I was walking home from the hospital to fetch some new clothes for Grandma. She needed the old medication she took and other paper documentation. The doctor said that in two days they'd perform the surgery, and I was petrified. Even though Death said she would be fine, I had no idea how he knew, and I was still skeptical. Anything could go wrong when you're under the knife.

I hugged myself tighter against the windy breeze and focused my eyes on the narrow street. It was later in the afternoon, and although it wasn't near night yet, it looked like it. Even my warm coat couldn't keep me properly warm.

After twenty minutes of walking, I was getting closer to my house when I spotted a black shadow emerge from the trees. I stopped walking and stared at it. I couldn't tell if it was Death or someone else mad. I stood there in the cold, contemplating whether to risk my life by walking to my house or to wait until the shadows moved, and I could tell who was stalking me.

Out of the blue, I felt a pair of hands on my shoulder, making me spin around in surprise to find Azra. His forest green hair ends shone in the light of the moonlight. His eyes glared bright orange, and I was comforted by seeing them. He was dressed in a big leather jacket and dark slacks, looking poised and elegant as always.

I exhaled, clutching the left side of my chest. "I'm so happy to see you right now," I said.

He chuckled and removed his hands from my shoulders. "I'm glad to hear so. We have many things to talk about. Shall we get inside?"

I nodded a few times, and together we quickly moved inside the house. Before shutting the front door, I took one last look into the forest, searching for any sign of the figure. However, the woods were now lonely, and no one stood there anymore.

We moved to my room, and I sat down on my bed. Azra took a seat next to me. We were never together, just the two of us, without Keliah, which was a bit awkward. I took off my coat and placed it on the pile of clothes on my chair.

My room needs a deep cleaning, I thought.

I cleared my throat before I spoke. "I don't know if what I spotted was just my imagination, but I saw someone standing in the woods."

"Yes, what you saw was real. One of the demons we didn't kill waits for you here every day." He said and roamed his fingers through his hair. "I want to stay in this house in case they'd try to break in. Is it alright with you?" He met my eyes.

"Of course, thank you for that." I gave him a quick smile. "How did you know I would come back home today?" I asked.

He quietly laughed. "Keliah told me. He's in the hospital right now, playing a random visitor. When you left the hospital, Keliah came here and told me you'd be coming home." He explained.

"Oh." I hugged myself. "I'm sure you know, I don't have my pendant anymore. And because Death can't touch it, it means one of you two took it. I suppose it was Keliah, am I right?" I stared into his glowing eyes.

His eyes darted to the floor. "Yes, you're right. But don't blame him for it. We don't want to lose our heads, and if we were to oppose Death, he would torture us," he sighed. "Again."

"What do you mean again? What did he do to you? And anyway, how is it that you work for him?" I still didn't understand how payments work. Instead of money, he promised them he would not try to slaughter them?

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"It's a really long, boring story. You don't want to hear it." He replied.

"Quite the opposite. It's not like I have a chance to listen to demons' life stories every day." I laughed.

He glanced at me and then kept his eyes on the floor. His elbows rested against his knees, and a long sigh escaped his mouth. "Me and Keliah didn't know each other until I saved him." Azra began. "We were wild demons. The same ones who are currently after your life. We didn't care about anything or anyone. It is set like that when you're a mere demon. We are careless creatures. We kill who we want and take who we like."

"One day, I was with my friends, if you'd call them like that in the human world. We were doing monstrous things, which you don't want to hear about. Things became boring in Underworld, so we decided to pay a visit to Earth. I'll spare you the details about what we were doing there. We demons love to take the look of someone else. To be in someone else's skin. Perhaps it's because we despise ourselves so much that we have to escape our own being." Azra looked at me to probably see if I was interested further in his story.

He then continued. "I don't remember where we were, but the place was awful. There were a lot of weird flying things around us, buzzing into our ears, and too much greenery. Tall, towering trees. Far ahead of us was someone lying on the ground, lifeless. I, as the leader of the group, strolled towards the body. What I found was a beaten-up demon, half dead, half alive."

Keliah, I thought.

"We demons cannot emphasize. We don't know what feelings mean. We're soulless creatures, but something within me broke. When I refer to his body as bruised in a red color, it's different from how human skin reacts. As demons, our bodies have a distinct response to wounds. I hoisted him from the ground, and we all returned to our world, Underworld. Keliah has never left my side since then. He never told me what happened to him. He didn't want to talk about it. I told him, his debt towards me was paid, but he never wanted to leave my side."

"He must be so attached to you," I said, smiling at Azra.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, he's an unbelievably unbearable creature. But what should I do about it? Kill him?" He laughed.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I still don't understand why you're working for Death? What happened?" I asked, staring at him.

"Well, as I said, we were reckless creatures. I wasn't the same being as I am now. We accidentally killed a celestial being and were sent to Hell's cells. Death took care of the angel's souls, and you know him. He was so fascinated with us. That we were able to kill someone so holy." Azra cackled and leaned into the chair.

"Death broke us from hell and kept us hidden with his power. Thanks to him, we are able to live normally. However, we cannot kill anyone. The ones up there," He gestures with his index finger upward. "would know about it almost immediately, and Death would have to release us. He already made enough mess; when he killed a human, he wasn't supposed to." Azra rolled his eyes.

"But why? Is it some kind of rule to not kill more than one person?" I asked.

"It could be interpreted like that. We do not know much about it since Death doesn't talk a lot to us. But he was pardoned just because he was ensuring your safety. Still, it didn't mean he could kill someone. He's the Death, after all," Rowan emphasized.

My memories waved back to when Death saved me from Joseph. He didn't waste any seconds pulling a knife against his neck. I smiled, remembering it.

"I won't defend him. He has done a lot of wrong; however, he did save us and you." Azra smiled for the first time at me. "If it wasn't for him, me and Keliah would be tortured for eternity. Although Death did punish us because of Keliah's reckless behavior when he touched your property." Azra whispered and looked away from me.

"I'll make sure he won't do that again," I said, touching his shoulder.

Azra peered into my eyes. "You really aren't afraid of us anymore? Not after everything I told you? You know we killed humans..." He said ashamed.

My smile faded, and I had to take a deep breath. "It's all history now, or is it not? Everyone has a dark past that doesn't resonate with them anymore." I briefly smiled.

A few seconds of quietness went by before I swiftly stood up and said, "Now, help me pack my Grandma's stuff. Azra nodded, and together we moved to Grandma's bedroom.

"There are a couple of things we still have to discuss," Azra said.