Here is the next chapter!
Enjoy!
*Edited chapter.*
*****
She felt something soft and cold brush against her cheek and travel down her jaw. Alibel startled, jumped from the couch knocking her pillow and sheet down.
She saw a dark hooded figure standing in the dark. Her heart beats accelerated. She switched on the light.
The still cloaked figure chuckled.
"Are you mad! You scared the hell out of me." , Alibel yelled.
" That's what I am meant to do. Scare the shit out of people." He replied, seemingly really amused.
Alibel rolled her eyes.
"Well next time, knock on the door before you come inside my house. Its impolite to enter someone's house uninvited"
"This is not how I operate. I am used to go wherever I want whenever I want"
"Well with me, it's not going to be like this. Next time knock."
"You seem to believe that a mere mortal like you can order me around" he replied, offended.
Alibel gulped. Don't forget that he is Death, she reminded herself.
"Look I'm sorry", she apologized. "It's just that you really scared me. Okay."
"That's understandable", he replied.
"So, finally, you came.", she said, skipping the subject.
"I said I will. So I did. For the pact to operate we are bound to respect its terms"
"humm okay.", she replied. What time is it, she thought, as she looked on the clock. Past midnight. She observed, annoyed. He really had the nerves to come this late.
" So, what will happen? What will I have to do? And when will you start healing my sister? Her health is rapidly deteriorating."
He still had that damn cloak on.
"And please could you remove that hood, its really disturbing. Its so dark under there, that even the light can't penetrate its obscurity. And due to that, I can't see your face. And it just freaks me out more. "
"You already want to have another sight at my gorgeous face"he replied while removing the hood.
And again, his dark handsome beauty struck her again. How could Death be so..magnificent.
"If believing this might help you sleep at night, then suit yourself", she replied.
He smirked.
"So, could you please answer the questions I asked before?" Alibel insisted.
"First of all, you will come with me. Then I will teach you...lessons. Then as you learn those lessons, you will have to do..some tasks as time flies by. And after each lesson learned and each mission you accomplish, I will heal your sister. Thus, doing my part of the pact. And because of the pact we made, you can't refuse to do anything that I order you to do. You will break the terms of the pact. So whatever I say, just do. Never say the word 'I refuse', not even once. You will inadvertently end the pact. And neither you nor I could do nothing about it.", he explained.
She nodded, despite the fear that invaded her body in every hidden corner. Because of this pact she had many precautions to take.
"What kind of lessons are you going to..teach me?", she then asked.
" Life lessons", he simply replied. "Now let's go. Hold my hand. I will teleport us to a location."
Her heart beats faster. Teleportation! She was going to teleport with him! And she was going to hold his hand again too! But what about her sister? She can't leave her alone.
She talked rapidly, "I can't possibly go with you and leave my sister alone? We don't know what might happen to her. "
"I knew you would say this. You made it clear yesterday that your sister's health comes first. So I guessed that her safety comes second. That's why I put a kind of charm, more precisely, a protective barrier around your home. I will be aware if someone tries to break into your home. We then could teleport back as quickly as we could. But as I have already said, she is meant to die only in two months if I don't heal her or if I don't take her life before hand. So I assure you that no harm will come to her. So is this enough for you?"
Alibel was dumbfounded. She would have never guess that Death would do something like this for her sister.
"Yes, i think its enough.Thank you", she said really grateful for his help.
"So can we teleport now?", he asked again.
"Hmm well, i can't teleport with you, I mean, look at me. I have my pajama on. At least could you allow me some time to change my clothes?"
"Why are women always busy worrying about trivial things like clothes?", he seemed really aghast.
" But i don't want anyone to see me like this", she shot back.
"No one will see you. I will use my powers to make you invisible. Do you think I go around doing what I do by being visible to you all mortals?"
Alibel could not believe it. She was going to be teleported and she was going to be invisible from mortals' eyes all on the same day!
However she thought about what happened yesterday and said,
"Well, I did see you, didn't I?"
"And I still haven't discovered how you were able to. But never mind. Go and change your clothes. You have 5 minutes."
Alibel rushed into her bedroom. As she was going with death, she guessed that dressing in black was appropriate. So, she decided to put on a black shirt with a black turtleneck pull over, trying to hide her feminine curves as best as she could. Then she put on a dark trousers and the dark Nike shoes Diane had gifted her. Fully dressed, she rushed out. Death was still standing where she left him.
"I'm ready", she said.
Death offered her his hand. She held it as her cheek reddened.
"You blush easily I remarked", he said while looking at her. "You're really innocent."
"That's not your problem", she replied, very much uncomfortable. "And you're damn cold. Like a corpse, i remarked."
Oops, finally she failed to keep her words about not saying anything to him about that. That mouth of her was uncontrollable. She hoped he won't be mad.
"Fair enough", he winked before he finally used his power to teleport them.
_____________________________________
Somewhere in France.
They landed at the location he had chosen. Alibel felt her insides churn. Teleportation was a funny mode of transport. It felt as if she was in a lift that came down rapidly without stopping. And she had barely blinked when she observed that the decor had changed drastically. She was not in her living room anymore. She was outside. There was a panoply of huge trees and in the sky, the stars was projecting a multitude of lights, shinning brightly against the dark canvas of the night. Trying to see where she was, she looked around and far away she saw a distinctive shape she recognized immediately . The Eiffel Tower, she realized, shocked. She was in Paris, France. It was unbelievable!
She felt something cold in her hand and she realized she was still clutching Death's hand. She immediately released his hand.
"I see that you take transportation easily" he said."There are others who have spilled the content of their stomach the first time."
"Who?", she asked.
He shrugged. Clearly he did not want to tell her. But that was an interesting piece of information he had just disclosed. So, there had been others who have had the pleasure or displeasure of being around him. Were they humans like her or paranormal beings like him? She wanted to know. But she didn't want to pry into his life. For now.
"Well I can't say it was really comfortable", she replied to his previous statement. Indeed, she still felt a little bit dizzy due to the teleportation mode of transport.
"But you were able to maintain your composure."
"I believe i did."
"That's good then. Alright. Please follow me. The reason we came here is there behind those trees"
Alibel nodded and followed him. She admired the view around her and realized that they were in a kind of urban park. At this hour, people usually come to take some fresh air in those kind of parks.
As she walked behind him she suddenly realized that his scythe was in his right hand. When did he make that damn thing appear, she thought. Still she remained silent and followed him until they reached a place where there were people crowded around something, lying on the ground. A corpse, she realized. Alibel heard a womanly voice, whining and pleading in tears. She seemed really afflicted by the events. Alibel could not understand what she was saying because she spoke in french.The woman kept saying
"S'il vous plaît! Aidez mon père! Je vous en prie!Il est malade! Il a fait une crise cardiaque!"
Translate as** "Please! Help my father! Please, he's sick, he had a heart attack!"
As Alibel could not understand a word, she turned to Death, who was standing still, watching the scene before him. "What happened here? What is she saying?"
"She's pleading the other people to help her. Her father suffered from a heart attack.", he replied.
Then Death put his hood back on his head. Alibel thought it was a waste to hide such divine beauty under such a rag cloth. Death looked at her and chuckled. She reprimanded herself. How could she have thoughts like this in a moment like that. That man was in a bad posture and his daughter was crying out there like a banshee and all she had in mind was Death's divine beauty. There was something seriously wrong with her mind.
Then he said, "Please follow me and stay closed."
Then he approached the crowd. Alibel followed him closely. What was he going to do? She feared the worst.
When they was near the crowd, Death did not even hesitate and went through the crowd and as if he was a damn ghost, he passed right through them. The crowd was completely oblivious to his presence. Alibel wanting to know if she could do the same followed the same path as Death and found out that she too could do the same! She was a damn invisible go through ghost!
Then she approached Death. All around her the people kept whispering among themselves. A man was next to the whining woman whose body was bent over an old man's corpse. There was no sign that he was still breathing. Is he alive or dead, Alibel wanted to know.
But Death did not waste any time in trying to see if the man was alive. He waved his hand and the creamy colored parchment roll she had seen the yesterday appeared. It was what he had claimed to be the "Death Roll". It unrolled on its own like the other time and stopped. Alibel could see there was a list of words, names she guessed, written on the roll. Death looked closely at the roll.
"Alexandre Jean Lemaine", he said.
The parchment rolled back up and disappeared. Death crouched low near the body. Alibel came to stand next to him. Then his right electric blue eye started shining the same way it had when Alibel first met Death. Death stared at the man for a brief moment. Then his eyes stopped shining. He stood tall again.
"Another soul that clings to life", he said more to himself than to Alibel. Then he took his scythe and pointed its deadly sharp end in the man's torso. Alibel heart beated eccentrically. Fear gripped her heart. What was he going to do? Death raising the scythe and then trying to push it down confirmed what she feared the most. He was going to spear the man's chest. In his momentum, Alibel screamed while grabbing his hand: "NOOO! PLEASE STOP!YOU CAN'T KILL HIM!"
Death stopped in his tracks. The pointed end of his scypthe frozed just above the man's chest.
"Are you going to stop me from accomplishing my duties now?" He asked, his voice coldly heated. (oxymoron)
Alibel cringed. But still, she didn't want to back down. "See that woman there. Can't you feel how sad she is." She shook her head. "I know what it feels to lose someone you love dearly. Can't you make an exception and spare his life." She felt a silent tear running down. This young woman there reminded her of her past. The day she lost her mother and pleaded heaven and earth to have her back. In vain.
" I understand your point. But you don't understand life's goal." He replied sternly. "Humans are born to die. You are not immortals. That's the first lesson you should learn."
And with that saying, he speared the man's chest. Alibel cringed and shut her eyes closed. Behind her eyelid, she felt a bright blue light. She opened her eyes and saw Death's Scythe still plunged in the man's body. But to her complete astonishment, there was no blood coming from the deep wound she expected to see. In fact, the scythe was emitting a blue light inside the man's body. And as Death slowly raised his scythe, the man's soul came out of the man's body. He stood there, looking at Death. Fear was blatant on his face. He looked around him, saw what must be his daughter and his body. He was utterly dazed. He looked at Death and yelled what sounded like a series of questions to Alibel's ears, "Qui êtes vous? Que faites vous ici? Pourquoi je me retrouve là à voir ma fille pleurer sur mon corps inerte sur le sol? Que m'avez vous fait? Que m'est-il arrivé?"
Translate as**"Who are you? What are you doing here? Why am I here to see my daughter cried on my lifeless body on the floor? What did you do to me? What has happened to me? "
Again Alibel could not understand a word.
Death stared at him and his eyes started shinning again. He looked at Alibel. He then touched her forehead with his finger. "You will be able to understand every language now." Then he turned towards the man and said in his most composed voice, with a native french accent that surprised Alibel. And what was most surprising was that Alibel could understand french too.
" Je suis celui qu'on surnomme "La Mort" et je suis ici pour libérer votre âme de son emprise charnelle. Votre heure est enfin venue. Il est temps pour vous de connaître le repos éternel. Une place au paradis vous attend."
Translate as**"I am the one nicknamed "Death" and I am here to free your soul from its carnal hold. Your time here is over. It is time for you to experience eternal rest. A place in paradise awaits you. "
"Mais je ne peux pas! Je ne veux pas!", shouted the man. "Je ne veux pas mourir maintenant et laisser ma fille seule au monde"
Translate as**"But I can not! I do not want to! I do not want to die now and leave my daughter alone in the world "
Alibel heart sunk. She really wanted the man to live.
" C'est votre dessein." Death replied. "Votre décés lui apportera sûrement du chagrin. Mais elle survivra. Elle va en tirer de bonnes leçons. Des leçons qui vont lui apprendre à savourer la vie, comme il se doit."
Translate as** It's your fate. Your death will surely bring her sorrow. But she will survive. She will learn some good lessons. Lessons that will teach her how to savor life, as it should be. "
Death approached the man who backed away in fear. "Il n'y a rien que vous puissiez faire. C'est la vie. C'est ainsi."
Translate as**"There's nothing you can do about it. It's life. That's the way it is."
"Mais vous me faites peur! Vous êtes certainement le diable en personne!", the man shouted.
Translate**"But you scare me! You are certainly the devil in person! "
Death flinched. The man had insulted him, like she did, by assuming that he was the Devil.
"Je ne suis pas le Diable. Je suis la justice. Mon jugement est juste. Je decide qui mérite le repos éternel et qui mérite de brûler en enfer. Alors inutile de résister. Vous ne pouvez pas me fuire. Je vous retrouverai de toute façon. Et il est préférable que se soit moi qui vous attrape au lieu des démons qui rôdent sur terre.", Death said.
Translate as**"I'm not the Devil, I'm justice and my judgment is fair. I decide who deserves eternal rest and who deserves to burn in hell. So do not resist, you can not flee me. It's better for me to catch you, instead of the demons lurking on earth. "
The man nodded, finally understanding what Death means. "Vous êtes sûre que tout ira pour le mieux pour ma fille?"
Translate as** "Are you sure everything will be fine for my daughter?"
"Je vous l'assure." Death said, his tone clear he won't argue anymore with the man.
Translate as** "I assure you. "
The man bent his head, watching his daughter one last time as Death approached him. Silent tears poured out of his eyes. Death took his scythe still clutched in his right hand and pointed it towards the left side of the man's chest directly towards his heart. The scythe pointed end beamed a blueish light.
"Heaven", said Death, his tone Godly-like. The man's entire soul started illuminating from the inside, then his soul exploded in a rainbow of light.
Alibel was totally captivated by the scene . So dying and going to paradise was like this, she thought. This is what had happened to her father and mother. And this is what would have happened to her sister if she had not intervened at the right moment. The terror she felt inside was hard to describe. It was a chance that she had that dream with her mother. That dream has been like a...warning. Her dear mother had warned her. She was forever grateful for the mighty being, the God, that made her dream of her mother that night. Thankfully to this, she had been able to stop Death in his tracks.
"We are done here", said Death breaking Alibel from the threads of her thoughts.
"Okay.", Alibel said. Death nodded and walked out from the crowd.
Alibel simply followed. There was a series of questions threatening to escape her mouth. But she feared being too ...annoying. Now that she had seen what he was capable of, she feared the worst from him.
" You can ask me any question, if you have any to ask, that is" he said, copying her thoughts. "I won't mind. The purpose of bringing you with me is to make you learn."
"Could you please stop doing this?", she reprimanded him. She started walking beside him then.
"From doing what?", he asked seeming clearly unaware of what she was talking about.
"Of reading my mind", she said.
"I'm not doing anything like that", he chuckled.
"Clearly you're lying. You're a damn liar"
" I never said otherwise.", he snorted. "So, do you have any questions?"
"Yes, I do" she replied sulking. "What is it you so want me to learn?"
He stopped in his tracks. Then he turned to look directly at Alibel. He removed his hood and held Alibel's gaze. She found herself enthralled by his eyes and his features. Everytime she saw his face, it looked much better than before. She felt that she could watch him day in and day out and never get tired of seeing him.
"I want you to learn about the laws surrounding life and death.", he said seriously. "About the price of life and the purpose of death because you seem to believe my fair Lady that death is a bad thing. That death is unfair. That what I am and what I do is purely evil. But I'm not."
"Well it is bad. Don't you know the pain you feel when you lose someone you love? It's the worst pain ever. Nothing can compare to that."
"There are other pain much greater than losing someone. You don't know about them, you don't feel them. But that doesn't mean that they don't exist. They do exist, because I feel them."
"What does this mean? You feel them? What about it?", now she was really intrigued.
"Nothing that you should concern yourself about, for now."
She acknowledged it. She knew by then that it was futile to argue with him. He was so mysterious. She found herself bewitched by him.
"This is the end of your task for today. You have done well. I will teleport us to your home, start the process of healing your sister, then I go on with my own duties. "
"So, what..what about today? What lesson was I suppose to learn?"
He smiled faintly. Her heart throbbed.
"Today my dear, the lesson to be learned is firstly that you humans you are not immortal. So fighting your own death is pointless. You of all people Alibel should know that you must accept the fatality that is death. Death does not only bring sadness. It can be a relief to a lot of pain. Secondly, when death comes, you should let go of the past. This man today, with his death set his daughter free. She now has the liberty to go on with her own life and make her own way out of it. Now she must grab the chance to continue living, to fight her way out and survive without her father. Death opens new doors, new opportunities for those who survive."
Alibel wanted to counter argue. She had experienced the death of her parents. Their death did not bring any relief into her life nor opened new doors or new opportunities for her. In fact she found herself living in anguish about her sister's health, her job, her studies and so on. So where was the good in that. She did survive however, but only because she had her sister. If she did not have had Camelia, no one knows what she would have done. She was strong because of her sister. Her strength came with Camelia by her side. Alone, she was nothing.
"I see you struggling with your thoughts, you know. I know that when you remain silent this doesn't possibly mean that you believe what i said."
Alibel looked at him, stunned. How could he read her easily like this.
"Its not that i don't believe you but i won't hide that my opinion slightly diverges from yours."
"I totally respect that. And it's only your first lesson. There is so much more for you learn. Now let's linger here no more." With that saying, he grabbed Alibel's hand and teleport them back to her cozy home.
___________________________
Back to the Riverbell residence.
They appeared directly into Camelia's room who was fast asleep. Her breathing was irregular and harsh. Alibel's heart pinched at her sight. Death still clutching her hand released it from his grasp. He went to her sister's side. He took his scythe and raised it above her sister. Alibel panicked, grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. She had just witnessed what he had done, could do with it. Was he going to take her sister's soul like he did with the man and break his end of the pact?
"What are you doing with that ungodly thing of yours", she lashed at him. "Do you dare break the pact, break your promises!! "
He watched her silently, before he forced her to remove her hand from his.
"That's the second time you dare to stop me. Next time, there won't be no excuse. You will pay for it dearly."
Alibel froze in fear, but there was no way she was going to back down. Call her unconscious, for the moment, she didn't care.
Death seeing that Alibel was silently defying him, explained "I am not going to break my end of the pact. I already told you that the consequences would be harsh. I'm the first one aware of that. But you need to understand that my scythe has powers. It's this relic that is going to help me heal her. So please, stand out of my way. Right now you're only a nuisance."
Alibel felt hurt by his last comment. But she did not let him see it on her face. There was no way that she would allow him to see her weakness. So, she simply turned around and went to stand far away by the wall. She still watched him though.
Death continued doing what he was doing, as if Alibel had not disturbed him at all. His scythe started shining blue. He pointed its deadly end at her sister and Alibel tensed. Then the blue lights started flowing out his scythe and towards her sister where it seemed to be absorbed by her body.
Several minutes later, the scythe stopped shinning. Death pulled it back from Camelia's body and Alibel could heard that her sister breathing smoothly and regularly. Finally Death did keep his promises. She felt really bad about what she had said earlier. She went by his side to apologize for what she said.
" I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I should have trusted you. Thank you for doing your best to save my sister."
"I'm not the one saving her. You are. And no need to thank me. I'm not doing this out of kindness. Its only my part of the pact."
"But still, thank you."
He nodded. "I must go now."
Alibel acquiesced. Then he did something she never expected him to do. He took her left hand, slowly bowed down, humbly bent one knee and his neck, then slightly kissed her knuckles. Alibel could feel his cold lips on her hand and she trembled. His breath caressed her hand and she felt goosebumps onto her skin. He breathed in.
"hmmm lavender", he said. Then he rose up. Alibel watched him speechless. He stood taller than her. Then his gaze lingered on her blazing bonfires.
" Goodbye, Alibel. See you tomorrow.", he said, his voice alluring before he disappeared right in front of her.
Alibel stood there, perplexed. Death's actions confused her a lot. One minute he was kind and the next he was cold as hell. She decided that she wanted to know more about him. This mysterious personality of his had enraptured her mind. Now as he had set the purpose of teaching her lessons about life and death, she set the one of unraveling all his secrets. Surely, getting closed to Death could not be that deadly. Ironic?
Little did she know how that statement was true. As she exited the room of her sister and went to sleep on the couch, Alibel was unaware how badly her entire existence was going to be disrupted/ turned upside down .
__________
This is the end of chapter 6.
So, do you think i should continue writing the story or not.