Chapter Four: First Joint Case
The next day I took Thanatos shopping like I had promised the night before. The mall was busy, but not as packed as it was in the afternoon. There were mortals milling about everywhere, most of the ones I noticed were staring at me and at Thanatos as we entered my favorite store. Once we were inside I started to pick up black tee shirts, black button up shirts, black sweaters, black jeans and black socks. I hardly went a day without wearing black and black seemed to suit Thanatos. He chuckled as I handed him the huge pile of clothes.
"Go try these on" I said gesturing towards the changing room. He headed in and closed the door after himself. He changed out of his traditional garb and into the modern clothes. Libitina had a good eye, everything she had chosen fit him well. I turned as I heard the changing room door open and I gasped. Thanatos looked great, everything I had chosen fit him perfectly. That was when I noticed the scar around his neck. I went over to him and gently ran a black fingernail over it, I just couldn't help myself.
"Someday you will have to tell me why you have these scars" I said quietly as I gently gestured to the one on his face with the other hand. I had no clue why I had such a hard time keeping my hands off of him. He made me feel at peace, which was very rare, and he made my heart jump every time I saw him. But I wasn't ready to let him get too close, I had made that mistake before. Thanatos took my hand and kissed it, surprising me and making me blush.
"Sometime soon my dear I shall tell you everything" he said. I gazed up at him, my heart racing at the feeling of his lips on my hand.
"Isn't there something else the two of you should be doing?" a male voice asked. We both turned and spotted William T. Spears standing there, wearing a business suit.
"Like what?" I asked as I stepped away from Thanatos.
"Ask your mother" William said as he turned. Annoyed with him, I stuck my tongue out at his back showing off my tongue ring. I heard Thanatos laugh hysterically before William vanished.
"Nice piercing" Thanatos said in my ear as I paid for his new clothes. I blushed a little, normally I didn't show off that particular piercing.
"Thank you" I said as I picked up the bags and we left the store.
"So how many piercings do you have?" he asked.
"Hmmm well let's see. I have eight in each ear, my left eyebrow, my tongue, the right side of my nose is pierced but I usually don't wear it, and my belly button is pierced. So that is a total of twenty piercings" I said.
"Wow" Thanatos said quietly.
"That's nothing compared to some women these days" I said as we got into my car.
"That I can believe after seeing some of those ladies in the mall" Thanatos said as he wrinkled his nose. I had to stifle a giggle as I drove us home. After we were safely parked in my driveway, I made us appear in my mother's hall.
"Ah Libitina you have perfect timing" my mother said.
"What is the matter mother?" I asked.
"There has been a double murder in the city that as of this moment is undiscovered by the mortal police. I need you to go collect the souls for me, since they both have my mark" she said. I knelt and thumped my fist to my chest.
"As you wish mother" I said. She dismissed us and I made us appear back in my house. We went to our separate rooms to gather our things and I got changed. I got my sword, which I called portatore di morte (which is Italian for Bringer of Death), out and sheathed it. Then I hung it from the loop in the back of my cloak. I put the cloak on, then my boots, and then exited my room. Thanatos was waiting for me by the door, wearing his traditional garb.
"Ready to go?" I asked.
"Yes let's go and get this done" he said. I made us appear at the scene, which by all definitions was brutal. The bodies were of a man and a woman, both shot in the head. They had died in each others arms, like the man had tried to shield the woman but hadn't been able to prevent her demise.
"How tragic to die like that" Thanatos said with a sigh.
"It is sad, but it reminds me of a line from a song by favorite band HIM" I said.
"Which song is that?" he asked.
"The song is called 'Where Love and Death Embrace.' In love's last embrace this couple died. If only everybody could die in the arms of the ones they love, but sadly that isn't the case" I said as I turned away from the couple. Thanatos gently touched my arm, making me turn to face him.
"What happened to you to make you so bitter?" he asked softly.
"Thanatos I am not quite ready to tell you that. It's too soon" I said.
"I understand. I truly hope that some day soon you will trust me enough to share your pain with me" he said.
"Maybe some day" I said.
"Well let's get our work done in the meantime" he said, changing the subject effortlessly.
"Yes let's finish our work" I said. I took off my cloak and I heard Thanatos gasp as he saw the black scythe tattoo on my left shoulder. It had been hidden earlier by a jacket, so he hadn't known it was there until now.
"You're a death maiden" he said in surprise. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Few people knew that the mark was the mark of a death maiden. This shinigami was clever and sharp as a tack, I had to give him credit.
"Yes I am, I am surprised that you have heard of the death maidens. I normally train the maidens that work for my mother but as of this moment there are no women with the talent for the job. So until I can find a woman to train, I have to do the job" I said. Thanatos came over and gently ran a black fingernail over my tattoo and I shivered. My aunt had told me he used to have nails that were longer than mine, but he must have trimmed them in recent years.
"Do you have any other tattoos?" he asked before he backed away.
"Yes I do, but I normally don't show them" I said as I took my sword out of my cloak and unsheathed it. I went over to the corpses and tapped each with the tip of the sword. Their souls floated up out of their bodies and hovered in front of me.
"Dear souls your lives were taken before your time. My mother Morta, the goddess of death, wishes to give you a special place in her hall where you can be together forever" I said as I held out the soul jars. The souls cried out and entered the jars without a fuss. I put on the lids and attached the jars to my belt. Then Thanatos approached me, holding his beautiful silver scythe.
"I am going to need their cinematic records" he said.
"You won't need to cut them for that. Let me show you a little trick that I learned from my father" I said as I bent down. I tapped the head of the male corpse with a black fingernail and his memories came floating up out of his head. I popped an empty journal out of one pocket and the memories fled into the book. I repeated the process with the female corpse and gave both journals to Thanatos. He glanced at me in surprise.
"You can also do that by tapping their heads gently with your scythe" I said with a smug smile.
"Thank you Libitina, that was a much cleaner way of getting what I need" he said.
"You're welcome. No need to make more of a mess than there already is" I said as I indicated all the blood and gore around us.
"Very true, although in the days when I was a mortician I loved fixing up messes" he said with a giggle.
"Why doesn't that surprise me" I said as we gathered our gear. He smiled and shrugged as I made us vanish from the scene and we went to report to my mother. We gave her the soul jars and William was waiting there for the cinematic records. When Thanatos gave them to him, William glared at me and I crossed my arms over my chest staring him down. Then he vanished and I swore.
"For the love of Rome I do not like that man" I said. Thanatos chuckled, giving a slight snort as he hugged me. Surprised and caught off guard, I hugged him back.
"I don't like him very much either. He doesn't know how to laugh, let alone smile" Thanatos mused.
"I must admit I don't find much funny in this time, but everyone needs to laugh sometimes. Just don't try to make me laugh or smile, it's practically impossible" I said as I made us vanish from my mother's hall and appear in the living room where we had left the clothes bags from our shopping trip earlier.
"It saddens me to know that you have forgotten how to smile" he said as I took off my cloak and hung it up.
"I have no reason to smile or laugh Thanatos. Plus my sense of humor is quite morbid" I said as I sat down to take off my combat boots. Once I had them off I stood and stretched.
"I hope someday Libitina that I can bring a smile to your face and take the sorrow out of your beautiful eyes" Thanatos whispered in my ear before he slipped into his room and closed the door. I stood there in complete and total shock. Could this man, this god of death that shared my house, be falling for me only after a day? Could I even open myself up to that possibility? I just wasn't sure, so I went to my room and went to sleep.