Caine woke with a yawn, stretching his arms up above his head. His shades threw slanted lines of sunlight across the room, one of those rays falling right across Caine's eyes. He hissed, and shot the shades a dirty look, as if it would help. They wouldn't close all the way, so, everyday, when the sun was in a certain spot, they woke him up just like this. The bad part? His sleep was inturrupted early, even on weekends. The good part? They worked as an alarm clock, so he didn't have to replace the one he broke a few months ago.
A soft, sleepy moan came from the sheets next to him, and a small arm stretched across him. Caine turned his head. A motion that hurt, due to a pounding migraine. He's been out last night, at a club, and picked up a girl. Unfortunately, he'd also had a little too much to drink. He sighed and sat up, careful not to wake the girl, rubbing his eyes to clear the last bits of sleep fog from them, before standing and stretching himself out. Once his muscles were loose, he got dressed, got himself a hot cup of coffee, took some headache pills, and came back into the bedroom.
By now, the girl was up. Small, brunette, pretty, and a head full of air. "How about we go somewhere today Caine? Maybe spend the whole day together?" She asked, coming close and curling up against his side as he sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed the back of his neck, already regretting what he was about to do, but unable to help it. He was hungry, and the girl's blood was sweet smelling. He hadn't eaten anything in days. Caine usually tried to hold off feeding until the last moment. That way, he didn't waste more life than necessary.
He turned his head to her, with a wonderfully charming grin, despite his inner guilt. One thing about having an incubus as an adoptive father and a succubus as an adoptive mother, was that, even if you weren't their true son, they taught you all they knew about seducing mortals. Caine was an expert, and he didn't even need powers. She looked up at him, hope in her eyes. She knew what kind of guy he was, the "show you to the door the next morning", kind, yet, his smile had suggested that he was up for spending the day with her. Will I be the one he changes for? Her thoughts ran through his mind, happy and excited, though he didn't need his mind reading ability to know what she was thinking. It was all over her face.
"Sure." He smiled, leaning towards her. "How about some breakfast first?" He closed his mouth over hers, kissing her. She giggled, missunderstanding what he meant, and kissed back, throwing her arms around his neck.
His kisses moved along her collarbone, to the pulse on her neck. It was there, just under his lips. Her blood, beating, flowing. Unable to contain it, he sunk his teeth into her throat and drank. She didn't even know what had happened before she was dead.
When she was drained, Caine pulled away and wiped his lips. "Sorry babe." He said, pushing the bloodless corpse back. "Gotta do, what you gotta do." With that, he placed a hand over the girl's still heart, and drew her soul. He was a reaper, meaning that the souls of sinners belonged to him, and it was his job to, either send them to hell, or allow them to roam the earth as ghosts. Neither was a happy thing, but being a ghost was less.. painful than Hell. Being a spirit made you empty, hollow, and uncomfortable for the rest of eternity, the only things you are permitted to feel being misery, pain, hunger, cold, anger, jealousy, and sadness. Nothing positive for an eternity. However, in Hell, you became a tortured slave to the devil. So, for the victims he himself deceived and killed, Caine gave the souls a choice. Something that none of the others got.
With the girls soul floating before him, a small, softly glowing orb of mist, he held out both hands, palms up, presenting the choice. The right hand being Hell, the left, roaming as a spirit until the end of time. She chose Hell, and floated until hovering over his right hand. With that, he closed his fist around the orb, and it dissipated, damned to Hell.
Sighing, Caine stood and left the room. Outside, he caught up with Elaine, his father's favorite servant. "Clean the body in my room." He said simply, with a sort of weariness to his tone. He was tired of being forced to kill, and then having to send his own victims off to a fate worse than death. However, it was best no one know that. Elaine would dismiss it, seeing as it was early, and she would figure that he was just tired from lack of sleep, but he had to be more careful. Not everyone would overlook it, and what would the immortals do to a Reaper who didn't want to do his job anymore?
He went down the hall, passing his parent's rooms, and walked into the kitchen, where his father was sitting at the table, doing paperwork, his mother sitting on his lap laughing and telling jokes as he worked. His adoptive parents were pretty much attached at the hip. If one was near, you knew the other was around somewhere. Upon entering, his parents, the former Reapers, looked up. "Caine, how nice of you to join us." His father said sarcastically. His parents were early risers, and, as such, had probably been up for hours. Caine just shrugged and refilled his coffee. "The first part of the Feed starts today." His father said, growing suddenly serious, and his mother's laugh died. "The collecting. You'll be there this year. If I catch you trying to skip out again, I'll kill you. You have a job to do. You're just as important as the Collectors."
Caine had no doubt his parents would make good on that threat. They were one of the few immortals who could actually kill him. They, unlike so many other immortals, were older than him. 2,000 is not an easy age to reach. It was a miracle he'd managed it. His parents, were in the 10,000's. The two of them had long-since retired from their jobs as Reapers, but that didn't mean they weren't still of extremely high status.
Caine just shrugged, and rolled his eyes. He hated The Feed. Too many souls to collect. Lives that didn't have to be wasted, if only the immortals could learn to get along peacefully without the horrible event. He turned to face his father, a flicker of defiance in his eyes. His father caught it and stood. "Clarise, out." He said, ordering his wife from the room, standing. Caine recognized the look in his adoptive father's eyes. He was about to show his son who still held the power.
"Save it." Caine said, holding up a hand, and draining his coffee into the sink. "I'll be there."