When a man moves on to the afterlife, it is said that they hear a soothing bell chime, like a distant toll from above, as though a ringing from the Gates of Heaven.

We're not entirely sure why we were made.

We're magical beings, you see, and our purpose is what keeps us alive. It is now the 21st century in the humans' sense of time and the mermaids, gargoyles, dragons, elves, and dwarfs have all vanished, along with so many others. They've lost their purpose in the human realm, and Echidna was commanded to extirpate her own children when the Olympians found it fit. All monsters are aware of this, and most of us have accepted that such time would befall us all one way or the other.

Our kind had come to existence around the time the humans appeared. We constantly fear that Zeus would order our mother to annihilate our kind soon but nevertheless we continue to thrive as the Fates keep our threads intact…for now.

Ha-ha. The humans are so much more pitiful though. With such a limited lifespan of only a century at most, I truly wonder how they make the most of it. We Helvs are able to live for up to ten times longer than them, and ours is a rather short lifespan already as most monsters can live up to fifty times more. Yet, the gods favor them so much. If anything, the monsters are only made to exist for these insufferable beings to slay, to capture, or to marvel upon like some sort of display!

Just how cruel must the gods be to our kind? What grave wrongdoings have done to them? Must we be treated as such, as though mere accents to spice up the lives of these easily dying fools?

The Helvs know more than any other monster how quickly these men pass on to Hades' realm. After all, we rang the bells. We ring the bells that summon Thanatos to fetch the detached human souls before He led them to the After Life. My hatred for the humans fed my love for ringing the bells. I knew no greater pleasure than to see one less despicable soul on the face of Gaea. I felt a sense of pride whenever it was my bell that summoned the great Thanatos. The satisfying chime of the protrusion on my back reverberates to my ears down to the core of my being, making my body hiss like a tub being filled with steaming water after eagerly waiting all day for the onsen to open.

Yet, these pleasurable moments came so few to me. I've now lived two centuries with my mother and father who were now both at their ninth. We lived under the floorboards of a human's vacation home. Being far from the hustle and the bustle of busy city streets (where so many humans die almost everyday) has made my bell ring but only once.

My mother insisted that we live in such a decrepit place. "It makes it easier for us to hide," she'd said. "And we're always guaranteed to be around a human from within a hundred meters if we stay here."

I agreed with her on the part that we don't have to deal with so many repugnant human beings everyday (other than the part that monsters must remain in hiding in this age…or else meet Echidna) BUT it made me feel so unfulfilled! After tasting the pleasure of my bell ringing a century ago, I've since felt like an addict who has been deprived of his dose.

I starve.

I thirst.

Each ticking second from that god-awful clock in the living room made my heart race in anticipation, made my eardrums crave that sweet sound which encapsulated me in sublime ecstasy just one. More. Time.

However, they did not want to leave. There was no convincing them.

"These are trying times, Eev. Monsters aren't allowed to be as rampant as we were back then," Mother said.

"We may be small, but the fact that we look like tiny humans will wreak chaotic curiosity if humans find out about our existence--or even worse--capture and experiment on us!" Father replied.

"Oh, golly! Anything but that! That would guarantee our species' annihilation! That's why we must lay low, Eev. Let us stay here…where we are safer."

"There are no safe places anymore!" I exclaimed. "Why must we hide? Why must we hide?! WHY?! I refuse! I will not stay here and rot!"

I ran out of the house and into the forest. Far, far away, I thought. I would go to a place plagued with dying humans…

As I kept running, my parents running and shouting after me gradually fade in the distance behind me.

My feet started to feel like lead; my breath ragged.

"Eev!"

I was forced awake when I heard my name. Where was I?

"Oh, thank goodness," my mother gasped and hugged me tightly.

"Mom?"

"Don't you EVER do that again, young lady! If it weren't for the kind forest spirits that found you collapsed on the ground, you could've died."

Oh. Now I remember. I had run away from home out of frustration. I had forgotten the fact that being out of 100 meters from a human weakened us and made us slowly die. The thought made me bitter. I hated the humans so much I wish they'd just all die, yet I was ironically dependent on them to stay alive.

"Yes, Mother. I won't do it again," I answered, while hot tears fell down my cheeks.

The days passed by without a hitch (nor a ring of a bell). I delighted my parents, of course, that I had suddenly become an obedient daughter--yet they were left unaware of what I did behind their backs.

The human vacation home where we resided had only one occupant--a maid, who spent her days routinely cleaning the whole house if she wasn't eating or sleeping. A delivery man occasionally visited to supply her with food (from which we stole during the night) but lately (perhaps because she was now a middle-aged woman) she took naps more frequently, not to mention she slept longer for every passing day. We lurked and stole food during the night and slept during the day, but as of late I had been secretly observing the human as my parents slept. I have attempted about seven times now, to try and kill her--all in hopes of making my bell ring--but to no avail. She had managed to dodge every single time.

The days have begun to get warmer again. Summer. I've lived for so long a time I've lost track of the summers that passed me by. It's been the 23rd day since I started keeping an eye on the human until it hit me: SUMMER!

Summer has finally arrived again! The time when it wasn't just this measly and old yet does-not-easily-die hag who was in the house. The time when the vacation home was teeming with humans. The time when my bell first rang.

Ah, that heavenly memory! It was time for it yet again! Year after year I'd pray to the gods for summer to quickly arrive, and year after year I was always left disappointed…but the ringing memory thumped in my ears so loudly whenever summer was around. The memory of the sound would ring so clearly in my head I'd begin to doubt if it was now actually real, and that kept me all hyped up.

It was a woman of old age, the human my bell rang for. She had come to the vacation home that summer a century ago with her children, grandchildren, and a lot more relatives. She was constantly sitting on a chair with wheels while it was maneuvered by a young lady. I could remember the downcast teary expression of the young lady as she gazed down on the old woman, but the old one always had on her face a smile--a genuine smile--I could sense it.

3 A.M. My bell rang.

It felt like every nerve of my being was jolted by a thousand bolts of lightning. It was painful. I cried and wailed, unaware of what was happening to me…

"The pain will pass, Eev. Hold on," my Mother whispered soothingly as she embraced me tightly.

"This is what we've been created by the gods to do. Endure it," my Father added, his reassuring hand gripping my shoulder tightly.

I'm a Helv, I'm a Helv, I thought over and over in my head to try to forget the pain. I'm a Helv and this is my purpose.

After what felt like forever, the bell attached on my back stopped ringing and my whole body relaxed. I felt like jelly and I collapsed on my Mother's arms. She made me sit down and said, "Tomorrow in this same hour, your bell would ring again and your purpose would be complete. Rest now, my dear, and do not fret. The second won't feel anything like this."

Soon, my Father moved me to lie down on the mattress. I tried to close my eyes to sleep but I felt so awake. I couldn't name the sensation at first but I soon realized that I was subconsciously craving for the second bell, even if the first was unbearably painful. Even if I didn't know for sure how the second one would feel. Even if I could barely twist or turn in bed with the unfathomable pain that still lingered.

I lay there staring at the ceiling, my body aching with pain and longing.

Tick.

Tock.

How long have I been waiting?

How much longer still?

Without warning, all pain was gone from me. I stood up, astonished from my newfound strength.

That was before I caught sight of the tall dark hooded figure looming over me.

Thanatos.

In the flesh.

I was finally seeing the god of death Himself. I hated the humans. I hated the gods. But Thanatos was different. I held so much respect for Him. It was because although the gods spoke of favor to men, they hardly interacted with them. However, Thanatos did that. He knew the aggravation of actually dealing with humans like we did. Everyday. If I'm not mistaken, he probably does not rest even for a second before another person dies elsewhere in the world…

He looked at me for a moment longer before he proceeded to the old woman's room. That's when I realized the other humans were wailing in grief, and I knew it was that lady who always pushed the old woman's chair whose cries reverberated throughout the household.

It was but a few minutes later when Thanatos walked out of that room, the old woman's soul in tow and in mere moment they'd vanished.

It was done.

I had fulfilled my purpose--on to the next soul.

Suddenly, my mother came rushing to me. The sight of the god had almost made me forget I wasn't the only Helv here.

"Did you see Him, Mother? Did you see Him, Father?" I asked, unable to contain my bliss.

"We've seen Him countless times before," Mother replied. "But only the Helv whose bell rings can see Him when He arrives, Eev."

"You've done well, my dear," my Father told me.

To lay eyes on Thanatos gave us Helvs inexplicable rapture and fulfillment. It was Thanatos that blessed Helvs' souls, it was the sight of Him that made us anticipate and hunger to see another man die. What I would give to have a human die today!

Tires screeched on the pavement outside the house.

They have arrived!

I ran outside, not daring to wake my parents up and as soon as I stepped outside I hid in the bushes. I watched closely as they filed out of the car one by one. First, three kids came rushing out and ran so fast into the house. Next, a couple, the man caressing his partner's bulbous belly. Two teenage girls giggling at each other and one teenage boy staring and fiddling intensely at a box he held with both hands. Lastly, two more couples in their middle ages.

The van they rode must've been rented, because soon enough it drove away.

My heart sank.

This summer yet again was a disappointment.

I sneaked back into our house under the floorboards, my parents already awake.

"They're here now, aren't they? How many children came with them?" Mother asked.

"Yes. There were three."

"Three!" she exclaimed. "We must be very careful now. The children are able to sense our presence. Thankfully, we've stored enough food to last us the summer. Do NOT leave this room now, Eev. Do you understand? We must hide until they leave," my Mother ranted on.

"Yes, mother," I said and sighed a little.

My father noticed that and told me, "Don't worry, Eev. You've barely been a Helv for long. This might not be the year your bell rings again but it soon will. I promise."

I just gave him a small smile and we all went to bed. It was still morning, after all.

The days passed without events and for a moment I'd even forgotten the feeling of anticipating my bells' ringing. I had to wait another summer to be fired up again.

All we did now is eat and sleep, and sometimes cleaning up our abode. Summers bitterly reminded us that this is how lowly the monsters have become: creatures forced in hiding.

Day breaks again and we get ready for bed. I hope I dream of that day again, I thought.

However, before I could shut my eyes, a sharp pain jabbed my back. It was 12:51.

"Ack!" I screamed in pain.

Pain.

Pain!

My bell was ringing! IT. WAS. RINGING!

I was still screaming even as my mother gave me cloth to bite on and muffle my cries.

It was no longer as painful as the first time around, but my longing for the second bell only grew stronger.

As the ringing ceased to a stop, I was finally able to try and think of who was about to die. The children were healthy. The teenagers, too. One of the middle-aged ones must be suffering a terminal disease, I thought. Eaither way, it didn't matter.

I would see Thanatos again, I thought as I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

Sirens wailing woke me up. It was 12:36, only a few more minutes before my second bell would ring. My strength still hadn't returned to me, but I still hadn't figured out whose death I was ringing for. It bothered me so much I stood up from my bed and walked limply but quietly.

I saw a couple of medics rush through the front door and enter the only lit room in the house at this hour. It was the same room where the old woman had died a century ago.

"We must do it here now or she's never going to make it!" I heard from inside the room.

"I don't trust you. Their lives are at stake!" another man replied in an exasperated tone.

"Even if we rush her to the hospital now, it's too high a risk. The hospital's too far away, sir, please," the first responded.

"Please…please just…save her," a woman's weak voice said in between sobs.

12:40.

For a few moments no one spoke and only the sound of sure footsteps, wheels, and metals clinking against metals could be heard. They had probably began operating now, but my head still couldn't figure out who was going to die tonight. And why did the second man keep saying "they"?

No.

My face paled.

No. No. No. Not this.

NOT THIS!

Unannounced, my second bell rang and my strength came rushing back. In an instant, Thanatos was right in front of me.

I did not feel bliss. I did not feel a single emotion akin to the first time I saw Him. For the first time, I felt sorry for a human. A human! Can you believe it?!

For the first time, my hatred for the humans was replaced by my respect for all creatures under the gods' reign. Just as we were unfairly judged by Echidna if we didn't follow the gods' will, the humans were faced with their own unfair judgment as well. I was overcome with despair.

I went down on my knees before Thanatos and barely managed to utter, "My lord…won't you spare this life?"

He looked at me for quite a long time before he spoke, "Not even Time stops for Death."

Helpless, I could only look on as He entered the room.

I listened closely, still hoping to hear it.

But there was no baby's cry. Just a woman's tormented scream.

*end*

Author's Note:

This story made numerous references to creatures from Greek mythology and the Japanese word onsen. Onsen was deliberately mentioned in the story to give a hint that the story takes place in Japan. Also, the idea of the Helvs was derived from the Japanese animated film, "The Secret World of Arrietty" (Studio Ghibli).

Onsen – Japanese hot spring

Echidna – a half-woman, half-snake creature in Greek mythology; also known as the "mother of all monsters" as she gave birth to most of the Greek mythical creatures

Olympians – a group of 12 great gods (including Zeus) that are above all the other gods hence their word must absolutely be followed by the lesser gods

Zeus – the King of the gods; he is the highest deity in Greek mythology

Gaea – in Greek mythology, she is the personification of Earth itself

Thanatos – god of Death; although Hades is the ruler of the Underworld in Greek mythology, it is the god Thanatos that oversees the souls that have passed onto the After Life