Chasing Death

Chapter 21

"Fear is your worst foe.
It'll chain you in doubts and cage courage as if it were a little child."

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Lachesis gave a lazy smile, taking a step towards me.

"It's okay. I'll just make this body disappear and no one..."

"What on earth is going on here?" A third voice reverberated off the walls. I froze.

"Atropos," Mrithun hissed.

"What is he doing here?" Atropos strode into the room, her red velvet gown sweeping the floor behind her. She looked from Mrithun to Lachesis and back to Mrithun. Hostility shone clearly in both their eyes.

"There was an intruder into our realm," Lachesis replied smoothly, "We were all trying to track him down."

She took a step aside, revealing the bloodied body of Nikhit.

His eyes were still wide open, his mouth frozen in the shape of a scream that never came. The fat drops of blood trickling down the nape of his neck formed a red pool around his head where his hair was soaking wet from his life blood.

Atropos whipped around, her heavy ruby earrings jingling from the impact. She looked at Nikhit's fallen form and her eyes roamed to where I was standing, soaked in ugly splotches of red.

I realised I was still gripping the obsidian blade. My fingers were frozen around the hilt. Slowly I willed them back into life, letting the blade drop with a clank. The knife skidded to a halt at Atropos' feet.

"You." She pointed a perfectly manicured nail at me. "What are you doing here?"

Lachesis floated towards us quickly, placing herself between me and Atropos.

I could see angry red flames dancing between Atropos' fingers. Lachesis might have guessed that she could attack anyone or anything that disturbed the peace in her office.

"Tora chased after him to this room. He was trying to resuscitate someone," Lachesis lied again.

"And when the human attacked her, she had to take some rash steps to protect herself," Mrithun added, looking at Lachesis.

I could sense a hundred unspoken words flow between them in that briefest second. They were a team, and they knew how to handle things.

"Is this true?" Atropos asked Lachesis, without even glancing at Mrithun.

"Absolutely. And if it was not for her, this stray human would have been successful in breaching our system." Lachesis shook her head.

"How did he get in here?" Atropos seethed, taking two long strides to reach Nikhit's body.

"This is not the first time that a human has sneaked in here, sis. Even you know that." Lachesis shrugged.

"Bloody security system," Atropos hissed, kicking Nikhit's body with her wine red pumps.

I winced. I might have killed him, but still he was an individual and everyone deserves some dignity in death. But what were we for the immortals? Just a small piece in the game of the universe. One of us gone would never upset the system of life. Suddenly I felt a strange desire to go back—back into my realm, and start my life afresh. Hell wasn't a place for me. What had I been thinking—coming here and falling in love with Death?

"Yes. It's lacking. You should do something about it." Lachesis shook her head seriously. If it wasn't for the dire situation, I might have laughed at her gesture.

"And how did you end up in my office?" She turned to Mrithun finally.

"This human had invaded my office first, and I had been tracking him since then," Mrithun replied coldly.

"That makes sense though it isn't your office anymore." Atropos relaxed her stance finally.

Mrithun made a low growling sound at his throat.

I widened my eyes and shot him a warning look.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders in acknowledgement.

I released a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"So, I guess we're all good." Lachesis gave a dry smile, taking a step towards the arched doorway. "Come Tora. Let's get you cleaned up."

I moved to obey.

"Wait right there!" Atropos' voice rang out in a command. I stilled.

"Just because it was for the sake of self defence, doesn't necessarily mean any immortal can kill a mortal, that too in my office," Atropos announced, turning towards me. "We shall keep you in custody of the guards, till we arrange a hearing for you."

"But I didn't..." I tried to protest.

"That's completely fine. I guess it'll be easy to prove her innocence," Lachesis interrupted.

"We'll see to that," Atropos replied dryly.

"But he was..."

"At fault. We all know that, Tora," Mrithun interjected.

I was stunned for a moment. He, of all people, should've protested against all that was happening. I didn't want to spend my days in an immortal prison.

Through my blurring vision, I saw Mrithun flash a pained look at me.

On whose side was he, anyway?

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Author's Note

Why is everyone suddenly cold and distant? How will Tora save herself now?

Well, I'm back after a long hiatus and I do hope my old readers are here!