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~~Ben~~

First thing I really remembered waking up was this obnoxiously bright light and me, being such a light sleeper it drove me nuts because it seriously felt like someone was shining a flashlight right in my face. The whispering was next, voices being so light that I couldn't really tell what they were saying, not even with my enhanced hearing. Growing more and more frustrated by the minute I quickly sat up and immediately regretted it because suddenly I really felt like I was going to throw up... maybe that wasn't such a bright idea after all. But I did get the people's attention.

"Hey! You're awake!" I heard Dil's voice shout out from my right, opening my eyes I noticed that the light that had been shining was in fact the sun seeming to be just peaking over the horizon... just how long was I out? Turning my head I saw Dil sitting on his bed, already in full uniform and sitting on my desk chair was Hope, who was fiddling with the helm of her skirt. Even Howie was their shockingly enough sitting next to Dil. Why were they all in my room anyway? Well it was Dil's room also so he had a reason... Howie and Hope though? Not so much... Howie had his own room and I'm pretty sure girls weren't allowed in the boys dorm this early.

"What's going on...?" I said, my voice had a tired slurring to it and I honestly felt like I had been run over by a train about eighty times. "What... what time is it...? " I asked while rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "How long was I out anyway? I remember beating up those Shadows after confronting Casper but kinda blanked after that." I managed out... my throat seriously felt like sandpaper which sucked. Dil was the one who answered naturally.

"It's after 7. You've been out for nearly twelve hours... I've been up since five or so... Hope and Howie woke me up after they barged in here... surprised you didn't wake up though!" He said before giving a small glare towards the two intruders. "They were quite loud." I could only smirk when I saw both of them pull their heads down in shame. "Heard you talked with Casper? Is that true? What did he want?"

"He actually warned me funnily enough, about the Spirit Mafia... apparently they got something big planned and he wanted me prepared supposedly so I'll survive. Apparently I'm special or something!" I said as I stretched myself a bit before scratching my balls which made Hope let out a 'gross!' which I happily ignored and simply flipped her off with my other paw as I continued to give my balls a good scratching. "So, I guess I should be getting ready? I'll meet you three at the cafeteria okay?" I said as I got up and gathered a uniform and when I turned around I saw the three still sitting there. Annoyed, I growled at them.

"You still here? Shoo! Let me get dressed will you!?" Thankfully all three seemed to get the message so they all cleared out leaving me alone. Heading to the bathroom I gradually stripped out of my clothes, I know Dil wouldn't be happy at that but I didn't care at that moment, not like I wasn't going to pick them up before heading out anyway. What could a few minutes hurt? I was completely naked by the time I reached the bathroom and let out a huge fucking piss when I reached the toilet. Once I was done I rubbed my unformed knot a bit causing me to let out a pleased growl, knowing I probably didn't have much time to jerk off made me stop fondling myself long enough for me to get into the shower where I was unfortunately interrupted by Suzaku. Couldn't a guy shower in peace? For once?

'Ah grow up!' Suzaku muttered as he hovered around wearing that weird rain jacket and umbrella. 'This is serious, Casper's group wants you for something. Shouldn't that be at least a tiny bit worrying?' I just shrugged, I wasn't that worried honestly, I could handle myself after all. Besides, being afraid of your own shadow never helped anyone, besides, I was getting stronger everyday! Suzaku unfortunately wasn't impressed. 'You know what they say Ben, pride goeth before a fall, don't get cocky or you might find yourself in a situation where you can't fight your way out of. Never underestimate an opponent.'

'Alright, alright!' I mumbled as I shampooed my hair and fur lightly before rinsing it out. 'I won't underestimate them, I promise! But at the same time it's pointless to worry about things when you have no idea what they are. That's paranoia which doesn't solve anything.' I said as I gradually cleaned my crotch. 'We got Dil who worries enough for ten people, Hope is a ditz and Howie is well... Howie's a jock, someone has to be the sane one and that ultimately falls to me.'

'Even still, keep your guard up, I got a very bad feeling about things, like something bad is going to happen very soon and we might be biting off more than we can chew.' Once again I just shrugged as I finished scrubbing my crotch and turning off the water. Getting myself dressed I swiftly exited the bathroom and picked up my sleep clothes before placing them in my bin... Laundry was my job this week unfortunately, hopefully I could postpone it long enough to where it wouldn't be so bad. Dil was EXTREMELY particular on how he wanted his laundry done especially when it came to everything being folded up and placed extra tidily in the drawers which took forever honestly. But we had shared laundry duty ever since middle school so I was used to it by now.

Once I was sure everything was picked up I left the room and began walking towards the cafeteria, unfortunately however just as I was about to reach the cafeteria I heard a loud voice shout behind me. One I could only groan to.

"Beeeeeen!!! Fancy meeting you here!" The voice rang out from behind me the voice being so peppy it gave me a headache. Reluctantly I turned around and saw a familiar lioness.

"Hello Christy..." I mumbled out in a miserable voice, of course I would run into her, and it was far too late to hide in a random bathroom like I did last time. Stopping I waited for her, hoping that she wouldn't make a scene or something. I never knew what to expect of her, hopefully she wouldn't try to cling to me or grope me or anything... as she had tried several times before... but I braced myself all the same so I could be prepared for anything. Eventually she did catch up to me. She had ran from the girls dorm and I was already half way to the cafeteria so she had a decent ways to run. After she caught her breath she simply looked up to me and smiled.

"Hey! Been trying to catch up to you but you are impossible to find it seems!" She said cheerfully before her voice became solemn. "I heard about your grandfather, I'm really sorry. I knew you two were incredibly close." I just nodded but didn't really say anything, my grandfather was a rather big sore spot for me still.

Probably would be for the rest of my days honestly, especially since I was forced to Reap him myself. While I did understand Boss's reasoning and how it made sense, I still would never really forgive him for that. I could still see his face as he impaled himself on my blade and that smug little smile he gave as he began to fade into the lights. How he called me out on my plan on attacking Hope to help him slip away... he could always read me, even if I was completely sure I was being sneaky. Which used to annoy me but now I really missed.

"Thanks I guess..." I told her in an indifferent manner. "Surprised you are by yourself, normally the Twins would be flanking your every move." She just laughed at that which made me give a tiny smile, annoying as she was Christy always had a great laugh, loud and clear as bells.

"I could say the same thing with you and Dil! You two have always been inseparable!" She said lightly. "I wound up oversleeping, had a really bad feeling yesterday and took forever to fall asleep! You ever have those feelings where you feel like there is something... I don't know... evil watching you?" 'More times than I can count, almost a daily thing now it seems.' I thought to myself before I came up with an answer.

"Not really... you've had that feeling?" I asked in mock concern, thankfully she didn't catch it as she swiftly nodded. "When did you have that feeling?" I asked in genuine curiously, did she sense the Shadow's also? I know Howie did, and Hope had stated several times that it was very rare for someone without the sight to sense Shadows but then again both were pretty close to Dil... wonder if that was why they could do that? Maybe I should ask Hope? But then again I was close also and could never sense anything before my powers got awakened...

"In the afternoon, I was studying with the Twins when I felt that feeling... neither of them felt it so I honestly felt like I was going crazy. But I ran into Howie who also felt it. Did you feel it?" 'Of course I did! I was in the middle of it fighting for my life!' I thought though I made sure I have nothing but a shake of the head which made her frown and tap her chin.

"I'll ask Dil, he always seems to know about the paranormal goings on around the school." That was true, Dil always had an ear for the supernatural, being such an old school and built in an old part of the city there were naturally always a bunch of rumors about hauntings and the like. I had always joked that Dil wanted to be an amateur version of those Ghost Hunter guys on TV (Dil loved that show.) He would normally just roll his eyes and drop the subject but maybe he was so interested because he wanted to see if they were true? Speaking of Dil...

"I'm curious honestly, how did you and Dil get so close if I may ask? I never understood how you two became friends, especially before he came out and started opening up." Christy looked surprisingly uncomfortable at that but eventually relented when she saw my curious look.

"It's actually kinda embarrassing... it was right after he turned 14... like a day after... He had actually been trying to flirt with me for a few months which was funny since he was such an introverted geek back then but I never really turned him down because hey, geek or not he was cute. I think he was trying to prove to himself that he wasn't gay at the time. Eventually I decided to let him have a go." I raised my eyebrow at that, Dil never told me about this. Did he really try and score with a girl? I already knew how this was going to end. "It started off alright, his kisses were nice and his somewhat awkward touching was sweet but when we tried to get things started well..." She stopped before she blushed heavily.

"He couldn't get it up because he really wasn't attracted to you because you had a vagina correct?" She just nodded meekly, obviously embarrassed about everything. Which made sense, the guy she had tried to bed just happened to be queerer than a $2 bill anyone would have embarrassed. "Bet that was awkward huh?"

"It was, Dil was actually crying he was so scared and desperate to hide his emerging homosexuality that he tried sleeping with me, and when he couldn't even get himself aroused he was actually terrified that I would tell the entire school about it. You know he struggled with bullies pretty badly during middle school more than anyone and he was afraid if word got out that he was gay the bullying would not only get worse but you would turn your back on him, possibly be a bully yourself."

I could only growl at that, I still was a bit pissed that Dil was actually afraid of such nonsense happening. What part of I swore on my honor that I would protect him and look after him didn't he understand? I promised his Father and possibly God himself (considering his father was a preacher that could be a possibility!) Not only has his father been more of a parent than my own ever was, I personally wasn't interested in pissing off God since I doubted he had much love for the likes of oathbreakers.

"I told him that he was an idiot of course, since the idea of you ever doing that was so ridiculous and implausible that he should honestly be ashamed of himself for even thinking that." She said in a friendly manner. "You might be a grump but even I can see you have a good heart, why else would I pursue you so much? I'm not COMPLELY shallow and vapid." She said shrugging everything off lightly. "I know you don't particularly like me much but your relationship with Dil makes it hard not to have a crush on you, though I know it's pointless since you are madly in love with our panther friend." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I stopped right then and went completely still, I think even my heart went still for a second probably.. how did SHE of all people know? As if sensing my growing panic, she simply sighed and patted my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down.

"Are you surprised? I have all but stalked you since middle school. I figured that much out years ago. I mean if you think about it it's so blatantly obvious that I'm surprised Dil himself hasn't figured it out since I mean he IS a genius. How can he not see something so obvious? The Twins don't know though, and I doubt anyone else does either so don't worry! I won't tell a soul, but please take care of Dil okay? He's like brother to me and I still owe Ray a kick in the balls for moving to California. So if you ever hurt him I will hunt you down and rip your balls off okay?" She said in a sweet tone. "But I'll see you later! Bye!" She said before she ran off ahead leaving me completely confused and surprised. Maybe I misjudged her after all.

Shaking my head, I just headed on my way to the cafeteria. Once I entered the building, I saw that Dil and the others were already seated across the room with their own trays spread out. Since I was starving I quickly went over and got my food (breakfast burrito's yum!) and headed over to them. Once I sat down I immediately started scarfing down my food as if it was my last meal, last night had taken a lot out of me especially since I missed the dinner period (being a boarding school Fairbanks naturally provided breakfast, lunch and dinner for the students who lived here.) Thankfully their burritos were huge and they managed to fill me up.

Once I was done, I simply burped and rubbed my belly ignoring Hope's look of disgust and Dil's rolling eyes though Howie laughed at least which made me smile a little bit. Once I was done enjoying myself after stuffing my face I then turned towards the others. "So what's our situation?" I asked Hope. "From what we know the Spirit Mafia is a complete blank, as is their goals and ambitions. Casper is running around and giving me warnings about them despite working with them. Have you made any sense of this mess?" Hope just shook her head lightly at that.

"No, I even checked with Boss and even he couldn't find anything. We haven't even found anything about Casper' s group. While there has always been reports of a Rinato city in the Dark Realm we have never found any proof and very few people who have traveled into their Realm ever returned."

"So what exactly is the dark realm? It's the land of the Shadow's right? How did it come to be? If the Reaper's realm is the remnants of an old world before ours where did the Dark Realm spring from?"

"Nobody really knows actually, the Shadow's apparently showed up shortly after the Fur's started gaining sentience. Plenty of scholars speculate that Shadow's are the souls of the corrupted ones who died in the destruction of the old world, their corruption and evil becoming so strong that they literally became twisted Shadow's of their former selves." She said calmly.

"As you know, Shadow's are created in two ways; either a soul is left in the mortal Realm for too long and eventually succumbs to their despair or their soul is devoured by another Shadow thus spawning another. Most Shadow's are simply mindless and feral predators while Rinato like Casper are special since they actually regain their sentience and their mind and memories. How they do this without a soul is not understood, though we understand little about them period as they very rarely ever leave the Dark Realm making them almost impossible to study unless you can figure out how to survive in their world which we haven't yet."

"Makes sense!" Dil stated as he continued to munch on his own burrito. "To be fair, I know little but I have had encounters with them... like around when my mom died and those three shadows who used to be my friends started attacking me..." he said in a very sad tone. "It was before I had any idea on just what I was. It was scary, before that everything was fine, my grandma could see ghosts. My Grandpa remained by her side even after he died, is that common?" He asked directing his question to Hope.

"Not often," she admitted in a kind voice. "But in rare occasions some souls adamantly refuse to pass on because they refuse to leave a person such as a spouse or their child. So on those occasions, we often let them stay for a set amount in the mortal world while keeping them on heavy supervision. If they show signs of turning into a Shadow however, we immediately intervene and resolve the issue by sending them off for their safety and the person they didn't want to leave. I actually know your grandfather's case actually! Thomas Patterson, born August 31st 1947 in Chickorie Creek Wyoming and died December 29th 1996 at 49 years old. Ed was the one who was put in charge of his Reaping actually." Dil just gave her a surprised look and to be fair so did I.

Ed and Hope looked our age... but in 1996 me and Dil were two years old... just how old were they? If Ed and Hope were both Reaping by that point they were definitely older than they looked. As tempted as I was to ask, the last time I tried Hope hit me in the nuts with her staff and told me it was rude to ask a lady her age (seriously what was with women and their age? I'll never understand why it's such a huge deal!!) "What's with the look?" She asked coldly which swiftly made Dil sit up and back away slowly from her while his paws were up in the air as a sign of surrender.

"Nothing! I was just thinking you looked great today! Did you do something with your hair? It's looking really shiny and I could use some tips since we are both blond and all!" He tried in an awkward fashion, it was a lie if course and Hope obviously saw right through it but even still she just shrugged it off and said they could talk after school. Thankfully she didn't seem to notice my look. I couldn't get away with it as easy since I was a red head (ha-ha I know, a redhead with fire powers I get it! A 'fiery redhead') while she and Dil were both blond (though Dil hair was dirty-blond and was darker than Hope's own hair) Howie himself seemed to be struggling on containing his laughter which made me give him a vicious look that shut him up completely.

Breakfast finished quite quickly and all four of us headed on our way to class. While we were walking, Dil and Howie were having a particularly animated conversation about some random assignment he had to do for one of his classes. Dil being the nice guy he was had swiftly offered to tutor the bear when they first met in middle school. Howie being the nice but sometimes dim jock and Dil well... being a teen genius.

It worked of course, Howie's grades quickly skyrocketed and they became fast friends and arguably Howie was Dil's first real friend outside myself and Howie could always be trusted to look after Dil when I wasn't able. Which I was still very thankful for. For all his oddness and silliness Howie was truly the only person to rival Dil in terms of niceness. Though unlike Dil he wasn't a doormat sometimes.

Finally we reached our class and each of us took our seats. As per usual history was boring, VERY boring and Dil was the only person who seemed even slightly interested in Mr. Henderson's lecture. The current lecture was something about the Roman Empire which I wasn't particularly invested in. I myself was trying my best not to doze off because Dil had told me that he was starting to get tired of doing all the notes himself. Which was fair I guess since most of my schoolwork was largely cribbed off of him since he was the one who got straight A's and this was the only class we shared this semester.

While I was doing my best not to fall asleep completely, I seriously felt as if I was being watched. Suddenly alert, I sat up straight and gazed right out the window which I was sitting next to and scanning for something amiss at the corner of my eye. I could vaguely see a masked man standing close to the grounds looking directly at me but before I could get a closer look I was interrupted by Mr. Henderson's annoy hrmph.

"Care to explain what is so interesting about the outside that you aren't paying attention in class Mr. Zideke?"I jumped and I felt my face burn like it was on fire at being called out by the teacher. Mr. Henderson was easily the strictest of teachers in the school and even when I was asleep I done my damnest not to get caught. So being called out now was awful. Looking down, I could hear everyone (except Dil and Hope thankfully) laughing at my plight. Since I obviously couldn't tell the truth I swiftly made something up on the fly.

"I saw a bluejay flying around and it caught my attention... I won't let it happen again sir!" I said in an embarrassed tone. Mr. Henderson just nodded apathetically seemingly satisfied with my excuse.

"Very well Mr. Zideke, now shall we continue our lecture?" I just nodded, still embarrassed but otherwise everything went as it was typically. Soon enough the class ended and right before we all separated I caught Dil and Hope and took them aside.

"We need to talk, I think I saw one of the Spirit Maria's goons... he was looking right at me... at lunch find Howie and we'll try and make plans, be careful though okay? If they know where we went to school they know who we are. For all we know we're targets so stay sharp okay? And don't do anything stupid, we know nothing of what they are capable of so fighting them blind is very bad, especially if people get caught in the crossfire." The other two just nodded and all three of us went on our separate ways. My second class was English naturally. I shared it with Howie and informed him of the issue.

"So those creepy Mafia guys know we go here? How?"

"If Casper knew where we are it isn't so hard to believe that Casper sent them our way, he is working with them... kinda if they got something planned it involves us so be careful. You are the most at risk, we can at least fight back, strong as you are you don't have any powers." Howie just nodded, obviously quite shaken over everything. Poor guy had been through a lot, being attacked by Shadow's is terrifying and I know exactly how it feels to be attacked while you were completely helpless... twice.

"Alright, but from what you said they seem to want you in particular, do you think you'll be okay? You are their main target." That was true, they seemed to want me for whatever reason but I wasn't so worried. I could handle myself after all, always have and those Cloaked weirdos didn't scare me that much, I was more worried about them hurting everyone else to get to me. But I just shrugged it off in a nonchalant manner. "I'm serious Ben, if anyone needs to watch their back it's you. Those guys are dangerous, especially if they have dealings with those Shadow guys... what do you call them again? Ratanto?"

"Rinato," I corrected him helpfully. "I can handle myself, but let's sit down okay, we can talk more at lunch." The giant of a bear just nodded and gave me a strong pat on the back that almost sent me tumbling. Nice as Howie was, he sometimes forgot his own substantial strength like when he was giving his Infamous 'GLOMP OF DOOM!!!' He managed to catch me though before I fully went faceplant thankfully and was apologizing a thousand times a minute but I just waved it off as no big deal and told him to just mind his strength more. After that, we both sat down and Mrs. Reeves the Teacher (Mr. Reeves her husband taught AP English), a pretty middle-aged cougar(an actual cougar not an older woman who liked younger men) who was among the most liked teachers in the school.

Class went by rather smoothly, unlike in History Mrs. Reeves just gave us a set assignment for the day. I was one of the first done on that so I once again stared out the window in boredom and just as I was about to look away again, I saw something at the corner of my eye but before I could get a good look at it the thing had already vanished completely. As if on cue, Suzaku swiftly popped into the world and started flying around my head wildly. 'Did you see that!? There was a figure! Plain as day!'

'I saw it all right.' I thought back to him as I continued scanning around the grounds (or at least the parts I could see.) 'Looks like we got some stalkers and I hope the others are okay. Wonder if they have been seeing them also?' Suzaku just stopped flying around for a bit and simply shrugged his shoulders.

'Who knows, we'll just have to ask them at lunch I guess. But how come you aren't scared? These guys know where you live and go to school and we know nothing about who they are and just what they are capable of. Any normal person would be shaking yet you seem disturbingly calm.' I just shrugged, Dil said that a lot as well, so I was used to that. But I had always been able to adapt to things pretty quickly. While things were creepy as far as I was concerned there wasn't a reason to be scared. They were just Mediums after all,what could they do to...

Just as I was about to finish that thought I felt shaking and then suddenly a loud terrible...

'BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!'

A loud explosion rocketed through the building. From where I was sitting, I could see a fiery blast explode from the borders of the school into the city and then three more explosions rang out almost completely circling the school. The reaction was immediate; screams of terror and confusion rang throughout the room as Mrs. Reeves tried desperately to regain order but it was beyond that as panic fully reined in the room. I quickly met Howie who, despite looking utterly terrified remained seated. After a few minutes on pandemonium the loudspeakers quickly went staticy then Principal Morris's soothing bass tones came from them.

"Attention students and faculty. There has been four bombs that have been set off in the surrounding perimeter of the school. Classes have been canceled for the rest of the day. Students who live off campus come to the office and await a guardian to come and pick you up. Leaving alone is absolutely prohibited for your own safety. Students who stay in the Dorms are expected to return to their rooms and are not to leave them until it is deemed safe. Anyone caught disobeying will be harshly punished and will have their Off-Campus privileges revoked for the rest of their schooling. Teachers please lead students to their dorms then meet at the facility building." With that, the announcement went static once again and stopped. Mrs. Reeves was quick to take advantage of the momentary calmness.

"You heard him! Students who live off campus follow me! I will take you the office! Students who live in the dorms all wait here until I get back do I make myself clear?" Receiving a chorus of 'Yes ma'am!' Mrs Reaves quickly gathered the three students who did live off campus and left with them, leaving the rest of us alone for the time being. Almost immediately after she left I heard my phone ring. Checking it, I was surprised to see it was my mom calling. Knowing it would be a bad idea to ignore her I answered only to be caught up in her frantic ranting.

"Benedict? Thank god! I was at work when reports of bombings in New York City happened! Are you okay? What happened? The school is safe? Do you need us to pick you up?" I was so surprised I didn't even get upset at her calling me Benedict. It wasn't often my mother got that distressed. It felt nice that she actually did care.

"I'm okay, the school itself wasn't targeted, but four bombs did go off around the area. I don't know any more than you do. And I'm not leaving, I'll be fine okay?" I just heard her sigh, obviously still shaken from everything. Could only imagine what she had been going through before I answered my phone.

"Okay... I'm so glad you are okay... To think the last contact was arguing... I could never forgive myself if something happened to you. We might not have the closest relationship but you are still my baby and I love you more than anything on this earth." I blushed heavily at that as Suzaku cackled madly in the background. She must have been REALLY distressed to be this sappy. Looking over, I saw just about everyone had their phones out, presumably having the same conversation with their own parents.

"Mooooooom, stop it." I whined out, even if I knew nobody could hear her I was still embarrassed and I had an image to keep. To her credit my mother just let out a small chuckle obviously amused by my behavior.

"Oh grow up dear, you can be 90 and you would still be my baby. Alexander always says the same thing with Dillon."

"You talked with Father Patterson? Did he get a hold of Dil?" I asked. While I could sense Dil's energy, I was still worried if he got hurt again and I couldn't stop it I would never forgive myself.

"I'm not sure, we had talked prior to the bombings. I assume he is talking with him right at this moment. But I must be heading off, I will call your father later, he is in Seattle right now for a business meeting." I just nodded, he probably was just getting the news as we spoke.

"Okay, I am going to hang up okay? Gonna try and get a hold of Dil myself. I'll call you back if I learn something new okay?" I only got a sigh before she agreed. "I'll be fine, love you and tell Dad that I'm okay." I said before hanging up, looking towards Howie who looked like he was having the exact same conversation before he himself hung up.

"Parents are freaked out, I had to beg them not to come and bring me home." He said as he placed his phone back into his pocket. He seemed quite annoyed at his parents antics. "Thankfully I managed to talk them down really don't feel like going back to Rochester right now, especially if I have to leave my friends behind." He said before becoming serious. "You have an idea on who did this don't you?" He said in a much quieter voice. I nodded and simply wrote something on a piece of paper.

'Yes, remember the Spirit Mafia guys I told you about?' Then I passed the note to Howie who wrote something back.

'Yeah, so you think they are responsible?' Once he handed it back I started writing again.

'Definitely, they were talking about bombings during that meeting but Casper talked them down or so I thought. Anyway, I saw someone who was dressed in their garb twice around the school; one in First Period and another right before the bombings themselves. I'm gonna text Hope and see if she learned anything from boss.' I said before I did so, almost immediately I got a text back and the contents made me frown.

'Got word from boss Perps are unknown but Spirit Mafia suspected Death toll is currently 85 with 238 people injured 24 of them are children One of the targets was a daycare A team of Reapers are already on the scene but Boss wants us on the field ASAP Understood? Hope'

A daycare? Those people blew up a daycare? Why? And it looked like today was going to be a long one, especially since we will probably have to fight off Shadow's while comforting the victims... joy. Howie peaked over and looked at it in shock. The fact that they bombed a daycare center must have shook him as well, if I remembered correctly he had an older sister who worked at one.

'Those poor kids... have you ever...?' He wrote again.

'Yes unfortunately, we do hospital duty a lot which includes sick kids. It isn't fun and we mostly have to get them to calm down first before we send them off. It's sad but a fact of life. But this is the first time we had children murder victims.'

'Have you done murderer victims? Why don't you stop them if you know they are going to happen?'

'Simple, murder victims don't get a forwarding. We only get notified after the fact. The only deaths we know prior are ones of natural causes... like my grandpa.' I wrote back trying desperately to keep my cool. While I understood the reason why Boss had me doing the Reaping to test me I still would never really forgive him... I will always be haunted by the sight of my Grandfather impaling himself on my blade and fading into lights. I was so lost in that, that I didn't even notice that Howie had wrote something back until he gave me a gentle poke to grab my attention back. Embarrassed I sheepishly took the note and looked at what had been written.

'Yeah you told me that right? Hope was meant to Reap your grandpa instead but wound up reaping you by accident right? Because Hope got your names mixed up?'

'Yes, that's exactly what happened...' I wrote back, we continued conversing in the notes until Mrs. Reeves finally made her way back into the room. Once she got herself settled she quickly ordered everyone to follow her back to the dorms and we did. Looking around the hallways, I saw dozens of students running around with their groups. I even passed a bunch of 10th graders who all looked scared shitless, not that I blamed them really, it was something to be frightened of after all and I know all of us still remembered the terror of 9/11. Once again though I was broken from my thoughts when I felt something slam into me with great force making me grunt and nearly fall over.

"You are okay! Thank god! I was so worried!" Looking down I had noticed that Dil was the one who slammed into me, poor guy looked completely frazzled with worry. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I was going to but got distracted, Sorry...." I told him softly. "You okay? You look a bit frazzled there." Dil only gave a derisive snort at that however.

"Of course I'm frazzled! We had FOUR bombs go off in New York City! A TERRORIST ATTACK! It's all over national news from what Dad told me. Says nobody has made claims on the bombings and nobody knows why they were set off in such close proximity to our school." He said before looking at me and frowning. "And true to form you look largely unfazed. How do you do that?" I just gave him a friendly shrug however, I had always been able to adapt to things easily just how I was really.

"Just how I am I guess." I told him nonchantly. "You talk with Hope?" He simply nodded sadly, biting his lip a bit. Guess she had told him about the daycare.

"Yes... I can't believe they bombed a daycare... there were children there... they had to know it so why did they place a bomb there?" I just gave him another shrug, I really had no idea how to explain that. I was just as baffled. And it really did seem to bother him a lot though Dil had always been very sensitive about things.

"I don't know Dil, I really don't." I told him calmly as I observed Howie and Hope walk towards us. Hope had her phone in hand and her eyes looked swollen slightly which surprised me. I don't think I've ever truly seen Hope cry. "Something wrong?" I asked her as she continued to walk up to us.

"Boss has ordered us to work, we have several squadrons working around the bombing sites... it's bad and there is fear of the chaos attracting Shadows to the sites. We have Reapers not only doing the Reaping itself but security as well as trying to comfort the wounded before sending them off. He said once we can sneak out we are to head to an assigned site to aid in things." I just nodded glumly, of course we would be forced on duty in something like this. I really didn't want to see the bombing sites honestly I would probably see enough of it on the news later as is but something compelled me to ask something if Reaper's were being sent...

"What was 9/11 like?" I asked her which made her look up at me in shock. "I'm a New Yorker, those bastard's attacked my State, my home. I am curious on how you guys handled it." Hope just shuddered at it and I could tell by the way she was shifting around that she was obviously uncomfortable but the combined stares of both myself as well as Dil and Howie was enough to break her resolve. Sighing she just shook her blonde head unhappily before she started her tale.

"It was awful... We were literally forced to have every single Reaper in the North American base on hand. It was chaos, the death and despair made it a verifiable breeding ground for Shadows. People so quickly succumbed to their despair and anger that they were turning faster than we could send them off. Was a nightmare, bad enough they died in such a horrific manner but then we were forced to slay them before they harmed anyone else! I will never forget that day." I could only shake my head, I had never seen a Soul turn into a Shadow thank god, could only imagine the terror of being forced to kill the very person you were supposed to protect.

"That... That's awful..." I heard Howie murmur slightly while Dil could only shake his head in mute horror at the concept and all this made me reflect all too much on the horrors of that fateful day.

~~Flashback~~

I still remembered that day. We were in school... All was normal until the loudspeakers went off and declared that two planes had hit the World Trade Center... I didn't really understand what was going on at that moment of course, I was only 7 at the time. But when I saw Father Patterson come to pick me and Dil up (my parents were on a Anniversary Trip back in LA and I was staying with Dil) I knew it was bad. Father Patterson looked positively destroyed at that moment as he told us about what happened before taking us to his house.

I got a call from my mother shortly afterwards and she sounded completely distraught. Her elder brother, my Uncle Nathan was at the World Trade Center when they were struck... Sadly he had died when the Towers collapsed which had devastated her. After confirming I was okay she told me it might take awhile for her and Dad to get home because the airplanes were down but made me promise to be a good boy.

"I'll be back soon okay? Once the airplanes are back up... be good and don't give Alexander too much trouble okay sweetie?"

"I'll be good mommy..." I told her shakily. I had no idea what was going on... why did people fly into the twin towers? My class had taken a trip there last year during the summer and it was awesome but people flew planes into it? I said my goodbyes soon afterwards before hanging up the phone before returning to the living room where both Dil and Father Patterson sat staring into the TV. On it I saw massive volumes of smoke billowing from the Towers at the clock it was about 9:50. Dil looked at the scene in confusion while I could tell Father Patterson looked almost ill at the sight.

"Daddy... why are the Towers on fire? Did planes really fly into them? Were people hurt daddy?" He asked his father. I listened in as well as Father Patterson held both of us close to him and I could see he was only barely stopping himself breaking out into tears.

"Yes...bad men did fly planes into the Towers... the Pentagon was also attacked..." He murmured. "We have no information about who is responsible but they will be caught and punished." He said before Dil shouted out something in horror.

"Daddy look! One of the Towers is collapsing!" The young Panther cried out. Looking towards the TV I saw that one of the Towers had indeed collapsed. Alexander quickly turned off the TV before hugging us both tightly.

"Don't look... please don't look... now... go to your rooms and play some video games okay? I am going to call Benedict's parents and make some arrangements..." He said before ordering us away. We just obeyed not understanding the full depth of what had happened. That would only come later, when we arrived in NYC for Middle School and saw Ground Zero ourselves.

~~End flashback~~

"So The Spirit Mafia is the suspect...." Dil said while looking towards the smoke. We were all taken off guard when a voice suddenly rang out behind us.

"Spirit Mafia? Are you seriously trying to apply your occult nonsense to this terrorist attack Dillon?" A cool feminine voice said from behind us. Turning around I saw Sunny Fletcher standing there looking completely unimpressed as she had her arms around her chest. "And you all are encouraging him?" Dil didn't say anything and instead looked down, obviously embarrassed but I just growled and quickly moved to his defense.

"Eavesdropping is rude Fletcher you know that right?" I told her flatly. "You had no part of our conversation and had no right to try and put your unwanted input in."

"The fact that Dillon is making crackpot accusations in regards to the bombings should be called out for what it is. Disgraceful, people have lost their lives and what is he doing?" I just growled at her, my frustration with the bunny was slowly growing. Normally I would never hit a girl (Hope doesn't count, she is a warrior first in my mind not a girl plus she usually hits me first anyway. Refusing to hit her would be more of an insult than a sign of respect she had told me. After all, she killed raving soulless monsters for a living she can take a punch.) but I was really tempted to do so anyway. Dil actually looked hurt at her words, thankfully Howie was the one to step in and mediate things.

"Enough Sunny, stand down alright? You made your point." He told her firmly. "But Dil knows what he's talking about. Both me and Ben saw a shady looking figure running around the grounds shortly before the bombings." Sunny's ears twitched at that. Did she know something? Howie actually caught that as well. "You saw the same thing didn't you?" He stated accusingly.

"Even if I did see someone, I would assume they were terrorists not some 'Spirit Mafia'." She rebuked back while crossing her arms in an annoyed manner. "I saw someone who did look shady yes, but I didn't pay them much mind because my mind was on my classes. Not everyone can just ride by on some cushy athletic scholarship. Some of us have to actually to work for ours." Howie actually looked stricken by the harshness she shown and I could feel my rage burning hotter and hotter!

Who was she to insult people with Athletic Scholarships? She had no idea how difficult it was to get one. The sheer hours of practice, endless drills and exhausting games that you sometimes had to be on a bus for HOURS to get to! Not to mention maintaining your grades to a certain level unless you want to get thrown off the team for low academic performance.

"Enough!" I told her in a cold manner. "What the fuck do you know about Athletic Scholarships? They don't exactly make them easy to get! It takes a lot of work to be an athlete and keep your grades up! Just because our grades aren't straight 4.0's like yours and Dil's doesn't make our work worth less! And speaking of Dil, at least he doesn't rub the fact that he's the smartest guy in school in everyone's faces! So what if he is quirky? He has been nothing but nice to you since you guys met!"

Sunny didn't say anything, she didn't even flinch, instead she just shrugged and walked away nonchalantly. I just humphed and shook my head slowly. I never understood why she was like she was. Maybe she had home issues like I did? Either way she had no right to chastise Dil over anything.

"So... maybe we should head for our rooms? The crowd is starting to disperse." Dil stated awkwardly. Looking around, I did notice that things were clearing up so we all agreed to split up and meet up in mine and Dil's room in 30 minutes. Breaking away, all of us went our separate ways. Hope went into the Girls Dorm while Howie separated from us once we reached the Senior floor. Once we got into our room Dil started talking obviously flustered.

"You didn't have to defend me from Sunny... I mean it means a lot but..." I just laughed at the, I know I didn't HAVE too but I did so anyway, why wouldn't I have? Dil was my responsibility and if anyone was harassing him I damn well would step in!

"I know, but did you think that would stop me? As I have stated hundreds of times you are my responsibility. I agreed to look after you back in Kindergarten and have never looked back since." I told him firmly. "There is literally nothing that will stop me from looking after you. I honestly don't know what I would do if I didn't have that." I admitted softly. "So yeah, no worries, she was being a bitch after all."

"She had a bit if a point though, for those who have no idea about the Spirit Mafia it would sound insensitive to those who died... I probably did sound like some conspiracy nut... Like those 9/11 truth weirdos." He said shrugging his own shoulders lightly. He still looked pretty shaken from the bombs. I could tell he was probably terrified about everything. I probably wasn't the only person to have flashbacks too 9/11...

"It was none of her business." I stated calmly. "You were right about them but are you okay? You look pretty shaken. The bombs really scared you huh?" Dil just nodded but didn't say anything. "Wanna talk about it?" I asked. "We still have some time before the others come in" Dil just shook his head once again while he went up and cuddled with Mr. Fuzzyface. He really must have been shaken, if he was going to Mr. Fuzzyface outside a storm. I just sat down next to him and rubbed his back in a hole to comfort him. I continued doing this until I heard a knock on the door and expected Hope or Howie but was shocked when I saw Fletcher standing right outside the door with Hope standing awkwardly in the background. What was she doing here?

"Fletcher? What brings you here?" I asked her surprised. "Did Hope bring you with her?" I asked her.

"Tell me more about this Spirit Mafia." She stated simply as she pushed through into my room. "If they are truly real I want information." 'Welp... looks like we got another person in the group...' I said while I sat down and waited for everyone to take their seat. This was going to be a looong day.