Reaching my floor, I ran to my apartment and opened the door. I snapped my fingers, calling for Theseus. But there was no answer. I thought he might have escaped again, but I heard him purring; he must have fallen asleep on the couch. Taking off my shoes and I hung my book bag on the coat rack, then went into the living room. That's when I saw him—the stranger sitting on my couch.

My fingers tingled like static electricity before turning to ice, sending my dinner, the mail and the wrapped salmon to the floor making a mess in front of me. Dread crept its way inside my mind, assuring me that nothing good was about to happen. Theseus was laying in the stranger's lap, curled into a tightly knit ball. His purring sounded like a lawn mower as the man scratched behind his ears. 

He wore an all-black tailored suit but oddly he wore open-toed sandals. All throughout his midnight black hair were tiny white dots. It was almost as if the night sky had grown out of his head until it rested on his shoulders, making his olive skin a sickly pale. Above all that, the strangest thing about the man was the massive set of black wings sprouting from his back.

"Do you know who I am, Gilbert?" the man asked as he continued to scratch Theseus' ears.

I couldn't possibly have known who this man was. It wasn't like beautiful men with wings were easy to come by. I assumed he was a robot, but there wasn't a metallic undertone when he spoke, a trait all robots possessed. With each word it hung in the air, his tone was both soothing and cold. He couldn't have been an angel because there was no halo above his head, but I could feel a distinct divine presence from him. Despite that, he looked so sad, like he had just witnessed a devastating heartbreak.

That was when it hit me. "You're Eros, the Greek god of love, right? You came to tell me the girl I've just met is my soulmate!" I was so thrilled. Who else could say that their wingman was the god of love?

The man started to chuckle, “No, no, I am not the god of love, although I’ve been mistaken for him before.” the man clarified, He finally turned toward me, and two endless voids stared back from his face, swallowing all light like miniature black holes carved into pale flesh. It felt as though the two red circles around his pupils were pulling me closer to him. "I told you all about my history back at the museum when you crashed my tour. I'm the god of death. Throughout the years, I have gone by many names: Shinigami, Kali, Mictlantecuhtli, to name a few. Considering your ancestry, you can call me Thanatos. "

The smile melted from my face. Today was turning out to be one of the worst birthdays ever.

Why did I have to die now? It just wasn't fair. I started working at the world's leading psychiatric hospital so I could start the career of my dreams. On top of that, I met an insanely pretty girl down in the mailroom. But none of that mattered, because who was going to take care of my cat? 

Realizing Death hadn't even considered finding me a pet sitter, I made my last request. "I might be going against procedure here, but can you please take Theseus to my parents in Athens?" My lip quivered as I spoke, and tears soon ran down my face.

The god of death waved his hand dismissively. "Wipe your tears, boy. You're not dying today." For a moment, relief swept over me as I wiped my tears. But dread still lingered within me; why was he here?

"If you're not here for me, are you here for my cat?" I asked.

"No, I am not here for your cat. I am here to give you a mission. In four years, a great evil will consume the world, and many will die. It would be such a pain to lead millions of souls to the afterlife, so I am recruiting you as my champion to stop this event from happening."