OK, land over there, in front of the big cathedral.

  He pulled up from a horizontal position and started quickly descending feet first. Moments later, he was craning his head up, looking at the centuries old, gargantuan place of worship.

  *Mentor, where’s Taylor?*

  Hold on, Death rattled, I don’t usually keep tabs on souls who have been shot dead.

  Shot dead? Ever had heard a little about guns but besides knowing that they were effective killing tools, didn’t know much else about them – and he wanted to keep it that way.

  To distract himself, he floated around the square in front of the cathedral. He looked up to the cathedral once more. Up top, front and center, a clock face stared down curiously at him, its hands indicating it was around half past twelve, with the dark sky indicating am rather than pm.

  There weren’t many people about at all. Only two, in fact. To distract himself, he swished across to the first, a woman. From the gait she was frozen in, as well as the tension in her face, she seemed to be in a rush to get home. Her eyes were surreptitiously trained on the other person slouched against a wall, head bowed. Ever could see that time had slowed just as the glass bottle he was holding fell out of his hand. It now hung in mid-air, its contents churned into a small wave that crashed against the dark glass.

  He looked up; the cathedral was getting smaller and smaller by the second as he was pulled away from it.

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  *Mentor, are we going to Taylor now?*

  No, we’re going to get enchiladas.

  Ever raised an eyebrow. *What’s an enchila–*

  Of course we’re going to Taylor now. Death would have rolled his eyes if he had any.

  —--

  There was something wrong about the place they arrived in. Ever took cover, crouching next to a car with Policía Municipal on the side. The grim-faced officers were just stepping out. A shard of blue light from the top of the car cut across a building, highlighting Spanish gang tags on its roller doors. The accompanying red light faded into the distance, where down the road he could make out another police car, which would be there in 30 seconds – if time were to resume.

  OK, Death said, voice low, the people that were killed are just around the corner. The souls, including Taylor’s, should be all there too.

  *Should?* Ever murmured, clutching his scythe in both hands.

  Like I said, I don’t usually keep track of souls that were violently murdered. All I can tell you is that my sisters have probably started consuming souls, but Taylor’s hasn’t been munched on… yet.

  Ever moved out from the cover of the car, floating into the open.

  Remember, the moment you see Taylor, time’s going to resume. Things will start getting hairy...

  Ever heard none of what his mentor said. His scythe dangled loose by his side. All he could do was stare at the corpse of Taylor Pagoto, her cold, dead eyes staring back at him as she lay in a pool of blood.