Original Fairy Tale Challenge: "The Girl Who Fell In Love With Death" -- by Hazel West

(Warning: rather dark)

The Girl Who Fell In Love With Death

By Hazel B. West

Once upon a time a girl met Death on the corner of a busy street.

            He had come to take the life of a homeless man but did not notice the eyes on him until it was too late to hide.

            It was not often that Death had to worry about people seeing him. He usually was able to keep to the background and simply do his job. But some had the ability to see more than normal humans and this girl just happened to be one of them.

            Death was not at all what the little girl had pictured. Yes, he was dressed in black and had a long scythe in one hand, but he was tall and young, and very handsome. Raven black hair fell against his pale face, partially hiding eyes the color of eternity as he stooped in the act of reaching for the man. The girl stood in awe as he turned toward her, deed done.

            “Are you afraid of me?” he asked. It may have been an odd question because, of course, she should be afraid, and yet, he was taken slightly aback because this child didn’t seem to fear him at all.

            In fact, the little girl simply shook her head. “No.”

            Then Death, perplexed, simply disappeared.

~~~

It was several years before she saw him again. This time there was a car accident outside of her school. The children gathered at the edge of the playground despite their teachers’ attempts to pull them back, wide-eyed with horrified fascination.

            The girl stood slightly to one side of the children (as she always did for she never truly fit in with any of them) waiting for something else.

            And sure enough, he appeared.

            Death reached inside the car and touched the woman on the cheek, a gentle caress, before he straightened and turned around, his eyes meeting those of the girl. 

            “You again,” he said.

            “Yes,” she said, feeling something from looking into his eyes that she never felt before. She felt alive, which was odd. But the truth was she never felt like she belonged like she did when looking into Death’s deep eternal eyes.

            His mouth turned up slightly at the edge and he nodded to her silently before he disappeared again.

            The girl felt as if something had been pulled from her chest. She wondered if she would ever see him again.

~~~

The girl met Death the third time when she was sitting in a hospital, outside of her grandmother’s room.

            She felt a settling as if a puzzle piece had been fitted back inside of her and she knew who was standing beside her before she even looked up.

            “You may want to rethink making a habit of this,” Death said, a note of teasing in his voice. “Some don’t think it’s good luck to see me. Especially more than once.” He stood straight, looking down at her, his scythe in one hand, held casually. 

            The girl blinked up at him. “Did you come to take my grandmother?”

            He nodded once, raven hair caressing his cheek. “Do not be sad, it is just that it’s her time. She will go peacefully.”

            The girl nodded, having already known this. She had found over the years that she had an uncanny ability to know when something would die. Her pet cat, her neighbor’s dog. Her friend’s grandfather in kindergarten. She wondered if it was because she had looked Death in the eyes. Or, rather, if she could look Death in the eyes because she had the ability.

            He moved toward the room, and she felt something in her chest breaking again. Something she knew she couldn’t get back until she saw him again. On impulse, she reached out to grip his hand. Death froze and looked down at her as if scared for her sake, but nothing happened. She only stared up at him, holding his pale, cool hand.

            “Can you stay? Just a moment?” she asked.

            Gently, he curled his fingers around hers as if also reveling in the touch. “I’m afraid I cannot,” he replied, though there was the ring of regret in his voice. “My job dictates a strict schedule. But fear not. I have a feeling we will meet again.” Then he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it softly.

            This was when the girl realized that she loved Death.

~~~

As the years stretched by, she tried to find as many opportunities as she could to see him again. She grew older, got a job at the hospital. She wanted to be around the dying, just to catch a glimpse of him. She still possessed the uncanny ability to tell when someone was going to pass on and it was easy to be there at the right time to see her beautiful reaper in his dark suit and fathomless eyes.

            But every time she saw him, she always wanted more. Her very soul was empty unless Death was there with her. She felt sometimes as if she lived with one foot in the real world and one on the other side. She lived only to meet Death for a few brief moments at a time. But those few moments of bliss became more and more unsatisfying as she became more and more broken when Death was not by her side. Fading farther from the real world, but never quite in his. 

            She needed more than a few spoken words, a gentle caress, a soft press of lips. She wanted to be beside him forever, it was the only thing that could make her truly happy.

~~~

The desperation drove her to an overpass, to a bad man, and dark shadows to hide her deed.

            She stood there in the dark, watching blood spill across the ground as the gunmetal cooled in her hand. 

            “My, my, you have grown very impatient, haven’t you, my dear?”

            She looked up and Death stood there, scythe gleaming in the moonlight. 

            The girl fell to her knees in front of him. “Please. I can’t stand to be away from you anymore. I’ve waited too long already.”

            “It is not your time,” he said simply.

            “You know that is not what I mean,” the girl replied.

            Death stared down at her, considering, but she saw the longing in his own eyes. “It will be for eternity, love,” he said softly. “For I am, more than anything, eternal.”

            “I only long for eternity with you,” she replied.

            “It would not be life or death,” he continued. “For those would not exist anymore for you.”

            She shook her head. “My life is death when I am not with you. I already walk a path between.”

            “You would only ever me mine, my love,” he whispered, holding out his hand.

            She took it. “I only ever wanted to be yours.”

            “Then let it be so.”

            He smiled and pulled her into his arms, pressing his lips to hers, to seal the promise.

            Then Death, and the girl who loved him, spent the rest of eternity together, as they were meant to be.