Everything Comes At A Cost

Amisha Manoj entered her house with a heavy heart. Shiuli Basu was her best friend after all. Today when she saw Shiuli leave, she did not see even a hint of sorrow in her friend's eyes. Just excitement and… fear? Amisha understood why Shiuli was excited and, well, there wasn't anything wrong in being excited when you are one step closer to your dreams, even though that meant leaving your best friend behind. Shiuli always told Amisha how easy it is to publish books when you live in cities rather than small towns. Well, isn't everything easier when you are in a big city like Mumbai? It is easier to publish your books, it is easier to get admission to a famous college and yes it is easier to make new friends. Amisha knew that her importance in Shiuli's life can never fade away, yet her heart feared the prospect of watching Shiuli make new friends. I hope she doesn't forget me.

"They left already?" Amisha's mom enquired.

"Yes."

"You okay?"

"Kind of… yes."

"You can still meet her you know, whenever we visit Mumbai."

"I know."

"Alright then… Dinner is set."

Amisha walked up to her room and changed into her pink pajamas. They were the same pajamas that Shiuli had gifted her on her birthday this year. Shiuli and Amisha were quite the opposites. Opposites attract. Amisha was girly and bubbly while Shiuli was a little tomboyish and very very smart. Even in school whenever Amisha spotted a cute-looking guy and pointed it out to Shiuli, she just shrugged him off like he was dirt. Shiuli had always been the focused one, with no distractions, minimum fun… Amisha loved her best friend for being so focused. Shiuli was Amisha's role model. Even when Amisha sat herself down at the dining table, she looked down at her pajamas and held back tears.

Amisha's mother was serving Amisha and her dad dinner. Roti, dal, sabji. Though the food was everything that she loved, she was in no mood to eat. Something inside her was ringing… Something like an alarm. Was something wrong? If something was wrong, then what was it? Amisha ate one roti and walked up to her room. She lay down on her bed and stared up at the chandelier that hung from the pink ceiling. It was golden with exquisite designs influenced by ancient Greek artifacts. The bulb holders were made of glass and were in the shape of oil lamps that people light on Diwalis. This chandelier was quite expensive and was gifted to her parents by Shiuli's parents on Diwali. It was ordered from Morocco and was designed by Shiuli's mom herself. Not only were Amisha and Shiuli best friends, but also their parents. Amisha's mom had only selective friends and among them, her closest was Ridhima Basu, Shiuli's mom. Shiuli's dad, Subhash Basu was Amisha's dad's classmate from college, and were best friends since their young times. It was just perfect… Until Shiuli's family decided to shift to Mumbai.

"Amisha!" her dad called.

Amisha heard the urgency in her dad's voice and her heart skipped a beat. What is it? She hurried down the stairs as fast as she could and tried to control her beating heart.

As soon as she entered the living room of her family's mansion, Amisha's heart started to beat faster than it already was. Her body went cold and fear took over. Her mom was crying uncontrollably on the couch while her dad stood right in front of her with a pained expression. Something is wrong.

"What happened?" Amisha asked with a quivering voice.

"I got a call from the hospital."

"Hospital?" Amisha's heart sank, "What do you mean dad? Why did they call?"

"Sit down first. I will tell you everything, but sit down."

"No! Tell me now!"

"Please…"

A tear ran down her dad's cheek and Amisha's legs went wobbly. Though her dad hadn't told her the entire conversation that took place over the phone between him and the hospital, she knew something was terribly wrong and that something… had to do with Shiuli and her family. She just knew it!

Amisha slowly walked over to the couch where her mom was sitting and sat down next to her. Her mother instantly hugged Amisha and hid the tears and pain in her shoulder. Amisha's dad walked over to them and sat down on a wooden chair opposite her and her mom. Though his expression was pained and his eyes were red, he was doing a good job at keeping a serious face. It was obvious that he was struggling from bursting into tears and was somehow gathering the courage to tell Amisha what had just happened.

"Dad." Amisha took a deep breath, "Tell me."

"Do you promise to be strong?"

"Is it Shiuli? Is it her family?" Tears were streaming down her eyes, "Accident dad?"

"They were riding towards the railway station when a truck came from the wrong side of the road and hit their car. The car was smashed flat and…"

"Dad!"

"Subhash and Ridhima Bhabi were spot dead." Her dad couldn't contain his tears anymore.

"No!" Amisha screamed, "No no no no no!"

"Shiuli…" Her dad tried to pull himself together, "She is serious… In the ICU. We must rush to the hospital immediately."

***

Dr. Ashlyn Mathews saw Mr. Manoj Suresh and his family rush toward her and her heart sank. She was the doctor in charge of Shiuli Basu and well, her chances of survival were nearly null. The girl had a severe brain injury and her right elbow was broken. There were severe injuries almost in every part of her body and it was a miracle that the girl's heart was still beating. But they needed another miracle to save this girl. What must be her age? Sixteen? Seventeen? All Ashlyn could hope was for God to save this young girl.

"Doctor! How is she?" Mr. Manoj's eyes shined with hope and fear.

"Are you Mr. Manoj Suresh? Are you here for Shiuli Basu?"

"GOD! YES!" Screamed the young girl right beside him

"Well, I am sorry… she is serious, and… we are trying our best."

"Will she survive doctor?" the young girl was crying.

"It is hard to tell at this point… But pray to God… It's all in his hands now."

The young girl fell to her knees and joined her hands. She was crying and her tears spiraled down her cheeks like streams. The girl's mother held her in her arms and kissed her forehead, trying to console her weeping daughter. It was all too much for Ashlyn's heart to take. In her career of thirty years as a neuro-surgeon, Ashlyn had seen several families come to her and pray to her to save their loved ones' lives. Sometimes they survived and the happiness in the patient's family's eyes brightened up her own life while sometimes the situation was painful when the patient died and Ashlyn had to deal with the difficult task of informing the patient's family of his or her demise. When Ashlyn was studying to be a doctor, her lecturers always told her that she shouldn't get so emotional about a patient's death. But Ashlyn was a mother after all… she too had a son who was around this young girl's age and looking at this girl crying at her feet, praying for her friend's survival was melting her heart.

"Please do everything you can to save her." The girl's mother cried, "Do not worry about money."

***

I can't do this.

Death was standing invisible right in front of the doctor and Shiuli's friend's family. The whole scene was somehow affecting his heart. It is not that he was "feeling" anything, but his heart seemed to throb. Something was wrong. His heart never throbs. Death was standing there with his briefcase containing thousands of souls… Two of those souls were Mr. Subhash Basu and Mrs. Ridhima Basu. Their souls were silent but Death knew that they were praying for their daughter's survival too. Death usually never talked to the souls he had just taken, but today the day was different.

"Shiuli Basu… I am supposed to take her soul too." Death said, "You should be glad that she will be with you."

"I want her to live… She is too young." Mrs. Basu cried, "Please let her live."

"It is not in my hands… I must abide by certain rules."

"Then talk to these people who draft these rules! Take us to them! Please… She is just sixteen… Her whole life is ahead of her!"

"I can't…"

For the first time in his entire existence did Death feel… he felt sad? He knew somewhere deep inside him he just couldn't take this girl's soul. But what would he tell Life? Life already hated Death enough to point out the smallest of the smallest mistakes he made and, this was a grave mistake he was about to make. But Life had assistants… Human assistants who helped him do his work efficiently. Death had no one and it was justifiable for him to make mistakes. Life's human assistants were people who never wanted to die and paid large amounts of money to Life so that he offers them immortality. In return, they had to help him do his work. As of Death, he had never asked for an assistant himself and was quite against some human being immortal. Not because he was jealous or something, Death was immortal himself, but because he knew that mortality is far better than immortality. Life on the other hand was selfish. He didn't care about the imbalance his deeds were causing in the world, all he cared about was himself. After all, Life was the one who laid down the rules for both his and Death's functioning. In short, Life wasn't exactly all peachy...

Death came out of the hospital and sat down on a bench placed right outside on the porch. The sky was dark and the stars looked beautiful. Traffic was heavy and there were some street food stalls opposite the road. Death could see some MBBS students drink sugarcane juice around the corner in one of the stalls. The hospital was buzzing with people and Death looked around to see if anyone could see him. Obviously, no one could see him, he was invisible at this point.

"I will make sure your daughter doesn't die." Death made sure his voice reached Mr. and Mrs. Basu clearly.

***

Death was in Paris. It took him a minute to picture his elder brother in his head and BAM! He was here… In Paris. Life was always lively and fun, the exact opposite of what Death was. Life had blonde hair that was cropped to the point where his hair almost did not exist and his skin was tanned and shiny. He was tall and had sea-green eyes that reminded anyone of the ocean. Though Life looked like the ultimate chocolate boy of every teenage girl's dream, he was, but anything chocolaty.

As soon as Death landed in Paris, he made sure he went to a deserted corner of the French street and became visible to the human world. Death always wore black suits with black shirts and a tie. His briefcase was black as well, as black-suited his image as a creature of the dark. He looked like a young businessman ready to crack a deal. Death walked into a renowned hotel in Paris and walked directly to Room No. 111. He knocked on the door and Life immediately came running to open the door.

"Hello baby brother of mine." smiled Life, "What is so urgent?"

"How did you know it was me?" Death frowned.

"Oh brother. I know when my family needs me."

"Family… right."

Life was right about the family part (sarcasm). Death frowned at the green and red floral shirt that Life was wearing. It was so bright that Death's eyes were hurting. As for Life's bottoms, he was wearing cargo pants that hung loosely on his waist. It was a complete contrast - Death's formal black suit with Life's casual and colorful clothes. They looked like anything, but family.

"Come in, Death."

Though Life was smiling, Death sensed a tinge of bitterness in his voice. Death followed Life into the extravagant suite and sat his briefcase on the wooden shoe rack right at the entrance of the suite. The living room of the suite was beautiful. It looked like it was a room inspired by the Victorian era. The walls were cream-colored with a slight rosy hue to them and it was adorned with paintings of Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette. The ceiling had a large chandelier hanging at the center of the room that hung full galore… the furniture was just as exquisite and antique. The couch was red with large French roses painted all over them and the center table was round and made of glass. In short, the room looked delicate.

"Sit down."

"Thanks." Death sat down on the red couch.

"So… what's so urgent?"

"Well… I… I made a mistake."

"Again?" Life shrugged, "That's like twice in a thousand years… How often are you making these mistakes?"

"Last time I just forgot to take a soul. I made sure I took it within an hour."

"Yeah? Ok." laughed Life.

Death hated it when Life laughed. Not that he looked ugly or something, Life was very handsome. But the sound of laughter always irritated Death. He was too used to listening to sorrow and weeping that laughter somehow seemed alien to him. Death was the kind of creature who liked to be serious all the time and tried his best to do his job with perfection.

"This time… there's a soul I can't take."

"Can't?" Life frowned, "Why?"

"I don't know, but I can't."

***

Life stared at Death with utter astonishment and awe. What did he just say? Death was Life's younger brother, but Life had no bond of attachment or affection for him. In fact, Life hated Death… Like every other human out there except the ignorant ones who kill themselves. He hated Death not because he was vile or anything, but because he was much more efficient at his job than Life was. Life needed assistants to do his work while Death did his task single-handedly. Though Death made mistakes sometimes, which was rare… Life still knew that Death was far better than he was… Even when it came to looks.

Life was handsome himself. What was that those teenagers called him? Cute? But Life always envied the face and physique Death carried. He was an inch taller than Life and had black hair with a very pale complexion. His eyes were silver and cold and his stare held yours no matter what. He was well built and his dark suit stuck to him in a very appealing way. Life hated him for looking so good.

But wait… what was up with Death now? Why did he want to save this particular soul he was talking about and why? Why after so many years of taking souls with a stone heart did his heart melt?

"Who is the soul we are talking about, brother?"

"A sixteen-year-old."

"Girl… isn't it, brother?" Life grinned.

Somehow, in the way Death sat down and fidgeted with his fingers, Life knew what had happened to Death. A girl's soul touched his heart. The thought filled Life with disgust. Death was supposed to be stone-hearted and… dark. He was supposed to be emotionless and cruel. He shouldn't care for the humane feelings of love and affection. It wasn't for creatures of the universe.

"Yes, but it is not what you think it is." Death clarified, "Her parent's souls are in my briefcase and well, they were aski-"

"Asking to let her live because she is too young to die." Life completed where he cut Death off.

"Yes."

Life looked at his brother and saw fear… fear of Life saying no maybe? Or well, fear of Life wanting something in return… Life had a reputation of doing favors only if he was offered something very interesting in return. Life did not want to help Death here. He did not want to let Death get what he wished. But then again, this girl here… the soul… she must be really intimidating to have moved Death's heart… after all these years… Life wanted to break Death since the start of their existence and finally, today, he found an opportunity to do so.

"Do you need an apprentice, Death?" Life grinned.

"What?" Death was caught off guard, "No… I don't need any help with my job."

"Look, with this soul you are talking about." Life stared at Death, "I can make her immortal… If only you would accept her as an apprentice."

"No way! I don't need any helpers plus, why would she want to work with me? Why would someone want to work with Death?"

"Humans will do anything to be immortal, Death."

"No."

"That's the only option for you… Otherwise, I think you should go right away and take her soul."

"She can't help me anyway! I take thousands of souls every day! A human cannot help me!"

"She can help you with the special six souls once in a while."

Life watched as Death went speechless and was looking for ways to come up with better arguments. Life had a plan. The girl would happily accept Death's offer of being his apprentice to be an immortal and well, after a few days she will realize how vile and disgusting this job of helping Death is. Then she will start hating Death and his job and Death's heart will break when the girl who melts his heart will ask for him to take her soul himself. That would definitely break Death's heart.

"Say yes to this offer, Death… I can't give you a better option."

"What do you want in return?" Death looked at Life with hate.

"A chance to meet this soul that melts your heart." Grinned Life.

"She doesn't melt my heart! Nothing does!"

"Whatever… Deal or no deal?"

There was a hint of hesitation in Death's reaction. Death knew that there was a trap in what this deal had to offer, but at this point, anything seemed fine to save that girl from dying. Being Death's apprentice isn't fun at all… it is disgusting. But the girl would live at least. Her dreams would come true.

"Fine."