When Death is Your Friend: Part 2 (Short Story)

Author Recommendation: Read this while listening to the song "Till Forever Ends (Live)" by Grace Power.

Death walked through the darkening streets, leaves crunching quietly under his tread. This was unusual for him, to feel the peace of a fall breeze on his monstrous form. Children dressed in strange costumes, resembling ghosts and zombies, pass by him, heading home with their parents. They couldn’t see him, his own choice. He knew all of them, could feel the life left in them, like threads woven into his arms.

He steps off the main road, leaving the cheerful suburban neighborhood to find the reason he came here. She was close. He stops at a small hill, looking up to a tiny house that seems to shrink under his gaze, under his sheer power. Like it knew he only brought grim endings.

The lock was nothing for him, automatically undoing itself as he stepped near. The door slowly creaked open, his palm on the rusty handle. Inside was a man passed out on a moth-eaten couch, covered in candy and reeking of beer. Death ignored the man, though, as he walked by, he huffed in annoyance at the smell.

Down the hall was a slightly beaten door, with gentle light coming from the gap below it, soft, muffled music reaching his ears. He didn’t wait for permission; he stepped inside. There was Lilith, sitting criss-cross on her chair, with pencils stuck in her messy bun of pink hair, one in her mouth, concentrating on a math textbook. Lilith looked up, blue eyes shining for a moment in the light as they caught on him. It had been months since she had been trying to keep going.

“Hello,” she murmurs. The cheap pink dye in her hair had faded slightly from the hot pink, mixing with the black roots coming in.

“Hello,” Death acknowledged back. “How is the progress?”

“It’s hard,” Lilith admitted, quietly, eyes flickering over to the doorway for a moment, before resting back on him. “I made a B+ the other day, though.” Her lips curled into a proud smile for a moment, a rare moment.

“I see your grades are improving,” He tried, strangely trying to be gentle in his voice. “Good job.”

“Thanks,” she said, happy she had someone to tell, someone to acknowledge how this meant something to her, always barely passing her classes before. She had studied for hours. “I’ve been trying to find something I’m passionate about, and it’s a little hard, but I found some things.”

Death’s crimson eyes flicker over to her room, noticing various projects. Homemade jewelry in cheap beads, amateur pottery, lopsided and small, along with worn books strewn about. Even a soccer ball rested in the corner.

“I tried a lot, but I haven't found anything yet,” Lilith whispers, noticing what he was taking in. “Nights can be hard…”

“Have you made any friends?” Death decides to ask next, irises fading to a less threatening color, hoping for her, something he didn't know he could do.

Lilith’s face fell, fingers gripping her jeans tightly. The comforting music in the back seemed to get more intense, as if mirroring her thoughts. “No,” she mumbled again. “I’m still the weird kid.”

Death felt his shoulders sag slightly. He had hoped she could have experienced more progress by now. “Well, then, I guess I’ll be your best friend. Just focus on finding something to enjoy.” He shifts awkwardly to try and sit on the floor next to her.

“I’ve never really gone out for Halloween,” Lilith said, thoughts drifting to the warmly shaded world outside her window, outside her prison. “Do you like it?” Her voice faded to a melancholy tone as she spoke, gaze adrift.

“It’s strange,” Death gruffly spoke, not really used to being as calm and caring as she needed.

“I guess it is, isn’t it?” Lilith responds, not looking back at him yet. “What would you dress up as?”

“Why would I dress up? I’m already scary looking,” he was confused, taken aback, and almost offended that she didn’t see that.

She giggles a little, finding him amusing. “I would be a ghost, I think. Pretty classic, huh?”

Death paused, thinking of the implications of her words. Finally, he says, “Kids should dress up as something else. You all are too young and kind for costumes about death and gore. I could see you being an angel.”

“An angel,” Lilith breathed, seeming full of awe deep down. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

Death felt a sharp pull in his gut, a slight tug on his cloak. Someone was dying again. He sighs, struggling for a moment to get up. “I must go.”

Her face falls again at his abrupt take of leave, watching him alone on her chair as he turns to go. “Don’t forget me,” Lilith whispers, seeming too vulnerable for him yet again.

“I won’t,” Death said, face straining to soften in her doorway. “We’re friends.”'

~Written by Ashlynn Blue, do not try to copy.~