They're coming to take me away ☠️

Fourth part of Dead End. It doesn't have anything to do with the prompt. Enjoy!

“The Glean?” I exclaim. “I have to go there?”

The Grim nods, still smiling. 

“But-but I thought Gleaners were dangerous.” I say.

Another nod. “They are. But we have an agreement. Any special cases here get sent to them.”

“But don’t I get a say in this?” I demand. “I don’t want to go!”

“I’m afraid you don’t have much choice.” He says. “I must honor the agreement.”

“What if I quit?” I ask.

“So you’re ready to move on?” 

“...What?” 

“Oh, you didn’t know?” He asks, his smile growing. “You’re dead.”

That sends me into freak out mode again. Chase shakes my shoulder, and glares at the Grim. 

“You need to calm down.” He says quietly. 

I take a deep breath. “How? I can’t be. I don’t remember that happening.”

“Micheal?” The Grim says. 

Micheal snaps, and hands me a metal sheet about the size of a computer screen.

I hologram pops up. It’s me. I’m standing by the bus stop at night in the rain. I remember this. This was the day before I met Alex.

People are walking past, but someone walks towards me. I don’t remember that. They’re wearing a big cloak, with the hood covering their face. Wait, is that a Reaper? It looks like I’m arguing with them. 

I turn, and walk away. I’m crossing the street, when suddenly a car comes speeding towards me. I jump back, my eyes wide. It barely misses me. I’m turn to go back to the side walk when another car rushes towards me and-

The video stops, and the hologram disappears. Micheal takes the metal out of my trembling hands. I am dead. 

“Why don’t I remember that?” I ask the Grim.

He’s still smiling. “One of our Yellow Hallucinoust makes sure you forget. So. Do you want to move on, or go to the Glean?”

“What does it mean to move on?” I ask quietly. 

“Nobody really knows. But trust me, at least with the Glean you’ll still be doing something. And you’ll have your powers.”

I don’t say anything. I thought Gleaners were supposed to be super freaky. I don’t know if I want to move on, either, 

“I have an idea.” Chase says. I realize I’m still leaning against him, but he doesn’t seem to care. “I’ll go too.”

The Glean frowns. “No.”

“Why not? You don’t want me here anyway. You won’t put me in a color. You won’t even let me use my powers. Wouldn’t it make it easier if I just go?”

I’m really confused. “You’d go?”

“Yeah. I’m a special case, too. But my dad thinks that it’s a bad thing. He-”

“Wait, dad?” I interrupt. “The Grim is your dad?”

Both Chase and the Grim scowl. “Unfortunately.” 

“How do you think it makes me feel to have a special case for a son?” The Grim snaps.

“Then let me go!” He exclaims. “I don’t want to be here, anyway! I’ll be more use to Ari with the Gleaners, then here with you!”

The Grim considers this. “If I let you go, you are not to tell anyone you’re my son, understand? Especially not the Glean.”

“I wouldn’t want to anyway.” Chase mumbles. “Fine.”

 The Grim nods. “Then you can go with Ani.”

“Wait-I never agreed to this.” I interrupt. 

Chase leans by my ear. “Trust me, it’ll be fine.”

“Are you choosing to move on, then?” The Grim asks.

After a second I hang my head, and mumble, “No.”

“Excellent.” He says. “You’ll leave soon.”

“But-can’t I say bye to my friends?”

“No one is allowed to know about special cases.”

“I won’t tell them that.” I say. “I’ll just say I decided to quit.”

He doesn't say anything.

“C’mon.” Micheal says. I forgot he was in here. “You aren’t completely heartless.”

Chase snorts, earning him a glare from the Grim. “You have ten minutes.”

“Great, let’s go.” Chase says, grabbing my hand, and dragging me towards the door. I smile at Micheal as we pass. “Thanks.”

“No problem. And good luck.” He says. 

Chase pushes his hand against the wall, and it bursts into flames. We go through, and start down the hallway. We reach the first door, and he opens it. The guards step away.

“C’mon!” Chase says. “You’ve only got ten minutes, remember?”

We rush down the hallway, to my office. I guess it’s my old office now. 

When we get to the door, I realize I don’t know what to say. But still, I go in. 

“Oh, good, you’re back.” Celeste says, looking up from her papers, grinning at me. “What’d he want?”

I try to smile back as they all turn their chairs towards me. “Uh, actually, I, um, decided to, uh, quit?”

“Quit?” Iris says, frowning. “Why?”

I bite my lip. “I dunno if this is the right job for me.”

“Did the Grim put you in one of the colors?” Luke asks me. 

I shake my head. “I asked to quit before he could.”

“And you’re sure you want to?” Celeste asks. 

I nod. “Yeah…”

“Well, if you ever need us, call this.” She says, digging through a box under her desk. She pulls out a flat piece of metal the size of a cell phone.

“What’s with the metal?” I ask, taking it from her.

“The Red’s found out it’s an easy source for technology.” Luke says.

I nod, and tuck it in my pocket. “Thanks. And...sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Celeste says. She gets up to hug me. “We’ll miss you. And you better call.”

I laugh, and hug her back. “Alright.”

“So you have all the powers?” I ask Chase as we go back down the hallway.

He nods. “I’m not supposed to use them, except empathy.”

“Why empathy?” 

We walk down the hallway towards the guards in front of the Grim’s door. “No one can tell when you use empathy, also, you can’t really control it.”

“How does it work?” I ask after the guards let us in.

“It’s...hard to explain.” He says. “You’ll get it when the power starts to work. It’s a little confusing at first.”

“How long will that take?” 

He shrugs. “It’s different for everyone.”

When we get back, we see the Grim standing by his desk, wearing a dry gray cloak, pressing a button on a sphere that looks like the one Micheal used earlier. He glances at us.

“The Grim will be sending someone to collect you soon.” He says. “I have business to attend to. Wait in here. Micheal, come with me.”

He leaves without even a goodbye. Micheal snaps, and a tray of treats appears on the Grim’s desk. He winks at us, and follows the Grim out.

“Do you have all your powers?” I ask Chase, sitting in one of the chairs.

He shakes his head, walking over to the desk. “I never got force fields.”

“Why?” 

He shrugs. “I’m not sure. It’s not like I could use it though.”

“Can’t you use it when we’re with the Glean?” 

He’s digging through a drawer, but stops to think about that. “Good point.”

“Whenever I get my powers, will you help me learn how to use them?”

He grins at me. “Of course.” He yanks open another drawer. “Found it!”

“What?” I ask.

He holds up two bright blue rings. “I made these two years ago. They’re like walkie-talkies, but way better. Dad took them away, though. You want one?”

“Sure.” I say. He comes over, and drops it in my hand. 

Suddenly, there’s a bright flash, and a girl in a white cloak appears on the Grim’s desk. She smiles at us. “Ready to go?”

If you could have one superpower, which would you want, and why? Write it in the comments! ✌️