Chapter 1 - The Story

She could feel the ice cold wind brushing her hair away from her face, as if she was being embraced by Death himself. "Come in, my child. Welcome back," she imagine him whispering in my ear. "Look how you have grown! You look so much like the first-you," he would admired after releasing her. "Your father would be so proud...if only I didn't take him away when you were at such a young age. What a pity, every young lady needs a father figure to protect her. Maybe in your next life, I will be kinder."

She began to cry at the maleficent voice within her head. "No," she whispered. "Death is not here. He does not exist. He never existed," she chanted to herself as she unlocked the gate to the graveyard. 

A young man dressed in a gray suit smiled at the poor naive young woman from inside the graveyard. "Even from afar and through the passing of all these centuries", he thought, "she is still beautiful."

The young woman enter the graveyard illuminated only by the beaming moonlight. As she began to walk the clear cobble stone path, she began to shiver. "Why am I so cold?" she thought. As she continue her trek to her father's grave, she tried to ignore the feeling of being watched. "I am not being watched by Death. Death is not here. He does not exist. He never existed."

Death, growing tired of his beloved's pace, traveled to the tombstone. The ground, although covered with patches of grass and moss, was as hard as ice,  the temperature itself was beyond anyone could bear. Any other person would have waited out the subzero temperatures, but to the young man and woman it felt like the starting season of Fall. The wind continue to whip around them, Death's dark purple tie thrashed around him. Nevertheless, he waited patiently for his love to arrive to the tomb.

"Remember the story your father would tell?" said Death standing behind the tomb. 

"Yes." was her only reply as she defiantly cast her gaze onto Death.

He shivered, from love or fear, he did not know.  

"Tell it, my dear. For your father. For me." And so she ready herself to tell it. In the corner of the graveyard where the grass was unkempt and the trees sway with malice, there stood her father's tomb. Even after years of weathering, it stood with uncontrollable dignity. 

"Hello, Daddy," she dropped to my knees, "I'm sorry I took so long to visit. It's been very hectic lately. I came to visit, because I know how much you love nights like this."

"Recite it. Do not keep me waiting." Death screamed at his beloved. 

She obeyed. 

"In the beginning, God only made Life. A being destined to watch over the beings God created to inherit the Earth. His job was to inspire these beings, or Humans, to live and love, for the rest of eternity. Although slow, the Humans began to cover the Earth with cities. It began to overflow with prosperity. However, over the centuries Life took notice of a slowing progression. The Humans were starting to regress, Life took it upon himself to improve his previous Humans. The Humans, however, laughed at Life's vain attempts. 

'Why should we change?' they jeered. 'Our lives are perfect the way they are. We do not grow old and we do not grow sick. We have thrive, and will continue to do so.'

Life could not believe what his precious Humans were saying. In complete agony, Life screamed, 'Is this thriving? Surviving on the remains of your past? If you do not continue to thrive, you will all perish." The Humans, however, continue to ignore Life's warnings. For because, Life to them, was everlasting.  

In an act of desperation, Life sought God's advice. 'Why, with eternity before them, do the Humans do not stand and continue to prosper?' cried Life in exasperation.  

'My dear creation, I have come to realize that my Humans do not truly appreciate the gift that they have been bestowed with.' For a while God was quiet, thinking what he should do to help his creations. 'My son', God explained, 'to make the Humans appreciate their eternal Life, you must first give them another choice.'

'So God created Death. A being that would be able to take the Life away from any Human who dares to squander his eternal gift. A being designed to give the Humans a simple choice, Life or Death. Not long after, the Humans began to stray back into the right path. They began to learn and to live. They created cities and empires, and monuments in the honor of God and Life. 

However, they soon began to realized, even Life, that as a result of their exasperation to choose to live the Humans never really escaped Death. The humans who had both eternal youth and health began to die from sickness and old age.  Death, absent of any judgement, began to take them away, one-by-one.' 

'Death.' Life echoed.

'Yes, my dear Life. What is wrong?' he answered.

'Why do you continue to take the Humans? Did they not prove that they want me?' 

'Yes, my dear Life. They choose you, but they can't have you. You have bestowed to them, not only eternal youth and health, but your love and devotion. You see my dear, that they will, once again, betray you?' Death yelled. 

'No Death', Life said, 'You are wrong. Do you not realize that the Humans have learn the errors of their ways? They will continue to prosper and improve this world.'

Death laughed at how gullible Life really was. "You do not understand what you really are to these insignificant beings. They only continue on their paths because they fear you losing you. You are, to them, a beautiful lie.  You are a being that no Human should be worthy of. For their squandering and malevolent past, these beast deserve me. They know that they deserve me. I am Death, their painful truth, the being that was destined to kill them all.

'Death, let the Humans go. They chose me!' cried Life. 

"In his haste," I continued in front of my father's tomb, "Death attempted to kill Life. Although he did not succeed, Death's attempts were not in vain. The pain that Death inflicted on Life began to turn him Human. With his fate beginning to sealed, Life release the last of his power to give the Humans an everlasting desire to live. This desire manifested itself into many different forms in both the hearts and minds of all the Humans. For many, it was a desire to learn and grow. For others, it was to bring success and prosperity. For the rest, it was to love oneself and others.' 

'This desire, although nothing compare to Life's true strength, gave the Humans a chance of survival against Death. This gift cost Life greatly, Death ensured that Life, before he would fall onto the Earth, would become an eternal spectator of all the Humans' creations and destructions on Earth." she finished with tears pouring from her eyes. 

The silence was deafening within the graveyard without the soothing voice. The young woman, oblivious of the change, continue to sob quietly into her hands. Death, on the other hand, stood with slight apprehension. He slowly started to walk towards his love. 

"That was beautiful, my dear. Much better than last year." The tears bring out an unearthly effect to the storytelling." Death jeered. 

"Why, do you continue to torment me?!" she screamed shredding any form of calm that the graveyard held. 

"Because you chose the Humans instead of me," Death said bitterly as he came closer to her. With every step he took, she could feel her body become colder. "I love you Life. Do you not remember?" he whispered inches from her own lips. When they connected, the small amount of discomfort from the cold quickly began to wane. She could feel goosebumps light her whole body as Death deepened the kiss. 

To what felt like centuries for the young woman, were measly seconds to Death. He could not continue to kiss her when she was so oblivious to what she had done to him. He parted from the young woman, when she finally opened her eyes, she was faced with the piercing glare from Death. 

"Why does he looked at me as if I was the one that tore his heart to pieces." she thought.  Before she could utter a word, Death slowly shook his head and disappeared. 

Ivette, the young woman, jolted hastily from her deep slumber with the coldness still sweeping her body, and a warm feeling on her lips.