Between Life and Death

Hide and Seek Part 4

●DEATH●

"That's not my worst, Life," Death said as he walked up to her.

Life turned around and gave a small yelp of surprise. "H-how did you know?" she stammered.

Death smirked. "I'm something like a god. Don't you think a god would know if someone was stalking him? And besides, I've told you before that I can sense your presence if you're nearby. When I left the cottage, I knew you were around, and decided to say hi. Didn't know you were eavesdropping." Death smirk got replaced by a glare. "How much did you hear?"

Death watched Life's expression transform from one of surprise to one of fear. Something deep inside of him told him he should feel bad that he scared Life, but his face only hardened. "How much did you hear?" he repeated, louder this time. The soul he'd been arguing with had been one of the worse he faced, and the encounter left him more than a little annoyed.

"I-I heard," Life sputtered, but Death grew impatient of her stammering.

"Pull yourself together, Life! You've been alive for hundreds of millions of years, and yet you still act as though you were created yesterday! So let me ask you again, how much did you hear?" Death bellowed, the sudden noise sending nearby birds fluttering away.

Life, though still shuddering from fear, managed to glower at Death with a level of ferocity that surprised him. "While you may be something like a god, it would do you well to remember that I created the wall that, to this day, you cannot shatter. I know you can be threatening, but I am more powerful," Life whispered menacingly. She straightened her back a bit and tilted her head back. "Oh, and to answer your last question, I heard everything after you were yelling at the soul for assuming that you were to blame for their death," she said, her voice growing in volume. "Well, I wouldn't really call it yelling - it seemed more like the whining of a baby to me."

Death couldn't decide if he should be hurt, offended, or even slightly amused, but he didn't care. "You think you're so powerful and smart, don't you? You think you know everything there is to know about me, but you're wrong. I could shatter the wall - the power you had when you were first created was much weaker than it is now. The only reason I didn't shatter it was to protect the living. Let's be honest: the dead can be quite vengeful, and them living amongst those alive caused a lot of havoc. With the wall up, the living could live in peace, with no disturbance from the dead. You think I am heartless enough to want to take over the world? That assumption makes you no better than the soul I was - in your words - 'whining' at, and I'm sure you heard its last words. Maybe you do hate me," Death spat with a slight inward wince, "but I don't care. Now good day."

Before Life could respond, Death turned around to teleport away when he felt a familiar tug on his wrist. Without looking back, he shattered Life's tether and teleported away from her for the second time in that day.

The door's to Death's home were flung open as he stormed in. The servants in the main hall could see that Death was in a bad mood, and kept their distance.

"Open the doors to the library," Death ordered, his voice echoing off of the near-empty marble halls.

A lone servant scurried ahead of him to the doors of the library, and by the time Death got there, the doors yawned open and a fire crackled in the fireplace, offering the only noise in the big, musty room full of books. By then his anger had worn off, and in its absence came drowsiness. Death hobbled over to his favorite chair and sighed heavily as he sank into it. Sleep was just about to take over the reins when the soul's words rang out in his head.

Maybe you should hate Life, because I know she despises you.

"Maybe I really should," Death whispered to himself. "I can see why she would hate me." His bitter laugh rang in his ears. "Even I don't like myself sometimes." Death frowned and sighed. "Why do I even try anymore? I had my chance 750 million years ago, but I didn't take it. Look where that got me! Sometimes I wish things had stayed the same and that -" Death began to shout, but he got interrupted by a woman shadowed in black. Her eyes were obsidian, her hair onyx, and she wore a black and white dress, which complemented her milky white skin.