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.
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