Chapter Five

It's Good to See You Again

Mark sighed and rolled over in his bed, grumbling at the pain in his chest. His condition was bothering him again. It had been like this for the past year, and was only getting worse. Of course, he didn't expect for it to get any better. Once you hit any age above eighty, things stopped "getting better", and only got worse. He was eighty-seven now, and was in very poor health. He used to joke with his old friends from college that Alan had somehow passed off the Thorns of Death onto him. Of course, even that comfort was gone now. Mark had outlived all of his friends.

He had led a good life. He graduated from college two years after the incident with Alan, and had gone on to get a good job at a marketing firm. He had a family, a nice house, and a successful career. His friends had done pretty well in their own right. Abel had moved back to Japan and become an Archaeology professor. Gabe had moved away and gotten a master's degree in Ecology. Valerie had become a Forensic Psychologist, and had taken the stand in many large criminal trials.

A noise broke Mark from his thoughts, and he turned to look at the door. It had creaked open, and a figure was framed in a thin beam of light. Mark smiled softly; he knew who it was. There was no way it could be anyone else. There wasn't a single other person in the house. Mark lived alone.

"It's been much too long since I last saw you." he whispered with a small smile.

"Indeed. How have you been faring?" Alan Humphries asked, walking into the room and sitting on the edge of Mark's bed.

"Dying. And yourself?"

Alan smirked and gestured to his chest.

"Dying."

Mark sighed and leaned back against his pillow.

"I'm guessing that you're here for my soul?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. Yours is the last soul I will ever reap. After this, my boss is forcing me to retire and spend the rest of my life in peace. I'm going to live with Eric." Alan replied distantly, as if his mind were not completely with him at the moment.

"Well, retirement isn't all that bad. I've been living comfortable for a while. This illness has been problematic, but I deal with it." Mark replied with a chuckle.

"Same. The Thorns have gotten worse, Mark. I am going to die soon. Eric will have to reap my soul." Alan said softly.

"You two seemed close when we saw you talking that time."

Alan sighed and looked down at the old man sadly.

"That's not the half of it. Mark, it's time." he said slowly, standing up.

Mark watched as Alan stood up and looked down at him, holding his scythe out. The Shinigami offered him the ghost of a smile before bringing the blade down in the middle of his stomach. Mark gasped and retched before falling silent. Alan sighed as he collected the man's cinematic record, fighting sadness and watching the memories of the human. Once the soul had been collected, Alan sighed.

He looked around at the photos the old man had hanging on his walls. There were photos of his late wife, his three children, his whole family together. Then there were photos of the other three from the "old gang", as Alan often thought of them. He had reaped each of their souls. He had felt that it made sense for him to be the one to collect the souls of those that knew him.

Valerie had died peacefully in her sleep, and hadn't had the opportunity to speak with Alan. Gabe had been awake-he had been attacked by a burglar in his home and murdered. Abel had gotten ill similarly to Mark, and had spoken with Alan for a few minutes before dying. It had all been very sad, if he were being honest with himself. He suspected that their deaths had been part of the reason that the Thorns of Death had worked their way closer to his heart.

Alan walked silently from the house and started walking down the road, balancing his scythe over his back. He whistled a little bit, somewhat remorsefully as he realized that he had just finished his last reaping. He stopped and stared up into the sky, his eyes softening a little as he watched the twinkling stars above.

"At last...the final soul..."

He sighed and continued walking silently, whistled lightly to himself. The emotional pain of his job was finally over. It was time for the physical pain to become his main focus again.

Woo, that's it! Short, not my best, but it's done! Allons-y!

~Silver