Charnel extended his bloody hand, and shook hers, grinning broadly with fire in his eyes. His voice intoned a single word as the blood on his hand crept like a living thing from his hand to hers, twisting and writhing around their wrists and fingers, binding them:
"Deal."
At that moment, Charlotte flashed back to the scene of what had happened. Charnel was beside her, but the scene was clean at the moment. Suddenly, another Charlotte rounded the corner, and the men appeared, as if by magic. The scene played out much as it had when it had happened, and in the end, all the remained was Other-Charlotte. However, Charnel stepped forward, his first finger lengthening and hardening. As the Other-Charlotte dropped the knife, Charnel struck out, inhumanely fast and precise, spearing directly through her spine and heart. The girl gasped, blood flowing freely from her lips, and Charnel twisted his finger with a sadistic grin, bursting the girl's heart and shattering her spine. She mewled feebly once, and then collapsed, sliding off his talon with a wet *Schluk*, and lying still and cold on the ground. He snapped the nail off at the root, and placed it in the first man's hand. Instantly, the nail transformed into a piece of metal roughly a foot long to match the wound. The scene slowly faded to black, and Charnel's voice echoed in her head.
"What you saw is how it happened. Your old life is over: that was you dying there, or at least a part of you. The police will find four corpses in that alley, and yours will be one of them, exactly as it happened here. Your friends will run from you if they see you, for you are a dead woman now. However, this new life of yours is completely without boundaries: you live freely, without bond to family, friends, debtors, or government. All there is now is me, and a whole world for your taking..."
His voice faded out, and the blackness along with it, slowly being replaced by light. When the light filled her vision, his voice came again, but it was very different now. All traces of evil and corruption were gone, replaced by joy and hope. His voice was even more beautiful now, enticing and happy. Images came to her mind of a field, a farm with a small creek running next to it.
"You wanted to know my past, so I shall tell you of how and why I came to be what I am. Listen and watch; you are the first mortal to know my story."
The image rippled, and people appeared in the scene, a family with two sons. They played happily, and the family watched. An idyllic scene of country life... The sons spoke to each other.
"When I grow up, I want to go into the city!"
"The city? But its scary there! So many people, so much noise..."
"That's half the fun, dummy! There's nothing to do here."
"Well, it does get a little slow sometimes..."
"C'mon, I know you want to go with me. We're brothers, ain't we? Have I ever steered you wrong?"
"No. And you know I do want to go with you, even if I am scared. I'd stick with you to the end!"
"I was hoping you'd say that. C'mon, let's make a pact!"
The two brothers clasped hands, and each pricked their thumbs, letting the blood drip onto their hands. Each of them spit, and poured the blood onto the earth of the farm, each saying at the same time.
"Brothers to the end! You and I! Together we stand! Together we die! If I should ever this vow break, may the Reaper my life take! "
Each of the boys giggled, and then they stood up and ran off again. His voice came through the air again.
"Large words for such small children, but we intended to make good on them. Brothers to the end..."
The scene changed, and now the brothers were older. The family wept, and waved as the two boys headed up the road away from home. They waved until the family was out of sight, and then looked at each other and took off running, racing up the road. The scene changed again, shifting to a large, bustling city. One brother was seen working in a successful merchant's market, while the other was seen working at a bank.
"We worked hard to earn our living, but we were together. Out in the world, making our way, somehow scraping together enough to get by. It wasn't glamorous, and it sure wasn't always comfortable, but it was life. However, as we both know, lives have a way of changing at the most inopportune times..."
At this moment, five men dashed into the bank and slammed a blade through the tellers forehead. He slumped to the ground, and one of the men aimed the blade at the brother working there, shouting for him to open the safe. The boy obliged, and the robbers vanished with the money. The scene rippled to a few hours later, and the one brother could clearly be seen berating the other.
"How could you have opened the safe for them? Why didn't you tell them you didn't know the code!"
"They would have killed me! Don't you see what they did to Wallace?"
"You're a kid, they wouldn't have hurt you! Do you know how much money I lost that day?"
The banker rose, and pointed a finger at his brother.
"I could have died and all you care about is that damn money? What kind of brother are you?"
Both brothers glared coldly at each other for a long moment, then stormed off to their separate rooms, the doors slamming. The scene rippled, and Charnel laughed coldly as the scene revealed itself. The merchant brother was thrown out into the snowy land, and the merchant's door slammed behind him. Tears ran down his face as he moved through the snowy landscape to their house, and as he stepped inside, the door closed behind him. The other brother returned home, and the scene rippled, taking Charlotte inside. Another argument. The merchant brother had been caught stealing money, and had been sacked. However, this wasn't the worst of it: The banker brother had been losing odd amounts of money lately, and when the stolen money was counted, only about two-thirds of it belonged to the bank... The argument continued long into the night, and finally ended with the merchant brother throwing his key to the ground and storming out. Charnel sighed, but said no more. The scene rippled one last time, and it showed the banker as a man of higher class, with money to spare. It was snowy again, and late at night. The banker emerged, and locked the bank up tightly. He didn't notice the small and shadowy group that had gathered in the nearby alleys... As he walked to his horse, hands in his pockets, one of the shadows darted out of the alley, slamming something against the back of the banker's knees. The man shouted as he fell, and a guard dashed out of the bank holding a sword. Two more shadows darted out; one slipped a black bag over the guard’s head, and the other stabbed him the face, gouging and twisting as the man screamed and tried to fight them off before falling dead moments later. The banker rose, drawing a pistol from his pocket and firing. It took his attacker in the neck, and he dropped dead. The banker turned, firing at the other two attackers, but he missed them, and they disappeared into the shadows. The banker turned, but more shadows appeared before him, gleaming steel drawn and flashing, daring him to fire. While he tried to pick a target, another shadow crept up behind him, and slashed out the back of his legs. The banker dropped to the ground, screaming, and fired a single shot in the air: In that moment, he saw his brother’s face, leering cruelly at him in the dark. With that, the others rushed forward, pushing him to the ground and stabbing his belly and chest viciously with short knives. The banker screamed and kicked, but there were too many shadows, too many flashing knives, too many, too many…. The group tore the banker to shreds, and the shadows faded away as a clock tolled midnight. The banker twitched once, and from his pocket there tumbled a small package; a scroll wrapped in gold leaf with the word “Deed” across the side, and a tag dangling from it with Christmas decorations which read “For my Dear Brother”. The image flushed red, rippling violently, and Charlotte could see the banker falling, endlessly falling, torn to shreds and bleeding from a thousand wounds. Charnel’s voice came again, no longer pure and happy, but as scarred and bitter as his broken form.
“And now you know my story. A brother’s promise and betrayal, my life, my death…. But now comes the turning point in the story…. Watch and learn…”
The Grim Reaper appeared before the banker, and began speaking in an arcane language that none but the dead understands. It could be interpreted though that a deal had been made. With those words and a gesture of his bony hand, the banker’s corpse shuddered in midair, twitching and shaking violently. His body tore itself apart and reformed into a new, monstrous creature that was only visible for the briefest of moments, before his flesh and skin came back together and covered the beast, revealing the Charnel that Charlotte would recognize. The Reaper swirled his hand in the air, pulling a tattered and ragged cape from the ether. He draped it around Charnel’s shoulders, and spoke in his old, evil tongue. Charnel looked up at the Master of Death, and nodded. The Reaper’s voice became clear and understandable to Charlotte, and his words were black as night.
“Rise now, Charnel. Go forth as an Aspect of Death, my disciple. I have given you the power to right the wrongs done to you, and the means to deliver your vengeance to whomever incurs it. They will call you the Fiend in Rags and Tatters, and your name will be one to frighten children and adults alike. However, to unlock your power, you must first pass a test: Only those that understand life deserve to take it. Grow to understand the mortal coil you inhabit, and you will grow in strength. To unlock your true potential, you must also be willing to preserve the life of another. Go forth and find a human to protect, Charnel. Only then will your might be truly unleashed…”
With that, the Reaper waved his scythe, cleaving a hole in the sky for Charnel to pass through. Charnel looked up to the Reaper one last time, and grinned sinisterly.
“It will be done.”
With that, he dove through the portal, and into the mortal realm. At long last, the dream state came to a close, and the world faded to black around them. Charnel looked at her again somberly, and spoke.
“And now you know my mission. I intend to make my brother keep his promise: I'm the Reaper now, and I'm coming for him.”
He grinned maniacally, and pulled the deed from within his cloak.
"I'm even going to give him his new home. Problem is, they've gone and built a gallows on the spot. Oh well, looks like he'll have to stay there anyways!"
His voice rose to a fever pitch at the last words, trailing off into screaming maniacal laughter. His eyes spiraled madly, the blood red mixing with the pitch black like a whirlpool of black arterial blood. His fangs tore at the air as he laughed, and everyone in the bar felt a sudden pressure, like something evil was trying to force its way into the world. The dragon was frightening, but few had ever felt anything this profoundly wrong.
