Death is a Girl

Chapter 55 - Gravekeeper 2

Morrigan backed away. Any normal person in any normal situation would be completely freaked out hearing something like that. But this was Death, a reaper. Of course he was there. If it wasn't him, it would have been another reaper. It just so happened to be him.

“Okay…” Morrigan said, her voice a mix of resignation and curiosity. She never really knew her father; she couldn't recall his face or a single word from him. So why did it matter? The most she remembered was once around Father’s Day, Morrigan might have been five years old, when she asked her mom why she didn't have a father.

“Your dad died,” her mom said simply, taking a drag of a cigarette. The concept of death had been introduced so offhandedly that Morrigan had to figure out what exactly the implications were on her own.

Another memory that stood out was when she was helping her mom clean the house. She was maybe seven or eight years old. A song came on the radio and her mom said, “Your dad could play this song better than they could.”

It was one of the few times she had heard about her dad. It intrigued Morrigan because she wondered just how someone could play a song better than the original. Singing she could understand, but an instrument? Wasn't it just about playing the right notes in the right order at the right times? If the original was the ‘right’ way, then how could it be played better? She explained that to her mom and told her it didn't make sense. Her mom answered, “That’s ’cause you don’t know music, kid.”

Morrigan always wondered if there was something to that, or if it was just her mom spewing more nonsense. On the few occasions she ever touched an instrument, it seemed completely alien to her. So at least one part of what her mom said had merit. Morrigan was not a musician. Even when it came to singing, she was completely tone-deaf.

But what did her father dying have to do with Death making her his apprentice?

“Okay… so you reaped my dad’s spirit. So what?” Morrigan asked. She couldn't quite explain how she felt… but she had a particular urge to bite Death's head off. Typically, that feeling was reserved for Noir. She didn't know why, but part of her hoped he'd give her a reason to.

Death’s empty eyes seemed to soften. “When I arrived, I saw you for the first time, Morrigan. You were so young you had barely learned to walk. You were pulling on your father’s t-shirt, telling him he’s not supposed to sleep in the kitchen. Your mother was upstairs in the bathroom crying, though she did not know what had happened yet.

“It pained me to see this situation because while that was the first time I had ever laid eyes on you, it was the second time I had come into your mother’s life.”

“Second… time…?” she echoed, trying to process the information.

“That house on the edge of the graveyard was owned by your great-grandmother. It was the one thing she had to her name, and when she passed away at eighty years old, she left it to the one person who helped her have some dignity in her final days. That was a pregnant seventeen-year-old girl—your mother.”

“Seventeen?” Morrigan repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

Just a year older than I am now, she realized. For some reason, she had never quite put that together before.

“What about her parents? I mean, my grandparents, I guess? Weren’t they around?”

“I don’t know the full story, as I’ve only had these few glimpses into your lives, but I allowed your great-grandmother some time to… observe. She was worried that her will would be contested, and that the house would not go to your mother as she intended. She also wished to stay as a spirit until you were born, which I was not able to allow her to do. Indeed, there was somewhat of a legal fight, but luckily her will was clear and well handled. Once she saw that your mother would get the house, she was content to pass on. I sent her to the afterlife with the assurance that even if she could not watch over Earth from heaven she would one day have all the answers she needed when her loved ones met her there.”

Morrigan’s impulse to yell and get angry had passed by now. Her mind felt simply rattled. Though, she still did not understand what any of this had to do with becoming Death’s apprentice.

“So… my father. How does he play into all of this?”

“I’ll tell you, your father was given passage to heaven. He did not have an unkind soul, but he had a body filled with poison. He had been poisoned by opiates from a young age, and it was something he always struggled with. Yet, he cared deeply for you and your mother. I could see that clearly.”

Morrigan’s gaze fell to the ground. “If he cared so much, then why couldn’t he get off the drugs?”

“I don’t believe it's as easy as you say, Morrigan.”

“Sure, I get that. But he should have known how things would end up.” She clenched her fists. “Maybe if he got his shit together and was able to help, things would have been easier!”

Death's hollow eyes seemed to soften even more, and his voice took on a gentle tone. “Addiction is a cruel poison, Morrigan. It’s not just a matter of willpower or knowing the consequences. Your body believes it needs the substance so desperately that it constantly screams at you to give in. To deny that impulse is like willfully starving yourself, or refusing to give your lungs air. The cravings become unbearable, a relentless force that can overpower even the strongest of wills.”

Morrigan’s fists remained clenched, her nails digging into her palms. “So you’re saying it wasn’t his fault?”

“I’m saying it’s more complicated than fault or blame. I’m saying he fought and lost many battles, and in the end, he lost his life.”

Morrigan’s gaze stayed fixed on the ground. “You said he cared for us. How do you know?”

“As a spirit, he was no longer influenced by the poison in his body. He cursed himself for not being stronger, for not being able to be there for you. He begged me for another chance, but of course, that was beyond my power to give. However, I did make another kind of agreement with him. He was worried that you would be taken away from your mother, and he told me how she had nobody else to support her. Going to her family would likely be seen more as an avenue to seize ownership of the house than to give her any true support, so… I agreed to help.”

“How?” Morrigan asked, her voice softening.

“I began by bringing you to bed, then I waited outside for your mother to discover what had happened. I disguised myself as an old groundskeeper, as you’ve seen me do before, and knocked on the back door. I claimed I had been out along the fence line when I heard her commotion upon discovering his body, and since it was a summer night and I could see through the screen door, I jumped the fence and came over.”

“But… why would you interfere? I thought you don’t do that?”

“A young teenage mother with nobody in the world to help her through such a situation is a rare circumstance. I made an exception. Your father was rightly worried that when the police were called, they would investigate and find drugs and you would have been taken from your mother. I believed if that is how that night were to proceed, then it would not just be your father’s life that would be lost, but in the long term, it would eventually lead to a similar fate for you and your mother.”

“So you decided to step in? What about order?”

“It was merely a nudge toward a new outcome,” Death said. “All your mother needed was someone on her side for that one night. Fate had made no clear decisions on you or your mother’s lives, so I was sure my disturbance in the flow of events would only cast the smallest of ripples.” He chuckled. “Noir disapproved, of course.”

Morrigan had to smirk. “Guess I’ve been annoying him for even longer than I realized.”

“It would seem so.” Death’s jaw cracked open slightly, resembling a smile. The mood seemed to lighten, if only a little.

“So what? You helped her clean up the house while the police were on their way?”

“Yes, and I was able to convince the police that you were safe and that I would be staying to help out for the time being. Your mother insisted on finding a way to repay me; she said I could come over any time for a break while working at the graveyard… of course, the occupation I told her of was a lie, but either way, I had to refuse. I simply told her I was retiring soon and she would likely not see me again.”

“So that’s it?” Morrigan asked.

“That’s it. Perhaps I have seen you once or twice in passing without noticing, but the next time I truly saw you was in that graveyard, on the day you died.”

“I see… but… why make me your apprentice?”

“That part is as I said. You did not deserve to go to limbo. I am not sure I would have made the same decision had I not remembered that little girl from fourteen years ago… but, I was aware it was you. I knew you had a hard life, yet persevered, and took a chance to help someone in need. I believed you would make a fine reaper, and I still stand by that assessment.”

“Then why not tell me all of this from the beginning?”

“I’m sure I would have in time… Perhaps, I felt some parts of the story were better left to someone else to tell you. And indeed, I’m sure there is much my perspective lacks in the full picture of your home life from those early days.”

“Someone else… you mean my mom, right?”

“If you wish to know more, I do believe she would be most appropriate to tell you.”

Morrigan clicked her teeth. “Yeah, well… I doubt I’d get much either way.”

“Have you ever tried?”

“Of course I have,” Morrigan snapped. Though, that was probably a lie. “Forget it… but, none of this explains Alice. Why did you hide her from me?”

“I don’t know if I truly have a good reason. It may be that I just didn’t know how to broach the subject. I would have told you of her eventually. I’m sorry that you found out the way you did.”

“Yeah… well, I’m the one who went snooping.” Morrigan suddenly felt exhausted, and with her exhaustion, the tickling on her back began to stir up.

Ignore it, she told herself. When she focused on the demon flesh it acted up more.

Too many bombs had been dropped all at once and she needed time to just process it. The idea of laying down and closing her eyes was what began to call to her the most.

“I think I’m ready to get back to reaping,” Morrigan said as she walked ahead, Death following her.

“You may take another day or two if you wish.”

“No… I’ve been out of it for long enough.”

“I see… Do you not wish to go home? You’ve been gone for three weeks now. It might be nice to let your mother know nothing has happened to you.”

“I don’t know. Maybe at some point, but not right now.”

Death seemed to sense she was done talking and he said not another word as he followed her back to the cabin. After brushing her teeth and changing into her basketball shorts, she laid down and stared at the ceiling. The tickle in her back began to stir again, so she tried to put it out of her mind.

I’ll get back to reaping tomorrow, she thought, and somehow she felt some comfort in thinking about returning to the routine.

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(Chapter 56 - EPILOGUE - Black Magic Woman)