He brought me to a funeral. I don't know if we were invited but we are here, sitting down in the refreshment room blending seamlessly with all the other black coats. I've been waiting for someone to come up to me and demand who I am or how I know the deceased but everyone here is out of their place as it is. 

While they probably knew the deceased, I could see their discomfort in this room infested with coffee and sweets. Everyone talks to each other reluctantly and somberly. Funerals-the best place to have a conversation.

Between the small talk and mumbling, others got up to the refreshment table and stuffed themselves with sugary treats. One of them included Grimm. The moment we stepped through the funeral doors Grimm directed our feet toward the refreshment room. He walked past mourners carelessly and thought it was best to leave me at a cornered table so no one would take it. He casually picked up a plate and treated it as an all-you-can-eat buffet.

I tapped my fingers on the table until Grimm came back setting his piled-plated funeral food. It looked like a vomit of sugar but more lavish and not as stinging to the eye. 

Chocolate-covered strawberries, cut-up melon, purple grapes, squared slices of different cheesecakes, and tarts with cookies and tiny cupcakes. Dozens of multi-flavorful chocolates toppled on each other like a tower meant to fall.

But Grimm was too overly pleased with his sloppy tower.

This all felt unnatural. Someone died and it felt like a sweet day for him.

Grimm handed a fork to me, "You should try the strawberry tart, one of the older women told me it is homemade and it is not every day you get to eat something homemade at a funeral. Everything is store-bought nowadays."

"Are you serious right now?" His hand froze mid-air. "Someone died and you want me to try a strawberry tart? Why are you treating this as a pit stop?" I said.

He drove the fork into a cupcake causing a landslide of chocolates to tumble down.

"People die every day. At every hour, at every minute, down to this very second." Grimm leaned into his chair. "And I have to capture their souls. Lead them into Hell or Peace. I'm incessantly walking back and forth on an empty stomach for long periods at a time so, I do apologize for my horrid manners but I've every right to satisfy my hunger wherever I may be. "

Fair.

He promptly removed the fork from the cupcake and stretched his hand out waiting for me to take it. "And I would like for you to eat these sugary confections with me." Grimm declared.

This time I took it from him without complaints. 

I used the side of the fork to cut a slice of the strawberry tart. I bit into the buttery crust and cold fresh slices of strawberries and glaze. It was delicious, I wiped the fork clean. Meanwhile, Grimm smirked as he plopped a squared marbled cheesecake into his mouth.

I cut another slice. "Don't you have help with the souls? Doesn't Hans help you?" I asked.

Although I didn't see Hans as much I knew if Grimm called him he would show up within minutes or seconds. He was ready to do anything Grimm asked him to, especially if meant it killing someone.

"I do have help. Unfortunately, as much as everyone wants me to capture them I can't be everywhere at once. Hans along with other demons bring the damned souls to Hell and take the others to wait until I get back." He grabs a purple grape but before he puts it into his mouth he says, "But everyone still wants to meet the King."

I raise my brows, bringing the fork down from my mouth. "The King?"

Grimm's lips twist, "The damned souls like to have one last plea before the fires of Hell condemn them. Very few like to express gratitude."

I frowned as he plopped the grape into his mouth. Grimm? King? I glanced down at the overfilled plate of sweets and thought this was the only kingly thing about Grimm. Maybe I misheard him because why on earth would a God need to be called King?

Still, I asked, "Are you calling yourself the King of Hell?"

He lets out a quiet hollow laugh. "No, no. I do not rule Hell nor do I rule Peace but both realms belong to me. I consider myself the keeper of Hell and Peace as I am the only one who can travel between the two realms without problems." He props his elbows on the table and folds his hands together. "I rule the realm that sits between Hell and Peace, where the souls await to be sent to eternal bliss or doom. My palace, my execution—they—the souls like to call it Dark Paradise." I gravitate toward him with awe.

He ruled the souls. He ruled all of them. Then there was the sudden urge to go to Dark Paradise but the hairs on my body stood up. If I ever wanted to see it, I had to be dead and I couldn't die yet. I wonder if the souls I've encountered passed through the Dark Paradise, I wonder where Grimm led them.

"Your pretty brown eyes look a little threatening, raven." I frowned. I'm curious about him, I don't want to hurt him. 

He continued, "I'll give the answers you only need to know. As you know, the world is gray with small dashes of color. Not all souls cannot go to Peace, some are too tainted to be accepted. But they also cannot go to Hell, they aren't tainted enough to be welcomed. We call these souls 'the restless' as they have no place to lie. They walk aimlessly in Dark Paradise with nowhere to go." Grimm's eyes glimmered with malice. "They're stuck and—they're stuck with me, forever."

I'm not surprised Grimm kept souls, it was in his nature. As 'The Capturer of Souls' I imagine he didn't let all souls escape to Hell and Peace. What I am surprised about is that I don't find it appalling. Maybe I'm too mesmerized by the redness of his lips or his starless eyes that said, I'm never letting you go. He looked like an eternity of misery and dread. He was perfect.

I glanced down at his hands tapping on the table. "Do you also hate being alone?" His fingers stopped tapping.

I picked up the fork and stabbed it through a purple grape. "I can't imagine being alive for as long as you have, to only be alone. It would be tragic and boring. If I was you..." I stabbed my fork down a small piece of melon. "I would capture all those around me and hold them tightly." I lastly stabbed my fork down a strawberry. Only three fruits were able to fit into the fork.

I lifted my gaze to Grimm and said, "But I would probably end up devouring them so they would never think about leaving me." And then I shoved the fork into my mouth and chewed the savory fruits.

Grimm looked ready to consume me. His veins darkened around his neck, pulsing and rotting him. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him and his darkness. The shadows on the wall snaked behind him upwards taking the shape of a skeletal hand, I admire it. His own shadow clawed in anguish to take me away.

"Do you wish to capture me?" My mouth twitched in anticipation.

I held Grimm's unnerving gaze until he formed his hand into a fist and slammed it against the table, diminishing his blackened veins and shadowy skeletal claw. The room went quiet. Murmurs, conversations, and condolences became silent. We received unwanted attention but we ignored them. At least I did.

Grimm stood up from his chair and leaned over the table like a gray cloud. I crossed my arms tilting my head up. His neck slightly turned down and I felt as if I set up my heart to be caught in an entanglement of cobwebs. I waited for the worst to happen.

"You twisted," He seethed as his fallen star eyes trembled. "Wicked, beauty."

My heart wraps itself in the dead cobwebs, it turns and turns and turns slowing down the rapid flow until I can no longer feel it. But it dangles back and forth on a flimsy loose web. I wished he hid his comments the same way he hid in the dark. I shouldn't want to rip my heart out each time he makes it quiver.

These things of the heart, never end well.

He backs away and says, "Now, shall we go give our condolences to our dead friend." The chattering resumed across the room and I hated the way he changed his demeanor. I know he hates the idea of opening his heart to me and doesn't want to tell me anything but he isn't being fair.

What else does he want to take from me other than what I'm already going to give him.

I pushed my chair harshly, screeching the floor not caring about the ears of others. Grimm raised a brow but frustration and irritation drummed all over my body. I wanted to hate him. His words. His actions. His efforts.

But I keep finding myself wanting to prick him, only the needle punctures my skin and draws out blood.

I snatched the umbrella off the wall and walked away from the table before I took the fork and pushed down his heart. Maybe he will thank me.

"Where are you going?" Grimm called.

"To the bathroom," I said as I dragged my umbrella and throbbing thigh.

"Do you need—"

I cut him off. "I don't need anything." I walk out of the room before I hear him say anything else. I mutter to myself, I don't need anything from you. I don't want anything from you.

Once I made it to the bathroom I stood in front of an oval mirror and gently placed my hands on the sides of the sink. I wanted it to go away but the stiffness settled all over my bones. I gripped the sides of the sink until my knuckles turned white.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

A violent shatter echoed throughout the bathroom. I opened my eyes and saw my face split.

"How did you do that?"

I quickly turn to my left but no one is there. I turn to my right and no one is there either.

"I'm on your right." The frail voice said. I pushed a strand of my hair behind my right ear.

The soul spoke up again, "I'm Arabella, the dead girl who invited you to this funeral—my funeral I suppose. You can't see me, right? But you can hear me?" I nodded my head.

"Why is that? And you didn't answer my question before, but how did you do that?" Arabella asked.

She asked too many questions and I barely had an answer for one. But I assumed she was talking about the broken mirror until the corner of my eye caught a fractured piece. I backed away from the sink and in came the full view of my destruction.

The other mirrors. They were identical to each other—broken the same way.

Arabella's chill presence came to my right side. "How did you do that?" She asked again.

I looked down at my hands and realized the stiffness was gone.

A/N : Hi um, its been a while but someone broke into my house today and stole my jewelry lmao. I would've posted this chapter sooner but I was thrown off (still am). Sorry its not greatly edit but I hoped you enjoyed it. I'll post the next chapter tomorrow or the next day. I promise I'm going to finish the story. Please be patient with me ♡

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