Face Your Fears

Chapter 30

I was afraid to open my eyes.

I didn't want to see what had been waiting for me on the other side of that door.

But I had had enough of this darkness. Enough for a lifetime. I wanted the light, where it was easier to see, in more ways than one.

No, I was ready for the sun again. I just needed to find the strength to move.

"You can open your eyes, you know." I recognized that voice. I felt a flood of relief hearing it. "You're safe now."

"Death?"

"Yeah, it's me, kid."

I sucked in a deep breath, wary even though Death was with me, and opened my eyes.

We were sitting on a bench on one of the trails in Central Park. The sun had just set, and there was an orangish tint to the sky overhead.

The people around us were carrying on about their lives like they did every day. Like everything hadn't just completely changed forever.

Nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Death, sitting to my left, had stretched out his legs in front of him, leaned back against the bench. He was still holding his side as if in pain, but I could see that the bruises on his face were gone, as well as the cut that had been bleeding a considerable amount.

It felt so odd to be sitting there, in Central Park, after the things I had just witnessed. Yet at the same time, I was grateful for the familiarity.

The city I knew. Nightmares? Not so much.

Death blew out a heavy sigh as he shifted on the bench, rummaging around in his coat pocket, and then came up with a pack of smokes that he held out to me.

I accepted one without thinking, using my zippo to light up before passing it off to Death.

We sat there in silence, like we were just two pals lounging around, smoking, until we moved on to whatever struck our fancy next.

There was no way we weren't going to talk about what had just happened. It felt as if we were pretending nothing was wrong for the moment.

It wasn't until we had both finished our cigarettes that I decided to disturb the quiet.

"How long were we in that place?"

"Not too long. Two days, at the most."

That was a relief. If luck was on my side, then my family was safe. I would be seeing them soon.

"So. Your name is Aleph?"

Death frowned, looking uncomfortable as he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "I've been called Death for so long I'd almost forgotten my real name."

I found it almost impossible to believe that Death had had a previous life before the one he was living now. His face was usually always void of emotion, unless he was smirking, that it was difficult to tell there was anything underneath it all.

I felt guilt bubbling in my stomach, realizing I had always thought of him as a thing, rather than a person. Just because he wasn't human didn't mean that he wasn't a person capable of feeling.

And seeing him with Lucrezia for those few short minutes...it was obvious that he felt very much.

"If it helps any, I'm still going to call you Death," I told him. "Aleph just seems..."

Death gave a grim smile. "That was another lifetime ago. I haven't been Aleph for a very long time."

I had no way of comparing who he was now and who he had once been. The ones that knew had probably long since been dead. I would have to accept it as the truth.