Chasing Death

Chapter 24

"The darkness is a good friend, only until she starts getting jealous of the light around you and pulls you closer to herself. She's very possessive."

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Mrithun's POV

They say the darkness can kill. But can the darkness kill Death too? Because there was no explanation for what I was feeling.

I wasn't sad. I wasn't angry. It was just an all-consuming nothingness, shrouded by an uncanny sense of dread. The heart in my mortal form was pounding in my chest and I didn't know what name to give to this emotion. This was nothing like I had ever felt before. My tongue was dry like parchment, and there was no end to that pain.

I was pacing up and down the office, which would not be my office anymore soon. The black walls which I had carefully selected were just plain darkness now. I wanted to see colour; I wanted to see blush, the kind of colour that spreads across her face when I touch her, the hue that lights up the evening sky of the human world.

I stared hard at the crystal light resting in its cove and the light started whirring under my gaze till the brilliant crystal shattered into a million shards and the holder cracked too, raining crystal dust on the floor. I didn't need fancy lights, the light I needed was gone, the illuminating smile was locked away forever in the unending depths of hell and I, the almighty Death, was standing there, doing nothing, nothing at all to try to bring her back.

I had almost rushed after her that day when Atropos ordered her to be imprisoned. If not for Lachesis, I would've landed myself in the Fields of Lament because of my foolishness. No, I wasn't foolish; it was the fact that my concerns were muddled up. The impulsivity had drowned out any sane thoughts for a moment. I just knew they couldn't take away Tora when I was there.

Lachesis had frozen me to the spot with her spell, to keep me in place. And I had let myself be because I was not in control of my body. My emotions were beginning to cloud my judgement.

They say immortals don't have emotions. But then what do I name this weird feeling I had the moment I set my eyes on her? She was just another ordinary human, but there was something about Tora, something otherworldly, and that attracted me more.

A knock on the door broke my internal monologue.

Nish, my little imp, jumped down from the table and flew to the doorknob.

A man burst into the room and closed the door behind him. For a brief second, my mind couldn't comprehend what someone like him could be doing in my office.

"Mrithun, we need to talk."

That single sentence at that moment seemed to carry the weight of the universe. It must have taken him a lot of courage to come up there to talk because the Fates' minions generally tend to avoid me.

"Manibhadra, I'm not sure this is the right time you know..." I began.

"It's about Tora," he blurted.

That one name sent a shock wave through my body. My throat felt gritty as I tried to swallow.

"What about her? Are you investigating the case?" I asked warily. If that was the situation, then I had to put my mental guards up right then.

"Oh Lord, as if!" He threw his hands into the air and his eyebrows frowned, visibly irritated.

"We don't call upon the Lord in the underworld," I said smoothly.

"I know," he spat, "And that's why a human girl is being forced to stay in a prison where even the best of the immortals go insane after a while."

"Human girl?" I tried to feign innocence.