The first encounter

The storm was already beginning to ease as Ben followed the two people in hooded capes through the empty streets of London.

The half-moon lit their way with sparse, dark, and lonely light. Above him, Ben could hear the flapping wings of a bat, a lonely companion.

Eventually, they stopped in a side alley in front of a small, unassuming house.

“I hope they won’t do something to me.”

Bens' original shock had faded somewhat though his hands were still shaking. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Not a very smart idea.

While the cold air bit into his lungs Ben saw his mother in front of his inner eye. But not the wreck that he saw in the last couple of years.

Instead Ben saw a strong woman, the face free of traces of age and alcohol. This beautiful picture could only be seen by him. And it was all that remained. A single memory, bathed in pink light, slowly and barely noticeably drifting towards the shores of oblivion.

The boy took out an old key and after a strong jerk, the door opened slowly with a creak.

As Ben stepped inside, he immediately had to lower his gaze. Since he woke up in the hospital his eyes were extremely sensitive to light and brightness.

Everything around him were shining white and there wasn’t a single speck of dust in sight.

“Ron go join the others, I’ll take him to Claudia.” The girl said while taking off her robe. Now Ben was able to see her face. She had medium-long black hair, chestnut brown eyes, and a narrow mouth. She was the type of girl the boys in Ben’s class would fight over. She looked stunning and radiated the type of innocence, which made one want to protect her.

The boy, however, didn’t move. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and just stood there indecisive for a few moments. Finally, he nodded briefly and disappeared into a door to his right.

Ben followed the girl to the end of the hallway. Something about the boy’s reaction made him uncomfortable.

“Maybe he was just curious.” Ben tried to convince himself. But his gut told him that there was more to it than simple curiosity.

Finally, the girl stopped in front of a door. She looked at Ben and then knocked hard. After some time Ben heard a female voice answer “Come in.”

When Ben entered the room, the atmosphere shifted.

It was noticeably darker and Ben allowed himself to lift his gaze. The room was tinted in a dim light that illuminated the entire room but seemed to have no origin. On the wall was a spider web in which a fly wiggled helplessly. Apart from a desk a couch and some bookshelves, the room was empty.

Behind the desk sat a woman bent over a map. If Ben had to guess, she was probably in her mid-twenties. She had long blond hair and her white blouse highlighted her light blue eyes hidden behind large round glasses.

After a few moments, she looked up and raised an eyebrow.

“H-Hello this boy wanted to talk to you.” Said the girl that brought him in.

“And who exactly is that?” asked the woman in a commanding, but not unfriendly tone.

“S-So Ron and I went to capture the defector you discovered this morning, as you asked us.” Stammered the girl.

“So what?”

The girl flinched. Ben barely managed to control the urge to scream at the woman.

“T-The defector already infected his mother when we arrived. I-I didn’t know what to do about him but Ron said it was fine to bring him here.”

The woman glared at Ben for a couple of moments. He thought he saw something flashing in her eyes, but it was gone before he could see what it was. Then she turned back to the girl.

“Very well. You can go now.”

After the girl left, the woman waited for a few moments. An uncomfortable silence spread. Then the woman quietly mumbled.

"Looks like the old fart finally bit the dust."

"What do you mean?" asked Ben with a furrowed brow.

He had had so many questions but now his head was just empty.

Surprised, the woman looked at him. Then she let out a sigh and smiled. “Cute.” Ben thought.

Yet again a silence filled the room. Finally, the woman started to talk.

“Could it be that you often have strange dreams in which you die?” Ben nodded in surprise.

The woman continued.

“And can it be that you didn't dye your hair or tattoo the skull yourself, but just woke up with it one day?”

Ben frowned. How did this woman know that? Was he being watched?

No. He immediately dismissed the thought. Even if he was being watched, that wouldn't explain how she knew about his dreams.

“And what does all of this mean?”

Perhaps the woman could not only explain what happened to his mother but also everything else.

Again, several moments passed before he received an answer. This was slowly starting to become a theme. Ben’s patience started running low.

Finally, the woman answered. She spoke slowly, giving weight to each word.

“There is no easy way to say this but it seems like you are no longer an ordinary human.”
“Congratulations,” she added after a few moments with a sarcastic undertone.

Ben looked at her puzzled.
“What is this woman talking about? Me, no ordinary human? Nonsense.”

Undeterred the woman continued.
“I'm sure you think that's nonsense now. How is that even possible? Well, that's not so easy to answer, after all, you still breathe, your heart beats and you feel emotions. But there is something that sets you apart from everyone else: Death. It alone makes you extraordinary.”

Ben couldn’t quite follow her. But that didn’t seem to bother her one bit.

“Do you know what makes the death so special? No one can escape its grasp. No matter how well you hide or how quick you try to run from it. In the end, death catches everyone. Everyone except for you. Do you know what this means?”

Without waiting for an answer the woman continued.

“It means you are something equal to it. It doesn’t matter whether you want to die, you won’t be able to. Because you are now just another form of it.” The woman said with an ominous tone.

The fly had now stopped wriggling and a heavy silence filled the room.

“This woman is crazy.”

She had to be. The Death? Him? He just wanted to know what happened to his mother. Could this possibly be just another of his dreams?

The clearing of a throat brought Ben back into the present.

“The question is not what happened but rather what I should do about your appearance.”

“Is this woman gonna kill me?”

The woman smiled. “No, I’m not going to hurt you.” She held out her hand. “By the way, feel free to call me Claudia.”