[ WP ] You are trying to convince Death out of suicide .

It was about 3 in the morning on June 30th, 2014 when I woke up in a coughing fit. I felt my throat hack up the blood all over my bed, which prompted me to stumble my way to the bathroom. Flipping the light switch, I saw a phantom in the mirror. My eyes were sunken, and a foul mixture of blood, snot, and spit covered my mouth. The image in the mirror went out of focus as I continued my adventure in coughing. Chunks of something started coming out of my mouth, and I bent over the basin trying to get rid of all of the pain. When my eyes opened again, I saw that the sink was covered in more of my own blood then I'd ever seen before, and that's saying something. 
 
 As my eyes slowly found their way back to mirror, I nearly jumped out of my skin. On my bed a man sat, silhouetted by the full moon coming in from the window. I snapped my head around to the shadow, and that same moment the light in the bathroom went out. 
 
 `` Who's there?'' I half-said, half-asked, without the slightest trace of a choke or cough. 
 
 The man smiled, a beacon of white in the darkness of my room. `` Stephen Benson, 17 years old. Slowly dying, well at least until now, of leukemia.'' His manner almost seemed rehearsed, like he had given a speech like this many times. `` Your question of'Who?' is amusing to say the least, as I'm not a'who' and more of a'wha-'...'' 
 
 His sigh filled the room as his head dropped down. `` He's not even that afraid, man. What are you doing?'' He whispered in an unsuccessful pep talk. 
 
 The gravity of the situation slowly dawned on me. `` Holy shit... you're, you're Death. Like, the grim reaper? Do you have the scythe and all that crap?'' 
 
 His head creeped back up from his chest, and even in the darkness I could feel his gaze. All at once all of the lights in my room came on. What I saw was nothing from a nightmare, at least not the average ones. 
 
 What I saw was a middle-aged man, brown hair with blue eyes, dressed head to toe in a navy blue three-piece suit. In other words, a completely normal looking guy. Other than the part about him being in my bed at three in the morning. That was n't so normal. 
 
 From his crystal blues eyes leaked tears, tears which ran down his face on to his immaculate suit. `` No, there's no scythe, no robe, no skeleton body. Just me. Death.'' 
 
 For the first time since my coughing fit, the air got trapped in my throat. Not from irritation, just from shock. `` Um... uh. Well, I know it's none of my business, but, sir, you look rather sad. Sir.'' What the hell was I doing, I thought. 
 
 `` Cut the sir bull crap. I've had billions of people try to get me to save them by being perfectly mannered little shitheads. So do n't try to pull that on me.'' The statement sounded intense, but even after it was said his head was back to staring at his lap. 
 
 `` Oh, no no no! I was n't trying anything like that. It's just, you look... uh, what's the word...'' 
 
 `` Disillusioned? Lost? Discombobulated beyond any point of happiness?'' 
 
 `` Disillusioned was actually the one I was thinking of. But, yeah. All of those things. So... this is going to sound weird, but, I do n't know... have you always bee-'' 
 
 `` Been Death? Yes. Yes I have. Ever since the first cell came about, I was there to exterminate it. I'll give you credit kid, most people do n't ask the philosophical-type questions when they're on my doorstep, if you'll pardon the expression. Most are a lot more afraid. Maybe I've just lost my touch.'' He gazed off in the distance again, looking for something that simply was n't there. 
 
 My eyes darted back and forth, speechless. `` Well, to be fair, you are scaring the shit out of me right now. I've just been close enough to you for a few months now. I'm ready.'' I felt my back straighten ever so slightly as I tried to meet Death's gaze. 
 
 He stood up, and it was at that moment I fully realized who I was in the same room with. He towered over me, his shoulders broad and his hands like the heads of shovels. In other words, Death truly was terrifying. One of his mammoth hands slipped into the breast pocket, pulling out a small bottle of pills. 
 
 `` I know it's a bit rude, what with us just having met, but I'm thinking about ending it all, right here, right now.'' He ran his fingers over the lid of the bottle, investigating it meticulously. 
 
 `` Wait, wait, wait. You can kill yourself? Death ca n't die, I do n't care what Lovecraft had to say on the subject.'' I would have normally been very proud of that reference, but I could n't think about it much at the moment. 
 
 `` First off: you're not the first one to make that joke, so do n't put yourself on a pedestal. Secondly, I've thought about this a LOT. It took me a century to get these pills though. I've worked hard enough for this end. Do n't try to stop me.'' 
 
 The lid came off the bottle, and he poured the pills into his hand. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. Shiny and dark purple, they definitely were n't from any Earthly pharmacy. 
 
 `` What the hell are those?'' I stepped towards him, and felt incredibly cold. 
 
 `` You just found out that I can die and you expect to understand what can kill me? That's adorable. It does n't matter what they are, the bottom line is I ca n't make any more. These are the only pills of their kind. Like I said, I've worked hard for this.'' 
 
 I took another few steps toward him, and my fingers started to go numb from the cold. `` So what the hell happens to all the people that have to die after you're gone? Your job is really important, it needs to be done.'' 
 
 He stopped staring at the pills in his hand and finally seemed to really notice me. `` I do n't know what happens. Maybe I'll get replaced. I'm not even sure these will work, but I have to try. I have to...'' His eyes went back to empty space. 
 
 At that moment I had two realizations: 1. I had no way of changing his mind, he did n't even take me seriously and 2. If I could n't change his mind, I could try stopping him. I took three quick steps toward him, and snatched the pills from his hand. As I clutched them, my hand went completely rigid. 
 
 His eyes widen and he grabbed at me, but with the little energy I had left I stumbled backwards and fell against the wall. I brought my hand to mouth, looked at him, and said, `` You have no idea what these will do to you. I wonder what they'd to me.'' 
 
 Death took another step towards me, then stopped abruptly. `` You know, after millennia of doing this, very little surprises me. You managed to surprise me. Congratulations. Now give those back to me. They're dangerous.'' 
 
 He reached towards me again, but I slipped the pills into my mouth from my dead hand. Despite how dry my mouth was, they went down smoothly. Death's face went completely blank. 
 
 `` I thought, I thought you were bluffing. Listen, if you throw up right now they might not take effe-'' 
 
 At that moment my veins became jet black, and I felt my head start to vibrate. All the pain in my chest or throat was gone. Slowly my vision went out of focus, and I slumped down against the wall. 
 
 When I came to, I was standing, looking at my own body. Huh, so this whole life-after-death thing is real, I thought. I looked around for Death, but saw him nowhere. It was around that time that I noticed my body moving. `` What the hell? Um... Stephen?'' My voice sounded abnormally deep. 
 
 My body stood up with some pains, then looked up into my eyes. `` Oh you've got to joking. This can not be happening...'' 
 
 I looked down at my hands, I noticed they were much bigger than they ought to be. `` There's no way...'' I whispered to myself. 
 
 `` There is a way. Those pills can do anything. Even this.'' His... my, eyes began to water. 
 
 We stood there for a long time, him crying, me speechless. After what seemed like forever, he spoke to me, his eyes trained on my chest. 
 
 `` Do it. Kill me. Please. You're already dead, just finish the job.'' 
 
 `` I... I ca n't. I do n't want to be death! I was just about to be gone. I could finally be finished.'' 
 
 `` You just do n't have a spine. Stephen Bennett, you're pathetic.'' 
 
 `` I'm not pathetic! I want to figure out a way back. Also, it's Benson, you forgetful asshol-'' 
 
 He began shouting, `` Bennett, Benson, whatever. I'm out of here.'' He limped towards to and grabbed my hand. I was too shocked to be grabbed by myself to stop him. He brought my hand up to his chest. He slowly exhaled, and as he did I watched his soul leave my body. 
 
 I would've stayed around to talk, but I've got a job to do.
