“Well, well, you wandered quite far, haven’t you, boy?”

“Please sir, I’m lost and I just want to get home.”

He was a tall man, dressed in a clean black suit, with a black tie and top hat. He carried a cane with a bird skull head, which, when the boy looked at, had made him feel like he could look into its eye sockets forever. The man checked his rusted watch.

“Sheesh, sorry, I must have missed you. You know what, I’ll make it up to you,” The boy looked confused.

“I’ll help you get home, but I have to pick some people up along the way, ok?” The boy nodded and took the mysterious man’s hand.

“It’s so… cold” the boy shuddered, walking next to the man. The boy looked down at his feet for but a moment.

“First stop!” said the man. They were suddenly standing in a narrow alleyway. The boy could see there was a van at the end of the alleyway, with an interesting code of paint. Green, except for a red splash at the front. The boy wanted to get a better view, but the man stopped him.

“My acquaintance should be just by that van. I’ll go talk to him for a minute, stay here,” he turned around, and made eye contact, “and don’t move,” he said with an expression that erased the boy’s curiosity.

A few minutes later, he returned, bringing with him another man who was holding his stomach as if in pain. “It should go away in a minute. This is the boy I was talking about.” He said, pointing. The other man waved.

“Kid, this is Jake. You two should get to know each other,” he said, followed by an awkward silence.

“Ok, two more to go,” the man said when they were all together.

Both men walked past the boy, and when the boy turned around, they were in a different place again. This time, they were in front of what seemed like a normal house, but the boy could hear a couple arguing inside.

“Ugh, it should’ve been him,” said the man in black, walking towards the house. “Wait,” said the boy, but received no reaction.

“What’s your name?” said Jake.

“Alex.”

“Pleasure to meet you Alex, I’m Jake, though… I guess you already knew that heh.” he said, scratching the back of his head, smiling. “I hope we can get to know each other better.” Alex remembered his dad, who shared these goofy mannerisms.

“Do you know what’s going on?” asked Alex. It’s not as if he did not notice the teleportations, but it just seemed to… make sense somehow, like it would in a dream.

“It will make sense soon enough.”

The duo waited for a few more minutes until the sound of a woman interrupted the silence. “Ah, that must be Alex!” said the woman, walking out of the alongside the man. She had her hands on her throat, as if massaging it.

“You seem eager to get out of here!” said the man.

“Can you blame me?”

“With a husband like that? Ha! No.” The two laughed and joined Alex and Jake. Her laugh reminded Alex of his mother.

“I’m Cassandra, pleasure to meet you Alex!”

Alex had never told the woman or the man his name, and he did not understand why these strangers were being so nice, but he would soon.

“Ok, last stop, that’s your house, young man.” The man stamped the ground with his cane, and a shadow engulfed the group for a moment. When it receded again, they were standing in front of Alex’s house.

“Walk with me,” said the man.

Once inside, the Alex finally understood. He was dead, and that was his body on the bed. His parents hadn’t noticed yet.

“Do you think mom and dad will be ok?”

“Y... yea” said the man, but Alex could tell he was lying, and started to tear up.

“This never gets easier…” grumbled death. He stood for a moment, then hugged the crying boy. “You will meet them again, Alex. Until then, Cassandra and Jake will take care of you. They’re good people.” he paused. “You have a long death ahead of you, boy,” he said, smiling, as he could not cry.

They spent a few minutes in the embrace, then started making their way out. Outside, Cassandra and Jake were waiting. Death struck the ground with his cane again, sending everyone away. He checked his watch, and left to guide the next soul, just as Alex’s mother saw her son.