Alright, I'm close to the 50k mark, but nowhere near closing up my story, because I'm absolutely stuck about how the final battle will be won.
Brief synopsis: Bridget is a 19 year old spirit healer who falls in love with 20 year old Simon, who appears initially to have no special talent of his own. Over time, she discovers his secret: he works for Death, heading up the local killings. He also has a special supernatural talent that he can transfer thoughts and memories to people by touching them (this is how Death conned him into the contract in the first place - he convinced Simon that his special talent could be used to help people have a pleasant transition from this life to the next).
However, now that Death has discovered that Bridget can heal people with her hands, he fears that she will put a stop to his entire purpose, so he orders Simon to kill her. Obviously, Simon loves her, and doesn't want to do it.
So, the kids have to go up against Death, with several goals in mind:
1) Save Bridget's life
2) Save Simon's life (if he doesn't kill her by the end of the week, Death has promised to have another of his minions kill both of them)
3) Get Simon out of his contract with Death so he can be a normal 20 year old
Obviously, they can't 'kill' Death, as that's entirely unrealistic (funny, right, since all the rest of this is so realistic ;), so what could they do to challenge him and achieve those three things, without actually destroying Death? For the record, they've also got at their disposal Bridget's best friend Alice, who (Liz Sherman-style), can spontaneously burst into flames, and Bridget's crazy doomsday prophet roommate, who turns out to really have potentially-useful accurate psychic visions.
I guess the point here is that they need to get Death to compromise, and realize he's being a total Death Grinch. Aside from finding him a Mrs. Death to make him less bitter, what can the kids do?
Your help is greatly appreciated, and I will thank the entire YA NaNoWriMo forum in my acknowledgment page :)
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possible titles for my 2008 novel:
I Love You Too, Wait, You're the Guy Killing All the Other College Students?
Why Can't I Just Meet a Nice Boy Who Isn't Enslaved By Death?
I Knew Signing Up for that Spirit Healing Class Was a Bad Idea
177,771 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2008 - 15 10
Is there some sort of bargain they can make with Death so that he'll let Simon go? It would suck to throw someone else under the bus in Simon's place, but if they're really hell-bent (haha) on getting Simon released from his duties, and saving Bridget, it might be one of the only ways.
Maybe they can barter with ten years of their lives, or something like that? He leaves them alone for ten years and then comes back to get them/Simon (ala Supernatural).
Could always go the first born kid route. "Okay, you're free for now, but when you have a kid, all three of you are coming to work for me. Don't worry, our family health insurance plan is great."
Love your story, btw. Sounds awesome :)
52,234 / 50,000
Nov 29, 2008 - 15 04
Does Death work for anyone - like the Lords of the Afterlife? Perhaps they could take a secret about Death discovered by the prophet to them - or at least threaten to. Or they could bring the complaint about how Simon was tricked into working for Death.
Or could they threaten him with Bridget going to a hospital and curing everyone she can so that his daily totals are down? Alice could be there to keep an eye out for Death's other minions being sent to stop them and Simon could also help with that - taking one of the minions and transfereing some thought where that person would no longer wish to work for Death.
50,160 / 50,000
Nov 29, 2008 - 15 41
Bridget should meet with Death and offer to take over Simon's job, freeing him from his contract and proving to Death that she's not going to go around healing every single sick person in the world. Plus, her healing skills would be really complementary with the death work- she could visit hospitals and cure a few people, kill a few people, or she could heal someone long enough to say goodbye to their families, or kill someone who was ready to die and in exchange save a child...
cue the sequel, getting Bridget out of her contract...
50,675 / 50,000
Dec 1, 2008 - 15 18
I think you need a loophole in the contract. You imply that Death conned Simon into taking the job, so maybe you can find one there. Death wasn't exactly dealing in good faith.
Finding a way for your heroes to blackmail Death is also a fun-sounding way to go. I mean, talk about a ballsy move...
You may be able to combine those strategies by creating some pantheon-lore for your world in which it's the "law of the gods" or whatever that the gods aren't allowed to lie to morals, or aren't allowed to use their offices for personal gain, or something. The penalty for doing so should be something severe, something worse than Death himself. Then, if your heroes manage it right, they can convince Death that by conning Simon, he has broken a higher law, and if Death doesn't leave them the hell alone, _forever_ (hint, hint), that they'll rat him out to the higher authority that enforces that higher law.
50,057 / 50,000
Dec 2, 2008 - 15 24
Well I think I might have heard once that if you were pressured to sign a contract or under a lot of stress then the contract could be called off. You might want to research that, because I think signing a contract with Death would put me under a lot of stress.