Okay so I took a bit longer than expected with this and I have changed my story line a bit. However it is still going in the same direction. I have just broken this chapter in half so get ready for the next part soon.
P.S. Please read review and enjoy to the best of your ability. Please excuse grammatical errors!
I faced Cindy once more giving a questioning look. She only responded with the shrug of her shoulders. With no satisfaction from her answer I switched my attention back over towards this Death guy. He continued to pet my adopted fuzz ball and it was making me uncomfortable.
I mean think about it. This random guy comes barging into a house, claims he is Death and that he has come for Cindy, then decides to grant himself permission to groom my so called pet.
"His name is Mr. Fuzz." I growled out from my teeth.
I assumed that he sensed I wasn't pleased with his presence, because not long after I spoke he set the cat down to the side and took a step towards both me and Cindy, giving us his full attention.
"WHAT A COINCIDENCE," He started. "I MYSELF HAVE ONE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX. HER NAME IS MRS. FLUFF."
I crossed my arms clearly not amused by his comment while taking a cautioned step back.
"So why have you come for Cindy? What are you going to do to her? And what gives you the right to say you can just barge in here and take her?" I cut to the chase with this one. I wanted answers and I wanted them now.
I straightened his already decent posture and made a strange noise in his throat before he began.
"I AM WHAT COME'S AFTER LIFE. THE END OF ONE SOUL AND THE KEY TO A NEW ONE IN THE AFTER LIFE." He shifted his position now facing me head on. "I HAVE SIMPLY COME FOR HER SOUL TO GUIDE HER INTO HER PERSONAL AFTERLIFE EXPERIENCE. IT IS SIMPLY MY JOB. I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE HERE AS YOU DO."
"So what your saying is that she's … s-she's dead?" My voice that was once powerful had lowered to an almost monotone tune.
Death nodded.
"SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE." Death gave Cindy a look that showed he didn't forget about her. Cindy, instead of cowering down, held up the pan to cover her face.
"I HAD BEEN A BIT PREOCCUPIED THIS HOGSWATCH NIGHT AND SOME MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT THAT I HAD GONE FOR GOOD. PITY THEY MUST HAVE MISTAKEN ME FOR SOMEONE ELSE."
I paused and thought for a moment. He was wanted to take her away. Cindy. One of my first and only friends I had that I just met. The only one that could see me that didn't want to kill me. There was no way this skull head was going to get in the way of that and take her away.
I straightened my back and put my foot down.
"I am sorry but you can't take her. She's mine and she is staying with me."
I grabbed Cindy's arm and pulled her behind me without thinking twice.
Death tilted his head and shifted over and glided over in front of me to the point where I could have smelled his breath. That is if he had any. His large gangly form towered over my small frame. I let out a shaky breath but held my ground.
"SHE HAS TO COME WITH ME."
"No!" I said a little too chirpy.
"I AM DEATH AND I WILL NOT BE CHEATED." He said, annoyance coating his skeletal throat quickly.
"Well I am Life and life just isn't fair now is it?!"
Death straightened back and recollected his thoughts, piecing together what I had just said. I will admit though I gave myself a pat on the back for that one. Cindy held her tongue, looking as though she wished she could just poof out of that room that very moment. However I think she knew that even if she had, Death would still find her in the end.
Cindy finally decided to break the awkward silence that had begun wrapping around out throats.
"Okay!" She announced as she clapped her boney hands. "How's about we talk things over with a hot cup of tea?"
Neither one of us responded with words. I simply gave her a quick nod.
Cindy guided Death and me to the couch while pressing her small hand lightly against my back. My body moved forward, but my eyes stayed narrow and locked on Deaths figure. He showed absolutely no emotion while resting his scythe against the wall, then gracefully falling into the seat in front of me. Possibly because he was still lost in thought from what I had said.
Moments passed by in awkward silence as we waited for Cindy to come back with the tea. Death shifted in place glancing around the room. I could tell he was trying to avoid eye contact but I continued to stare him down from across the room, still holding my glare in place.
"She's not going with you." I blurted out suddenly. My expression hardened with every word.
Death raised his head from the ground.
"I'M AFRAID SHE MUST." His voice came out hollow, but soft.
"But why? She's not even dead! Obviously she's still alive and breathing."
"SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. THERE HAVE BEEN COMPLICATIONS WITH PREVIOUS WITCHES LIKE HERSELF WHEN IT COMES TO THIS. THEY THINK THEY CAN CHEAT ME, BUT IT WILL ALWAYS END WITH ME." He then looked towards the hallway after hearing the sound of tea cups on a tray. He let out a sigh and turned towards me again.
"DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN CINDY FOUND YOU?" I responded with a slow cautious nod.
"THAT SAME NIGHT SHE HAD ATTACKED THOSE DEMONS, CORRECT?" This time my facial expression completely changed. This time, formed into more of a mix between surprise and concern.
"Yes? How did you know about that?" My voice had almost cracked in between words.
He ignored my question and continued on with his explanation.
"WHEN CINDY HAD DEFEATED THE DEMONS IN A DUEL, SHE WAS IN THE BRINK OF HER LAST BREATH. SHE USED A FORBIDDEN SPELL KNOWN TO ALL ELDER WITCHES AND WIZARDS." He paused and allowed me to take in every bit of information I was receiving. "IF SHE HAD NOT USED THAT SPELL SHE WOULD BE DEAD THIS VERY MOMENT."
No, No that just can't be right. Cindy seems crazy but not that crazy.
"WITCHES USE A SPELL THAT CAN ONLY MASK THEMSELVES FROM THEIR DEATH. CINDY'S HOWEVER, WAS NOT AS STRONG. THEREFORE I NOTICED HER ATTEMPT FASTER THAN OTHERS."
I cocked one of my eyebrows, not knowing whether to believe what he was saying. If he was lying, he was doing a pretty good job at convincing me. He seemed to be more experienced with things like this. His voice was deep. Probably intimidating to most, but to me, he seemed more like a walking talking stick figure with a hood.
"You seem to know your stuff." I said curiosity stirring in my thoughts.
If he knew about the personification world and every living thing personally, where everyone was, and what they were doing.
Maybe, just maybe.
I sat up straight swallowing a lump in my through as I put my hands in my lap.
"Do you know who I am and why I'm here? Do you know how I even got here?" I asked, my voice cracking a bit in between.
He tilted his head slightly to one side as he stared into my eyes.
"I DO KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE HERE BECAUSE OF THE WIZARDS. THEY HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FREQUENTLY THROUGH THE NIGHT SINCE THE UNBALANCE OF BELIEF OF THE HOGFATHER. HOWEVER I CANNOT TELL YOU WHY YOU ARE HERE, OR WHO YOU ARE."
"Why not?" I asked, losing hope.
"THAT IS NOT FOR ME TO DECIDE. YOU DECIDE WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE MEANT TO DO. I CANNOT CHANGE THAT."
Deaths head then tilted to the other side as he spoke again.
"MIGHT I ASK YOU A QUESTION?" He retorted.
"You just did."
Death straightened his head leaning back while scratching the back of his skull, for whatever reason. He stayed quiet and that's when I noticed something. It was completely silent on the house. The only noise that was audible other than mine and Deaths voice was coming from Mr. Fuzz and his loud purring by the crackling fireplace. No sign of Cindy or the tea.
I took in a deep sigh and let it out slowly. My nerves were really beginning to take over. I believe Death was beginning to notice the suspicious silence as well.
"What was your question?" I asked trying to distract him and buy some time.
He ignored me and stood to his full height, towering over me. His cloak dragged behind him over the creaky floorboards as he made his way down the hall. I myself was a bit curious as to what Cindy was up to, however, I didn't want skull brain to get in the way.
The moment we entered the kitchen the first thing we saw was a tea tray with two teacups full of hot tea, sugar cubes to the side in a separate bowl, and the dainty tea pot with a half a slip of paper attached to the side. I eyed it for a moment and with a fluid motion, snatched it up with my hand and scanned through it. It was a short note from Cindy to me. The note read …
Dear Life,
Please forgive me for leaving you in such awkward terms, but I must be on my way.
I am not ready to go. I know it's not my time yet.
If we ever meet again I promise you I will explain everything in due time.
Everything is not what you think it is.
-Cindy
I let out a slow and steady sigh turning to where Death had last been standing. He was nowhere to be seen in the room.
"Death?" I wondered, my voice echoing the house.
Just then the sound of a horse rustling outside erupted from the silence. I instantly charged towards the door, swinging it opened I found Death beginning to mount the white steed.
Oh if he thinks he is going to get Cindy without me he's got another thing coming.
I strode up beside the white beast and yanked hard on Death's long black sleeve. His body jerked in my direction and his eyes seemed to narrow at my actions.
"I'm coming with you." I said folding my arms.
He looked forward then back down at me.
"THAT MAY NOT BE THE BEST DECISION."
Thoughts jolted through my brain like lightning. How did I know I could trust this stranger? I didn't know anything about him, who he really was or where he came from. All that was running through my mind at the moment was I needed to find Cindy and he knew where she was. She couldn't have gone that far anyway's. After all she was only a crazy old witch lady who made amazing breakfast, had a smart mouth, a witty personality and was now loose with the frying pan as a weapon choice. How had could it be?
"I am going with you." My voice made it sound more like a command.
He let out a heavy sigh and held out his hand, avoiding any more conflict than needs be.
I grabbed his cold, dead, bony hand and pulled myself up behind him on the saddle. The cold leather feeling of the saddle was unpleasant, along with the snagging buckles tugging on my cloak.
"HOLD ON."
I jerked my head up from the saddle to see the back of his hood.
"Hold on to what? I'm not touching yo-"
Death then snapped the reins against the horse's shoulders signaling the beast to take off. The unexpected force made my whole body swing back almost completely off the saddle. I grabbed and latched onto the only thing left to grab at that point, which was the last thing I wanted to touch.
I wrapped my arms around Death's unnaturally thin and bony chest, closing my eyes tightly as the stallion kicked up its feet. Not much longer after the takeoff, the ride seemed have more of a gliding effect. It was actually quite nice. Extremely cold but nice.
I opened my eyes taking a quick glance of my surroundings. I couldn't see anything. Nothing but thick layers of fog. A mist? I held onto Death while cautiously leaning to the side to get a view of the ground below. As I peered over the white beast I saw little ant looking creatures moving slowly along the sides, and what looked like the top of buildings melting past my vision.
I tore my gaze up from the ground and poked my head around to face Death at an awkward angle.
Death seemed to look back at me with an invisible eyebrow cocked towards the rim of his hood. I looked at him with fearful eyes. A not began to form in my stomach as I began to realize where we were. Those ant looking creatures were people, and the fog wasn't fog, but clouds surrounding us. We were riding on a flying horse, and we were headed right for a blue and purple swirling vortex.
Sorry for grammar, please forgive meh. I will be updating withing a few weeks due to school killing my brain. Till then I hope you enjoyed this chapter and get ready for the next half! Please review! I need feedback!
