Black Tie Page 14

  Chapter 9 – Interview

  The final chamber was an expansive room filled with narrow pillars. The pillars capped with small glass obelisks filled with the same ceaseless flame. It was a field of a thousand glass candles standing proudly atop their towers. The pillars descended in height towards the center where one lone pillar stood chest high topped with a large glass orb. I approached cautiously, sword and shield at the ready.

  Swirling in the orb was a pearly black fluid; it emitted a pale blue glow that fought with the warm yellows and oranges of the glass obelisks. I peered warily around the center pillar. I was ready for the black haze to spawn at any moment. Come on. Nothing. The orb sat there pulsing blue and swirling black. It was intoxicating. I sheathed my sword and grabbed the orb.

  "I wouldn't let go of that." I turned searching for the origin of the voice. He stepped from the forest of pillars and approached me. I began to release the orb, my mind had already moved to drawing my sword. "I really, really wouldn't recommend you let go of that until we talk first." My left hand had come off the orb slightly; a spider web of cracks had formed where my hand had been. I hastily returned my hand, worried what the shattered orb might release.

  With suspicion I asked, "Ok, who are you? What is this place?" The man in the black suit and tie let loose a sly smile, "I'm Death."

  "The grim reaper?"

  "Yes."

  "Why am I here?"

  "This is a job interview."

  "For what?"

  He paced around me sizing me up, his eyes turned to my sword and shield. "I like your drill; it was a clean solution, simpler than the one I imagined." "Thank you, but you are dodging the question." The confidence I spoke with was strange to me, somehow my successes beforehand had validated me.

  "I'm interviewing you for my job, well, my assistant and eventually my partner."

  "You need help killing people?"

  "Sort of, my job is misunderstood."

  "Well, what do you do then?"

  He stopped circling me and leaned casually against one of the pillars in front of me. A sharp crack in the glass stole my attention for a moment as one of my fingers twitched momentarily off the orb. "Careful." He eyed the glass.

  "This will let out the sisters won't it?"

  "Yes, and you'll have to kill them."

  "And if I can't?"

  "You'll die, if that is your fate you can still be proud friend; no one has come this far yet, you're the first to get farther than the room of reflection."

  "How many before me?"

  "Just two. My prerequisites are very specific."

  "Am I about to die in the outside world?"

  "Yes, you were about to die in the outside world, I came to you because you were strong willed enough to resist death. Most that need a visit from me fight their fate because they fear death, regret their past, or can't let go of love. Only a few fight death for the right reason; because they simply weren't finished living. Those with a fire for life get a second chance, those with something more, come here."

  "Do you like your job?"

  His laughter was vibrant and contagious. "What's so funny?" I asked. He looked at me with eyes wet with sincerity and said, "That is the question you asked me outside this place, when I came to help you release your grip on life." I looked at him, reciprocating his sincerity and shrugged "I'm a curious person." He smiled and nodded, looking idly at his fingertips his face went dark and foreboding.

  "My friend, the sisters you are about to face are a foe like no other, their power mirrors my own because its source is the same, the essence of life. You've proven your physical strength in the room with three wells. You've shown your mental strength in the abyss of the labyrinth and the torture of the room of reflection. You've shown your creativity in the steam workshop.

  But when you release that orb, it will shatter, and it will release the sisters, unbridled. This is your last test; it's a test of the most crucial characteristic you need to have to join me, the will to truly live."

  He started walking back into the forest of pillars. I just stared at him, still absorbing the words he said. He turned, just barely visible. "I forgot to tell you, it's the best job in the world." With that he vanished. I was alone again. I stared at the orb. Before when they attacked the leash was on, now the outcome would be decided. The finality of it both frightened me and gave me relief.

  This is the end. I let go of the orb, it shattered instantly and the pearly liquid exploded into the choking black haze.