Death Dates

2

When Maurice awoke, he found himself surrounded by a gray void. At first he thought he couldn't see because he had hit his head and his vision would soon clear up. However, when that didn't happen, he pushed himself up and looked around. He seemed to be literally in the middle of nowhere because the gray nothingness around him appeared never-ending.

He had just managed to regain his balance, which was a hard task as the 'floor' below him appeared to be nonexistant. In that moment he realised that in such a quiet place he should have been able to hear his breath, which he couldn't. He placed a hand on his heart, on his neck, on his wrist, just in hopes to find a pulse, but he didn't.

"Wha-" he muttered in awe.

"Ah, Mr Donnelly. You're awake." Someone spoke.

Maurice quickly looked around, but failed to see anybody.

"Where am I?" The boy asked. "Who are you? And why am I not breathing?!"

"Relax, Mr Donnelly. You're alive, which is spectacular, considering the company you are in." A haunting, cold laugh echoed after the words. Maurice was confused and scared. He couldn't tell if the person who was speaking was a man or a woman. However, judging from their words, it was safe to say they were dangerous.

"Oh, but where are my manners. I haven't introdiced myself. I am Death." A shadowy figure appeared near Maurice. "Oops. I normally nail the teleportation. Please pretend you didn't see that." The figure disappeared and appeared again, but this time in front of the boy.

"Um... Death?" Maurice wasn't about to assume their gender in case they got angry and actually killed him.

"That's right! The one and only! Anyway, young man, we have plenty to talk about. You've been doing things that aren't exactly alright, haven't you?"

"But those were just superstitions! They aren't real, they're just stories! I was only having fun!" Maurice tried to explain. Death had their eyebrows raised as he listened to the boy's explanations.

"Listen now Mr Donnelly." Death had a serious tone to their voice. "Mortals are not permitted to challenge the borders of their luck. Superstitions may seem like nothing to you but they are warnings hidden behind silly stories. Warnings not to mess with what is beyond your reach. This is why I brought you here. People who disobey the rules must be punished for their actions."

Maurice's eyes widened and then closed as he expected his painful end. However, such thing did not come. Instead, he felt a cold sensation on his cheek and couldn't help but wonder if that was what it felt like to pass through a ghost. He than realised that he had just received a kiss on the cheek from Death itself. The thought was haunting.

Then, Death pulled away and Maurice couldn't feel the ghostly breath on his cheek anymore. He decided to open his eyes, only to find the void around him disappearing.

"It's okay Maurice. It was just a dream. You're waking up now." The young man could hear Death whisper, their voice slowly changing, turning into his friend James' voice. Maurice inhaled sharply and opened his eyes, for real this time. He was momentarily blinded by the white walls and bright lights of the room he was in. He realised he was in a hospital and the only thing he could do was groan, so he did.

"You're alive! Thank God!" He heard James exclaim.

"Of course I am. You can't get rid of me that easily. What happened anyway?" The boy sat up in his bed.

"Well, the doctors said you got a sun stroke."

"Huh. I guess we did spend too much time outside in the sun, so it's completely-"

Maurice stopped in the middle of his sentence and stared at the space above James' head. Above the boy's brown locks floated some numbers. As he stared at them, they started to rearrange to show a date. '14.10.' Maurice started to think. It wasn't that day's date, it wasn't his friend's birthday... What could it be? And suddenly, as he recalled what had happened before he woke up, Maurice realised what the date was. The thought froze his body and the only thing the boy could do was slowly fall back down on the pillow.