The Death's Game

48. Game of Memories

"Death." The words spontaneously left her mouth when she saw Death before her eyes. He stood there, clad as he was when she was in a coma, in black robes. She thought that perhaps it was all a dream, but now she realized that it was true.

She really had almost died, and every day she talked to Death, who waited every day to take her to the other side.

And yet she had survived.

Death glanced at her, somewhat puzzled. It looked at Percy for a long moment, though recognizing her immediately. Within a second, it was right in front of her, poking her with eyes so dark that it seemed as if they were just empty eye sockets.

"Can you see me?"

"Yes, and the others-" She looked around, realizing that no one else had seen Death, and probably looked idiotic, talking to herself.

"Follow me."

She obeyed Death's command, following it outside to an alley where no one was around.

Normally she should be afraid to be with Death in private, but since they had been together for months, and she had somehow survived, after all, nothing should threaten her.

"You can see me. It's very bad. Do you see anything else?" Death had no time for small talk.

"Sort of. I sometimes see figures that no one else sees. I also have a strange feeling that even though they look like people, they are not people. Sometimes I get the sense that they have bad intentions, sometimes I can't define it. To tell the truth, I have no idea what is happening to me."

"You were supposed to die, and you didn't. This is happening."

"What?"

"Percy, the other day you collapsed. You died, but yet you came back to life. These are the consequences." Death showed his hand at her, as if it wasn't happy about what had happened.

And with the fact that it had just become its problem.

"I don't understand."

"A part of you has already left to the other side. That's why you see me, even though only the dead can see me. That's why you see what are called death's reapers, who help me in my work. That's why you are able to see supernatural entities that do not belong to this world. For the most part, they are lower-level demons."

"Demons? Are they the ones that exist?" Her jaw dropped.

She could believe in Death and the reapers, but demons?

"That's the problem. I can't have a human who knows nothing about the supernatural world upsetting the balance with its ignorance and actions."

Her eyes widened. She slowly took a step back.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Death looked at Percy as if wondering if she was serious, then laughed low.

"I don't kill people. It's against the rules."

"Do you always follow the rules?"

It squinted, watching for a long moment.

"Usually."

Percy swallowed her saliva, still a little scared. After all, Death could probably make her die of a heart attack, or whatever, in a second.

"Relax, I won't kill you," Death declared, seeing and even sensing her fear. "But you must learn to live and use your new abilities. You must learn the rules and obey them. And most importantly, you must remain silent. Because whoever knows will also be a problem for me, and neither of us wants that."