Cheating Death

It took nearly all of the remaining weeks for him to find all of the ingredients. He had to cross to and fro across the country for everything. The things he required were very uncommon, including fulgurite. The fulgurite proved to be difficult, but he ended up stealing it and was successful neverless. He had booked a motel room to perform the spell.

The night that he would recite the spell was his very last. In a matter of hours, he would be kissing the Earth goodbye – if he didn’t succeed that is. He hoped that this plan was fool proof. He had done a little bit of research and had discovered that Death carried a ring. That ring held his power. If he was able to bind him, he possibly could get the ring to invest its power into him. Hence, he would become Death. That sounded easier and better than becoming a demon.

He had set up the spell on top of a dresser. As he cautiously rearranged the burning candle around the bowl with the ingredients inside, he could feel anxious excitement flipping in his stomach. Seeing that everything was in its rightful place, he picked up the sheet of instructions and recited the red inked words.

“Invoco Mortem,
Te in mea potestate,
Defixi,
Nunc et in aeternum,”

He set the instructions aside on the table and scanned the room for any sign of Death. A minute passed and there was no sign. He sighed in impatience and turned around. He jumped. Right there, was Death. There was a half-eaten hot dog in his hand and a less than pleased expression on his face. Brian gulped.

“Hey, there,” He said, giving a nervous wave.

“I told you to turn back and obviously you ignored me,” Death responded, taking another bite.

“A challenge like that... it’s hard to resist,” Brian smirked, feeling more confident.

“You’re a fool,”

“A daring fool. Now, you’re bound to me. That means that you have to do what I say.” Brian arrogantly swung on the balls of his feet. Death rolled his eyes and he took a seat on the bed. He absolutely hated it. He hated the fact that he could be bound so easily, and often to the wrong people. The mere idea of something totally less significant than him having control over him was unfathomable. But it was happening to him right now, to a greedy human.

Brian had dragged up a chair to place it on front of Death, the back facing the front. He settled on it, his elbows resting on top of the backing. He was in awe for the fact that he had control over something so immense and so old. Death just took to staring at him in between bites of his hot dog.

“Okay. The first thing you’re obliged to do is to not to kill me or reap me in any way,” Brian said.

“That enough is obvious, as you should know,”

“Good,” the man nodded. “Good…” he faded before beginning again. “You see, I have done a little research. You’re the only truly immortal being, aren’t you?”

Death sent an indignant glare to Brian. “God will die at some point before me,”

“That immortal huh?” Cogs were spinning in that malicious brain of the young man. It became so deliciously tempting to be something just as high if not higher than God.

“You will get what you deserve. Simply put, you won’t get out of this. Instead, you made an even bigger mess; more than a silly little human could ever deal with,”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“There is nothing rarer than an occasion when I make an error. Unbind me. I have more pressing matters to pursue,”

“Give me the ring, then,”

“Excuse me?” Death was even more appalled at Brian’s behaviour than he ever had before. The nerve of that man! Nothing irked him more than the arrogance of an even less imperative being than him. He was already itching to destroy him prematurely.

“Give me the ring and I will unbind you,”

“You can’t negotiate Death,”

“I’m sure you don’t want to waste more time with me. You’re more trapped than you think you are. Give me your ring, and then I’ll think about letting you go.”

Death thought Brian should have realised better. If Brian unbinds him, he would be susceptible to mortality. Having his ring would do nothing to save his life, not even it would lessen Death’s power. He also knew that Brian wasn’t interested in playing God over people. He just wanted to escape the inevitable. So, basically, having the ring was useless. He was playing along with Brian, just to see if he actually comprehended anything at all.

Now, it was known that the life of humans didn’t matter to him, especially since he takes life away from them. But with this case, it made him wonder how scared and idiotic humans become when faced with death. How they strongly cling onto life and how far they would go just to hold on. But simply for him, it was the natural order acting. It was fate. Death was bored already.

He finished his hot dog and crumpled up the bag and napkins it came with. Standing up, he brushed off any extra crumbs on his hands. Brian perked up. He was hoping that he had won. He stood up as well, pushing away the chair he was sitting on. They were face to face.

“You unbind me first, and I will give you the ring,” Death finally said.

“Only if you promise you will. I’m not going to allow this to fuck up,”

Death sighed in exasperation. “I promise, now unbind me.” Promptly, Brian went over to the dresser and brushed everything off the surface. Everything crashed to the floor, the fires that held up the spell now stifled and the fulgurite shattered. Death was now unbound. The young man faced the being before him, flicking his fingers at him.

“The ring.” He demanded. Death twisted his ring off his finger and handed it to him. Greedily, Brian snatched it off him and slipped it on.

He didn’t feel any different, but at the same time, something about him changed. It was just as if there was another realm beyond this one but it was finally visible to him by feeling. He gave a relived chuckle. All of the stress and pressure of his shortened life was gone. He had never felt as elated in his life. Finally, he had a new chance for life. He wanted to do it right this time.

A familiar growl reached his ears. It couldn’t be? He turned around to see the door of the motel room open, blowing the chilly night air into the room. Right there, was a hellhound. Its eyes bore into him menacingly. Brian took a tentative step back. For some form of consolation, he brandished Death’s ring in front of him.

“Good boy… uh, wrong date. Wrong person.” He stuttered nervously. It wasn’t going to get him, right? He had Death’s ring on. He shouldn’t be scared, but those eyes and that growl had invaded his nightmares for so many nights that it became second nature to be afraid. Waving the ring at the hellhound didn’t seem to deter it. It took another step towards him. Brian hasn’t had time to react as the spectral dog leapt at him.

Invisible claws tore at his chest and face, mauling it beyond recognition. The jaws managed to dig a hole in his stomach, tearing it open to let loose his insides. Blood saturated his white V-neck shirt and the ugly carpet he was splayed on. Deciding that it had enough, the hellhound stalked away. It left the dying body of Brian rasping for life that he had tried hard to clutch onto.

Death had witnessed the whole event with a nonplussed face. He had seen it happen way too many times. He knelt beside the dying man. As he pulled his bloodstained ring free from his mangled hand, Brian took his dreaded last breath and his eyes became vacant. Death rose and stepped over the corpse. The last thing he said to him before turning away was:

“You know you can’t cheat Death.”