Reaching my floor, I ran to my door and opened my apartment door. I snapped my fingers, calling for Theseus. But there was no answer. I thought he might have escaped again, but I heard him purring; he must have fallen asleep on the couch. Taking off my shoes and hanging my bookbag on the coat rack, I went into the living room. That’s when I saw him—the stranger sitting on my couch.
Everything came crashing to the floor as my hands went numb. Dread started to creep its way inside my mind, assuring me that nothing good was about to happen. Theseus lay in the stranger’s lap, curled into a tightly knit ball. His purring sounded like an idling car as the man scratched behind his ears. He wore an all-black tailored suit and open-toed sandals on his feet. All throughout his midnight black hair were tiny white dots. It was almost as if the night sky had grown out of his head until it reached his shoulders, making his olive skin a sickly pale. Above all that, the strangest thing about the man was the massive set of black wings sprouting from his back.
“Do you know who I am, Gilbert?” the man asked as he continued to scratch Theseus’s ears.
I couldn’t possibly have known who this man was. It wasn’t like beautiful men with wings were easy to come by. I assumed he was a robot, but there wasn’t a metallic undertone when he spoke, a trait all robots possessed. But rather, when the man spoke, his tone was both soothing and cold. He couldn’t have been an angel because there was no halo above his head, but he did have a distinct divine presence. Even still, he looked so sad, like he had just witnessed a devastating heartbreak.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
That was when it hit me. “You’re Eros, the Greek god of love, right? You came to tell me the girl I’ve just met is my soulmate!” I was so thrilled. Who else could say that their wingman was the god of love?
The man chuckled, “No, no, I am not the god of love, although I have been confused for him before.” He looked up to me, finally making eye contact with two tiny black holes trapped inside his head. It felt as though the two red circles around his pupils were pulling me closer to him. “I’m the god of death. I told you this on the tour in the museum. Throughout the years, I have gone by many names: Shinigami, Kali, Mictlantecuhtli, to name a few. But given your ancestry, you can call me Thanatos.”
The smile melted from my face. Today was turning out to be one of the worst birthdays ever. Why did I have to die now? It just wasn’t fair. I started working at the world’s leading psychiatric hospital so I could start the career of my dreams. On top of that, I met an insanely pretty girl down in the mailroom. But none of that mattered because who was going to take care of my cat? Realizing Death hadn’t even considered finding me a pet sitter, I made my final request. “Could I have one last wish? Will you please take Theseus to my parents in Athens?” My lip quivered as I spoke, and tears soon began to run down my face.
The god of death waved his hand dismissively. “Wipe your tears, boy. You’re not dying today.” For a moment, relief swept over me as I began to wipe my tears. But dread still lingered within me; a mission from Death himself was not a good sign.
“If you’re not here for me, then why are you here?” I asked.
“In four years, a great evil will consume the world, and many will die. I would rather not be forced to lead millions of souls to the afterlife, so I am recruiting you as my champion to stop this event from happening.”