Death and Company

Chapter 2

Work had once again brought Death back to San Antonio. After the soul had departed, he decided to hunt down the woman he had seen and get to the bottom of why she did not have a glass above her head like all the other mortals. Death parked his motorcycle on Presa Street and went by foot the few blocks to the historic King William area where the woman was staying in some of the newly built apartments there. Along the way, Death was trying to think of a way to approach the woman in a way they would not frighten her. He knew he couldn’t just walk up to her and ask her why she didn’t have an invisible glass above her head like everyone else. He could turn invisible and silently follow her and study her. Maybe this way he could learn something and his curiosity would be satisfied. He looked around to be sure no one was around before fading into nothing. Now the only people who could see or hear him would be those with second sight or other immortals. Death entered the building. He wasn’t sure how he was going to find the woman. He hoped that he could sense some sort of clue as to where she was without having to go door to door. Lady Luck was on his side that night. The woman he was looking for entered the building shortly after he had. She looked right at him and c****d her head to the side in the manner puppies sometimes do when they aren’t sure about something.

“What are you doing here,” she said out loud. Death looked around to see if there was another person around. She shouldn’t be able to see him. He didn’t feel she had second sight; she didn’t smell like any other immortal he had ever encountered.

“I’m talking to you. What are you doing in this building? You don’t belong here.”

“Looking for you,” Death replied. He expected her to run away or call for help. She just simply stood there which left him with an odd sensation. Most mortals would immediately run if some stranger said they were looking for them. This was an interesting change of pace for him.

“Who are you or better yet, what are you? I’ve never seen anything with your aura before.”

That didn’t reveal much information to Death. It was apparent she had second sight so she could see him or at least sense his presence

“I am Death.” He noticed she took a big gulp. “But I haven’t come for you,” he added quickly. “When I am around mortals, I see their time ticking by. It is how I know who is about to die or how much time someone has. I am seeking you out because you seem to not have one. The only things I have come across that don’t have an hourglass above their heads are other immortals.

She nodded taking in the information and processing it. “I don’t know why I don’t have an “hourglass” above my head. As far as I know, I am your average woman. I can sense energies around me. My mother was a hedgewitch, but I never seemed to develop her talents. I can usually tell if a person has good or bad intentions. I have never come across anyone with your type of energy though. It gave me pause when I first saw you. I felt you following me several weeks ago, but when you didn’t appear again, I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Can you drop whatever you are using to mask yourself? I can only see your energy but not you and it feels weird to be talking to a mass of energy?”

Death complied with her request. He could understand how it might look if someone walked into the building while they were talking. He didn’t want to cause her any further issues than having Death show up at her home. She looked at him and giggled to herself.

“What’s so funny,” He asked. He wasn’t expecting this reaction from her. He thought most people would tremble in fear of someone popping out of nothing into a human form, especially after confessing that they were Death.

“You are not what I expected. I mean pop culture is all about the skeleton with a heavy robe and a huge sickle ready to take souls. They never depict an average looking guy in jeans and a plain t-shirt. Not that I’m not appreciating the overall look, it just is not what I was expecting.”

“I can look however I want to. I can be the skeleton in the heavy robe or someone that will blend into their surroundings. I don’t like the cultural depiction of myself though. It seems really boring and cliché. You are not the only person to expect me to look like that when I meet other souls ready to cross over. I do not take souls either. There is more of a process to that than most people would think. I am also not the only person who can do it. I have, what mortals would refer to as, staff.”

She doubled over laughing until tears started to run down her face. Death noticed her face turned a lovely shade of pink when she was laughing. “Death has staff?” She heaved. “I never thought I would ever hear that. I just thought you were everywhere when someone died or was about to die. I’m not sure how the whole thing works. Everyone seems to have an idea of what happens but who is there to verify it?”

“I’m not Santa Claus,” He chuckled. “There’s a whole process that goes into someone dying. No culture has ever gotten it right because like you said there is no one to come back and tell them how it went. Maybe that is what makes people so afraid, the unknown and no one to reassure them beforehand that it isn’t as bad as they believe it to be.”

“I don’t know if this is too forward, but I don’t think we should continue to talk in the middle of the hallway. I don’t know what a neighbor might hear if they were to walk by. They already think I’m a bit weird so I don’t need to give them confirmation of it.”

She opened a door near where they were standing and motioned him inside. He surveyed the living room noting how clean and neat it was. He had seen the homes of some mortals and the state they kept their homes in. Death took a chance to take in her appearance. He had been so preoccupied with trying to find out more about her and why she didn’t have an hourglass. He grinned at her dark hair with purple streaks. He could see why the neighbors might find her weird. She was dressed in a plain black shirt and dark washed jeans that hugged her body in the right places. Her dark eyes watched him as he continued to stare.

“Would you like some tea?” She said. Did Death even drink tea she thought?