Entity

"Let's play a game..."

Death stood before me.

They didn't look like how I'd imagined. I'd thought up a figure similar to the size of a human, no doubt bigger and taller for intimidation. I thought up a swirling cloud of smoke at their feet. A jet-black cloak adorning their figure, stained and torn by the blood of their victims. A scythe that towered over their head with a razor-sharp edge that glinted when it caught the light. Skulls, I was sure, would be found somewhere near Death.

What stood before me was not the Death I'd created in my imagination.

What stood before me was an entity. That's the simplest way to describe their form. Neither living nor dead, just there and also not there. An entity that had no definite form. A body composed of all things black; night time, smoke, shadows. Tendrils of smoke that stank of sulfur and acid curled around Death's form, which looked solid. Their body was covered by inky darkness. Not smoke or a cloak, just darkness. A void. If fear had a solid form, that was it. Their head was also solid, covered in the darkness. It parted in the center of their face to reveal to fiery crimson spheres representing their eyes. There was no scythe. No skulls. No blood. Death was the physical embodiment of fear.

The eyes bored into my soul.

I sat there. I was just there, sitting on something solid suspended in darkness. Death gave off an eerie glow the color of black. I don't know how the darkest color could provide light, but it did. Or maybe they sucked in all the light near them, drowning out the good and emitting bad.

They spoke.

"Never before have I met a soul as conflicted as you."

I cannot describe their voice. It was deep. But it was human--oddly human-- to the point where if you closed your eyes and ignored the smell of sulfur, you could think that you were listening to a person. Their voice was persuasive and smooth. Velvety. Anything they said was immediately accepted as truth.

Death was looking at me with those fiery eyes, if you could even call them eyes. They had their head cocked to the right and lifted slightly up and back.

A single word escaped my lips.

"Why?"

I sounded like a toddler testing their luck. I wanted to know why I was here, and where was here. I knew I was dead. I could feel it, but I wanted to know why I was dead. Something told me here isn't where dead souls are supposed to go.

"You're different'." Death said. "I thought you knew that."

I shake my head ever so slightly.

"Most tend to lean towards one side, either good or bad. It's their choice. But a few stay impartial. You are one of those."

"What?"

"You're an Impartial. You're not ready to die yet, but there's no reason for you to live. You lived a life never choosing a side, always observing from the sideline. You have no place in the afterlife or on Earth."

They moved in closer.

"Your life never mattered."

They stepped back.

The words should have hurt me. I should have been reduced to tears or tried to fight. But I didn't do anything. I didn't pick the extremes.

I remained impartial.

"You see it, now." Death said. "Your life had no great significance, and because of that there was no reason for you to live, but you're not ready to die."

They paused, letting the word sink in.

"So you're here."

"Where is here?"

"They all ask that. I give the same answer. You're nowhere, simply stated. This place ceases to exist in any given location. There is no door in any realm that opens to this world. It is a space that is its own place. Only accessible by people like you, and me."

"Why am I here?"

"You're an Impartial." Death repeated. "You're not ready to go, but you can't live anymore."

Death started at me again. Their eyes made me uncomfortable. They reminded me of every terrible thing I'd seen or done. I wanted to cry looking into those eyes.

"I'll give you the same deal I give the others."

"A deal?"

"Yes. A deal. A simple one, but it will determine your fate. Do you accept?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"You can accept, or you can neither die nor live. You will have never existed."

What choice did I have?

"I accept."

Death waved his hand in the air and a cloud of smoke took the shape of Earth.

"This is how it works." Death explained. "We play a game, but not just any game. You pick a place on the globe and I send you there as a new person, complete with an identity and background. You have one Redemption Day to make an impact on someone's life, good or bad."

"What's the catch?"

"I can do everything in my power to stop you, but I cannot influence the minds of others around you."

"What happens if I win?"

"You can either choose to go back to your life on Earth as long as you swear to change, or you can choose to die and will be sent to judgment. Your actions during Redemption Day will not affect the outcome of your afterlife."

"...and if I lose?"

Death looked away. The fire in their eyes turned a deep red. "I cannot say."

I swallowed. "But there's no going back, now, is there? I've already accepted."

They nod.

"Then I have no choice."