The Flashback of their Friendship 2

"So that's why no one gave me a parachute," Albert said to himself seeing his second life flash before his eyes and feeling that his bones were as fragile as glass. He sat on the cold ground to catch his breath while his hand caressed the soil's damp texture. He looked at the cruise above him remembering the not so distant past where he thought he's going to die due to sheer impact until a torrent of wind cradled his feet and brought him down.

After a few moments of silence to get his mind together, he stood up in the middle of a forest that was moving in and out of the darkness. Left with only the moonlight to guide his way, he walked through the huge creaking trees that twisted its bodies like a dancer in accordance with the midnight gale. He kept a firm grip on his knife with his eyes wandering around his surroundings and his feet rummaging through the accumulating pile of dried leaves and twigs as if it were snow. He is away from the beaten path where the park's tourists are supposed to take and he's just close enough towards the supposed location of his target.

He whistled a rhythm to calm his beating heart to shake off the ominous feeling that started to well up in his chest. The night was supposed to be this way but it's awfully quiet. With no crickets to bother his ears, the only thing that he could hear was the rustling leaves and that satisfying crunch when he steps on small branches.

Understanding that their relationship between their targets belongs to those of predator and prey, he thought that the spirits around his vicinity either just migrated due to their presence or they are just lying in wait for an ambush even though that kind of tactic is reserved for those spirits that have enough confidence in their ability.

"Well, it looks like his daughter and son duo got it all covered" Albert ran his fingers across the bark of an old tree in front of him as he clicked his tongue. The ragged rope hanging from one of its branches has been cut off and the body of his target was gone. In an attempt to solidify his guess, his eyes went for a walk until a bag sitting in between its roots caught its attention. Confirming that the bag does belong to the prospect, he gave himself a wide grin as he figured out where to go next.

"Well, It's good to see some visitors walking around in our little village" Albert wiped the expression off of his face as his head followed where that prideful voice came from. He stepped back, seeing that not only one, but multiple shadows started to appear out of the silhouettes of trees within the distance.

"Hehehehe, I'll call first dibs if it's a woman" The first man took a step forward and raised his chin with both his hands hidden at the pockets of his varsity jacket. Another one from a few steps back rubbed his hands with a lecherous smile while the others had their own expressions like a pack of hungry wolves drooling at the sight of their meal.

One. Two… Six. Seven. Eight. Three have taken the front along with mister strong here and the other five sits at the back along with the pervert. Albert moved his knife behind his back as he entertained the thoughts that flowed through his mind. The man in front of him continued to talk in unison with everyone's smiles thinking that Albert was left speechless due to shock. Thinking that they must be confident because their group had this kind of situation before, he laughed at the idea that they have yet to know how real reapers work.

"Awwww, boy this one looks strong it's almost scary. Did you come here to take revenge? Did that guy who left his beautiful partner in our care tell on you? Is that why you're here??" The man let out a victorious laugh, showering Albert's mask with his saliva before proceeding to hump the air between them. Albert's arm trembled, keeping a tight grip on his lips. The man saw that small motion and he gave Albert a wide smile with his yellow teeth, lifting his arm to tap his forehead saying, "Ohhh...You must be so angry. But you can't do anything, can you? The same thing will happen again and we will get a hol-"

He heard nothing. All he was able to see was the moonlight flickering in front of him followed by a burning sensation bursting from his hand. He groaned, gritting his teeth as he pulled his arm towards him just to see that his fingers were gone. Everyone on their team followed the movement of their leader, giving Albert the time that he needs to move back and vanish into the darkness. Everyone jumped in their spot to put on their guard, looking at every possible direction thinking that maybe, he ran away due to numbers on their side.

But that did not happen.

Just when everyone was about to drop their guard and breath, Albert dashed out of the trees and grabbed the pervert by his nose without a sound. He pulled up his face to expose his neck before burying his knife down his throat. He then dragged his blade to his side, tearing through the skin below his chin and giving way to the thick white liquid to surge out from the gaping hole just above his collar

The pervert flailed but no one could see him. Unable to scream, he kicked the ground with all his might but none could still hear him. He wanted to remove Albert's arm but his strength had already left his body. All that he could do was hope that one of them would turn around and see him in this monster's arms, kneeling on the ground and struggling to catch the air within his reach.

"Well, that was fun…" Albert's voice jammed into everyone's ears, making them jump away from each other and stare at him with hostility. Some had kept their ground and some had lost their balance, but everyone was unable to keep their jaws shut. Albert dragged the body forwards using his fingers to hook the pervert's head by his nose. He tilted his head as he assumed a sadistic demeanor announcing, "Your death-god-next-door feels a little bit generous today. For those who want to die again; kneel, stay here and pray and for those who don't; let go and play"

***

"Hey theeeeeeere buddyyy~" Albert forced a smile to balance out his menacing presence. He staggered his way inside, sliding his feet across the white cold tiles with his hand stuck on the wall acting as an extra leg to keep his back straight. His heartbeat was echoing through his head and it feels like he's been dragging iron balls with his limbs, the only thing that makes him happy right now was that his target didn't run. He tilted his head, rubbing his stiff shoulders and introduced himself in a conceited tone saying, "Hi, My name is Albert, I lost my calling card while I killed off some people in the forest but I'm the grim reaper. Nice to see you're still hanging around, Is that your wife over there?"

"Yes," His target stood his ground and kept his hands glued onto the wall of the operating room in front of him. Hiding his eyes behind the smart gleam of his glasses, the old man cleared his throat and replied with a broken smile. "M-my name is Tanaka and I don't recall ever in my life that I had made friends with an edgelord."

"Neat" Albert stepped back to avert his gaze. He clicked his tongue, feeling a slight burning sensation welling up in his chest. He slid his fingers inside his mask to give his face a scratch and calm the popping vein off of his forehead. He then gazed back, inviting Tanaka to look in his eyes with a smile before saying, "It's been a while since I've found someone who can appreciate my taste. Well, I can't say that I didn't I dress right for the occasion."

"My daughter called me that when I dressed as a killer for Halloween, I guess I used it right" Tanaka removed his hands from the wall to wipe his sweat and to give Albert a little dance as he forced out a small awkward laugh... "First time I used it in a conversation, I always wondered what that means."

"Well pops, you're part of the cool kids now" Albert tilted his head as he reached out for Tanaka's shoulder with a happy tone. Tanaka swallowed and kept his head straight as a reply, shrugging off the ice-cold feeling that's crawling up to the side of his neck and down to his back and arm. "Well, you're a good guy and I wished that we could have hanged out more but too bad. Buddy, We're going on a trip to the afterlife…"

"Excuse me?!" Tanaka retorted, shoving Albert's hand away from his body. He took a step back and lowered his gaze to his feet to try and buy himself some time to think. After a few moments of Albert looking at him with a surprised reaction behind his mask, he raised his face to pull up another broken laugh. "Well, I'm so sorry about that. I mean I can't, because as a man, you know. I need to keep my promise."

Albert scratched his chin to feel his cheeks contorting into a playful grin. He took a step forward and raised his free hand to point at Tanaka's chest saying, "Well you just said, man. Then why are you counting yourself"

Tanaka kept silent, blinking a couple of times before he mustered the courage to set his eyes straight and free himself from the freezing atmosphere behind his back. He swallowed his saliva and followed it up by small shallow breaths as he raised his face to look at Albert's mask, directing him towards the wall on his side. "Well, You see. I made myself a sacrifice so that the one I love would continue to live a little longer… so that I-"

"You mean you killed yourself because you can't take the pressure of debts piling over you..."

Albert's words had erased every other noise in the background, forcing Tanaka to take a step back to cope with this alien feeling. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth to try and suppress the pain that makes his chest feel cramped. Tanaka ended up clearing his throat and slamming his palm onto his breast to pull up a determined face before uttering, "So… So that I-"

"And now, you're sprinkling the word sacrifice all over the mess of a decision you made" Albert leaned forwards to invite Tanaka to gaze upon the swirling abyss beneath the holes of his mask once again. Realizing he got his well-deserved attention, Albert pulled himself back in a whimsical tone and said, "Well, I can't say it was all bad since you did manage to get something done. But did you just really use your wife to turn yourself into a hero?"

"Well, How would you know?!" Tanaka shouted, swiping the air in between them to his side. "It's not like you w-"

"You made a promise to your kids that you would watch them over. Why? Does daddy need to make sure that his family won't think of him as a coward?" Albert's head tilted to his side as he dragged his fingers through the rough cold wall of the hospital before he followed up, giggling and pouting his lips. "Would daddy feel useless if everything falls apart? Is that why he wants to make sure that everything would go fine?"

"What?... Wh-Who are you?" Tanaka growled, speaking as if his voice is about to fall apart. He stepped back to give himself some space, making room for Albert to stretch his body before he closed the distance between them with full confidence.

"I thought you'd be the kind of guy who would listen. But for the benefit of the doubt, again, I am your Grim Reaper" Albert scratched the back of his head in deep thought. He turned his eyes away from Tanaka only to turn it back along with his playful voice as if a brilliant idea just popped in his head. "Ah, I know just the thing. Here, let me borrow your arm for a second"

"As if you could ever do something to me…" He laughed at the top of his lungs, cradling his stomach with his hands. A few questions boggled his mind like, is it Albert's ice cold touch or does he have another trick in his sleeve. He convinced himself that he may be just another spirit pulling a prank on him. So with full confidence, he stepped up, lifting his arm and said, "besides, what can you do to a dead person. I don't have anything to lose anymore"

"Well that's where you're wrong" Albert took out his knife and gashed Tanaka's forearm without a warning. A thick luminescent white liquid rushed out from his wound making Tanaka squirm and bite his teeth. He grunted, trying to pull his arm out of Albert's cold grasp but even with his efforts, he found himself kneeling on the ground in an attempt to cope up with the pain and regulate his breathing. Albert let out a slow breath of satisfaction as he tugged Tanaka's arm towards his abdomen. "It hurts, doesn't it. Like that every cook that you watched on TV say, let that sink in for a moment"

"What the… hell" Tanaka groaned as he looked down to hide his pain. He convinced himself that even though he can't get his arm back, he would at least deny him from the satisfaction of seeing the expression written all over his face. His arm started to feel numb, his shoulders followed up as it became heavy and now his mind is getting fuzzy. "What did you do… what the hell did you doo??"

"I'm glad that you now feel that way towards me. You said you are a man of your family so, time for a pop quiz" Albert laughed it off, letting Tanaka out from his clutch and giving him the time crawl away and increase the distance between them."Let's see, what's the name of the first pet that you gave to your daughter?"

"Is this some kind of joke? It's-" He paused as his expression turned grim in silence.

"You don't know do you?" Albert pressed the mask against his face to contain his laughter. "Then what's her favorite show?... Food?... Color? Oh, wait... Did you even have a daughter?"

Tanaka's eyes widened in silence as his hands make its way to cover and protect his ears. He sunk his fingers into his bushy black hair to try and claw out any kind of answer to Albert's question but there was none. He scraped his head over and over with panic in his eyes while Albert's voice played through his head like a broken record.