6 "So the Grim Reaper wants me."

"Shit-shit-shit-shit!"  Amber cursed, looking over her shoulder at Death's tall figure. How had she even gotten herself in this situation? 

'I sprayed him with bug spray, for God's sake.' Amber thought, her eyes wide as she ran. This was no child's play nor was that man behind her just a man. 

"You cannot run from me, Amber lane!" 

She wanted to tear her hair out, she knew that it wasn't a joke but yet she couldn't say that she didn't want it to be. 

This was no normal experience—

The Grim reaper was running after her, as in the angel of death! As in skull with a scythe, who wants to kill her, eat her? Her soul? 

'Just please don't take the fudge swirl saved in the fridge.' 

Playing chase with the grim reaper was not what she wanted. Perhaps she should offer him some of her ice cream. The guy had a serious temper, not to mention a bad case of bipolar disorder.

Amber picked up a cushion from the chair and threw it behind her head.

"What do you want from me?!" 

"Why you, huh?" Death appeared at the front of her and her face collided with his hard chest, he held her by her waist to stop her from falling and lowered his lips at her neck. 

"Well, it's not because you're special nor pretty. I don't know I've been bored these days and this cloak isn't a lady pleaser either, I'm just trying to make myself known sweetheart—" He hissed in her ears as she struggled to free from his strong grip. "You know you have no idea what it is like, I show up here and there wearing this with a shyne in my hand, and just like you did I get laughed at, poor me, the only fun I get is when I am summoned to take the life of those nearing death. So here I am now! The only fun I get is plunging out your human hearts." 

"You're sick—" Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as his nails dug into her waist. 

Death breathed a laugh that made Amber wince, "Mmm, humans are so quick to name-call but baby if I'm sick then why are you in my arms right now." He snuggled his cloaked face in her neck and she could feel his warmth.

"S-stop that you demon!" Amber thrashed her arms out attempting to push him away. 

"You see you just made me mad! It's not like I'm interested either way, one little sign of affection and you women cross the line. I've been nice to you, chocolate but now you're asking for death." He cockyly laughed, proud of himself, "Get it because I'm Death and I'm going to kill you now, yeah? Okay….that's enough talking, since you have so much mouth let's see how brave you are now."  His hot breath fanned her neck. 

"It's funny, it's the same face they all give when they know they're about to disappear just as fast as they were living—" he then tightly cupped her face with big hands squeezing her cheeks together. 

"Like all your nightmares are coming through, I wonder what's your nightmare, Amber Lane, something hidden deep inside of you. I want to reach through your beating chest and pull it right out. Do you know what the living and dead have in common?" His finger brushed against her cheek, his hidden face hovering above hers.

Amber knew she knew what he was talking about as she often sees it sometimes, a vision, the mist coming from her mouth and hugging her body until it's lifeless. Darkness. Her heart was burning. She felt it, she knew it was coming. People didn't wonder about the darkness as they always knew to themself that there was light in the morning but she felt the darkness coming closer and closer to Earth. 

She didn't want to think about it, so she turned her head away from Death. "I don't know what you're talking about." She murmured.

"Really? Because your eyes told a different story that your mouth didn't." 

Amber blinked another round of tears falling from her eyes that Death caught. "Chocolate, I promise when you're mine, you'll never cry again." 

She hit his chest with her hands.

"Never!" Her lips shook with anger," I'm not yours!" 

"Oh but sooner or later you'll come to see that you are, you're nothing on this Earth, just a figment of all your friend's imagination, you'll only exist in my arms. Right now you're just an empty cell, where no matter how hard they try, the science of this Earth will never be able to understand that error. Therefore no atoms can ever fill your cell. Your heart." The demon chuckled darkly, picking a hair strand and twirling it in his fingers. 

Amber was in shock, she couldn't move, it was like all the nerves in her body were down and when the demon shook her shoulders all she could do was look at the shadow on his face. 

"Your life is just as much as still painting on a canvas, no matter how much you try, you'll never be able to break that repeating cycle because the next step is with me! Isn't that exciting?"

"That's as exciting as dad's forgotten to flush shit in the toilet." Amber gave him a weak half-smile. She wasn't going to stay there and do nothing, she wasn't his possession to take. And all she could think about was her parents coming home. She couldn't put them in danger.

"Did you just compare me to shit?" The demon barked, this girl wouldn't give up. It was going to be harder than he thought. 'What the f*ck was she on? Did I find myself a drunky?' 

"And I'll do it again—" Amber reached up on her toes and pulled his hood over his face.

She then lunged up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Those long legs of yours won't get too far, chocolate!" He said from downstairs, his cloak head looking up at her, chuckling.

"But it will reach somewhere." 

She ran, skipping two steps at the time until she reached the door and twisted it open, but instead of seeing her bedroom, she ended up in a plain white room followed by a singular bed.

She walked inside with her fluffy slippers, turning her head around the room. 

She was in a large hospital room. Her face contorted with horror. People may laugh when she says it but she disliked hospitals—it was her fear. For whatever reason it was, the smell of the paint on the walls and the quiet nights apart from the groaning always made her leave her eyes open, she would stay up all night as a kid feeling though something was always watching her.

She would cry her little eyes out and though older it remained a developed fright to her.

She opened the door to the empty room, walking out to the hall. Her hands were shaking and her chest burning with fire—hospitals always brought pain to her chest.

"Hello, any-anyone—" Her voice lodged in her throat as she looked at the two ways she could walk. 

'Where am I.' 

Amber passed her hand along the walls, walking down the long hallway. She reached for her phone and dialed her mother's number.

Amber continued to walk but without even noticing it, she had walked into a pile of blood.

She raised her shoes, the stickiness of the blood gripping into it and stretching as she walked. 

She squeezed her chest, the smell making her want to pass out.

Grrrr! 

Amber was still holding her stomach and gagging though nothing was coming out.

Grrrr!

The sound erupted again and this time she looked up, eyes wide in shock, staring at the thing in front of her. It was a man holding a saw in his hands, dripping with blood and behind him, heads were laying on the floor.

'Mmm, I think I like this version of you better. Fear. Darkness painted in your pupils. Do you see it now? Heart beating, eyes widened, feet in blood, weird I think I may just be in love with you now. '

"Come here, little girl!" The man with the saw called, running up to her.

"What do you want from me?! Why are you doing this? Leave me alone, just leave me alone!" She screamed at Death, pushing her hand along the walls as she tried to escape the man behind her.

'Why do that when we're having so much fun? All you have to do is say the words, show me, Amber…' Death continued. 

"I don't know what you're talking about! Just fucking leave me alone." 

'Suit yourself, do me a favor Max, and try not to cut her too much.' She heard his laughter erupt through the halls.

"Fuck you!" She screamed at the top of her lungs with tears streaming from her eyes.

'Oh please do.' 

Amber pushed open a random door, closed it behind her, and placed her forehead against it, attempting to steady her breath.

"There she is—" Amber looked behind her shoulder to meet the eyes of two nurses holding needles." It's time to take your prescription, Amber." The fat nurse, with long black greasy hair and a uniform of blood, grabbed her wrist. 

"What? I don't need a prescription, I'm not sick! I'm not sick!" She fought against their hands but the strong nurse pushed her on the bed pulling out her needle while the other held her hands and tied her to the bed. 

"Stop it, stop!" She screamed when the needle entered her arm, her body immediately going numb. 

She tried resisting the chains tied on her body but it was too heavy. Her eyelid became heavy when she heard the sound of the saw enter the room followed by the bulky arms clung to it.

Amber kicked her feet out as the man near, squeezing the sheets. 

"Please, please stop, I-I see it…" She closed her eyes, tears rolling down her cheek.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the great Death." Death sprung on his feet and bowed at her.

Amber opened her eyes, looking around to see that she was on her bed, back in her room with Death looking down at her. He sat on the bed, feet crossed and neck turned to look at her.

"What did you do to me?" She asked still in shock and used her hands to push backward on her bed frame, away from the man.

"Fear..isn't it just great, it takes you places, I hope now you see it, the depths of your soul written in ink." 

"You know a lot of things happen in bedrooms…" He laughed and then went serious again.

"I trust that you see what I'm capable of. I carried you the worst memory of your life, your worst fear without even having to get you to go anywhere. Would you believe it if I said all of that was all in your head? "

Amber blinked, 'so that wasn't real, like what she thought didn't happen…'

"But—" She started...

"But it seemed so real, right?" Death teased running a finger along with his scythe. "What can I say, I am full of surprises, if you come with me I'll show them all to you."

Amber swiftly grabbed a trophy at her bedside, there were about 6 others lined perfectly that she scored in her Science class.

She chose the sharpest one and turned it over on the pointy part. 

"Move!" She stood up on the bed with the weapon gripped in both her hands.

"Wow and yet again you managed to mess with my mood. You know I can't see you at parties." She imagined him rolling his eyes from under his cloak.

Amber jumped down from the bed still holding the trophy at Death and slowly walking to her bedroom door.

"I do parties!" She backed up, not bothering to turn her face away from him and when she felt the handle behind her, she quickly pulled it open and ran down the stairs. 

Her feet stomped step after step.

'I can make it.' The door was right there, she reached out for the handle but failed when she felt Death's strong hands grip the back of her neck in a loud clap.

His nails dug into her skin and he spun her back around to face him, gripping a handle of hair and positioned his scythe to her throat.

"Listen here you little bitch, I've grown two nuts from the minutes here with you and I am not proud of it. I'm done playing, it's time you learn to respect me little one starting with accepting that I own you. I promise it'll only be difficult for the first few days, having a new owner I mean but you'll grow accustomed to it, whether you want to or not—" He paused, "I think you'll love me."  Death laughed maniacally, moving the synthe up to her face and lightly over her cheek. Amber winced feeling the blade puncture her face as he continued to run it down.

"So what you say, you gonna be a good girl?" 

Amber looked up at his face and was ready to say something stupid when something crashed down from the roof.