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The cycle of life is a simple one: you live, you die, you're reborn as a completely different person, repeat. Every life lived serves its own purpose, and all memory of it is erased once...
Strange golden eyes bore down on me with unexpected intensity. Something about them felt warm, welcoming, sympathetic. I was unable to break my gaze for a second or even so much as blink. The beauty twinkling above me hypnotized me into a serene state. I allowed myself to surrender to the pull of the stare, and as I did, the eyes seemed to smile with satisfaction. I suddenly realized that this beauty was a façade. A numbing agent. Comfort food. This entire time, I had been looking directly into the gates of the afterlife.
I was dead.
"No!" The shrill outburst escaped my lips and the bubble of serenity surrounding me popped. I came crashing, flailing down into reality. A wall of thick, green trees surrounded me, and the quarter moon cast a mysterious shadow beneath them. I heard the gentle waves of a river that flowed behind me and grasshoppers chirped harmoniously. Directly in front of me stood the owner of the enchanting glare, the being much more mesmerizing than his eyes alone. His silhouette was encased in an eerie mist that made him appear dark and limbless, but his face was beautiful.
Who knew Death would look so appealing?
He continued to silently stare at me as I assessed my situation. The only features on him that looked remotely mortal were those on his face. Facial hair covered his sharp jawline, and his pale skin seemed to shimmer under the glow of the moon. His slim pink lips stood out starkly from his skin tone, and they parted ever so slowly to prepare the words he intended to feed me.
"You are dead, human." The ice cold words crawled down my spine, for they confirmed what I already feared. The depth in his monotonous voice made it no better, and completely juxtaposed the sympathy in his eyes.
"I don't want to die," I moaned, the statement weak and unconvincing. It was true, despite my pathetic plea. Dying was the least of my concerns, as a naïve fifteen-year-old. My mind drifted back to the last moments of life I remembered. I encountered a strange man while returning home from my late-night herb run. My mother was ill, and evenings were the best time to get the medicinal herbs she needed. He seemed agitated and deranged when he stopped me to ask for directions. What I assumed would be a simple conversation turned into me running for my life. Attacking a random girl was apparently the perfect way for him to unleash all his bottled emotions.
The pain of being stabbed over and over was unbearable. I cried and begged for mercy, but he didn't stop. No one heard my screams as he sliced all over my body. When he had finished his rampage, I wasn't yet dead, but bleeding out tremendously. I faded away as he dragged me through the woods surrounding the village, searching for somewhere to dispose of his evening's misdoing.
He decided to chuck me in a river a short distance from where he came across me, and my water-logged body lay not far from where I currently stood. Looking at my own disheveled limbs made me a little more fearful of my current situation. I couldn't see my face through the dark strands of my own hair that clung to it, and for that I was glad. My pale skin was muddied and covered in stab wounds. The tattered remains of my garments were stained with dried blood. I heard an impatient sigh and returned my attention to Death, who seemed to want to get this done and over with. I was sure I wasn't the only person who passed on this evening.
"I only wish to safely escort you to where you are destined to be. I do not intend to hurt you. Don't you believe me?" A pale, fragile looking hand outstretched from the darkness of his misty silhouette, and his golden eyes again found mine, attempting to lull me back under the meticulous hypnosis. I wasn't having it, not a second time. There was nothing comforting about being face to face with Death, and I wanted to embrace it with my full sanity.
The fear that riddled me disappeared, and words spilled out of my mouth before I could consider the gravity of them. "I won't be hypnotized into submission! I will not let you escort me anywhere. In fact, I demand a second chance at life!" I sounded more like myself, having overcome the initial terror of my death and touched base with what got me here. The girl that I was would not go out like this. I still had things I needed to accomplish. A mother to care for.
Death's hand remained outstretched, and his expressionless face didn't falter. "Do not be afraid of your fate. This—" His statement was cut short, and for that I was glad because I wasn't having his fish food anyway. As his facial expression softened into one of disbelief, his golden eyes spread from slender slits into wide orbs. I simultaneously felt warmth brewing in my chest, a pulsing heat that would have been extremely alarming were I alive. But as I looked down to see what the cause was, I saw nothing. I was completely transparent. This made me just as curious as Death seemed to be.
His demeanor quickly returned to the stoic one he previously had, and a small smirk twisted onto his face. It was almost as if he got an idea. "This is an interesting turn of events. It seems my charm will not work on you, Silbhan Kolchevich. You are audacious to plead your case with The Grim Reaper. I've decided I will grant you the second chance you desire. Let's see what you will make of it."
He lunged toward me with a speed that the human eye cannot grasp, andwithin milliseconds his hand was in the exact spot the warmth in my chest resided. With a final glance into the now curious golden eyes, the warmth exploded with an unexpected ferocity and erupted from my mouth in a deafening wail.
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1/7/15
a/n: this first installment feels complete and it is filled to the brim with my love. so i do hope you enjoyed reading it and intend to continue to the bitter end with me. let me know you're honest opinions plssssss. this is a first draft and your commentary will help me shape it into a much better book come editing time! these chapters are dated as they're written, and you'll thus be reading this as i'm writing it. i'm not rushing this book. i can't allow myself to dishonor my work by halfassing it. so there may be long, unannounced hiatuses, but i promise it'll be worth the patience. i depart with a loving and temporary farewell readers!
- EDITED -
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