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Whatever Grandma had seen was probably a hallucination from the morphine, nothing more.
Karl was now a grown man, and he had the normal worries of any other average guy—paying bills, trying to find a better job, and landing a steady boyfriend. After a miserably long day at work, he couldn’t wait to get home.
He wanted a few drinks, to watch some crappy television, and if he was really lucky he’d get some sleep.
Perhaps there was stillonenot-so-normal worry he had, and that was getting through the night without seeing Death. He hadn’t seen any of those monstrous things in person since he was a child, but it continued to haunt his dreams. He thought of it now as something his mind had invented to deal with the trauma of an abusive father.
Karl had come up with that insane creature because he was too young to understand Dad had been the real monster.
Grandma was just crazy.
It was a cool autumn evening, and the leaves were changing into a dazzling kaleidoscope of reds and oranges. It was cold enough for scarves and warm coats, and Karl adjusted the collar of his jacket as he strolled down the sidewalk toward his apartment.
This was Karl’s favorite time of year, and he loved how the crisp air felt against his skin. There was a bar along the way, and he was already planning to make a quick stop before he went home for the night.
A sudden crash startled him, and he recognized the sound as the twisted screech of metal.
Someone had just had an accident.
Karl broke into a run to turn the next corner, and then he stopped short when he saw a small sedan had come over the sidewalk and smashed into the side of the building.
“Oh, fuck.” Karl gasped. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
He rushed to the car, his heart pounding in his ears. He could see an elderly man slumped forward against the steering wheel. It didn’t look like anyone else was in the car, and the man wasn’t moving.
“Hey, hey! Mister!” Karl pounded on the driver’s-side window and tried the door handle. It wouldn’t open, the man wasn’t responding, and…
Something walked by him, a shadow just out of the corner of his eye.
Startled, Karl jumped back and turned to see what it was.
Two empty black sockets burning with blue flames stared back at him, and Karl’s heart stopped as he realized in horror he was looking at the terrifying creature he hadn’t seen outside of his nightmares since he was a little kid peeking out the window of his grandma’s house.
Death.
Those blue flames were gazing at Karl with a weird sense of recognition, acknowledging that it had been seen, and it seemed oddly surprised. It lifted one of its massive arms, offering a clawed hand out to Karl.
“No! No, no, no.” Karl closed his eyes and shook his head, willing the haunting image to be gone when he opened his eyes.
This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t fucking be real. It just couldn’t—
“Hey, hey!” a man’s voice was shouting. “Someone call 911! Quick! There’s been an accident!”
Karl opened his eyes, and there was nothing there.
The creature was gone.
A crowd was forming around the wrecked car, and people had their phones out, taking pictures.
A man in a black leather jacket pushed his way through with a disgusted sneer. “Really? Y’all takin’ fuckin’ pictures right now?” His voice was hoarse, deep, and rang with a Southern drawl. “The fuck’s wrong with y’all!”
Even though the current situation was urgent, Karl couldn’t help but stare.
The man was beautiful. He was shorter than Karl with a fit athletic build, and his broad shoulders were framed perfectly by the slick leather jacket. His hair was long and dark, and his eyes were the brightest blue Karl had ever seen.
Like Windex or something.
The man ran over to help without hesitation, and he tried to open the door too.
