The Day Death Died

The Day Death Died - Chapter 17

I sat in silence, my hands gripping the steering wheel as I watched the gaggle of death—the so-called "council" of Thanatos, Erebus, and Edwin—discuss the predicament we were all in. They spoke in low, tense tones, occasionally glancing at me as though I was part of their conversation, though no one asked for my opinion. What was there to say? Things were about to get a lot worse, and I wasn't sure how to stop it.

"There has to be something we can do," Edwin said, sounding more irritated than hopeful. His tone was flat, as though stating it would somehow make it true. He slouched in the passenger seat, his eyes fixed on Erebus, who sat nonchalantly in the backseat.

"I'm sure there is," Erebus replied, his voice smooth and calm, "but we haven't found it yet."

My fingers tightened on the wheel as I glanced at them in the rearview mirror. The weight of the situation was crushing me. I felt like I was trying to swim through a current of black water, barely keeping my head above the surface. "Has anyone ever stood up to the Keres before?" I asked, hoping they had some history of victory against these dark deities.

Erebus shifted in his seat, his eyes narrowing slightly as though he were weighing the truth. "Kind of."

I frowned, turning toward him. "Kind of? What does that mean?"

He raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Have you ever heard of Mount Vesuvius?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, not understanding the relevance.

"Well," Erebus continued, his smirk fading, "that was them."

I stared at him, trying to process what he'd just said. "Wait... Vesuvius? The volcano? That was the Keres?"

Erebus nodded solemnly. "They fueled the fear, the panic. It was more than just lava. The eruption was their way of feeding off the chaos and destruction, amplifying the disaster."

A chill ran down my spine, and I swallowed hard. "Oh." I couldn't think of anything else to say. Suddenly, the prospect of stopping them seemed even more impossible. "I mean, we don't exactly have any volcanoes around here."

Erebus leaned forward, his voice taking on a darker tone. "They don't need volcanoes. They made a boiler explode at your school during a high school dance. Trust me, they'll find a way to annihilate this town if they have to."

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Of course they would. They thrived on destruction, on fear and death. And if they didn't find the destruction they craved, they would create it themselves. My home, my family, everything I'd ever known—could be wiped out in a matter of moments.

I pulled into the driveway, my thoughts heavy as I parked the car. The council of death vanished from the backseat in a puff of black smoke, leaving only Edwin beside me. He glanced at me, his expression neutral.

"I'll see you in a bit," he said before he, too, disappeared into his signature purple haze.

For a long moment, I just sat there in the silence. My head throbbed, and my eyes stung from the weight of everything I'd learned. I had no idea there was so much history, so much death and destruction tied to this town. It felt like I was standing on the edge of a precipice, staring down into something far darker than I'd ever imagined.

Does Mom or Dad know what happened here?

The thought lingered in my mind as I stepped out of the car, forcing myself to push it aside. I didn't want to worry them. I wasn't even sure how to begin explaining any of this.

Mom waved from the porch as she gathered the mail, her face lit up with a smile that didn't quite match the storm brewing inside me. "Hi, honey!" she called.