me again, but once more froze in place.
His head tilted, his eyes flashing red, as he appraised Broody. “What did you do? Why can I not move my feet? Is this some parlour trick?”
Broody pulled up the hood of his leather cloak. Darkness from the hood made his face become nothing but shadows and then a skeletal head appeared.
“Don’t you know who I am?” A scythe appeared in Broody’s hand as he laughed at the vampire.
As I came face to face with Death, I felt my sight dim until darkness consumed me.
Death
The vampire wasn’t looking as smug now. Rather he was shaking. I watched as poor Mya passed out on the floor, but I couldn’t assist her right now. I had Lawrence to deal with.
“I already d- died once. It was horrific. I don’t want to die again. I’ll do anything. Please let me go.” Lawrie was genuinely nervous. Most vampire killings were heinous, with the human victim treated like prime rib thrown into the jail cell of a starving convict on a hunger strike.
“It all depends on the lady lying there,” I told him. “When she comes round we’re going to have a little chat and your future undead life hangs in the balance based on her decision. Do you think she’ll save you or sacrifice you? Gosh, this is So. Much. Fun.” I moved towards Mya. “I’ll just tell you now that none of your vampire skills will work until the decision is made. I’ve paused them all. So don’t even think about escaping. You can’t outrun Death. Your feet are frozen to the floor just in case you fancied trying.”
I peeled my hood back so my human face appeared once again and I dropped to the floor and placed Mya’s head onto my knees.
Slowly she came to, a frown line appearing between her brows as her eyes met mine.
“Am I in the bookstore? I had the strangest dream.”
I helped her to sit up and then she realised it hadn’t been a dream. She sprang to her feet.
“Oh no. This is not my life. I am not standing with a vampire and Death. No, no, no, no, no!”
“I’m sorry, Mya, but you are.” My tone dropped to what I hoped was a soothing one. As she tried to run past me, I touched her arm and she became rooted to the spot.
“Please, no,” she whimpered, as a tear fell from her right eye. I watched as it ran off her chin and soaked into her pale-blue top.
“You can’t outrun Death, Mya,” I told her, “but for you, there is a choice of where you go.”
“S- so I am going to die tonight? It’s my t- time?” She asked, her lower lip trembling.
I nodded.
She swallowed and took a deep inhale. “So what are my choices?”
“The Book of the Dead predicted your death as you being drained by Lawrence. When a mortal is drained by a vampire, their soul doesn’t go to Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell; instead it rests on the Field of the Drained. It’s a complete nothingness. A full stop.”
Her eyes closed in pain.
“However, I have an employment position available. If you agree to become the Queen of the Wayward, to take care of the Home of Wayward Souls, then you can live an undead life. You’d be a vampire, immortal, and have a home in a village called Gnarly Fell.”
Her eyes snapped open. “I can die and be nothing, or I can be a vampire queen and live in a village looking after wayward souls?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck. My. Life. Fuck. My. Fucking. Life.” She started stomping around, a hand on her hip. “Great choices there, mate,” she snarled at me before walking right up to Lawrie and getting in his personal space. “Thanks for coming in the bookstore and deciding I was a snack. Now look what’s happened. Just cos you’re dead, you selfish prick. I had plans. I was going to own my own bookstore and have a whole room in my dream house dedicated to shoes.” She kneed him in the balls and I temporarily freed his feet so he could double over in pain.
She then stomped back over to me.
“I have more questions. First one, when do I have to make this decision?”
I looked at my watch. It was 23:09.
“You die in two minutes time, but I can freeze time for a few more minutes if needed.”
“Can I buy shoes if I live in Gnarly Fell?”
“Yes, there is a shop in Gnarly, and I can also