Three year old, Hannah Grace Elizabeth Holmes was walking around the dense forest in the evening, looking around for the bouncy, bright-red rubber ball that she and her friends had lost earlier in the day after one of them had kicked it just a little too hard. Hannah was vaguely aware of her friends calling out for her to slow down, but she ignored them-- she just had to find that dam loopn ball. She and her friends had already lost two balls each that year and just knew that they wouldn't be getting another one anytime soon if they lost this one. They'd have to wait until next birthday one of them had and the next person's birthday was Jasper's and Jasper's birthday was in October-- over two months away! They couldn't wait that long for a new ball-- what would they even do until then?! No, Hannah had to find that ball before it got dark!
After about ten more minutes of searching, Hannah finally spotted it and dashed forward, yanking the large ball up into her tiny hands and was about to walk back off in the direction she came in when she heard it. Heard what, you ask? She heard it-- crying. And it wasn't the cry of a child that had fallen and scraped their knee-- no, it was the crying of someone who sounded completely devastated. It was a cry of complete and utter heartbreak- and Hannah just couldn't ignore it; someone was sad and hurt, and they might need help. Against her better judgement, Hannah followed the sound and felt her stomach drop for some unknown reason. Ignoring the feeling, she continued following the sound until she reached where it was coming from -- the river-- and spotted a crying, hunched over woman in white. Hannah took a couple of steps forward-- only to stop when a wave of icey cold air slammed into her and as a huge lump of dread formed in her stomach. "M-miss?" Hannah said announcing her presence, hesitantly stepping forward-- all of her instincts were screaming at her to get the hell away from this creepy ass lady but of course she didn't listen. She told herself that running away from this sad lady just because she looked creepy would be rude and impolite-- and it would only hurt the lady's feelings, which was the last thing she wanted to do.
Her parents had drilled manners into her head and she refused to let them go to waste-- no matter what her instincts said. She took another step forward and wondered why everything was so quiet now. "Miss, are you okay?" Hannah asked, shivering-- the air around her was getting colder with every step she took. Hannah put her ball down before walking closer to the bawling woman who kept crying no matter how many times Hannah called out to her. Eventually, Hannah was right next to her and reaching out to the woman "miss, do you want me to go get my mommy? She can help you?"
All of a sudden, the women's cries came to an abrupt halt and she raised her head to reveal the scariest eyes that the three year old had ever seen;
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Was she- was she crying blood? Hannah couldn't help but take a step back at the sight of the blood and the woman's pure white eyes. She took another step back --Her body seemed to be moving on autopilot now; her survival instincts were now working against her own freewill, trying to get her to safety but to no avail. Before Hannah could even blink, the woman was standing up and dragging her toward the water in a death grip. Her nails were digging into Hannah's arms, making them bleed. Panic arose in the three year old, causing her to start kicking wildly in an attempt to get free from the crazy woman's strong grip but it was no use-- Hannah just wasn't strong enough.
The woman lifted the little brunette up in the air before dunking her into the water. Hannah fought valiantly against the woman and the icy cold water as best she could, but eventually her limbs and eyelids grew heavier, and her nose and lungs started to burn for air and she gave ib; she breathed in. She slowly stopped moving and the world went black.
An undetermined amount of time later, Hannah awoke in a big-black comfy chair with a dark-purple quilt draped over her and a fireplace was lit right next to her. She sat up and blinked before taking in her surroundings-- she was in a huge, ancient-looking house of some sort and the lights in the ceiling were dim. The walls were made of some dark colored wood and the floors were made of dark-red marble; three of the walls were covered in bookshelves and the only one that wasn't, was covered by a fireplace and a painting.
The painting consisted of four people- one was a girl around eighteen with silver eyes, pointy ears, large pitch black wings, and shoulder length red hair; she was wearing a black, green, and gold robe, and she was smiling-- revealing long, razor sharp teeth. Right next to her on her right was a man with pale (almost white) skin, black eyes with silver skull pupils, and shoulder-length black hair with silver tips. He had a hand on the teen's shoulder and was wearing an elegant dark-green tux.
In front of them was a boy and a girl who looked nearly identical to one another; both had red hair (the girl's hair was shoulder length while the boy's hair was way shorter), pale skin, and nearly amber eyes. Both of the kids looked like they were about a year older than her at four and both were dressed in more... morden clothes. The boy was wearing a black, gray, and red tux while his sister (?) was wearing a pretty red and black dress with matching shoes and a bow in her hair.
Hannah then continued looking around the room-- nearly falling backwards when she spotted the man (?) from the picture sitting across from her in a matching chair. In front of him (?) was a wooden table with a tray on it; on the tray was a teapot, two tea cups, and a whole plate of cookies. How the hell had she missed him? And where the hell was she? "Fear not, little one, you're in a safe place now" Hannah jumped in surprise-- his voice did not match his look like at all. "Who are you?! Where am I?! Where's my ball?!"
The man groaned and mumbled "kids" under his breath. "To answer your first and second question, my name is Death, and you're in my home. You're ball is up above" Hannah's eyes widened in shock "you're the guy who comes and takes the dead away!" Death groaned in annoyance before murmuring about how little mortal kids knew. "Yes, I'm the guy who takes the dead away. Cookies?" He gestured to the plate of cookies, momentarily distracting the young child who immediately started shoving cookies into her mouth. After two minutes, she paused ,looked up at the man, and said "thank you " still chewing on a cookie.
Hannah then picked up the cup of tea on her side of the table and took a sip before something clicked in her mind- causing her to choke on the delicious drink. "WAIT-- AM I DEAD?!" Hannah didn't want to be dead! She had so much more to do with her life-- she had always wanted to grow up, become a knight, marry a prince, and get a dragon! Now she wouldn't be able to do any of that! That wasn't fair and what about her friends and family?! Who would look after her friends while she was gone? Who would make her older siblings and cousins take a break from their school work? Who would play with the cats while she was gone? Who would make her younger siblings and cousins smile ? Who would keep her toys company when she was in the ground? Who would greet her father happily with a hug when he got home? Who would wake her mommy up when her younger siblings got hungry? How would her siblings eat breakfast and lunch while her daddy and maymay where at work?!
"Relax, child, it's not your time. We're just waiting here for you to wake up" Death said as if he could read her mind. "What do you mean?"Hannah said, tilting her head in confusion at the man-- she didn't understand. "You've been through a very big ordeal, dear, and it took a toll on your body-- making you fall asleep. We just have to wait until you wake up " Death responded, sipping on his tea. Hannah was silent for a few minutes as she took in the information-- trying to figure it out. When she did figure out the information, all she had to say was "oh, I get it" Hannah sat there, drinking tea and eating cookies with Death for an undetermined amount of time until she felt herself starting to wake up. She looked at death and said "bye Death, it was nice to meet you!" Death shook his head, smiling at the little girl. "Don't come back anytime soon, Hannah"
Hannah awoke to her friend's older brother giving her CPR, trying to save her life. It just so happened to be the brother she had a crush on.
