DarkTalesfromElderRegionsNY

by Hieber, Leanna Renee

  And then —this.

  She had cultivated a style that kept most people from intruding on her personal space. She wore clothes in layers —leggings and leg warmers, sweater and heavy jacket, scarf and shapeless hat over her somewhat stringy hair. Large glasses —“men never make passes at girls who wear glasses” her mother would say at frequent intervals (though whether as warning or out of approval Melissa never had been able to figure out) and the inevitable book. Even on the subways, nobody much looked at her.

  Except now.

  Melissa was annoyed, at first. She could manage to screen out almost anyone around her, but this man was… different. It wasn’t simply that he was staring at her. It wasn’t even that he was incredibly good-looking, though he was. Movie-star attractive, and dressed almost entirely in black (which was a cliché, when she considered it) —leather shoes, socks, suit and shirt. Only his tie was different —so white it virtually dazzled. It wasn’t even that nobody else was even looking at him, though there were certainly several women, and more than one or two men, who were bound to have found him sexy. It was mostly that she knew he was Death.

  Once he knew he had her attention, Death smiled at her. His teeth, naturally, were white and perfect. There was even a little sparkle to his eyes. “Hello, Melissa,” he said, pleasantly.

  “What do you want?” she growled, eyeing her page in the book.

  “Come now —you know what I want. I want you.”

  “I’m busy. Come back later. In about a century.”

  “I’m sorry.” And he did sound sincere. “I’m afraid I can’t. I’ll be elsewhere then. It has to be here and now.”

  “I’m not ready,” she said, crossly. She was surprised that she wasn’t afraid, but there was something kind of likeable about Death. He seemed almost like a friend. A very inconvenient friend you really didn’t want to run into.

  “Nobody is these days,” Death said, sadly. “Not like the Middle Ages —ah, those were good days. Warriors prepared to die with their weapons in their hands, blood everywhere…” He sighed. “Or maidens willing to collapse from consumption at a heartbeat’s notice. People were glad to see me then.”

  “Well, they didn’t have a lot to live for, did they?” Melissa pointed out. “Not like today.” She indicated her book. “I’ve only got three chapters to go. I want to see how it turns out.”

  “The butler did it,” he informed her.

  “There isn’t a butler in the story, and it’s not a murder mystery.”

  “Well, I can’t be expected to know everything,” he said. “I tend to keep busy, you know. Lots of deaths to arrange.”

  “Then go and arrange somebody else’s and leave me in peace,” Melissa snapped.

  “Sorry, I can’t do that,” he said. “It’s against the rules.” He examined his immaculately manicured fingernails. “You’re next on the schedule, so here I am.”

  Not for the first time, Melissa wished she’d taken those self-defense lessons her Mom had suggested, over and over again. “And what will you do if I refuse to go?”

  “Nothing.”

  She was caught by surprise. “Nothing? Nothing at all?”

  He spread his hands. “Nothing at all. I’ll just wait until you agree to go. Then we go.”

  “You’re going to have a long wait,” Melissa told him. “I have lots of plans. Finish this book, for one. Then there’s a couple more in my backpack. A drink and a meal at Brendan’s… And that’s just for lunchtime today. After that…” Her voice trailed off as she saw his pitying look. “What?”

  “I told you, I’ll do nothing if you don’t go with me. I should have added that you’ll do nothing, too. Look about you.”

  She lowered the book she’d been employing as a kind of shield (though what good it would have done against Death she couldn’t say) and glanced about the platform at her fellow travelers. There were about thirty of them, the usual suspects. A gaggle of Asian girls, a couple of family groups, the inevitable shoppers, various people with those annoying roll-along suitcases that always seemed to clip you in the legs, the obligatory homeless man, a few conspicuous tourists with their German-language guide books…

  All of them frozen in place, like a still from a movie.

  “What have you done to them?” Melissa asked, startled.

  “To them? Nothing. I’m not here for them, remember.” Death examined his fingernails again. “I’ve simply stopped your personal time. From this moment until you go with me, it’s simply now for you.” He shrugged. “I have millions of deaths to arrange every moment, from the lowliest bacterium to Heads of State. It would be impossible if I couldn’t stop time. Trust me, these days everybody wants to talk and talk before they go with me. I really long for the good old days and the today is a good day to die attitudes. Still, at least this way I do get to know my charges before we go. I guess all changes have their pros and cons.”

  “But why me?” Melissa asked. She was aware she was starting to sound whiney, and Mother had always told her that this was an unattractive feature in anyone. “What have I done?”

  “This isn’t a case of having done anything,” Death said, as patiently as he could. “It’s simply your time. Death comes for everyone, you know.” He smiled, and she could detect the hint of a skull in that smile. “I’m greedy.”

  “But who decides it’s my time?”

  “Not me. That’s an Executive decision, and I’m strictly field work. I have my list and I go visit everyone I’m told to.”

  “Well, who tells you?” she asked.

  “Sorry, sweetie —those are the sorts of questions you get answered after Death, not before. You’ll just have to wait.”

  “Then there is something after Death?” she asked, hopefully. “I’ve never really been sure about that.”

  He shrugged. “Does it matter what I say? You have no way of knowing if what I tell you will be the truth. I mean, if I say there isn’t, then you’re going to want to stand here jawing forever, and that’s going to get really dull for me. And if I say there is, how can you be sure I’m not just saying that to hurry you along?” He glanced at his expensive-looking pocket watch. The hands were not moving, and he clicked the cover shut and put it back into his suit’s pocket. “You just have to face the fact that I’m Death, and that you have to come with me sooner or later. It’s just a matter of setting your mind to it and doing it.”

  “But I don’t want to go,” Melissa protested. “I’m happy as I am. I want to stay.”

  “Happy?” Death rolled his eyes. “You’re wrapped up tighter than a nun to avoid getting to actually know anyone. You hide from the world behind your books. And your only lasting relationship is with the battery-operated toy in your night-stand.”

  Melissa’s face burned. “Let’s leave my night-stand out of this. And I like all of the things you mentioned. We can’t all be raging extroverts, you know.”

  “There’s so much more to life, you know.”

  “No, I don’t know —and, apparently, I’ll never have the chance to find out, will I?”

  “That’s true,” he agreed. “Well, there’s so much more to Death, then.”

  “You’re just saying that so I’ll go with you.” Melissa glared at him. He smiled back.

  “That’s always a possibility,” he agreed. He held up a finger. “Hold onto that thought for a moment, will you?”

  She followed his gaze, now riveted on a rather scraggly rat that was foraging along the edge of the rail. “Hey,” she complained. “I thought you said time was stopped for everything, but me. What about him?”

  “He can move for the same reason you can move,” Death replied. “Because his moment is now.”

  Melisa jumped and squealed in shock as he suddenly became fluid motion. From appearing to be a tall, handsome man he somehow slipped into the form of a cat —an immense leonine shape. She took in a flash of sharp teeth the size of her fingers and long, vicious claws as he leaped from the platform onto the tracks. Another
swift motion and he had snatched up the rat in those teeth and snapped down. The rat shrieked once. The cat turned and jumped agilely back onto the platform. Melissa saw that it had an all-black coat with a single white stripe down the chest before she wondered if the jaws were intended for her next.

  Instead, Death smoothly slipped back into the form of the charming man again, the stripe now a tie against his black suit. He used his left hand to push the tail of the rat into his mouth and crunched down hard before swallowing. “Now, where were we?”

  “Well, you were eating a rat,” she managed to say.

  “Yes, sorry for the distraction, but as I said, departures have to happen on schedule, and I’m so much better at sticking to schedules than the MTA.” He looked at her in concern. “I’m sorry, did that disturb you?”

  “Oh, no —people change into giant cats and gobble up rats in front of me every day.”

  He sighed. “I’m sorry, I do seem to have upset you. But when it’s time, it’s time, and there’s really very little I can do about it.”

  Melissa swallowed. “Is that… is that what will happen to me?”

  “What?” Death seemed confused for a moment, and then understood. “Oh, no, my dear —have no fear. I shan’t chow down on you. To everything there is an end —in the case of rats, it’s as a snack. With you it will be much nicer, I promise. All you have to do is to kiss me.”

  “What?” Melissa stared at him. “Kiss you?”

  “Yes. I know you’re rather out of practice, but, trust me, it’ll come back to you.” He smiled at her. There was a bit of rat fur caught between his teeth and she shuddered.

  “Kiss that mouth?” she said. “After what’s just gone into it? No, thank you.”

  “It’s what you have to do,” he said, gently. “The kiss of Death, and all that…” Then he smiled charmingly again, this time the fur having vanished. “But if you prefer, it doesn’t have to be this mouth…” He waved at his lips which had suddenly become rather fuller and feminine. Melissa blinked as she realized that Death had changed again, this time into a very female form. She wore a tight black sheath dress, very low-cut, high-heeled shoes, and her hair was long, thick and dark. About her neck was a string of pure white peals that hung over her ample and prominent breasts.

  She was hot… Despite herself, Melissa found the thought of kissing her quite a turn-on… before she remembered that this was still Death. “That’s… quite a change,” she murmured.

  “You like it?” Death cocked her head on one side and grinned at her seductively. “I do get a lot of response out of this form. And I can tell it appeals to you more than he did…”

  “But it’s obviously not real,” Melissa objected. “I mean, the way you zip between bodies like that…”

  She shrugged, which made her breasts move enticingly. “What difference does it make? You already knew I wasn’t human, anyway. This form is as real —or unreal—as any other I can assume. And I assure you, it’s quite anatomically correct.” She grinned. “Play your cards right, and you may get to find out.”

  Melissa had to force her mind to focus. “No! You’re still Death! And if I kiss you, I die.”

  “Yes, you’ve grasped the essential point.” Death grinned again. “Want to grasp a couple more points?” She wiggled her chest.

  “Stop that!” Melissa begged. “Bribery isn’t going to work. I’m not going to do it.”

  Death pouted. “Oh, come on —you know you’re going to have to, sooner or later. I don’t mind you having some fun doing it, but this offer won’t last forever. This moment lasts just as long as you hold out —ten seconds or ten thousand years. Nothing will change until you give in.”

  “I’ve got my books,” Melissa said. “I can keep busy.”

  “How many times can you read those three books before you go crazy?” Death asked her. “It doesn’t matter how good they are, you’ll get sick of them in time.”

  Melissa knew that Death was right —she was just putting off the inevitable. But what other option did she have? She really didn’t want to die, having not yet seen very much of life. It just wasn’t fair! But fairness, it seemed, didn’t have a thing to do with it. And if she did have to go, maybe having a little fun doing it. It would, after all, be her last chance.

  She must have been taking too long to make up her mind. Death started to get pouty again, and scowled. “Maybe you need another sort of incentive?” she asked. “Excuse me while I change into something more… helpful.” Melissa was just starting to wonder what Death would look like in a sheer negligee when Death changed.

  Melissa screamed, and backed away. She remembered the admonition to avoid the edge of the platform just in time. She backed into one of the posts, clutching at it as if that helped her clutch onto sanity.

  Death was now a woman-sized insect, an immense preying mantis. Her antennae twitched, the over-large mandibles clacked open and shut, dripping saliva, and her long, thin forelegs reached out toward Melissa… Panic welled up inside her as this nightmare form advanced slowly toward her and then lunged. Melissa screamed, but the attack wasn’t at her. Instead, the mandibles shot forward and latched onto a cockroach the size of Melissa’s palm. The jaws crunched down, and with a cracking sound the cockroach died. Death munched on it, and then slipped from the mantis back into the beautiful woman, licking her lips.

  “Death’s a bitch,” she murmured. “And my patience is wearing a little thin. You can embrace me one way or the other, sweetie, but embrace me you will.”

  Melissa was shaking, and on the verge of retching. “I don’t like my options.”

  “Tough.” Death examined her nails, which were long, pointed and painted a lustrous black. “Death is sweet, or Death is a bitch —that’s it. Your choice, but you’d better pick fast.” She grinned, nastily. “You won’t like the default choice, believe me.”

  She was beaten; Melissa knew it. While Death was seductive, she could probably withstand it. After all, she’d had plenty of practice at saying no. Now she was starting to wish she hadn’t been quite so prudish. She’d been saving herself, as her mother had always advocated —but now there was nothing to save herself for. Now, if she had to go, would it be so bad to die in a brief moment of passion? She looked at the gorgeous woman again, but shook her head.

  “I can’t do it with you,” she said. “Can I have him back?”

  “Him?” Death looked surprised. “Do you really prefer him to me? I could have sworn I’d read you right…”

  “And you probably have,” Melissa admitted. “If I was going to have sex, I’d most likely prefer playing with you. But since I’m not, and it’s just a kiss… Honestly, I’d rather kiss rat-eating lips than cockroach-chomping ones.” She shuddered. “And that mantis is kind of stuck in my memory.”

  “He’s still the mantis also,” Death said.

  “Maybe. I know it’s not logical. But you said it’s my choice, and I’ve made it.” She screwed up all of her courage. “I’ll kiss him. Then you can get on with your wholesale slaughter.”

  “It’s just a job,” Death said. Then she gave another seductive shudder, jiggling all the interesting bits that Melissa would have loved to explore, and Death was male again. “You’ve made the right choice, my dear,” he assured her.

  Melissa hoped he was right —but it wasn’t really a choice, after all. It was simply inevitable. “Let’s get on with it,” she said. She moved forward, trying to suppress the memories of the cat swallowing the rat as she focused on his lips. She leaned in and kissed him.

  He was surprisingly gentle, kissing her back with what appeared to be true passion on his part. Melissa felt tingling in her pants, and was amazed at her reaction. She kissed him again, this time longer and with more feeling. This was starting to become quite arousing…

  “Come with me,” he whispered gently in her ear. Melissa forced herself to look away as he indicated the edge of the platform. Right on cue a train drew in. It wasn’t a Q, though —this was sleek an
d black, and there was no sign of a driver. It was a single car, swift and silent until the doors sighed open. The interior was all black, with white highlights. There were seats that actually looked comfortable. And was that a bed toward the back? It was difficult to tell, as it was black in the blackness. Death took her hand and stepped into the car. “Come,” he repeated.

  Amazed, Melissa went.

  *************

  “And then what happened, ma’am?” Transit Officer Rick Gomez looked at the shaken old lady. It helped, sometimes, to sound detached.

  The woman took a deep breath. “She just… stepped off the platform, right into the path of the train,” she said. “Calm as anything, as if she was just crossing the street. Then…” she shuddered.

  Rick could imagine. He’d seen the results of a handful of jumpers in his time. They tended to involve lots of blood and unpleasant cracking and squishing noises. The platform had shut down after the young girl had stepped in front of the Q train, and recovery and clean-up had begun. The old lady had been the only one who’d admitted to seeing the girl’s final moments, so when everyone else had been hurried from the platform, she had stayed. Rick carefully didn’t look over her shoulder, where the crew were picking up what was left of the suicide. At least she hadn’t been pushed, as sometimes happened.

  “Thank you, ma’am.” He had the woman’s contact information and preliminary statement. If the authorities needed more, they could contain her. “I think you can go now,” he said, gently. “Will you be all right?”

  “All right?” The old lady blinked. “Not for a while, young man. But I’ll manage.” Rick led her to the stairs, and watched as she climbed them. She’d be taken to a bus to complete her trip.

  There was a small crowd of gawkers up there, of course. Whenever there was a death, people had to gather, it seemed. In the bunch he saw a gorgeous young woman, dressed entirely in black, with a string of pearls so white they almost glowed. She smiled at him and mouthed the words: “See you soon.” There was something vaguely familiar about her, though he surely would have remembered seeing someone so stunning before. He hoped she was right, and he would see her soon.