The death Herald

It was a cold night, one of those nights when you only wish to be at home surrounded by those you love. But it was not like that to Leben Adler, a young teenager who thought that he was immortal. Because since he was six years old he was prone to suffer mortal accidents without having any repercussions, every time he suffered an accident it was like nothing happened to him. On this day that he turned sixteen, as he was doing window cleaning work in one of the highest buildings in his city, destiny gave him a birthday present that day called freefall because the safety harness broke allowing him to fall to the ground. His body ached, his sight is a little blurry and he can hear people talking around him; he understands every word pronounced about him, he understands that once again he suffers an accident and once again he survives like the last six years before that. He did not understand what was the reason for him to continue surviving, so Leben relaxed a little and let the ambulance staff do their work while he began to lose consciousness.

It has been three weeks since Leben's accident and the doctors are still amazed by how he survived a forty-five meters fall; people around him were always surprised that he didn't have any broken bones or something even worse. The day passed, as usual, Leben was taken to physical rehabilitation due to the time spent in the bed unconscious, he was doing great, he regained his leg strength and was almost walking perfectly. But before his time in the physical rehabilitation room ended, he saw a little girl, about eight years old, walking into the room using some crutches. He was surprised by the girl because as soon as she entered the room, he started to hear a heartbreaking melody. He was amazed by that song, he loves music but he has never heard anything that sad and beautiful at the same time. Leben stop watching the girl and asked the physiotherapist - excuse me, can you increase the volume of that song?-. The physiotherapist looked at him confused, she decided to look at her cell phone thinking that maybe her music program activated by mistake while the cell phone was in her pocket. She saw that the cell phone was in silence and tried to explain to Leben that there was no music in that place. However, when she was trying to do that, Leben seemed confused and he began to laugh, saying that maybe he was too tired and he needed to rest because his body was still weak and he was hearing odd noises due to that. The physiotherapist agreed with him and decided to end the therapy not without first letting the nurses know what happened so they could talk to the doctor and pay attention to the symptom.

Leben was nervous, he was sure that he heard a melody but all the people said that there was no music in the physiotherapy room. He starts to think that maybe all his previous accidents damaged his brain and that's the reason he heard that. He convinced himself of that and decided to not give more attention to that for the rest of the day. He decided to sleep because he was aware that he wasn't receiving any visitors as the other patients in the room, his family were workaholics, he was an only child and he didn't have any friends, so he was calm about visiting time.

The night arrives, during all the noon since the relatives of the patients leave the room, he hears some mixed songs, but those songs were full of happiness so he enjoyed all the time he could hear those songs. He was amazed how the nurses didn't get into the room and scold them because it was late for them to keep playing music. But he didn't mind that, he was enjoying the music until he fell asleep once again.

It was three o'clock in the morning and Leben felt he was being watched by someone. He was scared because he thought that maybe he would open his eyes and see a phantom in front of him. So he keeps his eyes closed for about five minutes before he hears a masculine deep voice calling his name. He pretended to be asleep but the voice kept calling his name. Leben was more scared than before because the voice felt close to his ear. So he decides to get up as fast as he can off the bed and if he hits the person calling him, he only has to say sorry and tell that he was startled, in his mind that was a perfect plan. So he decided to follow it. He counted up to three and got up as fast as he could, but he didn't hit anybody, so that scared, even more, Leben, who began to see around him hoping that maybe one of the other patients in the room might have called him for help. He saw everything and got confused because he saw how the other three patients who were with him in the room were laying in the bed, but he was able to see that none of them were moving, he couldn't see how the bedsheets go up and down to their breathing. He started to shake because he was angry, how come they could die calmly while he escaped death in several different moments. He calmed himself and started to yell calling for the nurses, but there was no answer, that seems odd to him because the nurses always come immediately when someone calls for them in that room because the other three people in there were very old and they could die at any moment. He decided to get out of the bed and walk to the nurse station, while he was doing that he was able to see something very particular, everything was in silence, there was no sound in that place. He felt weird with that because nurses usually talk and make some noises while they write on their computers, fill the medicine forms and take the exams that the doctors prescribe during the shift. As he was thinking that, he kept walking until he reached the nurse station, and saw all the nurses sitting in there, watching the computers but none of them moving at all.

He thought that was odd so he decided to call for one of them -Nurse Matilda? hey can you help me?- he said, but there was no answer, he thought that maybe the nurse was so focused on her work that maybe she couldn't hear him, so he approached her and touched her shoulder while calling her, but he decided to make some gentle pats on the shoulder of the nurse. He did that like two times, but there was no answer, so he decided to search for other nurses who were able to help him. He kept walking but he saw all the nurses still like statues. He felt some chills and a cold sweat drop slip his back, that scare him even more, so he decide to return to the room and see if what he saw was real, maybe he was dreaming and he was not able to see if the others patients were breathing adequately

He returned to his room and tried to turn on the lights, but the switch didn't work. He thought to himself that it was odd and tried once again without any change. Leben was nervous because he wasn't able to understand what was going on in that hospital and why he had to pass through that. After a little time trying to turn the lights he stopped and started to laugh like he was out of his mind and meanwhile he was laughing he dropped himself to the floor and said to himself - Now I get it! I just died-. He kept laughing for a while until he heard once again the deep voice that called him before. Leben raised his head and saw a person right next to his bed. That person was beautiful, his skin was moon pale-coloured, his eyes were violet and his hair was green and silver. Leben felt scared but amazed by his presence. The pale man glared at Leben as if he was asking him to come near to him, so Leben decided to get up and come near the bed. The man smirked and then took two steps away from the bed, saw the window next to the bed and decided to sit in the window frame. Leben with a worried tone said to the pale man -You could fall through the window if you sit in there, so maybe it would be better to bring a chair-. The Pale man smiled at Leben and decided to sit in the window. When he was doing that Leben shrieked non-understandable words, but he stopped almost immediately when he saw how the pale man went through the window glass without breaking it, he was shocked, he could only think that maybe the pale man is a ghost. The Pale man gets comfortable in the window frame and decides to talk to Leben -Leben Adler, the one who faces the silent hug of death but beats it in any attempt. I need you to be calm and listen to me carefully, is that clear?-.

Leben nodded his head and sat down in his bed, once he got comfortable the pale man started to talk -My name is Aralt the Cù Sìth and my mission is to pick a human who competes for the coronation of the new death. You called my attention for your ability, you can hear the melody of life that every human has- meanwhile Aralt was saying that he snapped his finger and immediately a piece of metal appeared floating on his fingers, that amazed even more Leben who was ready to interrupt Aralt. Leben decided to ask Aralt why he was chosen and more important what is this new death coronation thing he was talking about, but his words were not heard by Aralt. After Leben do those questions he felt like his body was paralyzed and just in a moment he saw how Aralt pointed his finger at Leben's heart and the metal piece pierced his chest without breaking his clothes or tissues. However, the pain was immeasurable, Leben felt how the metal embedded into his heart and the sharp pain made him feel numb and anxious at the same time. After several minutes, Aralt keeps talking - You have received a piece of the grim reaper's scythe, with this embedded in your heart you are part of the competition and don't worry about the scythe, it will change its form depending on you. One last piece of advice, there are another nineteen scythe pieces around the world so be prepared because you could become prey or maybe a hunter, who knows-, after saying that Aralt smiled and disappeared. This makes Leben lose his mind and due to the sharp pain in his chest, he falls unconscious.

The sun rises and it shines so intensely that this makes Leben wake up immediately. He jumped off his bed and looked around the room, the nurses were taking vitals on the other patients and the sound of the hospital was there, like usual. One of the nurses turned to Leben and scolded him because he scared all the other patients. Leben was silent for a moment and after that, he smiled and returned to his bed while he apologized to the other patients. Once again in the bed, he touched his chest, because he remembered the sharp pain he felt in the night, but he wasn't able to feel any pain. He calmed himself for a moment and thought that maybe he had a nightmare, so he laughed at himself because he got scared inside his dreams. But while he was touching his chest he felt something in his hand. He lowered his head and watched in his hand a weird mp3 player that showed the name of every person around him and next to each name there was a timer that showed years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Leben didn't understand what was happening, so he decided to ask the guy next to him if he saw somebody visiting him before he woke up. The guy kept silent for a moment and after that gave a no for a response. Leben was confused, how it was possible to have an mp3 if nobody visited him. He kept in his mind what Aralt said to him last night, but it was impossible to believe in that. While he was thinking about everything, he saw the name of the nurse on the mp3 player screen, she only had twenty-four minutes left, he didn't understand the meaning of that and began to search for a headphone jack in the mp3, but the device doesn't have any hole to connect anything, so he feels like it was a joke, how he could make proper use of an mp3 without headphones. Then without paying attention, he clicked the name of the nurse, Matilda, and then he hear a heart-breaking song that nobody else can hear. The nurse watched his clock and said to the patients -Look at the time! my shift is over so all of you know what it means, right?. We will see you tomorrow-, after saying that the nurse turned around and left the room. However, Leben keeps listening to the song and understands that her heart will stop beating in twenty-two minutes. Leben feels that he may change that if he told her what he heard in the song, but who would believe that. Maybe the nurse would think he is crazy or even worse he would be transferred to a psychiatric hospital. He began to explore the options the mp3 has and saw some options that called his attention, in one he can read the words remove time, in another added time and in the third he read harvest time. There were empty spaces below the options, but he doesn't pay attention to that.

Leben decided to push the add time option, and the mp3 showed a message that said “Which person shall be the time donor?”. This took away Leben air, the options that appeared on the screen were the name of the three other patients and two women names. -What should I do?- think to himself, while watching the amount of time the five people had, none of them have more than five months. The time passed and he realized that there is only about ten minutes before the nurse's song finished, so this made him even more anxious thinking who was he to take that decision, who lives and who dies, that was much pressure to him. He began to see in his head all the times the nurse was good with him and the other patients but also he remembered how the others received their family visit. So then he saw that there was a woman's name that he didn't know and the timer was around one hundred hours. He decided to give all that time to Matilda, he knew it wasn't a lot of time but if that works he will find a way to help Matilda. He pushed the acceptance button and the time of the unknown woman start to pass to Matilda. He felt good about that because the song changed the tone. But while he was listening to the song, it ended abruptly. Leben was surprised about that, because he gave Matilda about four days of life. He decided to see Matilda´s timer and saw it completely depleted. He was shocked with the result, he thought that maybe the time was added to the other women, so he searched for the other woman's name, but it was depleted too. -What is going on?- he asked to himself and after that, he saw another nurse running in front of his room, she was crying, so he decided to pay attention and then he heard the news, Matilda just died in a car accident because she answered her phone and received the information that her mother just died in her house.

After hearing that, Leben felt a wave of nausea so he ran to the bathroom just arriving in time to vomit. While he was doing that, he began to cry because he was responsible for killing both mother and daughter on the same day. Vomit keeps pouring out of his mouth and nose, while the tears flow from his eyes. Several minutes passed and he stopped vomiting, he stood up still crying and washed his face and mouth. He couldn't believe what happened, it was his first use of the scythe and he just killed two innocents without even knowing how. He feels weak and sick of himself, why he couldn't die but he could take others life, that's wasn't fair. After a moment he saw that the mp3 appeared in his hand and it had a message, he decided to read it only to find out it says “one hundred hours added to the vault. Leben closes his hand and then throws as hard as he can the mp3 player to the floor. However, before the mp3 player touched the floor it disappeared into thin air and reappeared in his hand. This infuriates Leben even more and decides to throw the mp3 into the garbage and leave the bathroom. He just went to his bed and stared at the sky through the window for some time.

The doctor in charge of him appeared and decided to talk to him, about that he decided to discharge him from the hospital. Leben was happy about that but he feels like he doesn’t deserve that due to what happened to Matilda, He thanks the doctor and after that, he gets ready to leave the hospital. He says goodbye to all the people in the room and leaves the hospital, thinking about what he has done. He walked outside of the hospital and decided to take a taxi, he gave directions to the taxi driver and after that, he closed his mouth and saw the city environment while the taxi was ongoing. Leben feels bad about Matilda, but he thinks that if another person finds the mp3, maybe it wouldn't be necessary to search the other scythe parts. While he was thinking that he touched his chest and surprisingly he got in his hand the mp3 once again. He didn't understand what was happening, but he remembered that Aralt said that the scythe was embedded into his heart, so that means that the mp3 will always come back to him.

The taxi driver take Leben back to reality when he said hoarsely -We arrived boy, the fare its thirty bucks-, Leben pay the man without saying anything, he knew that wasn’t the fare but he decided to pay that and leave the taxi because he needed to rest his mind after Matilda´s death.

Leben gets into his house. There was nobody in there. He knew his family was working so he didn´t mind that. He goes directly to his bedroom and closes the door, after that he lowered the blinds and gets himself into his bed. Surrounded by the darkness of its bedroom and remorse, Leben only wishes to be able to use the mp3 on himself. But he was conscious that doesn’t work on him. While he was thinking about that, he began to hear a lot of noises inside his head, it was like he could hear all the music of the world at the same time. His head start to hurt so he decided to take a pill to help with that. However, even after taking the pill, the pain was getting worse.

He was feeling sick, he wanted that to stop but he didn’t know how to stop that reverberation until, without prior notice, the mp3 appeared in his hand and with it some headphones. Leben was confused because he didn’t know that would happen, but after that, he feel good, he don’t hear anything at this moment. His head stop hurting, there was no sound inside his mind. So he decide to see the mp3 player and saw the screen, it have a lot of names on it, all playing at the same time, he couldn’t understand why he can’t hear all of them using the headphones but felt comfortable with that. So he decide to pick one name and hear the song, it was a romantic song, so he ignored it and pause it.

After a while of doing that, Leben decide to take off the headphones, but the reverberation was still present and hurt his brain. So he understand that maybe he couldn’t take off his headphones for the rest of his life, but if he could control the pain, maybe that would be the best for himself. He decided to keep using the headphones, but never use the mp3 player to give or take a life because he is not someone with the privilege of taking that kind of decision.

Six months passed since he decide to use the headphones permanently, he understood how to control de headphones by choosing who he want to hear. He was walking through the city, preparing himself for a new work interview when he saw a newspaper that called his attention. The main news said that in six months there have been about eight hundred and twenty-five car accidents with above one thousand deaths. Leben feels chills after reading that, he thinks that maybe that was a coincidence, but something was odd about that. -Why did it only start happening since the time I receive my mp3- Lebel thinks while he keeps going forward to one street corner, so he could pass the street and arrive at the place of the interview. But while he was waiting for the traffic lights to turn red so he could cross the street, a car lose control and rush to the place Leben was located, he was able to escape by jumping to the side.

The car crashed and the person inside of the car was heavily damaged, so Leben decide to see how many times the driver has left, but he saw that the time of man was depleted. He understand that this accident was aimed at him. But, who would like to do that?.

Leben decide to see around him and scanned rapidly the music of everyone around the scene, all the music he hears shows one emotion, in particular, fear. However, there was a little boy, about five years old who doesn’t have any song. That was odd for Leben because all the kids have a joyful song all the time. Leben keeps watching the boy for a long time, without getting any music response. the kid smiled at him and leave the place with his mother who took the boy’s left hand. Leben keep watching that and focused on the child’s hand, he saw a toy car, but the hand of the mother pierced the toy as if it did not exist. At that moment Leben understood what happened, that 5 years old boy is a scythe piece holder and that means that he was responsible for the death of Matilda. The kid is playing the game and now that Leben understands that the holders don’t have music, he comprehends his mission, he has to avenge Matilda and gain the scythe part from that child. He knows that now he is part of the game he never wanted to play.