A Tome of Death

Death I

     I walked down to the café with my girlfriend, Meraline, like I did every Saturday. But this Saturday was different. This was the day I was going to give her a ring. Now, not an engagement ring, mind you, just a ring for the sake of giving her one.

     I caressed the metal band in my pocket as we walked down the road. I moved my lips to the thought of the word that was engraved on it. Angelus, I whispered. It was Latin for 'Angel', because that was what she was.

     "Oh, Jesse, I have so many tests coming up.", she had an uneasy look on her face, "I feel really stressed about all of this."

     I looked back at her worriedly. "It'll be alright", I said, putting my arm around her shoulders, "Just enjoy yourself today." I gave her a reassuring kiss on her cheek.

     She blushed and smiled at me. "You're right. I'm sorry."

     "Don't be sorry", I said tenderly,"You'll do fine on your tests. You're smart, you know."

     She reached out and held my hand in hers. "Yeah I guess so." We laughed.

     Suddenly, a look of horror overtook Meraline's face. "What's wrong?", I enquired.

     She pointed across the street. I followed her finger to two people on the opposite side of the road breaking out into a fight.

     "Hey!", I shouted. No response. "Hey, cut it out!", I called. Still, no response. "Stay here", I said to Meraline.

     I started to walk across the street towards the feuding men. I was about half-way across the street when I heard my girlfriend shouting. Worriedly, I turned around to see what was the matter.

     "Jesse! There's a-", but the sound of her voice was drowned out by a loud horn and the sensation of all of the ribs in my body being decimated by the bumper of a pick-up truck.