The Reaper

“Erica, get back here!” My mom screamed in terror as she watched me run towards the crisis that unraveled. Her voice was muffled, barely audible even though I had just left her side. I looked ahead to what captivated me, what pulled me forward... And for some reason, despite its strange other worldly appearance, I felt a sense of completion as I did. The long hooded figure that had thrust his abnormal looking stick into the ground with little to no effort. Causing, almost immediately, a set of glowing blood red vines, having thorns on both sides sharp enough to swiftly rip through someone’s flesh immediately spring up from underground. Bursting right through the cemented pavement before him. The 27 storeys building began deteriorating at the mere touch of the vine. Crushing under and at the influence of the branch’s massive weight. As the ground equally opened up to swallow the building, everyone in it along with the few people that were courageous enough to get an upfront view with their recording cell phones, whole. “Back! Get back!!! Everyone, get back now!!” Those closest to the collapsing earth panicked once they saw others get swallowed alive. Their screams vanishing into the dark abyss was what terrified me most. What the hell was beneath the earth? How deep was the fall? What happens if you do fall but survive with almost all your bones broken? My eyes darkened as I realised something much more terrifying than their demise. Why was I moving forward towards the person who is the cause of all this? Swiftly avoiding all the chaos originating before me... Time, as well as the crowd that ran opposite my direction seeming to have slowed down. The hairs at the back of my neck suddenly stood on alert, something was watching me, I could tell. Rather, the figure I was approaching stared directly, and intensely at me. It’s eyes were missing, as well as it’s nose, mouth and... And it’s flesh?. On its neck, hung a large, ancient looking hourglass. Everything about it was wrong. Just a bony structure with its slightly tilted head pointed towards my path. Being aware of its features caused my body to freeze on the spot. I couldn’t move, I realised as I gulped down the dryness in my throat, and the fact that whatever unholy grounds this creature crawled from, it now approaches me. The very ending of its dark robe gave out a smokey appearance, as though it hovered. Like it wasn’t made out of material but the wind itself. “Can you” It’s distorted voice echoed through my skin. It moved closer to my ears before completing it’s sentence “hear me?” I felt goosebumps even in my private hairs. I could feel the rise and fall of my chest. Hoping all of this, despite how realistic it all felt, was but a dream. “Can you” his skull now inched closer to my face, inches away from being grazed by it, very hot breathe burning the surface of my flesh “See me?’ His eye sockets were an endless black pit. I couldn’t see the back of his skull no matter how much I strained my eyes. I could, however, see thousands of small blue entities drifting to and fro. Some screaming non stop, but all of which were restless. Tears streamed across my cheeks within moments. I’ve heard stories of death as I grew up intrigued by it. How death can be a friend in moments of pain. But this was definitely not a friendly face. It did not have a face to begin with. I looked away, trying to act inconspicuous of its presence. “Mom?” My eyes restlessly searched for my mother whom I had left behind. “Mooomm!” I still, however, couldn’t move a muscle. Terrified I might bump into it and cause more havoc between this encounter. “I guess not” he huffed, sounding disappointed before he’d begun walking away then vanishing into thin air. My body regained control once it left. Just what in the hell was that?, I panted noting how the screams around me gradually increased. I didn’t think that for a second, acting clueless would actually deceive it... What would have happened if I’d said yes- That I could see and hear it’s every word. Equally felt his fiery breath... Would it have been my moment to die? Time was no longer slowed and people now moved at their pace. Bumping into me, unlike before when I was able to dodge them all. It was quite the sight, everything. From the historic building that had now vanished into mother earth’s crust to the big hole that would now be a new historic demarcation of the m*********r. Many people would miss it just so they could view it on their screens, I thought as I stood still. Cause to many this was the day their media accounts would be known. However, to others, it was the day they lost someone because of their carelessness. What prompted this? The humble citizens of Malabo island aren’t sure. . But they are sure of the fear that overwhelmed them... That this might just be the beginning of their demise. And what I do know is, I had seen death’s face... And nothing else could make me pee my pants. * 3 Days Later * “It was the very first day of a new year and turmoil already unfolds.” The news reporter said. She had that newscasters voice, the one that keeps one lured in for more. “The twenty seven storey building steadily crumpled, as though it’s pillars just gave out, till it got sucked whole into the ground.” She had not shown the video... Probably because it was too gruesome for many to watch and others to relive. Though it was everywhere on social media. The video went viral. Attracting scientists, those who love a good mystery, tourists to our unrecognised abode... Likewise did it bring in a grand surge of money for the little island. “There had been 74 deaths and 69 severely injured... Most of whom ended up being incapacitated on two or more body parts, paralyzed in the face and none of, which seem fit for a full recovery” Giving emphasis to certain words in order to convey the direness of the situation. There had been no expression however, portraying on her face as she said all of this. It was either out of professionalism, or because she hadn’t been there to witness it for herself. “Many blame it on the sudden flux of gravitational force, others, a curse and one supposedly mad woman claims to have seen a skeleton with a stick- “I switch off the TV before the female news reporter could continue. Sighing softly as I used my free arm to calm my trembling hand which clutched onto the controller. I am that mad woman. It had only been 3 days since the incident. So sudden. So tragic. So... Mortifying. And what made matters worst was there being no reasonable explanation to any of this. I had one, ‘death had decided to pay a visit’, however no one else witnessed it’s appearance but me. “I saw everything” I declared to the inquisitive journalists who appeared within minutes after the earth went calm “There was a man, a skeleton rather. Long and slender... With a stick, a-“ I searched for the word to describe what I saw best. “a sickle in his hand” However, one of them offered me a second of their time, not even a glance. Fed up, I’d clutched unto the arm of one of them however, “The building hadn’t just crumbled, glowing red vines crushed it... I know what I saw.” Desperately wanting to be heard “How did nobody see the massive branches! I’m not mad, I know what I saw!!” Each one of them ‘adviced’ me to go see the psych doctor and maybe sign up for a year’s treatment. “There had not been a skeleton looking individual” other witnesses testified against my every word, furious, thinking I’d been making light of the matter “And the building collapsed with all those unfortunate people in and around the area with it...” Including my mother. I got up on both feet right after placing the controller on the brown sofa. I’d told my mother not to get the brown one, I thought as I came round it, caressing the soft couch,” but she had not listened to me.” Just as I had not listened to her when she told me not to go any further and simply spectate from afar. If I had done that, she would still be alive. “I wish I could take it all back mother” I mutter softly, finally freeing myself from denial stage. I might not have been the cause of all those deaths, but I had been the cause of one. “We weren’t even in the building!” I took hold of the closest thing I could find, a standing fan, and slammed it to the ground “Why had I been so f*****g impulsive” I’d cried my lungs out for the past two days that I could no longer shed a tear. If anyone were to see me, they’d think I’m being a hypocrite. And that I didn’t miss her one bit. Only if I had not walked towards – “There was no slender dark clothed skeleton... There was no slender dark clothed skeleton “ I repeatedly told myself. Mustering it out loud made it easier for me to grasp the silliness in the phrase. “There was no scythe in his hand” I froze in my steps once I realised... “It’s an old man who probably held a walking stick” chuckling awkwardly to the fact that that made much more sense. But what of the blood red branches? I swear I saw that. Even if I didn't, what explanation could there be to make sense of it??