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It's night and the last of the village is filing out of the church into the dark night. The service had been a somber one, marking the death of a young man who’d gotten into a fight with a neighboring town. There’d been a fight and it hadn’t gone well, leading to a couple weeks of him being sick before finally giving up. In the end the entire village had come together to mourn him, no matter how stupid they thought the initial conflict was.
As the priest bid each of the villagers good night and thanked them for attending, a lone sister busied herself with inspecting the pews and cleaning up what little mess was left behind. Old worn books were tucked back into their pockets and tissues were gathered into a small bag. Cushions for the older church goers were tucked back near the door and donations were stored away for future somber events. All the while the sister kept one eye on the body at the front of the church and the beautiful bouquets of white flowers surrounding it. Nirei only had to count down the minutes to know what would happen next.
Last person out of the chapel and the large ornate doors were pulled closed. Nirei quickly hurried over to help with the task until they were fastened tight and secure. Then he nodded to the priest and bid him good night. It was only a few moments before the large room was finally empty and completely silent. Just Nirei, a collection of dancing and hissing candles and a body of the recently deceased.
And then… someone else.
The footsteps were quiet, almost impossible to hear even with how everything echoed in the large room. Nirei had been expecting the sound, but that didn’t mean that he was used to it. As soon as he noticed the light footfalls, shivers spun up his spine under the black robes and simple habit he was wearing. Instead of immediately turning toward the sound he forced himself to wait and count the candles in front of him.
Ten to a row, in the first few lines. But two were out, so then it should have been twelve and then the next row had one too many at thirteen. Obviously one of the younger parishioners had moved a candle to create the unlucky number, thinking it was a funny prank. Nirei made a small note to himself that maybe he should count all of them before he left for the night, just to make sure no one was worried when they opened again for the morning…
Shaking his head he forgot the candles and turned, finally facing the body and the expected visitor.
He was a slight young man, taller then Nirei but built significantly thinner. In the dancing candle light his expression was hard to make out, but Nirei always managed to catch the glimpse of a smile as the young man quietly walked around the body and looked at it in question.
“He- uh, he has a name.” Nirei’s voice cracked in the most embarrassing way and he immediately regretting breaking the silence. He wanted to crumble, run and hide and snap out of existence all at the same time, but he stood his ground, watching the young man with as much bravery as he could muster.
“Oh. I know.” The words were playful in tone, matching the smile on his face. Nirei could make out short hair that made it to the boy’s cheekbones but not much further and one eye was visible. However, no matter what direction the boy turned, his other eye seemed to be lost to the darkness, just a gaping black void.
“Right, of course you know.” Nirei muttered to himself, not even realizing he was speaking out loud. The nervousness was getting to him and he started wringing his hands together, twisting and turning the rough cloth of his own black robe.
“I know yours too. Nirei.”
The room suddenly felt ice cold and Nirei wondered if winter had snuck in through a window. Letting go of his robe he swallowed and looked up into that single eye and unnervingly casual smile. “Is that… bad?”
Death tilted his head, considering the question. Least that’s how Nirei thought of him. He’d always seen the young man show up around bodies and sickness, lingering at the edge of a crowd as if he belonged there. But Nirei knew he didn’t, he never did. No, this boy, this Death, was always there for a moment before he was gone, leaving the body cold and lifeless behind.
Belatedly, Nirei wondered if that was how he’d end up. Maybe talking to Death wasn’t such the brightest idea.
The boy stepped away from the body and closed the distance between them. He was so close now that Nirei couldn’t see the collection of flowers behind him. Before they’d been full bushes of blooms, meant to scare away the spectre of death and fill the room with at least the hint of a lovely smell. Now? Now they were practically gone and his entire vision focused on the boy in front of him, dressed in black with the same smile. And still, no matter how close he got, Nirei could only see one single eye – as if the other piece of the boy remained somewhere humans were never meant to touch.
“Is-is that bad? My name?” Nirei asked the question again, his voice still shaking.
“No. I should think not. I just like knowing it.” The smile widened as the boy leaned closer. The two could have touched now – no, practically kissed – they were so close. Nieri couldn’t help but squeeze his eyes tightly shut, afraid of what might happen next.
And then, oddly, Death did kiss him.
Nirei’s eyes shot open as he felt the lips on his. They weren’t cold, boney or otherworldly. No, they were soft and warm. Nirei’s body lit up with a reaction and he found himself stumbling backward as fast as he could. A moment later the back of his knee hit one of the pews and he found himself on the floor, rubbing the immediately forming bruise.
Death closed the distance between them again, and this time he knelt down, offering Nirei a perfectly normal hand. The sister didn’t hesitate this time and took it, though he did puff his cheeks a bit in embarrassment at the whole ordeal.
“Were you waiting for me?”
Nirei nodded and brushed off his robes. His leg still hurt, a little, but it would fade. He could easily ignore it. “I saw you last time, when the twins got sick. You came in for the service and you stayed until the family was gone. Then you just disappeared.”
“And before that?” He actually sounded a little amused as he asked.
“Um- oh! The teacher, he’d gotten sick after his students. They recovered – of course – but he still had that terrible cough. He passed by the restaurant down the street. You were there too, drinking tea at the next table. I thought it was weird that no one else talked to you.”
“And why would they?” Death held back a laugh, but still moved his head as if he were going to let it out. He shrugged as he walked a little around Nirei and dropped to sit in the very pew which had gotten his leg. The dark cloak he was wearing spread out at the motion and Nirei was surprised to find the boy wearing perfectly normal clothes underneath. If it weren’t for the strange eye always covered in darkness, he might have mistaken the whole things for a costume and an act.
“Because you were right there.” Nirei didn’t even try to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Why was he talking in circles all of a sudden.
“Was I?” Death leveled a look directly at Nirei that slid right past his eyes into his very soul. “Am I?”
Nirei felt another cold shiver, and this time he was sure it wasn’t from some high up window. Looking back at the boy, at Death, he stared into that unending darkness and found he’d forgotten to keep breathing. Quietly Nirei counted all the times he’d seen him and realized that no, every single time no one else had reacted. No one else had even realized he was there.
“They can’t see you.” Nirei wondered out loud, the pieces coming together in his mind.
And then Death smiled like he’d won a prize.
“But I can.” Nirei nodded to himself and looked at Death with the most determination he’d ever had in his life. “I like that. I want to see you again.” He paused and added “but not around a body… I think.”
Death actually giggled and for a second Nirei could see that other eye, smiling with the rest of his young face as if there were nothing strange about him at all. And Nirei found himself melting, but he was positive he’d never seen such a beautiful face before.
“Well, thank you.”
Nirei’s eyes widened and he nearly shot back for a second time. “I- I didn’t say that out loud!”
Death just stood up and smiled, suddenly close enough to kiss him again, though this time he just passed right behind Nirei and whispered softly in his ear.
“You didn’t need to. You can always see me, little sister, and I can always hear you.”
Nirei turned at the words, desperate to say something else, but found only the quietly dead body lying amongst the flowers and an otherwise empty chapel. For a moment his heart fell and he considered calling out - even if he didn’t know what he would even say, but the moment was gone and with it so was the strange boy who always appeared when people died in town.
Nirei walked up to the boy and regarded it with a sad smile before saying a soft prayer and whisper of thanks, then he lifted the white shroud and covered the poor boy’s face. Early in the morning the couple from the graveyard would come by and take the body to be buried. It would rest here until then, safe in the chapel with the flowers and the thoughts of those who’d come to the service.
Turning away from the altar, Nirei gave the church one last look before he turned in for the night. He almost missed the single flower laying across the pew where Death had just sat and smiled at him. Now that place held a small chrysanthemum with a slight pink hue that would never have been part of the funeral. Nirei picked up the flower and hid it beneath his robes as he went back to his room.
He recognized the flower as one that grew from a bush at the graveyard. So perhaps, tomorrow night, he’d go there and see Death again. Perhaps he’d even be brave enough to steal another kiss.
Nirei fell asleep with a smile on his lips and a plan.
The end.