Run from The Reaper

Remus could feel the icy breath of the reaper down his neck. He ran faster, kicking his heavy legs into long strides and pushed himself forward. He pumped his arms, nearly digging his elbows into his rib cage. His footprints set deep in the clay of the Earth. Sweat fell down his brow like rivers. His lungs reeled inside his chest. 

“I will find you,” he heard the hiss of the reaper echo off the trees. “Run all you like.” Remus slapped his feet hard on the ground to drown out the threat. 

Remus ran, darting through trees and bounding over boulders. He came across a small creek. A man sat on the stump of a tree, whistling to himself. He had a fishing rod and a pleasant smile on his face. He was a big man, burly with tattoos and a long beard. He wore a hat to hide his balding head. 

“Excuse me,” Remus said. The man looked in Remus’ direction and gave him a curt nod. 

“Hello there, friend,” the man said with an earnest grin. 

“Where am I?” Remus asked.

The man looked into Remus’ dark blue eyes and studied him. Remus stared back at the man’s milky left eye and noticed that his other eye was dark brown and seemed to stand out against his pale complexion. 

“Purgatory,” the man said simply. 

“Purgatory?” Remus repeated. “How did I get here?” He looked over his shoulder and stared through the branches of the dead trees around him. The forest had the impression of extending forever. There was an eerie stillness to everything, but no sign of the reaper. He was safe, for now. 

“You must have died,” the man shrugged as if the answer was clear enough. “You don’t remember, do you?” Remus shook his head.

“Hmm. I haven’t met a lot of folk, but that seems to be the way of things here.” 

“I don’t remember anything, really,” Remus confessed. “I was walking. Down the road.” He forced the memory to come to him, but he could only see fragments. “I was on my lunch break. There was a sandwich shop down the road.” He could see himself in his mind, walking through a city street. He had a hop to his step. He checked his watch before crossing the street. He walked by an alley. 

“And then?” the man said with an encouraging tone.

“Nothing.” Remus said with a sigh. 

“Surely you remember something.” 

“Well, I saw a man. In the alley,” Remus said. He let out a stifled groan and reached for his left temple. An overwhelming pain burst throughout his head. 

Remus heard a rough voice. “Give me your wallet!” He yelped in pain and fell to his knee. He winced at the throbbing sensation from the left side of his head. 

“You alright there?” the man asked, “Looks like you’ve been through it.” Remus rose on shaky legs and looked at the man. Although his attention was on Remus, he was still holding onto his fishing pole. 

“My head hurts,” Remus said. “A lot.” 

“Ain’t nothing you can do about that here,” the man said with sympathy. 

Remus sighed as the pain dulled to an awkward ache. It lingered in his skull. Remus decided to change the subject to ease the headache.

“Did you catch anything?” he asked the man.

“No,” he replied with a chuckle, “Ain’t no fish here. No deer, no birds, no nothing.”

Remus offered the man a confused expression. “Then why are you fishing?”

The man shrugged and returned to his activity. “What else is there to do, eh?” 

There was a loud shriek that echoed through the woods. 

“Sounds like you got a reaper on your tail,” the man chuckled. He shook his head in entertainment. 

“Why are they coming after me?”

  “Well, because you died.”

“I didn’t die,” Remus sulked. When the man didn’t reply, he went on, “What about you? How did you escape your reaper?”

“I didn’t escape,” the man replied over his shoulder. “I’m not dead.” He turned back to the creek. He jerked the rod as he repositioned himself on the stump. “I’m in a coma.” 

The shriek returned, closer this time.

“Better run, friend.” The man broke into laughter. Remus took off in a sprint. The crunch of crisp leaves shattered under his Converses. 

Remus ran until his feet gave out. He fell to his knees and forced the bitter air into his lungs. He heaved. He looked around and saw that he was in a clearing. The woods behind him and a rocky edge in front of him. He glanced up and saw the black figure hovering through the trees toward him. It hissed as it approached. 

It was a disgustingly thin creature. Its tight robes revealed each cavity of its body. Bones shown through holes of its cloak. It grasped a long pole with a curved blade. The wind whistled through the skeleton. 

“Remus,” the creature spoke. Its voice was shrill and ghastly. “I have come to collect you. Take my hand.” The sound of bones snapping into place dug into Remus’ eardrums as the reaper held out its hand. 

“No!” Remus shouted. “I don’t want to die!” 

“But you already have,” the reaper said. It waved its hand and the air around them became hazy and hot. Through the display, Remus saw himself on an operating table. His head, held open by tools. A single bullet lay on a tray along with bloody instruments. He watched a man in white pressed heavily on Remus’ chest, keeping perfect rhythm. Another man assisted him by squeezing a bag of air into a tube that poked out of Remus’ mouth.  

“It’s a shame, really,” the reaper said as the vision faded away, “But all must die.” 

Remus looked over his shoulder to the cliff and a thought popped into his head. He picked himself up and ran, jumping into the abyss. He fell for far too long, flailing his arms and legs, hoping to grab a hold of something. 

Suddenly, he hit the ground. His body crunched at the abrupt impact. He let out a hoarse yelp. He rolled onto his back and stared straight above him. A black cloud cascaded down toward him. Remus drew in a breath and quickly placed his feet underneath him. Despite the pain, he ran. 

The rocky wall rose high above him. With a quick glimpse over his shoulder, he placed a hand on the wall. He raised his left leg and placed it on a rock that was sticking out from the wall. He thrusted himself up and climbed. The rock was slippery and his hands were sweaty. Desperation pushed him higher. 

Remus’ arms shook and his legs trembled underneath him. With a grunt, he pushed himself upward, but slipped, falling down into the reaper’s outstretched arms. 

The reaper cradled Remus as if he were an infant and peered into the man’s eyes. Remus looked back into craters of hollowed darkness. 

“All must die.”