"How are we having this much trouble finding something linked to her? We had an easier time with Kai," I said, moving a stack of papers onto the floor before replacing it with a box filled with even more. Each one had some connection to Ivy, but not the type we needed. "You said she's the most public of the immortals, so why don't we watch the news or just Google her?" My idea sounded better than Death's, which happened to be what we were doing. My idea involved typing her name into a search engine and looking through websites, not searching through boxes, filing cabinets, drawers, and display cases filled with papers, pens, and all sorts of other memorabilia. It also didn't involve being stared at by numerous pictures of Ivy Butler, Ivy Florence, and three other Ivys, all the same person.

Death didn't look up from the papers strewn across a table. His fingers hovered above one before dipping down slightly. They barely brushed the paper, but the damage was done; it shriveled up and decayed away. Death scowled. "Because I'd have to deal with all of the talk about the British Royal Family. Why are Americans so obsessed with the royal family of a nation they fought to get away from?" He shook his. "Besides when does the news cover anything good? All it is is bashing on the opposing party while making your own seem like saints. The only breaks you get from it are when they give medical advice that's going to change the next day."

"Honestly, that did not go the way I thought it would."

"What? Did you think I was going to say something about the disproportionate rate of crime they show on the news? Or maybe that they don't always use proper graphs to show data?"

"No, but I'll keep that in mind."

We went back to searching in the comfortable silence. Death broke it. "Why is there a book about chickens?"

My eyebrows knitted together and I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, Death, now with his gloves on, was holding an illustrated guide to chickens and other farm poultry. "I don't know. Did she send chickens some place?"

Death flipped through the book before laying it on the table still open. He picked up a paper and leafed through it. "Looks like she sent chickens, pigs, and guineas. Huh, you'd think she'd know better than to send those. Guess she's never been much of a research person."

"What?"

"Chickens are kinda one of Lucifer's side projects. There is exactly one type of chicken that God made, and it just so happens she didn't send them that type. Adding guineas into the mix makes me question how good of a person she is."

"They're just chickens. It's not like they're geese or anything."

"No. Geese are at least open about being murderous creatures bent on getting revenge for reasons unknown. Chickens will act like sweet innocent angels, but they're just as much cannibals as pigs. And don't get me started on pigs. I've seen a lot of deaths, kid, war, plague, famine but death by pig isn't something I'm keen on seeing again."

I pulled my gaze away from one of the carefully bound pages in my hand. I looked at Death. "You've seen that before? I thought people getting killed by pigs was made up."

"Eleven times in fact," he nodded with a wink. I took that to mean he was saying eleven just for the reference. "You know how sharks go into a blood frenzy? Imagine that on a curly-tailed potbelly pig. They'll tear into a body the same way they tear into pumpkins."

An image appeared in my mind, threatening to make me lose my breakfast. "Please stop talking."

"You've got it," Death said, closing the book and placing it aside. We continued our search quietly. Papers crumpled and fell out if our hands, often ending up with more spilling off the tables and onto the floor. Occasionally, I'd hear the sound of a new box being opened or tape being pulled from the roll. There were other noises too, but as our search nears its fourth hour they were blending together into white noise.

A headache brewed behind my eyes. I sighed and placed the latest paper aside. Looking through these papers was about as enticing as writing a seven page essay for Mr Houston, and the papercuts didn't make the idea of continuing the search any more appealing. I hopped up onto the edge of the table.

"She's really done a lot of stuff, hasn't she?" I turned a paper around, eyes scanning the list of things. It was handwritten, and it didn't match the rest of the writing on the papers. "Digging wells, building schools, teaching, donating book collections, sending livestock, and showing up in remote areas to shame people into practicing Christianity. Oh, sorry. I meant converting people to Christianity." I corrected, rolling my eyes.

"Kid, you'd think you'd have less of an issue with missionaries considering the fact that you've been to Heaven and met God. You've even met the Devil." Death lifted another box onto the table, using a pair of scissors to open it. He pulled the papers out, dropping them onto the table next to the box. One hand reached into a pocket as he flipped the pages of a document. He pulled out a piece of gun and popped it into his mouth without offering me any.

"Aren't you going to offer me a piece?" I smiled, leaning backward as I tried to stretch my feet across the gap to a nearby display case.

"It's not in a container."

I made a face. "Gross."

Death hummed and swayed softly as he looked through the papers. The silence, which had been comfortable before now felt awkward. I sighed.

"Judaism wasn't a thing until like fifteen hundred BC or whatever right?"

"And?"

"And there were religions before that. I know people can be pretty stupid-" The friends I left behind were prime examples. "-but people don't worship anything that walks through a door."

"You remember the part where Moses came down and people were worshipping a cow statue right? Or was it a cow?" Death's eyebrows drew together and he started mumbling to himself, trying to figure out which it was.

Before it went to far, I said, "There was an Egyptian goddess called Hathor." That was the lone piece of information I retained from a World Civ project I did freshman year. "Anyway, if there aren't other gods then why is God so adamant about people only worshipping him and not worshipping idols?"

Glowing green eyes stared at me and Death didn't answer. He sighed, turning his head away from me. "You're not wrong. There are other gods, but we don't talk about them."

"Why not?"

"Different pantheons keep to themselves. We don't interfere in each others business unless we're expressly asked too. Besides, the more attention we give them the more power they gain." Death ran a hand through his hair, his eyes closing. He looked back at me. "We existed before mortals, we aren't reliant on your existence. Well, I might be but that's not the point. Having people believe in you, having people know your name makes you stronger; it makes you harder to forget. And isn't that what everyone wants? To be remembered? As long as there's someone to remember, we're never truly gone, just weak. It's why I'm glad I'm Death. There's only one way to get rid of me, and that's by making people immortal. Why do you think the end of the world is so scary for me? If everyone is dead, they'll be no more fear of me. No one will need to remember thinking that everyday will be your last."

"I just wanted a simple explanation, I didn't want that. That was depressing."

The corner of Death's mouth twitched. "Not as depressing as the music choices in Heaven. You got any other questions while you're failing to look through papers?"

"How was the world created?"

"Well, if you want to go with science then the world was created from a bunch of molten rock and space debris and stuff that eventually solidified into this loveable planet. If you want to look at Nordic myths, the the universe was made from the body of a dead giant. The Greeks believed the Earth was created from Chaos. All of those are right and all of them are wrong at the same time."

"Huh?" That made no sense, and for once I wasn't content letting it be.

Death sighed and started searching through the pockets of his cloak. "Where's that tissue paper," he mumbled. He looked through pocket after pocket. The moment I thought he wouldn't find any, he pull out a full, unopened pack of white tissue paper. A triumphant smile painted his face. He ripped the plastic open and grabbed a marker off of the table. With a single fluid stroke, he drew a perfect circle. He tapped it with the end of the marker.

"You see this circle? That's the Earth. More specifically, it's the version of Earth where the Book of Genesis correctly explains the beginning of the universe." Death drew another circle on a new sheet of paper, and two semicircles on another. He held up the new circle. "This Earth is the one where the entire universe came from an egg. It has a very different beginning than the other one, but it carries the same result. Which means you can overlap this one with the other one." He laid it over the first sheet to demonstrate. "You can think of it as like layers of neapolitan ice cream. They're all ice cream, but people can choose which one they like. Or you can be like our group and fight over a single flavor."

"What's with the semicircles?"

"A dimension that doesn't line up with Earth. But sticking with the ice cream metaphor, the people who like chocolate eat their chocolate and leave the strawberry people alone. Things get messy when we start interfering with each other. The Egyptians weren't exactly happy when God sent the plagues. And the Roman's weren't happy either. Basically, other religions don't like us all that well. I can understand why, just within Christianity there's been a lot of drama. Trying to say we're the best religion is like- oh a cookbook. I'm taking that." Death picked up the slim book and tucked it into a pocket, along with the tissue paper. Despite making no attempt to smooth it, his cloak looked as smooth as ever.

"I have no idea how to respond to that," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Well, try 'thank you for explaining this to me, I feel so well educated. You are an awesome teacher'."

"I meant about you stealing a random cookbook."

"Kid, we've committed three murders and are planning a fourth. I think petty theft shouldn't be a surprise." Death walke to the stack of papers. He split the pile in half. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Besides less of a will to live, no." I shook my head. I expected him to make a comment about me being dead, but he kept looking through the papers. I sighed and looked around the room. "Why would this guy have this much stuff from her anyway?"

"Some people like collecting decorative spoons, some people like obsessively collecting evidence in order to prove people are immortal. I try nor to judge until the collections start including underwear." Death finished looking through the stack of papers before groaning. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand; his other hand gripped tight to the table. "You'd think he'd have at least one original document or pen or a lock of hair or something. Kid, do me a favor and search the rest of the house. I'll finish up in here."

"And miss a chance to stay in this room all day? Yes, please." I hopped down from the table. Walking to the door, I spared a glance back at Death. He held his head in his hands, hunched over the table. Not wanting to get roped into listening to another vaguely depressing topic, I exited into a dimly lit hallway. The door locked behind me. If I weren't a ghost, that probably would've scared me.

Sneaking through the house was easy, avoiding creaking bits of floor was less so. How was a ghost making the floor creak? I had no idea, but I passed it off as an effect from me being visible, even though my footsteps had no sound. One particularly loud board made me wince. Just because nobody was home when we broke in didn't mean nobody had come home in the meantime. Peeking my head around a corner, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Nobody was there. From that point, I moved with less caution.

I made it the kitchen before I heard the turning of a lock.

My eyes went wide and I froze, the classic deer in the headlights look. I shook it off and dove under the table moments before the door opened.

"The alarm went off five hours ago, Julie. I would've been here sooner but- No, the others got food poisoning. I can't fire them for that," a deep, gravelly voice said. The man's boots thumped against the linoleum a few feet from my face. I was glad I didn't have to breathe, I was sure it would've given me away otherwise. The conversation lulled on this end.

"Yes, I'm being careful. I have my gun. I'll check the place out. It was probably just a raccoon or something. If I see someone I'm calling the cops. Gotta go, bye." I heard the phone flip shut. "Jeez, keep me on the phone as I sneak through my own house, why don't you?" He grumbled, looking around the kitchen. His footsteps moved towards the stairs and I decided to take a risk. I darted towards the living room; my foot landed on a squeaky board. He must have heard it, either that or I was having really bad luck, because his footsteps and grumbling followed after me.

My eyes darted to and fro, locking onto a doorway I didn't notice earlier. I rushed for it. An open door led to the bedroom. I slipped inside and desperately searched for a place to hide. The closet floor housed a multitude of shoes while the rack only held coat hangers. There was no space on either side to hide along the wall. Wooden boards prevented access to the space below the bed and the sole nightstand in the room had the space below it occupied by a safe.

My hand wrapped around the worn metal handle and I opened the nightstand drawer. Inside I found makeup and hair supplies, including super cheap bobby pins. The sharp tang of metal filled my mouth as I chewed the protective coating off the ends. With the two bobby pins, I made myself a makeshift set of lock picks and started trying to jimmy the safety's lock.

I tried the handle. The nightstand creaked.

"What was that?"

Panicking fluttered in my chest, or was my heart trying to start beating?

"Come on, come on." I messed with the lock a little more. "Open up already." I banged the door.

"Who's there? Stand up!"

"I'd appreciate it if you'd put the gun down first." I didn't look back, and I had no way of knowing he had his gun up. I was just guessing, buy that wasn't important. What was, was the safe was open. A lone sheet of paper, yellowed around the edges, sat inside. I grabbed it.

"I'm not going to. Now stand up or I'll shoot."

I sighed, stood up, and faced him. "Bad idea." I threw my hand towards him. For once my powers activated without something flying at my face. Ribbons of light wrapped around the gun and pulled it towards me. Meanwhile, the piece of paper was on fire.

"Crap!" I bounced it from hand to hand, blowing on it. It was a bit charred around the edges by the time the fire died away. I kept it clenched in my right hand.

"What are you?!"

"Just someone who wants this piece of paper. Tell Julie hi for me." I walked past his frozen form. "And no, she doesn't know me. I'll be on my way now. Have fun in a mental institution."

He didn't follow me and I knocked on the door to the collectin room. Death opened the door. "Is this what we were looking for?" I asked, handing him the paper.

"Yeah, where'd you find it?"

"The safe in the guys bedroom. Also, we might want to get out of here before the cops show up."

"Is that part of the reason why those are up?" Death gestured to my arms.

"It was that or getting shot." I shrugged. "Actually, I'm surprised I managed to summon them."

The paper disappeared into another of Death's many pockets. "I have to admit, you having those still freaks me out, but I guess they're coming in handy. Now." HE clapped his hands. "Let's go kill a humanitarian."

"Each passing day, we sound more and more like the villains here."

"I'm sorry, do you want the apocalypse to happen?" Death raised an eyebrow. "Because if you do, I'll gladly hand you over to Lucifer so he can beat some sense into you."

I laughed, though I wasn't sure if it was a joke. Death smiled, so I guessed my reaction was appropriate. He grabbed my sleeve.

"Let's go, kid."

Chapter: 2,971

Book: 45,940

I typed this today yay!

I need to study

And eat.

See yah