Chasing Death

Chapter 2

"Death is a trickster in the biggest con-show. Don't be fooled by its appearance."

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"What's your name?" he asked in the same unfazed voice as he flipped open the diary to a random page. Each page was charcoal black. The edges of the page started to glow in an unearthly purple light.

I replied, "Tora. I am Tora Ganguly. " On a second thought, I added, "What is yours?"

"Mrithun," he dithered for a moment. "You can call me Mrithun," he nodded his head as if practising his own name in his head.

I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Let's come back to you. What's your date of birth?" He narrowed his eyes in a way which meant business.

"If Death has a record, as you claim, he shouldn't have to take my details to know when my time is up," I argued.

"There can be tens of Tora Gangulys born over the world at the same time. " He glared at me. "How come you girls can put in your entire data on unsafe websites for something as stupid as 'does my crush love me?'. But you're so impatient with something as grave as death?"

"Because I don't trust you or even Death. He makes bad decisions always." I made a face.

"Well, if you aren't interested in the traditional way, we'll do it in a modern way."

He ignored my comment, turning over the diary on its side, running his long fingers along the spine of the book. He flipped open a small hidden hatch in the hardcover and pushed a little black button. The book disappeared in a poof, and Mrithun was holding a medium-sized tablet.

"Put your hands on the screen," he instructed. "It'll recognise your palm print and gather data from the Book of Life where your record exists. Based on those records, this book will bring out the date from the archives of Death.

"Interesting story," I mumbled, still unbelieving. Con people have a lot of little magic tricks up their sleeves.

Nevertheless, I placed both my palms flat against the screen which started glowing dark purple again as the flickering light engulfed my hand. I felt a weird tingling on my palms which seemed to seep through my skin. But I held on till the purple light died away.

"Cool, now let's dig up that data," Mrithun said as I withdrew my hand.

The tablet started vibrating fast as it emanated a bluish light, and then the screen lit up wholly. His eyes shone as he brought the screen near his face, and then he frowned. Lines of worry were etched on his forehead as he started scrolling gradually, which turned to a frantic scrolling up and down. Finally, he dragged down the screen and released it, apparently refreshing his page.

"What's wrong?" I asked, really confused now.

"You don't exist..."

There was something ominous in his voice.

"What do you mean by I don't exist?" I asked indignantly.

"There are records of your birth but none about your date of death," he mumbled, still scrolling.

"Has it happened before that someone's data was missing?"

"No..."

"This is the precise reason I don't trust Death," I hissed, anger getting the better of me. "He takes the ones that shouldn't be taken and spares the people who really may be searching for Death."

His head snapped up at that comment. His eyes were boring into me. The calmness was unnerving.

"And who gets to decide who deserves to be taken and who doesn't?" he asked.

"Isn't that the only task that Death does? He should do it better," I said firmly.

"Well, now a mortal will teach Death how to do his job?" he guffawed.

"No," I fumbled, "I didn't mean it in that way..."

"And for your kind information, Death doesn't get to decide who stays and who goes. They say that the diary is scribbled by the Fates," he cut me off.

"But do you think since my name is missing, death could add me in the list?" I asked.

"And why would you want to be added, anyway? You have an eternity to enjoy." His raven eyes were piercing into my soul. I felt vulnerable under his scrutiny.

"Eternity is boring," I grumbled. "The same old mundane routines for ages and ages. I'd rather have a date of expiry than be an immortal, that too because of a glitch in the system of Fates."

"Interesting," he muttered, "I supposed you could ask that to Death."

"But how?" I frowned.

"You're forgetting that I can shuttle between life and death. I can take you to the other side," he offered. "But whether he listens to you is completely his discretion. Trust me, he has a lot on his plate already."

"Will Death like me?"

"How does it matter if he does?" Mrithun seemed taken aback.

"I feel rejected by Life. I don't want to be rejected by Death too," I whispered, more to myself than to him.

"Oh..." He refused to comment anymore.

"Can Death revoke a sentence too?" I asked out of the blue.

His jaws dropped open, trying to find the right answer. Finally, he shook his head and said, "That's up to Death too. Nobody had ever made such a request to him yet. They generally call upon the heavens to bring their loved ones back."

"So that means he can?"

"That's for him to decide," Mrithun replied evasively, "But Tora, always remember that there's a price to pay for resurrection. Those that come back are never the same. Will you be ready to pay that price?"

I put my hand on my heart.

Was I ready?

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A/N 2000 words are done!
Hope you like this story!
What do you think will happen next?