💀Death's Apprentice💀

Chapter Eight: On Death's Doorstep-Literally

Rose Delaney

          "I presume you're Death?" I asked.

          "Don't you even start!" He ordered.

          I raised a curious eyebrow.

          "This is entirely your fault! If you hadn't stolen the Scythe in the first place then everything would be proceeding accordingly. AND! A sociopath wouldn't have possession over the most powerful weapon on this planet!" Death raved. The apprentice opened his mouth to say something, but was beaten to it. Death pointed to him with an accusing finger.

          "And you! You should have come to me the instant a mortal so much as touched the Scythe! You never should have entertained such a deal! Inside! Now!" The apprentice ducked inside. I began to follow, but Death wedged himself in the way of the doorway. "Not you!" He snapped.

          "What?! What do you expect me to do?!"

          "I suggest you go enjoy your extra time until I fix this mess and come to collect you! Goodbye!" Death snarled. With that he slammed the door in my face, and I was left out on the doorstep in the freezing fall rain. I stood in silence for several moments. I was in complete shock. My mouth hung open.

          "No!" I shouted and smacked the door. In an instant the click of the lock could be heard. "Hey!" I shrieked. "Let me in!" My feet were beginning to ache, and my dress was ruined. I yanked off my shoes and miserably sunk down onto the doorstep, leaning against the gold door. I had been a workaholic my entire life-You didn't become a CEO's assistant at a young age by sitting on your butt. But I had always longed for more. I wanted something exciting! Like a spark in the darkness in my life that had been left by my parent's deaths.

          Now that spark had appeared. I had been thrown into a world of magic and supernatural creatures. Or rather, I had thrown myself in. Death threw me right back out, and he expected me to just walk away? I clenched my jaw and balled up my fists. If only I could unlock doors...  Unlock doors! The apprentice had mentioned unlocking doors with the magic stored inside of me! But he said he would be surprised if I could, and so it wasn't likely. Still, I had to try.

          I spun around and knelt to carefully observe the doorknob. My eyes squeezed shut as I reached up and grabbed it. I tried to turn it. Nothing. I squeezed my eyes shut harder  and focused as hard I could. Walking away from this was not an option! I began to feel a warm tingle in my chest-right where my heart was. It travelled up my arm and into my fingertips.

          Click.

          I sucked in a gasp of joyful surprise. Then I twisted the knob. It turned! I quietly pushed the door in. It swung open without a sound. With a grin I grabbed my shoes and strode into the foyer. The door shut itself behind me.

          There was no question where Death and his apprentice were. All I had to do was follow the shouting coming from the next room. I carefully set my heels beside the door and tip-toed towards the sound of Death's booming voice. The walls and floor were just as dark as the outside-matte black-including the furniture. Gold accents dotted the interior-a vase here and there, and tracing all of the picture frames.

The entire house was filled with paintings, but no pictures. It was all very impersonal. You would think someone who lived as long as Death would try to make his home as homey and comfortable as possible. That wasn't the case. I stepped into a circular room. It was a beautiful library!

Death's library had to have been three stories tall. Black bookshelf upon black bookshelf was stacked and crammed so tightly that you couldn't get so much as a glimpse of the wall. This was the most colorful room I had seen so far-books in every shade and tint were piled into every inch of their shelves. The floor was a shimmery blue-like magic-and was covered in a thick resin that was clean of scuffs and scratches. The only light that came in was through a floor-to-ceiling bay window on the wall opposite me.

In the center of the room lay an enormous, glowing orb. It matched the floor for the most part, but was filled with images of people, animals, and landscapes. There were happy ones with laughter, sad ones with sickness and pain, scary ones with knives and fanged animals, and regular ones that conveyed domestic life. They swirled around each other like fish in a bowl. Death stood next to it as he faced his apprentice, waving his arms exasperatedly and gesturing to the orb.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" Death raged. The apprentice nodded mutely in sullen defeat. "You've risked the balance of the entire planet! Future generations will suffer! 2 people die per second, and do you know how many seconds have passed since you went to collect that girl?! Hundreds! Even when I fix this, people will be dropping dead just so I can get caught up! There will be mass hysteria! There will be claims of disease, mass murder"

"Is it not?!" The apprentice argued.

"It. Is. Not! And you know it! You've been taught all of the concepts of reality and what keeps it from crumbling! Just think of what you've done! Do you realize the gravity of it all?! Not to mention the consequences of a mortal touching the Scythe! Do you know what happens to you now?! You're going to sit in your room every second I work on this travesty! You're going to be fired! I'm going to erase any trace of magic from your memory! You're going to go back to your mortal job, your mortal apartment, and your average, mortal life! You won't so much as recognize me when I come for you!" Death roared.

"You're done." Death collected himself.

"No." I stated defiantly.