Death and I

Chris Braver was just like any other young kid, having a warm loving family and studying in a school. There was another kid named Ben Black who just joined Chris’s class. Ben was a quiet boy and had no friends. Chris knew that and made friends with him in a matter of a few minutes. They became very good friend ever since.
Chris knew from Ben that he was actually studying in another school but his parents died and he was sent to an orphanage. All the children in the orphanage come to this school and that is why he joined the class in the middle of the year. Chris always brought Ben around to play after school. Ben always seemed to be very happy and curious about all the things as though he had never play them before.
One day after school, Ben pulled Chris to a corner of the school and said,
“Chris, I was very grateful for your care all these months. I’m going away."
“Where are you going? You’ve no relatives or guardian to take care of you.”
Ben was quiet for a moment, not knowing why to say, then he finally said,
“I treat you as my best friend and that is why I’m telling you this now. You must promise me not to tell anyone. But actually even if you tell anyone about it, I don’t think anyone will believe you.”
“I promise.”
“Alright. I’m not Ben Black. I’m Death, not any angel but the Death. I take people away and make them die when it’s their time to go.”
Chris was so shocked at what his friend had said that he stood rooted to the ground. Ben began to walk away and said,
“Tonight, there’ll be a fire in the orphanage and you won’t see me in school tomorrow. I’ll be the only victim of the fire.”
The next day, Chris managed to get a glance at the newspaper headlines. Written there was the headline:

Orphanage on fire at night
One child burned to death

Chris was even more shock. What Ben said was true and that means he is really Death. Chris was still too young to accept and handle the situation that his best friend for 3 months was not a human but Death.
From that day onwards, Chris had never talked about Ben Black. He kept his promise all the way through his teenage years.
In a blink, years had passed. It was almost thirty years later. Chris was now a well-respected senior officer in the FBI working hard on a drug dealing organisation case. He was also a father of a pretty young lady who had just come out to the society to work. His wife had died of cancer a few years after his daughter’s birth.
This particular day, he was returning to his office after a trip to the hospital. In his hand was a report. His expression showed that he was both angry and sad. Just then, his most hardworking man, Kevin, walked passed.
“What is it, sir? You look both angry and sad.”
“One more dead. Lance died in the hospital late last night due to severe injuries.”
Chris seemed to be going to cry as he continued,
“I had been partnering Lance for almost 15 years. We went through hard times and even promote together and now, he was a dead body lying in the mortuary.”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“Never mind. I’ll destroy the drug organisation this time.”
Chris ignored Kevin and walked back to his office. He threw the report on his table and lie down on his chair. Lance was the 16th casualty since they have been investigating this case. He looked out of the window and was in deep thought of why they had failed to arrest the drug organisation after so many tries and so many agents ha sacrificed their lives? The drug organisation always seemed to know that the police are coming. Chris began to suspect that there is a traitor in his team.
He called the headquarters immediately, asking for an undercover to investigate the possibility of having someone working for the drug organisation.
A few days later, Chris attended Lance’s funeral. He had appealed for a day’s leave and he went home after the funeral. He lay on his bed to rest when he heard a voice calling his name.
“Chris.”
Chris thought that it was just his imagination as there was no one except him in the house, so he did not care about it.
“Chris, I’m talking to you.”
He heard the voice again. It was not imagination.
“Are you talking to me?”
“Yes, I’m. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Where are you and who are you?”
“You can’t see me, pal. But you’ll meet me tomorrow, I promise.”
“Who are you?”
“Me? Don’t you remember me, pal?”
“No. I can’t even see you.”
“Don’t you recognise my voice? All right, I’ll give you a clue. The orphanage fire almost thirty years ago.”
Flashes that Chris had tried to forget for the past few decades came back to him again.
“You are…”
“Yes.”
“You’re Ben.”
“Yes. I’m Ben. But now I’m coming back as Jude Black.”
“Why are you back?”
“What do you think?”
“Am I going to die?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
There was no reply. Jude had left.
Chris was thinking about what Death had told him earlier for the whole day. The next day, Chris was very cautious about his surroundings. Death had said that he will meet him as Jude Black today and so, Chris was looking out for him. Everything was normal when he reached his office.
He was looking through some information when someone knocked on his office’s door.
“Come in.”
The door opened and it was Kevin.
“What is it? Kevin.”
“Someone from the headquarters had arrived to see you.”
“Send him in.”
“There’s two, sir.”
“Send them in.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kevin disappeared behind the door and then returned with two gentlemen.
“Thanks, Kevin.”
Kevin nodded and left the office.
Chris asked the two gentlemen to sit down. One of them started to speak,
“We received the request from you and so I brought you your undercover who will be your new partner. His name will be Jude Black, but as you know, that is not his real name.”
Jude smiled at Chris while Chris was quite shock that death had approached him in this manner. They shook hands with each other and the headquarter man said,
“I still have work to do. I’ll leave him with you.”
“Thanks.”
The headquarter man left, leaving Chris and Jude in the office. Jude smiled at Chris while Chris stared at Jude. None of them spoke, they just sat there for a long time.
Finally, Jude spoke,
“I told you I’ll be here today.”
Chris took his record file and flipped through it.
“This guy is great. How did you get find him and get his body?”
“He died while being and undercover in Canada. But I figured that his records are real good.”
“Yeah, martial arts, shooting accuracy all are one of the best. Being an undercover for six years, break ten over cases.”
“He’s a good cover up for me.”
“Why did you choose Black again?”
“Black stands for Death.”
“While, let’s ignore all this formal thing. What is the purpose of your trip this time round? You said that I’m going to die but why did you appear as my partner?”
“Pal, don’t be so anxious. You’re going to die soon in one of the attempt to arrest the drug organisation. I know that you wanted to destroy the drug organisation, so I’m here to help you. I’ll try to help you by delaying your time until you managed to destroy the organisation.”
“So you’re here to help me.”
“I’ve no finish, pal. I can keep you alive but since I’m doing it, I changed the future. Once the future is being changed, I won’t know what will happen next, so you’ll have to destroy the organisation as soon as possible. So that the future will not be affected too much.”
“You’ll be going to investigate the case with me and in the mean time, help me?”
“Yeah.”
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Stop calling me pal. We’ve just met, remember?”
“Yeah.”
“Come, I’ll show you your office although I’m sure you won’t have much use of it. Then, I’ll introduce you to my man.”
Chris brought Jude to the office next door and said,
“This will be your office.”
“It’s a nice office.”
“Come on, you’ll have a lot of time in this office. I’ll show you my man.”
Chris brought Jude to the center of the office and spoke,
“Attention, everyone! This will be my new partner and your new superior. His name is Jude Black. Please don’t bully him and listen to his orders. Okay, I know everyone of you are very busy, so now, get back to work.”
Chris asked Jude to wait for him in his office while he went to Kevin and asked for two copies of the latest report on the drug organisation case. A few minutes later, Kevin came knocking on Chris’s office and delivered the latest reports. Chris thanked him and asked him to leave. Chris discussed the case with Jude until it was almost six.
“Oh, it’s six already. It’s time to go home. Come, let’s pack and go home, we’ll discuss it again tomorrow.”
Chris walked to the car to get his car and he found Jude following him. He turned around and asked,
“Why are you following me? Don’t you need to go home?”
“I’ve no home. His man doesn’t have a house here.”
“What about your belongings?”
“Nothing. I did not take any of his things back.”
“Alright, come home with me. You can stay there for the time being. You won’t stay long, will you?”
“Of course I don’t want it to be long.”
“Then I can lend you my clothes too.”
Jude got into Chris car and they drove away from the office. On the journey, Chris said,
“I’ve a daughter at home. Remember not to call me pal, we just meet.”
“Sure.”
After a while, Chris stopped the car.
“Why are you stopping?”
“We’ve reach my house.”
Jude got out of the car immediately and followed Chris into the house.
Immediately after Chris opened the door, a lady appeared in front of Chris and said,
“Dad.”
“Doris. I’ve brought someone home today. This is Jude Black. He’ll be staying with us for quite a while.”
“I don’t mind. Welcome, Mr Black.”
“Just call me Jude.”
“Sure.”
“Doris, I think I smell something burning. You better go check out in the kitchen.”
Doris went back to the kitchen immediately.
“Come, I’ll show you your room.”
Chris went up the stairs and Jude followed him immediately. Half way on the stairs, Jude saw a familiar shadow in the kitchen. He realised that it was Kevin. Chris opened the door of a room and said,
“This will be your room.”
Jude looked around and asked,
“Why is Kevin in your house?”
“You saw him?”
“Yeah, in the kitchen.”
“He’s having a relationship with my daughter. He’s not a bay guy. From a wealthy family but still insisted on serving the society.”
Suddenly, Doris shouted,
“Dad, dinner’s ready.”
“Come, let’s go down for dinner.”
Kevin was very puzzled when he saw Jude at the dinner table. Chris explained things to him and he did not seem to welcome Jude.
Chris and Jude went to work together the next day. Just as the two of them were discussing something, Kevin came knocking on the door.
“Come in.”
Kevin seemed to be very anxious and said,
“We just received a very reliable news that they’re having a deal at a bowling alley. Do we’ve a mission?”
Before Chris could say anything, Jude said,
“No.”
He said while turning his back on Kevin and winked at Chris. Kevin looked at Chris, waiting for a confirmation. Chris saw Jude’s wink and played along,
“Why are you still standing here? I thought you heard Jude say ‘no’?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kevin left the office immediately.
After Kevin was gone, Chris asked,
“Why?”
“You’re going to die in this mission if you go. I’m here to delay your time, so you cannot go. After they made the deal, the future will change because you’re not dead. I do not know the changed future, so everything is up to you now. Every move you make will change the future in one way. All I can do is to help you with my sixth sense, my gut feeling.”
“The future is in my hand right now?”
“Every move you make will affect the future of those alive.”
“I’ll have to be wise.”
“Yes. Think before you act.”
Soon it was time to go home again. On the journey, Jude suddenly brought up a topic,
“Chris, what do you think of Death?”
“Why did you ask such a question?”
“Many people think that Death is very cruel. He take life away from their love ones.”
“That’s what others think. I know that you’re not like what other people think of you. If not, I wouldn’t have been your best friend.”
“I take life away because that’s my job. I take them away because god says it’s their time to go. I’ve no choice, the most I could do is to delay their time but I’ll change the future. Most of all, everyone will die, it’s just the matter of when.”
“Let’s not talk about this, Jude. We’re almost home.”
That night, Chris sat down in the living with Doris. Chris knew that if not for Jude, he would not be here right now and Doris will probably be at the hospital crying over his dead body. He hugged Doris in his arms and asked,
“Do you know that Dad loves you and will always love you?”
“You brought me up, Dad. Of course I know that you love me.”
“Tell me something, Doris, Dad wants to know whether you love Kevin.”
“Dad, why did you ask such a question? How do you expect me to answer?”
“Just say the truth, honey.”
“Dad, I really love him and he was good to me.”
“That’s what I want to hear.”
Chris smiled, knowing that there is someone who could help him take care of Doris when he is gone.
The next day, Kevin came to see Chris and Jude and tell him that it is said to be another deal today at the toilet of a shopping centre. He asked for instruction but both Chris and Jude did not reply. Chris stared at Jude, wanting him to decide. Jude said,
“I don’t think we should go. Since that we did not appear last time, they’ll think that we’re having a plan for their next deal. They’ll tighten their security.”
“I don’t think so, sir. Since we did not appear last time, they’ll think that we couldn’t get them and thus, their security will not be as tight as before.”
Chris listened to both man and thought for a while before speaking,
“What both of you said had a point but we had loss 16 agents in this case, I don’t want to add that list of names. I think we should not risk it this time.”
Kevin nodded his head and said,
“Yes, sir.”
He left the office immediately.
Upon seeing Kevin walked out of sight, Jude said,
“I think we should check on the information. Why not the two of us go to the shopping centre to check it out?”
“It’s not a bad idea since I should have been a dead man by now.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
Chris grabbed his car keys and left the office with Jude.
They entered the shopping centre at 1:55 p.m. and Chris bought two copies of newspaper immediately. They sat near the entrance of the shopping centre and act as though reading the newspaper while keeping an eye on the entrance. Chris saw two men walked into the shopping centre carrying a briefcase.
“They’re here.” Chris whispered, informing Jude.
Chris and Jude followed them to a male toilet. One of them took out a cleaning signboard and placed it outside the toilet.
“Jude, they recognise my face, so you’ll have to go. I want you to go into the toilet a have a look. Don’t get into any trouble with them.”
“I know what to do.”
“I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance.”
“Okay.”
Jude went into the toilet and saw the two of them had opened the briefcase and was admiring the thing inside. One of the men saw Jude and shouted,
“Hey! What are you doing here? Didn’t you see the signboard outside? Get lost.”
“Erm… sorry, sir.” Jude said in a scared voice and ran out of the toilet immediately.
He walked out of the shopping centre and whispered to Chris,
“They are very suspicious. I believe they’re having a deal. I need to get into your car immediately.”
“For what?”
“To let my soul get inside the toilet and see what they’re doing.”
“Okay, come.”
Both of them got into the car. Jude lay on the front seat and closed his eyes. He was mumbling something and then he became motionless.
Death came back to the toilet and saw that there were packets of drugs. He heard one of the men said,
“The rest of the goods will be coming tomorrow and we’ll send it to you.”
“The money will be transferred to the bank account by tomorrow.”
“It’s a pleasure dealing with you.”
“You too. Hope we can deal again in future.”
“Sure.”
Jude opened his eyes and Chris asked immediately,
“How is it?”
“They’re dealing inside but it seems like there’s only half of the goods. The other half will be given at a later date. That man also said that there’s a new stock arriving tomorrow.”
“We’ll have to get the stock. I’ll call Kevin right now and ask them to find the place where they’ll be collecting the drug stock.”
They returned to the office and worked on the latest discovery of the case. That night, Chris and Jude returned home late.
“Doris, Dad is home.”
There was no reply.
Jude came to the dinning room and saw two sets of dinner untouched. He noticed there was a note and read it.
“Chris, come here.”
Chris came to Jude and Jude passed him the note. On it, the words were written:

If you want your daughter back,
You’ll have to find me and defeat me.
I’ll give you 36 hours starting from midnight,
If not, prepare to get your daughter’s body.

From: Drugs

Jude asked immediately,
“Do you want to tell Kevin about it?”
Chris shook his head.
The next day when Chris and Jude arrived, Kevin approached them and said,
“They’ll be at the jetty at midnight. What they’ll be doing there is not clear.”
“Get everyone in my office at two. I’ll decide whether to give it a mission.”
“Yes, sir.”
In the office, Chris asked,
“Do you think it’s a trap?”
“It could be, remember Doris is in their hands.”
“Should I make it a mission?”
“It’s your choice, pal. I can’t help you with it but be wise. Think it over first.”
At two, everyone under Chris assembled in his office. Chris said,
“After some discussion with Jude, I think we should make it a mission.”
“Sir, all of us would like to know one thing. Who is Jude? Since his arrival here, you seemed to change. We would want to make it clear that each one of us here could head our own team and not stay under you. But we choose to follow you because we respect you, sir. You listened to everything he says, like the mission tonight. We don’t know what is waiting for us there and you want to make it a mission. We just want to know who he is that had the power to control your decisions.”
Jude told Chris that he would handle it with his powers secretly. Then, he said,
“Alright. Since you all insist on knowing, I’ll tell you all my identity. I was an undercover send here to investigate whether there is a traitor around. I’m a more senior officer than Chris and that’s why he had to listen to me. Now all of you know who I’m, I order you all to rest now and prepare for the fight tonight.”
Each one of them began to leave the office. Kevin whispered to himself as he walk out of the room,
“I can’t believe that he is a more senior officer than Chris.”
After everyone left, Chris asked,
“Will there be a problem after what you’ve said?”
“I don’t know, but I had a feeling that everything is going to end soon.”
“If that’s the case, it should be alright since both of us will no longer be here.”
At night, everyone assembled in the office, listening to Chris’s plan. After everyone was clear of what to do, they set off to the jetty. Jude was alone with Chris in Chris’s car and on the journey, he asked,
“Pal, are you scare of Death?”
“Which death are you talking about?”
“Of course it’s dying. If you’re afraid of me, why would you be siting next to me?”
“When I was young, I was scare of Death — dying and you. But as I grow up, I understand that everyone will die one day, so what’s the use of worrying? If I’m scare of dying, pal, I wouldn’t be an agent who deal with criminals everyday. It’s a dangerous job, you could die any moment.”
“I think I had made the right friend.”
When they reach the jetty, they surrounded the area immediately. Around midnight, a small boat parked on to the jetty. Men began to appear and carried boxes from the boat into a warehouse nearby. One box was opened and Chris saw that it was heroin — drugs. After the boat left, he asked Kevin to inform the coast guards and asked for more men from the headquarters.
While Kevin carried out his orders, the others were called to attack the warehouse. Chris went into the warehouse first with Jude following right behind. Then the other agents flood into the warehouse from every way. The leader of the drug organisation saw Chris just as Chris saw him. He ran to a corner of the warehouse immediately. Chris went pursued while Jude tried to keep up with them when taking cover for Chris and himself at the same time.
They ran up a stairs to the second floor of the warehouse. The leader of the drug organisation grabbed Doris and pointed a gun at her head. Doris’s hands were tied together and her mouth was covered with a tape. He kept the gun pointing at Doris and began to move back. Jude arrived at the second floor and stood beside Chris with his gun pointing at the organisation leader.
“Put down your guns or I’m going to shoot her.”
“You shoot her, I’ll shoot you. There’s two of us here, you’re not going to be faster than us.”
“Well, then shoot me right now. I’m not afraid of dying. But I think your daughter had just start out in life.”
“Alright. Calm down. We’ll put down our guns.”
Chris and Jude put down their guns immediately.
“Kick it to me.”
Both of them did. Then, he barked at Jude,
“Who are you? There’s none of your business here.”
He shot a few shots at Jude immediately. Jude fell to the ground and struggled. A second later, he was motionless.
“Now, it’s your turn. You’re never going to win me. Don’t worry, I’ll send your daughter to you so after you die.”
He opened fire at Chris and Chris fell to the ground the same way as Jude. He covered his wounds with his hands and struggled slightly on the floor. Just as the organisation leader thought that the two of them were dead, Jude produced a gun from his jacket and pushed it towards Chris. Chris took the gun and rolled around with all his strength. He shot at the organisation leader immediately in the chest. He fell to the ground and was motionless immediately.
Chris jerked his head and looked at Jude. He was already dead; Death had left the body. Doris ran towards Chris and Chris used all his remaining strength to untie her. She peeled off the tape on her mouth and said while crying,
“Dad, hold on! Don’t die.”
“Promise me. Marry the one that you love and live a happy life. Watch your child grow up…” Chris coughed and then continued weakly,
“Even your grandchildren.”
“I promise you Dad. Just hold on and you’ll be all right.”
Just then, Chris heard Death talking to him,
“It’s time to go, pal.”
Chris looked at Doris and wiped away her tears with his hand. He said,
“Dad is very tired. I need to rest.”
Chris closed his eyes immediately.
“No. Dad, don’t close your eyes, look at me, Dad.”
Chris did not move.
Kevin and the other agents arrived at the second floor. All they could see was the dead body of Jude and the organisation leader and Doris crying over Chris’s dead body. Kevin shouted for someone to call the ambulance immediately.
A few days later, Kevin received two letters. He opened the first one and the following is written on it:

Kevin,
I believe that you already know that I’m not a senior officer that I’ve told you. I promise that you’ll see me again. But you’re a good man, I don’t wish to see you again so soon. And most of all, I won’t want Doris to be a widow. Doris is the daughter of my best friend and so, I’ll treat her as my goddaughter. Take good care of her, if not you’ll be in trouble.

Jude Black

Kevin was so shocked by the first letter. He opened the second one immediately and it was written as follows:

Kevin (future son-in-law),
Kid, you better take good care of my daughter. She is my only child. If I see you hurt her, you’ll be in great trouble, understand? I’ll watch you.

Your late future father-in-law,
Chris Baver

Kevin almost fainted after reading the two letters. Just then, the voice of Death and Chris could be heard.
“Hey, won’t we scare him to death like this?”
“It’s a warning for him not to mistreat Doris.”
“Well, maybe that’s a bit too much.”
“Come on, pal. It’s time to go for real.”
“Do I need to be afraid?”
“Of course not. Not for a friend of mine and not for a man like you.”
Both of them disappeared immediately, leaving Kevin staring unbelievably at the two letters.