Chapter One—The Strange Stranger 

Charlotte let out a sigh as she rubbed her forehead. She couldn't focus on the paper in front of her. She glanced over at the clock and saw how late it was. After seeing it was almost twelve, she started packing up her stuff. On her way out she said goodbye to the waitress behind the cash register. 

She pulled her coat on tighter when she felt how cold it was outside. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked to the bus stop. When she got there, she noticed there was only one other person. She let out a sigh and stood next to the man. Once she was next to him she tried to discreetly look at him. 

The man had dark eyes that that matched his hair. She noticed he was dressed in all black. Charlotte quickly looked away when the man had noticed her staring. She shifted around and stole quick glances at him. She looked around the mostly abandoned street as she gained the courage to speak to him. 

"So, um, what are you doing out so late?" She asked without looking at him. The man just turned to look at her with a quirked eyebrow. "N-not that there's anything wrong with that. I-I mean I'm j-just usually the only one here." She quickly stammered to correct herself. 

There was a moment of silence before the man spoke up. "I'm on my way to meet someone." He spoke smoothly. 

"Well, she must be really special if you're going out this late." Charlotte said as she turned to look at him. 

"Who said anything about a girl?"

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"Oh! I'm sorry, I just assumed that you were meeting a girl." She said with a nervous smile. 

"It's alright. I'm on my way to collect his soul." He said nonchalantly. 

"That's cool—wait what!?" She fully turned to look at the man in shock. "D-did you say s-soul?" 

The man nodded without tearing his view away from the road. Charlotte discreetly tried to take a few steps back. "Um, what are you?" 

He tipped his hat and smirked. "I'm Death. Nice to meet you."

"Death, as in 'I kill people' Death?" She questioned with wide eyes. She nervously swallowed as she waited for his answer. 

"Well, yes. Except I don't kill people. I only collect their souls. It's a common misconception." 

"Okay, so you're actually Death." She mumbled, rubbing her forehead in shock. "I'm not going to die, right? Like you aren't going to kill me or it's not my time to die or something like that." 

"I'm not going to kill you." He reassured her. She let out a sigh of relief, the edges of her lips curved into a smile. There was a moment of silence when she thought of something she desperately wanted to know about. "Hey, do you, um, do you know when I'm gonna...die?" She meekly asked. He nodded and she felt herself get a bit nervous. 

"How long d--" She stopped herself and swallowed. If she knew her death day, she would live in fear till that day came. But she was too curious to not ask a question. "Is it...is it painful?" She asked softly. 

"No."

Charlotte felt her whole body relax. "Hey, aren't you supposed to have a scythe?" Her eyebrows were furrowed with curiosity. "Don't you think it would be odd if I walked down the street with a scythe?" He countered with an amused look. 

"I suppose." She hummed. "Or you would look cooler." She grinned. "I mean even if people saw you with a scythe, what are they going to do? You're Death, ya know. What are they gonna do?" She lightly shrugged.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt." He held out his hand and a scythe manifested. Charlotte's mouth was agape as she stared with wide eyes. "That was so cool!" She laughed. "Can you do that with everything?" She spoke quickly with excitement. 

He lightly clicked his tongue. "Unfortunately, no." He stared at her with furrowed eyebrows. Charlotte didn't notice his gaze due to the fact that she was so focused on the scythe. "How are you so calm about this? Most people would've run off by now." 

Charlotte stopped fawning over the scythe and stood up straighter. A thoughtful look came onto her face as she tried to come up with an answer. "I don't know. I guess it's because I always wanted it to be true. I mean, I grew up reading fantasy books, hoping that they were real." She smiled gingerly. Before they could say anything else, the bus stopped in front of them. They got on the bus and paid the fare. They walked to the seats and sat across from each other.