Aren’t we all deserving of friends? Someone who cares for us, loves us for who we are. For me, a friend is quite hard to come by. If I wanted to, I could fool them all; live in a relationship built on a shaky foundation of lies and false truths. But I don’t want that. Because that doesn’t feel real to me. And for someone so close to solemnity all the time, I want something I can grasp. Something happy. My job is a lonely one. Most hate me with every fiber of their mortal being for taking their loved ones. But none of them think through the bars of unbridled rage grief brings. All humans are fleeting blips on my radar. I deliver them to their next stop on the Death Train, and they’re gone. It must be better that I don’t know what affection is like. This is my way. I didn’t think it would change. I didn’t expect someone to see me as anything but scary and mean. But here we are. Back at the Feregrin Community Hospital. I get to see her again. I could already hear the beeps fading. I was on time, by the sound of it. “Bestie!!!” The girl exclaimed as she appeared, a smile etched wide on her face. “I missed this place. It hurts out there, but here it’s quiet… free.” She is referring to the veil between life and death, a place she frequents with her congenital heart disease. It’s an in-between zone suspended between dimensions, like a train station. “Hello, Latessa, I missed you too.” I still haven’t figured out how to speak to her in kid-lingo, but I think she prefers this anyway. I’ve seen too many kids like her talked down to as pets rather than equals. They think she is fragile, weak. “How much longer do ya think it’ll be ‘till I get to spend all the time here with you!” She is too sweet. I give her a warm, hearty chuckle in return, like that type of belly laugh humans do sometimes. “Well, you’re pretty resilient, so you’ll get to be like a superhero for a while. Someone who gets to teleport interdimensionally!” “Woah! What’s intedmenshunly mean?” She scrunches her face thoughtfully. “Someone like you. Someone who has a foot in both worlds and can’t let go of either. Someday in the future you’ll choose one, but not yet. I do believe you have life left in you still. I’ll let you in on a secret, though. You have knowledge that very few people have…” I bring my voice down to a whisper tone, “You know what happens when you all die. You know it’s not scary, that it’s simply another stage, past the limitations of mortality. Take power in that.” Her image starts to fade, signaling her passage back to the living realm. “When will I see you again?” She asks me earnestly. “Soon… sometime soon.” And then the beeping started again.

I can’t wait to visit Ri-Ri’s house again. It’s a grey house with a black rooftop. Ri-Ri has a garden with all types of flowers. He says that they make the place more vibrant and that it contrasts the big black fog above the house. Even though I don’t know what contrast means, I pretend that I do because Ri-Ri seems like he is lonely. When I first came to Ri-Ri’s house, I was terrified of the black fog. I saw the pretty flowers and ran to them. When Ri-Ri found me, he had tears in his eyes. He later told me that hundreds of years before I first came to his house, when there were fields of wild flowers, and a gigantic waterfall; he had a big family, but an evil person took them away. Ri-Ri said that that person cursed him to take people to the same place that his family had went.

 I was always at Ri-Ri’s house for only a few minutes before I went back to the hospital, that’s what Mommy calls it. I call it the place-that-has-extremely-firm-beds. Extremely is a word that Ri-Ri taught me last time I came to visit.
 Ri-Ri said that I was smart for a five-year-old. I wonder if he had a smart five-year-old before that evil man took Ri-Ri’s family away. I think Mommy feels that way everytime I go to Ri-Ri’s house. Whenever I come back, I see Mommy crying. Whenever I ask her what’s wrong, she gets up and embraces me like she thought I was going to die. 
 Last time I went to Ri-Ri’s, a scrawny, bald man came to the door. He was asking for a person that was due in the underworld a few months ago. Ri-Ri said that there was no one at our house for months. When I woke up, Mommy wasn’t there like always. She was talking to Dr. Kelly. “Melody is not going to get better.”
 “But…”my mother stuttered. 
 Your insurance is not going to cover the cost any longer. I’m sorry.”
 “Mommy? What’s happening?” Mommy embraces me like she always does. “Nothing sweetheart, I was just having an adult conversation with Dr. Kelly.” I can see the tears in her eyes dissolve into a happy smile. Mommy was great at hiding her feelings. Whenever Daddy left us, she put on a happy smile and pretended that she was fine. She was not fine. “I love you.” I said. “I love you too.” She didn’t show me her tears after that. 
  A few minutes later, I went back to Ri-Ri’s house. I’ve been going to Ri-Ri’s house more often lately. Although I love Ri-Ri, I don’t want Mommy to worry about me. When I got to Ri-Ri’s house, he wasn’t outside to greet me. I knocked on the door to his big house. No one answers so I go in. 
 I can hear Ri-Ri talking to someone familiar. I walk down the big corridor, playing hopscotch with the pattern on the floor. I follow the voices until I see two shadows.
 “No one has came here in months . So leave.” Ri-Ri says to the skinny shadow. “Does the Grim Reaper, the King of Death, have a soft spot for a little girl? How cute.” Grim Reaper? Ri-Ri never taught me that word.
  “No girl has-“
  “Don’t lie to me! I’ll take the girl to the Underworld myself.”
  “No, you are not going to take her.” Ri-Ri is always calm, which I don’t understand. If you lose your family, and are all alone; you should be angry and sad. Or maybe I am the reason he’s not sad all of the time. Maybe I let him be happy. 
  “What are you going to do to stop me?” The skinny shadow asks.
  “I-I… I will sacrifice myself for her.”
  “Ha! You’re willing to sacrifice your soul for a little girl?”
  “Yes.” I peek my head in the doorway.       “What’s going on?” 
 “I’ve got to go.”
 “What do you mean?”
 “I won’t be able to see you anymore.”
 “Why?” Tears form in my eyes.
 Ri-Ri sighs. “You’re Mom needs you. You need to go back to her.” 
 “B-But I thought you and me were going to be friends forever.”
 Ri-Ri’s face is strewn with tears. 
 “Goodbye.” Ri-Ri and the bald man start evaporating into thin air.
 “Wait! Don’t leave!”
That was the last time I went to Ri-Ri’s house again.

As she drifted off, Sarah was greeted by deaths looming presence, and the sound of the eternal clock he bore upon his wrist. He was slender, clad in a black suit, and stood with a welcoming embrace. He sat down at the side of the bed, “It’s good to see you again my dear.” “I’ve missed you,” she said. Death gazed upon the young girl’s face, “How can you miss me?” He inquired. “For I represent the end, and you are only at the beginning of your journey.” Sarah exhaled quietly, and softly spoke, “you are my only friend, the only time I feel at ease is when I get to see you again.” The emotion filled her like a teapot moments before bursting with steam. “No one believes me when I talk about our meetings, about our conversations. They tell me none of it is real and it’s only in my head.” Death placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “I am as real as the pain in your heart, and as such, I am only known to the one who feels it.” He rose from the bed and spoke “I believe it is about time for you to be heading back now.” “I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t stand to be there anymore, I hope you understand.” Looking to the table where a lamp stood dark, sat an empty pill bottle bearing her mothers name. He flashed a somber expression, which turned to acceptance. Looking to his watch, he knew he would now be with her endless company. Grasping her hand with an outstretched invititation, they went on with their way continuing their now everlasting conversation.

“Oh, hey kid. Did your heart stop again?” Asked death.

  “Yeah…” answered the little girl.

  “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

    “It has.” She said
   
    “Well, it’s nice to see you again Rosie.” Death said

    “it’s nice to see you again too death” she said with a huge, bright smile.

    The two of them both rushed in for a big hug.

    “You’re my most favorite friend, death.”

    Death paused. Tears of happiness filled his eyes. “You’re my favorite friend too Rosie.” Two silent tears fell from his eyes.

    They both pulled away, and he wiped his tears and smiled. 

     She started fading away slowly. “Looks like I have to go again. Bye Death. I love you.”

     “Bye Rosie. I love you too.”

     Then she was gone and death would have to wait and be patient once again.

(This was draft #27! Thanks Shadow for picking this number because it was not actually that hard to finish. Just needed a push!) ———

Pain is her friend. Her best friend.

People say that Amerie finds pleasure in redirecting pain. She doesn’t, but it doesn’t matter what she does or doesn’t like.

She’ll never change their minds.

Pain follows her.

And where pain goes, death is right behind it.

Rumors and whispers down the alley twist and distort the truth until it is unrecognizable. Until her ability to distribute pain becomes that she kills for enjoyment. That she has some dark desires to give pain.

While her siblings are the angel healers, she is the devil. Waiting for everyone’s demise. At her hands.

Some part of her, in a deep crevice of her heart, wishes to prove them right. Make them pay for their harsh judgements and cruel words.

But she cannot. Not when she holds a royal title and has a loving family. She will not tarnish their name.

So she puts on her best face and smiles through the piercing glares. If she must pretend that they do not affect her, then that is what she will do.

For in the light, she will play nice, and in the dark, she will be friends with death.

[8 years earlier… LILIANA]

My vision blurs, before it goes entirely black.

“Death?” I shout, remembering this is his favorite moment to appear.

I see his hunched figure.

“Death!”

I stand up on legs I cannot see and sprint towards the darker side.

“I missed you so much-” I say, burying my face in his cloak.

“Lily, I missed you too.”

I smile.

“Death, what do I do if I can’t see my legs?” I ask, looking up toward his face. The unreadable expression clouds his answer.

“Uh, don’t worry. You’ll be able to feel them soon…”

“Will I?”

“Yes, Lily,” he replies, hugging me before crouching. “I’m almost afraid to say you have to go back now.”

I hug him back and tears cloud my eyes.

“I’m going to miss you, Death.”

not my best work

——————

So, if you read my “STORY IDEAS” writing, you would know who Liliana is. My point is to make her different. She never had a father, so Death was the figure she went to. I’ll fix and develop this to make it better, but, for now, I was thinking this’ll do.

"Oh, you're back again," The darkness crooned.

The smile in its voice was palpable,

"How long have you come to play?"

Vidya's arms outstretched before her as she stumbled into the blackness -- feeling for the walls of the familiar inky coridor.

Almost instantaneously, pools of light flooded around her, illuminating the thick muddy walls and swamp-like paths. Everything she touched began to glow.

"What a brave child..." that voice mused, "If you need help with something you should ask, girl. It worries me. Humans usually have no problem with asking things of me."

With the newfound light, Vidya's eyes raised to the far wall where one could fully swallow that brutal image of Death. Its massive frame was perched, like usual, in a throne of blackened branches. Wispy shadows hummed from its very being, swirling and murmuring in soulless encantations. Its shoulders sunk into a boney slouch, adorned from forearm to neck with long dark feathers and a crust of opal crystals. Its eyes were glassy and its head hung heavily from the weight of a spikey ebony crown.

Vidya ran to the figure. Fearlessly, she raised her hands above her, a routine she'd come to develop. Compared to Death, the young girl was smaller than a thimble.

"Brave..." Death tutted again with a chuckle before outstretching a long spiny hand. Vidya hopped into the hand's palm then stumbled back into a criss cross position as Death raised the surface to its face.

"You haven't got much time left, little one."

It murmured once eye to eye with the child.

Vidya played with the black cavernous trenches of Death's palm absent-mindedly.

"I fear you'd be better off with me than those monsters who claim to rear you. I would certainly be more merciful than that hell you come from."

Death searched the child's exposed chin.

Vidya's tiny arms were marked in dark mosaics of blue and purple -- green-yellow blotching around perimeters of the bruises that had already begun healing. Her white eyes stared emptily for all that she could not see and her small ears had swollen shut, promising her nothing but the weary whispers of Death.

"If you must always insist on going back you should at least run away. Lest you find people who will treat a child properly. If these demons loved you they'd stop enlisting me as your sitter. You don't understand how tempting it is to spare you that life -- I've really grown fond of seeing you."

At this, little Vidya's face broke out into a spontaneous smile -- full and toothy. Her hands raised once again from her sides to above her head.

Death shook its head and sighed before bringing the girl to its cheek so she could stand and embrace its fishered hollows. Then it lowered the hand to bestow a kiss on the hair of her head, already matted with mud and leaves.

"I have the power to rid of those people if you ever commanded it of me. Again, you should learn to use your bravery more selfishly. I hope you are heeding my lessons in these meetings we have little one."

Vidya had returned to her distracted playing.

"I've taken your pain away for now, but once you're back, it will be as overwhelming as the last time. I shouldn't tell you this but you're so stubborn so I'll help you. This time when you awake, you'll be in your playpen. Feel your way out of the room and two doors to the left is your home's garden entrance. Wander out soon after you awake -- those monsters left that door unlocked today. Your new neighbor will see you and sense something is wrong -- she will help you."

Vidya shook her head absent-mindedly.

"Oh dear, don't be stupid, you should listen to me."

Death raised the hand again.

"You'll be going any minute now...promise me you'll do as I say. This is the only way if you won't stay here with me."

Death watched Vidya carefully, relieved when she finally gave a comprehensible nod.

"Goodbye little one. I hope the next time I see you is after you've lived a long and happy life. My favorite little child."

And then she was gone, and the blackness returned to its craft of handling the infinite matters of the dark.

When my spirit left my body, I didn’t think anything of it. My Aunt Kate, however, was crying, frantic, and calling for a nurse to come revive me. This happens more than it should but that’s all because I have a bad heart. Aunt Kate says I got my bad heart because I was born too soon but I don’t think that’s why. In fact, I don’t think my heart’s bad at all. Without it, I would’ve never met Death, who is the bestest friend ever!

Whenever we hang out, we play the best games! Way better then the ones on my Nintendo switch. There’s a huge difference between pressing buttons and well….this! I fly around the room my soul no longer bound to my frail body. When I fly around the room a second time I see death standing in the middle of the room and they give me a wave. I smile, moving to the middle of the room and floating down to the floor.

“Death! I’ve missed you. Do you want to fly around the room with me? We could play space invaders and make the lights in the hospital flicker again.”

“Hmm,” death considers my offer. “You’re due to revive any minute now so we really shouldn’t, Mel.”

“Aww, come on, Death. You could just suspend time again like you did last time.”

Death places a hand on his ghostly chin. “That took a lot of power from me, Mel, and also caused a lot of paperwork from my superiors.”

I frown. “So we can’t have any fun?”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I look down on the ground. “Aunt Kate and the doctors wouldn’t let me walk around this week because I was too weak…I was really hoping.”

I then look up and give death the same puppy eyes I give my Aunt whenever there was a new doll I wanted and she just told me no.

“I—“Death’s voice wavers. “I wish I could Mel but you have no idea what a bore paperwork is.”

“Is it anything like homework?”

“Way worst then that.”

“Aunt Kate’s singing bad?” I say, looking up at Death’s ghost-like appearance and thinking about how Aunt Kate’s singing voice once woke a fellow patient out of a coma so they could ask her to stop.

“Oh, heavens no, the boys downstairs use a recording of your Aunt’s voice for Timeless Torture Thursdays which it always is down there.”

Death points a finger downward and whispers the last part.

“Wow, remind me to listen to Aunt Kate more,” I say, a bit distressed at meeting a terrifying fate.

Death nods his head, reassuringly. “Will do.”

I look over at my body then over at the doorway when I see a nurse and some doctors running in the room.

“Looks like I’ll be heading back in soon, Death. I wish we got to do at least one fun thing!”

“Ahh, it’s fine. I’m scheduled to see you in a couple of days anyway. Maybe we’ll fit in a rousing game of body tag?”

“Ooh, where we go in the morgue and switch the toe tags! I love that game.”

Death chuckles then relents. “As do I. You have no idea the fuss it causes up there but sometimes it’s worth the trouble.”

I grin. “So see you next time, friend?”

“Next time.” Death confirms.

I feel a vacuum like hold on my soul as it’s called back to my body. When I awake from my deathly trip, I look around the room with anticipation in my mind. Death will come back again and we’re going to have the utmost fun!

Deep beneath the earth the Piramax Grows, an ancient building just above the core of the planet. The iridescent pillars reflect the black souls trapped in the ground gothic arch windows rise from the floor.

A young girl walked among the dead Not afraid and very much alive. She'd been down here before so she walked right through the wall illusion and into a larger room. The guards posted by each pillar had flaming wings of lava and armor of ebony.

The girl tucked a lost piece of hair behind her ear as she set up the stairs almost at an exciting run. She brushed past the secretary who muttered she was late.

She pushed the large metal doors and almost shrieked his name in happiness

“Crimson! I missed you!.”

The Crimson Angel looked up and walked away from his desk to hug her “It's good to see you again skye! Why didn't you respond to my letters?”

“The UpWorlders are shadowbanning my letters to you,” Skye said sadly

“But they won't stop me from you.” she added cheerfully

The ocean breeze is warm and salty like it always is and she is laying on the hammock, swaying back and forth like she always does. Always humming that silly little song and twirling her short locks of gold.

I walk over to her, wondering if this time she gets to stay longer; though I hope she doesn’t. Every greedy part of me would like to keep her close forever. I imagine the stories she would tell of fairies and mermaids, still humming that silly little song in between.

I finally reach her and she looks older, still youthful, but something on her face has grown wiser. I give her my hand like I always do and she proceeds to place hers in mine.

As she hums that silly little song, she twirls and twists and trips still like she always has. She giggles at her clumsiness and I try to trip as well to ease her embarrassment.

The waves crash before us and the sun radiates off of those strands of blonde that dance on her shoulders. Her pure innocence is the only light that I get with my job and it breaks me to give it back each time.

I sit down in the sand, grabbing a fistful and watch it shift away with the wind. She sits down beside me and does the same, but with sorrow on her face.

“Death?” She whispers.

“Catalina?” I reply.

“I don’t know how much longer I have here, but I have this feeling I won’t be coming back for a long time.” She says solemnly.

I grab her hand and squeeze tight, with love, with hope, with every part of me.

“I hope that’s true, though, I will be sad to wait so long for a moment like this again. But you have a life to live and I want you to live it. I will be here forever…waiting for you.” I reassure her and a brief smile falls on her face.

She begins to hum the silly little song again…. But this time faster and I know it’s almost time for her to go.

“Here,” I say as I stuff a shell into her hand, “one for the road, something to remind you that I am always here for you.” And she disappears. Like last time and the time before but hopefully not again until a long time.