The chair moved back into position as Death took to the seat. The Reapers all sat down. Emily quickly did so as she stared at Death in the chair. The invisible Death. In her mind, this made sense. Well, this way, no one can see Death coming…

  The dread feeling in her body faded away as quickly as it had arrived. Emily wondered if Death turned off the oppressive atmosphere in regards to her presence being there. Maybe Death had a sense of hospitality. Or it could have been her imagination. At this point, Emily had no clue or what to even think at that point, so she stayed silent and listened.

  “Welcome.” Death said. It was a genderless and ageless voice made from dying winds, from croaks of old frogs and dusty cats, from rusted door hinges and weary computers. It was the sound of decay and age. It was the sound of Death. “Welcome all to our latest gathering. It pleases me to see that all are present, including our new guest. Welcome, Emily Davidson.”

  Emily could just feel that Death was looking directly at her. There was no face to stare at her with. The sense of being stared at was greater. So Emily stood quickly, bowed, said a quick “Hello.” in Death’s general direction and then sat back down.

  Whiro nearly sniggered at Emily’s act, but was neatly silenced by Yama’s and Hel’s stares.

  “Polite as well.” Death remarked. “That is refreshing. It is getting harder and harder to find those who do not have the merits of manners.”

  Whiro looked down at the table sheepishly.

  “I find myself beset continuously by those who need a lesson in that regard.” Death continued. “But no need to fret over such triviality. Yama, Hel, Donn, Whiro, Chepi, Nephthys and Xolotl. Welcome back.”

  Garmr barked. The Clacker clacked.

  “And Garmr and the Clacker Fresca. Your company is not unacknowledged… What goes on in the modern world, my Reapers?”

  Yama stood up, his arms crossed and his face stoic. “There was an earthquake in India, a few thousand dead. An explosion in a factory in Moscow, thirty-eight dead. Suicide bombing in Syria, forty-four dead. And with the natural deaths in Asia, this year’s tally has come to around half a million dead. Though next year, I predict a greater amount will die.”

  “Very good.” Death noted. “Next.”

  One by one, the Reapers all stood and gave their continental report on the number of souls they reaped during the current year and all the years between the last meeting and the one today. There were a lot of deaths to be accounted for, so it took a lot of time.

  Emily felt understandably nauseous listening to some of the reports. It was sickening to hear of humanity’s troubles recounted so casually. All the murders, euthanasias, arsons, rapes, suicides, overdoses, illnesses… It was so gruesome for her to hear. But she gritted her teeth and bore it. She wanted to come with Donn. She just had to get used to this. Or whatever this was…

  Whiro was the last to give his report and he was now boasting his claims with gratuitous effort. “And I, Whiro, lord of darkness, swam through the darkness of the Pacific to collect the souls of the men who drowned in that horrific maelstrom. It was no easy task, I grant you. But it was a task well done.”

  Donn rolled his eyes and tutted. Chepi yawned as audibly as possible.

  So Whiro made cold death stares for both of them.

  Death was unfazed by his statement, as unfazed with the other Reapers’ accounts. “Thank you Whiro. Take your seat. Now, Reapers… I had not called this meeting only just for reunions and to discuss work. No. I have called you all here to talk of a problem that has occurred in the Deathlands. A very serious problem.”

  Looks were exchanged across the table. Donn looked to Nephthys for answers, but she only shrugged in response.

  Death continued. “Two days ago, I walked through the fabric of realities to oversee the world. And the worlds beyond the one you all work upon. I did this to see into the future and into the past of this world. But what I saw in the future troubled me. I did not and could not, see a single thing.”

  Death allowed that to hang over the table for a few moments. Then Death continued. “Only a murkiness clouded my very eyes to the events to come. I could not see the future. I do not need to explain to you why I found it so… distressing.”

  The Reapers nodded their heads. All had very serious, even concerned, looks on their faces. Even Whiro was paying a rare amount of attention.

  Death could not predict the coming deaths.

  The Schedule of which the whole operation of Death’s reason for being was being disrupted.

  Death continued. “I returned to this plane of existence to seek answers from my home. And while I did, I felt a ferocious rupture in the air. A rip into the string of Time. A disturbance. I flew to the site of the chaos. It was most certainly a gash. A fractured whole in which souls had flown through it. I knew then that the souls that had escaped were returning back to the Earth. The souls had escaped from their afterlives, from me, and now reside in the living world.”

  Donn’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “Yes, Donn. We have lost souls. Five souls to be exact. They are now back on Earth and roaming amongst the living.”

  Donn placed a hand on his forehead and allowed his chair to support his suddenly weakened body. It was unbelievable. No one, not a single soul, in the history of Death’s dominion had ever escaped.

  This was beyond dangerous.

  This was catastrophic.

  If this was the case, that souls cannot be sent on to their rightful place and humans are not able to die at the right time, the rupture could ripple throughout the cosmos. A chain reaction of destruction could follow, the likes of which Donn had never seen before. It may have already started. The great coldness during last night may have been a symptom of this…

  “How have we not felt this disturbance?” Whiro blurted out. “I mean, we should have. We are Reapers! It'd better not be just me who didn't feel it!”

  “None of us did, Whiro.” Yama said. “It must be a power of great subtly if only our leader noticed it.” “Which ones?” Donn asked Death with concern billowing within him.

  Xolotl coughed. “Perhaps this delicate discussion is better held without the presence of the human?”

  Everyone looked to Emily, who felt very unwelcome at that moment.

  “Ah, yes. Emily.” Death stated. “In actual fact Xolotl, this discussion is better held with her presence. For she may be the key to it all.”

  “What do you mean?” Hel asked.

  “The souls who had escaped. Four of them are members of Emily’s bloodline.”

  The Reapers could only stare, at either Death or Emily.

  Chepi cocked her head to the side at Death. “Wait a second… Did you know? Did you know that Donn was going to bring the mortal here? You did, didn't you? You did!” Donn stood. “Yes… Did you know? Was that why you sent me to London to start my reaping there?” “Peace, Reapers.” Death asked slowly. “Peace… I did know what Donn’s actions were. You two are right on that. But how he would enact them? I did not. And I do not know why this has happened. All you need to know is that the rip has been sealed and fixed by me personally. But the souls have fled. Now,” Death tapped the table with an invisible finger. “In order for me to say what must be said, I will need to speak with Emily and Donn. Privately.”

  So high was the respect that Death commanded that the unmentioned Reapers made no protests to this request. They all stood and left one by one. Whiro left first, still nursing his jaw and staring angrily at Donn. Nephthys was the last to leave. She also looked to Donn, but with a small smile that made Donn feel strangely light and giddy in his heart.

  When the hall was empty, the air shimmered around Death. Emily squinted at Death. She could have sworn that she saw a figure amongst the great energy that flowed from there. But it was already gone before Emily could discern what she could see.

  “So.” Donn started. “What do you want to say to us?”

  “Many things. Many things. But I have only so much time to say them. I shall start by asking you, Donn, what made you bring the girl?”

  “Me? I, uh, oh. I just wanted to help her, that is all.”

  “To save her.”

  “That wasn't what I was doing!”

  Death searched Donn’s soul with those unseeable eyes. “Oh, lies do not become you, Donn.

  Honestly, I haven’t expected hypocrisy to come from you of all Reapers. But if you wish to not tell me, then I shall not press you.”

  Donn said nothing to that. Was I being a hypocrite? I did save Emily’s life. But not because it was not her time to die, but… I- I don’t know why I did what I did. But that will not happen again.

  “Emily.” Death asked.

  Emily sat up in her chair. “Yes, Ma’am?! No, Sir? No- Yes. Sorry.”

  There was a sound of icicles clattering on the floor. It took Emily a second to realise that it was the sound of Death’s laughter. “Oh, please… no formalities in this conversation. You are no servant of mine… How do you find the Deathlands?”

  “Oh. Um, well I like them. Yeah. They’re nice.”

  “‘Nice’.” Death repeated emotionlessly.

  Oh dear. Emily quickly corrected herself. “Yeah. They’re great. Wonderful. I liked the sea.”

  “Excellent… And why did you want to come here? To just meet me and to see all of this?”

  “Well… Because I wanted to escape my life. I wanted to get away from what I was born into, you understand?”

  Death noted this and became silent for only a single second. “I do, Emily. In ways that even you cannot comprehend. But you must now realise that you did not just escape your life. You escaped with it.”

  Emily blinked. “What? What are you talking about?”

  “As I have said, I travelled to the worlds and to the fabrics of time. To see the future is to be prepared. That is how I am prepared for any new arrivals. I see the deaths of all. It is not only this world where I operate. But in all the worlds. All the different realities and all the different timelines and all the different dimensions which entertain the ideas of death. The parallel realities that cover the ever expanding horizon of existence? I tend to them all.

  All the billions and billions of people, in all the millions of Earths and planets within and beyond your Solar System. All the Reapers who serve me in those realities and realities where I alone operate. I observe them all. I help them all. I shape the fates with the assistance of those whom I respect. And because of this great power, I was able to see your life. Your birth and your eventual death. I knew it all.”

  “Oh. OK.” Emily said, feeling very weak in her body. It wasn't that she was told that she will die. She knew mortality. Everyone dies. But it didn't make it any easier to have it confirmed by the very being destined to take her life. “Right…”

  “This unnerves you? That I know when you will die? Or that you yourself now know there is a certainty that you will die?”

  “Let’s say both… What’s your point?”

  “My point, Emily, is that you were supposed to have died on that platform. Or during that very night when you met Donn. The 31st of October, 2019. That was your death. Right now, you are not supposed to be alive.”

  Death said this so calmly, so plainly, that it terrified Emily. It was the casualness of it, like a doctor delivering bad news to a patient.

  Emily weakly slumped into her chair as she stared at Death.

  Donn leant forward. He felt bad for Emily. This was not something she wanted to hear.

  “Why does this worry you so greatly, leader?” he asked Death, eager to give Emily a chance to collect herself.

  “It worries me, Donn, because in all the other parallel worlds and timelines, the Emily Davidsons of those worlds died on that Halloween night. No matter by what cause, the girls died. No matter what.”

  “Oh no…” Donn went white with fear. “What have I done? Have I disrupted the Schedule?!”

  “So far nothing, I hope… The world has not been ruptured. Nor has the timeline… As far as I can surmise, nothing bad has happened. You can rest easy.” “But that can’t be! The rules of mortality should be enforced by now! Why has nothing happened? Why didn’t I feel it? I should have known Emily’s time was over when I met her! Hell, I should have taken her soul!”

  Donn’s chest tightened in realisation.

  Wait. Her death date. I did not see it over her head… That is why.

  Death made a humming sound to display that it was thinking. “Perhaps you did know. In some metaphysical way… Maybe that is why you were on the station that night…drawn to her waning soul perhaps… That is why you allowed her to jump onto the train.”

  “She didn't exactly give me a chance to do so…”

  “And all of this is why I am so intrigued. The rules have certainly been broken. You have prevented a soul from taking its rightful place within the Deathlands. But you have not sensed any punishment, nor any repercussions. Neither have I.”

  Donn lit up and hit the table. “The tear! And Emily’s family! They have to be connected to her.”

  “My thoughts exactly, Donn. The two incidents happened at the same time in that morning. And later onwards, an unnatural cold drifted over the city of London during Hallow’s Eve. Then you two encountered eachother during that same night. All of this cannot be a coincidence. The rip has torn a gap in her timeline, a lapse if you will, when the events of last night became mired and unintelligible to all. Even to those like myself. Emily’s predestined fate was wiped clean by the incident. This has bought her an extended section of her lifeline. This in turn, mired the timeline of her world, hence my inability to see it. How long her new lifeline is now though… I cannot say.”

  “All of this… Yama was correct. It would take incredibly powerful and subtle magic to enact such a thing. But who could do this? How? And why?”

  “I do not know. But that is what I want you to find out while you are out there.”

  “What?”

  “I am giving you a special assignment, Donn. You are to go back into the United Kingdom and you are to corral the five lost souls and bring them all back. And while you do that, you must see if you can find out why this has happened, who is responsible and stop them. Four of the souls were of Emily’s family. The fifth was not part of the family and its identity has been clouded so much that I cannot even discern who it is. I can assume that that soul is responsible for this, no matter the identity.”

  “But my work- My schedule-”

  “Hel will take over. She is more than capable to handle the task. And eager.”

  Donn skewed his face. “Eager for my job, you mean.”

  “Hush yourself. It is decided. Furthermore, you will not do this alone. Emily will accompany you on your travels.”

  Donn blinked. “What?”

  Emily was so wrapped up silently in her own mind over her confirmed death, her supposed death, her cancelled death, her extended life and the conspiracies in the afterlife that were all too large for her to handle. She only came to attention when her name was mentioned. She looked up at where Death was. “What?” she also said blankly.

  “I believe that it shall pay dividends, especially to Donn’s advantage, that you accompany him on his assignment. Maybe your family members will be more accustomed talking with one of their own, thus making the reaping far easier for him.” Death said.

  “But! But I don’t know my family! Just my mum and my dad. How am I going to help? I don’t even know what the hell to do!”

  “This does seem rather on-the-fly.” Donn added. “Especially for you, Death. Are you sure?”

  Death sighed. It was a grim sound. It sent a shiver up Emily’s spine.

  “Donn. The girl will not and cannot stay here. She is a mortal with her soul intact. If she is not careful, her soul may be taken by the pull of the light or of the dark. Or she could be devoured by one of the greater Clackers. She cannot stay. She must return to whence she belongs. That is my demand. It shall be satisfied. And she will be safest with you, seeing how you have appointed yourself as her protector.”

  Donn’s eye twitched at the title. “No, I am not! I-…” Donn hung his head and thought better of arguing with Death itself. “Alright. If you say that this is the best course, I will be fine with it. Emily? What about you?”

  “Me?” Emily leant back into her chair, feeling all too heavy from what had occurred. “What about me? Why even ask me? Seems to me that my whole life has been planned out from the very beginning. I don’t a have a say in anything of this… I’m just a nobody…”

  “Emily Davidson. In that aspect, you may be quite right.” Death agreed. “A nobody in her world, who somehow against all the odds was at the right place and at the right time. You must understand… We all have a part to play in the story of our existence. I have my role, as does Donn and the others. God has his. Lucifer has his. Good has its role. Evil has its role as well. You yourself have your lines to speak and your directions to act. Even now, you walk upon a new path that has already been plotted out for you by your choices. A path that will take you to places you never thought possible. You being here is substantial proof of this. But it is how you do it, how you walk your path and how you speak your lines. No one but you can control that. That is what you can do.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Emily listened to this and fell silent for a moment. Then… “Death?”

  “Yes.”

  “All I have to do is go around with Donn and get my family back here?”

  “That is the sum of your responsibilities. After this is done, you may restart your life, wherever you wish… You have my word. Live it to the best of your abilities. And then I shall see you again for the last time. Or you can stay here and simply move on from this responsibility…”

  “That means… I’m an assistant to Death? To you?”

  Death tittered. The sound of dying chicks echoed faintly in the hall. “An intern would be a more appropriate title. Naturally, while you are out there, you cannot tell any living mortal what you are, what you are doing nor who Donn is. It would… upset certain beings and bring unwanted confusion down onto your heads.”

  “OK. Can do. I have one more question.”

  “I am listening, child.”

  “OK. Here goes… Since I didn’t die last night, when do I die? I know I’m going to die. I know that.” Emily took out her golden coin and displayed it to Death. “‘Memento Mori’, right? I just want to know so that I’m prepared…”

  Donn’s eyes widened again and his back itched with worry. Emily noticed his eyes and then thought that maybe asking Death such an impertinent question as that may not be the best way forward. Death did not say a word. Death just sat there. Then Death spoke.

  “That is a question that many have asked me. Indirectly of course, never to my face… Some have asked me whilst they pray. Or hiding in a bunker. And persons would say that a question like that would be considered extremely rude…”

  “I- I’m sorry. I was curious…” Emily looked down at the table. She felt quite small.

  If Death had smiled at her, Emily couldn't see. But she could hear it in Death’s voice.

  “That feeling killed the cat, Emily. I should know, I coined that phrase… There are many things you will have to learn and in a very short space of time. I cannot personally speak of the future events, not only until they happen. Time is a delicate system. One single upset, such as what we speak of now, will destabilise the line for many, many years… Effort will be overspent to fix such damage. Even now, as I am talking to you, other beings such as myself are working hard to fix the damages that have rippled through the timeline. Deaths have occurred which should not have occurred. Births, which were scheduled, have been delayed. Miscarriages, suicides and murders are occurring randomly… Even the weather has changed to patterns that dare to upset the balance further. I am sorry to not satisfy your request, Emily. Sometimes… Sometimes, it is better that you do not know certain things…” “Is it really that bad out there? In such a short space of time…” Donn asked. “You did not mention this to the others.”

  “I chose to withhold that information… because I was supposed to. We do not need panic here.”

  Donn nodded as did Emily. They understood the sum of what has happened and what they must do now. Donn stood up. “In that case, there’s nothing more to discuss. I should prepare to leave. Emily, let us go and get ready. Death… I thank you.”

  Donn bowed to Death and turned for a door in the hall. Death let him go. Emily did not move. Donn looked back and saw that Emily was remaining behind.

  Emily looked to him. “I’ll catch up with you…”

  “OK. I’ll be nearby. Don’t be long.” Donn turned back to the door, entered it and ascended the stairs that awaited him.

  As he did, Donn felt a brush of movement beside his head. He snapped his head to the left and sensed her invisible presence. He sighed through his teeth. “Chepi…”

  “Oh. Hehehe… Sorry. Not subtle enough?” Chepi shimmered into his vision. Her crystallised smile sparkled in the dark shadows of the tight space. Her moth wings, recently grown from her back, flapped frantically, making Donn’s hair flit back and forth. “Hello Donn! Sorry, had to eavesdrop. Can’t help it!”

  Donn shook his head and continued up the spiral stone stairwell. “You and Emily would get along in that regard. How much did you hear?”

  Chepi hovered around his head as they went up. “Just snippets, I mean I tried to sample more juicy details, but these walls are thick like sycamores! It’s as if Death knew that would happen when building this place… Hmm… So! Special assignment, eh? You taking a holiday in the grand old UK then?”

  “It’s a working holiday, Chepi.”

  “So so! So so!” she chirped. “But you taking that mortal with you, though? Is that allowed? Did you ask? Did Death give you permission? Does Death like her? What you gonna do?”

  “I do not wish to presume the intentions of our leader… but yes. I think Death does… like her.” “Aha. That’s nice! But as long as Death likes me best, then the mortal has nothing to worry about! Hehehe!” Chepi cackled.

  Donn could not help smiling at her. Chepi had that quality about her, that infectious child-like mirth that only young ones could conjure in even the darkest of times. “Trust me Chepi, no one could like anyone more than you.”

  Chepi clapped her hands. “Hurray for me!” Then her face went serious for a moment, displaying the adult within her child form for only a second. “But, Donn, if you like someone more than me, that’s ok too.”

  “Oh and who is that someone?”

  Donn asked this as they reached the top of the stairwell and had then proceeded down a stone corridor lit by oil lanterns. There was a door to the right. It was closed and upon the door was Nephthys’s name.

  Chepi blatantly pointed at the name.

  Donn sighed as his chest tightened. “No. Not again, Chepi.”

  “Oh come on!!” Resuming her child mentality, Chepi wailed as they moved down the hall towards a door at the end and on the left. “I pegged you two together for years! YEARS, Donn! You look good together, dang it!” She threw her hands up in the air and kicked out her legs. “It is frustrating! All that tension!”

  “Chepi. Drop it. No.”

  “You must satisfy my fan-fictions!” Chepi tapped his head with her little balled up fists like a drum.

  “No.”

  “Satisfy them, damn you! I want you guys to be happy!”

  Donn groaned in exasperation, reached his door, opened it and turned to Chepi. “Chepi. It has been a very long day, longer than I care to have, and now I am told that I have to go back out there into a world that may be descending into chaos. Now I warn you, continue in this venture and I shall have to get irascible. I’d rather not do that to you. If you were Hel or Whiro, then I would happily let fly my balled-up rage and tear apart anything within a five mile radius of me. But not at you.”

  Chepi dropped her arms and nodded sheepishly. “I get it… Sorry…”

  “Don’t be.”

  “I just want to help.”

  “I know. But I do not need it.”

  “Whiro is a dumbass. Hel is boring. I’m a nice person.”

  “Yes. He is. She is. And you are.”

  “I’ll leave you be then.” Chepi turned away, then she plunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. “I missed you.” Donn closed his eyes and smiled.

  He patted Chepi’s small back. “That’s ok, you little squirt. I’ll be fine.”

  Chepi let go of him. “Bye!” she said and she flitted away. Donn watched her dart down the stairwell. He then sighed heavily and closed the door to get at least a few minutes of sleep before he had to get ready.

  “I imagine you have many questions still on your mind, Emily. That is why you have not yet left me.” Death assumed.

  “Yeah. I know that I shouldn’t keep asking you stuff but there is so much I want to know. I only just got here and I want to know so much. Ask so much!”

  “Well, being the first human to hold a conversation with me for longer than a few minutes is a certain first. I should not be surprised that you are so inquisitive.” Death pushed back the chair. Emily heard footsteps as Death moved away from the chair. “Walk with me, child.”

  Emily stood up. “I uh, I don’t know if I can. I can’t even see you.”

  Then she stared as a glow of light formed before her. It took on a blurred humanoid shape that was slightly shorter than her. The shape was made of transparent light. It was rather calming to see.

  “Does that help you?” asked the glowing light that was Death.

  Emily was unnerved by this official sight of Death, but she held her nerve. “Y-Yeah. It does. Thanks.”

  “Follow me.” Death left the table and proceeded towards a door that appeared in the wall behind Emily. Emily followed Death through the door and down another stone hallway. It was dark, but Death’s light lit up the way.

  Emily had felt cautious. Rightfully so, as she was walking with the physical personification of death. But the ancient being did not put out an intimidating presence as before. Instead, Emily felt welcomed and even warmly received. Emily was certain that the cold presence she had felt when Death arrived a deliberate strategy to quell the Reapers into submission so that Death could speak with complete authority. Emily marvelled at that. To have such power like that was unimaginable. She then looked at the walls of the hallway.

  They were older than she expected. Giant tapestries depicting weather, nature and starlight hung from the corners of the unseeable ceiling. The light from the lanterns made the shadows within the corridors to leap and sway with frantic animation. It was a monastic place and very well set in Emily’s expectations of what Death’s home would look like.

  Suddenly, Emily heard music. It was a piano, waving it’s sounds through the hallway like a ghastly echo. The notes were soft, light and filled with melancholy. “What is that?”

  “Ah… That would be Xolotl. He is a master with the piano…” Emily was bewildered by that notion that a dog could be playing an instrument. “But… He’s a dog. He doesn't have fingers. How can he play the piano?”

  “And when has that ever stopped him? Emily, you are in our world now… You have to forget everything you know. Expand your mind to reach the near impossible and imagine that to be possible. Such is the world we reside in.”

  Emily kept quiet as she listened to the perfect music. To her, picturing Xolotl playing the piano like some reincarnated Chopin was mind-boggling. She knew that all of this was crazy. Nuts. But again, this was just another factor she had to accept. ‘Forget everything you know, expand your mind’… she thought. Might as well do that.

  “So. What do you want to know?” Death asked as they walked.

  “OK. Um, well, how do the Reapers do their jobs? There’s like seven billion people in the world. At least a thousand people die a day-”

  “One hundred and fifty thousand a day actually.” “Oh, fuck me… Right, so like, how do they have the time to do anything?”

  “You have just answered your own question. They do have the time. All the time in the world in fact.”

  “I don’t get it. How do you mean?”

  “When I work in Antartica, Emily, (and yes I do Reap on occasion when the need arises), I would being able to freeze time. All the Reapers have that power with the use of the Memento Mori coins at their disposal. It is as simple as snapping my fingers. We have the coins upon us and channel our mind and spirit into halting time. That is how we stop it. But while Time is halted, Reapers do not. One second for you is hours to us. It allows us plenty of time to do what is needed.

  I once came across a fight between two brothers in the middle of a vicious snowstorm. They were fighting over the land that their father bequeathed them. They both killed eachother at the exact same time. Or so they thought… In fact, the younger brother died half a second before the other. I froze time to collect the soul in-between the times of death, in accordance with the Schedule. Using the coin, I unfroze time. The timeline continued unabated with the deaths occurring exactly when they should.

  When crossing countries is required, a Reaper would sometimes freeze time and punctually arrive at the required location.”

  Emily thought back to her attempt to call the police on Donn, only for him to have her phone in his hand within that second before she could call for help.

  He used his coin to freeze time at his will. That was how he did it.

  “Aren’t there any consequences for that? Like shouldn't messing with time be a big no-no?”

  “How would you know? From television shows and stories?”

  Emily smiled bashfully. “Well, uh- maybe?”

  “I can freeze time as much as I care to. As long as I do not change the course of time throughout this action, there are no consequences. You watch films, do you not? You get hungry but you don’t want to miss out on the story. So you pause it. You eat your food and when you are finished, you resume watching the film. It is the same function. I grant you, it is a grotesquely simple analogy, but the most understandable one for a human to comprehend.”

  “That sounds abusive. To pause time like that whenever you feel like it.”

  “Well, it works for our system. I am not one to question the ways that Time works.”

  “But what happens if someone does, you know, mess up time by doing this? Or prevents a death by freezing it? Like a piece of masonry falling on someone’s head. You pause it, pull the person out the way and un-pause it.”

  Death stopped as they reached a door to the outside of the building. “Trust me on this, Emily. You do not want that to happen. One does not meddle with the Schedule.”

  Emily nodded quickly, unnerved by Death’s hardened tone. “Ok.”

  Death opened the door and stepped out onto a balcony.

  Emily joined Death as they both leant on the balcony’s barrier. The balcony overlooked a cliff side that yawned underneath them and reached out to the purple sea which lay hundreds of metres below them. To Emily’s right there was rolling fields of grass that expanded further and further, as far as Emily could see. Hills, glens, valleys and ridges carpeted the expanding world before her. And to her left, the House of Death’s victorian architecture towered over her. It was so large and so majestic that it gave Emily the feeling that the building loomed over her. It was a giant looking down on an ant.

  The horizon was utterly breathtaking. The sun was setting and its rays of light reached through the clouds and coloured the sky in a rainbow palette to could have rivalled an acid trip. A gentle breeze of the rusty, flower-smelling air hinted its presence under Emily’s nose.

  Death sighed. “These sights bring me to such an equilibrium. It is good.”

  Emily leant on the balcony wall and observed the sights. “Yeah… it’s really cool. Death? Do you have parents?”

  “I do.” Death replied emphatically.

  “HUH?” Emily’s mouth gaped as she looked at Death. “Wait? Really?”

  “This surprises you?”

  “Well yes, it does. You're DEATH. Like The Death.”

  “We all come from somewhere, Emily. My parent is Creation. I have six siblings too.”

  “Oh. OK. Who’re they?”

  “War, Time, Life, Fate, Peace and Knowledge.”

  Emily found herself speechless once again before find her voice. “Mate, that’s just… wow. That’s wild.”

  “Yes. Indeed. Like myself, my siblings have their cohorts to spread out the work. Did you not notice how the Reapers are death gods in their respective homelands? I selected them from the roster of death deities that already populated your planet. They were then ordered to govern a continent that housed their country or race. War, Life and the other Elementals… They all do the same with their own specialised teams of godly workers. War has his Mongers. Knowledge has their Curiosities. Time is armed with his Timekeepers. Fate has her Fortunes. Peace has her Solaces and Life has the Conceptions. It is a system that has worked for eons and shall continue to do so for eons after this very conversation has ended.”

  “Whoa…”

  Emily looked back to the sea, perplexed by the things she was learning at such a fast pace. It really was all a system set in place to allow the world to turn at its axis at the right point in time.

  Suddenly, Emily felt quite small compared to the vastness of the machinations made by the deities. What role could she possibly play in this grand scheme of gods and souls and everything in-between?

  Then she squinted. She could swear that there was something hovering over the sea. It shimmered in the sunlight and then it became tangible and visible.

  It looked like a portal. A black hole in the air that was sucking in anything that came near it. And there were things going in.

  Emily realised that the things flying through the air were the hairs, the souls. There were trails upon trails of them, thousands upon thousands of the souls, lined up like curled clouds all round the two portals. The shine from the souls was a certain give-away.

  Underneath the portal, Emily could see another portal that sucked part of the souls as well. Emily pointed at the two portals.

  “Are those what I think they are?”

  “Yes. Those are the gateways to the Heavens and to the Hells. The pull of the light and of the dark. I mentioned this to you, did I not? The good and the evil in a soul are a matter of scale. The good is the equivalent of your element of helium. Evil is that of lead. The more of one defeats the strength of the other. The soul will then either fall or rise according to the amount it holds. That is how the portals sift through the trillions that come through the Deathlands. As you can see Emily, death is run by systems set in place many eons ago.”

  “And what about the souls that are, like, perfectly balanced?”

  “You mean Purgatory?”

  “Okay, sure. Purgatory.”

  The figure of light swept out one arm across the sights of the sea and cliffs. “This is Purgatory. The Lands themselves are that.”

  “Oh, um… How does that work?”

  “The souls which manage to stay 50/50 in virtue and sin remain here to be purified of either accord. They are then incarcerated in Limbo, to roam the Deathlands for a time until their procedure when they are judged by their actions at a highly scrutinised level to truly evaluate their moral value. When they were to be ready, they would then travel to their appropriate place. The atheists’ system is quite similar.”

  Emily nodded. She couldn't help but be impressed by the pragmatism of Death. “I get it… You have a tight handle on everything here.”

  If Death had shoulders, Death would have shrugged at Emily’s compliment.

  “Of course. Otherwise, Chaos would reign. Think of the paperwork that the angels and demons would have to rectify if good souls ended up in the Hells and bad ones in the Heavens. Tempers would be raised and I would receive the full blame. Out of all the angry deity letters I have received, Buddha’s are certainly the most inflamed. Ironic… In fact, you would be surprised how many times my siblings and I get blamed for a mishap caused by upper management.”

  “That sucks.”

  “That is why I am strict on my Reapers. They cannot afford to make mistakes.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Emily. Why did you ask about my parents? Are you thinking of yours?”

  “…Yes.”

  “And you want to know if Donn or Hel reaped your mother?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Donn did. He’s a nice spirit. I assume he didn’t tell you in order to spare your feelings…”

  “…Oh. I get it. That’s cool.” Emily became silent. Then she asked, “Was there really no other way? Could she have stayed alive for a little while longer? She wasn’t ill. She never took risks. She was happy… I was happy.”

  “Her time had ended. That was how she had to die. I am sorry, but such events happen across your world more times than you think. Donn takes no pleasure in reaping souls as pure as your mother’s. But it had to be done. There is no justice in death, Emily. Only fairness. I do not spare anyone. Rich or poor, young or old. All are equal when you face me. You must remember that….

  If it makes you feel better, be assured in knowing that your mother went directly to Heaven without a second’s hesitation. Considering that she lived for a short while, her soul was the purest I had seen.”

  “That does sound like my mum.”

  “Indeed.”

  “OK. And how about my dad? How is he? I left him in a bad way… I hope he’s all right. ”

  Death did not speak. So, she does not yet know. Good. Such as her timeline dictates that she cannot know. She learns of his death later. But in the living world. Not here. Very well.

  “As I have said, Emily, your timeline has been besmirched. I cannot say what has occurred with your father. But I had not seen his soul here yet.”

  This was a lie. Hel had come before Donn’s arrival, bearing Fredrick Davidson’s soul. From the very same balcony, Death watched the father’s much weighted soul sail directly for Hell.

  Thankfully, Emily bought the lie. She smiled. “OK. At least he’s alive.”

  Death nodded and changed the subject. “I have a personal request to make of you, Emily Davidson.”

  “Hmm?” Emily turned to Death.

  “When you travel, watch over Donn. He has a young and sensitive heart. As you have witnessed, he is prone to bouts of unusual passion for a deity. He takes such feelings to heart and channels them into his work. For he had no more time to focus on what he truly wants. He has suffered greatly for this and I would not wish for him to be in unnecessary pain. To suffer greatly compels one to make terrible mistakes. Therefore, I would like you to watch over him and guide him as he guides you.”

  “How?”

  “Just be there for him.”

  “Is it to do with Nephthys?”

  “Ah. So you noticed.”

  “It was pretty easy to see that. Whiro made that comment about her and Donn punched him immediately for it. I’ve never see him so angry. Well, apart from the bit at the station.”

  Death laughed. “Donn’s an emotional child. But yes, his heart is yoked to hers. As she is to him. Not by my design, but the fates themselves seemed to deem it so…”

  “But why? What happened between them?” Emily really wanted to know this. She was always one for intriguing gossip. But Death was not so inclined to indulge her.

  “I’m afraid that is something I cannot say. If Donn wants you to know, he should tell you himself.”

  “Alright. I’ll ask him. When he’s ready, I mean.”

  Death turned to Emily and offered a blurred limb to her. “I thank you.”

  Emily looked at Death’s hand with uncertainty. “I’m not going to die if I take your hand, am I?”

  “Rest assured Emily, you are quite safe. If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead without even realising it.”

  Emily grimaced. “That really doesn't make me feel assured.” Regardless, Emily shook Death’s hand. It felt cold, but firm. “Right, what do I do now?”

  “Go to Donn. He is resting in his room, I imagine. I suggest you do the same before you leave. Fresca shall guide you.” Death pointed at Emily’s feet.

  Emily looked down and jumped, spooked by the Clacker sitting by her feet. It was the same one that had nipped her finger and had stared at her all the while upon the boat. It still stared at her. Emily had no idea how long the little creature was there for. Fresca the Clacker stood up, clicked its jaws affectionately at Death and skittered to the door. Emily looked at the Clacker and back at Death.

  “Good luck, Emily. You will need it.” Death nodded to her.

  Emily nodded back and proceeded to follow Fresca through the opened door and down the hallway.

  Finally alone, Death leaned on the balcony to study the souls drifting through the sky. Flying Clackers swopped through the sky, snapping their jaws at the invisible time residues left by the souls. A wyvern Clacker, with a griffon body and dragonfly wings, dove through the Clacker swarm and snapped at its food. Death watched the portals, hard at work since the day they began their tireless work.

  Death felt a tinge of remorse about the lie. Death was many things, but Death was not heartless to the love of children. Emily had loved her father once. He loved her just as dearly. Death knew this. The news of his passing would have broken her. She could not know of it. Especially since his soul had now gone to Hell. No. Death would not allow for it to be said.

  Emily will need her strength for what is to come. Donn and Emily both need to be ready. Even though they are not, they need to be. The tasks ahead of them will be arduous, maybe even perilous. I hope I made the right choice paring them together and allowing them to return back out there. When it is over, she will be informed.

  Death felt uncertainty over such a decision.

  Death had never felt this before.

  Such a problem laid out for the old being. So much damage and danger awaited for them all. They all have to tread carefully. But Death had faith.

  Faith in the Gaelic Reaper and the human girl whom he had unwittingly bound his fate to.

  That was all Death could do as the being, shackled by the role fitted for it, watched the souls sail through the sky, free from all responsibility, worry and fear.

  The fleeting souls did not know how lucky they were.