Terrible Fates (BEN Drowned story)

Chapter 28

[It's been a while, Jeffery. Welcome back.]

Chapter 28

Jeff's POV

Orange side completed. Blue isn't, though. Green still needs work.

Turn. Turn. Flip. Orange side is gone. Turn. Turn. Flip. Turn. Flip. Red. Yellow. Blue. Nothing but squares and colors. I don't even think about solving anymore. I just do it. No more calculating or frustration. Just turn, flip, turn, flip.

"Jeffery, are you listening to me?" a voice piped in.

I shifted my eyes over to the hooded figure sitting on the grass next to me. The skull and wings emblem on the collar of his black cloak glittered in the after noon sun. Silver eyes peered at me from under the shadows of the hood, awaiting a response.

"Yeah," I muttered, then continued solving the Rubik's cube.

Death uttered a sigh. "I've asked you how your week has been and you reply with silence."

"I don't think I really have to answer," I said. "Nothing ever changes for me."

"That may be the case...," the silver-eyed entity began, slowly, "but it still doesn't hurt to talk. Apparently it does the human mind well."

"It's only temporary."

"Temporary is still better than nothing."

Why does he do this? There's no point to it.

"I already said it wouldn't matter if I explained my week, because the answer will be like all the others I've given you," I stated. "Besides, you don't need to play therapist all the time. Aren't you supposed to be off collecting souls and shit instead of wasting your time on me?"

"I don't need for you to tell me how to do my job," he chided. "I have a system, and it's none of your concern. You should take advantage of the time I am able to give you now."

"Oh, boy, you've given me plenty of time...," I remarked.

I noticed him shaking his head out of the corner of my eye. Despite my lack of cooperation, he said, "So?"

Scowling, I huffed and responded reluctantly, "My week has been the same-old same-old..."

"I see." He nodded placidly and I sighed. It's pointless. Why does he do this?

After a few moments of silence, Death inquired, "You have been stable?"

"I mean, I haven't tried killing myself, so sure," I replied.

"That is always a good sign...," he murmured awkwardly.

The silver-eyed entity shifted under his cloak, and I felt hot just thinking about wearing that and sitting under the sun so calmly. I wondered if he was bothered, even just a little.

"Listen, Jeff," he began, "I have a proposition to make--."

"Done," I interjected, completing the Rubik's cube right then and there. Without hesitation, I handed it to him and said, "Scramble this for me."

He frowned but stuck out a hand from his black shield of a cloak and snatched it from my grasp. His hands retreated behind the black curtain, then a second later he tossed it back to me with all the sides mixed up. Immediately, I began turning and flipping, subconsciously solving it like I've done many times before.

"Anyway," Death continued, "as I was saying, I have a proposition. I hope you will accept it, since I've planned it to be beneficial for you. It would be foolish to decline."