"No!" Death rushed to the window. As he looked out, hands grasping the frame, he tensed. He looked back at me. "Come on, kid." He jumped out of the window. 

I moved to follow his example, only for what happened at the Eiffel Tower to come rushing to the front of my mind. "Uh, Death?"

"What?"

"Won't I just float?"

Death stopped and turned. He stared at me from his place halfway up a hill. "Not if you want to fall." And then he started running again.

"How does that make any sense?!"

"Just do it!" he yelled, not bothering to look back at me.

"Since when were we in a Nike commercial?!" I hopped the windowsill. True to Death's words, I fell. Wind whipped around me, tugging at my cloak until I landed. A grunt tore from my lips as sharp vibrations carried up through my legs. I straightened and took off after Death. The world moved at its usual pace.

Mud squelched under my shoes, belying the rain that had passed through the area earlier. I did my best to avoid the numerous holes littering the soil, but, eventually, my foot slid into one. I winced, somehow managing to come away unscathed. The longer I ran, the longer I went without any sign of Death, the more I wanted to haunt the cross-country runners. 

After entirely too long spent running, I saw black contrasting against the field. I shifted course so I would come up behind Death. When I neared him, I slowed to a stop. "Where'd she go?"

He sighed. "No idea." He glanced back at me. "But she couldn't have gotten far. You go that way, I'll go this way." He gestured in two directions. They weren't quite opposites. I nodded, and we took off. 

 The way he had me take was mostly field. The rest of it was rocks, with a ruin thrown in for diversity. That was made of stone. The open grass gave way to a pocket of close-packed trees. Little streams of sunlight dappled the leaves littering the forest floor. My pace slowed past a walk. It was hard to maneuver around the trunks, low hanging branches, and thorn bushes; my feet slipped and slid because of mud and leaves. I almost fell a couple of times, narrowly saving myself by catching hold of a tree. I stepped on twigs, and they issued loud snaps in protest. 

The longer I walked, the further I ventured into the woods, the smaller my hope of finding her became. If I tried, I wouldn't be able to find myself. I had been turned around and knocked off of the singular direction I had been given the moment I stepped into the treeline. To my left were trees, to my right were trees, in front of me were trees, an, behind me were more-

"Holy Jesus!" I yelled. I meant to swear on, you know, Jesus, but the same force that prevents swearing on heaven and hell forced the name into that of the bartender from Paradise. My scythe slipped from my hand. Wings slapped the air as birds launched from their perches, releasing sharp calls in protest.

Harper stared at me, her eyes glowing in the shadows. She didn't make any move towards me; she just kept staring at me with unseeing eyes. A shudder ran down my spine, and I took a step back. Before I knew it, I was pressed against a tree with a hand wrapped around my throat. 

"If you say a word, you'll regret it." Her voice was soft, barely audible above the rustling of leaves. Her hand tightened around my neck. My heart clenched, and panic shuddered through my veins. That lasted a brief moment; it ebbed when I realized that I was dead, meaning I didn't have to breathe. It returned a moment later. I had no idea what she was going to do with me. I had no idea if she could destroy me or not.

I swallowed as best as I could and threw my legs up, expecting to drop to the ground and slam her head against the tree. Nothing happened, except my feet were left dangling.

"You shouldn't have tried that," she said, pulling the thin blade from its sheath. It didn't shine. It was dull, even when Harper moved it through a ray of sun, there was no reflection. My eyes widened, and the dagger drew closer to my chest. I couldn't take my gaze off of it. 

Harper pushed part of my cloak away with the dagger. She rested the point of the blade against my chest. Eyes clenching in fear, the muscles in my body tensed. Something told me getting stabbed in the heart wouldn't be a fun time, dead or not. 

The grip on my throat loosened, and I dared to look. I wish I didn't. Harper's youthful skin sagged, her eyes sunk in, her hair turned gray, and her body fell into a pile of dust.

"You okay, kid?" Death asked. I nodded. The moment my feet touched the ground, I walked over to him. He looked me over, even lifted my chin to look at my neck. A frown crossed his face. "Tell me if this hurts."

"If what-" I cut off as he pressed his fingers to where Harper's hand had been. Death didn't hesitate to take off a glove and heal it. Afterward, I rubbed my neck. He knelt down and grabbed my scythe. 

"Did she tell you anything about the key?"

I shook my head. Despite him healing me, my throat ached. I didn't want to talk more than necessary. Death sighed. He leaned back against a tree. His hand brushed against the bark, causing it to wither and die. 

"Great. There goes the only lead we had." He put his glove back on before running his fingers through his hair. "I don't know what to do. The odds of finding her were low enough, finding any of the others would be harder than beating Lucifer in a fiddling contest."

"Where's the last place you saw any of them?"

Death rested his chin on a fist. "Well, Harper was the only the only one who would have dropped something. But if we go to some not nice places I might be able to find some things on one of them."

"What do you mean not nice?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Old decrepit catacombs and dungeons in long forgotten castles or under cities. Hope you like rats."

"I do not."

"Well, too bad. Cause you're going to have to kick some."

"Couldn't you kill them?"

"Then what would I use if I need to start a plague? You're just going to have to deal with them. Try not to get bit."

"They can bite me?"

"Well, yeah, anytime I do something involving the immortals we have to be on the mortal side of things. Causes too many issues if we aren't."

"Like?"

"My sister is faster than me. If she finds out I know where stuff is hidden, she'll get there first and take it."

"If she knows where stuff is, why doesn't she just take it in the first place?"

"She doesn't know exactly where stuff is," Death said. "She has that vague idea of when you know you left something in a room but you don't know exactly where. The second she senses me moving towards it, with the purpose of taking it, she'll swoop in and snatch it up. Or if it's one of the immortals she'll pull them into her dimension."

I nodded slowly. "So she can't sense you if mortals can see us?"

"Basically. Pain in the butt though. You have no idea how many times I've gotten stopped by police officers or protesters or doomsday cultists. So many false prophets." He whimpered and tilted his head back. "I was asked to join a cult that worships me. How do you respond to that? Oh no thanks, I'm the person your worshipping. Like how? How do you say no to that without making stuff worse?"

"There's a cult that worship you?"

"There's a cult for everything. They're basically Hallmark cards."

I stared at Death, and I realized he wasn't joking. I exhaled and ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, so now that I know that. Where are we going next?"

"France." Death pushed off of the tree. It creaked. Small snaps came from it, followed by larger ones and a loud groan as it fell against another tree.

"You better not push me off of anything again."

"It's not like it'll kill you to hit the ground." He grinned, eyes brightening with amusement. "Maybe we should go to the Empire State building, see how far I can throw you."

"No."

"You're no fun." Death pulled up his hood. The wind tugged at his cloak, making it flow around him dramatically. I held mine closed. "Come on, we don't have forever. We're already falling behind on reaping."

"Then give me some of the list and I'll go."

Death looked at me. "Kid, she'll find you and she'll try to destroy you. Without a scythe, I won't be able to get to you quickly. You're my apprentice so that means you're my responsibility. You don't see God letting his souls go do dangerous stuff."

"But-"

He placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'd rather have the apocalypse happen than risk you being destroyed.   There are a lot of things Life could do if she harnessed the energy released from a soul's destruction and none of them are good. So please do me a favor and be careful when she's around, all right?"

"Wow, you actually seem to care."

Death chuckled. He dropped his hand from my shoulder. "I've told you, I'm only soulless. Besides this is just as much self-preservation as it is anything else. If Life gets that much power, she could probably find a way to destroy me. Or at the very least, trap me in my dimension for all eternity."

"The second one doesn't sound too bad."

"You haven't had to play Clue against yourself have you?"

Chapter: 1,701

Book: 26,768

I'm home sick today so...

Chapters!

See yah