Page 99 of Living with Death

“I will.”

From behind, Azrael touches Sam’s shoulder, and her soul disconnects from her body. She smiles and waves, and she's gone in the blink of an eye.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

I step through the doors of the Grab & Go, and the scent hits me like a ton of bricks. I haven’t been here in fifty years. It amazes me that it still stands. It looks the same but older. The floors are worn, but the registers have been updated, and people wander in, grabbing the necessities before they hurry home. Everyone is always in a hurry.

I need something to cook tonight and some wine. I walk down the aisles, looking to see what has changed and what’s stayed the same, just enjoying my time here for a bit.

No one knows me.

No one has a clue that I worked here for years with some of the best people I’ve ever known.

The heat kicks on, swirling that familiar scent in the air. The lights flicker above, and I smile, looking toward the once-shattered glass because Sam and I were having a little fun.

I hear a box fall.

I walk around to aisle five, spotting it on the floor. A girl reaches down and picks it up. It’s late evening, so they’re sweeping the floor and getting ready to close. As the two women chat between themselves, I act like I’m looking for something.

“I think this was a hospital back in the twenties, and people died here.”

“This place was around in year 2022,” the other girl says. She’s got blonde hair and some odd clothes on. Everyone dresses so differently now.

“Was it?” the girl with black hair questions.

“Yes. It’s old as dirt.”

I snicker, and they both look my way. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.” I walk closer to them. “You know, I heard a man named Richard had a house here long ago, and he sleepwalked. He’d break into his neighbors’ houses, and they grew tired of it, so they hammered all his windows closed and bolted his doors from the outside.

“This aisle right here, it was his hallway. He fell one night and hit his head. He died on the spot. So now he walks up and down, trying to get out because he thinks he’s still locked inside.”

“Really?” the blonde asks with her eyes wide.

“Yep.” I shrug. “That’s what a friend told me anyway.” I toss a bag of sugar into my basket, smiling to myself as I walk away.

*

I walk up the stone steps to our home and open the large door. Wooden floors stretch throughout the vast space, and I move past the refinished piano, heading toward the kitchen, but then I stop, noticing a note lying on top of it.

Come find me.

The candles in the great hall ignite, and chills run down the backs of my arms. I slowly drop the groceries, looking around the room. A fire roars to life in both fireplaces, instantly warming the space. I reach for my locket, running my finger over the front.

I smile. “Challenge accepted, husband.”

The End.