His Corpse Bride/ / DISCONTINUED

Chapter 6

    Death- I mean Damien returned a little late from the time he told me and came to see me as soon as he got back.
     "How was your day with Sarra?" He asked me, sitting with me at the coffee table.
     "It was nice. I like her." I answered truthfully.
      His eyes lit up in a smile. I sighed and crossed my arms.
      "Why didn't you tell me your name was Damien?" I asked him.
      "Well I... I don't know. I didn't think you cared." He said earnestly.
      "Well it still would have been nice to address you as something other than Death." I responded.
      "My apologies." He replied.
     I tapped my fingers on my arm and sat forward, resting my elbows on the table.
      "Damien. Your sister told me that I should really give you a chance yesterday. And I want to consider it since I'll be spending eternity here but... I just need to know everything." I told him.
       "Everything?" He confirmed.
       "Yes everything. About you and about this life and what I can and can't do. What I'm going to have to do. I want to know everything."
       "Everything may take a while." He said.
       "We have eternity. I think we have time." I said dryly, rolling my eyes.
       They rolled out of my head once again and I cursed.
       "Dammit!" I swore, aggravated that that kept happening.
       He laughed. "Okay well, for starters, you might want to stop doing that if you don't want that to happen." He said.
       I made a remark under my breath and shook my head.

*1 Hour Later*
     "And then I was chosen to be Death by the Fates. . My sisters weren't all that surprised, nor was I. I had always been fascinated with what Death does." He shrugged.
     I nodded slowly at all the information he had just given me. It wasn't a whole lot but it was enough to make my head spin.
     "Okay. So we're corpses, right?" I confirmed.
He nodded.
"So then, how do we, I mean your parents had you and your sisters- like how would we.." I trailed off, hoping he would catch on.
"Have children?" He finished.
I nodded.
"It's actually simple. We would need to go to the human world and conceive and a corpse's gustation period is much shorter than a human's. Even in human form. Since we can only survive in the human world for a few months, the Fates made it so a child develops in your womb in three and a half months time." He informed.
My jaw dropped and I had to catch it in my hands and reattach it.
"Are you kidding??" I exclaimed.
"No." He deadpanned, his eyes serious.
"Wow." I fell back against my chair.
"Yes and you would not really give birth. Once the gustation period is up, we return home and the child is a corpse, like us." He informs me and I look at him in astonishment.
"So the child dies before it is even born?" I quiz in shock.
"Basically. In less morbid terms, it is born to Death." He rephrased.
"Oh my God." I whispered in awe.
"I know it's not exactly traditional but it will become easier and more natural feeling. My mother learned and my great great great great great great great great and so forth Grandmothers learned. You will too." He smiled.
"Has Death always taken a female mate?" I asked curiously.
He shook his head.
"No there have been females that have been chosen as Death. Just more males have been chosen in the past centuries." He explained.
I nodded, understanding.
"So what will my duties be, anyway? Like, will I have to.. do what you do?" I asked him.
"No no, not at all. You will be the person to deal with issues here. Say, a spirit is unhappy, concerned, so forth, you will be the one to deal with that. Not to mention raising our children." He said.
"Spirits? There are spirits here?" I asked him.
He laughed lightly.
"Well, of course, my dear. Where else would they go once I take them?" He asked rhetorically.
"Heaven." I said softly.
He sat back and cocked his head at me, his eyes light with humor.
"Heaven exists, yes. But God.. God has his home and he loves his children, no doubt. But death is my domain. Meaning that his children come here. He raised them, guided them." He said.
I clinked my teeth together as I tried to preform the action of biting my lip, forgetting that I have no lips. I wondered if my family was here then....
"So you have all dead people.. here?" I asked him.
"Yes." He answered.
"We're able to speak to them?" I asked.
"Yes. Amanda, darling, what are you thinking? Your eyes are dark and gloomy." He said.
"My.. my family.. my entire family died in a house fire when I was ten... I was the only survivor..." I said shamefully.
His head cocked to the side as he studied me. He lifted from his seat and put his hand out for me to take. I took it and he lifted me from my seat into a hug. Our bones clinked together and the hug wasn't really warm but somehow.. I still enjoyed it.
"I can take you to them." He told me, pulling away to look at me.
"I- no- I don't know- I just-" I sighed.
"Don't you want to see them?" He asked, confused.
"Yes but... Damien I was the one who escaped. I saw the smoke and fire and didn't hear anyone yelling in our home so... I ran. And as soon as I was outside I heard my sister's scream. I went to run back in and the house exploded into flames... I didn't even try to help her... What if they hate me?" I whispered.
He shook his head.
"No, Amanda. You can't blame yourself for that. When someone dies, they forgive. They don't have the burden of having to have guilt or regret or hatred or anything like that. They are at peace." He assured me.
He took my hand and I looked down at our fingers.
"Do you have things that you regret?" I asked him.
His eyes flickered with a look of despair but it was gone as soon as it came.
"Yes, most definitely." He told me.
"If we're dead... then why do we still feel those things?" I asked him.
"We are dead but we are different. It's hard to explain.." he said honestly.
I nodded.
"Would you like to see your family?" He asked me.
I nodded slowly.