Sudden Departure

Chapter Thirty Seven

I jabbed the heels of my hands into my eyes and wiped away tears. "There you go," I mumbled as I brought out fingers to my temples and started rubbing them in controlled circular moments. The circles had more control than I did at the moment. It was very comforting.

"Wait... What?" Alex was baffled and that wasn't surprising. I rushed through my story, mumbling and crying like an infant. I had no doubt in my mind that she had no earthly idea of that I was saying.

I took another deep breath and lifted my eyes to meet hers again. "Okay." Another breath. "You know I'm not like the rest of you, right?"

Alex nodded and gave me a look to gently nudge me on.

"Well, Death has always said that there's something different about my soul and he can't place it, so he's always taken a special interest in me. I guess I've always taken in interest in him. Sometimes I spy on him and try and get information; to see if he knows anything about my soul.

"Last time I spied on him, he caught me. He was so angry," I stopped and more tears gushed from my eyes.

Alex began smoothing my hair back from my forehead. "You don't have to keep going if you can't handle it," she comforted.

"No, no, it's okay. I'm just flustered is all," I let out a nervous chuckle. "He was just so mad when he caught me, Alex. And he was laughing! He was so happy that he finally caught me spying on him."

"Wait, he was excited?!"

I nodded, "Yeah. Then he got really mad again. He grabbed my arm and squeezed so tightly..." I showed her the remnants of a bruise, now yellowing, in the shape of his fingers.

"Shai.."

"But when he let go of me he said something about... About tests! He's been testing me or something, Alex! And I think I just failed it, Alex. Oh my gosh, I think I just failed. I don't think I was supposed to tell anyone! He told me not to tell anyone. Oh my gosh, Alex! Oh my gosh, Alex!" By then I was yelling and weeping more. "And now these freaky ghost-ladies are following me around and whispering things and I can't get it out of my head! I don't know how it's related but it's scaring me, Alex! Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh."

"Shailene, calm down! Just calm down!" Alex grabbed me into another tight hug. "It's going to be okay, you didn't fail. And you said it yourself, the ladies are probably just excited about the Gala."

"No, Alex, it's about me. I know it is."

"It's okay, Shailene. Let's just pretend it's not about you, okay? I bet this isn't anything to worry about. Death probably just wants to see how you get along with other Guardians some more. That's all, honey. It's perfectly fine. Let's just get our dresses and go get lunch and maybe facials. We'll forget about this for now and just have a great time at the Gala."

"Thank you so much, Alex."

"I'm here for you, Shailene."

~~SD~~

After the breakdown in the dressing room I convinced Alex to take me back to my suit (every Guardian was treated to their own high-level Paradise Suit).

I didn't stay in my room for too long before I began to become restless again. I found myself wandering around the endless maze of Paradise Residency. The hallways were just as confusing and glamorous as that of Death's mansion, but just a lot brighter and cleaner.

After an hour or two of numb stumbling around, lost in thought, I was ejected from corridor into a large, open room.

The room was kind of dark, lit with a dim bluish light. A round, tiled fountain was gurgling steadily in the venter of the room. Above it, on the ceiling, had kind of a conservatory setup with a domed, glass ceiling.

It was similar to the one at Death's mansion because the windows were covered up by a sliding metal shell. The only difference was that this room was more simple and less luxurious. There were vines and leaves curling from planters ringing around the walls. Soft meditative music was playing and a light scheme in the fountain was ever-changing.

I smiled to myself and shuffled forward to the edge of the fountain. I sat on the edge and crossed my legs. While my eyes closed and my fingers found the water I found myself thinking, "it's so great to finally be alone in the quiet."

I felt that frustrated and panicky weight from before lift off my shoulders. Briefly, I was weightless. Then, another mass slowly inched its way onto my shoulders. It was a kind of forced calm, that was definitely relaxing, but still tense.

"Shailene," a strangely comforting, raspy voice cooed.

My eyes snapped open and I sighed. "Yes, Death?"

"How are you, dear?"

The genuine concern in his voice was frightening. So much that I clambered from the edge of the fountain to the wall.

"I'm fine, Death."

"Is that so?" He drew out "so" incredibly menacingly and it made me shutter. "I've heard that you've had quite a rough time in Paradise."

"No, I've been fine."

"Really?"

I nodded at him hurriedly.

"Shailene, are you... Scared of me?"

I let lose of my fear for a minute to scoff. "Death, I've been afraid of you before I knew you existed."

Death offered a sickening Cheshire grin and came forward. "Now that that's out of the way... Why did you tell Miss Alexandria about our little conversation?" With every word Death stepped closer the closer he got the taller he seemed to grow.

Hot tears began to well in my eyes, as well as a lump in my throat. "I...I don't know. Death, I was just scared and confused and... And." I swallowed heavily and puffed up my chest.

"Well I admired that." Death drew away from me. "Sometimes you can't just keep things to yourself, it can be a very wise choice to have a reliable ally on your side."

My jaw threatened to drop, but I quickly clenched it up again. "Uh, yes, sir, Death."

He nodded at me with an off look that made me uneasy.

Death clasped his hands behind his back and departed from the room. Just before he reached the doorway he looks over his shoulder at me.

"Shailene? How do you feel about me?"

A chewed on my cheek and considered the question for a moment. "You scare me to... Well, you... But I love you, in a grandfather sort of way. You've really helped me, but I hate you I don't know why, I just do."

Death's face flashed from a smile to confusion to a grimace. He nodded again and then left for good.

Okay, so this is another case of laziness. Meaning I'm drastically unedited. But hey, I updated. Go ahead and comment any grammatical and spelling corrections, that'd be stellar.

Thanks for dealing,
Angealic Darwin