Ugh, I am alive and kicking. And I officially hate school and am glad that it is over until September... I don't even want to begin looking at applying for colleges, so if I tactfully ignore them, I'm sure that they will disappear.

Disclaimer:Nope, these turtles are not mine.

"How could you have killed me?" The turtle ventured, confused. "Aren't I already dead?"

"Yes and no, one can still die even when dead. You are in between, not living but not dead."

"This makes no sense!"

I glanced up to see how annoyed he was. The turtle looked ready to scream or cry or rip someone's throat out. "I beg for your pardon, turtle; however, I did not compose these rules. Take that up with someone else."

Leo growled slightly. "First, my name is Leonardo. Second, I'm pretty sure that it's your fault that I'm here.Third, what the shell is going on?"

What an exasperating creature! Now I remembered why I enjoyedbeing dead or a variation of it. "There is no time for this," I said with false patience. I was about to add 'turtle' to the end of the sentence, but something stopped me. Was that compassion? Whatever it was, it tasted vulgar on my tongue; I suppose you could call the taste, dusty.

I heard another being's stride join in with the group. "I did not kill you. I am a grim reaper or a Death. My job is to ferry the deceased to the next step."

"And you're supposed to killme to do that?" Leonardo asked.

"Well, by impaling you with my scythe."

"Shell," Leonardo muttered.

The gray was now darker, and the footsteps were so very close.

"But I did not fulfill my duty. I displayed the greatest folly anyone could ever have displayed." I paused, but I realized that saying it out loud would bring the reality into the light. "It's idiocy for the heatless to fathom being anything other than heartless. To expect empathy from someone merciless is stupidity, and many are guilty of that sin. I suppose that it is only one's natural instinct to cling onto normality or life. I am supposed to act without a shred of compassion and deliver the same fate to everyone I meet. However, you intrigued me, and I did not agree that your time should be ended, so I failed to act as I should have acted… by swinging my scythe."

"Wait, you are going to be… killed because you were honorable?" Leo ventured.

I nodded, and I frowned as I realized that I was nearly powerless to complete what I had in mind. I attempted to will Leonardo back into life with no benefit for myself. When was the last time that I acted for anyone other than myself? This was going to be arduous. "Now, Leonardo, if you want to return to your brothers, I need you to do exactly what I instruct you to do."

He nodded hesitantly, and I tossed my scythe to him without a word.

"Wait. What are you doing?" Leo asked me, alarmed.

"It will protect you; it is the only weapon that can kill Death."

I sighed and pulled down my hood. Then I proceeded to pull my robe off entirely. The stench of rotting corpses spread, and I was embarrassed to notice that it came from me. Stretches of skin were beginning to peel away from my flesh and some of my bones were even visible. I was appalling even to my own eyes. Leo averted his gaze immediately, and I carefully tossed the robe to him. I sat, taking care to cover myself. "Put that on; it will help you hide."

Leonardo looked disgusted at seeing my partially decayed body.

"Since age is finally catching up to me, I will not be much help. You need to reach the doorway. You merely need to enter it to gain your life." I hesitated and continued, "wear that robe and you will be able to evade my colleagues… By wielding that scythe, you may actually survive."

Leo doubtfully glanced at the robe. "I just put it on…"

"And think of your goal. You will be taken there."

Leo pulled on the robe and was surprised to find that it fit him. He held onto the scythe and closed his eyes. Just like he was about to begin to meditate, Leo focused his thoughts on his brothers and this doorway. The scythe began to feel warm and the robe clung to him. He thought he heard Death say something and his thoughts lingered on what he thought he had heard.

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