The sun had already been out for several hours. All was quiet, except for the sounds on footsteps crunching leaves throughout the Acondrian Forest. The duo had been walking for what seemed like days, and they had been accompanied by an awkward silence.
Death walked towards the direction of the house which he and Ronnie had claimed as their property. It was an old cabin which once had belonged to Death’s late father. The cabin was hidden deep in the forest, and no one had ever attempted to search for it; no one was brave enough. The forest was home to horrors that were better left undiscovered.
Death and Ronnie walked up the stairs onto the porch. It was made solely out of wood, but it had rotten over the years. As they walked towards the door, each footstep was accompanied by creaking from below.
Since no one knew of the location, the duo never bothered to search for a lock for the door, so once they reached the door, they simply pushed it open. Inside, there was no electricity, so in order to have light, they needed to light candles. Ronnie did so as Death walked over to the washroom.
The silence was driving Ronnie absolutely insane, so she decided to break it.
“D, what’s up?”
Death simply looked up and raised an eyebrow in her direction.
“What do you mean, ‘what’s up’?”
Ronnie sighed heavily as she walked towards the door. Death had walked in and shut it behind him.
“You’re not alright.”
There was a brief moment of silence.
“When am I ever?” he said, in a cold voice.
Ronnie slammed her hand against the door and grunted. She couldn’t take the constant attitude, and it was clear as day to everyone, especially Death himself.
“Why is that?” Ronnie asked in the nicest voice she could muster.
Behind the door, Death began to laugh hysterically. It was the first sign of amusement he had had in what seemed like years, but it only pissed Ronnie off even more.
“Why are you laughing?” Ronnie yelled.
Death opened the door in order to make direct eye contact with Ronnie. He simply smiled as he shook his head at her. She glared as he stepped foot outside of the washroom and walked towards what seemed to be the living room. He took a seat on the couch that took up most of the wall opposite of the front door.
“If you need to talk to me, you know I am always here,” she offered as she walked over to take a seat beside him.
Death rolled his eyes and looked away.
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Fine, I love you.”
The expression on Death’s face remained the same, but his eyes had softened. They finally looked human again.
“I don’t know why.”
Ronnie gave him a smile, and took his hand.
“D, you’re like the son I’ve always wanted, but could never conceive. When I promised your father that I’d take care of you, I never knew what was in store in the future. At first, I was doing him the favor of a life time. I went through hell and back for you, but if you ask me, at the end of the day, it was all worth it. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than here with you, kiddo. I could have left anytime, but you stole a piece of my heart, and now it belongs to you. You’re my family.”
Death stood up and walked towards the window on the west wall. He leaned against the windowsill and stared out into the abyss of the forest.
“You’re better off without me. I wish you’d just leave me alone.”
Those harsh words were like a dagger stabbed into Ronnie’s heart. Although she had grown accustomed to his rude remarks, there was only so much that she can take.
“I’d rather die.”
“Then die. There’s an entire police force as well as dozens of angry families waiting for you.”
Ronnie’s jaw dropped nearly to the floor.
“You don’t mean that, kiddo. You know as well as I do that you don’t. You can’t live this life alone.”
Without looking at her, Death replied, “I’ve done so for so long. It won’t matter to me if I lose just one more person.”
Before Ronnie could answer him, he turned to face her. She could now read his face. It was emotionless. His eyes were dark, and when she looked into them, she no longer saw the young boy that she took in and raised; she saw his inner demons beginning to consume him.
Ronnie stood up so she could be closer to eye level, although she was nearly a foot shorter. She was persistent; it wasn’t going to end like this.
“You act as if though you’re invincible, when you know that you’re the most vulnerable person I’ve ever met! All you want is someone to be there for you! Why are you trying to push away the only person that’s stuck through it all for you?” Ronnie demanded.
Death shook his head as he walked past her in the direction of the door.
“Do you really believe that it won’t hurt as much if cut off your ties with me? Is that honestly what you think will happen, that everything will be fine?” Ronnie yelled in his direction as she began to choke on her tears.
Instead of acknowledging her small speech, Death opened the front door and continued onwards. As he exited the house, he picked up his knife and placed it in the side of his trench coat which he was currently wearing.
Instantaneously, Ronnie ran towards the door in the direction after him. He was about to leave the porch when she grabbed him by the sleeve.
“Stop ignoring me!” she bellowed into his face.
Death quickly broke off her grip and turned to walk again. Out of frustration, Ronnie ran up to him and repeatedly punched him in the back until he acknowledged her. It eventually worked; he slowly turned to her.
“Oh, now you turn around?”
“I want you to leave. When I come back, I don’t want you here. If you love me like you say you do, then let your ‘son’ grow up. Don’t come after me.”
“But-“
“Respect my wishes. If you truly want me to be happy, then you’ll leave me alone forever. Never again do I want you to talk to me. Can you do that one thing for me?”
Ronnie was completely speechless. By this point, she was no longer holding back her tears; they just continued to flow.
“D, please don’t,” she sobbed, “don’t do this to me. We’ve had arguments before. We can just look past this one.”
“It’s not an argument. It’s a goodbye.”
Those were his last words. Death finally began to walk into the woods; not once did he look back. Ronnie was left there all alone on the porch to cry her eyes out.
“This isn’t goodbye. It can’t be…”
