knocking on deaths door

"there's Someone At The Door"

Stiff. She was painfully stiff. Willow moaned as she pushed herself up off the ground, her arms clicking every now and again. She didn't know how long she'd been lying on the floor for, but it had been too long. Everywhere hurt. Opening her eyes, Willow stood up unstably and tried to regain her balance. That was when her eyes registered that she had no idea where she was. She turned around as she stroked her long mousy brown hair back behind her ear. The sky was dark, it looked like it was about to rain. Then again, it was usually raining in England. But was she in England? For all she knew, she could be in a completely different country. Confused, she tried to remember where she had been. Was she drunk? No, she had never been drunk before, and there was no party anyway. Willow was standing on a very grey path, and she was facing a large deserted field, which was also pretty colourless. She looked behind her, and that was when she saw the house. It was huge and grand, with a very gothic look to it. It looked old, but there were signs of refurbishment, so she guessed that there was someone living there. Maybe she could ask for directions, or to borrow their phone. Then again, it could be some evil psychopath hiding in there. That was not a nice thought to have. Sighing, Willow slowly walked up to the door. She knocked three times.

"next!"
"um.. Excuse me.. I'm err, really confused.. I don't know where I am and.."
"look lady, you died. I need you to sign here."
"i... Died?"
"yes, you died. Now sign here." he tapped the paper impatiently. The woman began to cry loudly.
"oh for God's sake don't stand there and cry! You have your whole death to do that. I just need you to sign here!" he raised his voice. The lady tried to wipe her tears away, but she was so sad she couldn't stop. He put his head in his hands. Then, another man came up to his desk.
" death, there's someone at the door."
"devil, there's always someone at the bloody door."
"no, the front door."
"the front door?"
"yes. I think you should answer it. I'll take over for a couple seconds."
Death rose off his desk, frowning, and headed towards the door. Why was someone there? Had there been a mistake? It could just be life using the wrong door. He turned the handle and opened it up.

What he saw was unexpected. Standing in front of him was a young woman, no older than around 18. She had huge chocolate brown eyes, like those of a Labrador, and long hair falling all the way down her back. She wore a denim jacket and a simple pair of skinny jeans, along with a set of small black boots. Willow was also surprised at what she saw. Frowning at her was a man that looked around two years older than her, with his blonde locks in a neat hairstyle and eyes so dark they looked like they contained galaxies. He wore a white shirt and a smart black jacket, paired with the same coloured jeans and some well polished shoes.

They both looked at each other for a while. Then, the young girl spoke up.
"um.. Hi!"
"hello."
"um.. I was wondering if.."
"yeah I'm wondering too. Just a second."
Death moved backwards and called out.
"why is she here?"
"I'll explain later. Bring her in and introduce yourself." a voice called back. Death shrugged his shoulders.
"guess you'd better come in then."
She stepped inside and began to follow him.
"it's nice to meet you!" Willow smiled, trying to stay positive.
"well, technically you haven't met me yet," he grinned mischievously. "but it's nice to meet you too."
They walked into a fairly large room with two desks, one much more tidy than the other. There was a huge queue of people lining up at the disordered one, and sitting in one of those really fun spinney chairs was another man.
"here she is," death said to him. "now explain, what is she doing here?"
"did you introduce yourself?"
"I don't have time for introductions. If she's important, I will tell her who I am later, but-"
"tell her who you are first, or I won't say anything." devil commanded. Death sighed, and bought Willow into another room. This was a smaller one, with yet another desk. He sat down at the head of it, and gestured for her to take a seat opposite him.
"so, you can go first. Who are you?"
"um.." Willow debated whether to tell him her name or not.
"hello? Do you not know your name?"
"yes, of course I do! My name is Willow."
"willow?" he repeated. "hmm.. Nice name."
"thanks. So, who are you exactly?"
He sighed.
"I'm death."

Willow nearly fell off her seat. She shuffled awkwardly to keep her balance.
"death?! What the hell do you mean, you're death? Am I here because I'm dead?"
"that's what I'm confused about. You're supposed to be dead to get here, but somehow your hearts still beating."
"so.. I'm not dead?"
"no. So you shouldn't be here. But you are, and we need to find out why. So, get up and we'll ask devil shall we?"
"the devil?!" Willow gasped.
"don't worry, he's not as bad as he sounds. Come on."
He rose off his chair and opened the door for her. She walked through, panicking a little at the thought of meeting the devil. They went back to the first room, and death went up to another man, who had been the one he was talking to a minute ago. He wore a very smart suit, with a white long sleeved shirt and a satin, crimson red jacket. His brunette hair was styled to the side, and it gave him a very professional but handsome look.

"so, does she know who you are now?" he asked.
Yes, we did all of our stupid intros. Now you have some explaining to do."
"of course. SATAN!" he called out.
"yes sir?" a young woman with fiery hair came rushing round the corner.
"take over for me. I need to talk with these two a minute."
She sat down in his place, and began to talk to the person at the front of the queue. The devil took Willow and deaths arms, and started casually strolling with them.
"well, it's nice to meet you, miss.."
"Willow. Just Willow is fine."
He shook her hand.
"well, as I'm sure you've gathered, I am the devil. And if you're wondering, that over there is my colleague satan."
"i thought the devil and satan were the same thing?" Willow sounded confused.
"yes, so do most people. It's so annoying, all the stereotypes we receive. Isn't that right death?"
He nodded.
"yeah, it gets boring. I mean, every time i tell someone my name, I get a bad reaction from it, whether they break down in tears or they try and knock me out. It's not fun." he sighed.
"well, finding out you're dead is probably a really horrible thing to go through." Willow spoke up.
"really? And how would you know? Have you died yet?"
"well, no, but isn't that sort of obvious?"
"no, not really." death shook his head. Willow was slightly taken aback by this.
"do you two even know what death is?"
"well, technically it's a who, not a what." devil corrected her. "and I can indeed say I know him pretty well."
"no, you're thinking of death as a proper noun."
"i am a proper noun!"
"yes, but the actual word death is an abstract noun."
The two men stared at her like she was mad.
"an abstract noun?"
"please tell me you know what an abstract noun is!"
"do you think I'm stupid?" death growled at her.
"hey! Cool it guys!" devil stepped between them. "let's.. Sit down."