Death's Purgatory

Chapter 2

THE MORTAL REALM

Death was tired of it all. After centuries of sustaining her post, things got dull. Someone's time comes, they die, she deals with the pain, meets the newly dead person and it all starts again. This routine had long become old for the far too energetic deity. She longed for drama, scandal, flavour but her existence was flat-lining.

Though the pain stayed the same, whether psychological or physical it never wavered. Never ceased to haunt her, but she fought on. It was the choice she made, her purpose and she had The Will. No matter how boring or painful it was, no one would take this from her, not even herself.

To calm her boredom, Death did the one thing that always entertains her; going to the Mortal Realm and stalking some miserable humans.

It never failed to make her euphoric, watching people mess up their own lives and bask in their regret was fascinating. She'd never miss out on the opportunity to observe such idiocy.

Death picked the most random town she could go to and went for it. Hopefully, there'd be somebody she could waste her time on. She looked for the most pitiful person near her but it seemed like everyone she passed was perfectly content with their life decisions.

This would be harder than she thought. She decided walking around was her best bet.

As she walked, she peaked at people's time, 20 years or 3 years or 5 days or 40 minutes... one by one at some point they would all face the inevitable, they would face her.

One person in particular caught her attention: 20 seconds, Hal Green, 36 years old.

It would be cardiac arrest that took his life, Death could already feel a slight pang coming from her chest, she was paralyzed and enraptured.

He collapsed suddenly, landing helplessly on his face, a crack was heard followed by a pained wail. Nearby pedestrians flock to his side, offering pathetic comfort and little help, there's only one level-headed person there, they take out their phone to call an ambulance.

Death wanted to inform them that: There's no use, he's long gone, but decided against it.

Hal's demise hurt, sure, but she could feel his utter terror, his fear of Death. That hurt worse than anything, and it saddened her. People should be happy to die, their lives mean nothing in the grand scheme, no matter how much they pray it does.

They have meaningless lives, with unnecessary hardships. When they die, they are free from it all. They decide where they'll live for the rest of eternity, they don't have to pay for food or work till they drop, and they can just enjoy existence without a load of demands looming over them.

And yet, they continued to fear... her. It was irritating and borderline offensive. Death spent countless centuries making sure the Eternal Realm was organised and divided evenly between everybody, just so they could fear her. You can't win no matter what. To be frank, it was not like she expected anything less.

After a while, the people's panic over Hal died down and Death was back into a state of boredom.

For fuck's sake! Death thought. Not even watching someone die is intriguing anymore. The Mortal Realm may only be a momentary solution to Death's personal dilemma. However, that did not discourage her from searching to find her next unknowing puppet. There only for her amusement, or as she would like to convince herself.

Death turned on her heel and began taking random routes through the town in an attempt to get herself lost. There had to be a hidden treasure in this town, something interesting.

She turns into a street and meets a familiar presence... Beings. A cemetery, ugh, Death was not a big fan of them. There truly is no use for them in her eyes, it's only there to give pointless closure to selfish people, who think the universe pulses around them. Not a place of rest for the Beings. Death appreciated cremation or even donating your body to science.

Death wanted to ignore the place, and find something better. But she realised; some of the Beings she knew were buried there, and wouldn't it be hilarious to see what was written on their stones? She put her opinions aside and decided to take a stroll, scanning the tombs for any names she recognised.

It was quite a large place; the weather wasn't too good either. The wind was aggressive, almost to the brink of storming. The clouds did not look too friendly either. Death did not let any of those factors falter her stride however, she would find enough joke material to use for a couple of centuries here.

And if this exploration goes well... she'll visit some other ones to terrorise even more Beings. This mission will turn out great.

Was what she thought before she noticed a rather sombre-looking specimen. Nothing out of the ordinary, a young girl crying in front of a grave. Death was sure this was a regular occurrence in a place like this.

She took a look at the girl's time: 71 years, 5 months, 28 days, 17 hours, 19 minutes and 41 seconds.

Her name was Avery McKeown, previously Avery Kain, nothing stuck out about her. She had dark skin and a dark red afro framing her soft, full face. Death could make out freckles on her cheeks that further softened her features, her eyes were earthly. Mostly brown but it had blue and green mixed in there, though her eyelids hung low and there was a sheen in her eyes.

Avery kept her gaze fixed on the tombstone but there was no life in her eyes as she stared, Death was enamoured. There was more to this story than just grief, those eyes said it all as she cried almost on autopilot. Yet her eyes remained emotionless.

Death walked around slightly to take a look at the stone, it read; Giza Kain, a loving mother and devoted wife. Using her common sense, she caught on to the fact this was Avery's late mother. 'Giza Kain', the name sounded so familiar... she'd have to check the records.

Avery's pain was like having glass in your heart, and every movement or even thought made them twist. It hurt like hell. Death put her initial plans on hold, finding out more about Avery McKeown easily becoming a priority.

She silenced the world around her and brought her attention towards the source of Avery's pain. Guilt, shame, and... vengeance? Yes, vengeance. Avery felt as though her childhood was stolen from her, and she was here to get it back.

Okay, that was plenty of meditation for the day, Death needed to head back. She was turning to leave when she heard a blood-curdling scream that snapped her head toward the source. Had she been human, she most definitely would've gotten whiplash.

There was Avery, dragging her fingers deep into the dirt, helplessly trying to dig up her mother. She kept screaming and crying while also shaking uncontrollably. Death refused to move, not like she had much of a choice; she too was in agony.

"Why did you have to die, you coward?" Avery shouted. "You don't deserve to rest. Yo–you made my life a living fucking hell and then you pissed off!" Avery was still digging up the grave. Her hands trembled, but she didn't cave and kept going. "It's not fair. I'm so tired of this. You fucked me up when all you had to do was love me."

Death sympathised with the girl, life was harsh and unforgiving. Even to good people – especially to good people.

Avery was sobbing and looked terribly ill, the crying plus the weather being an awful mix. "Was it that fucking hard to do? Was it that hard to love me?"

Death had seen enough; she couldn't deal with Avery's pain this close anymore. She could only wish her the best as she left the cemetery, forgetting about her silly plans altogether. She'd need a boiling hot bath and a glass of wine after this ordeal.