Mitchell pulled into her driveway, grabbing her gym bag as from the back seat as she got out of the car. She unlocked her front door, quickly locking it behind her once inside. Being home alone was always peaceful for her, it was quiet and there was no one to bother her. She heard Kingsly's foot steps as he bounded down the stairs to her. "Hi, little man. Momma is home early, and I'll be home all week," she said as she reached down to pet him. She kicked her shoes off by the couch and walked up the stairs, gym bag still in hand, making her way to her room. Once in the room, she threw the bag on her bed and opened it, unraveling the money from her clothes. "I still can't believe this," she said to herself.

"Believe it," a deep voice responded.

Mitchell jumped as she frantically looked around her room, but no one was there. She locked her bedroom door and searched for her phone, prepared to call 9-1-1. Where is it?! She dug through her bag, searched on and below her bed, but it was no where to be found. Mitchell's heart was racing, terrified for her own safety. There was a loud thud on the floor, and Mitchell quickly turned around, backing up against her bed. On the floor was a big, green frog. It looked at her as it croaked, hopping around her room.

"I have to be delirious!" Mitchell cried out as she threw a pillow at the frog. There was no movement from the pillow, so she cautiously tip-toed over to the pillow, pulling it back as fast as she could. Nothing was there. Mitchell grabbed her chest and sighed, relieved. She put her hand to her forehead, checking for a fever. "I'm done with today, I'm so done with today."

She left her door locked as she changed her clothes into something more comfortable. Kingsly cried at her door, putting his paws under like he was trying to break in before disappearing. Mitchell opened her door, expecting her cat, but instead there stood Death, holding Kings in his arms.

"Good evening, Mitchell," he said as he pushed himself into the room, gently dropping her cat onto the bed. Mitchell screamed as he pulled her along with him.

"This isn't real!" she exclaimed as she kicked and hit him, trying to break free.

Death rolled his eyes, tossing her to the bed as he flicked his finger at the door. The door swung shut and locked without anyone physically touching it. Mitchell went into shock, pulling her legs to her chest as she back up to the headboard. "I'm not-" Mitchell began to cry. "Stop, I'm not here to kill you, you idiot," he said as he sat by her feet. He slid his cloak off, revealing a nice button up shirt, dark slacks, and nice leather shoes. He leaned back, resting against her legs, tilting his head back over her knees, looking at her. "How are you doing, Mitchell?"

Mitchell's jaw dropped, not knowing what to say. "Uh..."

"I'll just assume you're doing good. Quit your job, got a nice twenty- thousand bonus, going to start working with your friend soon, got a visit from me-"

"How is a visit from you a good thing?!" She yelled as she attempted to shake him off of her, but he just continued to lay against her, dead-weighting on her legs. "How did you get in here? Why are you even here?"

Death reached back and patted her head. "Oh, Mitchell, I'm here to talk about you in person, since we were interrupted this morning. Do you love your life?" He asked her.

Mitchell swatted his hand away. "Of course I do. It's finally starting to go well for me after everything," she replied. "You didn't tell me how you got in here."

"I'm Death, I do as I please," he said. Kingsly started to cry at the door, once again sticking his paws underneath. Death stood up and let him out of the room, shutting the door behind him after making affectionate clicking noises to him and petting him.

Mitchell cocked her head to the side. "So, Death likes cats?"

"Guardians of the underworld," he replied, smiling. "I believe we are on friendly enough terms for you to call me by my name."

"I must be so lucky to be this close with you," Mitchell said sarcastically. "So, what is it gonna be. Damien, child of Satan himself?" She laughed at her own joke, and was surprised when he joined in with her.

"If only I were that lucky. Nothing fancy, just Alexander," he told her as he began to look around her room, gently moving items around. "Have you received my messages?"

Mitchell looked at him, confused. She snapped her fingers at him to get his attention away from her items, but she had no luck. She sighed, rolling her eyes in irritation. "No, Alex, I didn't get any messages from you. Maybe I wouldn't have been so surprised to see you if I got them."

Alexander returned her look of confusion. "The comic before the blood water and the frog?" He down again and turned to her.

"So something was wrong with my water," she said to herself out loud. "That make's more sense."

Alexander chuckled, amused with how oblivious she was. For someone that was so independent, she didn't truly know how to look after herself. She shrugged off things of importance, and took the unimportant things too seriously. Typical woman, he thought to himself. "To be fair I tried warning you before those things happened... Do you know what is happening, based on those incidents?" he asked her.

"Yeah, what's happening is I have a crazy dream stalker turned into reality that likes to mess with peoples' sanity," she responded, crossing her arms.

Alexander pulled his legs onto the bed and leaned his arms on his knees. "So, you're not as bright as I thought, but that is okay because I am here to help if you are interested," he said to her. "Think of me as a guardian angel, custom fit for your current life problems."

"So, Death is my literal guardian angel, why do I feel like this is a set up for failure?" Mitchell asked him. She chuckled to herself. His body language reminded her of her best friend KayCee, and he was already as pushy and obnoxious as her. Any normal person would still be terrified in her situation, but something about him was comforting.

He shrugged, "Do you want my help or not? If you're not going to listen, I can't tell you what’s wrong, and if you don't know what's wrong, you can't be saved. Do you understand?" He pulled his cigarette case from his pocket, taking out two, passing one over to Mitchell.

"You know, I quit these a few months ago," she said as she put it in between her lips. "If I say yes, does that mean I'm stuck with you following me twenty-four, seven?"

Alexander lit her cigarette, then his. He flicked his finger at the bedroom window and it opened. "Pretty much," he replied, shrugging. "Could be worse, you could be dead already. I can tell you it won't be from the cigarettes when your time does come."

"You know this is a single room town house, right? You're not sleeping in my room," Mitchell said as she flicked her ashes into an old water cup on the night stand. "My life is good, I'm not dead, and I don't want to die any time soon. So why don't you tell me exactly why you're here."

"I don't sleep much anyways," he replied, smirking. "Where should we begin? Before your fate was sealed, or what is going to happen if we can't stop it?"

There was a knock at the front door, followed by her mother's voice. "Mitchell! I need my car keys, and I wanted to talk to you for a minute. You never came in to the shop!"

Mitchell dropped her cigarette into the cup and turned to Alexander. "I swear, you better stay here. Don't talk, don't show your face, just... stay!" She pointed at him like a dog, climbed out of bed, and hurried down the stairs to the door. Mitchell unlocked the door and let her mom in. "Sorry, I figured with me quitting, that was something for the shop to celebrate," she said as she handed Sarah the car keys.

"You know even if you don't work with us you're still family," she replied as she waddled to the couch, plopping onto the cushions. "Your dad was so excited it finally sold! Full asking price, too! We may finally be able to take our honeymoon. It's only been fifteen years since we got married," she joked. "Nothing too fancy, we hope one day we can use some of it for your honeymoon as well."

Mitchell scoffed. "Mom, please," she said as put her hand up. "I'm done with the marriage talks. I'm done with you trying to make Martin my dad, it's really been a long day."

Sarah started to look around, completely ignoring Mitchell's pleads. "What's that smell?" She got up and began walking around the house. Mitchell quickly tried to block her mom from the stairs, but, despite her hefty stature, Sarah easily used her weight to push her out of the way. "Are you smoking again?"

"Mom, I'm an adult," Mitchell pleaded, trying to keep her mom from going up the stairs. But, Sarah kept moving, huffing with each step she took. She opened Mitchell's door and walked inside. "Mom!"

Alexander was stretched across the bed on his back, ankles crossed and arms behind his head relaxing. His eyes were closed, but he opened one to peek at the women. "Mitchell, Mitchell's mom," he said nonchalantly as he closed his eye again.

"Oh! And who might this young man be?" Sarah asked as she hurried across the room, scanning his figure over, judging his appearance. "Please, call me Sarah. How are you!"

Mitchell put her palm to her forehead, irritated. It was obvious that Death had a sense of humor, as he did nothing to hide himself from being discovered. "Mom, this is-"

"I'm Alexander," he said as he sat up. "Mitchell's friend."

"My very gay friend," Mitchell cut in.

Sarah raised a brow as she examined him again, not quick to believe her daughter. She sat at the foot of the bed, careful to leave space between him and herself, but close enough to get a good look. She held her hand out for him, and he shook it. "I apologize, but I've always assumed her only friend was KayCee. How long have you known my little Ellie?"

Alexander looked Sarah over, memorizing every feature and facial expression. "Feels like many lifetimes," he responded, shooting a smirk to Mitchell. "I'm not gay."

Mitchell groaned as she tried to pull her mom off of the bed. "Okay Mom, time to go. You have your car keys," she pleaded.

Sarah simply shrugged her off and went back to examining Alexander, occasionally looking over to Mitchell. "I don't know why you thought you had to hide him from me, Mitchell. You're a grown adult and it's okay to have a boyfriend. If you were worried about him looking a little... rough around the edges-"

"MOM!" Mitchell yelled, pink in the face from embarrassment.

"Honey! It's okay! I'll keep this our little secret," Sarah said as she winked to Alexander.

Alexander chuckled under his breath, standing up and moving close to Mitchell. He placed her arm around her shoulders. "We have somewhere we have to be, Sarah. I don't mean to rush you, but I would hate to be late. We will have to catch up another time."

Sarah stood, smiling. All she ever wanted was for her eldest to be happy, even if it meant finding someone as odd as her. His appearance would hopefully grow on her, but he seemed nice, so it was something she could look past for the time being. "Thank you, Alexander, we will have to have dinner this week. I hope you are both free tomorrow, I know Mitchell will be, did she tell you she quit her job?"

Alexander gently grabbed Sarah's elbow, leading her out of the room and slowly down the stairs. "Yes, she told me. I'll be helping her while she transitions to her new job with KayCee. We can do dinner tomorrow, we will have a wonderful night," he said with a smile, opening the door for Sarah. Once she walked out and waved goodbye, he shut the door behind him, instantly contorting his face to a frown. "Good riddance," he said as he walked back up the stairs. "No more games, Mitchell. If I'm going to be watching over you, this is our cover. It makes the most sense, so deal with it."

Mitchell rolled her eyes. "Not even."