Torment

The next night, Ryan was sleeping, Brendon was sitting on the couch, and I was pacing in front of him as we waited for my father to arrive. He was going to be here in 10 minutes, and as more minutes passed, I became more nervous. My palms were sweaty and I felt like I was going to throw up. I kept looking at the clock and then at Brendon, who was watching me looking worried.

“So,” Brendon said, breaking the silence. Probably in some attempt to get me to calm down. “Tell me again; why does your father have to visit at midnight?”

“I can’t give you the full explanation,” I said. “But it’s the only time he’s not working.”

“What kind of hours does he work?” Brendon asked.

“He works all the time,” I said. “Except between 12 and 1.”

“Why not between 12 and 1?” Brendon asked.

“Brendon,” I said, snapping at him slightly. “All of that will be answered in 7 minutes.”

“Ok,” Brendon said. He looked down. “Sorry.”

I sighed and stepped towards Brendon, sitting next to him and placing my hand on his arm. He looked at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Just be patient and everything will be answered soon.”

Brendon nodded his head and took my hand in his own. I sat next to him for a few minutes until there was only 2 minutes left. I slipped my hand out of Brendon’s and stood up. He looked at me curiously.

“Brendon, before my father gets here,” I started. “I just need to tell you that you cannot touch me until after 1.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Brendon,” I said. “You’ll find out soon.”

I looked at the clock. We had a minute left. I started to feel nervous again. I couldn’t help but be nervous about how Brendon would react. This was going to be the first time I ever tell my secret to anyone. And the only person my father had told was my mother. And I didn’t even know how she had reacted. I had never asked my father, and he had never told me. But it couldn’t have been bad, because they had stayed together afterwords. I hoped everything went well. I didn’t want to lose Brendon. I had already lost Ryan.

There was a light knock on the door, and without thinking, I said ‘come in’ so quietly, I think that Brendon could barely hear me.

“Ava,” Brendon said. “You need to speak up. I don’t think he could have possibly hear--.”

Brendon stopped talking as he heard my apartment door creaking open.

“Hello, Father,” I said, as my father walked over to me. He smiled at me before looking at Brendon.

“Is this Brendon?” he asked. Brendon nodded his head as I said ‘yes.’ I noticed that Brendon looked nervous now. I didn’t blame him. My father did look pretty intimidating. My father moved closer to Brendon and held out his hand, which Brendon took, shaking it quickly. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Same here,” Brendon said. It was silent for a moment and then my father gave me smile.

“Are you ready?” my father asked. I nodded my head stiffly. It was now or never. My father turned back to Brendon. “Well Brendon. The...predicament that me and Ava are in, is a unique one. And it’s something that sounds completely ridiculous, but is, in fact, completely true.”

He glanced back at me.

“Are you absolutely sure that you want to tell him?” he asked. I nodded my head again. “You know that once he knows, he knows. And there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

“I’m sure that I want him to know,” I said. My father nodded his head and looked back at Brendon.

“Brendon,” my father said. “I am Death.”

Brendon stared at my father for a moment. I could tell that he wasn’t sure whether or not to believe this. It was silent as we waited for a reaction. He looked at me for a minute before his eyes returned to my father.

“What?” Brendon said.

“I am Death, Brendon,” he said. “I end people’s lives when it is their time.”

I watched as Brendon’s face paled quickly. At least he believed it. I think.

“Is this true?” he was looking at me. “Your father is Death?”

“Yes,” I said. Brendon shook his head.

“But…How is Ava your daughter?” Brendon asked. “You can't touch anyone, right?”

“Well,” my father said, looking at me. He had never discussed this with me. “I just gave my, um, fluids to Ava’s mother. She went to a clinic and was artificially inseminated.”

“Oh,” Brendon said. It was quiet again. “Why don’t you work between 12 and 1?”

“Well, that’s where Ava comes in,” he said. “Let me start at the beginning though. When Ava was born, she was a normal baby, and a normal child. Nothing changed until she was 13. There was a transfer of my powers into Ava, through my DNA, that didn’t activate until she was 13. Her mother and I had not suspected this. But, well, Ava hugged her mom after turning 13, sometime between 12 and 1, and well. Her mother died.”

I looked down, feeling my eyes well up with tears from the memories.

“And that’s when we learned, that for one hour, Ava has my powers,” he said. “And I don’t have mine when she has hers.”

“So, Ava does your job for you between 12 and 1?” Brendon whispered.

“Yes,” he said. I looked up and my eyes met Brendon’s. I could see pain there.

“Ava,” Brendon said. I saw his eyes watering. “Did you kill Ryan?”

I looked down as a tear slid down my face.

“Yes,” I whispered, placing my hands over my face. It was silent again. “I didn’t want to, Brendon. That night…I tried to suppress my powers, but…I couldn’t help it. It was his time.”

I let out a sob.

“Ava?” It was my father speaking to me now. “I have to go now. I’ll see you soon.”

I didn’t say anything and after a minute I knew he was gone. I looked up and saw Brendon, still sitting on the couch, his face resting in his hands.

“Brendon?” I whispered. He lifted his face from his hands and looked behind me. He wasn’t even going to look at me.

“I need to go get some air,” Brendon said, standing up. “And think about all of this.”

“Brendon,” I said. He shook his head and headed for my apartment door. As soon as the door shut behind him, I broke down completely. And all I could do as I cried was think over and over again: I’ve lost Brendon.