Mystery Village

TaeTae was looking through the window by the front door, while the rest were still gathered in the living room, not far from his left side. "That man in military two-block cut is Santiago, right? He has been walking back and forth. He must be too worried." Jeon had just returned the tape recorder to Maria when TaeTae suddenly commented. They all turned to him as Maria simply nodded in response.

"Bro, can you lend your pocket watch to Maria so that Santiago can come in here?" Jeon told Joony.

"Of course." Joony quickly took out a beautiful vintage swiss gold pocket watch and handed it to Maria, who took it without questions. "Just be careful not to break it."

The Grim Reapers giggled at his comment. "Look who's talking? You almost broke that watch like a hundred times." Jinny said, still giggling.

"More like a thousand times." Faith burst out laughing at his own statement.

"Cut it out, you guys." Joony said, though he was holding himself from laughing. When everyone was quiet, he looked at Maria. "Anyone who's holding a precious possession from a Grim Reaper can enter our place and see us."

"Well, not just us. He can see anything out of this world. Even that lost soul. Which will be helpful on your end because you don't have to deal with him alone." Jimmy said.

"She won't be alone. We're here and we'll guide her." Jeon responded.

"The boy hates us, Jeon. Except for you." Jimmy told him, then turned to Maria. "The lost soul is a teenage boy. Maybe he likes Jeon because he's the youngest. He said he's willing to say Jeon's name thrice, but he will never say our names. But Jeon doesn't want that, he wants all of us to complete our mission and be reincarnated together."

"Yeah, for some reason, the boy always looks at us with much resentment and we'd be grateful to understand why." Yoon said, anxiously.

"Somehow, the boy's mom can see us from afar by the way that she's reacting whenever we look through the window. The problem is, we're stuck here, and she can't enter the premises, so there's no way to talk to her and ask. I hope that you and Santiago can help us." Joony explained.

Maria took a deep breath then nodded.

~~~

Santiago had been walking back and forth and it was already midnight. "What is taking her too long? She's not calling my phone, so she must be alright. She should be alright. I hope she's alright." He uttered, scratching his head. His uneasiness finally came to its halt when the door opened, and Maria came to view. "Oh, dear God. Thank you." He said while looking up, then turned his focus back to Maria who was walking towards him. "How was it? I'm glad you're okay."

She smiled while nodding, then gave him the pocket watch. Santiago tilted his head and looked at Maria with his questioning eyes. He got more confused when she held his left hand while he held the pocket watch on his right. Then, his eyes widened with astonishment as they both stepped on the premises and continued walking towards the front door. "Wow, is this because of this pocket watch?" Maria nodded. The door opened, but there was no one around. Santiago was flabbergasted that the three-story apartment building turned out to be a mansion inside. Mary led him to the living room and guided him to sit on the sofa where she sat before. "Well." He looked at Maria who sat across him, the spot where Joony sat previously. "Where are the owners?"

To his surprise, white smoke filled the air as seven silhouettes started to slowly appear until the Grim Reapers became clearly visible to Santiago's eyes. They all smiled before him, and all that Santiago managed to do was scream. This shocked the Grim Reapers and Maria quickly rose from the sofa chair when he fainted.

After a few minutes, Santiago opened his eyes and realized that they were discussing what happened. "That was uncalled for. You could've just let him see us the minute he entered. Why did we need to disappear and reappear like that in front of a human?" Joony said.

"But you said yes to the idea." Jinny retaliated.

"It was actually quite funny, so I don't regret it." Yoon said, giggling.

"Me neither." Jimmy agreed without guilt and smiled wildly at the thought of what just happened.

"Well, I think that was mean," said Jeon. "Come to think of it, we only did it because Maria wasn't bothered by it and we just wanted a grand entrance. But then, he got really scared and fainted, so now I feel guilty that we had to do it that way."

"I think Santiago's reaction was very normal," said Faith.

"And Maria's reaction was not?" Jeon asked, confused. They all looked at Maria then turned to Santiago who had woken up. "Oh, he's awake."

Santiago looked embarrassed. He was lying on the long sofa with his left leg sprawled on the floor. "Hi," he said, nonchalantly. "I'm okay now. I'm not frightened at all. I'm cool."

"Yes, but you fainted," TaeTae commented.

"Yeah, but I'm okay now," he answered.

"We didn't mean any harm. It was just that Maria took it rather calmly, so we thought you would have the same reaction and would probably be amazed instead of frightened," said TaeTae.

"Well Maria is…" Santiago looked at her expressionless face. "Well, she's her. She's different, but sweet and kind."

Santiago was all ears as the seven Grim Reapers explained everything the same way they had explained it to Maria, with additional information about the boy's mom. The description matched the old woman that Santiago thought was a ghost, but he hid that story to himself to save him from humiliation. It was already pass one in the morning when he checked his watch. Jinny handed his pocket watch in case the boy's mom decided to talk to them.

Santiago and Maria were now in front of the abandoned office building. It was two-stories of white-washed masonry surface with a sliding door. They entered without hesitation and instantly knocked on the first office room they saw. From the 'welcome' floor mat and lighting coming from inside the room, it was no doubt the dwelling place of the old woman. They knocked. "I hope she doesn't get mad at us for disturbing her at this time in the morning. I was thinking we could just go back later, but then we're already here so we might as well give it a shot." He told Maria who just simply nodded.

They suddenly heard a movement from inside, so they looked at each other with hope in their eyes. When the door opened, the old woman was holding a book with her eyeglasses on. "Hi." Santiago greeted, smiling.

"Oh my. You're that guy who ran faster than a speeding bullet the other day." She chuckled.

"Because you disappeared." He responded, feeling embarrassed.

"Well I thought I saw my son appear from behind a tree, so I followed him. But I guess I was wrong." She said in a sad tone. "Come in."

The old woman told them the whole story about his teenage son and the seven Grim Reapers. Santiago's heart was bruised upon hearing the tragic story that he almost let out a tear, if it weren't for Maria's unreadable face. He knew this girl had always been calm and kind, but he wondered if her heart was torn upon finding out the real story behind the lost soul. "I think it is best to relay this to them directly." He took out a pocket watch. "Here. You won't just see a glimpse of them this time, you will be able to enter their place and communicate with them. You will also be able to talk to your son."

"Oh, I have been wanting to do that for years. I'm so glad you're both here. Let's put an end to this mystery once and for all." She said.