Your life Flashes Before Your Eyes When You Die

"Of course not." He said as if I asked a stupid question.

Maybe I did.

"People die as we speak," He continued. "You can't expect me to attend to everyone's souls worldwide and still come back in front of you as if everything's a piece of cake."

I nodded. So Death, this one, isn't the only Death in the world.

It was stupid of me to think like that in the first place because the god of death, Thanatos, or whoever was in charge of this death business, was the employer and Death was an employee to take care of all the jobs. So Death had a point, if he was the only then he could file a case against the head because of overwork.

"Each human's death has been decided since they were born." He continued. "Death by drowning, Death by suffocation, and all those other types of Deaths. Before, there was a thing called Death by the Stake, but as time went by, this ended and was replaced by other Deaths like Death by car accidents and so forth."

I hummed and listened to him, gesturing for him to continue so Death did.

"Death was unpredictable and used to scare humans out of their wits. It never occurred to my boss in the later centuries that humans would seek Death. And that is why here I am in front of you, I am Death by Suicide. And we, this type of Death, will give you a painless one."

"By painless, you mean like what you did earlier? You just touched my forehead, and suddenly… we're here…" I find myself trailing off. "I didn't commit suicide per se, and you took my soul before I could do the deed."

Death merely smiled. "I'm specially created for poor souls like you who suffered so much that even my boss took notice of your pain."

"So every suicide victims die peacefully?" I ask in wonder.

He shook his head. My eyes widened in horror.

"Suicide isn't predictable." He said. "Maybe you might notice that a person might commit suicide. However, we, Deaths, don't have the free time to watch over a person until they try to kill themselves. 

"We notice that a person is about to die once they do it or their souls have already been reaped from their physical body."

"But how did you find me?" I frowned. "You came before I burned myself and I was still alive "

"But there are people like you, who have a very careful Death that I, the Death in-charge of suicide, bothered to watch you," he started while looking at me. "Well, not because I'm meticulous with my work, but because you've been having these thoughts for years. 

"You've attempted so many times I asked permission from our head that I'll watch you to ensure you're properly sent off before the next one."

"So you've been watching me the whole time?" I don't know what to feel about this. "Last time I tried to kill myself was… three weeks ago? You've been watching me since then?"

He nodded and then there was a long silence between us. I balled my hand into a fist and gritted my teeth.

"What about those other victims that died before their Deaths could pick them up?" I asked, finally mustering the courage.

Death looked at me solemnly with his crimson eyes. "They die a painful one," he replied, "the pain you expect from the method of suicide that they chose."

I fell to my knees. I was suddenly scared of what could've happened. I imagined the blazing flames eating my flesh and melting my insides until all that was left of me was an unidentified body.

"So if I killed myself a little bit earlier… I would've suffered a lot?" I trembled.

"Yes." He smiled solemnly and there was an odd glint in his eyes. "You would've felt the flames eating your flesh, cooking you up like humans enjoy eating animal meat."

I looked up, tears welling up in my eyes. He looked somehow surprised, but he didn't say anything.

"Thank you for watching over me then," I whispered, unaware that he could hear my trembling voice. But his soft 'no problem' was a confirmation that he did.

I paused. "There was something about what you said that I thought was weird."

Innocently, he tilted his head to the side. "What is it?"

"So I'm not originally a person who's supposed to die due to suicide?"

"Yes." He paused for a bit, contemplating the following string of words he'd say. "However, I'm not allowed to tell you since your fate has changed now that you can see me."

He offered me his hand, smiling. Yet, his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Shall we go?"

Hesitantly, I took it, and he helped me stand up again on my feet. "To where?"

"To your memories." He said as if we were talking about the weather. "We're going to where it all began."

"What do you mean?" I looked at him quizzically.

"Just follow me." He didn't let go of my hand. Instead, he started guiding me in the darkness to a destination I had no idea about.

"But--" I tried to argue but we continued walking.

"I gave you a painless death, so stop your complaining." He warned.

I could only nod in silence after feeling the shift in Death's mood.

Death lightened up after noticing my compliance. "Now, let's go and see your memories."

"So this is what they mean when they say your life flashes before your eyes when you die."