Death Among Us

by Jack Crosby

  I do not torture my victims. No matter how much I would like to, to do so would be against my own code. I drew Leviathan back and brought the scythe down onto his head. Splitting ones head open is gruesome, but it is also an instantaneous death. The only suffering Mark Larson came to know was that he was not in control of his own destiny.

  His soul now departed his body, I released it from Leviathan. It would travel upstairs to be judged. I said a quick prayer, asking for a fair and honest judgment. The acts of today were bad, but if the man lived a good life before, he should be judged by the whole, not one act.

  Standing back up, another wave of the hand incinerated the body. Before you ask, I can only do this to the deceased. I created an urn and the ashes rose and entered. Everyone deserves a proper burial.

  This only left one problem, his now widow Maggie. I didn’t think this through at all and now I had to think of something to tell her why her husband was now dead. There was always the truth, but that was a bit hard to swallow.

  “Wow! That was an impressive reaping.”

  I turned to the doorway and Roxanne was standing there. “What are you doing here?”

  “Khloros called me; he said you were doing something stupid and that we might need help.”

  “He called you?” Since when did he have a phone? Or hands to use it?

  “Yeah through his Bluetooth. He said you don’t know how to work a cell phone. We need to fix that too.”

  I was confused and annoyed. Damn that dumb horse for spilling my secrets and for never telling me he could do that! “Thanks for coming, but I think I got this.”

  “So are you going to tell her the truth? She is pretty hot for a mortal. I wouldn’t mind a few rounds with her.”

  Between the know-it-all horse and the Lust demon, I was surrounded by problems. “I haven’t decided yet. And you are not going to use your sex magic on her!”

  “Calm down patron saint of prudes, I was just kidding. Anyway, I will let you handle this then. If you need me, just have Khloros call me.” With a cute little wave, she disappeared.

  “I only have myself to thank for this.” I wasn’t talking to anyone is particular. I walked out the house and headed to the car. I opened the door to the backseat, but did not acknowledge Khloros. He didn’t say anything either, so I knew he knew.

  I carefully picked up Maggie and walked her into the house. My enchantments were still holding strong and once we entered, I sat her on the couch. I waved my hand once more and the door reassembled and took its place on the hinges.

  “Here goes nothing.” I touched her forehead again and her eyes shot open.

  “Wait, where am I?”

  I grabbed her shoulders. “It is okay, you are home.”

  She looked around, panicked. “What are you doing here? Get the fuck out of here before he sees you!”

  “It is okay, he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

  “Derrick, what are you talking about?”

  Words would have no more meaning. It was just time I showed her. I reached into my pocket and pulled out Leviathan. Giving it a boost, it took shape into the massive scythe it is. “Maggie, Derrick is only an alias. My real name is Death, the Pale Rider.”

  “What?” Her eyes went from me back to the scythe and then to me again.

  And then she fainted. This was going to be one fucked up nightmare.

  Chapter 8 – Get Outta Here!

  While I waited for Maggie to wake back up, I made some hot chocolate. She had one of those instant hot water machines, so even a hack like me couldn’t screw this up. I made her a cup to, after all, it was her house.

  As I finished the second cup, I heard a groan and walked out to the living room. “Hey there, I made you a cup of hot chocolate.”

  She shook the cobwebs out and as her eyes focused back in, she got that scared look I was pretty used to seeing. “You! There was a scythe and everything!”

  “Oh, I put it away. I figured after scaring you that badly, it would just be best if you didn’t wake up to see it.”

  She pointed to the door. “You need to leave. Get out of here, get the fuck out of here!”

  I sat her cup down. “Before I go, there are quite a few things you need to know.”

  “What could you tell me right now that would want me to let you stay another second more?”

  “Your husband was going to kill you.”

  “Mark was going to kill me?” Ding, ding, ding! Tell her what she’s won!

  “Yeah, when you hugged me back at your office, I saw it. Being Death you know, I can see when someone’s time is up.”

  “You’re being serious then?”

  “About being Death, yeah that isn’t something you joke about. I could introduce you to my horse Khloros if you want. He is the Ford Taurus outside you came here in.”

  She leaned back into the couch. “Where is Mark now?”

  “He has passed beyond. He was going to kill you and kill himself. I saved you but I did not save him.” For added effect, I pointed to the urn sitting above her fire place.

  Her eyes met mine and no longer did she see me as the college kid who she enjoyed. Fear was at the front and there was also awe. I hated it. Just because I was who I was, people could never look beyond that.

  “I’m still Derrick you know. Being Death isn’t all it is cracked up to be.”

  “Why did you save me?”

  Going right to the heart of the matters. “I broke a rule; I should’ve let you die. The thought of having that lunatic kill you though, it drove me to do something I’d never done before.”

  Again shock. “Whose rule did you break?”

  “My own.”

  The gravity of what I did started to hit me. This poor woman had no destiny after today. In my haste to be her knight in shining armor, I may have inadvertently made her life even harder.

  Maggie stood up and tried to compose herself. “What you have told me shouldn’t be possible.”

  “If it helps, I can show you the vision I had. It does pertain to you after all.”

  She waved her hand. “No, I would rather not see what my husband was planning to do. No, instead I just want to thank you.”

  “Before you thank me, I need you to understand your fate was supposed to end today. You are the first person to ever in a sense escape death.”

  She walked over and hugged me. “No, thanking you is the only thing you can do for someone who saves your life.”

  We stood there for what seemed like eternity in an embrace. Finally, I pulled away. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”

  “And so does this.” She pulled me back in and kissed me. What started as a long slow kiss soon turned into more passionate and rapid kisses. We found our way back to the couch, continuing to embrace the passion building. Before I knew it, her shirt was off and her breasts were pressed up against me. I started to reach around to undo her bra, freeing them from their oppression.

  Then doing something completely out of character, I pulled away. “We shouldn’t be doing this. At least not now.”

  Maggie looked up at me. “It’s okay Derrick. Mark and I hadn’t loved each other in a long time.”

  “I understand, but I don’t want you to do anything gin the heat of the moment you regret later.” The look she gave me told me I might as well kick her puppy too. Time for some damage control. “Let me make a deal with you. Take care of yourself and everything you will need to do tonight. If in the morning you still want to see me, call me.”

  “Okay.”

  “Trust me, once everything sinks in, you will understand.”

  I reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. With nothing else left to be said, I took my leave and made my way out to Khloros. He gave me a few minutes to think before he tried to talk to me.

  “I only reached out to the Lust demon to help you. I know you prefer to work alone, but this was an extraordinary situation.”

  It was hard to stay mad at him. “I know, it just caught me off gu
ard. Plus I had no idea you could make calls from that Bluetooth thing.”

  “Come now, it is the Twenty-First century. The mortals have made all sorts of innovations that can do wonderful things.”

  “Can you set my phone up like that?”

  The engine fired up to life without the key even in the ignition. “All you ever had to do was ask.”

  On the way home, he helped me set up my phone to be connected to him. The excitement in his voice told me he had waited a long time for me to ask him to do this. I used to consider myself a very wise being, but lately I think the opposite was true. I could be downright dumb and oblivious to everything around me.

  I was hungry when I got back to my apartment. And after the day I had, I also was craving a nice cold beer. Contrary to popular belief, celestial beings also need sustenance. In fact, food and beer are two of the best things about living life on Earth (and yes so is sex, but I was trying to keep this conversation clean. Thanks for dragging me down.).

  When I opened the door to my place, the overwhelming and delicious aroma of cheeseburgers hit me. We aren’t talking the fast food stuff most Americans eat; no I am talking about homemade and grilled to perfection.

  “Welcome home Mast- err Derrick! I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of making dinner for you!”

  Roxanne hooked me by the arm and led me into the kitchen. I blinked twice at the food waiting for me. “No, I don’t mind at all. I appreciate it greatly, but you didn’t have to go to this trouble for me.”

  She pushed me into my seat. “It was no trouble at all. I told her before, I am used to running the household.” She then sniffed the air. “Holy shit! You didn’t have sex with that lady did you?”

  “What? How would you know that?”

  “I’m a Lust demon, the aroma of pent up sexual tension is rolling off of you.”

  I couldn’t argue with the truth. I desperately needed a cold shower. “You’re right of course, we didn’t have sex.”

  “Why the hell not? She is one hot piece of ass if I do say so myself.”

  I really didn’t want to have this conversation, but then Roxanne opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. Not just any beer, but the Seadog Blueberry Ale. She poured the miracle liquid into a frosted mug.

  “You want this?” I shook my head like an obedient dog. “Then answer the question.”

  “Because, once she realizes what happened, she will hate me. I didn’t want to complicate matters.” Yep, big bad old Death was worried (not scared, piss off) that the hot mortal would hate me.

  Roxanne just stared at me. “You put someone else’s feelings before yours?”

  “Are you really surprised? I’m sorry if I’m not what you expected.”

  She didn’t say anything, but put the beer mug down beside me and left the kitchen. As I tore into the burger, and damn it was good, I figured the best thing to do was release her from her bonds to me. I figured she could find another being strong enough to protect her from Beelzebub.

  “Master, I have a surprise for you.”

  “How many times do I need to tell you,” and then I stopped. As I turned around, the perfect picture of a housewife was long gone. In an incredibly hot piece of lingerie that left nothing to the imagination, Roxanne was radiating in pure hot sex. She lifted her finger and it told me to follow her. I obeyed, following those swaying hips into the bedroom.

  She pushed me back on to the bed. With the snap of her fingers, my pants came undone and slid off. “Whoa, that is some trick.”

  “That is just the warm up; the real magic hasn’t even started.” With a wink, my shirt ripped in two. I really liked this shirt, but looking up at those red eyes, sparkling with excitement made me realize I could buy another.

  “Close your eyes Master, let your other senses take over.”

  I did what I was told. Even though she called me Master, I knew who was really in control. The heat coming off her body was incredible. What was even more incredible was the feeling of her nails and tongue moving about, exploring different areas until they came to the area they were truly interested in.

  The feeling took my breath away as she worked. I had to grip the side of the bed to keep from shaking. Roxanne worked slowly, almost cruelly in that fact as I wanted a quick release. She was not giving it to me.

  This slow seduction/torture went on for longer than I could remember. Only when her mouth lifted did I try to open my eyes. She stopped that in its tracks. “No Master, not until I tell you.”

  I thought it was odd her hands were so high up, only to discover she had repositioned herself. The naughty little Lust demon was hovering right over me and teased me for a moment or two. I could feel how ready she was for me, but it was just hovering out of reach. This was far worse than how slow she was working me a few moments ago.

  Satisfaction came when in one swift motion she took me in. I know we just had sex a day ago, but this time it was much different.

  “Derrick,” I noticed she dropped the master stuff. “Oh Derrick, fuck me! Open your eyes and take me!”

  I did just that. Seeing her mounted on me, I grabbed her hips and started working with her. She leaned back on me, pushing me even further inside. Soon we were in unison with our movements, a perfect love making machine. I didn’t realize how close she was too orgasm, so when she tensed up and started moaning it took me by surprise. It also brought me to my climax, the feeling way too good to hold in anymore.

  The euphoria lasted for a few minutes before exhaustion took over. Normally at this point I would go my own way, but Roxanne snuggled up close to me. With the lights already off, I put an arm around her and we fell asleep.

  Chapter 9 – Who’s ready for a Vacation?

  The alarm clock rang and I looked over. I groaned as it read seven thirty. I also noticed I was quite alone. Getting out of bed, I made my way to the kitchen, only to see Roxanne up drinking coffee (which I didn’t even know I had) and smiling.

  “Good morning! I hope I didn’t disturb you when I woke up.”

  “You must be some sort of sex ninja because I had no idea you were even gone.” I should also point out that I sleep like a rock. Goes with the territory though.

  “So what are we going to do today?”

  Good question. I had a class at nine, but smart money was on me skipping that. We had a day to get ready for our journey to Washington, which was about four hours away. I also needed to find out where the angels set up the safe house at.

  “I hate to ask this, but could you get our bags ready? I don’t know how long we are going to be there, but I guess just pack what you think is necessary.”

  Her eyes lit up. “It would be my pleasure! I think we need to update your wardrobe speaking of which!” She snapped her fingers and she was gone.

  “Roxanne?” No answer.

  Where ever she went, I’m sure it was best not to ask questions. Trying something new, I picked up my phone and dialed Khloros. It rang which was a good sign.

  “Grimm, you figured out how to use that phone properly! Did Miss Roxanne help you?”

  “Good morning to you too smartass and no, she already left for the day.” I resisted the temptation of hanging up on his ass and continued. “Has Yuri or Veronica contacted you with any information about the safe house in Washington?”

  “Not yet. You may have to face facts that we won’t know anything until we get there.”

  He was right. As much as I would like to know my itinerary before leaving, it didn’t seem like either of my contacts were in much of a hurry to contact me. “Very well. I’ll be down in a little bit. We are going to go see an old friend about getting properly prepared.”

  “Do you think he will actually help you?”

  “I guess we will find out when we get there.”

  I disconnected with Khloros and got myself ready. The man I was going to see was not someone to take lightly and there was always a chance things could go south. I wrote a quick note telling Roxanne where I was h
eading and then got dressed.

  The weather was still nice for mid-fall so I put on my shorts, a long sleeved t-shirt and sneakers on. I caught a look at myself in the mirror and inspected my choices. Maybe Roxanne was right, in that I needed an upgrade. Ahh, I could worry about that later.

  I placed Leviathan in my pocket and grabbed my stuff. As I exited the apartment and was going down the stairs my phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, I saw it was Maggie.

  “Hello?”

  “We need to talk.”

  Oh great, here it comes. “Of course. Do you want to talk over the phone or in person?”

  “Can you meet me at Pepe’s Pizza for lunch?”

  A public place? Hmm, maybe it wasn’t going to be as bad as I thought and plus Pepe’s had excellent pizza. “Yeah, I have an appointment this morning, but I can be there around noon. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, that gives me time as my lecture ends at eleven. I will see you there Derrick.”

  As much as I wanted to think about what she wanted to talk about, I couldn’t take my mind off the task at hand. As I got into the car, Khloros even seemed on edge.

  “Are you sure this is wise?”

  “He can help us, if he wants too. Besides if you know anyone else with access to weapons that can harm demons or celestial beings, by all means let me know.”

  He didn’t and his silence only confirmed that.

  “I don’t like this either, but we don’t really know what we are getting involved in.”

  “There was a time when your scythe was the only weapon you needed.”

  “Khloros, these weapons aren’t for me.” He was right; my scythe was all I needed. “It’s time we outfitted you properly, you know, just in case.”

  “What in the world are you talking about?”

  The idea had hit me awhile ago, but the past few decades had been really quiet. Slay a demon here, stop a coven of witches there, but nothing like what we were involved with now. “I don’t know, I guess we will see what we can find. Plus we should get Roxanne something. I think she is out buying me new clothes.”