Death was panicking. He was late!
When he arrived, he saw a big crowd in front of Amisha's house with police cars and neighbors all around. He could also see Amisha's mother crying uncontrollably as the policemen tried to console her. From what he could understand, Amisha had never returned from school and was supposedly kidnapped by someone.
As Death turned himself invisible and walked closer to the crowd to understand what exactly was going on, he noticed that a young girl was talking to the police and trying to give a description of the kidnapper.
"Amisha was walking alone ahead of me. We usually take the same route to school and back since we're from the same neighborhood." The girl said.
"Okay," the police officer inquired, "Did you see anyone suspicious around your school? Anyone around Amisha?"
"Yes, I remember that man because he was a white person. He wasn't an Indian."
A chill ran down Death's body. What he was fearing was right… Life definitely had something to do with Amisha's disappearance. Bile rose up Death's throat as he realized what a heinous crime his own brother had committed. Trying to ruin his own life was something different, but hurting a young human girl who had nothing to do with the situation that had caused a rift between them? This was beyond disgusting. Death almost fell to his feet when he wondered if his beloved mother was in on this… But he had faith in her. He knew she would never do something like this.
"Describe him." The police officer asked the young girl.
"He was short and had blonde hair. And I think I heard him speak with a French accent. I saw him follow Amisha, but I didn't think much of it because I presumed he was just going the same way as her. I had made plans with my boyfriend, so I didn't go home. Or else… I probably could've saved Amisha." The girl had tears in her eyes.
Death walked away from the scene. He instantly knew who this person was… it was Louis… one of Life's human assistants. Death had met Louis on multiple occasions. Louis was what you'd call Life's right-hand man.
As Death teleported himself right in front of the beach house Shiuli and Death were currently staying at, he whispered to himself.
"I promised Shiuli that we would deal with everything together, but I cannot take her to Lion's den with me. I must lie to her and go save Amisha."
***
"Love! Where the hell have you been?"
Time and Faith and momentarily felt Love open up her bond to them. They were looking for her everywhere. From her home in India to all the places Love would often visit, somehow she was nowhere to be found. It felt like even after an eternity, they did not know her as well as they thought they did.
But when they had almost given up all hope and a feeling of dread engulfed them, they felt it. They felt her presence in Dubai. It was almost as if Love wanted them to know where she was. It was almost as if she was calling for them! Without wasting even a second, both the creatures had teleported themselves to Dubai.
"Hey Time," Love smiled at Time, and then she turned to Faith, "Hi, Faith."
Faith couldn't hold it in anymore. Being the embodiment of Faith, she knew that Love would never betray them and her being there in front of them when they needed her the most, only proved that she had been right all along… that Love was still on their side after all.
"Where have you been!" Faith hugged Loved immediately, "We've been looking for you! You have no idea how scared we all were, thinking you were having doubts."
"Doubts?" Love almost laughed at the absurdity of this statement, "I would never, not take the side that the universe supports."
"Love," Time stepped towards the other two creatures. His voice held tension and Love didn't like it one bit. She'd been feeling anxious ever since her meeting with Miriam. She felt like she was being watched this whole time. Love, however also felt a tiny bit of peace knowing that she was united with her kin now, especially the ones who were on her side. She knew she could trust Time and Faith with all her heart.
"What is it, Time? You look very tense."
"We have relocated Shiuli to an unknown island off the coast of Australia. We all need to move into the same house and start planning our next move." Time sighed, "By now, all the other creatures might've realized that we have gone rogue."
"That only means that we'll be seen as traitors?" Faith looked scared.
"The Moon trusts me and honestly, I'm going to use that trust for our advantage. However, it must be pretty clear to them by now that Faith is on Death's side." Time answered.
"What about me? At one point I'd had them all convinced that I'm on their side."
Love was uncertain where she stood with the other side. Life for sure had his doubts about her allegiance. He'd made sure that she knew he was watching her every move and that's why she'd been extremely careful these last few days. She hadn't gone MIA just because she wanted some time to think, she'd done so to make sure she was hiding her agenda well enough from The Moon, Life, and their supporters.
"let's assume they know you are on Death's side, Love."
With that, Time held on to both the creatures in front of him and teleported them to the island Death and Shiuli were staying at. The beach house had enough rooms to accommodate them all and staying close to each other was the wisest thing to do at this point.
"Let's go inside. We need to check what Death has been up to." Time said.
"I cannot wait to finally meet Shiuli!" Love's voice resonated with happiness.
***
"Good morning, baby." Death smiled at Shiuli as she woke up from her sleep.
Death was sitting on the bed next to Shiuli, still in his business suit. He had just gotten back from India and he was panicking, but he tried to control himself as he forced a smile to greet his girl.
"Good morning," Shiuli rubbed her eyes, "Did I sleep till late?"
"No, it's just 8 AM now, you're good."
Shiuli got up, pecked Death on his cheek, and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Death sat there fidgeting his fingers knowing that every second he wasted would only make this worse for Amisha. But he couldn't leave before saying goodbye to Shiuli, he had to see her before he went there. Life had turned into a bigger monster than he'd ever thought of him, and if he was right, Life was only using Amisha as a pawn to get to Shiuli. He had to make sure she was safe before he went into the lion's den.
As Shiuli stepped out of the bathroom, she walked over to Death with a wide smile on her face. She then sat down on his lap and wrapped her hands around his neck. As she settled her head at the crook of his neck, Death broke the news to her.
"Shiuli, I will be gone for a few days."
Shiuli thought she heard him wrong. Confused, she moved away from him and looked into his eyes.
"What did you say?"
"I said I will be gone for a few days. There's some emergency at work and I must attend to it. I will be back soon though."
"How soon?"
"I can't tell that for sure yet, but know that I will be here with you soon."
Shiuli had many questions. She literally worked with this creature and she would assume there shouldn't be any secrets about his work that he'd have to keep from her anymore. She was his apprentice, after all, she was to become Death herself, by his side… that was why she accompanied him for the assignments.
But Shiuli also trusted Death with all her heart. She knew that even if he was hiding something from her, he probably was doing that because he had some valid reason. Feeling quite conflicted about Death leaving, Shiuli hugged her man really tight before he said goodbye and disappeared.