A Dance With Death

Prologue

The graveyard at this time of year always felt different than during any other. The soft snow that fell made the graveyard look pure, as if it wasn't covering the ground where dead bodies lay beneath. At least, that's how Eliza felt as she wandered past the many tombstones. She wandered, looking for the one that she visited much too often, even after over a hundred years passed. As she made her way towards the back of the old cemetery, she found the old headstone, reading, 'Here lies Alexander Scott.' Alexander had passed away much too soon for Eliza's liking, only a year after they met per the curse placed on her all those years ago. The curse from the old witch burned at the stake, the last words she had ever spoken, "Heed these words, girl who brought death upon me. I curse you to walk the earth forever lonely, never to age or die, never to fall in love. If love shall find you, it shall be fleeting, less than a year in length, for your lover shall die from your touch." 

And it was true. Eliza felt selfish for even thinking about love, but after almost one hundred years had passed, she felt that maybe enough time had passed. Surely,  the witch didn't really mean forever. But, the sad truth hit her because it seemed the more that she saw Alexander, the sicker he got. Until the day that he passed. She felt the cold brush of death that day as she laid in his arms, feeling the air leave his lungs as he passed on. All she could do for a week was cry, wishing that death would have taken her too. But, it seemed that no matter how badly she wanted to die, she just couldn't. 

It wasn't as if she hadn't tried. She had tried taking a poisonous tonic a few years after Alexander's passing, gulping the bottle in a long swig, longing to feel the cold embrace of death that she knew Alexander felt the day he passed. She had gotten sick, but the toxic effects had not brought her any closer to death's door. From there, she moved on to more drastic measures that were more painful, but each encounter only left her with broken bones and skin that healed as if no wounds were ever present. Finally, she had given up, accepting that she really was cursed by the witch who was her past neighbor. 

Eliza moved every few years, never wanting to draw suspicion to herself, not wanting to be convicted for witchcraft as the old woman she had turned in had. She never stayed in one place place for long due to the fact that people noticed how her beauty didn't fade with time. Times had changed throughout the past four hundred and some odd years, even though Eliza hadn't aged a single day since that fateful encounter with the witch. Which was why she found herself visiting places from the past, places that still haunted her even to the present day. 

As she kneeled next to Alexander's tombstone, placing a rose on it, she said, "Alexander, my love. I don't know if you can hear me from wherever you are, but I still miss you to this day. I wish that the cold embrace of death would take me, but it still will not. I haven't stopped looking for a way to cross over into your waiting arms. At least, I hope that you are still waiting..." The last words came out as a whisper, making her gut wrench from the agony she still felt from her broken heart. Tears fell from her face as she leaned over and placed a kiss to the headstone, the only piece of Alexander that was still tangible before rising. 

Eliza turned, walking back through the graveyard, towards the gates ahead. She didn't realize how late it had gotten, looking towards the sky that seemed to darken more and more by the minute. She walked forward, but it seemed as if the very air had shifted. Like she was walking closer towards the gate, but at the same time, wasn't making any progress. She had never felt this feeling in her almost five hundred years of life, which made her panic. She wondered to herself why it felt like an ominous presence was sitting on her chest. She continued walkin  but realized it was futile as the gate seemed to once again move further away from her.

Eliza turned, surveying the cemetery around her. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but she could feel it. What she didn't know was that a pair of cold eyes were watching her, assessing her with a predatory gaze. "Who goes there," she yelled out into the night air. When nothing answered her except the wind, she turned again in a circle, trying to find the source of the ominous feeling. "I know there is something out there," she called out. "Something magical enough to spell me from leaving this cemetery," she yelled, her eyes widening as a flock of ravens took flight from behind an angel statue. 

Walking around the statue, a figure in a hooded cloak came into her view. "This isn't funny. Who are you," she asked. The figure didn't answer, instead, moving closer towards her. She then noticed what it was carrying. A scythe glinting under the glow of the moon that now burned bright in the sky. Eliza turned and sprinted further into the cemetery, wanting to gain as much distance between her and the figure. But, it seemed that no matter how fast she ran, the figure kept hot on her tail, even though it seemed to move at a leisurely pace.

Eliza realized her attempts at running were futile when she came to a corner of the cemetery. She was literally backed against the wall with nowhere to go. She turned, surveying the figure that drew closer still. "I don't know who you are, but I am done playing games," she said, looking at the face of the figure that was still cloaked in shadow by the hood over its head. Finally, it spoke. "But we were just getting to the fun part, little bird," the figure, no, the man said. 

Finally, he moved his hood back from his head, revealing his face. Eliza had never met the man before, but realized he was eerily handsome with his angled jaw, dark hair, and piercing silver eyes that seemed to sparkle under or even, crazily enough, reflect the moon's light. He looked as if he was something supernatural, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. At the same time, he felt so familiar, like the two had met before. "Do I know you," Eliza asked the man, looking him up and down, trying to place exactly why she felt that at some point, her and the man had crossed paths. "You should know me, little bird. We've crossed paths a few times throughout the years, but I've never been able to claim you," he said. She looked him dead in the eyes and said, "I'm going to ask this one more time. Who... are... you?" "I'm Death, sweet Eliza. And I'm here for you."