The Art of Dying
Reaper

Ow, my neck. I opened my eyes and sat up from my position, lying down on the floor. I moved my neck around as I stood up. I must have fallen at a bad angle. When I fainted? What happened?

“Hi.” A childish voice said from behind me. I turn around and there stood a creepy skeleton donning a white suit, with two black pigtails on each side of its skull-head.

“Um… hi?” What the hell? Gosh, my neck hurt.

As I rolled my neck, trying to get the kink out of it, my eyes inadvertently landed on the ground and I jumped at what I saw. It was me, on the ground, with my neck half decapitated and staring blankly at the ceiling. There was a big puddle of blood forming a sick sort of halo around my head and next to it was a medieval axe drenched in my blood.

“I’m… dead?” I whispered, astonished as I looked down at my mangled body with morbid fascination. Well no wonder my neck hurts, its all torn out. I hope it won’t feel this way for all eternity ─that would suck.

“Yes… and… no.” I looked back up at the skeleton thingy and it stepped closer to me.

“Eh?” What does it mean, yes and no? I can clearly see that I am dead. I’m surprised I’m not more freaked out about it. Well, I kind of deserved it after Antoine and Guillaume, so…

“Technically yes… you’re dead… but not really…” It said as it circled my corpse then crouched down next to it. “I’m Magdalena by the way. Your family’s very own reaper.” She said excitedly and then she pushed my corpse’s head that was hanging on its side, back in its place. “Let’s speed the process a little, now, shall we.” What is she talking about?

“What do you mean by ‘technically’ yes but no?” I asked confused as I watched her stand up and walk closer to me. “And what do you mean by speeding up the process?” She somehow managed to make the corners of her skeleton jaw turn up in a freaky smile.

“Well, angels of death can’t die unless their mate dies…” She said amused as she looked me up and down with her empty, black eye sockets. “And you are not mated, otherwise your mate would be here with you ─dead. So now we only have to wait.”

“Wait for what?” I asked.

“For your body to rearrange itself. It’s a pretty messy cut, it might take a while.” She said as she plopped herself on the office desk and stretched like a cat, before lying on her side, facing me with her head propped in her bony hand.

“So, I’m an angel of death?” I asked. She didn’t answer; she simply looked at me with her blank skeleton face. Ok… Let’s try something else. “You said you were my family’s reaper. Do you know who my parents are?” Her smile was back. How can a skull manage to smile?

“Yes.” She answered simply. I waited for her to elaborate but she didn’t.

“Could you tell me who they are?” I tried.

“Nope.” She said in a teasing tone. I looked at her flabbergasted.

“Why not?” This is so unfair.

“It’s not my place to tell.” She replied as she looked at her bony fingertips, the way one would look at one’s finger nails. “It’s not related to death so it’s not in my job description and therefore I cannot tell you. Sorry.” She said, not sounding sorry at all. Well, that sucks.

“Delphine?” I heard Zane say, before his form zoomed to my corpse on the floor.

“Ooooh, a pretty boy.” Magdalena said as she hopped from the desk and crouched down in front of Zane, on the other side of my body. “Is that your boyfriend?” She asked as she looked up at me.

“Yeah.” I answered as I looked at Zane as he gathered my body in his arms, on the floor.

“No, no, no, no, no. Delphine, you can’t be dead.” He said into my corpse’s hair as he held it close to his body. “I need you.” His voice was shaky as if he were crying. “I love you.” What?! “I might not be in love with you but I do love you and I need you.” Awwww, I love you too Zane ─not like love, love but like you love me.

“Awwww, ain’t he sweet.” Magdalena said mockingly.

“Shut up.” I said as I crouched down next to Zane and gently put my ghostly hand on his shoulder.

“Ok, ok.” Magdalena said with her skeleton hands up in surrender. Zane suddenly lifted his tearstained face from my corpse with a look of determination on his face. His eyes flashed blue, his fangs elongated and he bit into my neck. Really, Zane! You’re going to feed on my corpse? He lifted his face from my neck and bit into his wrist. What the…?

“Come back to me.” He whispered softly as he pressed his bloody wrist to my mouth. Ewww.

“Awww, so cheesy.” I glared at Magdalena. “Alright, alright, I’ll shut up.” She paused. “But that won’t work… you’re already dead.” She said matter-of-factly. After a little while, Zane pulled his bloody wrist from my bloody mouth and he gazed down at my body with teary eyes and a small, hopeful smile. Awww, Zane.

He then hugged my body to him and whispered in its ear: “Come back, please come back. I love you. Come back to me. I need you…” And he kept whispering those words over and over again like a mantra, as he rocked slightly back and forth, in the puddle of blood he was currently sitting in, with my body nestled in his arms.

It was so sad, to see him like that. He seemed so lost and all I wanted to do was to go wrap my arms around him and tell him that everything will be okay but since at the moment I’m basically a ghost, it wouldn’t do much of anything ─so all I can do is wait.

The thing I should have asked Magdalena in the first place, when she told me that I was dead, suddenly flashed in my mind and I abruptly looked at her.

“Magdalena, who killed me?” There was an axe on the floor and it’s not as if it magically flew at me with the intent of killing me, so… I was murdered.

“I’m not really sure…” She said casually. Eh?

“Why is that?” Isn’t she supposed to know these sorts of thing? It’s related to death, ─my death─ she should know about it. Right?

“The person who killed you was wearing black, baggy clothing and a black ski mask. I can say that I think it was a woman since the person was wearing black high heels but other than that…” She gave a dramatic sigh. “It’s a mystery.” As she said those last words, I began to feel heavy, as if the weight of the world was pressing down on my shoulders and I gasped.

“Magdalena!” I said choking up on my words and I dropped down on all fours. “What’s happening to me?” I looked up at her with great difficulty. I was panting and it was getting difficult to breathe. Her empty eye sockets seemed to suddenly light up and her smile was back.

“It’s happening!” She said overjoyed as she clapped her bony hands together. I began to feel a sort of invisible pull trying to get me closer to my organic shell. “Just feel the pull and let it take you.” I stopped moving and all of a sudden I felt myself being forcefully pulled from where I was on the floor and slam into my body.

I took a deep breath, the second I reentered my body. “Del!?” Zane exclaimed as he pulled away and looked into my face, as if to convince himself that I was in fact alive, and not just some figment of his imagination.

I was panting and tried to regulate my breathing. I looked around but couldn’t seem to replace Magdalena. Maybe I can only see her if I’m dead or maybe she’s just gone. Oh, well. I looked back at Zane and he was smiling at me. He then gave me a small lingering kiss on the lips.

“Oh, gosh, I’m so happy to see you.” He said as he hugged me back to his body. “Are you alright?” He whispered in my ear. “What happened? How did you…─” As he asked his last question he pulled away from the hug to look at my face, but he still kept his arms around me. “Why can’t I hear you? In my mind?” He looked at me confused. “I gave you my blood and you came back, so…”

“I’m not a vampire.” I said calmly and I brought one of my hands up to caress his face. He immediately leaned into my touch and he gave a small kiss to my bloody palm. Blood, ewww, I really need a shower. And I have some in my mouth, ewwww, but it doesn’t taste like blood more like pink lemonade ─it’s weird. Anyway, I quickly turned to look at the safe but it was closed, oh well. I focused back on Zane.

“But… Nobody can cheat death…” He said confused, trying to replace an answer in my eyes. “How?” I drop my hand from his face and let it rest on his chest, in between us.

“Well, my reaper said I’m an angel of death, so…” He looked at me incredulous.

“Angel of death! Wow!” He said astonished before his expression turned dark. “Do you know who did this to you? Who killed you?”

“Magdalena said that she thought it was a woman but she was wearing a ski mask so she couldn’t identify her.”

“Who’s Magdalena?” He asked more confused than angry now.

“My reaper.” I said. “Her name is Magdalena.”

“Oh.” The dark expression suddenly came back. “Well, I’m going to replace who ever did this to you.” He said in a deadly tone. “And when I do, I will skin them alive with my teeth and as they scream for mercy, I will feast on their blood before ripping them to shreds.” There was so much ice in the way he said this, that it gave me chills. His eyes turned softer as he felt me shiver. “Are you cold?” He asked very gently with warm eyes that were frosty not even a second ago. Talk about mood swings!

“I’m fine.” I said calmly. “There’s just my neck...” I rotated it a little and it hurt like I had a mean torticollis. “But it’ll pass… I hope. Anyway we should probably head back, I have classes to attend, and I don’t want to be late or more late than I already am since I don’t know how long I was dead, so…”

“You’re not going back to class after that.” He looked at me as if I were crazy. “You died for Christ’s sake! I think that’s a good excuse to miss class.” I brought my hand from his chest up to my mouth to stifle a yawn. Gosh, I’m tired. It might not look like it, but dying is exhausting.

“Sorry.” I said with a sheepish smile.

“You don’t have to be sorry for anything.” He said tenderly. “I know that dying is tiring. I died too, remember? You should probably try to sleep it off, once we get out of here.”

“But I have classes to attend and if I don’t show up, they’re going to call my mom and…─” I said a little panicky.

He cut me off, saying: “Hush, I’ll deal with that. Don’t worry.”

“But…” I tried again but he cut me off before I had a chance to protest.

“Ok, tell you what. I’ll let you go to class if there is a least one member of the ‘Scooby-Doo gang’ there with you.” He paused. “So is there?” He was looking intently into my eyes and usually I’m a pretty good liar but I don’t think I’d be able to fool Zane. He can hear my heart beat for crying out loud!

“No, there isn’t” I have history then math and there is not one member of our little ‘group’ with me in those classes.

“Well then, I guess that’s settled.” What’s settled? “You’ll come back to my room with me.” What!? “Until we replace your murderer, I’m not letting you out of my sight.” I let out a heavy sigh. There is no point in arguing with him, he’s as stubborn as it gets.

“Alright.” I said, resigned. I had to stifle yet another yawn.

“Let’s get you out of here.” He said gently and as he picked me up in his arms bridal-style. I looked down at the ground and at the pool of my half dried blood, it looked disgusting. And I’m covered in some, ewwww. I need a shower, pronto.

“Thanks, Zane. You can put me down, now.” I said once he was standing up, with me in his arms. He ignored me. “Zane! It’s not my legs that got injured, it was my neck.” I tried again but he didn’t listen and walked out of the room at human speed. “Zane, put me down, I can walk just fine.”

Almost as soon as we were out of the room, the metal trees embossed in the wall re-entwined themselves tightly, hiding away the entrance to this secret office we were just in. Zane looked down at me and said: “Don’t be silly. You just died and it’ll only take a second.” Then, without warning, he zoomed at vampire speed, through the house and to the catacomb’s entrance in the wall of the living room.

He opened the door then sped down the stairs at vampire speed and didn’t let go of me until he safely put me down in the tiny boat. I crossed my arms and glared at him. I felt like I was being treated like a child. He took his seat in front of me and grabbed the paddles.

He looked deep in thought as he began to row, more slowly this time, through the small canal. It gave me the opportunity to really appreciate the dark and sinister art made of human and ‘Ellithien’ bones on the walls.

There was a mosaic of a giant flower made mostly of skulls, blue and purple pelvic girdle and ribs, a cross made entirely of black and white vertebras, and lots of other design that would normally be considered mundane, were they not made of bones. It was fascinating.

We docked at the other end of the canal in less than ten minutes and once he got out of the boat, Zane made to pick me up but I swatted his hands away. “I can walk.”

He gave me a pout, then a sigh and said: “Suit yourself.” I got off the boat, that he held for me since it was shaky, and joined him on the ground.

He pushed open the gate and we walked through. We then began our little trek to his room, in silence, both of us deep in thought. Why would someone want to kill me? It doesn’t make sense. Was it because I was in that room? What did I do? This is so messed up.

We reached Zane’s room and he unlocked the door. We walked in and he locked it back up, behind us. Since he closed the door, there was no source of light from the corridor leaving the room in total darkness.

“You can come closer. Now, don’t be shy.” Zane said teasingly from somewhere in the room.

“Yeah, it’s not that.” I stayed put in my spot by the door. “I just can’t see a thing.”

“Oh, right.” Zane said with a tone of realization. “Normal eyesight.” A small light turned on from the other room connected to the bedroom (more like a coffinroom since there were no beds).

“Thanks.” I said as I walked closer to where he was standing.

“So, do you want to sleep with me in my coffin?” He asked suggestively with a sexy face. Uh…

“Um… no.” I never really dreamt of sleeping in a coffin. “I don’t really want to die from asphyxiation.”

“Well, even if you did, you’ll come back, so…” I looked at him with a look that said: really?! “Too soon?” He asked but I chose to ignore him.

“I think, I’ll stick to the couch, thank you.” But as I looked at it ─all white and pristine─ I remembered that I was covered in dried blood. “But, first could I use your shower? I’m all bloody and gross and I’m sure I sort of look like ‘Carrie’ so…”

“Sure.” He said easily before his suggestive smirk return. “Would you like some company, in there? I could do your back.”

“I think, I’ll be fine. Thank you.” I said as I walked towards the bathroom.

“Wait.” He said suddenly and I stopped. I turned around to face him but he zoomed past me and in the bathroom making me whirl around and there he stood before me. He was holding a pile of clothing with a navy towel on top. He then handed the pile to me. “Here.” I took it. “So that you don’t have to change back into your grimy clothes.”

“Thanks.” I gave him a quick kiss and then he stepped aside so that I could go in the bathroom. Before closing the door I gave him a small smile that he returned and then I locked the door behind me.

The bathroom was pristine white with hints of navy. An oval mirror hung above a white pedestal sink, the floor was white ceramic tiles with blue accents and there was a glass shower next to a corner bathtub. I passed by the mirror without looking to see how bad I was sure to look, then closed the lid of the toilet and put down the pile Zane gave me onto it.

I started the shower, took my hair out of its bun and stripped down. Leaving my bloody clothes and shoes on the floor, I grabbed the navy washcloth from the pile zane gave me and stepped into the shower. The warm water that cascaded over me felt like heaven and for a moment, I closed my eyes and just stood there, letting it soothe my body.

After a couple minutes of just standing there, I opened my eyes and looked at the soaps and shampoos on the shelves in the ceramic wall of the shower. I grabbed one of the bottles of shampoo and smelt it. It didn’t smell like Zane at all, it smelled citrussy, must be Chris’s. I put it back on the shelf and grabbed the other one. I smelt it and it smelled like Zane ─like cinnamon. I squirted some in my hand and eagerly began to wash my hair.

Blood ran down my body and washed down the drain. After I deemed my hair clean, I grabbed my discarded washcloth and one of the two bottles of soap. I smelt it and it smelled like Zane, so I squirted some on the washcloth and began to create a lather.

After I finished washing and rinsing myself, I got out of the shower and towel dried my body and hair. I then dressed back in my underwears but left the bloody jeans, T-shirt and shoes where they were. I grabbed Zane’s clothing and slipped on the grey T-shirt over my head and pulled up the black sweatpants he gave me.

I left my wet hair down, trying to detangle it the best I could using my hand as a comb and then carefully grabbed my bloody clothes and my pair of shoes from the floor. I took a look in the mirror before leaving the bathroom and was relieved to see that I looked like myself and not like a bloodless corpse.

I didn’t have any makeup on but since I’m going to bed, it doesn’t really matter. And the deep cut that severed half my neck moments ago was completely gone ─there wasn’t even a scar left to prove that what happened was real.

I unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out into the bedroom (coffinroom). Zane was lounging on top of one of the two coffins, reading ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by ‘William Shakespeare’. I was surprised, I thought he would’ve been asleep in his coffin by the time I got out.

He marked his book and hopped down from the coffin. He went to the black dresser beside the bathroom door and put down his book on the top of it. He was then in front of me in a flash and grabbed my bloody clothes from me. He carelessly threw them on the ground away from us and grabbed me in his arms.

“You smell like me.” He said, amused. I looped my arms around him and looked up into his gorgeous blue eyes ─so much darker than his brother’s.

“I used your shampoo and body wash.” I said with a small smile. “I’m surprised you’re not asleep.”

“I waited to make sure you were alright.” He said bashfully. Awwww. I then remembered what he told my corpse when I was dead.

“You’re sweet.” I then stood up on my tip toes and gave him a gentle kiss. “I love you too, you know.” His eyes widened and he looked alarmed for a second. “Not like love, love, relax but like you said that you love me.” His panicky look seemed to fade and he looked embarrassed now.

“You heard that?” He said with a small laugh.

“Yeah.” I said easily. “And I feel the same.” I stifled another yawn.

“You’re tired. You should rest.” He said as he let go of me and took a step back. “I left you some blankets and a pillow.” He motioned to the couch.

“Thank you.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek as I passed by him to go to the couch. He opened his coffin and hopped in while I sat down on the couch.

He turned to face me and said: “Goodnight.”

“Sweet dreams.” I replied. He winked at me before he turned around, lay down and closed the lid of his coffin. I grabbed a blanket and laid down on my back. I covered myself with the blanket and closed my eyes. Sleep took me away, almost instantaneously.

Once I woke up, I didn’t know what time it was since there wasn’t any clock in either the bedroom or bathroom but I was feeling rested. I stood up and made my way to the bathroom.

I splashed my face with some water and then looked inside the small wooden cabinet above the toilet. Bingo, mouthwash. I’m pretty sure that since I woke up, I have bad breath so… I uncapped the bottle and took a swig that I moved around in my mouth before spitting it out in the sink. I recapped the bottle and put it back where I found it.

Now the question is, what do I do now? I don’t know what time it is or when Zane will wake up so what do I do now? I walked out of the bathroom and my question got answered for me.

Chris opened his coffin and sat up. Once he saw me, standing in the bathroom entrance, he grinned at me with happiness and confusion. “Hey, Del! What are you doing here?” He said as he hopped out of his coffin. I was about to answer him when Zane opened his coffin and zoomed next to me.

“She was attacked and died.” Zane answered dryly before I could.

“So, she’s one of us?” Chris asked with a big smile.

“No.” Zane answered curtly.

He then looked intently at Chris who looked back at him with a small frown before he turned back to me and with a smile, said: “Well, gotta go. See yah.” And just like that he was gone from the room. I looked at Zane beside me and crossed my arms.

“Did you just mentally tell him to go get lost?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Something like that, as well as what happened to you.” He said easily. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” He zoomed past me and into the bathroom in a flash, and then was back about ten seconds later. “Now, that’s better.” He said before he grabbed me in his arms and gave me a deep kiss. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back fiercely. I pulled away, after a while, in need of oxygen. “We should probably head to your dorm, I’m sure Cassandra is wondering where you are.”

“Yeah and I need to get ready for the dinner.” I said as I stepped out of his embrace and gathered my clothes from the floor before I slipped in my ‘Converse’.

“You still want to go to dinner there?” Zane asked incredulous.

“Yeah.” I said casually. “I mean, I’m sure no one will try to kill me with all those people there… Plus I’m your date…”

“We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.” He said, looking at me sincerely.

“I want to go, it’ll be a nice distraction… and, I already told C.C. that I’ll go, so… Let’s go.”

“Alright.” He said with a sigh. He then opened the door, grabbed his black, leather jacket and we stepped out. He locked the door behind us, put on his jacket and we silently made our way to the stairs leading to the basement of the school. “Wait.” Zane said, once we reached the top of the stairs, before I opened the door leading to the school.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“There’s people walking down the stairs.” He said simply. I didn’t hear anything but then again I don’t have super-vampire hearing. I waited for a little while and then Zane said: “Ok, it’s clear.” We walked out of the Janitor closet ─that is really not a closet at all─ and made our way to my dorm.