Death's Lullaby

Chapter 23

The next morning Joe came into Death's room and shook him awake. Death swatted his hand away and groaned into his pillow.

"Time to wake up Cain," Joe stated. Death looked up at Joe and laid his head back on the pillow.

"Five minutes?"

"If I give you five more minutes the next time I come in here I'll have a bucket,"

Death sprang out of bed and stood in front of Joe.

"I'm awake. No need for a bucket,"

Joe chuckled and hobbled out of the room. Wolfie looked at Death angrily. He was sleeping and he had been disturbed. Death looked at Wolfie who had fallen back asleep and had started to snore. Death slowly got changed and went to the kitchen. He was not awake yet and coming home late from New York last night didn't help.

"Where were you last night?" Joe asked as they were eating breakfast.

"How do you know I left?"

"I'm a professional Cain. I've had four kids who snuck out all the time. There is nowhere in this house that you can leave and come in from without me hearing,"

"I had a job to do,"

Death stabbed his eggs and waited for Joe's response. At first he was silent. Joe leaned back in his chair and thought about his next words.

"Where were you Death?"

"Why do you automatically think because I had a job to do means that it was Death?"

"Because Cain would tell me where he was going,"

Death was puzzled. He had never liked two-faced people, but now he was one. Cain, the boy who listened to Joe and followed the rules. Then he was Death, the dark Power that followed his own rules.

"Okay so you were right. I was in New York for my job,"

"New York?"

"Yea, I have Powers that allow me to transport from one place to another. That's how I got there and back so quick,"

Joe nodded his head in response. It was weird for him to have the dark Power in his house that would eventually be the end of him. Joe knew he wasn't going to live much longer, but he also didn't know how Death, who had his Powers back, would affect his health.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you kill those people on your List?" Joe asked. Death looked up from his plate in surprise.

"Normally I just wait for them to die by themselves, but sometimes I have to touch them to make the process quicker for them," Death answered.

"Do you do it like that all the time?"

"Most of the time I let them go on their own. It's better not to rush things sometimes,"

Death and Joe both heard the bus honk and Death jumped for his seat. He grabbed his bag by the door and yelled goodbye to Joe. He sprinted out to the bus and got on.

"You're lucky," stated the driver. Death smiled in response and plopped down in a seat next to Adrian, like usual, and waited for him to notice he was sitting there.

"Morning," Adrian said in his normal tone.

"Morning,"

"You seem tired," Adrian stated as Death loudly yawned.

"Yea, I was out last night on a job,"

Adrian raised his brow like he was going to say something, but no words escape his mouth. He already knew why he was out, or he at least had a good idea as to why he was out. Dante got on and sat in the seat and cramped them all together.