BELLA
I can’t believe Edward made me go to the prom. Of course we hit upon the topic that I cannot back down from. I love Edward more than anything and we should be together for all eternity. I can’t stand the thought that he will be alone after I die…
I don’t want to age either, now that I think about it. Edward would always remain the same. At some point people are going to think I’m a pedophile. Also, it might gross me out at some point too. That is assuming that he really stays with me. I know that he says he loves me, but I also realize that it does not really make sense that someone who embodies perfection would ever want to be with clumsy me. I need air, so I go for a walk…okay a hobble…in the bit of forest behind our yard. I go for a little ways and get so wrapped up in my thoughts I almost trip on a root. Straightening up, I look off the path.
Something catches my eye. I know Edward does not want me to be alone in these woods, but I can still see the trail to my house. I needed time to think and the house is getting boring. I walk towards what caught my attention. As I approach, I notice that whatever it is, it is covered in a pitch black cloak. Wait a second, the thing is breathing. Who wears a cape like that? I rush over. It turns out to be a girl. She looks to be about my age. Actually, she looks like she could be my sister. Sadly, there is blood all over her. I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think that she is going to last very long. For some reason, I can’t smell it. I don’t know why it doesn’t affect me.
“I’m so very sorry, but there is no other choice,” she whispers, interrupting my musings.
“Please just hold on, I’ll call a doctor,” I plead as I pull out my cell phone. She grabs my arm to stop me.
“It’s very important…there’s not much time…” she starts to tell me something.
“I can call a doctor who will be here in seconds,” I try to assure her.
“It doesn’t matter, my time has come. Please just listen, I’m a reaper, as in grim. My powers will transfer to the closest person, which is you. I’m sorry, but your life is about to change completely. You will have a week to break ties, because after that the power will take over. After that point, you will sense those who are about to die and make sure their lives end. This is not limited to humans. You will have the power to drain existence out of anything you touch. The heightened senses and intelligence will go hand in hand with physical changes. You will only be able to speak to people who are about to die. All of your emotions will fade. I would not wish this curse on anyone, especially since it makes you stay young until another reaper comes for you. You will not die until that day. I have been a reaper for centuries. If you try to stay, you will drain the life out of those around you. There is not enough time to tell you everything, but you will learn soon enough. Please just break your ties and learn to live as a reaper,” she hurries to tell me. I know she is telling me the truth, I can feel it.
“Hold on,” I beg her. Tears start streaming down my face as what she tells me sinks in. Vampires are real, so why would I think that there are no other immortal races.
Despite my pleading and sobs, she fades away…literally. All the blood and her body just fade away, leaving the pitch black cloak. I grab it and hobble as fast as I can home. Why does it take so long to get there?
When I finally make it back to my room I search for a place to hide the cloak. A week is all that I have, so I had better work fast. Tomorrow I’m just going to enjoy. It’ll be my last normal day. I find a loose floorboard in the back of my closet. I pry it up a bit and shove the cloak down in it. Forcing the board back into place, I think I hear something. Quickly I stand up and turn around. I know that if it was Edward that I would be moving so slow to him, but if it is Charlie, I have a shot of closing the door before he knocks. I do get the door closed and hop over to the dresser to grab my toiletry bag. I want to be ready for bed when Edward gets here. We’ve wasted too much time already. I shower and brush my teeth. I go about halfway down the stairs and yell goodnight to Charlie. He walks into my view and says good night too.
By the time I get to my bedroom door, I know that Edward is here. He sweeps me up and brushes my door shut without slamming it. The girly part of me swoons a little at the fact that he feels the need to care for me. I let that part take hold because I don’t want to have drama now that we have such a short time limit. We lay on the bed, just cuddling for awhile.
“You smell different,” he comments.
“Okay…letting that slide…” I respond. What else could I say?
“It’s weird, like your scent is fading a bit. I don’t know how to really describe it,” he tries to pull out a reasonable way for that to sound.
He couldn’t suspect anything just because my scent is fading, could he? I guess that makes sense though. It would not bode well for whoever I am after to be able to tell that I am coming. Vampires are no exception. Scent is a powerful tool that they use. I just hope I can distract Edward enough to let tomorrow be free of suspicion.
“Hey, you okay?” he asks me as he gently tugs at my chin until I look at him.
“Yeah,” I answer.
“You seem fairly preoccupied,” he comments. This is going to be harder than I thought. Why can’t the stupid vampire just let us have this time?
