Death's Lullaby

Chapter 2

Death could smell the fire before he saw it. The orange flames licked the house and the flames reflected into Death's eyes. He could hear the people inside screaming out someone's name. The cries went unanswered. Death looked to his side and saw a teenager watching the house burn down. Death smiled at the teen. He was a true killer. The smell of smoke slowly became overpowering and the teen became to cough and hack at the smoke. Death simply breathed it in and exhaled with a smile. The teenager recovered himself quite quickly and looked back at the house. He mumbled something that Death couldn't quite catch, and the next thing Death sees is the teen running inside the burning house. Death felt a pang in his head and chest. Death keeled over and coughed blood onto the ground. Death looked back up at the house and put a hand to his chest. What is happening to him? Death slowly got up from the ground. Then everything went black.

Death jolted awake and tried to regain his breath. He put a hand to his heart and felt the familiar presence of nothing. There was no pulse. No blood running through his system. It was normal, but in the dream he had a beating heart. He was bleeding from his mouth! He tried to recall the face of the boy in his dream, but it slipped from his grasp. His head was foggy when he thought about the dream and he couldn't remember anything except for the horrible pain in his head and chest. Death swiftly got up from his chair and put on his leather gloves. The familiar touch of the cold leather soothed him as he put them on. Death retrieved the list he was given from the desk and scanned over it once more. So many unfortunate souls will be given to him today. He smiled at the thought. He grabbed his small rucksack and some glass bottles. He stuffed the bottles in his bag and slammed his door behind him. The souls that were around the realm cleared a path for Death. The souls were afraid of Death and his touch. True, they couldn't be killed but they didn't want to risk being touched. Death transported himself to Earth and unfurled his list. His first soul for the day went by the name of James Frasier. He was only sixteen years old. Death double-checked the list and he had the age right, and he died from suicide. Death let out a shaky breath. He always shook with the ones that kill themselves. Death shook off his jitters and went into his room.

When Death entered the boy's room he was still alive. He hadn't done it yet. Death shook his head and looked away. He couldn't watch. He heard the scrape of a chair across the wooden floor, but it stopped. Death looked back up and saw the boy staring at him. Death looked behind him to see what he was staring at, but it was a blank wall. Death looked back at the boy and his eyes were still fixed on him.

"Who are you? Why are you in my house?" The boy asked in fright.

"So, you're really going to do it? Because if you are that would explain why you are on my list and, why you can see me," Death simply stated. The boy looked at the stranger confusedly.

"What list?"

"Death's List of course. Who did you think I was? The tooth fairy?" The boy made an audible gulp as he looked back to the rope and chair. He looked back to Death. Death sat on his bed and watched the boy.

"Please do this quickly. I hate watching these types of things," Death stated. The boy didn't move. He stared at Death and took in his appearance. The shaggy black hair and piercing black eyes. He must've had contacts because he had no pupils. His skin was a pale ivory white. It looked like he had never seen the sun. Black leather gloves covered his hands. He had simple attire on. Dark pants and a dark shirt with a white leather jacket that seemed to have dried blood streaked on it.

"You have one minute to do this, because if you don't I will have to kill you myself," Death growled at him. The boy then screamed and ran to his closet. Slamming the door behind him. Death rolled his eyes and walked to the closet. The boy was cowering on the floor bawling. He looked up at Death. He rolled his eyes at the boy and began to sing.

Come with me my friend
To a place only you and I will know
I will be your heart and soul
Your life has been complete
This your heart knows

Death took off his gloves and put his hand on the boy's forehead. His pupils dilated and his eyes grew foggy.

Come with me my friend
On a journey to the unknown
Let your heart fall silent
Listen to me and you shall be free

The boy's pulse slowed and he slouched further on the floor. Death kneeled to the boy's height and kept his fingers on his forehead.

Come with me my friend
To a place that only you will know
Let me see your heart and soul
Break away from the bonds of this life

His pulse stopped and the boy fell to the ground. Death grabbed a bottle from his bag and hovered his other hand over the boy while the other stayed on his forehead. The soul went into the bottle. Death backed away from him.

Be free my friend
Fly away from this place
For nothing can hold you back
Come with me my friend

Death backed away from the boy. He looked around his room. There really wasn't much. Death noticed there was a picture on his nightstand. It was of him and what looked to be his parents and a younger sibling. Death grabbed the photo and put it in the boy's hand. Death climbed from the window and in a flash he was gone. Death crossed off the boy's name and went on to his next location. An orphanage. Are you kidding me? Death looked back down at the list. All it gave was the address with a note beside the place. It said to have some fun. It was written by his boss. Death put the list back in his bag and looked at the place. It was falling apart, and it needed some remodeling. The lawn was covered in children's toys. He could hear them laughing inside. Death took a deep breath and walked to the front door. He took off his gloves and touched the door handle. The door handle grew black as it rotted from the inside. The blackness spread until it covered the whole house. No one noticed the house was rotting. Death touched the house once more and it fell to the ground. There was no warning. It collapsed and with that went everyone inside. Death began to pick through the wood. He found all of the bodies and collected their souls. They were the purest of white. Innocent children's lives that he had stolen away. Death sighed and collected the last of the souls. He looked around and noticed crows had gathered.

"Make yourselves useful and get some flowers from the area! Go on!" Death shouted at them. The crows cawed and squawked. They took off from the trees and disappeared from sight. He took out Time's pocket watch and wound it tight. The watch spun and time flew by. The crows came back and had spread all the flowers around the house. Both children and caretakers were covered in flowers. The meadow where the house once stood was now covered in wildflowers. The time eventually caught up and the crows had retreated back to their trees.

"Thank you my friends, and please do not feed on the bodies until the flowers die!" He shouted at them. The crows bobbed their heads and flew away. Death continued on with his day. Burning buildings, gunshots, car wrecks. These were all the sights and sounds that Death had seen today. He reported to the Path of Souls and released his bottles. The souls drifted to their places and he watched them go.

"Have fun today Death?" Devil asked him. Death nodded his head. He didn't bother to say anything else. Devil handed Death his list and they parted ways. Death didn't bother to look at the list. He would do it tomorrow. He arrived to his home and dropped his bag on the floor. He slouched into his chair. What a day. He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

A/N
So, this chapter I was debating putting a warning on just because the boy was thinking about killing himself but after talking to a friend I didn't think that it was necessary... So if you're a person who is sensitive to that kind of stuff I apologize but I'm warning you now that this might not be a good read for you because it will get it worse. Hate to say it but it will. Trust me I'm the author I know what's going to happen. Anyways up above I posted a picture of both the Book of Lives and the Book of Souls. I think it's pretty obvious which is which but just in case... The Lives is on top, Souls is on bottom. Hope you all enjoyed. Vote and comment and thanks for reading!

-Dragon 🐉