*Angel of Death

Intro: Percy is a personification of death who is over the suicides. She is more of someone who is the last help offered. In this case she can see that the man isn't a typical jumper and wanted to learn more about what caused his death. I wanted to have a play with the terms "angel of death" and "merchant of death" and show the differences between the two groups of people.

Percy looked at the ground seventy-two stories below her dangling feet. Before death, something like this would have terrified her. Now she only felt the urge to jump, to feel the wind streaming through her hair as she plummeted to the ground below. Not that it would do her any good. Death was no longer an option when one had already lived through it. Life after death wasn't boring, yet that was the problem. She didn't want an exciting death. She wanted to be buried in the ground like a normal corpse.

Someone stepped up onto the edge of the roof next to her. She looked at the worn shoes, the stitching pulling out from the seams and the leather worn and polished as much as possible. She gazed upwards. Crisp pressed trousers slightly faded at the knees and butt. A well used belt held the too large leg ware up and kept a thin shirt in place.

The man didn't even glance her direction. Instead his eyes were squeezed closed, a prayer of forgiveness on his lips as the tears dribbled down his cheeks. Percy glanced back down the dark glass face of the building which reflected the red sunlight of the faded day.

"They won't forgive you, if you jump," she said tapping her heels against the side of the building.

The man saw her for the first time. He didn't say anything. He didn't even twitch at the appearance of her and she cut quite a figure. Her dress dated back to her death and she had been considered the belle of the ball in her time. Though the dress was nearly a hundred years old, it still looked brand new, straight from the seamstress.

"That is the problem with suicides," she continued meeting the man's gaze. "No one receives forgiveness. You are jumping not because you are mad, but because you feel like a failure. When they hear of your death they will think they drove you to it."

The man looked at her, meeting her gaze for the first time. His eyes looked dull, dark circled rimmed the bottom. His eyes showed he was already dead. She turned away.

He wasn't like the others. Over the years she'd convinced hundreds of people to step down from the building and return home. She was good at her job. There had been times when the person had still jumped, but this one was different. This one was about selfishness or self-loathing, it was something deeper.

"I'm missing something." She drummed her fingers on the wall. "I can't leave it at this."

The next day she looked through the paper she'd picked up before heading to her post. The man was a husband and father of three children. All of whom were currently missing. He had been a scientist. Percy frowned. Three other scientists had died this last month, one had jumped off a bridge, one had been shot in the back, while the third had been hit by a car. She only knew about the others because she kept in contact with the others. None of the others had thought anything of the other deaths, but then again Percy was always digging too much into events that weren't her concern.

"I can't leave it alone." She stood up and jumped from the building. The exhilaration took her breath away but it didn't last long. She landed lightly on the sidewalk, no one any the wiser for her actions. She was only seen when she wanted to be seen. All of the men worked for a private weapons manufacturer located in the center of the train yard. Getting into the important looking office was a little more difficult but she found the opportunity to slip through an open window.

"With three of them dead, we can't finish the project." One of the men said. The man held a cigarette in his hand and sucked at it a couple of times a minutes. His hands shook and his voice was testament to how long he'd been addicted.

"You shouldn't have left them alone with the prototype." This man sat behind a large mahogany desk.

"You can't blame this on me. I did everything you asked for."

"But this is your fault. I promised them a working nuclear bomb. How do I keep my buyers happy if you can't even keep the scientists in line? If you can finish this project, I'll consider not killing you. Otherwise, your life ends now. I don't care who finishes it."

The man behind the desk raised a revolver.

"I'll make sure it's done." The other man said and ran from the room. Percy followed after him, and made it just before the door closed.

The man hurried to a lab where two men in white coats sat on stools, their hands in their laps. Percy started trying to convince the man that death wasn't the only option, but her words had no effect. He didn't even notice her talking in his ear.

"Get to work," he said.

"No," one of the scientists replied.

"We won't do it. That's why we destroyed it once we learned the truth," the other one said.

"You don't have a choice anymore," the man said pulling out a gun. "You help, or you die."

"We help and we die. We know you are planning on killing us once this is all over." One of the scientists stood up from his stool and walked towards the gun so that it was pressing against his chest. "The others had more courage than we did, but now I too am ready to die. You cannot force me to build this monstrosity. You're nothing but a merchant of death."

"What can I say? It pays well. If you won't work, I'll find someone who will."

Two shots. The scientists met their deaths honorably.

The man was spooked and that gave her the opening she needed. Percy spoke, trying to keep her voice free of the fury she felt."You do realize you won't be able to find anyone to replace them, don't you. You're all dead if you can't deliver the bomb. You might as well end it all."

The man acted as she predicted running back to the office. Two more shots. As she stepped over the bodies of the merchants, she spared them no glance. She needed to get back to her post.