ThreyaMidnight

"So this is what they mean when they say your life flashes before your eyes when you die."

Betrayed. Battered. Broken. 

Evangeline Vermillion has had enough of her pathetic life. She was young—only in her early 20s—and she had planned to end it all by setting herself on fire. 

That was how she met Death—cold, dark, tall, and...handsome? Huh. Who knew the Grim Reaper could look like that? He takes her hand and guides her through the In-Between, the sacred realm between the Land of the Living and the Afterlife. Together, they revisit her most important memories. From the misfortunes of her childhood, to the chaos and bloodshed of the wrong kinds of love, Evangeline must confront the demons of her past to get to The Other Side.

Through all of the pain and anguish, Death stands with her, an enigmatic companion and unlikely confidant. And in their brief waltz between realms, Evangeline finally finds what she always wanted but never had: to belong and to be loved.

Waltz with Death

The In-Between changed back again to the entrance of my college building. Evangeline of the past just got out of the building, looking chirpier than usual.

"What have we here?" Death said in a sing-song voice.

"It was the day before my first birthday in uni," I explained to Death. "So I was a bit excited to spend my birthday with some friends for the first time! Since, you know," My voice became significantly lower as I shrugged. "I didn't have friends when I was younger."

"Wow," He exclaimed almost exaggeratedly. "I was wondering why we haven't come across a single memory where you were celebrating your birthday. We already weirdly came across, what, two Valentine's memories?"

"Three if you include Boss's fake Valentine's memory," I supplied unhelpfully. "But to answer your question, let me fire back another question at you: Shouldn't you know the answer to that already?"

Happy Birthday, Evangeline