The Soul Reaper's Arranged Marriage

As he walked into the pub on that cool summer evening, Thomas Ward had no idea that it would be the last night of his life. And when he spotted the beautiful blonde sitting at the bar, Thomas couldn’t have imagined that he was looking upon the woman that would be the one to take his life from him. Thomas Ward was an accountant that lived in a small flat in London. The only reason he walked into the pub that night was to have a few beers to wind down from his boring day at the office, and to forget the fact that tomorrow would be exactly the same as it was that day, and the day before that. Thomas had nothing of particular interest to go home to, much less anybody that was waiting for him in that tiny little flat with a broken AC unit and a leaky shower faucet. So, when he saw the attractive blonde at the bar, Thomas mistakenly believed that his luck was about to change. “Two whiskeys, please,” Thomas said, waiving to the bartender as he took a seat two stools down from the blonde. As the bartender began to prepare his drinks, Thomas turned to glance at the woman. Her head was tilted slightly away from him so that he could only see the side of her face. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, with golden curls falling down her back and around her face. She donned a short black dress that showed off her curves, although her small waist gave her an appealing hourglass figure. Her legs were crossed casually, with patent leather black heels on her feet. The bartender set the glasses down in front of Thomas, pulling him out of his thoughts. Thomas placed some cash on the bar, grabbed the two drinks, and switched seats to the one next to her. “Can I offer you a drink?” he asked, managing to sound much more confident than he actually was. She turned to face him, revealing a pair of intense blue eyes and ruby red lips. Thomas felt his heart skip a beat upon seeing her face, which had pale, perfect skin with the lightest flush of pink on her cheeks. She was also much younger than he realized, maybe only eighteen or nineteen. He noticed she didn’t yet have a drink in her hand. God, I hope she’s legal. “Why don’t we go somewhere a little less…crowded?” she replied, her lips curling up into a slight smile. It took everything he had to keep his cool. Not only was she an absolute bombshell, but she was willing to leave with him right here, right now? Better to go along with it before she changed her mind, he thought. And was that an American accent he detected? “What did you have in mind?” he asked. Her red lips turned up into a seductive smirk. “Follow me.” She gracefully stood up from her seat and made her way to a side entrance that led into an alley behind the pub. As he followed, Thomas couldn’t help but watch her hips sway with each step she took. His eyes fell onto a tattoo on her left forearm in the shape of an Egyptian crook and flail symbol. I wonder if she has tattoos in any other places…? He barely noticed her pick up the pace as soon as the door closed behind them. Did she plan on having s*x with him right there in that dark alley? The thought of him pressing her against the wall and lifting her dress up sent an excited chill through his body. He didn’t even know her name, but the idea of a tryst with this alluring American stranger was thrilling. She stopped suddenly and turned around to face him. He was about three steps behind her when he stopped as well. She gave off a golden glow under the dim light of the streetlamp as she slid the side zipper of her dress down. Thomas felt his heart begin to race at the sight of her beginning to undress. He felt himself harden in his pants at the flash of bare skin on her side. But she didn’t proceed with pulling off her dress. Instead, she took out what looked like a small, dark tree branch from the inside of her side seam before zipping herself back up. Thomas found that somewhat strange. He couldn’t place his finger on it, but a sense that something wasn’t quite right slowly dawned on him. “W-what’s that?” he asked, no longer able to feign confidence like he did inside the pub. She didn’t respond to his question, but instead began to chant in what sounded like an ancient language as she raised her arms up in front of her, the tree branch extended toward him. It almost looked as if she was using it like a magic wand. Before Thomas even had a chance to escape, the last words he heard were something along the lines of, “Extremum Vitae Spiritum Edere.” And thus ended the life of Thomas Ward as his consciousness faded into nothingness. *** She stared at the body of the lifeless stranger on the ground, unceremoniously lying in a puddle of old rainwater that pooled in the alleyway. She slowly approached the body and knelt down beside it, waiting. She felt the familiar presence of a young man walk around the corner, donning a hooded black cloak. “All clear over here, Seth!” he called out into the quiet night. Without taking her eyes off of the dead stranger’s face, she felt another young man join them, wearing a similar hooded cloak. Without a word, the three of them waited motionlessly, apart from the hem of their cloaks fluttering lightly in the evening breeze. A faint, light blue glow appeared in the mouth of the lifeless body, which was slightly agape. The light gradually grew brighter until an orb the size of an acorn gently escaped from between the lips, rising slowly into the air above. The girl leaned down over the stranger so that her face was only inches from his. She puckered her lips together as if she were about to kiss him but stopped just short of the orb of light. Softly, she began to suck in her breath through her lips. The orb gently floated towards her mouth, bobbing as delicately as a feather in the small space between her lips and his. It slowly entered the small pinhole of her mouth, the glow disappearing as she swallowed gently. She was still for a moment, her eyes tightly closed, before opening them and standing up. Seth was the first to break the silence. “Now that we’re done, we’d better get back before Daisy’s late to her own wedding!” Seth snickered from beneath his hood. She shot a dark look at Seth, whose laugh echoed in the evening breeze. Seth pulled down his hood to reveal his sandy hair, which was sideswept across his forehead. His hazel eyes met Daisy’s glare with a bemused, cocky expression. They appeared to be about the same age. “That’s enough, Seth,” scolded the other figure, lowering his hood. He seemed only a few years older than the other two, but exuded an air of being the one in charge. He had olive skin and thick, dark hair that hung around his face the length of his chin. His dark, brown eyes glanced over to Daisy, who had wrapped her arms around her chest and was shivering slightly. He pulled another cloak out from underneath his and draped it over her shoulders protectively. “Gracias, Marco,” said Daisy quietly in Spanish, her tongue naturally rolling the “r” consonant. She wrapped the cloak even tighter around herself, despite it being summer. “Of course. Are you ready to get back?” Daisy sighed, closing her eyes as if mentally preparing herself. A few moments of silence passed before she opened her eyes and spoke, her tone flat and resigned. “Seth’s right. I can’t be late to my own wedding.”