Death's Embrace

I walked along the road as the sunlight shifted through the trees, painting the cold autumn road red with its late evening light. I looked at the old bridge where I had been the night before. I had been so close, so very close. I made my way to the edge to look over, honestly, just look this time.

My thoughts wandered away without me. What did Drear mean by I owed him something? What price was he going to extract from me for the cost of saving a friend? Death was so secretive!

Wait! He wasn't going to take someone else, was he? I turned without a second thought and sprinted to my car. My mind jumped to the perfect candidate, my drugged mother. If he came for my mother I'd kill him!

I laughed bitterly at my own words. Kill Death? Not a likely feat.

I drove home as fast as I dared. I jumped out of the car and ran into the house. "Mom!" I yelled, spotting her figure sprawled on a couch. I ran to her and stopped short, the smell of alcohol was so strong it stung my eyes. "Mom?" I held my breath and nudged her carefully.

I knew she had been doing drugs last night. Drugs and alcohol were a bad mix. She couldn't be dead! She couldn't! Sadly, she was the only thing I had left in this forsaken world. Without her I wouldn't last until nightfall. Gee, separation anxiety anyone?

"She's still alive." I whipped around and stared at Drear. Instead of typical school clothes like earlier, he was in all black. A long black jacket hung open and down to his knees over a dark grey shirt and black pants. That's not why I stared though. There was something different about him as he looked down at me. Something- almost- human?

"So you didn't, you aren't-"

"No." he looked at me curiously. "I've always wondered why you humans grow so attached to each other."

I stood up and faced him, "Tell me what I owe you! Please!? I think I'll go mad or die of a stroke if you leave me in the dark any longer!"

"I'm pretty sure you aren't going to die of a stroke. In fact, I can't see how you'll die for some reason." he looked at me with those dark eyes and tipped his head thoughfully. His face softened slightly, but I had no idea why.

"You can see how people are going to die?" he nodded. "Wait, what about what I owe you?" I was trying not to let him destract me. I was burning to know.

"Sorry, your one question is up." he smiled wickedly and disappeared.

"Hey! We never agreed to anything like that!" I shouted, but it was pointless. I looked back to my mom as she snored. Yep, she was alive. "Someone help me!" I looked up at the ceiling as I felt the floor crumbling beneath me (metaphorically, of course).

"Come on, Mom." I tried to heave her off the couch and drag her to the shower (maybe a cold shower would help...). She was dead weight and I only got half way across the living room. I sat down panting, just looking at my mother's painfully twisted face. She let out a shrill scream. I clamped my hands over my ears.

Not again. She always screamed in her sleep after alcohol. I gathered up my strength and put her back on the couch. I found a blanket, wrapped it around her, then got a cloth to wipe the sweat off her face. She looked so hagard and sickly, it was no wonder my thoughts lept to her like that. But what did Drear really want? I was willing to bet it wasn't something good...

I watched Mother thrash about before settling down with a whimper. I looked at her sleeping form. A mixture of pity, disgust, and rage filled me. How could she do this to herself? To me? To our family? Didn't she know I needed her more than anything!? And that I resented needing her more than anything too...

I stood up and walked to the door angrily, slamming it on my way out. I made it to the lawn and stopped, pulling my jacket tightly around me as I looked up into the sky. What had I done? I must have done something terrible to be put through this misery, but I would take any punishment the universe threw at me to spare my mother her pain. I hated her for what she had done, but I loved her for what she truly was. Enough of my mother's problems! I walked down the road cloaked in agitation.

Several of the street lights flickered off as I approached, not turning back on. Weird for other people, but not me. That generally happened around me when I was in a powerful mood. Don't ask me why. I don't know. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell. People got strange about stuff like that.

I slowed down as the anger gave way to a deep, repressive sadness. Someone just put me out of my misery! I couldn't go on like this! It was just too horrible. I was dimly aware that I was crossing the old bridge again. Strange, that was a good forty minutes to walk to. I must have been more upset than I realized. And where the hell was Drear? Why couldn't he just end it for me? He did for everyone else who had ever crossed this planet! WHAT was so different about me?!

"Many things. Now would you stop thinking like a suicidal nut, it's very annoying." I turned to glare at Drear. He just looked back at me in the gloom. His eyes seemed to see more than I wanted him to as he leaned on his long sword.

"You and I both know I don't have the courage to commit suicide."

"Courage?" he laughed softly. "You call running away from life courage? I would think facing it would be braver."

"Well thank you for this lovely session Dr. Phil, but-" I turned to walk away.

"Listen!" he materialized right in front of me.

"What?!" before I could say anything more, Drear yanked me to him and pressed my head against his chest. I struggled for a brief second before realizing what he wanted. "You want me to listen to your heartbeat?" I asked incredulous. He let me pull away.

"Death has no heartbeat." Drear folded his arms and looked at me.

"Apparently you do." I raised an eyebrow in annoyance. Seriously, what did he want?

"It only happens around you." he peered down at me shrewdly.

"Hmm, interesting." I turned to walk away again. Drear laughed and kept pace with me. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" I tried to get rid of him.

"Slow night." he replied, seeming delighted in bothering me. This just kept getting weirder and weirder. My stomach turned to ice in that way it had of warning me about a certain kind of attention. I glanced at Drear. He was looking straight ahead.

"What?" he asked softly.

"Nothing." I mumbled. I caught him smiling wickedly out of the corner of my eye. Death take him! Oh wait...

"Where are you going anyway?" he asked after several more minutes, not even blinking as the third street light in a row flickered out.

"Anywhere, so long as it's not here."

"Anywhere?" he echoed contemplatively. I knew he was looking at me.

"Why?" I stopped and turned on him. He didn't realize I had stopped until he was a little further down the road. Drear turned slowly, a measuring look met mine.

"No reason." he said in a falsely innocent sort of way.

"Would you quit that!" I hissed as I stormed passed him.

"What?" he seemed a little uneasy at my sudden display of emotion.

"Taking everything I say and turning it into something else!"

Drear laughed and shook his head, "So what you're saying is you didn't mean you would give anything to save your friend's life?"

"I did, but-"

"And you didn't mean you wanted to go anywhere as long as it wasn't here?" he grabbed my arm and forced me to face him.

"Ya but-"

"Do you want to know what you owe me?" his lips curved in a half smile.

"And why you have a heatbeat around me. Why I can see you if you aren't in human form and I'm not about to die. Why you seem so interested in me..."

Drear caught the stress on the pronoun and stopped my ramblings by holding up a hand. "Maybe you're the first person I've run across who is genuinely interested in me. Why wouldn't I be interested in you?" He managed to step closer to me; I didn't even notice, for I was still deep in thought.

"Are you sure? Death is one of the great mysteries of human existence, I mean-" I stumbled over my own words as I realized his cold hand was pushing my hair back out of my face tenderly. "What do I owe you again?" I pleaded, grasping his frigid hand in my cool one. Drear smirked at the contact; my stomach was twisted ice again, but I refused to look away or back down. I didn't care what he thought! I just wanted to know what kind of debt I had to repay.

"You really want to know?" his lips were inches from mine now. I looked up into his dark eyes and saw it, death. Something I knew should have terrified me, but it didn't.

"Yes." I nodded and Drear smiled.

"Your soul." he whispered.

"Wait, wh-" he pressed his lips firmly against mine before disappearing- again! How I wished he wouldn't do that!

So I stood there in the darkened street too shocked to move. I owed him my soul?! Oh ya, things were going swimmingly. Paul better cure AIDS or something in his life for this!

I suddenly realized my feet were moving again. I didn't pay any heed to where I was going. After all, did it really matter now that my soul was sworn away?