ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2015©
Dedicated to _angiiboo
A/N: I was suppose to update a while ago, but I didn't because of my period and I felt like shit (we all know how that feels) so hope you enjoy! If you don't like this chapter, then too fucking bad ya little shit.
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Athena jolted awake when she heard pounding on her bedroom door. She looked at her alarm clock and cursed loudly. She scrambled to get up from her bed and removed the covers from around her. The pounding continued for a few more seconds before stopping completely.
She rushed to her closet and threw on some thick leggings and then jeans over. She grabbed a pair of fuzzy socks before putting on her black winter boots. She dug around in her draws before pulling out a white thermal long sleeve shirt and a short sleeve t-shirt. Quickly tying her blonde locks in a ponytail she rushed to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and washed her face.
She opened her door and rushed down the stairs, almost falling in the process. She opened the hallway closet and began searching through the jackets.
"Mom! Where's my white jacket?!" She pushed back the huge jackets looking in the back for her jacket.
"I threw it away!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen.
"What?! Why?!"
"I didn't fit you anymore. So, I got you a new one."
Her mother appeared with a huge red jacket in her hands. Athena's mouth dropped open, her eyes wide.
"Mom! It's red! I'll stick out like a sore thumb! The whole point of wearing white is to be hidden from the others!"
Her mother rolled her eyes and scoffed. "It's just a snowball fight. Either you wear the jacket or not go at all."
Athena glared at the red jacket and raised her glare to her mother. Her mother lifted her left brow and shoved the jacket at her. Athena sighed and grabbed the jacket and put it on. She zipped it up and walked out the door.
"Good luck at the fight, sweetie!"
Athena pouted and walked down the steps. Once she reached the sidewalk she was hit in the face with a snowball. Laughter reached her ears as she fell on her ass. Raising her left arm to wipe the snow off her face she saw her best friend, Ruth, clutching her stomach as she laughed. Athena bent down and grabbed a handful of snow, patting it into a ball before throwing it right at Ruth's stomach. Ruth immediately stopped laughing and glared at Athena.
"You look like a giant tomato." Athena rolled her eyes and began to walk towards Ruth. Grabbing her right arm and dragged her along. "You're gonna be an easy target." Ruth said as she snickered under her breath. "No one is gonna want you on their team if you're wearing that."
Athena sighed before looking back at Ruth, who was staring at the huge red jacket she had on.
"I know."
Ruth was Athena's best friend and neighbor. Athena had moved to the small town of Maine when she was seven years old. Ruth's family had offered her family to move in. But having two seven years old who shared a passion for Barbies, they immediately became friends. Ruth was an out-going brunette whose hair was like a boys and she could pull it off. If Ruth dressed up more like boy and not have such huge breasts, then she would've looked like those guys with feminine features. Athena was the exact opposite of Ruth. For starters, their hair and eyes were different. Athena had long, curly blonde hair. Her eyes were grey and dull and Ruth's were violet and twinkled with happiness. Athena kept to herself and was very pessimistic, completely opposite from Ruth's optimistic personality.
"You hear what happened to Annie?"
Athena looked at Ruth. Her eyebrows furrowed when she tried to remember who Annie was.
"The red head?"
Ruth nodded before saying, "Yeah. She's dead. OD or something. Some guy found her body in the meadow."
Athena's eyes widen. She had seen Annie a couple days ago with her friend Sarah. Annie wasn't known to do drugs, but Sarah was. Athena shook her head and looked down at the ground.
Athena began to think that Sarah had probably given Annie drugs or pressured her to do them. After all, Sarah can be very persuasive.
"Her family is throwing a remembering party or something this weekend. I mean, that's what I heard with the whole town talking. You gonna go?"
Athena looked back at Ruth who was already staring at her. She shook her head.
"Why would I go? I didn't know Annie or even speak to her. I'm not gonna pretend that I was her friend or say she was a great person because I don't know her. Sure, her family might think she was a great kid, but me? I can't say so because I never even met her."
Ruth nodded in understanding. "Yeah, guess you're right."
They continued to walk in silence. Both girls occupied by their thoughts to notice their surroundings.
Death strolled through the small town. Whistling a gloomy tune with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The citizens of the town were buzzing about the death of the poor red-headed girl that he killed last night.
He frowned when he overheard someone say, "poor Annie, she was such an innocent girl." Death scoffed at that remark. She wasn't innocent. He could smell the darkness inside her. Sure it's wasn't as strong, but it lingered in her soul. Hiding behind the light.
When he was taking her soul, he saw her whole life pass through her eyes. Her memories and dreams replaying in her head as she laid there dying. But he saw all the wrongs and mistakes she had done. Those memories opened up to him like a whore who would spread her legs to any man.
He continued to walk down the sidewalk when someone bumped into him. He froze in place and anger began to rise in him. Before he could act out on his anger, the person bumped into him yelled out.
"Shit. I'm sorry!"
Athena was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she bumped into someone. Looking up quickly she yelled an apology to the unknown handsome man.
Her gazed lifted up to his eyes. They were pitch black which she found odd yet interesting at the same time. Her eyes trailed down to his face. His cheekbones were defined well, jaw clenched tightly that made his jawline sharp. His nose was narrow and he had pink full lips. Slight stubble peppered his chin and jaw. Her gaze went lower to his chest which was covered in a thin black hood.
Her gaze stopped at his clenched hands when she noticed something extremely odd. A dark glow floated around his fists. The glow was so faint that it was almost impossible to notice. In fact, Athena had no idea how she noticed it.
"Come on, Athena."
Ruth tugged on Athena's left arm. Pulling her away from the strange man. Athena let Ruth pull her along. She stumbled before looking away from him.
Death had noticed the young blonde girl stare at his hands. He cocked his head to the side. No humans could see his light or any light. Their eyes were not like the eyes of the angels, demons, or gods. So how could a little human see it? Death decided to find out. And what better way to see inside her soul?
He began to walk slowly. He followed the two girls, but not too closely and no too far either. He made sure to keep out of sight.
His imagination began to form many ways to kill the little blonde human. All in which ended with him taking her soul as she took her last breath. A grin slowly made its way across his face. Oh, he couldn't wait to see the life in her eyes fade away.
Athena and Ruth made their way inside the forest. Walking all the way to the frozen lake of the town. As they approached the lake, they saw all their friends across it. They were waiting for both of the girls to join them to begin the annual snowball fight.
Ruth yelled out to them to capture their attention. The others looked at the two girls and cheered. Yelling at them to hurry so they could begin.
Ruth and Athena stepped onto the frozen lake. Everyone knew it was dangerous to go across the lake, but it had been frozen for years and the ice was extremely thick that there was no way for it to crack let alone break. But just in case if it were to break and someone were to have fallen in, then they would call the rescue crew. Also the children were taught at school what to do if someone were to have fallen in, then someone would have to go in after them.
Ruth and Athena were now in the middle of the lake. Their friends cheering them on. It wasn't till Athena felt a presence behind her did she stop. She slowly turned her head to the side and saw the same man she bumped into standing behind her.
Death cocked his head to the side when the girl looked back at him. It was odd because he had made his appearance disappear from any humans to see.
"You can see me."
It wasn't a question because he knew from the moment the girl looked at him and saw the confusion and fear in her eyes that she could in fact see him.
Athena nodded slowly. Still not moving from the middle of the lake.
Who is this man? And why was he in the middle of the lake? Is he following me?
"Who are you?"
Athena asked him, but he just simply stared at her with curiosity.
"Athena! Who the hell are you talking to?"
Ruth shouted at her. Athena looked back at Ruth to see her closer to the other side of the forest. She looked back at the man and pointed at him.
"I'm talking to the guy from earlier!"
Ruth tilted her head to the side to see if there was actually someone there. She saw no one behind Athena and shook her head.
"Quit playing around! Hurry up and cross the damn lake."
Athena opened her mouth to say that she wasn't playing around. But before she could say anything the man behind her spoke.
"She can't see me. And you shouldn't either."
Turning back around to face him. She saw the same dark glow around his hands. She could hear the others yell at her to hurry up, but she ignored their cries.
"Who are you?"
He said nothing. He kept his gaze on her as he slowly crouched down till he was kneeling on the ice. Once his hands touched the ice, it cracked. He smirked and said something that made Athena freeze in fear.
"I am Death."
And with that, the glow around his hands darkened and the ice cracked even more.
Athena's eyes widen as the frozen lake began to crack. She turned around and began to run to the other side. Her friends were now yelling in fear for Athena's life.
Athena was almost to the other side when she slipped and fell on her back, banging her head against the ice in the process, which caused the ice to crack even more around her. She closed her eyes tightly in pain. The back of her head was pounding and when she opened her eyes again she felt extremely dizzy and nauseous. The whole world began to spin around her, her movements slow and sluggish.
She looked at Death and she could see him just standing there grinning at her like the Cheshire Cat. The yells of her friends were faint. And before she could move any further, the ice underneath her cracked opened and she fell in the ice cold water.
"Ruth! Ruth!" Ruth snapped out of her state of horror and looked at her boyfriend, Jared. "Call the rescue squad! We're going to Old Man Harris' shack to grab the rescue tools!"
Jared and Danny, who was Athena's boyfriend of two years, both took of running to the shack. Danny was breathing hard, his heart pounding in his chest rapidly. When both of the boys saw the shack, they began to pull on the door handle.
"It's locked!"
Danny looked around before he saw a huge rock. He picked it up and began to pound it against the padlock. After a couple of seconds later the lock broke, and both boys rushed in to grab the tools.
Danny grabbed the rope and Jared found an ice pick. Then they sprinted back to the others.
The others were calling out for Athena, hoping she would resurface. Ruth had tears in her eyes as she spoke on the phone.
Danny ran straight to the hole where Athena had fell in before he was tackled to the ground.
"Danny! You can't go in! You'll drown!"
Jared was straddling Danny. Pinning his arms down. Danny struggled to get out of his grip.
"I have to save her!" Danny thrashed under Jared. Tears welled up in his eyes. His voice cracked when he spoke once more, "I can't lose her."
Jared grabbed Danny's face with his hands. Making eye contact with Danny.
"I know, I know. But you need to do it the right way or we'll lose you both. Keep your head straight."
Danny exhaled heavily through his nose and slowly nodded. Jared got off of Danny. Danny stood up and began to wrap the rope around his waist.
"Danny, you can't wear the jacket. It'll drag you down."
Danny quickly unzipped his jacket, he felt the icy wind pierce through his skin like a thousand knives, before continuing to tie the rope around him. Jared made sure the rope was secure and the knot tight. Once done, he handed the ice pick to Danny. Danny looked at all their friends who were worried for Athena's life and for Danny's safety.
"They're coming."
Ruth's voice was raspy as she got off the phone. Her cheeks stained with tears and eyes wide with fear for her best friend.
Danny nodded before looking back at the group. The group understood and grabbed the rope that was wrapped around Danny.
"If you don't find her," Jared spoke in a shaky tone yet tried to remain calm, "then we're pulling you back up."
When Athena went under, the ice cold water attacked her. The water stabbed into her skin, piercing her. It surrounded her like a blanket. She held onto her breath and began to move her arms and legs to try and resurface. But the heavy jacket she had on was dragging her down and away from the opening. She reached up and grabbed the zipper and began to tug it down. But the frozen water caused the zipper to freeze. She panicked and kicked her legs harder. She no longer could hold her breath, so when she opened her mouth to gasp out, her mouth was filled with water. Her lungs burned with agony for air, slowly filling up with water. Her eyes were glossy and she slowly began to lose consciousness. The last thing she saw was someone above her, clearing away the snow, and she then embraced the darkness.
Danny looked at the group once more before nodding. Then he took off to the lake. He ran to the hole, but didn't see Athena in sight. He go onto his hands and knees and cleared the snow off the iced lake to get a better view to find Athena. He searched for minutes when he finally caught a glimpse of something red. He raised the ice pick and brought it down into the ice. After several bangs, a small hole was created and he dove in.
The water made his arms and legs go numb, but he pushed himself harder. Just when the rope around his waist began to tug, he reached Athena. Grabbing her from her armpits he hauled her up so he could have a more secure grip on her.
Jared and the others pulled on the rope. But as Danny went down further, the rope made the kids lurch forward as well.
"Jared, we gotta pull him up. Its been three minutes since he's been under."
Jared looked back at their friends and nodded. They pulled on the rope harder. Everyone knew what happens at three minutes or more.
At 20-60 seconds underwater can cause a serious panic attack. The subject will gasp out when hyperventilating which leads to water filling the lungs. At three minutes, a person becomes unconscious. Between four to six minutes, the heart begins to pump abnormally or stop completely, cardiac arrest. Within five minutes, the brain begins to suffer from the lack of oxygen which leads to brain damage. At seven minutes, the subject is considered dead. Athena wasn't pulled out till eleven minutes.
Danny dragged Athena to land. He refused to notice her blueish skin, her extremely low body temperature, or how heart stopped beating. He also didn't take notice of his own freezing body.
He ripped off the red jacket and began to process of CPR. Putting his hands together he pushed down on her chest 30 times. He then tilted her head back, pinched her nose and pressed his lips to her blue ones and puffed air into her mouth, watching as her chest rose and fell. He ignored the cries and pleas and continued the chest compressions and breaths. It wasn't till two sets of hands grabbed onto him and pulled him off of Athena, did he notice his surroundings.
The rescue crew finally arrived and began to put on these pouches onto her blue skin. While two meds were tending to Athena, one man approached him and began to check up on Danny. Giving him a blanket to stay warm. He also noticed police officers talking to the others, asking them questions on what happened.
"1...2...3...clear! Nothing still! Again!"
Death watched the scene in front of him. He leaned against the tree with an amused smile on his face. He enjoyed how the girl was taken under, how her friends cried in agony, how the boy risked his life to save hers. Now he was watching them revive the poor blonde.
"1...2...3...clear!"
Death strolled past the pathetic humans till he was standing right in front of the blonde girl. He crouched down and caressed her face. He took note on her angelic features. He still found it odd how this girl could see him. Shrugging it off, the dark glow appeared around his hands. Her eyes were wide open and he could see her whole life through her grey eyes. He could see the memories she shared with her family and friends. He saw it all. But not once did he see any wrongs.
"1..."
His interest in the girl spiked even more. He slowly moved his dark hands to her mouth where he slowly let the dark light enter her.
"2..."
The darkness reached her soul and grasped it. Both the dark light and Athena's soul slowly exited her body. Death took her soul and simply stared at it. It was pure. Not a single spec of darkness was hidden within. It was pure like an Angels soul.
"3..."
Death has never seen this before. Everyone had darkness inside them. No human had a pure soul. Their souls became tainted in their actions and choices, yet Athena's was pure...like she was just born into the world. Free of darkness, free of sin, free of lies.
"Clear!"
Athena lurched from the ground. She gasped out and water spilled from her lips as she vomited to the side. The medics quickly grabbed her and rushed her to the ambulance. Her friends cheered for her life, for she was not dead.
Death stood up in surprise. She should be dead! He took her soul, her life!
Even everyone was surprised. Her friends didn't think she would make it. The medics knew that Athena was dead once they took a look at her frozen body, but they tried to save her anyway to give her friends hope of her survival. It was a miracle that Athena survived.
But Death was not happy. He was enraged for this mortal creature did not die. And he was going to kill her. And this time, he was going to make sure she stay dead.
After all, no one can escape Death. It's the only thing that is promised in the world.
***
This chapter is 6 pages! Thats the most I ever written! I haven't quite figured out who should play Death. But if you have any suggestions, PM me someone you might think! Oh and everything that was happening, you should try to imagine it in a slow motion way!
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~K.M. Chavez