I ran until I was out of breath. When I finally stopped, I looked down at myself. Every trace of blood was gone, both my own, and the man's. The bullet holes were also gone. Too bad the memory wasn't. I continued on until I reached my house, at which point I dodge into my room. The light was gone, but didn't even notice. Every thought in my head was taken up by the scene of what I had just done. If this was what my life would be like, I would rather have died.

"I don't want this," I said to myself.

"To bad," the voice replied. "The deal has been struck. Now get some sleep. I want you here at dawn."

I didn't ask where "here" was, or how to get there, I just lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I would get no sleep at all.

The sky began to lighten and I got up off my bed. I had no clue what I was supposed to do, but I opened my door. Instead of my hallway, I found a staircase, lined with stone, and going down. The door shut behind me as I stepped through. Soon enough, I reached the courtyard of a castle. I tipped my head back to gaze up at the soaring towers and, far above them, the roof of a cave.

"The master is expecting you." I spun toward the voice. A young woman in medieval clothing stood in the open doorway. "Right this way."

She backed away through the grand entrance and I stared after her a moment before following. Immediately, the sound of bickering reached my ears.

"You know you're not supposed to interfere with the lives of mortals."

"Oh, please. That's literally your job."

"I don't bring them back to life!"

"Of course not. You don't have the power to."

"Just because you're the god of death doesn't mean you can throw it away!"

I peeked through a door and saw the people the voices belonged to. The first was a girl with golden hair braided down to her feet. She stood tall with her hands on her hips lecturing the boy on how he never followed the rules. I turned my attention to him, and he surprised me. When most people think 'Lord of Death', they imagine a giant red dude with horns and a tail, or perhaps a man draped in darkness and fear. I got a scrawny kid in a hot pink hoodie hanging upside down from his throne, while playing an old Gameboy. The girl broke off mid-sentence when she saw me, causing the boy to glance up from his game. Confusion crossed his face and he looked at his watch. Quickly, he flipped right-side-up and shoved the handheld in his pocket. He stood, descending the stairs from the dais on which his throne sat.

"You must be the girl I brought back."

I strode across the room until I stood directly before him. Then, balling my hand into a fist, I punched him. He fell back onto the stairs and the girl started laughing. The Lord of Death looked up and me in shock, his hand massaging his cheek. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, she managed to get out, "You punched me."

The girl broke into her own laughing. "I wish I had been the one to do it."

"Yeah, but she doesn't have a reason for doing it."

Hands on my hips, I glared down at him. "Oh, really? You might have explained that you'd be having me kill people before I agreed."

"Hey, that's your fault. You should've asked."

I continued to glare at him.

You do realize you are speaking to the god of death, right?" he asked, climbing to his feet. "Why aren't you on your knees worshiping me?"

"Not interested, thanks."

The girl laughed again and he turned to look at her.

"You're not helping Dess. Mortals shouldn't waltz into my throne room and treat me like this! I am the Devil, they should fear me!"

Dess's eyebrow shot up. "One: you sound like a little kid throwing a fit. Two: are you still calling yourself that? You just took the word 'lived' and turned it backwards."

The Devil clenched his jaw. "You're leaving now." He waved his hand and a spirit came and took the girl's arm, pulling her away. He then turned to me. Evenly, he met my eyes. "I know you don't like your new job, but there are many souls left who escaped me when their time to die came."

Resisting the urge to punch him again, I hissed. "You can't make me. I will never follow your orders. If you tell me to be quiet, I will scream. If you beg me to talk, I'll sew my mouth shut." I spun on my heel and marched from the room.

Chapter 3: Still the Same?

As the Devil watched my retreating back, his mind returned to the previous day. He had watched as he made me kill the man. He had watched me struggle against my own actions. And, finally, he had watched the live die from my amber eyes. Even if I was no longer dead, I was not living. For a moment he had felt a pang of regret for what he had made me do, knowing well the dissatisfaction with the life lived, but he shook it off. There was no reason for him to sympathize with mortals.

I found my way back to my room, resolved to never think about any of this again. Unfortunately, I found the girl sitting on my bed. She looked up as I walked in and smiled understandingly.

"I know that idiot is hard to deal with sometimes, but he's just doing his job."

I sighed and dropped beside her. "Well, I don't want any part of it."

"I can't help there. The deal has been struck." We fell into silence and just stared at my room. "I'm Dess, goddess of fate and chance, by the way. And, just so you know... We're not all like that. You can't tell anyone about this, so if you need to talk, just call my name."

I nodded and she vanished, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Several hours later, I rose to my feet and got dressed. I made my way downstairs and poured a bowl of cereal. Soon after, my parents walked in.

"Are you okay sweetie?" mom asked.

I forced and smile and lied through my teeth. "Fine."

Before they could question me further, I grabbed my stuff and walked out the door. Finding a seat on the bus, I listened to the usual sounds of talking and laughing.