The crash looked brutal. A red Kia rocketing well over the speed limit cratered the driver’s door of a pre-2000’s Honda, green. The moment of impact had been preserved perfectly at Grim’s arrival. Suspended in time, The metal had only begun to warp into its catastrophic new forms. The Kia driver, drunk, was a fraction of a moment away from having the airbag deploy, protecting her from the fatal collision. The air between the two vehicles was littered with specs of flying glass and rubber.

Grim inspected the body of the potentially deceased Honda driver. His neck had instantly contorted in the crash, he looked as though he had been completely blindsided by the other driver. Grim tried to avoid cutting his grey tracksuit on floating glass, it was the most comfortable getup he’d ever worn and replacing it would be a pain.

Addy tried to get his attention, “Come on, Grim, this is as simple as it gets. There’s no way we’re not offing this guy, we don’t need to wait around for Daniel.” Her ashen skin strikingly fit the dulled tone of the November air. Her eyes glowed with stubborn embers, smoke slowly drifting into the cold air around her from the various cracks in her face. The tips of her midnight hair smoldered, perpetually on the brink of igniting but never quite reaching the satisfaction of burning.

“It’s been almost an hour, you know what that means, right?”

Addy groaned. “Great. A newbie?”

Grim smirked, “I guess we, no, you, must have scared off Danny boy.”

“Shame, he was fun to mess with.”

“We’ll have to walk them through this whole thing, probably.”

The smoke and embers both swelled with her rising agitation.

“You’re dressed nicer than usual, feeling professional?” Grim said. Addy’s suit was crisp and black, it had no noticeable creases or imperfections to speak of. He had seen her wear it before, but her usual get up was much more laid back and, well, devilish.

“Bitch, I’m always professional.” She teased.

“Well, as professionals, we can’t stand up the new rep on their first day, right?”

“Oh shut up.”

The two did not have to wait much longer before the other representative joined them. She arrived with the standard flash of heavenly light, descending from the heavens as an aria of strings welcomed her to the earth. The moment the skin of her bare foot touched Earth, she had once again seemed human. She had dark brown hair and olive skin draped in a brilliantly white sweatshirt and jeans. Addy grinned watching the impact of the cold concrete shake her from the feet up. Under her arm she carried a handful of pages from the godbook, the life of the poor soul on trial today.

“Sorry I’m late. I’m Maria.”

“Hello, I am, as you could probably guess, the Reaper. And in spite my objections people call me Grim, you might as well too.” He shook the angel’s hand, it was warm but not for much longer in the late autumn air. “And this-”

“The advocate? Yes. I figured.” The way Maria spoke suggested that she was at least slightly repulsed by the devil standing before her.

“Well fuck you very much, lady.” Addy enjoyed being offputting to her heavenly counterparts. “Was it the burning eyes that gave it away, or just process of elimination?”

“Play nice, Addy.”

“Addy? She shouldn’t have a name, she’s a devil.”

“Can’t really work with someone thousands of times a day and not have anything to call them, hm?” Grim gestured to the envelope in Maria’s arm. “Now, you’ve brought the pages we need right?”

Maria held the envelope up overhead, catching a small piercing light cutting through the steel, overcast clouds. She began murmuring prayer in a language the other two had never bothered trying to learn. As she chanted, Grim swiped the envelope from her, ripping the seal open.

“Thanks, but we don’t need rituals like that don’t here. See? Just paper. All right what’ve we got…” Maria looked dumbfounded. “Look at this Addy, he was only 21. What a terrible shame, hm. He would’ve-”

“Excuse me, did you just cut me off?” Maria had let her angelic wings spread, creating a larger and more intimidating form. Addy grabbed her shoulder with her smokey, boney fingers.

“Don’t.” She warned the angel.

“There are processes! I trained for years for this position, and you haven’t followed a single protocol since I got here. Interrupting me is-”

Grim ripped a sheet in two, Maria couldn’t find words for the blasphemous act.

“I run things here, Maria. I have one job, and these ‘processes’ they teach you angels only waste time. You are good for exactly two things. Bringing me pages, and voicing opinions. That is all. Do you understand?” He dropped his generally relaxed and cheery attitude to get his point across.

“Yes.” She said through gritted teeth.

Grim’s emotional state rebounded almost instantly. “Good! Addy, I’m going to read this, why don’t you walk our friend through how things actually work down here?” It was hard for Grim to tell which of the two would enjoy that conversation the least, but annoying Addy like that was always funny to him.

“So,” Addy had had this conversation thousands, if not millions of times before. At this point she had each question and objection planned out in advance. “I’m sure they taught you a lot about these trials up there, and how those go, right?”

“Yes.” Maria answered

“None of that matters.”

“Wha-”

“Grim only cares about 3 things. If you think someone should be spared, you convince him on one of the three points and he’ll spare them, fail and they die. Easy enough?”

“S-”

“The 3 questions” Addy put on her most mocking and insulting impression of Grim’s proper speech. “Is this death justified? Would this death be catastrophic? And Should we intervene for the greater good?”

“I-”

“Look, this is how we run things and we’ve been doing it for a very long time. I’m sure there’s someone up there you can bitch about us to, we don’t care. Grim, how’s the godbook look?”

“Very interesting, Did you get a chance to read this, Maria?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be opened until after the prayer.”

“Funny, the envelope seemed resealed to me.”

Addy’s eyebrow shot up and a wicked grin bloomed across her face.  “Oh, a rebel huh?”

Maria backed down a bit, justifying her actions. “I wanted to be prepared for my first assignment.”

“Of course, saves us some time, too.” Grim offered the papers to Addy, she waved his hand away. “All right then,” he continued, “Let’s get started. Did my friend here fill you in on the questions?”

Maria bristled at the word friend, but nodded her response.

“Excellent!” Grim folded the pages over. “So, let’s start at the very top then. Show of hands, who thinks this man should die?” Addy’s smoking palm shot up, though her attention was clearly off in the distance looking at some frozen spectators caught walking by. “Those opposed?” Maria lifted one hand up from her crossed arms. “Well,” Grim smiled, “We seem to have a hung jury.”

There was a moment of strange silence before Addy spoke up. “That’s never, never going to be funny.”

“One of them will laugh, eventually! You’ll see. All right then!” Grim clapped. “Maria, since you’re new I’ll let you pick. Would you like to serve or return?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You know, like Tennis. You want to take the first stance or retaliate?”

“Oh. I’ll go first I guess.”

“Great.” Addy sat back down on the highway, the heat from her body clearing away some of the frost and ice that had started to form. “This’ll be fun.” Grim sometimes wondered if she could ever not be sarcastic.

“So,” He began, “First question’s simple enough. Is this death justified? What is your case?”

“Absolutely not.” Maria said. Addy chuckled from her resting position in the road. “Look at the circumstances. He had done nothing wrong and was obeying the rules of the road. You read that section of the pages, didn’t you?”

“Briefly.” Grim said.

“So how could this be justified? His life had barely even started. He was on track to graduate a semester early in a matter of weeks, and already had a job lined up starting in the spring! I see no reason to cut his life short now. This isn’t just unjust, it’s immoral if you ask me.”

Grim was dissatisfied with the answer. Before he could object, Maria continued.

“On top of that, it is no way his fault that this drunk woman crashed into him! She lost control on the ice. She isn’t blameless at all, but this tragic accident shouldn’t cost this poor soul his life. If anything, we should be discussing her right now.”

Grim considered her words for a minute, before turning to Addy. “Your rebuttal?”

“Dude, look at his neck. There’s no way that isn’t fatal. How fast was she going, the other one?” Addy hadn’t even gotten up to make her case.

“The pages said 80.” Maria said, “But I don’t think that-”

“He got hit almost directly by a giant chunk of metal moving 80 miles per hour, death is totally justified here.”

“She’s right.” Grim said. “You seem to misunderstand, we don’t care about what’s fair. Our only concern is deciding whether someone lives or dies and in this case this death is completely reasonable.” Before Maria could once again contest, he banged his fist on the hood of the Kia like a gavel. “Point 1 goes to the Devil’s Advocate, with her poignant, if repetitive argument.” Addy shot him an annoyed glare. “Hey, I’m just saying.”

“That’s cause idiots are dying the same way all over the fucking place.”

Maria had gotten caught up in the grisly scene. Since her arrival, she had tried avoiding seeing the destruction first hand, but after the advocate’s comment, she needed to see the injury herself. Sure enough, the man’s neck was twisted, his eyes opened wide in surprise, glass cutting the bridge of his nose.

“This idiot’s name is Luther. Can we at least call him that?”

“Whatever you wish, your highness.” Addy genuflected, lifting the corners of an imaginary skirt.

Maria’s hand swept across the hood of Luther’s car. The once smooth metal had been twisted and contorted in a fraction of a second, it was now nothing but a nightmarish display of power and destruction.

“Hey.” Grim said. His tone was more serious than it had been, this time more comforting than intimidating. “Every angel they send us goes through what you’re going through. It’s a lot to take in, and we don’t expect you to nail it on your first assignment. Consider this a learning experience, ok?”

“I’ve been training to be a guardian for years.” Maria said.

“I’d ask how it was, but Addy and I are probably more familiar with the program by now than you are.”

“I read through the pages five or six times preparing for this. I want to save him.”

“Are you ready for the next question?” Grim asked after a prolonged pause.

“Yes.”

Addy scoffed. “Finally.”

Grim rolled his eyes at Addy, posturing himself upright between the two. “You’re up first, you jerk.”

“Love you too, dearest stick-in-the-mud.”

“Oh, it’s mud this time? You must be in a good mood.” Grim joked. “Second question, would killing this person be catastrophic? Your thoughts?”

“You’re serious? Come on, you know my answer by now.”

“For the newbie, please.”

Addy sighed. “No. Never. I don’t even know why you ask this stupid question. He isn’t some magical load-bearing pillar, he’s decorative just like everyone else. A fraction of a fraction of a percent of people will be sad for a bit, then everyone will move on.”

Maria’s eyes were glued to the ground, Addy planned to be ahead of her, she had heard all the objections before and was beyond fed up with after so many trials. The fire in her eyes flared just a little more, the heat at the tips of her hair caused it to swirl slightly.

“Don’t give me that ‘life is precious’ crap, Maria. Shit, even your name is cliched and predictable. There’re so many people on this god damned rock that sometimes the ‘good ones’ need to die too, ok? We can’t let people off just cause we like them. That is the fucking job you signed up for, deal with it.”

Grim looked somewhere between annoyed and exhausted with his partner’s outburst, Maria could tell it was not the first time this type of outburst had happened. “Are you done?”

“Yeah.”

“Your response, Maria?”

She was staring at the frosted concrete when Grim asked the question. She couldn’t meet Addy’s burning eyes, or face Grim’s uncaring demeanor. She kept thinking back to the pages of Luther’s life.

“He has a grandmother.” she whispered. Addy walked away.

“He checks in on her in the retirement home once a week. They talk for hours and play scrabble. Every time he uses a word she doesn’t know he gives it up.” Her throat began to choke up. “His family was planning a surprise graduation party. It’s small, and he insisted that they not waste the money, but they want to make sure that he understands how proud they are of him. His little brother accidentally told him about it, and he’s just pretending to be surprised.”

Maria hadn’t cried since she last had a body, this was her first venture back to Earth. “He has a boyfriend. They’ve been together for years. They fought, made up, separated and refound each other. Luther has a ring in his jacket pocket. It’s warped, now.”

“Maria, stop.” Grim said.

A few errant drops fell from her face to the “He’s going to be in a play. It isn’t a main role, but he has lines that he practices in the shower.”

“That’s enough!”

She finally lifted her face up to the other two. Her eyes had turned red, twin lines of tears carved her face into three sections. With more force, she continued “He has friends. So many friends. He can’t be with them as much as he wants but never forgets to send a text or call every once in awhile. He cares. He wants them to be happy.”

“Maria,” Grim started.

“Don’t! Don’t side with her again. He matters. He has to matter. He’s helped so many people, he’s been so nice. Even when he screws up he tries to make up for it. You can’t punish him for that, you can’t take someone like that from the world.”

Grim put his hand on her shoulder, its warmth reminded Maria of the cold air.

“They will be ok.”

“What?”

“All those people. They’ll be ok. I know it can seem like the end of the world, but they each have more than Luther in their lives and they will continue on.”

“This will destroy them.” She wiped the tracks from her eyes.

“Maybe, but it isn’t enough to stay my hand. You did a good job, but I’m sorry.” He turned to Addy, who was quietly leaning on the car of the drunken driver. “Point 2, Addy.” She opened her mouth to speak, but was shut down. “Don’t you dare.”

The three stood in silence for a few minutes. Addy rocked back and forth in her boots before committing to her next action.

“It’s no fun kicking someone when they’re down anyways.” She shrugged. “Hey, most of you angels get overwhelmed the first couple times. It’s a human thing, you’re adjusting to the body again. Don’t let it get to ya.”

“Thanks.” Maria was uncomfortable thanking a devil for words of encouragement.

“I’ll wait for you to get back on your high horse before I kick you down again, kid.” Addy said.

Maria smirked.

“Let’s wrap this up, ok? I’m bored.”

Grim looked puzzled. “Impatient as always, what exactly are you in a hurry for? This is all that we do.”

“The sooner we get through this the sooner we get to go somewhere warm.”

“Fair point, that’ll be nice. Are you ready Maria?”

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“Ok. Final question, should we intervene for the hell of it? What do you say, Addy?”

“Not this time. Best case scenario, paralyzed from the neck down. Sparing him is just cruel. He’s had his life on good track, couple decades cleaning up in the waiting room and I’m sure the old man will let him upstairs.”

“Show respect.” Maria insisted.

“Nah.”

Grim laughed.

“Point is, we only get so many of these interventions a year, we shouldn’t use one up on some vegetable. Besides funerals are cheaper than hospital bills.”

Even Grim winced at Addy’s last comment. “That was harsh, even for you.”

“Hey, I’m just thinking of the family.”

“Ok Maria, what say you?” Grim turned to the angel.

“I agree.”

Grim and Addy were visibly taken aback.

“No, I’m starting to get it, I think. The world will keep spinning, right?” She smiled. “He’s already done really well in life up until now, I’m sure he’ll be happy with his time up here. It’s sad, tragic, but I-” She lost the words, she possibly never had them to begin with. “It’s not fair but what is, really.”

Grim was almost giddy, Addy shocked. “Yes exactly! It’s been so long since someone got it so quickly! Usually you angels stomach a handful of these trials before-”

“Before quitting like frail little bitches.”

“Not those words but pretty much, yes, exactly that.” Grim said. “Alright so it’s decided, we’re taking Luther’s soul.”

Grim closed his eyes and extended his right hand, palm down. A pool of violet smoke and shadows bubbled up from the Earth. From the ominous liquid a stained wooden handle shot up to the reaper’s full height. He twisted his wrist, gripped the scythe and with some resistance ripped a shining silver blade from the concrete. It was a mesmerizing thing to behold, the metal blade seemed to swirl and flow as he stepped cautiously towards Luther.

Without opening the door, he wound up a giant swing with both arms and brought the pointed blade down full force into Luther’s chest. Without leaving so much as a scratch on the car or the body, the point of impact began to shine brilliantly. Rays of piercing blue light shot from the wound, casting lengthy shadows behind the three. With another twist, Grim pulled back the scythe to him, and the soul of Luther came with.

Luther looked confused. A moment before he had been driving and panicked for some reason, and now he was standing in front of three bizarrely dressed strangers, one wielding a dangerous looking tool. The fiery woman was also intimidating, but was keeping further away from him.

“Um, hi.” He was cautious greeting the strangers, still taking a moment to gather his surroundings. He was still on the highway heading out of the city. “What is this?”

“Hi, Luther. I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Grim had rehearsed this very speech millions of times with each confused person he came across. “I could try to convince you, or you could just look behind you.”

Luther turned and saw his car, frozen in time, and the collision that totaled it.

“Holy shit.” he said.

“Yes, I’m sorry to say-”

“How the hell did I survive this, I don’t feel a thing!” He was smiling with brilliant teeth.

“Luther,” Maria infused her words with as much compassion as she could muster. “Look in the driver’s seat.”

It took him a minute to maneuver around the wreckage to get a good view, but the moment he identified the body in the car was clear to everyone. His face dropped in a moment of horror. He began denying, repeating “No, no, no” to himself.

“You’re going to be alright, Luther. My friend here-”

Luther began frantically patting his jean pockets, finding nothing.

“You won’t find your phone.” Addy had decided to speak up. “You get the clothes on your back but that’s pretty much it. Unless you got, like, a cross on a necklace or something. Big guy has a soft spot for that kinda stuff.”

He was completely lost for words. His eyes wanted to say a thousand things and ask a million questions but his tongue failed to articulate a single word. He patted his chest pocket.

“You won’t find the ring either, Luther.” Grim released the scythe, letting it sink into the Earth in its bubbling pool of shadow. “Just trust me when I say you’re going to be ok. We aren’t here to hurt you, we’re to help.” Luther’s eyes darted to Addy “Yes, even that one. She’s not that bad once you get used to her.”

Addy wanted to object, but decided to bite her tongue for the time being.

“My friend Maria will take you where you need to go.”

She took his hand, lifting her other arm up to the sky. Golden light pierced the steel clouds and the heavenly aria returned. Luther looked lost, confused, and destroyed, but he followed obediently. The two drifted more and more into the sky until the clouds swallowed them.

Grim and Addy were, as usual, alone in the end.

“Well.” Grim began.

“Oh, what now?”

“No, nothing. I was just wondering what you thought of our new friend?”

“I’ve seen worse. I don’t think she actually gets it yet, but it wasn’t a bad start.”

“You weren’t much better.”

“Yeah, 3,000 years ago, let it go you picky bastard.” Addy replied.

Grim laughed. “So, how long do you think this one will last?”

“A year, maybe two.”

“That’s uncharacteristically optimistic of you, what gives?” Grim asked.

Addy smiled coyly, “She was kinda cute.”

“Oh come on. If you can make it a year without hitting on all of our guardian angels I will let you do the reaping for a month.”

“Deal, but you know that’s never going to happen.”

“You know that’s why Danny Boy left, don’t you?”

“That or because you kept calling him ‘Danny Boy’.”

“Well,” Grim forfeited, “Fine. Either way, she has potential so don’t screw this up.”

“I’m kidding. You know, mostly.”