Whispers of Death

by Alicia Rivoli

  I looked at him. "I don't know," I answered honestly. "Everything is a little fuzzy. How long was I gone?"

  "You were gone for nearly five hours," Mark said. "I was beginning to think..." His voice trailed off.

  "I'm here now," I said, trying to console him.

  "Yes, but for how long?" he asked.

  I raised my eyebrow and stared at him. "What do you mean?" I already knew what he was asking but decided to stall so I could think of something to tell him.

  "Amelia, you told me that you were Death. What does that mean?" he asked.

  I sighed; I didn't know how to answer him. What was going to happen now?

  "I don't know what is going to happen," I answered. "For now, I'm here and that's all that matters."

  He smiled slightly, but I could still sense his fear that I was going to leave at any moment.

  He held my fingers as they stuck out from my cast, kissing each one slowly. "Yes, you are here now, and I love you more than ever," he whispered.

  I knew that this conversation wasn't over, but I was grateful that he seemed to be putting it aside for now. I wondered if I should tell him that I would be going with death tonight, but I decided against it. He would never forgive me if I told him.

  "Do you want to go to bed? Are you tired?" he asked.

  I yawned almost on cue. "Yes."

  He smiled and wheeled me down the hall to our bedroom. He helped me brush my teeth and laid me gently down in the bed. I found myself grateful for my casts, as it prevented Mark from sleeping close to me. I didn't want him to know that I had left my body again. It didn't take Mark long to slip into a deep sleep. I heard his breathing slow, and small snoring sounds echoed in the dark room. I wondered how long it had been since he’d had a good night’s sleep. I watched him for minute before turning to Apollyn, who waited patiently in the corner of my room. His cloak had been pulled over his face, and for the first time I realized that I didn't know where the scythe was.

  "Where is the scythe?" I thought, panicked that Fear had somehow come back and taken it.

  "It's in a safe place," Apollyn said. "Are you ready?"

  I looked one last time at Mark sleeping next to me and smiled. "I'll be right back," I whispered quietly.

  I closed my eyes and felt my soul pull away from my body. The pain that I usually felt at this sensation was masked. I didn't know why, maybe it was because my body was already broken. As I opened my eyes, I looked at my lifeless body lying next to Mark. He slept soundly, unaware that I was no longer there.

  "Okay," I said and then stopped. "Will this hurt me?" I asked, afraid of going back through a portal.

  Apollyn smiled. "No, you aren't a human this time."

  I let out a long breath as Apollyn stepped through the portal. I took a step closer, then closed my eyes and followed him. The journey through the portal was quick, but Apollyn had told the truth. Other than a slight pressure, I felt nothing. We stepped out onto a large black smooth rock. The air around us was stale and humid. Apollyn stood next to a man dressed in a gray robe. His hair was gone, and he seemed to be just a thin piece of skin. I walked over slowly to join them.

  "There is nothing to fear here," the man said. His voice cracked and squeaked as he spoke. "I have been waiting for you."

  "Are you the Seer?" I asked.

  "Yes," he replied, "and you are a hard one to see."

  I looked at Apollyn, then back to the Seer. "What do you mean?"

  He grinned slightly. "Your life has been hidden from me, but I'm seeing more clearly now that you are in my presence."

  "Did you know who I was?" I asked.

  "I have known you for a long time. However it wasn't until a few months ago I discovered who you were."

  I was confused. "What?"

  "Would you like some tea?" he asked.

  "No…wait there is tea here?" I was completely bewildered.

  He laughed a deep throaty laugh. "No, I just like to ask."

  I raised my eyebrows and looked at Apollyn. He was stifling a laugh.

  "No need to get all riled up, I don't get many visitors. It's nice to tease them a little to make my life a little more interesting.,” he said, waving me off. "Come, we must walk."

  Uneasily I followed. He moved awkwardly along the black stone. He didn't glide or walk smoothly; instead he stumbled and skipped. He giggled every time he bumped his foot and laughed as he nearly fell. I could tell that Apollyn was getting a kick out of this man. I was just wondering if he had gone completely insane.

  "If you can't laugh at yourself, then what is the point?" he said, reading my mind. "Life is so full of disappointment and grief, every now and then it's fun to just laugh. Anyway, when you’re my age, it’s great to just be able to stand up, let alone walk."

  "Sorry, I'm just a little confused. Why did you want to see me?" I asked. "Is there something about my future that I should know?"

  "My dear, you need to know everything about your future. It's quite the story." He spoke with reverence this time, almost in awe.

  "Are you going to tell me my future?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know my future, but a part of me wanted to know everything.

  "Do you think you are ready to hear it?" he asked, turning to face me.

  I thought for a minute before answering. "No," I said honestly, "but I need to."

  "Ah, good answer," he said, turning and continuing his stumbling walk. "Amelia, you are a very intriguing woman, one of the most intriguing I have ever come across in my visions. You have had a rough life, but you have never once complained. Your sister was always one step ahead of you, always in the spotlight. After your parents died, you took on a lot of responsibility. Your life changed in that moment. You distanced yourself from most people, keeping to yourself. Your thoughts were always cheerful, and you hid your emotions very well."

  "I'm a baby," I interrupted. "I can't do anything without crying."

  He smiled. "You are sensitive," he said, "but your sensitivity is because of who you are, not because you are weak."

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "You cry because you don't like to see people, or anything else for that matter, in pain. You feel everything that those around you are feeling. Your sister for example. Olive has always been cheerful and happy. Even after the death of your parents, she still remained cheerful. Have you ever wondered why?" he asked.

  I thought back to my parents’ deaths and remembered Olive laughing with her friends at the funeral while I suffered in silence. I had despised her for that for a long time. I couldn't understand how she could be so happy when I was in so much pain.

  "Your sister never really felt any pain. You always took it from her," he explained. "Every time you touched her, you were able to pull that pain away from her, and she was able to be free, much like what you have done for Vanessa in the past."

  "I took away her pain?" I said confused. "How? I didn't even know I was doing it."

  "That is why it took me so long to discover who you were. You weren't aware of your great power. Everything you did was done without your knowledge," he said. "That is also why you were in so much pain all the time. You took others’ pain and absorbed it as your own."

  His words echoed in my mind; he was right. I went out of my way to take away people's pain. I did anything for them, just so I didn't have to see them suffer.

  "I don't know if you realize this, but did you know that Mark was your perfect soul mate? Someone like that isn't easy to find," he said. "You had a one in a gazillion chance of finding him, but somehow, you found him."

  Hearing Mark's name filled me with pure joy.

  "You see, even hearing his name takes away your own pain. Mark has the power to heal you. He takes away your pain and fills you with so much joy. When you had children, you passed on your gene of absorbing pain to Hunter, and Abby was given Mark's ability to take it away. Hunter and Abby will be inseparable their entire lives. They can't live without one another. They are a perfect balance of peace,
Ying and Yang if you will."

  Understanding seemed to flow over me like hot water in the shower. I searched my memories, watching as Hunter protected Abby so faithfully and how she never seemed to be in pain or sad when he was around. She also changed Hunter. She gave him peace. It was exactly like Mark and I. He was the reason I was able to do what I had done to fight Fear. He’d helped give me strength.

  "You are beginning to see already. This is easier than I had thought it would be.,” the Seer said.

  I smiled at his compliment.

  "It was a few years ago that I finally discovered you were different," he continued without missing a beat. "Right after you and Mark arrived on your honeymoon vacation, you bumped into a woman that had dropped her suitcase. When you touched her, you took away her pain, but only for a brief moment. As soon as your touch left her, she returned to being in pain."

  I tried to remember the woman that I had bumped into. I vaguely remembered her and could also remember thinking something was wrong with her, but I couldn't see her face.

  "That woman, the one that you bumped into, that was Vanessa," he said.

  I gasped.

  He laughed. "Exactly what I thought when I saw her future," he continued. "I watched as she suffered for the next few years. She underwent many tests until finally she was diagnosed with cancer. It was too late of course; the disease had already spread throughout her body. As she lay there struggling, I had a vision of you. You met her daughter and took away her pain by giving her a doll."

  "You let her see that vision," I said, recalling James' story about his wife.

  "Yes. That was the only way we could make you see who you really were. It wasn't an easy decision to make either. I don't usually let someone see a vision unless necessary," he stated.

  "So it's necessary for me to see a vision of my future?" I asked.

  "That all depends on what you choose. If you choose to stay a human, I won't show you your life. If you choose to continue as Death, I will show you the future of your family," he told me. "This is a rare opportunity. I have never let a person choose which vision they would like to see."

  My curiosity had been peaked. "If I choose to stay human, will you show me a vision of what will become of Limbo and the lost Souls here?"

  Apollyn looked at the Seer. "Can she handle it?"

  He shrugged. "Her life as a human is already in motion. I can show her, but she won't remember. Her memories will be wiped clean, and she will have no recollection of Limbo or her time as Death or anything else that happened the last few months."

  "I won't remember this?" I asked.

  The Seer looked at me. "Nope, not a thing." He turned and kept stumbling away.

  I stopped. I didn't like what had happened in the last few months, but I also didn't know if I wanted to forget it all. It had helped me, in a way, become stronger as a person. I felt I could do so much more. I felt powerful, like I could take on the world. I had never felt that way before. I always had felt weak and vulnerable.

  "If I stay a human, will I still be able to take in others’ pain?" I said, running to catch up with Apollyn and the Seer.

  The Seer stopped; he stared off into the distance for a second then turned to face me. "That is who you will always be. It is your destiny to help others. Your life will remain like it always was."

  "Will you show me each vision before I make my choice?" I knew this was a long shot, but I had to ask. I also already knew that I wouldn't leave my family, but I was curious as to what would happen to me later.

  He laughed, not just a simple chuckle, a full-on belly laugh. "You are a persistent one.,” he said after he had settled down slightly. "And no, you won't get to see your life as a human unless you make a decision to stay as Death. These are my rules."

  Apollyn smiled in my direction and shrugged his shoulders. "He lives by his own rules, but he will keep you laughing."

  I didn't laugh. I didn't find any of this humorous.

  "You already have made your choice. Why do you torture yourself?" the Seer asked.

  I looked at him; my mind felt fuzzy. "I need to stay with my family. They can't grow up without their mother."

  "We both already knew your answer," the Seer said, stopping again and turning to me. "We just needed you to be sure. This is a big decision."

  "What will happen to everyone here?" I asked, my heart torn.

  The Seer looked at Apollyn and smiled. "Oh don't worry. There was someone else here that wasn't going to let you be Death just yet," Apollyn said, grinning.

  I was taken aback. "What?"

  "I couldn't let your family grow up without you."

  I turned. Vanessa stood behind me, the scythe in her hand. Her body was wrapped in a dark black elegant cloak.

  I gasped. "Vanessa, what have you done?" I asked.

  She smiled. "I did what I had to in order to protect your family and you. They need you.,” she said. "My life was already over, but yours is just beginning."

  "But you can't do this. What about your family? What will I tell them?" I cried.

  She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. It was the first time I had touched her where I didn't feel her pain.

  "I'm free," she said. "Tell them that I'm finally free."

  I knew I would have cried if I could. I held her for a brief second. I could feel her happiness inside her. She felt strong.

  "I love happy endings," the Seer said, chuckling. "Now you must go home. It's almost morning on Earth."

  "What will happen to you?" I asked Vanessa. "What happens when your daughter and husband come to join you here?"

  She smiled. "Families are forever."

  I smiled at my friend. I was truly happy for her.

  "Besides, I'm not Death, I’m just filling in. I can't do what you can do. I don't feel others’ pain. I can just use the scythe as the key to the judgment paths. In time you will come here and take your place."

  "Time on Earth is much faster than in Limbo. You will be back before we know it," the Seer said, chuckling and skipping around like a child.

  "When will I come back?" Their words made nervous.

  "Not for a while, but I can't reveal your own death; it would be too much for you to handle," he said.

  "If I'm going to forget, then why don't you just tell me?" My tactics weren't secret. I was trying to trick him into telling me more.

  "Sneaky girl, but no. I like my secrets." He shook his finger at me as he spoke.

  My shoulders slouched as I felt the disappointment of his words. I really wanted to know more about my future, but knew that he would never tell me. The Seer seemed to understand my feelings; he stood and smiled even wider, making me smile in return.

  "I do have one request," Apollyn said. "I would like you to be the one to pass my judgment."

  I was honored and a little scared at his request. The thought of touching the judgment stone or the scythe sent chills down through my soul. I was afraid that if I touched it, I would have to stay here.

  "You worry so much for such a young person," the Seer said, watching me. "The scythe doesn't have the ability to keep you here. Only you do. Like I said, only you can decide to stay or go back home."

  I was relieved at his words. "How do I pass your judgment?" I asked Apollyn.

  "Well it looks like my time here is done. I must go now. Until we meet again my dear." The Seer bowed his head and acted like he was tipping a hat at me, and then he vanished.

  "Where did he go?" I asked, dumbfounded by his behavior.

  "No one knows. This is just the place he always likes to meet," Apollyn said. "He really is a strange old goat."

  I laughed; he couldn't have said anything more true. "Yes, he really is."

  I followed Apollyn and Vanessa back to Limbo. There weren't as many Souls as I had seen last time, but several still wandered here and there.

  "What happened to Fear?" I finally asked, almost whispering.

  Apollyn looked at me. "Fear will
always be present. He left so much of himself behind in all the worlds that he truly will never be gone. Every war, or crime, every mother's nightmares, they are all caused by Fear. You killed the solid form of him, but true fear will always be present," he explained.

  "How did I kill him?" I asked. My memories were still fuzzy from the attack.

  "When you took hold of the scythe, its powers transferred to you, the real master of death. As you pierced him with the blade, it sent all your energy with it, all your dreams, happiness, joy, everything. As those feeling entered his own soul, it killed him. When you did that, you also reversed what he had done to me. My body healed itself, and I was finally able to find my way to you."

  "How did your body begin to heal itself?" I asked, confused at his explanation.

  "My life force was connected with the scythe. When you killed Fear, the blade was able to heal. The corrosion turned back to pure silver, which also healed me. My life will continue to be connected to the scythe until I pass through judgment."

  We had reached the judgment paths. I could sense his pain as he approached the stone.

  "Are you ready?" he asked me.

  I swallowed. "If you are," I answered, unsure of my abilities.

  Vanessa handed me the scythe. It felt heavy in my grip, and I could feel its power radiate through my soul. I placed the scythe in the proper place on the golden judgment stone, and he placed his left hand on the other. The stone started to glow as soon as the connections were made. I watched nervously. Immediately I felt all of his memories rush over me. I could see each of his decisions; some I had already been witness too, while others were new to me. It felt strange seeing his most secret thoughts and desires. After several long minutes, I heard a click and felt the ground shake under my feet. Apollyn watched me as I looked up to see which path would open for him; even though I thought I knew the answer, it still made me nervous for him.

  The large marble walkway lit up, torches blazed to life, and the gate to the Path of Eternity opened before my eyes. I looked down the path, standing a little distance off were several people. Each person was dressed in a long white robe. They were smiling at Apollyn. I turned to look at Apollyn. His face had lit up. He was smiling from ear to ear, and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed that I had watched tears fall down his cheeks.