Cheating Death

Brian always saw them waiting. From the corners of his eyes or that shiver down his spine that announced their presence. They made him jumpy and nervous. But he knew they won’t hurt him just yet. After all, he only had a few months left of his miserable existence.

Just of now, there was one waiting patiently outside his bedroom window, invisible to all but to him. He eyed it nervously as he shoved articles of clothing in a duffel bag. Abandoning the bag for a second, he went into his bathroom to pick up his toothbrush, razor and other necessities. He packed them in his bathroom bag as he looked up in the mirror to study himself.

He could see the stress of his impending death had left its mark on his face. His dark brown hair, which used to be spiked up perfectly in a disorderly fashion, now lay lank. His chocolate brown eyes had lost its little reddish glint which used to show his witty and sly nature. There were circles under his eyes and his defined cheekbones now looked gaunt. He groaned as he snatched up his bag of bathroom necessities. As he returned to his duffel bag, he glanced up to the window. It was still there, its eyes boring into him. He could feel the impending doom and evil radiating from the creature.

It was only a month since he began seeing Hellhounds following him. It was nearly ten years ago that he had struck up a deal with a Crossroads Demon. His time was nearly up. But the fear was eating him up from the inside and he had to leave to find a way to fix this. He sighed as he tugged at the ends of his dark brown hair.

Zipping up the bag and hiking it on his shoulder, he began to climb downstairs. He paused at the foot of the stairs to look around his house for the last time. He knew he had a slim chance of ever coming back because the journey he was about to pursue was definitely unpredictable. He exhaled as he walked out through the door, slamming the door behind him. He didn’t bother caring if it was locked or not. He unlocked his black 1973 Monte Carlo and dumped his bag in the backseat before sliding into the driver’s seat.

Nightfall was chasing him as he drove over a lonely country road. He had finally decided to return to the crossroads where he had met the demon. He was going to try to renegotiate his deal. He couldn’t just leave the world like this after just a decade. And the Hellhounds really creeped him out, he wasn’t gonna lie. They were always staring at him, waiting, or vanishing at the corners at his eyes. That amplified the fact that the clock was ticking for him. And he wasn’t gonna go out easy.

Something flickered in the overhead mirror. He let out a high pitched scream. He had glimpsed a Hellhound in his backseat through the overhead mirror. The car screeched to a stop, the lights flickering slightly before turning off completely. Brian pulled out a torch and turned to the backseat, searching for any sign of the creature. There was nothing. He turned back around, panting. After composing himself, he set out to restart the car. It only gave out a sputter.

“Fuck!” he cursed. “Come on, baby, just… damn it!” he began banging on the dashboard in hope in restarting his car. It did little to help. He sat back in his seat, giving up. He turned his head to the side and jumped in surprise.

A man sat in the passenger seat, his hands folded in his lap. He wore a simple black suit and his brown hair was combed back. He had an aged face with sallow cheeks that hung from high cheekbones. His hook nose set off his dark brown eyes. He turned his head to Brian calmly. The younger man was still composing himself from the shock of seeing this man next to him so suddenly.

“Jeez, can’t you just pop in in a less sudden manner.” Brian hissed, catching his breath.

“Just give up already.” The man said, ignoring Brian’s comment. “It’s bound to happen, no matter what.”

“I’m sorry, but, who the hell are you?”

The man sent him a burning stare, his face set in an indignant expression. “I am Death. I make it happen. I encircle the world. And I think it is wise to speak to me in a more respectful manner.” With his words, Brian was now overtaken with a wave of admiration and respect. His mere presence made him want to bow down and treat him with dignity. Heck, Death himself could destroy him in matter of seconds.

“Are – are you here for me?” he stuttered, staring at him with apprehension.

“You have four weeks left, if I’m correct. There is no point for me in taking you right here and now.”

“Right.” He nodded, glancing back to the pitch black darkness in the windscreen. “So, why are you here?”

“I’m here to convince you to stop what you’re heading to. The results can be disastrous.”

“What? Going back to the demon?”

“That and your thirst for immortality.” Death said. Brian chuckled. He wasn’t thinking of immortality. That was big. He was actually thinking of maybe adding forty more years to his stunted life span. Enough to appreciate life. Immortality was a bit too much for him. Living forever and ever and seeing everything die before his eyes and being the only one left.

“I’m not thinking of immortality yet. That’s… that’s huge.” He chuckled before shaking his head slightly. “Living forever. Wow. No way.”

“Not yet, but you will.”

“We will see about that.” Brian defiantly crossed his arms. Death rolled his eyes. The simplest he looked at this was that Brian did not matter to him. He was like bacteria. They’re either for good or evil and they multiple like crazy all over the world. The only reason he bothered to come was that any way this would come to will always have him in the equation, either as the victim or the victor. As Death should know from his infinite existence, the occurrences in the middle would influence the repercussions. Despite that, no matter it would come to, he would be the only one that still exist in the end. And he was here to ensure that.

To Brian, this was a challenge. He wanted to see how far he could push this to. Could he find the way to immortality like many before him had attempted to? Initially, he didn’t want this but something about it became appealing to him. This was something to desire and at the same time, resist. This had become the value of what was forbidden to him. That just seemed too divine for him to pass up.

“Turn this car around and go back where you came from.” Death demanded. Brian rolled his eyes as he glanced away from Death. He stared out at the window, tapping at the door ledge. Right there and then, he decided that he would go on as planned. He wasn’t going to let a random being pop up into his car and tell him what to do. He spun around to face Death to find that he had disappeared. He blinked in bewilderment. This night had become very strange for him.

He only realised that the world had more than it seems recently, since the Hellhounds began following him. So he wasn’t used to it. He only knew that there were only demons around, for he had met one ten years ago. But he just started seeing the monsters in the shadows, the unexplained appearing before him. There was an increased awareness of what really was out there for him.

He inserted his key in the starter and flicked his wrist. The car still gave out a strained splutter. He tried again with the same results. He punched the driving wheel in frustration and rested his forehead right on top of the horn which sounded a long note. Sniffling angrily, he got out of the car and opened the front hood to observe the damage. The distributor cap was broken and couple of the wires had snapped.

He grunted in rage. He had sworn he had a new distributor cap installed last week and the last time he remembered checking his engine was yesterday. He was assured that nothing would happen so he didn’t bring spare parts. He had to call someone to help him out.

“Fucking supernatural beings fucking up my life.” He screamed out in the dark. He hated the predicament he was in. Time was running out for him and he couldn’t waste any more. He slammed the hood shut and returned to his seat to retrieve his phone. He checked for reception and then thanking the heavens when he found some bars appearing in the corner of the screen. He punched in the number for road service and put it against his ear. He tapped his feet, waiting.

“Hello, how may I help you?” a monotone voice finally spoke through the speaker.

“I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere and my car is broken down. The distributor cap and wires is all messed up.”

“Can you tell where you are?” Brian sighed, looking around the blackness. He only could see the road lines glowing in the dark. He walked up the road a bit. Still the same. He expected no more in the other side.

“I don’t know. I’m somewhere in South Dakota.”

“Way to narrow it down.” The voice still sounded bored.

“How the fuck do I supposed to know? It’s dark; I have no way of knowing where I am or a way to get out of here!” Brian exploded at the caller’s insolence. “Do your job and find help for me!”

“Fine then!” the speaker’s tone changed to exasperation and resignation. “Are you anywhere near Sioux Falls?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.”

“All right, I will send someone out to find you. Turn on your hazard lights and stay in your car.” He hung up. Brian stared at the phone after he turned it off. He sure as hell hoped that the road service did their job to find him. He climbed back into his car, and did what he was told. He leant back in his seat as he waited.

Ten minutes turned into half an hour and now it was three hours since the phone call and he was curled up on his seat awkwardly. His eyes were fluttering closed and sleep was taking over…