Mother and I get ready to leave for the shrine so we can pray that Father's military trip goes smoothly. On our way to the church, we notice that a man was following us. Every turn we made, he'd make too. Compared to the man following us, the church is just a listless thought. The car started to beep inferring that we needed to get gas. "I don't want to stop, because that man could follow us there and then do something once we get out. But, we need gas or we won't make it." mother says with a wobble in her voice. We arrive at a red light, but I feel myself tighten up because the gas station is on our right. Mother looks at me, and then returns her attention to the road as she turns in, and as expected, the man follows. We drive next to the gas pump and put the car in park. "Now, go inside and stay there until I text you that the coast is clear." she says as I start to unbuckle. Mother hands me 5 dollars and tells me to buy something for myself. I quickly hop out of the car and run to the store. I push open the door to an eerie hum rumbling through the store. I ignore it and begin to look for anything that is edible. I go to the food section and see that the whole row is empty. I look around the rest of the store and notice that everything that is edible is gone. The whole store is bereft. "I thought this was supposed to be a gas station, not an abandoned house." I mumble to myself. I start to head for the door when a man with a scorched complexion blocks the exit. I begin to object but he smiles and I go quiet. His face goes from a creepy smile to a grim expression and I realize it was the man that was following me and Mother. He pulls out a deck of cards and moves his nimble fingers to shuffle them. "One of these cards will force upon you death. The good part for you is that there's one bad card, and 52 good cards. Don't worry, child, nothing bad should be able to happen to such a meek being like you." My vision begins to go blurry with tears, but I quickly brush them away. This is where I die I tell myself. I try to pry more information from this strange man, but he ignores my question and holds out the cards for me to choose one. I frantically move my hands to a card a little to the right of the middle. My breath catches as it so easily slides out. I take a deep breath as I turn over the card. On it is a skull with the words "Mortem" on the bottom, which is Latin for death. Suddenly, my vision is black and my mind falls into this cavernous pit of darkness.