The Next Death; Chapter 12

"That doesn't look like much fun," a voice says. I look up to find Samsama'il walking towards me. My eyes flick towards Mr. Mors's office. "Just me. Neal's still busy." Samsama'il stops in front of me, leaning against the counter. He studies my textbook, eyes narrowing. His eyes come up to mine. "That looks like math. And not the easy kind."

"Calculus is so far past easy I've forgotten how to do basic math."

"Sounds terrible. I'm glad it didn't exist when I was a boy."

I blink. "When you were a boy?"

Samsama'il nods. "Not that math was a large part of my education. Math isn't needed to fight."

I just stare at him. "I have more questions now."

He laughs. "I have questions of my own, but first, I do believe we 'got off on the wrong foot,' as they say here." Samsama'il offers me his hand. "I'm Samsama'il, but you can call me Sam if you'd rather."

I take his hand. "Elizabeth. You can call me by any variation you want, but most people go with Eliza."

Sam bows his head, "A pleasure, Miss Eliza." Lifting his head, he releases my hand. "Would you like the first question?"

I flip my textbook shut. "How old are you?"

Sam thinks for a second. "Not quite sure. I'm younger than Mors but older than calculus. I stopped counting." He tilts his head. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen. I'll be seventeen in a few months. What did you mean about math not being needed to fight?" I rest my elbows on the countertop. "Were you a soldier?"

He nods. "Yes, I was. Spent my whole life training. Neal mentioned that you're still technically alive; that's why your aura is off. I'm curious about that."

"My brother and I were in a car crash. I was seriously injured. Mr. Mors offered to extend my life to give me more time with my family on the grounds that I started my training once I was better. What war did you fight in?"

"Interesting. Wars, technically. Didn't fight in many of them though. I believe you know them as the crusades. Is your brother older or younger than you?"

"Older, but only by a little more than a year. Did you die in the wars?"

"I had a brother too; he was younger than me though. Technically, as far as humans are concerned, yes. Considering your textbook is it safe to assume that as part of playing human you are still attending school?"

I stare at him for a second. "Okay, not fair, you just raised two questions that are completely unrelated," Sam smiles, "But yes. I am still attending school. I'm a junior set to graduate at the top of my class. I've put too much effort towards graduation to become a high school dropout. You need to elaborate on both the fact that had a brother and that technicality."

Sam laughs. "Lucky for you, those are actually related in the story." I nestle my chin into my hands. "My father wanted my younger brother and me to have something. He already had an heir, my older brother, and he had the status and the relations to make sure my little sister married well. So, he handed us over to the military. He hoped that we would do well and earn a title and land for ourselves.

"By the time I finished my training, my younger brother was just beginning his training. I felt a little bad for him; I had become such a skilled warrior, they had high standards for my younger brother. Needless to say, I quickly rose in rank and by the time my brother became a soldier, I was a rather high-ranking officer. Having heard that he wasn't as skilled as me, I pulled some strings to get him put under my command.

"I was tasked with a raid on one of the smaller enemy camps. It was supposed to have few people in it, mostly just messengers and wounded. Looking back on it, I probably should have questioned where the intel came from, but I was on a victory high. My soldiers and I had been making such headway and we had taken on bigger challenges. Needless to say, it didn't go well.

"The intel was gravely mistaken; it was a trap. They wanted to put my soldiers and me down in one fell swoop. I realized something was wrong the minute we entered the camp. It was quiet and no one was around. One of my men suggested they had gotten wind of our attack. If my instincts weren't already leaning towards the fact that we walked into an ambush, the arrow that went through his throat would have cued me in.

"Unfortunately, the 'camp' was a dugout of sorts. Thankfully, it was night, and our uniforms were black. We were able to get onto the level ground and fight back." His eyes get a distant look. "Perhaps if it hadn't been night, we never would have made it out of that dugout." He smiles, it's a wild feral thing. He might be here, but his mind is back on the battlefield. "That was their mistake though. I didn't like being tricked and I intended to make them pay. I was so consumed with blood lust; I made my own mistake: I let my brother out of my sight.

"My world was just steel blades and blood. I moved swiftly, leaving a trail of bodies in my wake. We must have fought for a while, but it didn't seem like it. As I caught my breath, I realized that my brother wasn't by my side along with my second. I ordered him to look for my brother while making sure there weren't any survivors and collecting our dead and wounded. He nodded, leaving to carry out his orders and pass them along.

"I was moving along, not all that concerned; I had given my brother personal training and he had greatly improved. That's when I heard it. It was my brother's voice, thin and raspy, calling for me. As soon as my eyes landed on him, I ran to him. I was too late though. He had been run through with a sword. I knew he wouldn't make it back to the main camp for proper healing. He was pale like the dead and blood was trickling from his mouth. I was devastated. It was my fault. I hadn't had his back like told him I always would. I cried out, begging Allah to spare him or let me take his place instead. That's when Mors appeared.

"He scared me. He appeared out of nowhere asking if I was sincere in my offer to take his place. I was so startled, I just sat there staring at him. He just looked at my brother and asked again, pointing out that my brother didn't have much time. I asked him if he was Allah. He told me he wasn't, but he was someone who could save my brother. I told him to do it. He just looked at me and repeated the question. I said I was. He said in return for the trade-off, I would have to work for him. I thought he was insane, a mad man. A dead man can't work for the living. I didn't care though. If he said he could save my brother, that was good enough for me. I accepted his offer. He asked if I wanted the details. I told him I'd do anything to save my brother. He just smiled and offered a hand."

"And when you took shook his hand it felt like electricity was coursing through you?" I blurt the words out, my mind flying back to when I accepted Mr. Mors's offer of an extended 'life.' Sam blinks, surprised by my interjection. "Sorry. That's what happened when I accepted my deal."

Sam smiles, laughing. "Yes, though back then we didn't know what electricity was."

"So, you became a reaper to save your brother. How did you balance the double life?"

"Didn't have to," he says with a shrug. "I literally took my brother's place. Once I recovered, I saw my human body lying on the ground, the wound that my brother had suffered now my mortal wound. My brother came too. When he saw me, he checked for his wound. He must have thought Allah granted my plea to take his place. He started begging Allah to undo it. I wanted to reach out to him, but Mors stopped me. Told me not to, that it would only make it harder. He did let me be the one to collect my brother's soul though." Sam smiles wistfully. "It wasn't a long reunion, but it was a good one."

Sam's eyes focus on me, blinking then narrowing. "Why do you look so concerned?"

"Huh?" I start at his question.

"You look concerned."

"Oh. It's just, what you said about taking your brother's place. Does that mean somebody else died when I made my deal?"

Sam blinks. "N. . . o. No. That's not- that was your takeaway?"

"How can you be sure?"

"One: that wasn't the deal you made. Two: I explicitly said that I wanted to make that trade."

"How can you be sure, though? Do you make a lot of deals?"

Sam laughs. "No. I worked very closely with Mors for a while. That and Mors is technically the only reaper who can make deals. If we have permission, we can make deals for Mors. Okay, I haven't been keeping exact count, but I'm sure I get to ask you three questions in a row."

"How about you tell me your whole story and I get to ask as many questions as I want then when you're done, I tell you my story and you get to ask as many questions as you want?"

Sam considers for a second. "No, this way is much more entertaining."

I groan, letting my head fall to the counter. "I have so many questions still."

Sam laughs. "Okay new deal. When we ask each other a question, you can't just give the simplest answer, unless it really is a simple answer. That way we get the most information out of the questions asked."

I lift my head. "I like that deal."

Sam holds out a hand. "Shake on it?"

I take a deep breath. "Here's hoping we don't get shocked." Sam laughs as I take his hand. I hold onto his hand for a few seconds. "So, is the deal invalid, or is nothing happening because I'm only still at the rank of apprentice?"

"Let's go with the latter." Sam releases my hand.

I towards the door at the sound of the bell. Dan waves as he walks down the main aisle. "I'm surprised I didn't have at least one message from you, but I can wait."

I pull my phone out to look at the time. It's past the end of my shift. "I completely forgot to watch the time. I'll be ready in a minute." I duck down to grab my backpack.

"Do you need to go find Neal first?"

I look up as his eyes flick towards Sam. I realize that Sam doesn't have a name tag yet. "Oh, no. Dan, this is Samsama'il. He just got hired today."

Sam offers Dan a hand. "You must be her older brother."

Dan takes his hand. "Yeah. I'm Daniel. It's nice to meet you Samsam. . . a'il?"

Sam nods, clearly impressed Dan managed to get it right. "Yes. You can just call me Sam though."

"You can call me Dan."