Chasing Death

Chapter 5

"People are afraid of the true face of death. Even the ones that have chased death all their life, would tremble when they meet death face to face."

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"You can't fire me. You need me to do your dirty job." Mrithun's eyes smouldered dangerously.

"Oh, we can?" The Fate nearest to him advanced a step, almost coming face to face with him. Her eyes glowed honey golden. He winced but stood his ground.

"The souls need not be brought here personally anymore. We're starting a wireless teleportation system. The souls that leave the body will be sucked and transported to the Room of Trials automatically via the channel," the third Fate explained smoothly.

"Oh right, and what if the networks are blocked?" Mrithun asked calmly.

"They'll wait for their turns, just like they do when the internet crashes in the human world," the second sister prattled again.

"So you're cutting down on staff?" he sighed.

"Exactly. Now clear out your stuff and we'll have this trash renovated." The first sister gestured to the office.

I got a proper look at the room for the first time. Stashed towards one corner was a chaise lounge made of tan wood and fitted with a blood-red velvet cushion. In front of the desk stood a Windsor chair of polished silver. It was beset with dark stones, probably garnets. The walls were all dark wood, in keeping with the entire theme of the office. The ceiling was high arched and there were no windows to the place. Death seemed to have a wonderful taste of aesthetics.

If the Fates were calling it trash, they had no sense of sophistication whatsoever.

"Sure," Mrithun gritted his teeth.

"Come on, girls." The first Fate clapped. "We have three hundred and seventy thousand new fates to write for today. I don't want any backlog."

"Yes, sister." The two others clicked their fingers and dissolved in a cloud of gold dust.

"See you around, handsome," she cackled, reaching out to lay a hand on his face, running her long manicured nails along his cheek and down his neck. He stiffened but didn't react. Her dark lips twisted into a mocking smile, and then she disappeared into the smoke.

Mrithun stayed still in his place for a moment, before collapsing onto the lone chair in the room. Creases of worry had appeared on his forehead. I tiptoed into the room and stood there silently, my hands clasped at my back. He didn't acknowledge my presence. I didn't want to upset him because I was apprehensive about his reaction. I knew how it feels like to lose a job.

"What are you?" The little creature hopped up on my shoulders. I stayed stone still, hoping it wouldn't sink its teeth into my neck. But it had no intention of that sort. I craned my neck to look at it. It looked ugly upfront, but not scary. Its scaly feet and arms were too small for a body that big. It was kind of cute.

"I'm a human," I said finally. "What are you?"

"I'm an imp. I run errands around here," it screeched.

"Aren't you a servant to the Devil?" I asked.

"Isn't he the Devil?" The little imp pointed at Mrithun.

"He is what?" I asked perplexed.

"You do realise that he is what you humans call Death, right?" The imp hopped down from my shoulders and scuttled towards him.

Mrithun looked up just then. His eyes met mine.

"You are Death," I whispered, still unsure.

"That I am," he confirmed.

"But then you said..."

"I lied," he cut me off. "Would you have come with me had you known who I am?"

"You tricked me," I said quietly.

I could feel my legs shaking. I had been with Death the whole time. Had looked Death in the eye. I had held his hand and I had come to the other side with him. The thought of it was too much.

"I trusted you," I mumbled more strongly.

"Oh, please. I don't have time for your womanly drama. I didn't trick you. It was a white lie to save you from a heart attack." He got up from the chair and paced around the room. "Besides I thought you'd figure out the moment I told my name."

It was then that it struck me. Mrithun - king of the earth, lord of the dead. Exactly. How could I have been so foolish?

"It is not drama," I hissed. "You broke my trust."

He crossed the length of the room in a flash and was in front of me, our foreheads almost touching. I yelped and drew back. There was an overpowering smell in the room. Now I realised it emanated from him. It smelled of years of rust and decay. It wasn't offensive, but a kind of musty smell like the earth after rain. The scent was welcoming.

"Tora, go back. There's nothing I can do for you here," he said gravely.

"But why?"

"Because I lost my job." He threw his hands up in the air. "Stupid Death lost his job to some stupid technology. What a shame."

"But surely there must be a way to get back your position," I insisted.

"No, there isn't..." he stopped midway, his eyes lighting up mischievously. 

"Is there a plan?"

"Unless I can deactivate or destroy that worthless wireless teleportation machine for the souls," he completed his sentence.

"Can we do that?" I asked.

"There's no we, only me," he said firmly. "You're going back to your realm."

"I don't want to," I whined, "not until you enter my name in the system."

"For that, I need to access the system" He shrugged.

"Isn't that the way how you deactivate the teleportation network for the souls too?" I pointed out.

"Maybe you're right," he mused. "That could be done. But I have to break into their office."

"I'll come with you," I said.

"No."

"I know more about technology than you do." I rolled my eyes. "You old man need my modern knowledge."

"She's not wrong, sir," the little imp chirped in.

"No one wanted your opinion." He glared at it. It jumped behind me and peeked out from the cover of my legs.

"Don't take out your anger on it," I bit back.

"I am not what you think me to be. And this is dangerous. Why don't you understand? I can't take a mortal into the depths of hell. I can't risk your life," he sounded exasperated.

"I greeted Death and I'm still alive," I grinned, quite amused at his frustration.

"I've told you there are things worse than death down here." He glowered at me.

I met his eyes square on, my eyes absolutely steady. His gaze was burning into me. Those sharp glittering eyes were piercing into my soul and causing turmoil in me.

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