Run Baby Run
The Purgatory Road
Death opened her eyes, turning to the Teen and casting her magic over him, taking out what he knew he would freak out about. Upon opening his eyes, he was met once more with Death’s tears and a rot that started to burn his nostrils. The black had moved up Rio’s arms, stopping at the crease of her elbow. Dark muddy puss dripped to the ground from Death’s fingers, revealing a black bone in the active decay stage. She stared at it as well, shocked at the progression. The color paled in Teen’s face and she did nothing as he turned away from her, retching onto the ground. She wrinkled her nose as she laughed.
“What, can’t handle death?”
He refused to face her, “If you could smell the stench that is coming off of you– I still don’t understand how Agatha put up with this!”
It stung, harder than it should from a mortal, but Lady Death was dying. It didn’t matter anymore as she snarled, standing before the boy. Agatha put up with her for another fifty-four years until it all came crumbling down. She would never forget that day, crushing the light in her love’s eyes, and the first real fight they had in their time together, yet even after, Death haunted after Agatha and in rare vulnerable moments, they had each other again. They hated each other, but they couldn’t stop loving the other. Agatha had loved Rio right down to the rot and decay. The days when she would physically reek of death, Agatha would only scrunch her nose and bluntly say that she smelled like death before beginning a hot bath. On those days, after Rio would be gone for longer periods in wars, she was drained. She loved the bodies, oh how she loved collecting them, but humans were changing, they were becoming greedy, killing the sacred cycle Rio fought so hard to preserve. She could feel it within this Earth, how they were slowly killing her. It slowly sucked the bright florals out of Rio.
***
The Cottage: 1715
Rio felt the weight on her shoulders as she moved through the realms. She couldn’t stop the shift in her body, the way she took on the Earth’s decay. She felt it before, the way the balance was in danger more than just taking souls to the Afterlife. She knew the Earth was suffering, she could feel it in the Green, but she just hoped it would be different, that the humans wouldn’t kill their mother. Of course she was wrong, but that still didn’t change the fact that she took on that pain as well. She swore, looking down at her arms. She was taking on the rot the Earth would soon take. This was when she hated being a Green Witch.
She hesitated when the knife was in the air, tonguing her cheek when she tasted the rot again. It plagued her senses as she thought to her wife. Her wife had been waiting for her for three weeks, her shadows barely having the strength to drop her off flowers during her kills. Agatha’s power had immensely grown over the years together and so did their love. Rio could leave for longer and the connection was as strong as the night they married. Yet, out of the nineteen years of their marriage, Agatha had never seen Rio like this. It had happened before on different planes, the way her being would soak in the pain of the Earth and when Lady Death would stink of the rot and decomposition. Yet, every fiber of her being needed her wife’s arms. She tongued more at her cheek, wondering what to do. She promised her wife she would be home this evening. She would be pissed if Rio didn’t show, but couldn’t guess how she would react to seeing Rio like this, decaying, her skin practically falling off her bone. In their connection, she felt the longing they both had and wondered if Agatha could feel the pain her body was showcasing.
Taking a breath, she cut the veil and stepped through. She stared at the wooden door of their cottage, taking another and opening it with a loud creak. Stepping in, her cloak still hid her body in the darkness, hiding her form as she stared at the woman who was using her magic to cook as her nose was buried in a spell book. The moment the door closed, Agatha snapped her head up. She didn’t miss the flicker of emotions passing through her face. Her eyes lightened upon seeing her before her nose scrunched and her eyes widened at the smell. Then her gaze grew concerned, new aged lines on her forehead as she stood, approaching Rio without hesitance.
“My love,” she said, her tone trying to sound teasing. “You smell like death.”
Rio couldn’t react, her body revealing the tears she could not produce. If she could cry about the state of the Earth, she would. Instead, she tasted the soil in her mouth again as hands reached up, pulling her hood down. Agatha lost her teasing gaze, seeing how Rio’s skin was almost yellow with the rot, the skin shedding to the bone. Her nose wrinkled again, her eyes watering from the strength of the smell, but she came closer, untying the hood and allowing it to thump on the floor. She sucked her breath in, staring at Rio’s arms that were black with the rot. There was a pause, Rio’s eyes trying to find any hint of disgust of her being Death, but instead, she grabbed her bony hand, leading her before the fire. Agatha bent down, picking up the tarantula and placing it on her shoulder. Rio could smile, knowing she was trying to cheer her up and to go as far as touch the one creature her wife hated. Her magic swirled around the cottage. She stood still as a metal tub appeared, Agatha placing linens around the edges before hot steaming water appeared. The cottage quickly smelled of mint and roses before Agatha grabbed lavender, throwing petals into the water.
Rio’s eyebrows shot up, staring at her wife as she reached out for her. She took her hand unsure, neither of them saying a word as Agatha made quick work of her black gown and Rio stood in the center of the cottage naked, rotting, and decaying. The black had made its way to her shoulders and up to her thighs. The spider’s legs tapped her bones experimentally before Agatha took her again, placing her next to Senõr Scratchy on their couch. She stared at the steam, not understanding why Agatha was doing this for her. She did stink of death. Why was a mortal so concerned of Lady Death smelling of what she merely was? Sure, it wasn’t her normal form, but there was no possible way a mortal would know this was closest to mourning Death could muster. In truth, she didn’t know what persona was being present. If she were only a Green Witch, she would sob, scream, and curse at the humans for doing this to their Earth. Instead, Lady Death did what she does so well.
Rio jumped when Agatha took her hands again, guiding the witch forward and coaxing her into the tub. She placed one foot in followed by the other and sank into the heat. She would be lying if she said it didn’t feel good. The heat seeped into her bones, relaxing the rot of her skin and Rio herself. The rot didn’t leave though, clinging to her as her eyes closed– like a tear would roll down her cheek. None did, none ever would. A light thump of skirts hitting the wood made her peek an eye open. A graze of lips moved over her shoulder and down her arm, kissing the that revealed from the rot. Her eyes widened, not understanding how Agatha could deal with her let alone accept her. Her lips pulled away as her hand pushed her forward. She found a warm mortal body pressing against her back, breath on her neck as arms around her midsection. Rio allowed herself to melt into the body, her eyes closed once more as lavender filled the room instead of her stench. Then, the rot disappeared, replaced by human skin. Rio checked to make sure the rot wasn’t floating more in the tub, but she only found purple buds floating there with them. Agatha’s thighs brushed against hers as lips pressed to the side of her neck. Her nose breathed in Rio’s earthy scent now, letting out a contented sigh.
Rio’s arms came up, holding onto her wife’s hands, and for a while, they stayed like that. Not a single word spoken, just love and lavender encasing them. She didn’t know how long they sat in the heat together until lips moved across her shoulder to her neck again. Agatha nuzzled into her more, kissing her cheek.
“The food is done if you are hungry,” she spoke softly, but the statement made Rio snort.
“Only for your cooking, mi corazón,” she responded in the same softness.
Her wife hummed her laughter, kissing below her jaw again, “I missed you, my love.”
“And I, you,” Rio murmured, her hands locking on the safety her wife wrapped her in.
Rio knew the only reason Agatha spoke was to kindly ask her to get up, but Rio didn’t want her touch to leave her just yet. Instead, her vines moved through the cottage, pulling the cauldron from the fire and making them two bowls of the stew. The wooden bowls and spoons were guided over, allowing them to eat in the tub without having to move. Agatha didn’t protest, allowing the Green Witch’s magic to feed them until she was finished, putting their bowls away. Rio leaned further into her wife, pinning her in the tub with her, not wanting this moment to end. She needed this after the past three weeks and needed a little longer so the rot didn’t come back. She could feel the water getting colder and without a second thought, she warmed it back up.
Agatha only held her before her hands came up, rubbing up Rio’s back and shoulders. She didn’t have physical muscles but it felt good. She closed her eyes, breathing out feeling the rot dormant. Hands moved from her shoulders and back around her midsection, pulling her back against a warm chest. She could feel the steady beating, the way they moved with Agatha’s breaths. The rot then crept back as she thought of the world in a thousand years. Her witch would have to make it till then, but the Green would not. The humans would kill her unless the Green Witches did something. She couldn’t be the only one who could feel it.
A kiss on her cheek snapped her away from the future, lips moving softly, tickling along her skin. She couldn’t stop the soft smile as Agatha pulled her closer, “Do you want to talk about it, my love?”
Rio shook her head, “It’s cosmic and Green Witch stuff, sweetheart.”
“Try me,” her wife replied.
Rio put her head down, “From my Green Witch persona, I can feel the Green hurting from the humans. From the cosmic side, I am not allowed to say.”
Agatha didn’t push, her lips still a feather touch on her cheek. She always knew what to do for Rio, what to say and what not to say, “I got something for us, honey.”
She hummed in response, “Is that why there were so many dead in the village?”
Her wife chuckled, “Maybe, but um– I stole these.”
Agatha lifted her hand from the water, her purple swirling to reveal two simple silver bands. A line of green wrapped around one and the other purple. Rio stared, not understanding why Agatha would steal rings. There wasn’t a point to jewelry for them, except the locket that sat by the bed that her wife wore everyday. She never questioned why Agatha kept it, but she knew she would kill anyone who took it. Her wife must have sensed her confusion, taking Rio’s left hand and placing the green ring on her ring finger.
“So,” Agatha started “in human terms, this means we are married.”
She snorted, “You humans are weird.”
“Well, if you don’t want it, then–” Agatha went to pull the ring away but Rio hissed, swiping her hand away and back in the water.
The laugh filled her chest, arms being wrapped around her again. Her wife kissed her cheek again but this time she turned her head, meeting the soft lips with her own. She reached up, cupping her love’s cheek before a warm tongue dipped inside her mouth, but Agatha withdrew.
“Mmm, you taste like dirt,” her nose wrinkled.
Rio chomped her teeth at her, “So you can kiss my rotting skin, but a little dirt you can’t handle?”
Agatha shrugged, “Well, I am in love with Lady Death.”
Rio smiled, surging their lips together as Agatha pulled her closer.
***
The Purgatory Road
They both froze, staring at each other as that memory surfaced between them. It was intimate, one where Rio was truly vulnerable and where Agatha had accepted the rot that was present. Agatha was always accepting, always gentle with Rio until she wasn’t…but that was because of Rio.
“Rio?”
Death snapped her head up at the teen. The Teen was testing every last nerve in her.
“What?” she snarled.
“The rot is advancing,” he pointed to her body again, noting how it climbed up her shoulders. “Keep remembering.”
Death turned her back to him, unsure if she was ready for the next part. She could show him the kills her Agatha had done for her. When the balance would be off, but not enough for her to intervene, Agatha would pounce like a wolf, cutting their throat for Rio. She could even show him about the Daughters of Liberty, how Agatha received that scar and refused to let Rio heal it. She could show him the Titanic, Hindenburg, even when Agatha tried to get with the Dolly Parton, but she seduced her man to make her jealous and it led to the beautiful hit, Jolene. Agatha had hated that Dolly didn’t use her real name, and cussed Rio out when she said Jolene had a better ring to it in the song. But all of that was after him.
Death’s voice was small, “You mean Nicholas?”
Billy nodded, “Yes, your son.”
Death let the tears run at his words. From everyone who knew of Nicky, he was only Agatha’s. Never had anyone but Agatha, acknowledge the boy as hers, and after she took him, Agatha had stopped too. Nicholas was her heart as much as Agatha was too, and oh did it kill her as much as it did Agatha when she took him away.
She laughed maniacally, “Oh dear boy, it was not a happy day when I found out about my wife’s pregnancy.”
“Why?” he whispered, creating a little more distance between them.
She swallowed hard, restarting the fire with the little powers she had left, “Because a child of Death could only mean one thing. Jen told you before as a Green Witch we thrive and protect the constant flow of growth and decay. For Death to create a life could only mean that cycle. He was going to be born a stillborn.”
***
The Cottage: 1750
Agatha had aged with grace and beauty and Rio found herself matching her, finding it a little odd for a cosmic being to stay in her twenties, but as Agatha aged, did the beauty only continue. Rio bursted through the door, excited to actually go home earlier than she told her wife. She was supposed to be gone for four months, but she was only needed for two. Upon entering, she felt it immediately, the warmth the cottage had, a careful aura that radiated through the air. Rio found her eyes to Agatha’s chair by the fire, seeing a new blanket being crocheted and her poisonous plants moved up high and out of easy reach.
Her heart dropped as Death sensed it. There wasn’t only one soul with them and this soul was not only part of Agatha, but part of her too. She felt something in her twitch, her body tensing as the magic at her fingertips sparked. Agatha appeared from their bedroom on queue and if Rio could freeze the world, she would. Her wife was glowing, radiating, so full of life. Her cheeks were soft as well as her eyes as she gave Rio a knowing smile. She was only in her nightgown, making the slight bump of her stomach noticeable. Agatha missed the way Rio grew rigid as she approached. It was true, another soul made of both of them inside of her wife.
“My love, you’re home,” Agatha gasped, hurrying into her arms.
Rio allowed it, sensing the fight brewing in the future. She nuzzled into the sweet scent of her wife, but even that changed, replaced by something else entirely. It was an essence of both life and death filling Death’s nostrils, a reminder of what would happen to the child.
She swallowed hard, shoving the fear away. She had to end it. She couldn’t let Agatha give birth to their dead child, “Yes, but Agatha–”
“You sense it, don’t you. My love, we are going to–”
Death growled, “No, we are not. You are going to terminate the pregnancy, Agatha. You will not have that child.”
***
The Purgatory Road
“STOP!” Rio screamed, falling to her knees as she sobbed. “I can’t relive this. I won’t. Please, please just let it end! Please!”
Her body rattled with ongoing pressure. The tears came, burning her cheeks as sobs were screamed into the night. She hadn’t cried over this exact moment in forever. She hated herself for how she didn’t sit her down, trying to gently explain what would happen instead of fighting her. Maybe she could have saved their marriage, their love– but she knew that was impossible. Rio could never take back time, she could slow it, go back in it, but never change it. Once the history was written, that was simply it.
The boy was suddenly in front of her, his hands on either side of her head to calm and focus her grief away for a moment– to be angry at him for touching her, but it didn’t come. The eyes were gentle and for the first time, she realized why Agatha was reminded of Nicky. She took a breath as he nodded at her.
“It’s done, Rio. Whatever you said after, is done. You both hurt each other, and it’s human to feel that. It’s human to grieve. Let yourself feel it for once in your fucking life.”
The words only pissed her off more. She snarled, shoving him to the ground and reaching for her dagger, but even that was gone. She screamed, moving away from him and punching the closest tree. Her bones cracked at the contact as more of her skin peeled away. Lady Death took a shaking breath, letting herself cry as they went back to the memory.
***
The Cottage: 1750
“What?” Agatha stepped back away from her, the brightness in her eyes cracking and the pull between suddenly changed.
Rio felt sick, a rot creeping its way forward, but she pushed through, “Agatha, you heard me. You are not having this child.”
Then there was the anger flashing, the familiar glow she would get when she would prey on witches, “Rio?”
Death snarled, “Agatha–”
“Since when do you get to decide? I thought you would be happy. Our love created this child. We can have a family.”
“No we can not,” Rio spat again, her hand reaching out to her stomach.
The force would have taken Rio’s breath but she barely felt it as Agatha’s magic slammed her to the wall, away from her, “Don’t you fucking dare!”
Rio stood tall, “Listen to me, Death having a child shouldn’t happen. There can be no good that comes from this, can’t you see that, Agatha?”
Purple crackled around the room with her wife’s growing rage, “No, I can’t see that, because we have defied greater odds, you have defied greater odds. You are able to love, able to be alive despite what you had believed for the first millennia of your existence.”
Death growled, “Yes, I do love you but this is different. This is a life from Death. It can’t be possible!”
“But it is!”
“Agatha, why can’t you listen to me?”
“Why can’t you listen to me?”
“BECAUSE IT SHOULDN’T BE AN ARGUMENT. I WILL NEVER HAVE CHILDREN!” Lady Death had let her true voice slip, it was shaking the very floorboards of their home.”
Tears welled in Agatha’s eyes as her magic slammed Rio again against the door, “This isn’t your choice! Get out.”
“What?” Death paled.
“Get out,” Agatha cried at her, hitting her with her magic.
“Agatha, you can’t have this baby. It will only hurt you–”
Her wife didn’t hear her, blowing her through the door. Rio let her powers stand her up, facing off her wife who went to send another blow against her. She ducked, and kept dodging each of the blows until Agatha stopped, panting. Tears scorched her cheeks before disappearing back into the cottage. Within seconds, she was dressed, a satchel around her neck. Rio forced herself in front of her. They were almost the same height, but Death made her cower.
“Where do you think you are going?” Death snarled as her heart pounded in her ears.
“Away from you,” Agatha shared the same venom, but her lip trembled.
Lady Death only sneered, “Sure you are, witch killer. You and I, our fate is intertwined and we made sure of that fifty four years ago. You love me. ”
Agatha snapped, “If only you could love me and this child. Don’t bother being there when it’s time.”
Agatha pushed her, storming into the woods as Death stared after her, “Fine! Run, baby run!”