Chapter 3- Everything's Changing So Fast

Part 1- Sudden Enthusiasm

    Just yesterday, that guy named Deichi and Queen Katarina brought in this really eerie guy. The creep wears a straight jacket and had the smile of a madman fused with a shark. Though he seems so disturbing, I'm not afraid of him. What harm could someone who wears a straightjacket do to me? Especially when I'm the Grim Reaper. Sure, it's not right of me to misuse the Reaper powers and get cocky about it, but I still can tell that I'm stronger than the guy.  Yet, even though they brought that guy in, I stared more at Katarina. At the time, she looked so scared and sad. It's really none of my business, but I can't help but wonder why.
    Around the Organization's whole building, it's been a buzz all morning. Everyone's rushing back and forth, and I'm just sitting here in the lounge, waiting for Hannah to show up. Seriously, what's taking her so long, already? One hour ago, she was supposed to be here. When she gets here, I'm going to chew her out. I'm the new guy, and I can be here five minutes early. A slight itch on my cheek grabs my attention. My head turns and now I'm face to face with that kid named King. Our last encounter wasn't all that brilliant, so I wonder what he will be like now.
    "Good morning, Reaper!" King giggles, using his nail to poke my nose. Slowly, my eyebrow raises and a small sigh escapes me. As expected, he's being annoyingly happy.
    "What do you want?" Is my response. King goes from a wide smile, to a blank, expresionless face in an instant.
    "That was rude. The least you can do is pretend we get along," King tells me in a pouty voice. So he doesn't like me either? I could have told him that easily, without him saying anything.
    "What if I don't want to?"
    He frowns at me, as if he disapproves, as he answers me with," Then you won't have my help when you truly need it. Then you'll die and I'll laugh at you."
    "And you call me rude." I know he isn't at all amused with my smartass remark. This kid makes himself way too easy to read. Or maybe he's pretending all the time. If I had to be an assassin as a kid, I'd hide my real emotions, as well. He opens his mouth to let out an angry reply, but is cut off by his partner, who just walked in.
    "King, stop bothering that Reaper and get to work," She snaps. At first, I think he's going to snap at her, or throw a fit. Instead, he turns to look at her with a smile.
    "Okay, Xilin!" He nearly sings as he stands up. Then, he skips over to her, and hums a song. They walk off together, leaving my slightly creeped out and very confused. She treats him like crap, and he goes along with whatever she says? Yet, when I say one bad thing, he forever labels me? Talk about a great impression he's left for me. Remembering that Hannah's late, I check my watch once again. Another fifteen minutes has passed since I last checked. Maybe something happened to her. After all, she did say that if you weren't five minutes early, you were late, and that she hates being late. So, she must be caught up, doing something important. Sighing, I stare at the ground. It's the same carpet as always. To be honest, I think it looks like hotel carpet. The design is so boring, it's almost sickening. With carpet, it should either be really intricate, or really bland. That's how I feel, at least.
    The door is loud as it opens. I look to see who just entered the room. Finally, Hannah's arrived. She looks tired, like she just woke up. I swear, if she did, I will explode out of anger. She takes slow steps towards me.
   "Hey, Damien, sorry you had to wait..." She mutters, rubbing her eyes sleepily. In order to keep myself from yelling at her, I bite my tongue. Carefully, she sits next to me. Her slowness is strange. Is she in pain? Her wings, that I rarely pay attention to, are pressed flat to her body. As she gets comfortable in a sitting position, they spread out a little bit. Before I can say anything, she holds her hands up, as if to say "be quiet for a second." A moment passes before her hands go down and she takes in a deep breath.
   "Wolfe called me in to test my reactions to certain fluids this morning, but I passed out when they drew my blood, so I stayed there," She explains, knowing I want an explanation of what took her so long. A pang of guilt makes my stomach hurt a little. I know I shouldn't blame my partner for everything. Especially when she's been trying really hard to work with me for the past two weeks. Hannah smiled weakly at me, and stretches.
   "Why do they test you?" I ask, trying to take my mind off my sudden guilt. Hannah giggles and looks at the ceiling. When I look at her up close, I can see that she is pale and has dark circles under her eyes. Even her gaze looks slightly more blank and lifeless.
   "Everyone has to get the test, I just avoided it for a long time," She answers,"It's basically so they know how to send you out and what medications to give you if you have a violent reaction to something." At that, questions begin to fill my mind. What's the test like? When will I have to take it? Will I pass out like Hannah did? I grunt to reply, because I have no real answer that doesn't involve asking a million questions.
   "They do want to test you, you know? They just wanna wait another week or so, so they can supposedly 'break you in.' And besides, they don't think your body's in the top state it can be in, so they did ask me to work with you, until you get some more body muscle," She laughs, as if the idea sounds ridiculous. Actually, the idea is a good one. If I'm going to be fighting for my life against "The Numbers," then I need to be in the most fit position I can be in. Besides, a little work out never hurt anyone.
   "That's fine," I finally say. Hannah laughs a little louder.
   "I guess I don't know you all that well, yet, Damien," She tells me. With that, her chocolate-brown eyes turn to me and we stare at each other for a moment. Feeling awkward, I break the stare off and shake my head.
   "Why's that?" I ask her.
   "I expected you to either complain or glare at me," She giggles, still staring at me. For some reason, this makes me laugh. Hannah joins in with a chorus of giggles. After a moment, we quiet down and the room stays quiet. A couple minutes of silence pass by. Suddenly, Hannah gets a serious expression on her face.
    "I also need to talk to you about something, but we can't do it here, okay?" She tells me,"Meet me in the rose gardens tonight." Though I nod, I'm not sure if I actually want to know what she has to tell me. It sounds like it's bad, based on the tone of her voice. After she tells me that, she gets a big smile again and she pops up, bouncy as if she suddenly has new life.
   "Let's begin that training!" She happily calls out, running out of the room. That sudden change from serious to happy somewhat shocks me, and I sit and think about it for a second. Hannah's voice was so serious. Did someone die?  That's the most likely case right now, and it would explain the sudden buzz about the Organization's members. No matter, by midnight, I will find out.