For a beautiful relationship to form, two people must come together. It’s a bond that can never be torn apart.

If one partner dies, it is normal for the other to experience some level of grief as a natural response.

This, however, was a different reaction from…

A man who struggles to accept death.

A woman near death embraces her fate willingly.

Throughout her life, Emily has struggled with a disease. Emily and Derek’s romantic relationship began two years ago, although they have known each other for years.

Derek had his own set of problems. He was mentally insane on the inside, yet calm and collected on the outside.

He didn’t tell anyone about his phobia of death. Death was something he feared but relished in its mystery. He had a desire to experiment with it.

He was terrified of Emily’s disease because she played a significant role in his life.

The more time passes, the more he wonders: Has she really lost hope? When will she die? Can he accompany her?

Despite all his worries, he tried to be sane for her.

No one knew Derek had a present for her.

8:10 am

“Emi, do you want breakfast?” Derek shouted from across the kitchen to Emily in the bedroom.

8:11am

“Do I gotta get up?” Emi asked loudly while stretching and sitting up on the bed’s edge.

8:12am

“Good morning... darling,”

8:13am

“Morning, I guess.” She said as she walked into the kitchen.

8:14am

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a concerned look.

8:15am

Emily brushed it off and sipped the coffee he had made her.

8:16am

“Nothing... I just feel tired today,”

8:17am

“I love you, Emi, and I’m sure you won’t feel tired much longer. I have something for you.” Derek got closer and gave her a kiss.

8:18am

“I love you too, but listen, I need nothing. I’m fine, so stop worrying.” She kissed him back.

8:19am

“Alright, if you say so,” He replied with a huge grin.

8:20am

Derek grabs his phone from his pocket to check the time.

8:21am

‘Come on, one more minute!’ He shouted internally as he paced back and forth in the same spot.

(TOD) Emily, December 11 at 8:22am

She peered behind the door and disliked the sight.

“My boyfriend has a collection he’s very proud of. He never told me he’s been collecting souvenirs from the girlfriends he murdered.” -Emily.

“Bingo! She wondered why she was casting two shadows. After all, there was only a single lightbulb,” - Scythe said to Reaper.

As Derek approached the living room, he stopped when Emi choked on her coffee. Then there was a loud thud, which meant she hit the ground. Hard. Yet this didn’t surprise him. Not in the slightest.

In fact, his mouth stretched into a wide smile as he turned back around, tears streaming down his face.

He stood frozen, unable to confirm her death, and kept speaking.

To someone who is no longer human.

8:39am

“Emi, will you get off the dirty floor?”

8:46am, 8:58am, 9:14am, 9:29am...

Nothing. Not a single reply from Emily.

“Maybe you’re tired. Right, that’s it. I’ll let you sleep... I get it,” Derek said in a shaky voice.

He quickly hurried into the bathroom and turned on the sink faucet. He fumbled to open the medicine cabinet and took out two small orange bottles with his name on them. Once he took the caps off, he emptied all his prescribed meds into his mouth.

After gulping water from the faucet, he struggled to breathe. As Derek backed away, he saw his reflection in the mirror, which brought back memories of Emily.

Derek and Emily’s most passionate and endearing moments replayed in his head like some sappy movie.

9:52am

According to Derek, all of his loved ones died from accidents, illnesses, or murders.

However, those were not the causes of their death. Those were lies fabricated to conceal the truth because...

The devil handled those deaths.

More precisely, by...

Drove to work at 10:48am

Despite what had transpired, he arrived late for work that morning, only to leave after several hours and headed straight home.

Drove back home at 6:16pm

In the end, he ultimately realized he was returning to an empty house filled with the smell of his lover’s rotting corpse.

Derek can’t handle her being buried. He refused to witness her in a casket. Not yet. Not now.

Pulled into the driveway, he hurried into the kitchen at 7:06pm

He couldn’t resist punching the walls, countertops, and bashing his face until it bled.

8:38pm

Once he realized the house was in shambles, he slowly slid down onto the kitchen floor and was met with Emily’s face next to him.

“YOU KNOW. Emi... Of course you’d do this. Leave me. It was inevitable, despite being undesired.” He sobs into his hands.

Derek’s cries are sparked by the painful reality. He wants to end it all right now to be with her.

He continued to sit there in his thoughts.

9:18pm, 10:33pm, 11:07pm, 12:50pm, 1:41pm...

Contemplating ways to release himself.

2:27am

Of this pain.

2:32am

Derek grabs their favorite vodka and a wineglass from the nearby table. He pours himself a drink to wash his sorrows away.

2:59am

Once the meds kicked in... He fell onto the floor.

Laying...

Right next to...

Emily.

(TOD) Derek, December 12 at 3:00am

“I can’t move, breathe, speak, or hear, and it’s so dark all the time. If I knew it would be this lonely, I would have been cremated instead.” - Derek.

There was a knock at the door.

“Bingo! Don’t look behind you. It doesn’t like to be seen.” - Scythe prepares the two souls for gleaning.

<To be continued>