Kaia couldn't help but glance back at the door, something didn't sit right. The energy that flowed from that man, it was wrong. Even for a spell gone astray, it felt all kinds of... off. Calling himself Death, however, that was just absurd. Death does not have a physical form and they certainly cannot be contained in one. It's almost laughable! Quite the touch to be offended, too. And the level of panic, very amusing. She couldn't bring herself to imagine Death as anything other than morbidly composed. The poor soul's mind really did seem to have left him. "Never thought Death would look so depressingly handsome," she joked. "Really should give the unlucky man a blanket, though. And some water. Lest you intend on leading him to Death."

The grimy man made a dismissive gesture, "Of course, of course. I only hope that he will be willing to accept them in his protest."

With that, Kaia paid and set off on the remainder of her errands. The day passed with the man's eyes haunting her thoughts. The best solution for a spell gone wrong making you think of yourself as a different person [i]was[/i] to keep you safe until it wore off. She's heard crazy stories of how minds broke under the pressure of a misspoken word or misplaced rune. Magic's a fiesty mistress and an innocent blunder could leave you without a face. Calmness filled her once more with her protection spell refreshed. She pushed the man from her mind and resumed her work. Kaia had pursued digital design; a career that had offered her freedom as well as decent money. She dissolved herself in work, allowing the outside world to slip by.

A week passed, and night after night, dreams would take her. She'd find herself trapped up to the hip in a thick, black goo. Days would tick by as she watched flames consume unburning trees. Caterpillars would turn to cacoons would turn to butterflies, but they wouldn't die. With wings ablaze, they would fall, but they wouldn't die. Trapped in the goo, they would drown, but they wouldn't die. The sun would not set and night never came. Crows sat atop the trees, eyes unmoving from the frozen sun, consumed by the fire. Each moment that passed, the chaos became worse, but the only thing that would end was her dream when she woke. 

"Must be burned out," Kaia tried to convince herself after yet another night of restlessness. "It makes no sense." She moved to her laptop and did something she never does; check the news. She always avoided it. The news was always swamped with negativity. After all, positivity didn't garner enough attention and drama. She frowned as she looked through headlines, selecting a specific one. [i]Critical church bombing victim still alive after 19 heart attacks [/i] Shit, that sounded awful. Reading through the article, it referred to the strange global occurences. She jumped from link to link.
[i] Victims of collapsed building still heard screaming beneath rubble - search and rescue still underway 
Car crash survivor lives with an impaled heart 
Man lives after freak decapitation
Prisoner alive after receiving the injection - sentence served? [/i]
The further she read, the more panic and confusion seemed to fill the articles.
"Could it be? No... Impossible. Even the mere thought of is ridiculous!" She announced as the caged man came to mind again. "Yet..." Kaia quickly jotted down some of her obscure ingredients, grabbing her hoodie as she set out into the evening. 

Rushing through the streets, she tried to assure herself that such a task is unachievable. Never mind that, it's completely illogical and idiotic! Kaia couldn't put this outlandish thought to the side, she had to confirm. She had to eliminate that possibility. Death couldn't be trapped in a basement. [i]Death[/i] couldn't be contained. 

It took a couple of minutes for the door to open after her panicked knocking, "I'm so sorry to bother this late. I seem to have run out of a few things I need urgently." She held the list forward.

"It's late, my girl," the man proclaimed through tired eyes, "You can be happy you're my favorite." Again, he stepped to the side for her to enter. His eyes scanned over the list once more, "Oh, these are your strange ones. What are you up to this time?"

"Practicing some family magic," Kaia smiled, "I have a test coming up, you see. It'll decide my position." She tried acting normal. She despised lying.

"Aah, that's quite a thing. These old family traditions can be stressful and demanding. I keep your weird requests downstairs. You're the one who buys most of them. I'll have to dig a bit for this third one, though," he spoke as he started the way down. Kaia eagerly followed this time.