Belle stared at the Grim Reaper who wore almost similar robes like Lucas and Barron but it had a greenish tinge on it. Similar to the atmosphere she stood in, "Are you Rower?" asked Belle to make sure it was a Grim and she hadn't guessed wrong.

"I am," whispered the creature, the Grim's words echoing softly around them even with the number of things that surrounded them, "Do you have the coins?"

"Coins?" asked Belle who was confused as why he was asking for coins from her before she said, "No! No! I mean I am not here to pass through the gates," she remembered how the Rower took coins from the souls as a fee to help them pass from the bank of the river to the other side of the gates.

Rower stared at her. His eyes were not red like Warth's, not blue like Greed's or gold like Lucas' eyes. There was nothing but darkness in those hollow eyes of the skull that belonged to the Grim Reaper.

"You might be the first one. To end up in your complete form," whispered the Grim, "If you don't want to pass, suit yourself," saying this, the Grim Reaper started to row the boat which he was in.

Belle raised her hand, her feet moving forward to stop him, "Wait, I need your help! I am not supposed to be here. I am supposed to be back in the land of the living."

Rower stopped rowing, "Every soul feels that. It is hard to accept the truth but if you are finding it hard to cope with your death, you should take a walk in the forest. And when you are ready, I will take you to cross over, of course with the coins."

"You don't understand. I am completely alive. Like a living person even now, with my body. I was pulled by something in the lake of bones along with Barron! Yes, he was pulled with me but I don't know where he is."

"Barron?" asked Rower, "Are you speaking about the Fourth Grim?"

"Yes! Barron, the fourth Grim," Belle had heard Barron remind everyone so many times that she believed that even if she had a memory loss, she would remember Barron was the Fourth card of the Grims.

"You should not be here then," replied Rower.

"I know," and she was ready to seek help when Rower said,

"Not because you might or might not be dead because if you have associated yourself with the Fourth Grim, the Hawverts will not leave you alive. The people who are of the higher level in this world who run the land of the dead," explained Rower, thinking the girl would not be knowing about his world, "A fallen Grim is even more dangerous to be around because you won't be spared.

Belle was aware of that. It was how her evil side of the soul, Portia had ended back in the land of the dead after a trip she took in the land of the living and Belle was glad about it, "I didn't die but I was pulled into this place. I need to know how I can get out of here. Please. Have you seen the rabbit?"

"Rabbit?" asked the Rower.

"I am sorry, I mean did you see Barron?" on her question, Rower stared at her before shaking his head.

Rower then said, "If what you said is true about being pulled into the lake or river, there is less chance of him being here. He is a dead being, the creatures that lurk beneath this surface crave for the living and not the dead. There is a possibility he has not come here. These souls that you see crave for life."

At the same time, Belle who was standing close to the river, almost near the edge which she hadn't noticed earlier because of the thick green fog, a wailing soul appeared out of the water that suddenly caught hold of her ankle. The creature was similar to the white ghost she had witnessed in the lake of bones. It's skin white and translucent where if one concentrated, they would be able to see through its body.

Whatever this soul was, it started to pull her down towards the river, wanting her to be part of the dead and Belle tried to kick it away. She didn't understand why everyone was this much interested in her. The only person she wanted to be interested was Lucas and no other creatures. The cry of the creature was shrill and she flinched hearing it scream. And as if one wasn't enough, one more appeared to come to hold another leg of hers.

Rower didn't help but stood in his boat, unmoving, looking at the girl who had appeared at the bank of the river of the dead.

He said, "If you are truly a mortal, the creatures won't come for you because they prefer dead souls. But if you're a dead person, the souls in the river want to have you, to consume you."

Belle couldn't believe the Grim was not helping but she should have expected it. Barron might have been the only one who would have willingly helped a person. Even Lucas had been difficult when he was posing to be the twelfth card. She tried hard to get rid of the souls and her body started to pull towards the river with her shoes wet and from afar even with fog, she could notice the movements that took place in the river which meant more souls were coming for her.

Just before another creature could grab her as her body slid through the surface, Belle let go of her hand and in time tapped into the forbidden magic that brought light. The souls were startled at first but they caught her again before Rower used his rowing staff to clunk the edge of it on their heads that made them let go of her legs finally.

Taking herself back to the land quickly away from the river, Belle huffed to look at the Grim Reaper.

"How are you able to use magic here?"

.

Scroll to read the next chapter~