Sudden Departure

Chapter Twenty-One

My soup swirled around in its bowl, untouched since it was served.

I was starving, but not for food. For information. What made me so different? Why couldn't I be assigned? Who exactly is The Guy?

I felt a hand placed on my shoulder. I whipped my head up to find Millie's blue-ish eyes staring at me with concern.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she spoke, "Hey, are you alright? You've been a little out of it since the conversation in the rec.-room."

I shrugged and leaned away from her hand. "I'm fine, thanks. I've just been thinking about my assignment."

Millie flashed me a small, almost relieved, smile. She opened her mouth to speak, but Nebula interrupted her.

"Oh, you'll be fine! Death wouldn't leave anybody out." 

Millie grabbed my hands in hers and squeezed tightly. With a warm smile she said, "Death must be planning something very special for you."

~~SD~~

The silence in the Scouts' Quarters was killing me. Not one sound was uttered, and it seemed like no one was even breathing.

My thoughts wrestled in my head, crushing my brain. They howled and wailed, deafening me. My stomach churned and my head pulsed. The need for information was killing me slowly, crushing my brain and my heart at the same time.

I toppled from my bed and landed with a soft thud. I exhaled heavily and pressed my hot face on the cool tile. The relationship between these hot and cold forces was an extreme love that made me feel much better.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, not bothering to think up an excuse for being on the floor.

Suddenly, a perfect idea shoved its way through the crowd of thoughts.

 Before I fully realized what I was doing, I has pushed myself off of the ground and snuck into the hallway.

~~SD~~

Death's mansion truly was a different place at night. The lack of loud conversations and bright lights was slightly unsettling. The silence was eerie and an, almost obsessively protective, shadow was cast over the entire building.

As I plodded on through the lobby my night dress swayed around my pale legs. The pads of my feet made an odd, sticky sound even though I was trying not to make noise.

When I finally approached Death’s door my heart sped up and my stomach twisted into pretzel knots. I started to grow nervous that Death would hear my heartbeat.

I gathered a deep breath and pushed the door open. A violet shriek erupted from the hinges, shattering the delicate silence. I winced and slipped through the slit in the door.

My eyes swiveled around the room. The inky black had dissipated, leaving behind the grand room. None of the furniture had moved from against the walls, but various thick, leather-bound books were scattered around.

No doors were on the lower level so I quickly climbed the staircase up to the loft.

After conducting a quick, pointless scan I found out that there weren't any doors on the upper level, either. I sighed and pressed myself up to the book cases to feel for drafts.

Once I nearly rounded the entire loft I felt a small, warm gust of air blow from the crack in between two cases.

Yes! I thought as I smiled. Now, to open it, but how? I asked myself, replacing the smile with a frown.

All of the sudden, I had a weird, instinct feeling of what to do in my gut. I pushed the palms of my hands flat against the shelves of the bookcase. Then, I laid my forehead on one of the cubbies devoid of objects. Lastly, a closed my eyes and forced out a heavy breath.