Broken Queen

Chapter 18: Meeting Death himself𖤛- 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚅𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚊-𖤛

I'm greeted by pure darkness. It comforts me.
I feel... home.
Have I died?
Is this Hell?
Heaven?
"Hello."
A rather tall man is standing in front of me.
I try to focus on his features, but cannot. The tall man seems to be shifting constantly, changing between faces I have seen my whole life.
Aldietha.
Father.
Mother.
Margret.
Elaine.
He settles on a face I haven't seen before.
He's a tall, tan man with straight black hair and dark eyes.
The eyes...
They pool into my soul.
I feel love and hatred, jealousy and forgiveness.
"Who are you?"
I ask.
The man seems amused.
"Do not worry who I am or where you met me, for we shall meet again. Inevitably oblivion. I am the shadows at night and the moon itself. I rule death, I am Death. You are mortal."
The tall man speaks with an accent I don't quite know.
It's an accent of royalty and commoners, far forgotten and claims only few.
"But... is this your actual face?"
The tall man grins.
"You'll meet the owner to this face soon enough."
Confusion flashes through my mind, but I choose to ignore it.
Death snaps his fingers.
A mirror appears in front of me.
Surprised, I jump, but quickly look into the reflection.
The mirror shows me, but... it's not.
A deformed girl looks back.
A monster.
She has scars across her face from where her freckles should be.
The girl's right cheek has a Mis-Match of skin colors.
A small light skinned patch, her natural skin color, sits among the darker shade next to it.
The lightest patch, also the smallest, sits next to her eye.
The rest of the girl is boney and broken.
There is a black bruise on her neck from where something must have pricked her.
Upon further examination, the mark on her neck isn't a bruise.
The mark seems to be a black liquid, seeping into her veins and showing through her skin.
I scream and jump back.
The man- Death, laughs at my sudden remark.
"What happened to me..."
My voice cracks, breaking into nothing.
The man lifts my chin up with his hand
"You fell, had surgery, got ugly."
He snickers at the explanation.
"Now..."
He gestures to the mark on my neck and I look into the mirror once more.
My heart breaks to pieces.
"I died."
The man laughs, deep and dark.
Once again, the man snaps and the mirror is gone.
My surroundings are no longer black.
I'm in a hospital waiting room, yet... It's empty.
I'm the only person here.
I look down to see a hospital gown draped onto my body.
I didn't have this before-.
Ding.
A bell rings from behind the curtain in front of me.
I open the curtain to see an old woman behind a desk.
The woman is skinny and wears a long face.
Her hair is propped up into a white slick bun, no stray hairs.
"Grab a ticket."
The woman slurs her words and nods her head like a zombie to a ticket stand next to the desk.
I walk towards the stand and grab a ticket.
Number...
Infinity.
"Infinity?"
I burst.
This is...
What?
"Number?"
The woman sloppily grabs a pencil.
Her blue eyes pierce into my soul.
"Infinity."
I tell her wearily.
The woman motions to a door and disappears... dissolves into a shadow of nothing.
I walk over to the door and open it.
Death is waiting on a chair.
The smell of peppermint overwhelms my senses so that I can practically taste it.
"Come in, come in."
He gestures to a chair opposite of him.
The room resembles an office, walls covered in decor and medals.
The ceiling bears a chandelier and the chairs are made of dark wood and velvet cushions.
A bookshelf stands next to Death's chair as well.
He pulls out a book from the shelf and places it on a side table in between us.
I sit in the chair opposite of him.
"Tea?"
He offers.
I shake my head no.
Disappointed, Death snaps and the teacup on the side table vanishes.
"So, you've died."
He tells me.
I shutter at the sentence.
"I want to go back."
I whisper.
He moves his head side to side as if my answer was absurd.
A clock ticks in the background.
I feel uneasy.
The smell of mint now overtakes the peppermint.
I breathe in and relax my muscles.
"I cannot allow that... unless."
He smirks.
"I don't understand."
I say, focusing on the book he placed.
It reads, "The life of Viola-."
Death grabs the book urgently and puts it back on the shelf.
My thoughts go back to what I said;
I don't know why I want to go back, but I just have to.
I need to.
"I'll give anything."
I whisper.
"You assume I want anything."
He replies.
"What do you want?"
I say.
"A bit of your soul."
He eerily smiles.
"Okay."
I look into his eyes, searching for the answer of who he is in the world and fail.
Death holds out his hand.
"To finish the deal."
He smirks.
I slowly reach out my hand and flinch at the touch of mine in his.
"Wait!"
I scream.
"What part of my soul are you taking?"
He raises an eyebrow.
"You're heart."