Pan slept late. She rose and dressed only to be greeted by a message from Casimir.
He’d pinpointed a new batch of deceased arcanes, all middle-aged or older. Much to Pan’s dismay, he’d found another out in the country. She did a quick travel estimate and found the trip to be twenty minutes shorter, but she didn’t think it was necessary.
In fact, Pan knew it wasn’t necessary. She was the reaper! She knew she hadn’t run out and murdered anyone last night. Pan caught her breath. But, she did run out and leave a little message on the wall of Solmart.
Pan looked at the clock and saw that mid-morning had already come and gone. She hurried to the lounge and checked the news. Only a few girls gathered there, but of course, her little stunt remained the talk of the city.
Her message warned the Scaldin to fear the murderer. It looked jagged and rather depraved on the lounge’s big screen.
Good, it should. Pan needed to get that murderer’s attention.
The newscasters, as per the Arcane’s orders, treated the whole debacle as a hoax. Pan thought that approach best because after all, the people of Pittura and Scaldigir had nothing to fear from her or even the murderer.
Pan left the lounge. She stopped in the hall. She looked out a window, but she didn’t really see through it.
She didn’t want Pittura’s attention, but she had it. She didn’t want Scaldin to panic, but they hovered on the verge. And, she didn’t want the Arcanes to search for her, but now a reaper lived among them. They wouldn’t stop, until they found her. Pan just wanted the attention of the murderer – the one who killed reapers. She had no idea whether she’d captured her prize. Ideally, Pan would find that person, exact some kind of revenge, and move on with her quiet life.
I don’t know if I can do that now. How do I dig myself out of this when I’m done?
Pan headed back to her room. With the day half gone and Casimir nowhere in sight, she might escape the hunt for murder victims. Maybe Casimir meant for them to work on his list tomorrow. She would double check his message.
She put her hand on the knob, but before she could turn it, she overheard a conversation between some of the girls and a handful of mentors. Their voices traveled from the floor below.
“How long will there be a curfew?” one girl asked.
“We’re not sure, but you are to take this curfew seriously. No one goes outside after 20:00.”
“Do we have evidence that there’s a reaper?”
A mentor answered. “Possibly. There’s a lot to investigate, and there is certainly a motive behind these messages. Frankly, we need to take it seriously.”
Curfew? Did that affect arcanes over twenty? The last thing Pan needed or wanted was a curfew. She stood frozen, one foot inside her ajar door.
“Pan!” Kat strode down the hall, with Brynn in tow.
Pan faced them and closed her door. She waited for them to come closer. “Yes?” She asked.
Brynn gestured for Pan to come hither. “Follow us. We need to discuss curfew with you.”
Pan followed them down the stairs. Brynn led them all to her quiet office. Brynn had a nice little window, a clean desk, and boring pictures on the wall: flowers with fuzzy edges and simple fish, painted in rich shades.
“Where’s Chara?” Pan asked.
They suddenly thought she needed guidance from two mentors, why not three?
“Chara?” Brynn said. “Why would you expect to see her in my office?”
Three chairs sat around the desk, but every woman stood. Brynn leaned on her staff, and Kat stood off to the side, arms crossed. Pan remained at the small office’s center, closest to the door.
Pan looked at Kat. “I wouldn’t expect to see Mentor Kat here either. So, why shouldn’t I ask for my favorite mentor. It softens the bad news.”
Kat raised an eyebrow. “Ouch. Where do I fall in the scoring?”
Pan shook her head once. “There are no scores beyond the favorite.”
Brynn regarded Pan without emotion. “We only want to discuss the issue of curfew.”
“Does that affect arcanes over twenty?” Pan asked.
“It affects everyone,” Kat said. “Except, maybe, you.”
Brynn said, “We realize that you need to leave the Complex after hours to assist with murder investigations and talk to spirits that might shy from the daylight.” Brynn pulled a shiny pass from her desk. “I was about to give this to you – your ticket to freedom – but now, I’m sure you’d rather receive it from someone who you favor.”
Pan lowered her gaze. Her skin burned. “I’m sorry. It was a thoughtless joke.” One a mentor should take in stride, but Pan didn’t say that part.
Brynn tossed the pass to Pan.
It landed at Pan’s feet. Pan didn’t see humor or good nature in Brynn’s face. She didn’t pick it up.
“Go ahead,” Brynn said.
Pan bent and picked up the pass. “What’s wrong with you? I didn’t really mean it.”
Kat shot Brynn a narrow-eyed glance. “It’s okay, Pan. Everyone gets along differently with each mentor. I’m sure we’re someone’s favorite.”
Brynn said nothing.
Pan fingered her pass, grateful to have it. She admired the gold finish. “I’ll take this, but I spend most of my time out with Detective Casimir. I imagine he’s immune to curfew. He kept me busy for twelve hours yesterday, and his next round of questioning looks just as bad. He said you don’t know how to use me properly.”
Kat’s mouth dropped open. “Let me see this schedule.” Kat gestured for Pan to come and use Brynn’s computer.
Pan hesitated but stepped forward.
Brynn took her seat. “Kat, it won’t be necessary. We’ll hold Pan’s other work. The Detective can use her.” Brynn stared hard at Pan. “Bring the pass with you, even if you spend the whole day with him. Just in case.”
Kat nodded. “You never know if you could be separated from him. Most of Pittura’s law force knows you, but let’s keep you safe.”
“Wait…When you say this curfew is for everyone? Do you mean everyone?” Pan asked. “Not just arcanes? I thought the population at large thinks this reaper thing is a hoax.”
Brynn spread her hands. “That didn’t last. The rural governors instated curfews for everyone. Pittrua’s governor followed suit. Meanwhile, some arcane blabbed to one of the newspapers that this is real. The news should start to report the same.” Brynn shrugged. “We have a traitor, I guess.”
With a sigh, Kat said, “I wouldn’t go that far. But, it was only a matter of time. Journalists can see how seriously we take these messages, and there are experts, academics that can analyze the situation for themselves. They didn’t stay quiet.”
Pan’s heart quickened. “Reapers aren’t going to bother everyone else. Why are they all so scared?”
Brynn set a stern gaze on Pan. “You kids don’t learn everything the reapers did anymore. You hear about how they got started. The scavenger and the murderer. Well, they both became forces of destruction. I always said we should be teaching that. A lot of regular Scaldin died.”
Pan narrowed her eyes, and her lips parted. What have I done?
Kat’s voice sounded surprisingly soft. “None of us are happy about the prospect of a reaper among us. And, Pan, I know you have a temper, but there’s nothing you can do. Just keep your head down and do your job. You have a valuable power. You’re an ideal candidate for murder by reaper.”
Pan nodded. She’d recently learned just how valuable her ghost sight was. All her teenage years and early twenties, she could have questioned ghosts to find the long dead bodies of arcanes – at least, in theory. Who knew how long a power might remain in a body, ripe for the taking? Then again, would those actions turn her into a force of destruction?
Brynn added, “Ghost seeing is just the kind of power a reaper would want. It may come with a burden, but a reaper could use it to kill someone and question the ghost. In that way, a reaper could get security protocols, classified information, anything. Ghosts don’t lie to you – well, not much.”
Wonderful. Even more things Pan could have been doing with her existing power. “I never thought about that.”
Brynn shifted and made herself comfortable at her desk. “That’s because you’re a good person.”
Pan held her golden pass tight and left the room. They would find her, and maybe, they should. Maybe, the murderer had been right to exterminate the reapers.
