Rated M for Graphic violence and language and mature themes of all kinds.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners.
Have you ever wondered when it would be your time to die? Probably not and I'm no different. It's simply not something we average people think about, always being blissfully ignorant of our own mortality, until the day comes without the courtesy of a heads up. Death is supposed to be what closes the book to our individual stories, but for me, death was what opened up my book.
The combination of a typical night of drinking, the usual idiocy of joy riding and the finely timed arrival of a random wanderer – an odd ghost of a woman with an unusual hair color– and it was only a matter of time before I found myself in the shadow of Death himself. So cold was his presence, but at least someone was there to witness my end. Nothing could be worse than dying alone.
Fuck… Nearly hit somebody…
I lay with my back to the trunk of a tree, a dark, lush forest spinning in front of me. Broken glass and some scraps of metal were scattered here and there, but my prized motorcycle was nowhere to be seen. The spinning forest slowly ceased its spinning, giving me a chance to look for my motorcycle. I'm sure my baby was completely trashed, but I wanted to see her anyways, even if it would bring me to tears.
How far was I thrown from it?
I tried moving my neck, but a sting of pain shot out from it and ran down my spine, stopping at my pelvis. Speaking of my pelvis, I couldn't feel anything below it. I think it was safe to say that my back had been crushed at some point during my freakish trip down the steep hill. Honestly can't say I was lucky to still be alive. My nightmare of being paralyzed for life was becoming a terrifyingly real possibility. But that possibility was washed away when I looked down at my stomach.
"Aw, for r-real? D-Damn it…" I managed to get some words out after a little struggle to push air out of my lungs.
A bloody tree branch. That's what was sticking out right through my stomach. And it didn't even hurt all that much. Probably because my nervous system was wrecked from being thrown down a steep, rocky hill. The alcohol was probably helping out also. Can't forget to mention that.
I need a cigarette…
I felt a bit relieved. The chances of someone finding me so far out in the wilderness before I bled out were pretty damn slim so there was no worry about being a cripple for the rest of my life anymore. But… It sucked. It sucked because I was going to die. Die alone out here in the middle of fucking nowhere. No one by my side. No one holding my hand or whatever. Just me, myself and I. Well, there was always nature to keep me company until I bit the big one. I could hear an owl not too far off, just hooing up a storm.
I bet I could guess what it was saying. Something along the lines of "Way to go, dumn fuck! Wanna try that stunt again? Oh, wait! You can't because ya gonna fuckn' die! Ya retarded schmuck!" Yup. That sounds about right.
I was shaking badly. I had already lost a lot of blood and now I was shivering from the loss of heat in my veins. It was kind of cool seeing how freely my own blood flowed out of the big hole in my gut, in a dark, morbid kind of way. It flowed off to the side then coated the green grass with its redness. I just watched it flow like a little stream while listening to the wind blow through the trees around me. I put my hand in it, soaked it in the slippery red liquid then held it up to look at it. It was oddly fascinating to see so much of my own blood. I was actually in a really peaceful state of mind, the only thing to worry about was some asshole wolf or bear showing up and chowing down on me.
I wonder if I could crawl back up to the road…
I still had the lingering instinct to survive so I made a small attempt to move and once I did, a sharp pain pulsated from my back. I sat there for about a minute just groaning from the pain. It was worth a shot at least.
The pain from trying to move faded and my vision was beginning to fade as well.
I'm seriously going to die out here…
I felt calmer the more I realized the unfortunate fact – I was going to die. The worst thing about this is that I have nothing to show for it. I just didn't have the chance to actually accomplish anything. A bullshit end, I must say. Complete and utter bullshit. But I only had myself to blame and that made it even more pathetic.
I moved my gaze to the sky. There was an opening in the canopy of the forest and right in the night sky was the full moon. A red full moon to be exact. A creepy coincidence – to die on the same night of a red moon. But it gave me something cool to stare at before I finally croaked.
To be honest, this night felt like it was a good night to die.
But I don't want to die…
Darkness began to descend all around me. At first I thought that the clouds were making their way across the bright moon, dampening the glow it casted down on the earth, but that wasn't it.
Death was coming. It had finally come. My mind slowly numbed as the world grew darker. It was true what they say; your life really does flash before your eyes right before you die. Sadly, it didn't take long for my life to finish playing in my waning vision. It was a short life, but a sweet one at least. Short, but sweet…
The light drifted away from me, pushed back by the coming darkness. The sound of leaves blowing in the wind and the hoos of the only witness to my death – my compadre the owl – became distant and quiet.
Such a shit way to die…
I was now resigned to my fate and I slowly closed my eyes, thanking whoever was listening for the relatively peaceful death. But my peaceful death was delayed. It was interrupted by a sudden swooshing sound. The sound startled my eyes open and scared the darkness, forcing it to retreat for the time being.
I involuntarily breathed in then held it. What I saw standing before me left my jaw hanging stupidly.
It was the most inconceivable thing ever. I went wide-eyed and what extremely little faith in God I had increased a hundred times. I could not believe what my eyes were conveying to me. Surely, it was the fact that I had lost a lot of blood that I was simply hallucinating, right? It had to be. No way was the thing standing before me actually real.
From the vastness of the night sky appeared a small person. A rather short individual, but, strangely, she seemed to tower over me. She – as in the person was a girl – was awfully pretty with an awe inspiring aura around her. Her hair was a sparkling light-blue that flowed to the tops of her shoulders. Her face was beautifully white and very nice to look at, but her eyes… Man, those eyes. They were glowing crimson red. They were sucking me in. The pupils were definitely not human. Demon-like is the only word I could think of to describe them even though the rest of her was far from that of any demon I've seen. Except for one other part of her…
She had wings. This girl had wings in the back of her. They reminded me of wings of a bat. They looked utterly cool, to be honest. They didn't look like they were attached to her shoulder blades like I thought they would be, though. Instead, the roots of the wings looked like they connected to her lower back. It made anatomical sense for them to be attached there than to the shoulders when I thought about it.
Her wings stayed opened up so I could see the dress she was wearing. I usually don't care for fashion, but her black, slightly-frilly dress looked amazing on her. She wore some sort of black cap with a red ribbon tied around it. The dark forest behind her magnified her enigmatic appearance. Quite frankly, she was wearing the part for the role I was suspecting her to be playing here.
But was this winged person really who I thought she was? Was she really here to collect my soul? Was she really… the Angel of Death? Who else could she possibly be? Sure, she could be just some random kid with a kickass costume who forgot that Halloween was months ago, but… I couldn't help but think that she was here for me. Was she? Or was I just overthinking it? I had to know so I gathered what strength – and courage – that I still had and spoke up.
"Wh-Wha- uhg…" I could barely get the blasted words out. It hurt. I exhaled then drew in another breath and tried again. "Who-Who a-a-are-"
"Be quiet. Don't say anything. The more you say the quicker you die," the Angel of Death said.
Her voice was like a course of angels to my ears. It sounded a bit childish, but I'm no fool. This person was far from being a child. That aura she was giving off said so and it threatened to crush anyone who dared to say otherwise.
She took a step towards me, her pale face expressionless. One leg glided elegantly in front of the other and she took a second step towards me. I actually started to feel a sense of fear. I don't know where it came from, but it didn't take too long to grow in my enfeebled heart and jump start it.
Could I still save myself? If I fight her off… will I be able to live?
The insane thought popped into my mind and it held onto me. The idea that I still had the chance to live put me into the flight or fight stance. Call me crazy, but I don't believe it's over until it's over and as far as I could tell, I was still breathing, my heart still beat and my soul was still mine. If I had any chance at saving my life then I was going to bloody take it!
I grabbed a hold of the bloody branch and started to pull. I screamed out from the paralyzing pain. I tried to get up, painfully reminding myself that my back was broken. I nearly passed out from the agony and sat there gasping for air with cold sweat running down my face.
Welp… I'm screwed.
The Angel of Death took a few steps closer to me. Now she was standing over me, her eyes moving to take a look at the bloody hole in my gut before quickly losing interest in it. Her red eyes then sat on mine, sending a ghostly chill down my spine.
"Don't be scared. Dying is something all humans must do at some point in their life," she said in a surprisingly soothing tone.
Maybe she wasn't one of those cruel kinds of Angels of Death? Maybe she was the kind that helps the dying along by calming them? Seriously, I feel like the luckiest son of a bitch in the world. Sure, the girl was probably here to drag me to Hell, but she was so damn pretty. No matter where I was going after this, I was seriously going to fist-bump the first other dead person I ran into.
"You were thrown quite far from that machine you were riding, young man. If you weren't bleeding, I probably would not have been able to find you," she said. She breathed in deeply through her nostrils, her eyes glowing brighter for a brief moment as she, oddly, seemed to enjoy whatever smell it was that she caught.
She ain't smelling my blood, is she?
"Who are- Ahg!" I tried again to ask who she was, but more pain from my stomach quickly shut me up. I had to know who this girl was. I just had to know! Not knowing is what was going to be the end of me.
"Who I am is of no importance to you, young man," the Angel said. She peered deep into my eyes, stunning me still and silent. "You are going to die. That is a fate that is set in stone. Nothing will change that now."
Well, I wasn't surprised to hear that. But the question is: Why is she here? Is she the Angel of Death or not?
"A-Are you… the Angel of Death?" I finally managed to get the question out. I felt dizzy just from asking the question. I blinked several times to get my blurred vision back to normal, only succeeding a little.
The Angel's eyes widened, apparently surprised with my question. She then smirked before letting out a laugh. A cute laugh I should add.
"Oh my! No, my dear boy. No, that is not what I am. But…" she said then crouched down to get closer to eye level with me, her knees to her chest.
Okay… So she's not the Angel of Death. A bit of a letdown, but whatever. I can live with that. But if she's not the Angel of Death then just what the hell is she? Is she just a figment of my imagination or an actual person? I think I was starting to lose my mind, assuming I hadn't started to already.
"If you want me to be your Angel of Death, I kindly will be. But I was thinking about being something else. Like…" She pressed her pointer finger to the side of her chin and looked off to the side, going off into thought. "Oh, I don't know… Savior, I suppose?"
Pfft! Say what?
It was a bit daunting to hear her say that she could be my Savior. Two seconds ago she was saying that I was going to die no matter what. So which was it? Does she even know?
The girl moved her gaze back to me then rested her chin on her knees. "That sounds about right, actually." She grinned happily. "I am here to be either your Angel of Death or your Savior. All you need to do is answer one simple question."
I just looked at her all confused. So far this death went from peaceful to just plain weird all in the span of a few minutes. I didn't know what to say to the girl. I wanted to live, sure. But how the hell was she going to be my Savior?
"I am going to ask you a question and all you have to do is answer yes… or no. Simple, yes?" she said.
Did I really have anything better to do besides just lay here and die? Obviously not so I nodded to her. She smiled brightly at me in return.
Are those fangs I see?
Her smile stayed only for a short moment before she put on a serious expression. That serious look of hers made my heart beat a little louder. Her gaze was supernatural.
"Will you become a vampire and serve me for the rest of your existence?"
Her question left me staring at her in bewilderment. Did she seriously just say vampire? I couldn't believe it. This girl had seriously just asked me if I wanted to become a vampire. Now I knew for sure that I was high off of blood loss.
I couldn't help myself and started to laugh hoarsely and hard. And, man, did it hurt like hell to laugh. It no longer mattered who or what the girl was. She had just made my night and that's all that mattered. Because of her, I could now die laughing. Literally!
The girl didn't seem to find it funny at all, going by the rather unpleasant look she was giving me. But the way she was looking at me didn't help. It made me laugh harder! It was just too damn funny not to laugh at. I was smacking the ground uncontrollably, the pain shooting throughout my body not even enough to stop the laughter. I was quickly brought to tears.
"You think this is some kind of joke…" the girl mumbled indignantly then looked away in a pout. "I offer you the opportunity that I have never given someone before and all you do is laugh at it…"
Good god, she's cute!
I started to feel a little bad for laughing so I took a deep breath and held it in in order to quiet myself.
A sudden strike of pain into my heart forced the clown out of me. I gasped for the air that had been ripped from me by the pain, what strength I had vanishing without a trace.
The darkness was returning and this time it was here to stay to claim me in its cold embrace. It was kind enough to let this girl chat with me, so the only thing I could do in return for its kindness was to allow it to take me without a struggle. It could have me… I'm smiling now. I couldn't ask for a better death.
My head wobbled on my neck. I can't… Everything is going dim…
Two cold palms smacked me on each side of my face, holding my swaying head still, but my vision continued to twirl around. That girl was now close to my face, staring straight into my eyes, but I kept looking away as I tried to focus on her beautiful set of eyes. I wanted those wondrous eyes to be the last thing I saw before I died, but my dwindling consciousness was being a bitch and making it hard for me to accomplish that.
"Answer my question, young man! Don't you dare leave without answering me!" she said in a loud and demanding tone. Her voice was becoming more and more distant the darker the world around me became.
She looked awfully flustered and it was cute. I just wanted to touch her white face to see if it was as smooth as it looked. But, alas, I had already lost most, if not all, motor control.
I could see desperation in her eyes. I guess she just really wanted an answer from me that badly. I wanted to answer, but I was afraid of giving her the wrong answer and making her sad or something. She made me laugh so the last thing I wanted to do was upset her. No way did I want to see a sorrowful expression before I died. How the hell was I supposed to say no to her when she had such a cute face like that?
With time running out, I answered her in a bid to put her at ease just as she did for me.
I took the last breath I had and answered as clearly as I could. "Yes," I said, smiling warmly afterwards. Her little offer was just too funny. Could I seriously deny the Savior before me? It would be a waste to reject her.
With my answer given, the winged girl's lips curled into a shining smile. Being so close to her face allowed me to see that she actually did have fangs. It was frightening, but I didn't care. The darkness made me feel safe and it blanketed any worries I might have had. And I guess it was better than seeing her cry or something. I'd like to think everything went the way that it should, that the course of destiny had gone in the right direction.
She closed her eyes and moved in closer to me, her lips lining up with mine. Her breath upon my lips felt a little reinvigorating. It made my body twitch. Shockingly, she pressed her lips against mine.
She was kissing me! A sweet kiss of death! I couldn't have asked for a better end to my life!
Shit! I wanna kiss back! I just need to move my lips! Please, God, let me move my lips! My death can become more awesome if I can just kiss back!
The kiss seemed to last forever. Corny, I know, but that's just the way it was. The entire moment was absolutely dream-like.
The girl removed her lips from mine, a sigh flowing from her. She slowly opened her eyes and said "It is time. Your fate… is forever mine."
Nothing else was needed to be said. With the red moon hanging over us, I left myself to the strange girl. Who she was would forever remain a mystery to me. She softened the impact of death for me and for that there was nothing I could do to thank her enough. I wish I could. Who or whatever she was, I wished her happiness and all that good junk.
Death moved in for me, the light fading away. At long last, the darkness consumed everything around me, save for the winged girl's crimson eyes. They stayed in the darkness, glowing with a strange power as they gazed back at me. Then, with one final glow, the ethereally eyes vanished into the darkness.
I could feel pressure in the side of my neck, one last feeling of gratifying pain and the final time I would feel anything ever again. My heart made its final beat and then there was silence.
It was now dark bliss. With the book of my life closed, my destiny was fulfilled.