Ava grasped a piece of slick plastic, drenched in a hardened shell from globes of black paint. She frantically surveyed the area, but darkness shrouded her sight. Where am I?

She shivered, chills ran up her spine, goosebumps spread across her skin. That feeling of an empty void. Why of all places? She squeezed down on the chair, again. It moved in waves beneath her hands. She jerked back and knocked a soft object off her head.

A spotlight from above flashed on, exposing the treachery sitting on her lap. It was an Amaranthine’s crown, dyed in black with a gold tree crest stitched on the side. No one in the royal court wore this color, so then who wore this crown?

“That’s yours, isn’t it?”

A second spotlight flipped on, exposing a figure, dressed from head to toe in the darkest of midnight’s colors. From only a few feet away, he leaned forward in a metal chair, coated in raw material of makeshift screws and parts. He tipped the fedora and greeted her with a crude smile. The Reaper.

“That’s if you want it. I can make your wish come true for a price.” His sinister voice reached like a whisper in her ear.

Of course, there was always a price. “No, thanks. I’m not that desperate.”

“Suit yourself.” He snapped his fingers, turning the crown into a large demon snake.

Ava screamed, pushed it off in a hurry, climbed up the throne to get as far away from it as possible. Snakes were just as bad as needles with their fangs full of poison. I hate them. I hate them with a passion.

The Reaper chuckled in his hand, peeking between his fingers. Her fear compelled him and drove her into rage. The snake slithered back, its eyes dark as coal, hypnotizing her through its hissing tongue. Except this time she was prepared. This is just a dream.

Ava imagined a hunter’s knife, a long slick blade, sharp as her own, dark as night. It appeared in her hand, only such a knife could in a dream. With one fell swoop, she stabbed the blade straight into its body. The snake slashed, hissing, snapping at her, until it finally disintegrated into nothing, along with the knife.

The Reaper slowly clapped. “You are entertaining, indeed.”

She glanced around the room. There had to be a way out of here. A door, a window, anything to escape from. But she found nothing, only four dark walls. She only had one option left: run.

Ava hopped onto the seat and jumped over the chair onto the floor. Her feet carried her through the darkness, while a spotlight followed each step perfectly. She didn’t look back. She refused to look back, refused to give him that satisfaction.

His laughter consumed the room, twisted her soul.

Footsteps tapped from behind with jolly in their walk. “There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. If you stop running, you’re going to die.”

He popped up at her next step. She almost plowed into him, stopping so close his chill became a snake of its own. He peered down through a deep grin. She could hardly breathe. The air was so thin, grew thinner by the second as he inched closer. The edges of his suit threatened to graze her nose.

With quick footing, Ava backed up and bolted off into a new direction. Shadows played across the floor, chasing her every step. He toyed with her, while she ran for her life.

She somehow ended back at the chairs and ran past them. Each step became harder and full of weight. Her legs turned to stones, dragging them across the empty space. Until she sunk into the floor. Chilling black murk pulled at her arms.

No, I can’t let him catch. I can’t die like this! Through frantic eyes, she searched and searched around. The Reaper approached, walked with ease on the surface. While Ava sunk, he stood poised by her side. His grin turned upside down.

The black murk reached her chin, covered her mouth. I’m going to drown.

Ava managed to keep her mouth shut, but the longer she did, the more it pushed inside until it was too late. Thick globs of slime filled her nose, filled her throat.

I can’t breathe… I can’t breathe…

Stop. She had to think, quick.

“I’m tired of this game. I’m so tired of running. I’m so tired of life,” he said, dragging each last word out. “Humans and their whiny selves. It’s a wonder your race is still alive.”

It sounds like he’s whining just the same. I thought a reaper was supposed to be some fearsome creature, but I guess we’re not so different after all.

There was silence before a finger snapped.

Ava blinked and blinked, regained her bearings. The Reaper sat closer than before, jaw clenched. Was that anger? She backed away, further on the throne. She never imagined a reaper could feel anything at all. So he had a heart.

After taking a deep breath, Ava crossed her legs, hoping to appear confident on the outside. She needed to show this reaper once and for all she wasn’t to be trifled with. But really, she didn’t have time for this. She had to get that birth record back.

“I don’t have time for this. What do you want?” she snapped, her hands trembling.

He leaned back in his chair, mimicking her posture. “Very impatient. It’s a miracle you survived Zephyrus this long. Though, he has always loved a good hunt.”

Don’t tell me this was the spy all along. “Unbelievable. And here I thought a reaper would be above working for a god. How much is Zephyrus paying you? I’m sure he has a ton of souls on reserve.”

He leaped forward in his chair, turning feet into inches. The chilling air surrounded her as he exhaled a deep stench of fear. “What a bold acquisition to make. You should be wise with your next words.”

Breathe, Ava, breathe. This is just a dream. Darious said a reaper only visited someone in their dreams when they had a message. He wouldn’t kill her just yet. He needed her for something, or he wouldn’t have let her alive this long.

Besides, now she had a trump card. “Shouldn’t you be afraid of me? Since I’m the god of death, shouldn't that make you my servant?” she said.

His eyes grew darker, sinister. His jaw clenched. “The gods have no authority over us. It’s just a title. A simple fabrication to put themselves on a pedestal, and be used as a tool for war and power. Zephyrus has certainly played the part right.”

When Ava didn’t respond, he leaned in closer, breaking what personal boundaries she had left in this nightmare. “Would you like to know the truth about yourself?”

Yes, but how much would it cost? There were so many questions she had left unanswered, ones that could help control her abilities aside from dying.

The Reaper stared and stared without so much as a blink. It was unnatural, freakish. She finally asked, “What do you want in exchange?”

For a brief second, his eyes sparked. Some might say he looked human. “Already making deals with a devil. You must be desperate,” he said.

Her hands further suffocated the chair. His smile grew wide, clearly enjoying her suffering. “I’ll grant you two free questions for nothing in return.”

“What’s the catch?” Ava asked.

The Reaper tapped a finger against his cheek. “Consider this my present to you for surviving this long against the gods,” he said, whispering so low, it harmonized with the still air. “Though, as a forewarning, the more you know about yourself, the closer your death will come. I cannot guarantee your safety.”

Ava knew she should be more concerned about her death date, but this might be the only chance she got without having to resort to violence. Also, he was a reaper, so they should know more than anyone. They could take their souls. They knew when they’d die. So he must know. He had to know.

Grabbing hold of the chair’s arms, Ava squeezed into the swirls as she asked the first obvious question, “Am I the god of death?”

“No.”

He answered so quickly, it took Ava a few seconds to process it. She never felt so relieved and dissatisfied in her entire life. And so very angry. That disk had everything on it, and she let Zephyrus take it. She let him take the only thing she had left.

But wait a minute. Zephyrus said only gods could wield the weapon she possessed, then that made her a god nonetheless. The next question was right on the tip of her tongue.

The Reaper held up two fingers, subtracting one as he spoke, “Ah, I’d think carefully about what you want to ask next. You’ve already used up one. Now there’s only one left.”

Her eye twitched. She was so tired of him reading her thoughts. The next question should be obvious. Ava squeezed the chair arms. I hope I’m not making a terrible mistake.

“Then what god am I?”

A sly grin crept up his cheeks. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

He cocked his head to the side as his eyes stared deep into her soul. Chills slivered over her body from deep within. “What do you mean? How can you not know what I am? You’re a reaper. You know when we die. So shouldn’t you know!”

“These fairy tales again.” He rested his forehead against his fingertips. “We can’t look into your past. We can only see the events in front of us as they unfold. And maybe fifteen minutes before you die.”

So he knew nothing about Ava, what she was, or where her genes came from. This was a waste of time. Hopeless. She just needed to find out a way to control her abilities. So she could finally feel useful again.

He stared, tapping a finger on his temple as if he were waiting for Ava to do something. She’d already asked all her questions, and she assumed the last one was a freebie because it was about him. So what else was she missing? Was it something he said?

Wait. I got it.

“You said you can’t look into our pasts, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t present when I was born. Right?” A growing smile gave hope. “Then that means you know where I come from. What am I?”

“Since you have used your two questions, I can’t answer that unless you’re willing to give me a valuable exchange.”

All hope vanished in an instant. She should’ve taken his advice and thought through each question before she spoke. But that wasn’t Ava. She always jumped the gun and did things without thinking. She was a loose cannon and barely had anything to show for it. God, she felt like crying.

He cocked his head to the other side like he was dissecting an insect under his scalpel. But when he rubbed his chin, his cold expression seemed to warm for only a split second.

“What I can say is this: you are the ripples in a pond from when your creators cast the first stone. What choices you make in life will change the course of the universe once more.”

Ava slammed her fist on the chair. “You make it sound like I have this unimaginable power. Like I’m not even human!”

He went back to staring, gauging her reaction. She hated this. Hated how he made her feel desperate, all this questioning, that she may not be human. Fear coiled under her skin.

She squeezed the chair so hard, the black plastic molded to her fingers. Ava always wanted to belong and being a human gave her that bond she desired. It was the only thing keeping her sane. If that was taken from her, then she’d lose the only place she ever belonged. She’d have nothing left. What would she become?

“I was created from human DNA, in a laboratory by the top Earth scientists. I'm number 32. The only baby to accept this monstrous power. To survive. So don’t you dare sit there and tell me I’m not human. Because I am a human!”

Her fuming did nothing to his abominable demeanor—he grew colder.

His fingers tapped the chairs’ thin metal arms, compared to her throne, his seat was nothing but scrap metal welded together. She needed to stop letting him get to her.

He hunched forward, back into her personal space. Tapping his fingers together, he discreetly said, “If you’re dying to learn more about yourself, you need to take back your birth record. And quick. Zephyrus is known for using unorthodox methods. But you know what that’s like, don’t you?”

Ava refused to respond.

He got in her face, smiling so wickedly. “How did it feel to kill your best friend? Did it feel as exhilarating as you’d always imagined? Or was it unfulfilling since you weren’t able to kill your dear older brother?”

Through blinding rage, her hands were at his throat in seconds. Ava pushed him down on the floor, choking him with everything she had left. He smiled up at her, gasping out sadistic chuckles. She tightened her grip further.

Ava wished she could erase that night, how the blood lust coursed through her veins, the second she laid eyes on Gio and knew her sword was going through him next. If Junipea never stepped out in front of him, she’d have killed her brother and would’ve taken her life right after. She couldn’t live with it—with Gio's blood on her hands.

Instead, they both lived with Junipea’s death weighing on their minds and shoulders.

The Reaper grabbed Ava by the wrist. His chilling hand crawled over her skin. He was strong, able to force her grip away just enough to speak. “You must be seeking a death wish if you’d outright touch a reaper.”

Ava gasped, slapping him away in an instant. This man was a reaper and she’d been warned to never touch him. Anyone who touched a reaper would die. Sam warned her and she didn’t listen. Does this mean I’m dead?

She stared at her shaking palms as he chuckled to himself.

“You would know if you were dead, human. Your spirit would be in my hand.” He flexed his fingers, wiggling them with a tease.

Then what did this mean? How could she touch the Reaper without dying? It had to be the god’s power. But it didn't feel right. She didn’t feel any different than before. This was too much. She didn’t want to think of the impossible. Her brain couldn’t handle it.

The Reaper’s laughter went wild, he covered his face with both hands, but it didn’t hide the amusement. Large teeth cracked between each finger.

Ava hopped up in a hurry, stood closer to the throne in case she needed coverage. As quick as she blinked, he disappeared and stood right behind her. His hand slithered up her spine, around her neck, frost all over her skin.

Her body trembled. Ice bit her heart. “What do you want from me?”

Whispering darkly against her ear, he said, “Death.”

She pushed him off with as much force as she could and ran off into the darkness. She just needed to get away from him, away from here. She ran and ran as far as she could.

This time he let her.