IV
"My deepest condolences, Nadia"
"Thank you, Mrs. Galvez." Nadia answered flatly to the lady.
"We know how sad you are Nadia, mom had been beside you ever since you were a kid, we know it's hard for you. But you needed to be strong." Another woman stated, a woman who randomly introduced herself as her aunt. Her mother's sister and her grandma's middle daughter.
Deceitful and hypocrites, all of them. When her grandma was still alive not even once did this people showed up to visit or at least take care of her, but now that she's dead they all showed up and flocked around the whole place. Saying things that they understand her pain, that they're sorry for her loss. 
"...thank you... aunt." She answered so plainly.
"Don't worry Nadia, since you're still young, we'll take care of mom's insurance and belongings that she left. So focus on your study, let your aunts and uncles take care of this. After all we're the adults."
Fucking greedy. Now that her grandma's gone, they think that they can finally do everything that they want. Do they really think that she'll be swayed with that fake smiles and sympathy that they're putting on? Are they actually that stupid and dumb to think that she'll fell for their lousy facade?
Vultures with human skin… even now, they circle her coffin not with grief, but hunger. Hunger for money, hunger for something they have no rights to have.
She turned her gaze above them and chuckled lowly when she saw their deaths, written so boldly in the very color that she comes to hate.
07-11-XX | 5:38 pm
Murder
05-23-XX | 7:45 am
Lung cancer 
08-25-XX | 4:35 pm
Drowning 
02-19-XX | 8:57 am
Broken neck
Hah, would you look at that. Guess karma still know how to work properly. Really, birds of the same feathers flocks together. Even in death they will still meet the misery that they've come to deserve with that disgusting greed of theirs.
Should I feel guilty? …for laughing at the vermin? Hah. What a joke. If guilt is wasted on them, then so is mercy.
She silently sneered in sarcasm and irony before she faced them again. "The other guests are arriving now, I should go now and greet them first."
"Sure, you go now girl, we'll stay here." Her so-called uncle stated as he puff smoke from his cigar.
She turned her heels and started walking towards the guests who had just newly arrived, she greeted and they expressed their condolences in return.
The skies were gloomy and dark, despite not raining the wind blew strong and cold. But it was nothing, in fact she's even thankful for this weather. She felt that at least even if it's just the weather, she can feel that she's not along on this grief.
She adjusted her black lace veiled hat as she neatly dusted her black dress, thankfully, the lace of her veiled hat is quite thick so that even if she scowl or roll her eyes from her so-called relatives shamelessness, no one would see.
She roamed her eyes around, but she instantly sighed tiredly as she rolled her eyes mentally in annoyance. Everywhere she look, all she can see are unfamiliar faces and crimson writings above each heads.
If back then, whenever she see those crimson writings, she always feel reluctant and a little bit hesitant. But now it felt nothing, if there still things that she needed to feel whenever her sight caught a glimpse of those things, all she can feel is irony and annoyance.
Death had become too familiar now—no longer a terror, just an inevitability scribbled in crimson above every head.
Nadia turned her head slightly when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
"What?" She coldly asked to the boy as she turned to look.
"Uhm, the priest is already here. They said that they'll now start the preparations to lower down Mrs. Agresté's coffin down the pit." He said, a little nervous and uncomfortable at the way Nadia stared at him lifelessly.
At least his awkwardness was honest, unlike the plastic grief plastered on her aunts’ and uncles’ faces.
"...alright." 
She walked, following the boy as he lead ahead and went towards where her grandma's coffin is. When they arrived, she saw the priest and an unfamiliar man wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase talking to both her uncles and aunts.
The moment her eyes laid on the coffin, her mood became even more heavy and gloomier. She felt like just by looking at her grandma's coffin, she felt as if the last remaining soul within her is being dragged and pulled by the coffin. Draining her more than it should.
It wasn’t just her grandmother they were burying. It was the last of her childhood, the last of her reasons to smile.
The crimson writings had shown her the truth again and again, but this—watching her grandmother sink into the earth—was heavier than all of them combined.
The grief, sadness, anger, and despair felt like a passing emotions for her now. She's too tired, too tired to feel thing. Too tired to think and process everything. Right now all she wants to rest, and never wake up as long as the heaviness within her vanish. Even if it means sleeping for eternity.
The ceremony started, everyone silently sat as the priest started his opening speech and went down to his funeral sermons. Until finally, the eulogy--speeches given by the close friend and relatives had now come. One by one, every friends and relatives of theirs--her grandma had come in front to express their sorrowful speech.
"Rafaella, she was a great friend of mine. She was always there whenever I needed her, she's just... the very best of a human. A real angel..."
"Mom was the best mom that a child could ever wish for, ever since we grew up mom had always been there for us. As a daughter, I had always... love her..."
"My mom and I might be not as close as a mother and son pair, but all I can tell is that she's the best mom for me. All the scoldings, all the reprimands, I know she had all done that for my sake. My mom is just... so kind..."
Ridiculously disgusting. So fucking disgusting. All those fake tears, all those empty words, and all those fake griefs that they have to express, everything are all fake to put up a show. How can they even say all of those with such honesty and genuineness if not even once did they spend a time to know her grandma more, then they just come here, claiming such pretenses of what's her grandma for them when in fact they don't even know who she really is.
Where were they when her grandma’s voice cracked from crying alone? Where were they when her frail hands reached out, only to grasp emptiness? Nowhere. Always nowhere.
But now, dressed in black and dripping with false tears, they stand here as if they ever mattered.
Her jaw clenched as she glared at them through her laced hat with malice and contempt. Not even once did she imagine let alone dreamt of glaring at her own relatives and other people with such contempt on her eyes. But here she is, doing what exactly she doesn't expect.
When it's time for her to give a speech, she just plainly said that she can't because of the grief. But in reality, she just doesn't want to because she knows to herself that once she did, instead of her message for her grandma, the speech will instantly turn into a call out for those hypocrites. No, she would rather just stay silent and sit still. She don't want to disrespect her grandma just because of some unimportant vermins.
They just let her, thinking that maybe she's really in deep pain and sorrow of losing such figure on her life. 
After that, the priest had finally started with his prayers for the deceased and the relatives as it shift to the blessing and flower laiding on the coffin.
And after, the most dreaded part had come. It is now time for her grandma to be laid down on her final resting place, underground, six feet of dirt between them, a chasm she could never cross. Away from her, eternally.
She watched as the coffin slowly lowered at the pit, ropes and mechanisms creaks at each ropes it got down, then, the coffin made a thudding sound as it finally hit the very ground. Flowers and ribbons were thrown on top of the coffin, followed by the soil after.
As the ground was finally been sealed by the soil, everyone bidded their last condolences and goodbyes to the relatives. Especially to her. Little by little, the guests had slowly left on their own, cars screeching away and footsteps fading as they walk away. Everyone left, except for the relatives and the man in suit.
Nadia knelt down the ground as she gently laid down the pink carnation on the soil. Her grandma's favorite flower, the very flower that she always hold dear.
The soil may had taken her away, but the carnation was her rebellion against the earth, a fragile reminder that love did not end with burial. As Nadia will always hold her in her heart.
"As the meaning behind this flower, thank you, Grandma—for your love, your care, your everything. I will never forget you… I love you."
For the last time, she allowed her tears to fall. After this, she would have no more to give—whether because her grief was spent, or because she could no longer afford to show weakness, she didn’t know. Only that this would be the last.
As the tears and ache slowly faded and disappeared, Nadia brushed off her tears as she fixed herself to maintain back her composure. After lingering at her grandma's now grave, she decided to turn and started walking away, towards the ancestral house of their family clan. 
The Agresté villa.
Upon entering the mansion, she was greeted by their family butler who guided her towards the dining where everyone are gathered. Quite confused, Nadia still decided to follow as she's not in the mood to fight.
When they've arrived, she saw her uncles and aunts sitting at the dining eagerly with knowing smiles and victory on their eyes. But her eyes immediately shifted at the man in suit, standing by the side, observing each and one of the people inside. Her eyes wandered above his head.
12-30-XX | 4:56 pm
Old age
Nadia’s lips pressed thin. Old age. A quiet end, in his own bed perhaps. Her grandmother had not been given that kindness. For the first time, she envied a stranger’s death.
"Seems like everyone's here now..." The man said as he roamed his eyes around, only to be stuck at hers for a moment before he turned away.
"Then let's all begin but first, I'm Emmanuel Lopez, Mrs. Rafaella Agresté's attorney."
Nadia pulled the seat in front of her and gently sat down as her eyes still glued at the man.
"And today, I will finally read the old madam's will and testament."
Ah, so that's how it is. The sudden appearance of her relatives, their fake griefs and compassions, and their eager greed gleaming at their eyes. Finally all revealed of what the reason is.
Inheritance. They're not here for her grandma, they're here for what they've could take from her.
Everyone's eyes watched as the man reached for his briefcase and took out an enveloped as he opened it and unfold the paper inside.
"I'll start now. First, for my first born child Henry Agresté, I'll be giving him the 30 acre land that I owned here in the Philippines, along with the perfume business..."
"My second born, Johnathan Agresté, I'll be living him both my mansion at Madrid and a 30 million on hand. My third born Lucretia Agresté, she'll be inheriting my clothing business and the 40 million..."
After hearing the will, the siblings immediately gleamed with joy and happiness upon hearing that their mother really did leave something for them. Such greed, instead of mourn, they instantly found happiness in material joy rather than be with their mother for the last time.
But their joy was replaced with confusion and questions. Their mother had many belongings and things that she owns, yet they only get two things from her. Where would the rest would go?
"And lastly..." The man said as he shifted towards Nadia.
"For my dearest granddaughter, my last born Luther Agresté's sole daughter, Nadia Agresté. She would inherit the rest of what I have, especially the manor that stands in Germany, it will be put under her name. All of it."
Like a bomb, everyone inside was shock and dumbfounded of what they just heard. Even Nadia herself.
The room stilled. For a moment, even the ticking of the clock seemed to vanish. Nadia felt her breath catch, her name ringing in the air like a curse and a crown at once. Around her, the smiles faltered, greed curdled into disbelief. She didn’t need to look up to see the crimson writing above their heads — the fury in their eyes was enough.
Who wouldn't? They all came here, anticipating to receive something big and grand only to find out in the end that all the their mother has will eventually fall at the hands of a young woman.
"WHAT! This is absurd! How could a young girl like her inherit most of our mother's?! We're her children! She's just the granddaughter! Don't we weigh more than she does?!" Suddenly, her first uncle bursted. Face flaming in anger as he darted angrily at Nadia.
But Nadia only looked at him in boredom, making the uncle even more angry.
The man sighed deeply before he spoke. "I understand you Mr. Agresté, but this is the will of the old madam. She especially asked me to write the will accordingly on her decision, she decided to give you--her children two of what she has, but the rest would fall on her granddaughter's."
"And why would that be?!" The first aunt retorted.
"Because in the whole time that the old madam suffered and laid sickly at her deathbed, only Ms. Nadia stayed by her side. Caring and aiding on her as a granddaughter should do, out of all her children, none even bothered to show up or visit not even once."
"Oh is that so! Who knows maybe she just did all of those just to--"
“If the inheritance is what they want, then give it." Nadia said, her voice flat as stone. The dining hall fell into a tense silence. 
Her uncle’s jaw twitched, his cigar nearly snapping between his fingers. Across from him, her aunt’s painted smile trembled, fury bleeding through the cracks. They expected her to beg, to fight, to cling. But her indifference was sharper than any blade.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Nadia, but that’s not how it works...” the lawyer continued firmly.
“Your grandmother finalized everything before she passed. Each inheritance is already registered under its rightful name. Nothing can be changed.”
The dining room went still. Her uncle’s cigar smoldered, forgotten between his fingers. Her aunt’s eyes darted to Nadia, sharp with resentment. No matter how much they fumed, the words of a dead woman weighed heavier than their greed.
The heavy tension lingers for moment before her first uncle suddenly stood up and left in anger without uttering any words, his siblings followed after him yet their eyes still shooting glares at Nadia. As if telling her that it isn't the end yet.
Both Nadia and the man were left in silence after such scene, she sat there quietly as she heaved a tired sigh and massage her temple.
"I'm sorry about the ruckus, Mr. Lopez. It was really a shame to let others witness such undignified quarrels of the family." Nadia said.
The man assuringly tapped her shoulder. "You don't need to apologize, I understand. This kind of conflicts is something that can only be resolved by family's, but the fact that those adults bursted out to a child makes them irresponsible. No wonder why the madam chose to leave everything to you."
Nadia only nodded subtly as she slightly shifted her gaze outside and stared at the broad greenfield.
"Well then, I wouldn't stay any more longer now. I'll be going first now, once again, my deepest condolences to you Ms. Nadia." 
"Thank you Mr. Lopez, be careful on your way." 
The man nodded as he grabbed his briefcase and started walking away. Now it was only Nadia who's left all alone inside, the silence and dim darkness accompanied her as she laid her head at the table.
The grandfather clock ticked, each beat heavier than the last, filling the dining room with dread.
All of a sudden, Nadia rose from her seat and walked away. She wanted to wash her problems away--literally so she decided to head towards the bathroom. Upon entering the huge Victorian style bathroom, she quickly locked the door and went straight to the sink.
She's about to open the faucet when suddenly, her phone rang inside her pocket. She reached for it and took it out before answering it without even bothering of knowing who it would be.
"Yes?"
"Nadia it's me, Mr. Reyes..." The familiar voice said behind the line.
"Oh Mr. Reyes, you've called. Is there something wrong?"
"No, not really, but I heard what happened to your grandmother and I just wanted to express my condolences on you." He stated, worried and sympathy hinted on his voice.
Nadia silently sighed as she leaned her waist by the sink. "Thank you Mr. Reyes..."
"No, I should be the one who's supposed to be thanking you instead."
Nadia slightly frowned at his words. "What do you mean?"
"Remember that afternoon when you told me to just stay at home instead of leaving? If it weren't for you I could've been dead now, hours after you told me that and I returned home. My daughter called me and bombarded me with questions of how am I, or that if I'm alright. I was confused so I asked her what happened, and she told me that an accident happened at the very route that I usually take whenever I visit her. That very day that you stopped me was also the day that I was supposed to visit my daughter and also the day when the accident happened..."
"So needless to say, you just saved me from a near death Nadia. And I'm very much thankful of you for that, if it weren't for you I wouldn't have been able to see another day." He stated, gratitude laced his voice.
Nadia was speechless, she was surprised and flabbergasted at the same time. She always knew from the very start that with her gift to see death, she could at least make preventions before it happens. Yet it always fail, so she just stopped.
But right now, Mr. Reyes is the living proof that her words of warning could actually work wonders.
"It's nothing Mr. Reyes, I'm glad that your fine." 
"And that is all thanks to you..."
After minutes of talking, they've decided to end their call as they bidded goodbye and Mr. Reyes bidding her condolences for the last time.
After the call, Nadia put down the phone by the side drawer as she leaned both of her hands by the sink. Supporting her upper body as she hang her head low.
She reached for her hat and removed it before putting it beside her phone and leaned down a little as she opened the faucet, letting the water run. She scooped the water with her both hands and splashed it at her face.
But even as the cold water dripped down her face, her chest felt heavier. If she really could change what she saw… then why couldn’t she change the one death that mattered most?
If she manage to intervene with someone else's fate to alter it, then why couldn't she do the same for her grandma?
No wait, hold on a minute. She intervene.
She remembered how much her grandma tells her that she shouldn't intervene with something that she couldn't handle. Because everything has its own price.
When she intervened with Mr. Reyes' fate and successfully changing it, fate didn't let it happen without gaining a price in return. Then does that mean that... her grandma's life is the price?
Is the cost of pulling another one's life away from death is the life of the other?
In exchange of pulling a time on its due is death pulling another one in return.
If that’s true, then I killed her. Not the illness, not the Reaper—me. My hands didn’t hold the scythe, but my choice did.
I saved a man and lost the only person who ever loved me…
Her palms pressed against the freezing tiles, but even that sharp bite couldn’t anchor her. The air was too heavy, too cruel, every breath dragging like chains across her lungs.
How could she? How could she?
The question gnawed through her skull, louder than the ticking clock, louder than the storm outside.
She still hadn't pulled back from her senses when suddenly, the lights flickered abnormally inside the bathroom. Cold wind entered even though both door and window were shut close.
Chills suddenly ran up to her spine when a baritone voice spoke by her ears.
"And this is why you don't play with life and death."
She no longer need to turn around to know who it was, the chills and creeps that she feel alone is already enough to tell who--what is behind her.
"You already took my grandma with you, so why have you come... reaper?" Nadia asked boldly.
The reaper chuckled coldly. "I asked you a question that night and you still haven't answered yet, and now I've come to hear it... how can you see me?"
But Nadia remained silent as she clenched her fist tightly, minutes passed and Nadia still hadn't answered. Pissed, the reaper's suddenly darkened as he snatched Nadia's wrist and pulled her to face him.
"I asked you a question so you better--"
His words froze as his eyes widened, the moment she finally faced him he felt as if the world stopped.
No... how can it be?... it's impossible... she's been long dead for a hundred years already... but why does this woman looked exactly like her.
"... Alexandria." He muttered, almost whispered as longing, pain and shock laced his voice.
Hearing that name, unknown familiarity hit Nadia. Pain, longing, sadness, acceptance, and... love all spiraled within her. She doesn't know why she felt this way, all of this emotions felt familiar yet... so distant, like a forgotten memory.
Nadia was surprised when suddenly, the reaper gently cupped her cheeks with his ice cold hands. But she's even more surprised when she saw humane emotions played on his eyes, the same emotions that she currently feels.
"Alexandria... my Alexandria... you're back, you're finally back. Oh how much I missed you, my lovely Alexandria." 
She was compelled for a moment, she felt as if she was being drawn into the midst of memory that clawed itself to enter her. But her mind refused to accept it so wholly, as it was confused and burdened.
When she came back to her senses, Nadia immediately brushed off the reaper's hands away from her as she glared at him.
"Stop it, and stop calling me Alexandria. My name's Nadia, N-A-D-I-A. Not Alexandria, I don't know who she is but you're getting the wrong woman."
She saw how his gaze wavered and his fingers trembled, not with fear but pain.
"No, I know you Alexandria. You just don't remember yet, I know with time--"
"OH PLEASE SHUT UP! I ALREADY TOLD YOU MY NAME'S NADIA NOT ALEXANDRIA. AND STAY AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT YOU TOUCHING ME! SO GO AWAY!" Nadia bursted as her frustration and irritation rose.
The man froze as he stared at her baffled and lost, after seconds, the reaper suddenly dropped his head low as low chuckles rose within him. Little by little his chuckles turned loud and scary, as if he's a manic who had finally lost his sanity. But it was quite scary, as everytime that he laughs, the light flickers.
When he raised his head back and faced her, the emotions in his eyes disappeared and was replaced by irony and conflict.
"Right... I guess I'm wrong... you're not my Alexandria. My Alexandria wouldn't tell me those things so harshly, but you can... so maybe you're really not her." He said as he chuckled brokenly.
Nadia doesn't know but, her heart suddenly ached on his words. But she shrugged it off immediately.
"That's right, so you better leave now." She boldly stated.
But chills and creeps crept up to her when the reaper suddenly strided towards her.
"W-What are you doing?! I-I said leave--"
She winced in pain when the reaper grabbed her wrist again, but this time it was tight and rough.
"You may not be who I'm looking for, but that doesn't mean that I'll let you go. You can see me, something a mortal like you shouldn't have. So that just concludes one thing... you're an anomaly." He said coldly as his darkened gaze pierced through her.
She bit her lip when he tightened his grip on her wrist even more.
"So from now on, I'll keep my eyes on you to make sure you wouldn't affect the balance. Because once I proved right that you would only bring chaos an disorder on this world, as a reaper I have no choice but..."
Nadia froze, her blood ran extremely cold as he muttered the last words along with all the lights inside suddenly exploding, one by one. The reaper's eyes glowed terrifyingly as if she was being stared by death itself.
"...to kill you."