12 When Death met Marina

Lea-Jupiter

by Lea-Jupiter

Story

When Death met Marina, it was a beautiful summer’s day. The sky was blue, the birds were singing and through the open window Marina could hear one of her neighbours whistle some melody. Her bathwater had already turned crimson and even though the water was hot she felt the coldness of Death´s touch. She felt so tired. She closed her eyes. It was like falling asleep. But more finite. When her lids fluttered back open, there was no more searing pain, no more water and no more whistling.

There was darkness and silence. And there was a face. Not a human face. A dark face, large and menacing, like black bone, frightening. Marina wanted to scream, but her voice was nowhere to be found. The face was close to hers, its owner, a very tall, slim figure bent over her. And the face looked… confused. Marina´s mind wanted to run, but she couldn´t get up. It took her a moment to realize that the being had one big hand closed around her head and held her in place. “Why are you still here?” a voice like a whisper in the night asked. She couldn´t answer. The fear made it impossible. “You shouldn´t be here!” The voice went on. “You should be gone. What have you done?”

Suddenly, the grip around her head loosened and she felt herself drop to an invisible ground in the middle of the darkness. She tried to feel her way around, to find any indication that she wasn´t dreaming, but there was just nothing, the only light somehow coming from this huge figure. And from her own body. She crawled backwards, as far as she could. She expected to hit a wall or some other obstacle at some point, but she didn´t. There was just this being that shrank more and more, the further she got away from it. Until, suddenly, it disappeared, just to reappear right next to her and ask: “Why are you trying to get away from me? Don´t you know I am inevitable?”

Marina caught herself thinking what an odd thing to say this was. “What are you?” she asked, her voice barely more than a breath. The figure halted. “I,” it pondered, “I am the one who takes.” “What do you take?” she asked. “The souls.” it replied, as though she had asked about the weather. She didn´t feel her heart beat. “You´re Death!” she exclaimed.

The being observed her. “I suppose.” it replied. “I am dead!” she went on. The thought left her lips as soon as it crossed her mind. “I died!” She did not feel relieve. No happiness. She was not healed. “Is this hell?” The figure looked around. “I do not know what hell is. This is the darkness.” She swallowed. “Is there even a hell? A heaven?” It seemed confused. “An afterlife?” she tried. It shook its head. “There is no life after I take the soul. Usually there isn´t a soul after I take it. Something has gone wrong with you.” She forced herself to breathe. “You mean, I´m not supposed to be here?” It shook its head again. “Every soul I take disappears. Always. But not you.” She tried to feel her body. It felt strange. Like fog, but solid. “But not me.” She repeated. Then she asked: “Why not me?”

© Lea-Jupiter 2022-03-21

Hashtags