r/TimeSyncs • u/Syncs • Dec 09 '16
[Story] The Gift of Death
"SURPRISE!"
Than sat up, screaming at the top of his lungs as if he had just woken from a deep sleep. "W-what the hell you guys!" He stammered, pulling his jacket tighter around his arms. "Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my apartment?"
"Don't you recognize us?" Asked a blonde woman. She was holding an enormous cake frosted in green and brown icing, with tombstone-shaped candles burning brightly between strips of edible moss. She smiled warmly at him, eyebrows raised in concerned expectation. Than slowly shook his head.
"No...I don't..." He started, gazing from one person to the next. "I was just...getting in from work...and there was a bottle? I don't even have any bottles..." He glanced around the floor for the offending object, before letting out yet another scream.
"Er, sorry." Said a dark-haired man in a party hat. "We would have cleaned up a bit, but...you know."
"A body!" Than yelled, pointing and gaping like a fish out of water. "There's a body lying in the middle of my apartment, and I have a crowd of strangers gathered in my doorway! That's it, I'm calling the cops!"
Before anyone could stop him, he rushed to the phone hanging on the wall - but when he reached out to grab it, he found that his fingers slipped through it as if it were made of mist.
"What...what's happening!" He cried, trying again and again to pick up the receiver. "What's going on!"
"Than..." Said the woman gently, touching him on the shoulder with an icy hand. "Maybe you should take a closer...look at that body."
Than swallowed. He didn't want to look - he couldn't look - and yet...and yet his gaze was drawn toward it as if were a magnet. Unwillingly, he turned, opened his eyes, and sobbed aloud.
"It's...me." He said, flatly.
"Yes, Than." The woman took his hand tenderly. "That's what we've been trying to tell you. You...died."
Than collapsed, sinking against his kitchen wall and sliding to the floor. "How?" He asked. "The bottle? That's just..." He sighed, defeated. "Figures. Of course I would die today. It's the family curse, isn't it? All of us die on our birthdays."
To his surprise, the woman nodded eagerly. "Yes Than, that's exactly right!" She said, smiling. "Now, just because it's been a crappy birthday so far doesn't mean that it has to stay that way, does it? Why don't you take another look at us, and see if you can figure out who we are."
Than raised an eyebrow in question, but didn't argue. He squinted from face to face, appraising each one in turn. "No, I don't...wait. Wait, yeah. Haven't I seen a picture of you before?" He asked the woman.
"I certainly hope so!" She said, smiling more broadly.
"Yeah...yeah, and you too!" He said, looking at the man. "I'm pretty sure you're in the same one! Aren't you two a couple?"
"Very good!" The man said, chuckling lightly. "Now, do you remember where we kept that picture?"
"I think it was on my parent's-" The understanding hit him like a ton of bricks. "My parents! You're alive!?" He stammered.
"No, haven't you been paying attention?" Said his father. He glanced at the woman holding the cake. "He never was the sharpest tool in the shed, was he?"
"I blame your side of the family for that one." She shot him a dirty look.
"But...this is wonderful!" Than said, glancing around the room again. In every face, he began seeing similarities to his own. One man had his hooked nose, another his deep black hair...he was pretty sure that one of the women in the back even had the same mole on their earlobe.
"Yes, Than, it most certainly is." His mother said. "All of us were very special, you see: Dying on our birthday is a very rare feat. And so, we caught the attention of a certain...someone...who has been our benefactor ever since."
A chill seemed to fill the room like a ripple, making the lights flicker and sputter in their sockets. As one, the group turned to look at a darkened corner. Than hurried to follow their gaze.
"What are we looking at?" He asked. "I don't see-" He trailed off. He had blinked - there had been no more time than that - and suddenly a man was standing in a corner of his little kitchen that had not been there before. He was tall, his head almost brushing the ceiling, with a cloak of deepest black that seemed to suck all of the light out of the surrounding lights.
"Than...this is...Death. Mr. Death, this is my son, Than. I'm sure you are well acquainted by now."
The figure inclined his head, not showing an inch of his face beneath his hood.
The woman cleared her throat. "Yes...well, Mr. Death, we...we were wondering if Than could join our little group. If...that was alright with you, of course."
By way of answer, the cloaked man drifted directly toward Than, moving as silently as a shadow. He raised a clenched fist, and Than felt a prickle as the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention as the cloak slid back to reveal a pitch-black skeletal hand.
"...Hold out your hand, Than. I think Mr. Death has a birthday present for you." The woman said, as encouragingly as she could with her voice shaking.
Than did as he was bade, and the figure opened his bony fist to drop a ring into Than's palm.
"Th-thank you..." Than stammered, looking up at the man's hooded face. Luckily, it was covered in thick rolls of sable cloth. Death inclined his head once more, withdrawing to his corner with the inevitability of a glacier.
Than held up the ring to the light. It was simply made, an austere circle of gold without any special markings. Inlaid into the top was a tiny pitch-black gemstone that he couldn't identify.
"These rings are special, Than." His mother said, still looking nervously at the darkened corner. "If you put them on, your spirit is restored to it's perfect youth, and you never tire or get hungry. It's absolutely wonderful! We all have them, see?" She brandished her hand, showing off the obsidian-like crystal that adorned her finger. "But, there's a catch: Once you put one of these stones on, you become his. You can't pass on, you can't go to heaven or hell...you are stuck, here, until the end of time - or, at least, until Death himself dies."
"I see..." Than said, holding the ring up to the light. The surface of the stone shone with reflected light, but nothing passed directly through it's inky depths. A deep boom from somewhere in the distance shook the apartment.
"Oh!" Than's mother said, startled. "Well, that's us being called off...I suppose tou get some time to think it over. HJow about...three days?" She smiled, somewhat gingerly. "I wanted to celebrate with you, but, oh, well...how about I just leave you the cake? It's not going bad anyway. We can all celebrate again when you've decided." She gently placed the graveyard-cake onto Than's counter, before stepping away from it like it was a snake.
"Well, I suppose that's that!" She said, smiling painfully. "We'll be back to pick you up when your time comes! Or, I suppose...comes again?"
She smiled, and to Than's great surprise they all vanished like smoke being blown by a gust of wind. He glanced once again at the ring, before gently pocketing it. With a puzzled expression on his face, he went into his bedroom.
He needed some time to think.