.
Caleb smirked at Keith’s playful nature.
He had never seen his cousin more excited and animated than when he was reaping.
Caleb shrugged off his sweater, leaving him in a fitted white t-shirt that clung to his chest and biceps.
“P-please! I d-don’t w-want to p-play anymore.”
Keith snorted at the Reaper trying to crawl away from him.
“Dude. Don’t be a sore fucking loser,” he said, grabbing his ankle and dragging him back.
The Reaper cried hysterically as Keith pulled him close.
“Goddamn, you cry like a bitch! Tell you what… if you can guess my favorite color, I’ll let you live. ”
Caleb laughed. “Keith, stop fucking around.”
“What? I’m being merciful,” Keith insisted.
Caleb snorted. “‘Cause you’re just such a nice fucking guy, right?”
Keith grinned as he playfully swung his machete and eyed his next kill. “So nice, they call me Mr. Rogers, bitch.”
“Nobody fucking calls you that,” Caleb cackled.
He shook his head with a smirk when he spotted another Reaper running towards the exit.
Gripping his ax, Caleb swung, sending it flying in the air until it embedded in the Reaper’s back.
“Fuck yeah!” Caleb celebrated. It had been a while since he actively reaped like this.
It reminded him of the days he used to reap with his brother and his cousins.
When they actually enjoyed it. When they still liked each other.
Walking over to the Reaper lying in a pool of their own blood, Caleb ripped the ax out and admired his work. He could feel his bloodlust growing. He hadn’t had this much fun in years. Surprisingly… Reaping with Keith made it far more enjoyable.
“Hey, Caleb! Look!”
Caleb glanced over his shoulder and saw Keith crouched over a dead Reaper he had skinned, wearing their face like a mask. “Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. Domo-ee-oo! Domo-ee-oo!” Keith sang, moving his arms robotically.
“Keith, what the fuck, man!” Caleb exploded with laughter.
“He’s alone. There are 10 of us. He can’t take 10 of us.”
“But there are two others with him.”
“Where are they?”
“The woman is over there. Is she… talking to herself?”
“I don’t know where the other guy is.”
“Okay. Let’s take out the woman first. She looks pretty weak. That way, we can kill Jax without interference.”
With her hands folded behind her back, Esme stared absentmindedly at the window as she eavesdropped on the Reapers she couldn’t see. “Did that motherfucker just call me weak…?” she muttered to herself. “Fucking sexist asshole- Actually… you know what…”
Esme suddenly panicked. “Oh gosh! Why did I decide to do this?! Ian? Jax? Where are you? I’m so scared! What if someone attacks me?”
Ian glanced up from his novel and peeked over his glasses at Esme across the room. “...what on Roselyn’s green earth is this woman doing?”
“I’m so defenseless! Oh, woe is me! What is a tiny, inexperienced woman like me to do?” Esme gasped dramatically. “I knew I should have pursued accounting over being a Reaper! Just like Mummy and Daddy said I should!”
Jax snorted as he casually checked his watch. “No one’s going to believe that god-awful acting…”
A devious smile etched across Esme’s perfect, porcelain face as her pink lips turned up into a grin at the sound of quiet footsteps. She abruptly turned around, facing 2 Reapers, and her face dramatically fell.
“Are you fucking kidding me?! Only 2?! I’m worth more than 2 fucking Reapers!” she snapped as two blades slid down her sleeves. Flinging a dagger, Esme dove head-first towards the other Reaper as the first one was impaled in the eye. Shoving the second one to the ground, she climbed on top.
“Are you the one who called me weak?” she snapped. But she didn’t give them time to respond before she was shoving the dagger up through their chin until she could see the blade in their mouth.
Glancing down at the 3 mutilated Reapers lying at his feet, Ian cleaned off his blade, readjusted his reading glasses, and took out his novel again.
Jax spotted 3 Reapers heading in his direction.
“Don’t touch them! They’re mine!”
Jax saw Esme do playful cartwheels before her legs locked around one’s head, abruptly snapping his neck. Using his body as a springboard, she shoved her blades into another Reaper’s stomach before ripping him open and watching his innards pile out.
Jax sighed, ignoring the screams as he checked his watch again. “...should we get Chloe a white dress to be the flower girl? I think it’d be cute.”
“That’s absolutely adorable,” Ian said, casually turning the page as a dismembered arm flew past his head, followed by screams of terror. “Deja would love that.”
“Maybe a little flower crown for her head,” Jax said, checking his phone when he felt something pierce his side.
Looking down, Jax saw that a Reaper had shoved a blade into his waist. “Esme, you missed one,” he said, grabbing the Reaper by the neck.
The Reaper clawed at Jax’s arm, fighting for air when Jax ripped off his mask.
Tilting his head to the side, Jax eyed the Reaper in his grip before digging his fingers into the side of his head and completely ripping his scalp from his skull. Esme and Ian watched the bloody scalp skid across the floor before they looked up at Jax, startled.
Jax furrowed his brows at their shocked expressions. “...what?”
“Dude, what are you?” Esme asked as Ian returned to his novel.
Drenched in blood from his head to his feet, Caleb swung his ax, lopping another Reaper’s head clean off his shoulders. Wiping the blood and sweat from his face, he looked up to see several Reapers running away, screaming, “Jamie, the green-eyed devil.”
“Come on!” Caleb shouted. “I’m not my fucking brother! He’s my twin! We’re not the same damn person! Shit…”
Lying on the floor, resting his head on a dead body while picking the blood and flesh from beneath his fingernails with the tip of his machete, Keith smirked at his cousin. “I just want you to know how fucking crazy you look right now,” Keith grinned.
Caleb looked at Keith and scoffed. “You’re literally wearing someone’s face as a mask. Don’t talk to me about crazy, Leatherface.”
“Mine. And mine. Oh, this was also my kill. Don’t you love my handiwork? So goddamn perfect. Look at all these points I’m racking up.”
Esme plucked the flags from all the Reapers she killed before playfully skipping toward Jax and Ian, who were scrolling through Jax’s phone. “I haven’t had this much fun in ages!” she sighed. “Jax, you’re like a fun magnet.”
“Am I?” Jax asked.
Ian snorted. “I don’t know if that’s the correct word.”
“What are you guys looking at?” she asked, wiping the blood from her neck.
“Wedding dresses for Deja,” Jax said.
“Seriously? I feel like you guys are finding any reason to delay proposing. I didn’t fly out to Korea just to Reap, as much fun as it is. You’re thinking about this too much. Just fucking elope or something,” she said.
Jax and Ian looked at her warily. “I don’t think that’s what Deja would want,” Jax said.