Summary: River sings. It's creepy. Death!fic. Written for comment-fic at LJ. Prompt: River, Death is coming closer. He's knocking at the door.

The song lyrics are from a traditional Appalachian dirge, but I was thinking of the Jen Titus version (from Supernatural) as I was writing this.

This is my first Firefly story, so please be nice!

O Death

River sings. It isn't enough to be a nuisance, but it is a definite distraction. It isn't so much the volume, or even that she's off-key (she isn't - she's perfectly on pitch).

It's what she's singing.

"O Death, o Death, o Death

Won't you spare me over 'til another year?"

It's creepy. That's all there is to it.

"But what is this that I can't see?" she sings to Kaylee.

"That's a pretty song," the mechanic says, "Shiny."

"With ice cold hands taking hold of me," sings River in reply, flitting off with a swish of her gauzy blue dress.

"When God is gone and the Devil takes hold, / Who will have mercy on your soul?" she asks Shepherd Book.

"God would not forsake us," the preacher replies, "Not at the end."

"O, Death, о Death, o Death."

She dances by Jayne and flips one of his knives. "No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold / Nothing satisfies me but your soul."

"Hey, give that back," he growls, "Feng le."

She gives him her vaguest smile.

"Girl belongs in a bughouse."

"Oh, Death," sings River to Simon during their daily exam, "Well I am Death, none can excel."

"Hold still," he says, and sighs when she gives him a playful kick. "River."

She slips into the bridge, where Wash and Zoe are having a minor marital spat. "I'll open the door to heaven or hell."

They stare at her. Her blood-red dress swirls and flutters back out of the room.

"What do you think she means by that?" wonders Wash.

"Crazy," mutters Zoe, sounding more worried than not.

"O, Death, о Death," she croons to Mal.

"Enough already," he gasps, trying to hold his insides inside. Simon hurries over with his bag of medical equipment, but he knows that it's too late. There's nothing he can do.

"My name is Death and the end is here..."