It was a sunny day, the perfect summer day actually. If they were in a movie, they would all spend some quality family time at the beach or at the park. But this was the real life, so here they were in this overly sanitized hospital room. All his kids and grandkids were in the room with him, they all knew the end was near so they all came to say their goodbyes before it was too late. He was tired of all the medecines and treatments so they were moving him to this house of palliative care so he could have as much comfort as he can in his last moments. He spent about a week in this house and then one night, he woke up to this voice, one that he never heard before, but was so familiar at the same time. He opened his eyes this saw this young man. He never saw that young man before, but at the same time, he could swear he knew him. The young man was wearing a black zip-up hoodie with a black shirt underneath, black ripped jeans with a few chains attached to the side of it. The old man in his bed couldn't help but smile a little ''Are you a new nurse?'' But as he was asking the question, the answer came to him. The young man only shook his head with sadness in his eyes. He reached for the old man's hand and said in a whisper ''It is time to go, Marius.''

''Are you...'' Marius couldn't say it out loud. Like saying those words would actually make everything that was happening real. The young man laughed a little ''Yes, Marius, I am the... Grim Reaper as you call me this days.''

For some reasons unknown to Marius, he wasn't afraid or angry. He knew his time would come soon and he was at peace with that fact. And seeing Death like that was actually quite comforting. Marius stood up and took the grim reaper's hand and he followed him.

After a little while, the grim reaper turned around to face Marius and while still walking backward, he said ''Thanks for following me without making a scene. It's a good change of pace for once.''

''Well, you look exactly like one of my grandson and I couldn't help but feel happy seeing you. I didn't expect you to look so...''

''Alive?''

''Yeah!'' Marius answered, laughing ''What is your name, son?'' Marius then made a funny face, realising what he just said ''I don't know if I should call you son... You look young, but I pretty sure you are much much older than me!''

The grim reaper laughed and smiled ''Yeah, I am in fact pretty old. Humans called me many names and I didn't always looked like that. Some names and appearances I loved ,other I hated. Now these days, Humans picture me as a spectral form, all black with floating clothes and gigantic scythe. Most of you are scared of this appearance so I decided to just take the shape of a loved one. To make it easier. And you can call me Than.''

''Short for Thanatos I guess?''

Than nodded his head in agreement ''One of my favorite name.''

They walked for a while, making small talks at the same time until they reached a cave that was going deep into a gigantic mountain. The opening of the cave wasn't really big, but it still felt really intimidating. Marius took a deep breath and looked at Than, waiting for him to lead the way. But he looked at him in a confused way when he noticed that Than seemed scared. What Death himself could possibly be afraid of? Than reached for his chains and as he took them in his hand, they transformed into a really tall scythe. The scythe actually. Than took a look a Marius and shrugged his shoulders ''Yeah Humans actually got that one right. But it is not to harvest souls... So listen, you will have to obey everything that I tell you once we step inside. If I say run, you run. If I say stop, you stop. If I say jump-''

''I Jump. I get it. But... Sorry for asking but, since I am already dead, what is in there that I should be afraid of?''

''What you call demons are after souls to do whatever they want with it. And they won't ask nicely to follow them like I did... I am here to protect you and lead the way so you don't get lost.''

''Did you loose souls before?''

Than looked at his all black snickers ''I did... But if you follow my lead, you should be fine.'' It looked like he was saying this to convince himself more than Marius. Marius couldn't help but comfort him. Yes he was Death himself, but he looked so scared and anxious. So... human. Marius put a caring hand on his shoulder and when Than looked back at him, he said ''I trust you, Than. Now let's go!''

Than nodded and a small smile appeared on his face. He reached for the last chain still hanging on his side. He explained that the first part of the cave is in complete darkness. He can see through this pitch black dark, but Marius won't be able to so he is going to have to tie him to himself so Marius didn't get lost in the dark. He tied it around his wrist and he faced the cave, took a deep breath and began to walk. After only a fewsteps, Marius was already completly lost in the darkness, even if he looked back, he couldn't see the light of the exit. He could only hold on the small chain attaching him to Than. They walked in silence, Marius ready to do whatever Than would tell him.

They walked for a bit until Marius heard Than shout ''DUCK!''

''Quack!'' Marious said as he was ducking in the dark. He heard and felt the scythe slashing over his head followed by a scream of pain and anger ''Run!'' Than commanded and Marius felt the chain pulling him forward. Marius jumped on his feet and ran as fast as he could, trusting Than to lead the way. He was getting out of breath, which he found kind of ironic since he couldn't actually breathe anymore. Marius could also hear footsteps all around them, laughters too. Not the funny kind, more like evil laughters. The laughs were getting so overwhelming that Marius almost didn't hear Than saying ''JUMP!'' but he still managed to do jump in time. And now they were falling.... and falling... and falling. Marius was getting scared that maybe he jumped too high or too late but an arm wrapped around his waist and his fall was abruptly stopped. He heard Than's muffled shout of pain and when he looked around, he saw that Than's scythe were firmly embedded on the edge of the cliff they were in. Than then put his feet on the wall of the cliff and pushed them back up. Marius was the first one to get on the edge and helped Than to get on his feet again.

They both stood there for a few seconds, catching their breath and calming down. Than was the first to break the silence ''I'm sorry. We almost missed the landing. They are normally not that much of... them up there. I was caught off guard.''

''Well we are safe now, so it's okay.''

''Not exactly safe-safe, but yeah, safer now.''

Than then untied the small chain around Marius's wrist and lead the way again. Marius couldn't help but rub his wrist over and over again. He didn't notice how this small chain helped him feel more safe in this afterworld full of unknown danger to him. He followed Than as close as possible without being in his way when he needed to swing his scythe around to protect him. Than even had to make then go back on their way a few times. Marius could see how nervous and stressed out Than was. When they took a small break, he built up the courage to ask ''Are we in trouble? I mean like... more than usual?''

It took a few seconds, but Than finally answered ''I don't know what is happening, they are everywhere today and much more agressive than normal... There is one last path that we can take. It's not an official road, but it should bring you where you are supposed to go.''

''Well I trust you. You protected me really well until now so I will keep following your lead, son.''

''Thanks Marius. We should keep going then.'' Than said after hearing a distant laugh again.

They ran more than they walk toward a small waterfall. After a clear warning from Than to not touch the water, they carefully walked behind the waterfall where a small corridor was hidden. It was all made of slippery stones, but they managed to walk all the way down without getting into any trouble. They finally reached their final destination. They said their goodbye and Marius went on his way to the other Side.

Than sat on a rock nearby and closed his eyes. He was worried about how hard it was to get all the way here today. It was not that bad usually. Was he getting too old for this? He put his face in his hands and rubbed it a little. He jumped out in surprise when he heard someone beside him ''Hey Than, you look horrible!''

''Thanks I guess.'' He said when he noticed it was his best friend. Another grim reaper. He sat back on the rock, leaving a bit of space for his friend to sit beside him. They sat there in silence for a long time like they usually do. His friend was the first one to break the silence ''I lost the soul I was protecting today...''

''I'm sorry. I almost did too, but I managed to save him.''

''What is going on down here? Whya re they so many of them?''

''I don't know... But we will have to figure it out soon if we don't want to get in trouble...''

his friend only nodded and they sat for a bit longer before going back to their work. There was still a lot of souls to guide to the other world... And they will have to work extra hard to make them travel all the way here safely.