Deathly Encounter

Luke arrived at home not long after he bid goodbye to Seth.

"You really arrived early." Obed mocked when Luke opened the door.

"Could've been earlier. I had to do some stuff." Luke was surprisingly smiling.

"Guess what?" He asked Obed.

"What? Obed asked.

"I've got a surprise for you. Leave the food and come check this out." Luke told Obed.

"Why would I leave the food? The surprise can wait." Obed wasn't going to answer him.

"No! It can't wait. Just leave the damn food for a minute. It's not gonna vanish or something." Luke scolded Obed.

"Fine, I'm coming." Obed sluggishly arrived close to Luke.

"So where's the surprise?" He asked.

Luke handed his bag to Obed. "It's in there."

Luke was smiling so much that Obed thought it was a prank. The weight of the bag told him it wasn't a prank.

He opened it and found lots of identical round gold resting in it.

"Shhh. Don't yell. Calm down… calm down." Luke calmed his friend before he could yell.

"Where the hell did you get so many golds from? This is at least ten of your monthly payments." Obed asked Luke while estimating the amount in the bag.

"It only needs ten more golds and it would be nine of yours." Luke said with a proud face.

"Three hundred and fifty?" Obed asked.

"Yup and it's all for you. It's all up to you to spend it however you want." Luke nodded with satisfaction etched on his face.

"Where in hell did you get this money from?" Obed asked with shock.

"I raided the forever gang." Luke smiled at his accomplishment.

"No you didn't. That's impossible." Obed said.

"Yes I did and it's possible." Luke laughed.

"You better go check what you left on fire. I don't want another accident inside." Luke reminded Obed who had forgotten all about the food when he saw the money.

"I'll tell you all about it while we eat." Luke told Obed.

As they ate, Luke narrated the story to Obed.

They talked even after the meal and when it was time, Obed left for work. Luke was left alone and soon, he slept off.

*****

The next morning at seven, Luke had left the house, leaving a note for Obed that he went to get things for the store.

He arrived at a super complex filled with different items. All kinds of products were sold here.

He purchased items needed at the store and just kept buying and buying.

By the time he was done, the card had been reduced by a thousand golds.

Luke had to load the goods into five luggage carriers due to the sheer size and amount and variety of items.

By half past eight, Luke and the items were already in front of the store. Another thirty golds went to transportation of such heavy and plentiful items.

The moment it was nine, Seth seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"What the hell is all this?" He exclaimed.

"It's a surprise and it's for the old man." Luke smiled. "He didn't want any of the money even though it was all for him. I told him I'd do whatever I wanted with the money and he told me to go ahead. And now, I did this."

"But, not even half of this is going to fit into the store." Seth was lost.

"That's why we'll buy the shop close by. The owner hasn't come for a while and I just saw that the shop was up for sale. The price is around four hundred golds." Luke didn't stop smiling for a second.

"Money's good." Luke's contagious smile had infected Seth. He was also smiling like Luke.

"Let's head over to the store and negotiate the price with them." Luke pulled Seth and they both headed to the store for sale.

"Um, hi, we're here to buy the shop that was listed for sale." Luke spoke with the man he met there.

They went through the procedures and Seth was the one who did all the work. The shop was even in his name. Luke just paid the fees and the ownership was passed on to Seth.

They were lucky enough to get a few more hands to help them move the items to the new storehouse. When it got full, they moved the rest into their original store.

The old man arrived on time and met them moving the last of the items into the store.

"What are you all doing?" He asked.

"Just moving our newly acquired items into the store." Seth answered.

"And who's responsible for the purchases?" He asked again.

"It's Luke," Seth replied. "Oh, and this isn't everything. Most of them are in the newly acquired storehouse."

"Newly acquired what? Where's Luke?" The man asked.

"Here I am." Luke ran over and they both had a long talk.

"I said I wasn't going to accept the money. I can't accept this. The money's bloody." The old man refused.

"Thought you would say that. Hey Seth," Luke called out to Seth.

"You called." Seth ran over to meet them.

"Yeah. Like I told you earlier, the old man doesn't want this. So I'm giving it all to you instead. What do you plan to do with all these?" Luke asked Seth.

"I'll just leave them in the store and sell them with time." Seth answered.

"You can't decide for Seth, right old man? Hehe anyway, it stays in the shop." Luke laughed and pulled the sighing old man into the shop.

"I give up." The old man sighed. "Do whatever you want."

Luke laughed. "Hehe, you don't need to tell me. I'm already doing it anyway."

The day was already spent carrying loads up and down.

Luke gave the two helpers a token of appreciation and they closed for the day.

He bid farewell to the old man and Seth, and then he headed home.

He whistled on his way home. A bad feeling was slowly spreading through his body.

The road was eerily silent. He didn't see anybody along the way.

He just continued walking and soon, he saw someone approaching.

The person walked slowly but steadily got closer. When the person was only a few meters away, all the senses in Luke's body screamed for him to turn that instant and run away. When he got close enough, Luke saw the clothes. It was all rags, wrapped so much around that Luke couldn't see his skin, hair, or even face.

The person seemed ordinary but the black aura emanating around this person was shaped like the grim reaper's face. All the joints, veins, muscles, and nerves of Luke's body were screaming for him to flee.

Every inch of Luke wanted to run but he steeled himself and kept walking forward.

When they were side by side, the person's voice sounded. "Oh, so it was true. An Oddity." It was a man's voice. From the voice, the man seemed to be in his old age, around eighty or even more.

The next second, they walked past each other but Luke heard the man's words clearly.

He turned to look at the figure but he found nothing.

He looked across the street but everywhere was void of humans. There was no alley or cut in the street so where had the man entered? Did he just vanish into thin air?

Before Luke's brain could figure anything out, Luke was sprinting back home. He didn't plan to even look back and ran as fast as his leg could carry him. He got to the building where he lived and ran up the stairs.

He opened the door to his apartment, entered, and slammed it shut.

"Hey, what the hell?" Obed yelled at him.

Luke was totally quiet, breathing like a rat that just escaped the claws of an evil cat.

************

Hello guys, I'd be happy if you all could do me a favor. I'd love to hear from you guys if you have ideas about the book.

Also, when we have risen to a specific level of interactions, I'd start giving polls for us all to vote.

Thank you all in advance.