The color drained entirely from Death's face. He collapsed into one of the arm chairs, sputtering and tripping over his words. After a few more attempts to start a sentence, he shoved his head in his hands.
I could see his shoulders shaking, but then I couldn't see anything when Madalyn Belle the First moved in the way of the crack in the door.
"Why are you doing this to me? This is all I have left." Death said. I heard the absolute sadness lingering in his words.
You know how your voice sounds different when you're about to cry? Like you have cotton balls in your mouth, or something lodged in your throat? Well, that's what Death sounded like when he spoke.
"It's for the best," Madalyn Belle comforted, rubbing his shoulders. "Besides, if you aren't controlling the ranks, then you won't have so many eyes on you. Your plans can work better, and you'll have more time on your hands to find what you've been looking for."
"Wait..." The potato man interrupted, "what plans?"
"Oh, goodness! You are SO SLOW!" Madalyn Belle the First chided. She turned her attention back to Death. "Carmichael is a tyrant, and he needs to be stopped.”
“I agree to that,” Death announced, “but, I don’t see how this helps.”
Madalyn Belle the first sighed. “Anyways, is the girl ready?”
Death paused. “No… no, she isn’t.”
Madalyn’s hands flew to the bridge of her nose. “When will she be ready?! I don’t think you understand what a great opportunity you have right now.”
“Look,” he cried, “I don’t know if she can really help. All I know is that she’s different, but I’m not entirely sure she’s the good different.
Madalyn waltzed around back to her couch and sat down with the grace even a ballerina couldn't achieve.
Suddenly, she raised her pale, bony finger to the door. Her eyes narrowed to angry, glowing slits.
“You,” she whispered menacingly.
I froze where I was. My heart starting pounding and adrenaline and fear shot down my arms.
The last thing I saw before I ran was Death’s threatened and scared eyes meeting mine through the crack in the door.
I bolted for anywhere that I wasn’t in immediate danger. That meant my options for safety were limited.
“STOP NOW, SHAILENE!” Death called after me.
All I could do was run. I sprinted as hard as I could, weaving through the cylinders, horrendously disturbing the silence. My legs started hurting after a few minutes, and my chest was pounding.
I stopped behind one of the empty tubes and caught my breath. I was on the opposite side of the hover craft, right next to the edge. Hopefully it would have been safe enough.
I peered around the rounded edge of the apartment. Everything was still and silent. The pods were still glowing eerily, casting ominous blue shadows on the ground.
I had to be safe, right?
Slumping against the wall, I closed my eyes and attempted to steady my breathing.
When I opened my eyes, Death’s angry glare was in my face. As quick as lightning, his cold claws captured my arm, squeezing it so hard it hurt.
I squealed and squirmed away from him, like a baby deer caught in a trap.
“Shailene O’Laughlin, don’t you dare writhe away from me,” Death growled in a dangerously low voice. He squeezed my arm tighter.
I squeaked in pain and stopped wriggling. As a result, Death’s grip loosened.
Incredulously, Death started laughing. “HAHA, yes! I’ve finally caught you spying on me! I caught you this time! Yes!”
My eyes widened and my eyebrows knit in confusion. “Wh… what?!”
“Hm,” Death coughed and composed himself.
Madalyn Belle the First sauntered up behind us. “So this is her? And… this has happened before?”
Death roughly released my arm, leaving it free for me to massage the pain from.
“Sadly, it has, and she disappeared in the mortal world for two weeks.”
Madalyn Belle sucked in her cheeks and came closer to me. She smelled overwhelmingly of decaying roses and hair dye.
When she spoke, her breath smelt like candy canes. “How much of our… conversation… did you hear, Guardian?” She called me a Guardian with so much venom; I was surprised that her mouth wasn’t dripping with poison.
“Nothing Nothing, I swear!”
The potato man toddled over to us on his stubby legs.
“If she says she didn’t hear it, then she didn’t hear it. Let’s just go back.”
“Shut it, Marques,” Madalyn Belle said sharply.
He shrugged and waddled away again, mumbling about seriously hurting Madalyn Belle the First. She snickered and examined her chipped black nails.
“So, what did you hear?” Death interrogated while he fixed his cuffs on his suit.
“Nothing,” I lied again, shooting the ground nervous looks. “What plans?”
Another malicious grin spread across Death’s face. “Ah, so you did hear something.”
I nodded, but then shook my head. “But I don’t understand. What’s happening?!”
Death shook his head, and he started to do that thing that made everyone calm. The relaxed blanket laid itself over me. I felt myself calmly swaying from side to side.
“Just forget it. Go back to your apartment with your friends and don’t tell anyone.”
I nodded and he walked away with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Oh, and Shailene. Consider this your last series of tests.”
~~SD~~
“Shailene, where have you been?!” Millie shrieked the second I slipped through the door.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Alex cried, forcing me into a hug.
“Alex, sweetheart, we’re all ghosts,” Hershel said smugly.
Nick rolled his eyes. “You know what she meant, jerk-wad, and don’t call her sweetheart,” he added darkly.
I laughed at them and curled up on the couch next to Nebula and Terrence. “No, it’s okay. I went to get a snack and I got lost. All these alien pods look the same.”
Terrence draped his arm over my shoulders, “You’re one of a kind, chick.”
Heh heh heh. See, look! I did a thing. I made this chapter kind of almost short because I’m an evil person. Haha. Okay, just kidding.
Thank you again for being magnificent readers!
But here’s the thing: y’all are, like, really silent readers. I want to hear some theories please! Anything you’ve got, no matter how goofy. Note: @thatsmealex_ and @ivegotanewcomplaint are not allowed to offer any theories. They know too much. *drags hand across throat threateningly*
Thank you for over 7,000 reads!!! I love you all!!!
~Angealic Darwin
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Sudden Departure
Science FictionI never actually feared death, nor did I fear dying. I think I had a pretty healthy awareness of it. I was more afraid of what came after it. I know, pretty morbid thoughts for a seventeen year old to have, but when your life is all around "perfect...
