The End of The Miserable Mina

Demini returned to his basement’s summoning circle. He rubbed his arms a few times, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable lingering chill from the mountains. Demini cursed the bureaucracy of it all.

Mina Mori’s death did not go as predicted. Whichever Predictor assigned to her death had screwed up big time, leaving him to clean up the rest.

Predictors were the laziest of all the HellWork employees. All they had to do was show up, read about a human’s life, follow them around for a bit and figure out how they’re going to die. Easy! Yet somehow, they still get that wrong. Not only that, but Predictors messing up was so common, it even had a whole segment of the regulations dedicated to how to deal with it. Ugh, Demini wished he got to be a Predictor.

Now Demini had to step up and fix it as the Overseer. His whole shtick was making sure that the person meant to die dies like they’re supposed to. Wait, wouldn’t that mean the entire Overseer position is built around making sure the Predictors are doing their jobs?

Hmm, Demini debated as he went up to the kitchen. Being in Hokkaido made him crave hotpot out of nowhere. Maybe he could fix up something similar? A quick peek in the kitchen confirmed that nope, he’s not cooking any time soon. He needed groceries. Demini pulled out his phone and spent nearly 15 minutes scrolling through the delivery app.

Ding-dong!

The doorbell startled him out of his thoughts. That’s strange, he hadn’t accidentally made a delivery, had he?

Demini silently crept up to the door, peering through the front window to get a glimpse.

It was a shortie, with a white blanket thrown over them with slits over the eyes. The kid was plastered right up against the window, trying to peer into his home. Thank the devil for one-way glass.

The kid stepped away, revealing other shorties too, all in mish-mashed clothing of all sorts of shapes and colors. Costumes. They held out buckets and bags, and Demini finally realized what day it was.

A shuffle of footsteps, his doorbell rang once more.

“Guys, I don’t think anyone’s in there.”

“Yea, mom says the new neighbor works out a lot.”

“Like a bodybuilder?”

“No. Uh, I don’t know. No one saw him.”

“If no one saw him then how do you know it's a guy?”

“Uh, my step-dad said he saw a man take out the trash.”

“Yeah, that means he’s too busy to go shopping, so he’s not here.”

“But it’s Halloween! Don’t adults know it's their job to give out candy.”

“Maybe he’s like my uncle? My uncle doesn’t like kids. Or Halloween.”

“Maybe.”

Demini overheard their muffled conversation, hiding from their view.

He was an Overseer. His job was to make sure those who are meant to die, die. He very well could be the one to oversee the death of these kids’ parents, family, friends. Maybe even the death of the kids themselves.

So why couldn’t he find the courage to face them?

Demini shuffled into his home office, pulling out his tablet to keep himself distracted from the void in his chest. What was Mina up to now?

Adrenaline burned through her veins, keeping her warm as she ran. Mina regretted every decision she’d ever made in her life. She ran aimlessly, lost in the blankness of the snow.

The monsters were on her tail, both of them.

Demini told her explicitly she was going to die here tonight. She didn’t know how much time she had left. This was all too much to handle.

Her heart sank to her stomach as she struggled into a slow staggering stop. The path she was taking nearly led her off a cliff. The snow made it difficult to see where the ground ended and where the open air began.

She turned around, eyes locking onto the monsters ahead. Back in the storage room, it was too dark for her to see what they looked like. Out here, the truth was clear; they didn’t have features to begin with. They were large, round, made of shadow and void, with a small head and glowing red eyes. That was it. Two beings of malice were rushing right at her. They were fast, much faster than their size would convey.

Wait… could that be it?

Mina blinked the snow out of her eyes, holding her ground, ignoring the tremor in her jaw. Unless they could somehow stop on a dime, their mass and speed will result in them tumbling off the cliff. The monsters didn’t notice her change in attitude, continuing to rush her.

She can kill at least one of them if it all goes right. If she dies, well, at least those in the shrine have one less devil to deal with. Mina would go out as a hero.

A cold sensation tightened around her torso. One had lunged for her, grabbing her tightly as all three were sent down the side of the cliff.

The devil let go, scrambling for purchase against the rocky mountain. The other one grabbed her mid-air, hoisting her up to its head. It pushed her against it, like it was trying to eat her without a mouth. Before it could, it slammed against the side of a tree, freeing Mina.

Mina shut her eyes, waiting for everything to end.

The three of them landed at the base of the mountain with a resounding boom.

The world went still. Silence fell as swiftly as the endless snow.

Her body ached, her ears rang, her eyes stung, yet Mina was not dead.

She’d landed on something soft and warm. Her entire body ached, but all her limbs were still attached and unbroken. How was that possible? Only when she tried to get up did Mina realize she was pressed up against one of the monsters.

It wasn’t moving, still as a shadow on the snowy ground. Dead. She… she killed it. It’s dead! She’s alive! Mina’s never felt such joy in her life!

Slowly, Mina dragged herself to her feet. She swayed, brushing off the cumulative snow from her clothes. She staggered, leaning against the bark of a tree to stay upright. Up ahead, the warm yellow light called for her. Was that the bus station? No, that was the town right? Mina didn’t know.

She stumbled forward, her knees giving up after a few steps, leaving her to kneel in the middle of a barren field. She can’t walk. She needed rest. Tomiko had warned her time and time again to not overwork herself for the shrine… Tomiko. She should call Tomiko.

What would Mina even say? She killed a devil? She disobeyed the shrine maiden’s orders? She was right, and Mina’s entire life was wrong? Mina struggled to pull her phone out from her skirt pocket. She fumbled with it, trying to power it on and dial her niece.

Mina didn’t notice that the other monster hadn’t died. It stalked up behind her, encasing her in shadow.

Tick, tick, tick. Tick-

Mina Mori, forty-seven, was dead.

Demini turned off his tablet, making his way to the basement to meet with her.

Sprawled on the floor was a strange, plush-doll version of Mina Mori’s corpse. Demini pushed it with the toe of his boot. The wish-loser brought home a souvenir it seems.

“What am I supposed to do with this? Ungrateful roach. You’re too much work.” He teased, but his mock-playful tone didn’t reach his somber eyes.

Demini took the wish-loser and put their soul into a little jar for the next time, “well then. How’s that for an adventure, hm?”

He stared at the soul for a moment before sighing, tucking them into his back-pocket, no longer wanting to deal with it. He debated what he should do with the doll. Does he just keep it where it was? Does he stuff it in a closet somewhere around the house? Both options sounded a bit too cruel.

Demini walked around his house with the doll, meandering until he was up in his bedroom. Not knowing where else, he set the doll down on his bed. The plushie looked cozy. Almost peaceful. Demini frowned, taking the soul out of his back pocket and placing it on his bedside table.

“Koko, I hate you.” Demini sighed.