"Where are we?" Shiuli looked around her and all she could see was water. They were standing at the edge of an island abundant in vegetation.
"We are on a deserted island just off the coast of Australia." Time replied.
Shiuli shivered as a chill ran down her spine. The reality was slowly setting in… her life had just taken a 360-degree turn. She was now somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, with the love of her life and his cousin brother, anxious about what was to come.
Death moved closer to Shiuli and gave her a tight back hug. They were facing the ocean as if it had the answers to all their problems. Death gently kissed the top of Shiuli's head. Even though their world was a complete mess right now, Shiuli felt content. She knew that as long as Death was by her side, she would be content. Shiuli slowly turned around in his embrace and looked up to see him staring down at her, with love dripping from his eyes. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have such a fine creature be her man. Shiuli often wondered if she deserved him and if his kin were right in questioning their love. But she would soon push away those negative thoughts and tell herself that this was meant to be.
"You two should be safe here for now." Time interrupted them, "meanwhile, I shall go and find Love."
"Where is she anyway? She would never just run away like that! Especially now that we need her."
Death was frustrated. He wanted Love to be here, more so that he felt at peace knowing that he had her on their side. Had Love started to have doubts about them? Was she planning to join forces with the Moon and Life? Only Love could answer these questions.
"Death, you should focus on getting Shiuli settled here. Go straight up the hill behind you and you should find a cozy little holiday home. I had built it for myself, for when I needed to be alone and time to think. I think it will be pretty comfortable for your stay here." Time smiled at the lovebirds.
"Thanks, Time. We shall wait for your return with Love." Death smiled back at his cousin.
As Time disappeared, teleporting to god knows where; Shiuli turned back to Death. He was smiling down at her, happiness radiating from his face.
"What?" Shiuli laughed, "what makes you so happy?"
"I've never lived with somebody before."
Shiuli couldn't help but giggle at his adorable response. She took his face in her hands and gave him a quick peck on his lips.
"Let's go find our new home."
Shiuli pulled Death towards the wilderness and they started climbing the hill. Death was being super protective of Shiuli, considering they were on an island and there could be some really dangerous flora and fauna surrounding them. After a 15-minute trek uphill, the couple finally spotted the tiny, cozy home, nestled in the middle of the forest.
The walls were light blue and white, almost mimicking the Greek buildings of Santorini. From the outside, the house looked quite small and Shiuli instantly fell in love with it. As they walked inside, hand-in-hand, both of them were left speechless by the beauty inside. The walls inside were white and a cute little chandelier hung from the ceiling. There were two identical light blue couches placed opposite each other and next to them was a bookshelf full of books. The house was simple but extremely beautiful.
"Even though the house looks small, there are actually five bedrooms." Death informed, "There are two on this floor and the other three are underground."
"You mean in the basement?"
"You can say that." Death replied, "Faith, Time, and Love will be here soon. I'm not sure when exactly, but as soon as they've found Love, they will be here."
"So, you suppose we should leave the three rooms below to them?"
"Yes, that should be fine."
"Umm… what about us?" Shiuli's cheeks turned bright red, "Do we share a room?"
Death looked amused. He walked up to Shiuli and kissed her forehead.
"I thought you weren't ready?"
"Ohhh… I didn't mean it like that!" Shiuli hid her face in her palms, feeling super embarrassed, "You know how in Amisha's room we had shared a bed? We could just cuddle; you know?"
"If you're comfortable with the idea, let's share a room." Death lovingly smiled at Shiuli.
Shiuli quickly picked up her handbag and waited for Death to gather her bigger luggage, they then walked towards the master bedroom. As they entered, Shiuli gasped audibly at how beautiful it was. The king-sized bed was placed at the center of the room and covered in white sheets and a blue comforter. The walls were light blue and there were two tiny loveseats by the big window overlooking the ocean below the hill they were on.
"You like it?" Death asked.
"I absolutely love it!"
Shiuli quickly rushed to the bed and plopped on it. The humidity was high and the air conditioner helped cool up their room. Having had a super taxing day, Shiuli was tired and needed sleep.
"I'll go get us some food. You can freshen up and rest." Death then teleported.
***
By the time Shiuli woke up, it was midnight. Her stomach growled as she hadn't eaten anything in the last 24 hours. She slowly got off the bed and headed to the attached bathroom to brush her teeth and freshen up. Once she was done, she walked outside the bedroom toward the living area.
"Death?" Shiuli looked around, "Are you home?"
"I'm here!"
Shiuli turned to where the voice came from and noticed Death was in the kitchen. He was making eggs on the stove and on the side Shiuli could see two plates of spaghetti and meatballs ready. Smiling like an idiot, Shiuli walked over to her man and gave him a quick kiss on his left cheek.
"I didn't know you could cook."
"Well, when you are a creature like me, who is immortal, you learn to do almost everything."
"Will you teach me how to cook?" Shiuli smiled.
"Sure!" Death turned towards her, "But before that, let's get you fed! You haven't eaten anything since yesterday!"
Death took Shiuli by her shoulders and pushed her to the dining table which was already set up with candlesticks, two wine glasses filled with water, and a large bowl of Caesar salad in the center. Shiuli could smell the amazing dinner from where she sat and her stomach made painful noises, calling out to the food made just for her.
"Here you go." Death placed a plate of spaghetti and meatballs before his girl, "I made the meatballs out of chicken meat since you do not eat any other meat."
"Looks delicious!"
Then the two attacked the food in front of them. Even though Death was a creature and didn't necessarily get hungry, he was excited to be sharing a meal with Shiuli. They would now eat together, sleep together and live together! This mere thought itself made him feel so giddy with joy! But as they ate and Death brought out the chocolate ice cream for dessert, Shiuli's expression turned quite melancholic.
"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Death's eyes filled with concern.
"I'm worried about Amisha. Are you sure she is safe?"
"Of course, baby. None of my kin except Time know about her. She's safe, don't worry."
As soon as Death had said that, a look of guilt took over Shiuli's features. Death was confused. Was she hiding something? Death quickly wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and walked across the table to where Shiuli was seated. He slowly picked her up, sat himself down on her chair, and then placed her on his lap. Shiuli instantly hugged him into a tight embrace, tucking his head in the crook of her neck.
"I've been keeping something from you." Shiuli was scared, "you promise not to be mad?"
Death immediately pulled away from the embrace and searched Shiuli's eyes. He was scared. What was she hiding?
"You and Time are not the only creatures Amisha and I have met."
That sentence hit Death somewhere deep and the foreign feeling of fear took hold of him. His hold on Shiuli's waist got tighter and Shiuli's eyes looked worried.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Your brother had come to see me. Amisha was also there with me."
"Life? What the hell did he want!?!" Death's voice filled the entire house.
"Nothing. Back then Amisha had no idea about the creatures, so he pretended to be a friend. Once Amisha went into the house, Life started acting weird, so I got mad at him and walked away."
"That doesn't answer my question, Shiuli." Death wasn't having it, "What did he want from you?"
"He said he was just there to see me. Nothing else."
Death exhaled loudly and pulled Shiuli back to him. His heart was beating loudly and so was hers. Death knew that Life knowing about Amisha was a bad thing. Now that he had blocked his bond and Life had no access to him or Shiuli, Life could approach Amisha to get to them! Death did not want to scare Shiuli further by revealing this thought to her. So he wondered what he could do to protect her.
"Will Amisha be safe, Death?"
"Yes, Life doesn't care about her. He only cares about us. There's no way he would hurt her." Death bit the inside of his cheeks as he lied to Shiuli.
***
Amisha was in school. The English teacher was discussing Shakespeare and Amisha was lost in her own thoughts. She missed her best friend and a weird feeling of loss engulfed her. After Time had chanted out that spell, everything had changed. The last few months of her life had been altered and all traces of Shiuli's existence was erased. Her parents remembered her as someone who had died with her parents that night. And even in school, everyone looked at Amisha with sympathy, knowing that her best friend was dead.
This is precisely why Amisha was super frustrated. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs that Shiuli was alive and well, but she couldn't. She had promised the creatures that she would take her knowledge of them to the grave.
It was around 3 PM in the afternoon when her school got over. Amisha quickly packed her bag and walked out of the campus. It was windy outside and the sun was scorching hot. Amisha took out her jacket as she walked toward her house. But something was off. It was as if her 6th sense was screaming at her to run.
"Why do I feel so anxious all of a sudden?"
Amisha suppressed this feeling and tried to calm her nerves. She tried telling herself that everything was okay. This was the same route she's taken since she started going to school. They lived in a small town and it had always been very safe.
Walking at a faster pace, Amisha turned towards the street that would take her home. But that's when she noticed a strange man following her.
Amisha did not want to turn around to have a good look at who it was. Maybe she was being paranoid and it was someone who wanted to go the same way as her? But as she kept hearing the footsteps behind her, she started to feel more and more anxious.
When Amisha could almost see the top of her house, she felt a little relieved, knowing that she was almost home. But just then, the man behind her spoke in a heavy French accent.
"Hello, mademoiselle, could you please help me find this address?"
Amisha turned around and she saw a small, chubby man smiling at her. Even though he did not look very threatening and was quite friendly, her heart still rang a warning alarm.