Death's Hunt

Chapter 20

Both teams stood on opposite sides of the field, waiting for Alger’s final verdict. As he was counting each orb, one by one, I rolled my eyes at his inefficient counting system. We had been waiting for him to be finished for one hour now. I could see that it was driving Anga crazy.
“Are you all right Anga?” I asked. She didn’t answer. “Hello?” I waved my hand in front of her face finally snapping her out of her trance.
“Hein? What?” Anga blurted out.
“Kakrix asked if you were all right,” Chiyoko chimed in.
“Well, if I’m honest, I’m not really doing that fine. I’m freaking out here.”
“Do not worry, my friend. With how many bags we have collected, everything should be good,” Vlagor comforted her.
Finally, Alger stood up and grabbed that irritating megaphone. “All right. So after very careful calculations, I have come to my verdict. This year’s winner, and the death who gets to keep her establishment open, is…” Before he finished his sentence, Alger stopped for a dramatic pause.
“Why does he insist on everything being theatrical?” I asked.
“Probably just wants to make things more suspenseful,” Vlagor commented.
“As if waiting for an hour was not suspenseful enough!” Anga growled while pulling her hair.
“You know, for once, I think Sheri actually agrees with you,” I said as I saw Sheri who was on the other side of the clearing, biting her nails in anticipation and frustration.
Alger then pulled out a card from his pocket and announced flamboyantly, “the Black team! Congratulations to Anga for keeping her bar!”
Both Chiyoko and Vlagor cheered at this outcome. Anga sat down while… wait! Is she crying?
“Is everything all right Anga? Because now you are really worrying me,” I said.
“Are you kidding?!? I have never been so happy in my entire unlife,” she screamed through her mask. I then looked over to Sheri whom I saw on the ground throwing a fit. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I wouldn’t have been too surprised if she had been screaming every profanity she could think of. I shook my head at this display. After everything that had happened, she was still the same. I then felt a hand on my leg. As I looked down, I saw Pennu standing there.
“I’ll give you this. You’re better than I thought you’d be. I’m enough of a death to admit that I was wrong. And, on behalf of my team, minus Sheri of course, I… I say… good game,” Pennu congratulated me.
I gave her a smile before replying with a remark of my own, “Well I must admit that you did give me quite the challenge.” I then bent over and extended my hand, “It was a pleasure competing with you.”
Pennu took it and shot back, “Likewise.”
As she left the clearing, I then noticed Chiyoko talking with Urgaz and Wik. I walked towards them with some concern, listening to what they were saying.
“Sorry about earlier. You know, the whole… um… holding you hostage thing. It was just a spur of the moment idea. I… hum…” Wik stammered as he tried to form a coherent sentence.
“It’s okay,” Chiyoko reassured him. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it. Anyway, it’s not like you could have hurt me, right?”
Wik laughed at her comment, “Yes, I guess you’re right. Not sure if Urgaz would agree with you though.”
“I tell you, multiple times I was surprised. But I must say, tiny death really know how to fight,” Urgaz said with admiration.
Chiyoko looked down in embarrassment as she said, “Oh! Come on! It was nothing…”
As I approached the trio, I spoke up, “How does that jaw feel, Wik?”
“Ah! Kakrix! We were… I mean we weren’t…”
“You can stop trying to explain yourself Wik. I heard everything.”
“So, you aren’t…”
“No. I’m not going to hit you.” Wik sighed in relief at this revelation. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
“What?” Wik wondered.
“Why did you help Sheri? I mean, she must have done or promised something valuable to get you to participate on her team. I mean, you are three of the deadliest deaths.”
“Da. I would like to know that as well,” Vlagor exclaimed as he joined our conversation.
“Well… you know how she is. Always seems to know what everyone wants,” Wik answered.
“Do you really think she would have kept her end of the bargain?” I asked.
“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really expecting it. I mean, there is a reason everyone calls her the ‘greedy’ death,” Wik laughed.
“Why are you acting so nice all of a sudden?” I asked suspicious of his change in mannerism.
“Sheri told me to act mean and nasty all the time; otherwise, she said she wouldn’t give me free meals from now on.” We all stared at him.
“Wait! Just free meals!” Vlagor asked surprised by Wik’s answer.
“What can I say? Scaring makes me hungry.” We all laughed at this. “Well, I guess we better get going. I mean, a death’s job is never done, right?”
I chuckled a bit before answering, “Yes, our jobs are never done. Good game both of you.” I shook both Wik’s and Urgaz’s hand as they left.
“You were all amazing!!” I turned around to see Alger running towards us. “I mean, I knew that you were going to put on a good show for the finale, but I didn’t know that you would put on that much of a good show!!”
“Alger,” I said menacingly.
“I mean, the complete and total annihilation of a village!! How did you even come up with that idea?!?”
“Alger!” I growled, starting to get annoyed.
“And the whole battle… That… That was just brilliant!!”
I was about to grab Alger by the collar, but Chiyoko beat me to it with her scream, knocking the death over. “Thanks Chiyoko.”
“No problem,” she smiled mischievously.
I bent down and helped Alger get back to his feet before saying, “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the ‘show’ but know this. I think I speak for all of us when I say that this is the last time we will do one of your Soul Hunts.”
“What?? But?? But??” I put my tail in front of his mouth as a sign for him to stop talking.
“We’re done Alger, and if you are looking for other deaths to replace us, I’m sure you will be able to find other restless souls to help you. Come on, let’s go,” I said to Chiyoko and Vlagor as we started walking away.
We were heading back to Anga’s bar when Chiyoko suddenly asked, “Wait! Where are Anga and Sheri?” She was right. Neither one of the rivals had been seen since the announcement.
“They are probably back at the clearing arguing. Come on, let’s go find them.” But just as we were about to backtrack, Anga came running towards us.
“Oi! You left me back there!” she growled.
“Apologies Anga,” I said.
“We believed you were right behind us,” Vlagor added.
“We were coming back for you,” Chiyoko finished.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. We won! And my bar is still in business.”
“And Sheri?” I asked.
“Don’t know. Last I saw her, she was slithering back to her place.”
As we continued walking towards our destination, I stopped and came to a decision. “You three go on without me. There’s still one thing for me to do.”
“Don’t take too long,” Anga laughed, “We must celebrate!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” I flew off and began to glide through the dead woods, the branches ever so slightly creaking in the wind. I continued until I finally arrived at a rundown building, its paint was already flaking off. The windows were cracked, and the chimney had collapsed a long time ago while black vines had slowly reclaimed the leftmost wall. I landed and knocked on the rotting wooden door.
“Go away! We’re closed! Permanently!” I heard Sheri call out from the other side. I opened the door anyways, much to her annoyance. “I said we’re… Kakrix?” she exclaimed surprised.
“Sheri.”
“What in the hell are you doing here?”
“I came to congratulate you on second place.”
She spat on the ground before speaking, “Second place is just the first loser. You come to remind me about that? Well then, go ahead. Gloat all you want. Murderer.”
I sighed in disappointment before speaking, “You know what Sheri? You are right. I am a killer. But I’ve come to terms with my past. I mean back then, I was just a pterosaur trying to survive.” Sheri stood still, her back to me. Silence filled the room.
“Why aren’t you angry? WHY AREN’T YOU ANGRY?” She turned around in a vicious rage.
“Because Sheri I have learned to let go. I may not be able to force you to let go, but I can at least tell you to try and change who you are.”
“Why are you even bothering with me? Why are you telling me this?” she asked, confused and frustrated.
As I opened the door, I looked back towards her, “Because no one, not even you, deserves to feel horrible and rotten.” Just as I was about to step outside, I felt Sheri grab my tail. As I looked back, I could see her staring at the floor, some of her fists clenched into tight balls.
“You are a fool, an idiot and truly a moron Arrok. Do you really think I can change?” I simply looked at Sheri, her bangs hiding her eyes. “Do you?” she asked me once again, though this time I could hear a different tone in her voice, maybe a hopeful one. I sighed before speaking to her once again.
“Madeline, if I could leave my past behind then I don’t see why you can’t. All you really need is the willingness to do it.” Sheri just stood there as she moved one of her arms towards her face and began rubbing her eyes. I then heard her choke back a sob as she looked up at me.
“Why are you being so… nice?”
“As I already told you, nobody deserves to feel the way you do.” After an instant, I finally voiced my thoughts, “I think I know why you wanted to beat Anga so badly, why you really wanted to have all the patrons. You’re lonely, aren’t you?” Sheri had a shocked expression on her face. Her reaction confirmed my suspicions. “The reason you are so greedy is that you try to drown out your loneliness with material objects. Because of this, less and less people want to be around you, causing your solitude to grow.”
Suddenly, Sheri burst into tears as she fell to the ground. Kneeling by her side, I began to stroke her back.
“I… I… I…” she stammered.
“Take your time,” I responded with some sympathy.
“I just… I just wanted to be… to be loved.”
As we sat there for a few minutes, I could feel the negative aura that had always surrounded Sheri begin to dissipate as she finally released her emotions. When she stopped crying, she got up and slowly walked out of the building. I then followed her outside and saw her take a deep breath of fresh air.
“Sheri.”
“What?” she responded.
“If you want, I can be your friend.”
She stayed quiet for a while, thinking about my offer. “That… that would be nice,” she finally replied.