The night was interrupted by the sound of screeching tires. Worried faces started appearing from now lit up windows from nearby buildings, people rushed outside to see what was the matter. Someone even called the police and ambulance in hopes that the latter would be able to help the redhead girl who was sprawled on the cold asphalt motionless.

Victims of the scene were dancing around the body while the night sky trembled and was cut in half, letting shadows walk out of the crack onto the ground. All of them snaked in the air, creating a tall, dark female figure.

First appeared the eyes, resembling deep cold eyes, then followed the face, pale and emotionless, almost like a statue. A pitch-black plait neatly rested on the narrow, sharp shoulders. The stranger stepped under the street lights, her clothes was hanging on her skinny frame, hands were covered by just as black gloves reaching all the way up her elbows — those were so unnatural, it almost looked like the gloves weren’t a piece of clothing, rather the woman’s own skin stretched over her bony hands.

No one paid the guest attention, as if she were invisible.

Somewhere not far from the scene the crashed car was humming, probably broken, people kept crowding around the unconscious girl. A bright red saint was widening on the freezing asphalt, threatening to stain the woman’s black boots.

The woman gently pushed her hair away from the face and whispered:

“It’s time,” she stepped towards the girl lying on the ground. The girl’s breathing was shallow, barely there, her body trembling lightly.

Slowly lowering herself next to the girl, the woman outstretched her hand, and with the very tip of her finger touched the young girl’s forehead. At that moment, the girl’s body froze in place and with the last breath, the life left the young body, leaving it limp on the cold ground. From the chest of the now dead girl, a tiny string of light threaded into the air, stopping there for a brief moment.

A minute passed in a complete silence, then a voice could be heard coming from that small thread of light:

“Am I dead?”

“Yes,” the woman with an emotionless face replied.

“A car accident…” She muttered. “Is this the end? Can it be fixed?”

“No.”

“But Max… He won’t even cry for me,” the voice from the light said. “He never loved me, I found out just today…”

“This is very sad.”

“Sad… Yet, your face doesn’t show any emotions. Are you not sorry about it at all? I was a good person, I loved with all my heart, but he…”

“Betrayed? Left? Ignored?” The woman’s voice was flat and steady.

“Yes, but… But now, when you say it like that, it seems so silly to me. I am silly, aren’t I?”

The stranger only shrugged her pointy shoulders.

“Love is blind.”

“This is very unfortunate… And you must be Death, right?”

“That’s what they call me. I’m the being created by the Almighty — one of his many servants. Are you scared of me?”

“No… Yes? Does rebirth exist?”

“For pure souls like yours — yes,” Death answered, beautifully whirling her delicate fingers in the air, as if playing an imaginary piano. A dark cloud appeared in the air, and then a pitch-black crow flew out of there and landed on the woman’s sharp shoulder.

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“What is it?” The girl questioned while looking at the new guest.

“This is my little helper. He will guide you,” Death explained, glancing at the animal.

“Okay. Fine. For some reason, I’m not scared at all. But may I ask something?”

“Sure.”

“What happened to you?” The voice quietly asked. “You are so sad.”

“Am I?” Death’s eyes lit up with a bright blue fire.

“Yes. Your eyes are full of sorrow. But it’s not because of me. Who caused you so much sadness? Are you… Could you also be in love unrequited?”

Death lowered her head, pursing her lips into a thin line, snapping her fingers.

The dark fog immediately shredded to the size of a tennis ball, changing its shape to a neat ray of light with wide wings. The crow started flapping its wings and together with the ray they headed towards the night sky.

Death followed them with her eyes, then abruptly turned her back to the worried crowd surrounding her. Next to the dead body there was a man kneeling, he held the limp hand, tears silently rolled down his face onto the grey asphalt.

Death’s heart squeezed for a lingering moment.

‘Could he be the one?’ A thought appeared in the woman’s head, quickly vanishing. Death started to walk away, yet spared one last glance at the car that killed the young soul, she looked in the broken rearview mirror.

The reflection showed an almost pure white emotionless face without a single wrinkle, framed by black hair. Death loomed into her own eyes — bright blue, but not the colour of a clear blue sky, not quite, rather a light reflected from a brick of ice. Her lips dark red, with a blue undertone, as if she were freezing to death… High cheekbones, hollow cheeks, long neck… Where did the girl find that ‘unrequited love sadness’ — Death couldn’t understand.

“This is bad she noticed,” Death mumbled under her breath. “Very bad. Could it be worsening?”

If regular souls started noticing the imprint of Great Sadness, then the rest of the creatures of the Almighty was going to see it too. Although, it wasn’t like Death came across the others that often any way… They preferred to stay away from the woman any chance they got.

‘This isn’t important,’ Death decided, straightening to her full height. In a house nearby, an old lady barely breathed while her heart was giving up on her body. Usually, Death gave orders to her helpers to take care of such small cases, whereas she only took care of the sinners and pure souls; however, lately, it hadn’t been going that well, yet the woman didn’t like sitting still, so she took care of any departing soul there was. Otherwise, her mind would get corrupted by numerous unwanted thoughts that would mess with her head…

‘I should concentrate on work, and it will pass. It shall pass,’ the woman coaxed herself, passing through a wall as if it was non-existent.

‘It’s just a bit of Sadness. It’s not a big deal. Besides, I won’t let it resurface, so no one will ever find out,’ Death was thinking, upon reaching for the old soul.

Chapter One

“The meeting is starting now,” Wisdom declared, leaning on the table. It was a tall man with a long beard and untamed red mane that made him look like a lion. Occasionally, he would even transform into one, especially if his subordinates angered him.

The rest eight creatures sighed, dissatisfaction was written all over their faces. They weren’t those flawless beings that would usually be pictured in the books, on the contrary, they resembled a typical tired office workers who were constantly yelled at by their boss.

The meeting was held in the estate of the Almighty. Ceilings here were high, doors wide and heavy, as if it was designed for a giant. Walls were full of clocks showing all sorts of time zones.

In the very centre of the room there was a long table. Creatures seated behind it didn’t even bother to show a crumple of friendliness. In fact, they did completely the opposite, highlighting their annoyance. Some of them would exaggeratedly sigh, some of them would throw side glances at others, some just emitted disapproval.

And all due to the fact that the beings of opposite elements couldn't stand each other. Who in their right mind would like their colleague who destroyed what they worked so hard for? One would think — why come up with servants who only stand in each other's ways? ‘You can’t question His will,’ — was the answer.

No one ever dared to argue with the Almighty, even though the Wisdom himself loathed Madness, a man covered in bandages from head to toe, who’d take away common sense from people, making them act mad. Meantime, Love pretended that Deception didn’t exist, together with his friend Illness. War sat as far as it was physically possible from Harmony.

… yet each one of them were attracted to Life.

And at the same time, each one of them would turn their backs towards Death, seated at the end of the long table.