Life and Death part 9

If you haven't started reading this short story, now is the time! Life and Death

Part 9

A few drinks turned into a lot of drinks and before Eve knew it she was standing in the middle of a dance floor gyrating her hips against some random guy and it was surprisingly fun. The place was packed and she had lost sight of Jen about an hour earlier. On a normal night she would have gone home, but she had excess energy to burn and was enjoying herself too much to pack it in just yet. This was more entertaining than what awaited her at home. Her feet were a little sore in the heels she had on, maybe is she had another drink it would block out the pain. Slowing her movement down she turned to smile at the guy that had been keeping her company for most of the night. Stepping away from him she headed for the bar.

“Bourbon and coke thanks.” The bartender nodded and went to get her drink for her.

“I will pay for this one.” Turning her head she saw her mystery guy from the dance floor next to her smiling. Suddenly she felt very shy. He was taller than her by about a foot, but his height was not imposing. His tanned skin made his blue eyes stand out way too much and his smile, well she had seen glimpses of it before, but nothing like what she was seeing now.

“Thanks”

“My name is Mitchell.”

“Eve.” The bartender arrived back in front of them and true to his word Mitchell paid for her drink.

“I don’t think that I have seen you here before.” He had turned and was watching the dance floor out of the corner of his eye while talking to her. His head was still facing her

“It is not my scene normally. I was here with some of the girls from work, but I lost them a while ago.”

“Lucky for me then.” Once again he smiled and her skin felt like it was going red. She was attracted to this guy. There was something about his presence that pulled her in. Her body buzzed with unanticipated expectation and desire.

“I guess so. This is my last drink of the night though. I need to start thinking about heading home.”

“Promise me one more dance before you go?”

“Think that I can manage that.” Swallowing the remaining liquid in her glass she allowed him to lead her back to the dance floor for one last spin.

Right when Even was about to leave Mitchell, gripped her hips tightly, pulled her up against him and planted his lips on hers. The connection was electric. Her head felt instantly light as she was swept along for a ride of sensations.

“I really….” She was silenced by another searing kiss. “….Should go….”

“I could drive you home if you like.” The offer was one that she seriously considered. She had had way too much to drink and wouldn’t drive. The prospect of trying to catch a taxi was not one that she looked forward to though especially on a Friday night. You only live once, so why not have a little fun?

“That would be great.” She learned in to gently kiss him thanks and was swept away once more.

“We should get out of here. This place is too public for where my thoughts are heading.” She knew exactly what he was referring to with the comment and for once she was not going to over think it and just go with what felt right for her.

Arriving back at Eve’s place they barely made it in the door before they were tearing at one another’s clothes in a frantic effort to be skin to skin with each other. His body was toned, more that she had anticipated. It had been a while since she had been so close to a man, more from her choice than anything else but instinct took over and it no longer matter how long the break between men had been. She was just looking for a little bit of fun and if that fun came in the shape and form of a one night stand, she was all for it.

It was like freefalling from the sky. The first orgasm caught her by surprise and before she could recover Mitchell had her building again beneath him. Her body was alive with sensations as his hands lazily roamed her body. She was uptight and desperate, she clung to him as he drove deeper and deeper into her. The glorious friction that he was creating sent her out of her mind with a need that she hadn’t known existed. Cresting for the second time it was like light was blasting through her body and seeping out of her pores. She could best describe it as an explosion of bliss. This time she managed to pull Mitchell over the edge with her. Together they lay there totally spent breathing hard as they tried to recover. He was silent as he lay beside her and she wondered what to do next. This was the part she hated, the uncomfortable silence after the fact. There was still a spark in the air and in the afterglow of what had just happened she found herself wanting him again. Turning to face Mitchell he was staring at the ceiling, but once he felt her eyes on him he looked at her and raised his eyebrows as if knowing what she was thinking. In the dark of the room she felt her face got red. Mitchell reached for her she was treated to a quick smile before she found herself sitting atop him with his hands roaming over her body once more. Feeling powerful she took what she wanted and they used one another into the early hours of the morning.

Eve slept silently next to him as he got out of the bed and dressed in the dark. Mitchell couldn’t help but be amazed by her. She had a mystifying energy about her that he’d never seen or felt before. Sparing her one last glance he walked from the room. Walking down the hall he felt his brother’s presence in the lounge.

“I don’t need to ask how you went, do I. I can hear her heart beating still.” Mitchell looked at him.

“I am satisfied physically, but perplexed mentally. She is amazing, but you already know that don’t you?” There was a look that crossed his face, and he knew what Mitchell meant. “Father is not going to be happy.”

“No he isn’t, but maybe I might be spared a little since I am not the only one that can’t kill her.”

They stood there talking while she slept. Mitchell’s specialty was dying in the middle of sex. Dying of excitement for a better word. The fact that he had failed only added to his personal theory that Eve was life.

“I will come with you to see father tomorrow. He will know by then anyway and is going to want some kind of explanation. It might be a case of safety in numbers.” His older brother knew their father better than the rest of them. He had worked with him for longer.

“Thank you Mitchell. I will see you then.”

With a nod of his head, Mitchell left, leaving death standing in the middle of the lounge with the knowledge of what had happened down the hall earlier between them. He let her sleep. She would need it after all that exercise. It had been hard to not listen to her. With each cry that he heard he loathed his brother for trying to do his job and his father for causing so many hassles. There was no need for him to ruin her night now. In the morning she would regret the night for sure, but for now he was not in the mood to be happy about his temporary win with his father gloat.

 

Words on a page

Need heavy music to pump through my soul and laughter to fill my mind. I am but a fictional character caught in the web of life. Nothing is as it seems, but what it seems to be is only a possibility. Time ceases to hold meaning as we all but float through the gates of life. We smile and talk but show no emotion. Devoid of understanding as we are used as puppets to entertain an unseen person. Pulled in different directions, we are given no choice, no rights and are forced to be what everyone wants us to be.

There is no right nor wrong, no heaven nor hell. All we have is all that we have been given. Working for an invisible cause, not exactly sure of direction, but no mind to help work out the way. Imperfection is what we see in one another and to a degree ourselves, but there is not magic fix. Stuck, unable to be rational, unable to think and no way to find a better place.

Lost in limbo, a land no one has yet to understand. A place so desolate that dreams and nightmares are the same thing. Friends are but a thing of the past as we walk alone. What does it mean? The answer is nothing. There is no meaning, nothing to worry about and nothing left to learn. What once was is no longer valid, opinion and thoughts have long since escaped even the most talented of minds as we all become drones of the world. Acclimatised to a new way of life that neither protects nor harms us, but keeps us surprisingly safe from unseen existences that try to cause us unmeasurable pain. Cocooned within the lies that we are told and the seeds that are planted, we are delirious and delusional.

Somewhere deep inside our very being with feel safe. Even in the back of our controlled minds we know this to be false, a mirage to keep us from going insane, but our minds are weak and unable to accept anything but what we have been told.

A child cries an unheard tune and for a split second hearts constrict and fear is felt. Some go insane with the smallest amount of the emotion while in others it sparks a light. Something to work towards. Hope even. The curtain falls with but a heavy hand as the world becomes silent again.

Peace so temporarily disrupted has changed something. The beat of life and blood in your body awakens your spirit. You soar through the clouds only to come crashing back down to the ground at the insistence of your maker, for humans were never meant to fly. Night and day blend into this unknown thing. Not quite fully light, but not quite fully dark. A permanent light as you lay trying to sleep, forces you to stay awake.

I dance, not for myself, but for a master. I open my mouth to sing, only to have my tongue removed to keep the silence. It is now that I feel pain. It tears at me. Unseen by all who can see me and unheard. I stay strong and stop the tide of tears that want to wash down my face and those of the people around me.

I am me, there is no one else in this world the same as me. I want to learn, I want to love, I want to be free. No longer content with being a slave to an unnamed force, I demand my soul and my right to choose back. Fighting for what is not only mine, but everyone else's, I wage a war. I dare to think for myself and to dream of a future that I never thought possible.

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Life and Death part 8

If you haven't started reading this short story, now is the time! Life and Death

Part 8 

Eyes wide open she took a few deep breaths, the dream had been vivid and even now she mentally took stock of her body, feeling like she really had just fallen. She was sore, but before she could concentrate further on it she was pulled back under, back into the world of dreams.

He watched Eve unobtrusively and wondered what was going through her head. Wondered what she was seeing in her mind. She was still resting. Her brief moment awake had her looking alert. More alert than he would have liked to have seen her. She was supposed to be getting weaker instead she seemed just like the same.  Now she was slumped in the bed once more and he wasn’t sure what to think. He resisted the urge to go and touch her again. He needed his strength. Tomorrow this was going to end, one way or the other. Tomorrow she would die.

Stretching Eve woke, a little stiff and sore, but she could move. Getting up she looked around, death was nowhere to be seen. It had been a long night and while she knew that she had slept, it didn’t feel like she had. Her bones ached from deep within. Dreams had chased her all night as she slept and every bit of pain she felt in those dreams seemed to be real pain now that she was awake. Standing under a hot shower she tried to wash away the feeling. It woke her up, but the soreness still remained. Dressing in silence she wasn’t surprised to see death appear in the mirror behind her as she applied her makeup.

“Morning, how did you sleep?” Surprise was clear on his face as she spoke. She didn’t know if he slept at all, but as she asked, it was less about that and more about breaking the habit of waiting for him to talk first. She wanted to get back some of the control that he had over her.

“The night passed. You on the other hand had an active night. I watched you. What where you dreaming about?”

“None of your business.” Eve schooled her face not to show emotion to him at all. “Are you going to follow me again today?”

“Maybe, but that is none of your business either.” Even as he tossed the same words she had used back at her.

“You’re trying to kill me, how is that not my business?” He ignored her and disappeared from her sight. “I know that you are still there. Just because you don’t want to talk to me anymore doesn’t give you the right to disappear.” When he didn’t respond she sighed and continued getting ready for work.

How had that not worked? No one had ever lived from that before. It was Levi’s trademark. Levi was the one who had taught him how to do it properly for extreme cases that pain didn’t work for. Sure he had never needed to use it before, but how did it not work on her? He stood there watching her finish getting ready for work and still she showed no sign that she was weak at all. In fact with the makeup on, she looked powerful, much more powerful than he felt. The lack of rest and sleep he was getting was beginning to take a toll on him. Maybe it was time that he spoke with his father again and risk whatever extra punishment may come his way. His missed Eve as she breezed out the front door, but for the first time in a few days, he was not going to follow her. It was time to catch up with his family.

While Eve was at work, Death was visiting his brothers one by one on his way to see their father. It wasn’t easy tracking them all down, but he managed it without too many issues at all. It just took time. With each brother he explained the situation and told them what he had tried. None of them could suggest anything more to do. They had never seen anyone withstand death before. Levi suggested his favourite preference for death, but was disappointed to hear that it had already been tried and hadn’t worked. A painless quick death always worked for Levi. Eric was another brother that was disappointed that his night time touch and die during dreams had not worked. Jordon was a fan of accidental deaths, but that was harder to work out when there was only one person allowed to die. That was why Jordon always got the multiples. Heath suggested poisoning, but it wasn’t effective all the time. Mitchell was the only one who had an idea that might be of use, but to put it into effect it would mean Mitchell doing the job and his father wouldn’t be happy at the suggestion. Each of them had their speciality, they knew all the different ways to kill whether they used them or not, but each of them tended to stick with what they were the best at. It was how they worked and it was how their father liked it to run.

In the end he swallowed his pride and sought out his father. The godfather of death as he liked to call himself some days. In the years that had passed he had never aged physically. He found his father underground in his favourite dungeon. The walls were black, staircases steep and the corridors were long dark and winding. It was like walking into the deepest depths of hell. He was sitting on an old chair against the wall with papers on the table in front of him.

“Have you completed that last task yet?” his father hadn’t looked up yet, but disapproval was clear in his voice at the time that he was taking. Their jobs were to move quickly and fast unless specified. This was not one of those go slow times.

“No yet father. I am still having a few issues.”

“Issues? What is so hard about this task? I can repeat it for you again slowly if you like. Kill Eve Adams.” He looked up now and his eyes bored into mine.

“She is an angel.”

“I thought that I tasked you to kill the last of them years ago? Don’t tell me you failed back then too.”

“No father. Ava Adams was the one we suspected to be the last of her kind. I suspect that she didn’t know what Eve was back then.”

“I am still not seeing the issue. You have killed many angels before” Impatience started to filter into his voice.

“She is more than just an angel. She won’t die.”

“How have you tried so far?” His father regarded him with undisguised curiosity.

“I have tried all the ways that I normally use and some of the ways my brothers use and have perfected and they have not helped either. It is like she is immune to death. The total opposite to what I am.” He knew that it sounded silly, but it had come to him like lightening. There was no other reason that made sense. Even as he uttered the words he doubted them himself, but if he was death, then she had to be life.

“Life, what makes you say that?” His father scoffed.

“Twice I have seen her bring a black rose to life again. She resists death even when she is sleeping. She feels the pain I can inflict, but doesn’t die. It is the only thing that I can think of. How am I supposed to kill life?”

“There is no such possibility. We are death. No one can resist our force.” His father’s tone was one of warning and force.

“I am telling you that this one can. She won’t die. I don’t think that I am going to be able it kill her within the week, if at all.” He hated saying those words for fear of what they could mean for him, but they were the words that he was thinking and he would rather be upfront and honest now, than lie and continue to fail.

“I have had enough of this.” His voice boomed and echoed throughout the room. “I am going to send Mitchell in to see if he can help you out. Stay out of his way. Be warned though, if he succeeds where you fail, the outcome will still be the same and the punishment will still stand.” Understanding the threat he walked back through the corridors and up to the ground level. Was it wrong that he hoped that his brother failed? If that happened he might not suffer. As the sun hit his skin he felt slightly warmer. It was an unusual feeling considering that he was normally so cold.

Eve hadn’t seen him all day. She wasn’t sure whether to be glad or worried by that fact. His reaction to her this morning made it was clear that the games were stopping and that he was starting to get worried.  Sure he had tried to kill her a few times in the last few days, but the smug smile that he had first greeted her with was fading fast as she resisted him.

“Eve what are you up to tonight?” Instantly she snapped out of her daze at the question.

“Nothing planned Jen, just a quiet night.” With the events of the past few days had been hard to think much in advance with death hanging over her head for blatantly. Work and home were all that she was managing.

“It’s Friday night though. You can’t have a quiet night tonight. How about coming out with me and the girls for a few drinks?”

“I don’t know Jen….” Part of her wished that she could let her hair down, but the other part was scared that death was waiting for this kind of opportunity to strike again.

“Just a few. It won’t kill you. You never know you might meet a nice guy and finally break your man drought.”

“Oh alright, just a few.” Surely it couldn't hurt to live for the moment, just once.

Please explain

Dear Winter, 

I think that you have some explaining to do. It is now spring. The weather is warmer and the flowers are blooming. Well the flowers started blooming about a month ago If I am going to be honest. My allergies have begun to flare once again and I have everyone commenting on how summer is almost here and how great the heat is. I on the other hand have a question for you. 

Where the heck were you this year? 

Sure we got a few cold morning and a few cold days but it sure want anywhere near what I remember winter being as a child. Ok there was rain, but not many winter storms. In fact the best storm we got this year was a spring storm.  WTF?

Now I know that it is hard to hang around being all drab and dreary for a full 3 months,  but summer manages it and more every year! I am beyond disappointed that my favourite season had slacked off. This isn't the first year it has happened either. You have progressively got weaker and weaker each year and I am not impressed. How am I supposed to enjoy my favourite season if you don't turn up and play the game? 

Get your shit together! You have less than 9 months before you are expected to show your face here again. I hope that you find yourself and make up for the last few years next year. 

In case you have forgotten, this is what winter is meant to look like.

It isn't meant to look like this

 

Remember: rain is fantastic, storms are amazing, wind is squally,  thunder and lightning are best friends and the cold rounds out the bunch. All together and you will make me a happy person. 

Yours sincerely,

A disappointed winter lover

Life and Death part 7

If this is the first time that you have check out this story, maybe start from the beginning. Life and Death

Part 7

She hadn’t understood then what it all meant, but she understood now. Her mother’s time was up, death had come for her and made her suffer. A single tear rolled down her face at the memory of finding her mother. Even now the frenzy of the attack and the feelings of abandonment still got to her. Wiping it from her face, she wasn’t prepared to let it get to her. In front of the mirror she studied her image. A smile returned to her face as she erased the last traces of her bad night with makeup.

Death stood still and silent in the corner just watching her. She was stunning, but what was more surprising than that was the fact that she seemed to know what the black rose meant and she somehow managed to bring it back to life. It would have died by the end of the week. Exactly how long he had given it, before she was gone too. Any longer than that and his father had already informed him that his time would be up and he would be gone. It was simple, kill or be killed in return. There was no negotiating with his father. It was all or nothing and no in between. A week was all that he had to unlock her mystery, a week that would normally seem like an eternity for him no seemed too soon as he watched her and wondered.

Eve didn’t see him at all during the day and for the briefest of moments wondered if her apparent indifference to him the night before was the reason behind it. She wasn’t quite ready to put her guard down just yet. This was death after all. You couldn’t hide from it, but you could try and avoid it as much as you could. Her mind wandered as she drove home on autopilot. He mainly seemed to show himself to her at night. Did that mean that he would be here again tonight? Secretly she hoped that he would be. He was company for her even when she wanted to sleep. He kept her thinking and in turn kept her from feeling sorry about herself and being alone. He brought her comfort, which seemed such a weird concept considering who it was, but she couldn’t deny it. Death was a comfort to her, just not the kind of comfort that she could talk about. Her mind was still on autopilot she arrived home. Death wasn’t waiting for her like he had been the night before. A pang of regret passed through her and for a split second Eve wondered what the heck she was thinking. This was death, why did she want him to be around her? Inside her house everything was as she left it, however the black rose was now on her kitchen table, dying once more. She knew that it was a sign, but there was no way that she was going to give in that easy. Death would have to work out how to get past her without her help. She was not going to make it that easy. Restoring the rose once more to life she placed it back down before settling down on the couch to relax. She didn’t see him appear in the corner until he spoke.

“That rose isn’t meant to live.” His words surprised her. He was standing in the corner, the furthermost one from where she sat. A long dark black coat covered his broad shoulders, his arms were crossed and his face held what he clearly hoped was an imposing glare. It had an effect on her, but Eve doubted that it was the effect that he was hoping for. Her heart began to race as she inspected him from head to toe. He wasn’t the type of guy that she would normally become hot and bothered about, but as he stood before her she felt her heartbeat erratically as she felt that there was really something about him that she liked. Eve couldn’t help but wonder if it was the dangerousness about him that kept attracting her.

“I am not going to let it die either.” Her response stopped him dead in his tracks as he regarded her once more. “What are you doing here again anyway?”

“I told you, I am not leaving until I have done what I came for.”

“And I have told you that I am not going to let that happen. So why not go and do your work elsewhere?”

“I can’t, you are next. Until I finish that, you are my focus.” It was such a civil conversation to be having with death no matter the currents and undertones in their voices.

Pushing off of the wall he was learning against, he moved towards her. She pulled something in him, something that he couldn’t explain. Sitting down next to her he touched her lightly on the arm and was disappointed when she didn’t flinch. Her skin was warm, to his that was cold. Slowly, but not painfully, he tried something new as she continued to sit there looking at where his hand had made contact with her arm. He watched as goose bumps appeared on her skin while he pushed death into her inch by inch. She wouldn’t even feel it.

His touch was so soft that she was shocked, prior to this every time that he had put his hands on her, he had bought her pain. This was so different to that. There was no pain. Eve considered her place. There was no reason to pull away. She felt oddly comfortable.

“Did you know that your hand is cold?” Her mouth spoke the words, but her eyes didn’t look at him, instead they focused on where they were connected and his hand didn’t move away.

“It is hard to be warm, when you have ice running through your veins.”

“Have you had enough fun for the night trying to kill me yet?”

“I haven’t even tried yet.”

“Come off it, I am not stupid. Please don’t think that I am. There are many ways to kill a person. Your first preference is clearly to inflict pain, but when that doesn’t work, I am sure that you have other ways.”

He pulled his hand away, satisfied that come the morning she would be too weak to protest, too weak to work and too weak to fight his advances.

“I have no idea what you are talking about Eve. Death is death, for me it doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as the person dies. We all have our specialty. You are right though in saying that mine is pain. I don’t do that fluffy lovey dovey crap.” The words unless I have to floated around in his head. He was trying to stay detached, but the more time he spent around her the harder it was becoming. She had to die. There was no denying that. That was the order and he was going to follow it. No one was worth saving.

“Whatever you say. So what now?” Her skin slowly heated back up and fatigue started to set in.

“You do whatever you need to. I am just going to be here.”

“I hate that you are here watching my every move. Can’t you just go?”

“I told you before Eve, I can’t, so get used to me being here. I am not leaving till this is over.”

She couldn’t help but be frustrated. Couldn’t he just leave her alone? She wanted her space. It was hard to believe that just days before she was aching for company, now she wanted to be left alone.

“This will all be over soon enough and I will go on my way. You know that there are places after this world, don’t you? Just because you leave here, doesn’t mean that you will have nowhere to go.”

“This has nothing to do with that.” She snapped “I am not going to lose. I like it here and I am staying.” The words came out of her mouth through gritted teeth. Fury bubbled beneath her skin at the smooth tone in his voice. “If you think that the next world is so great, go there yourself.” Getting up she stormed out of the room before she did something stupid and headed for her bed. Slamming the door closed behind her to give death no misconceptions about where his place in her life actually was. It without doubt was not in her house and unquestionably not in her room. Sleep came quickly, but with it came chills and nightmares.

A dark and windy path through a dense forest. Something was chasing her, she ran, but didn’t seem to be moving fast enough. Her heart was pounding, her body ached and except for the pale moonlight shining through the dead trees she was blind. Turning to face her unknown follower, there was no one there. A deathly silence surrounded her. What was this place? It didn’t matter which way she turned there was no way out. Fear snaked through her body as she sought a way out of this place. Running again she tripped and fell over the edge of a cliff. Tumbling faster and faster frantically clawing at the side in an effort to get a grip. Darkness enveloped her as she hit the ground.