Death's Emily

A story inspired by a good friend of mine. The theme is "Belonging to death". There's a sequel, so don't worry about the ending.

 

“Did you see her?”

“Yeah. It’s like she knew it was going to happen!”

“Uh-huh, I heard it’s always like that with her. People say that death follows her around, but warns her, so that she won’t be the one to die.”

“Are you serious?!”

“No joke! The same thing happened last week, twice. Remember those accidents reported a couple days ago?”

“You mean the ones up north in Bilwick?”

“Those ones! She was there for both.”

“Oh my god. Now I’m scared to go near her!”

“Me too. How about we stay as far away from her as possible?”

“Yeah, I agree.”

Wretched b*****s. Did they think they were really that quiet? She was a few meters away, but she could hear them as clearly as a police car’s siren next a foot from her. What they said didn’t bother her; she was used to such rude conversations taking place about her. No, it was their volume. They could’ve at least been quieter. It was just rude to talk so loud when you trash someone, not to mention that the said person is standing right in hearing distance.

The bus pulled around the corner. She was the first to get on, smiling at the bus driver and taking her usual seat by the back door of the bus. Apparently, everyone knew her now. The old woman who sat in the front every morning and would tell her stories of the war sometimes, the hobo who wasn’t really a hobo and just liked to fool people, the young woman with a large quiet dog who sat on the floor and two cats in her open purse when she rode the bus to work, every bus driver no matter the bus number, and the boy close to her age who sat silently in the back as he listened to his music and looked out the window with an annoying expression of impassive indifference.

This boy was the strangest one. He never wore anything other than black and there were dark circles around his eyes as if he had drawn them there with thick black eyeliner. It was a pity with his somber black hair, his beautiful pale white skin, and his impassive dark brown eyes. Sometimes, he was reading a book and sometimes, he was eating a multitude of apples. If someone talked to him, he wouldn’t talk to them. The guy was hot, no matter how silly his position. Every time other girls got on the bus, the first thing they did was to get a seat close to him and openly goggle at his dignified beauty, mysterious demeanor, and silent disposition.

That’s what irritated her. He irritated her. There were times that girls got on the wrong bus, just so they could stare at him. Maybe they should take her place, and then they’d be happy all the time. The guy was like some sort of stalker. At school in the courtyard, walking down the street of her neighborhood, and every single time that she ever rode the bus in her life, he was there. It was distressing to say the least. Most times, he ignored her, yet there had been a few times when he looked up at her and locked gazes with her. Much to her dismay, it always had to be her that broke the short connection. Considering the odds, if she allowed them to keep their gazes locked as long as he’d like, they’d be there for days, no joke.

“MeridiaHigh School!”

She shot out of her seat and headed out the door behind her. Just as she took a step out the door though, he caught her gaze, freezing her in mid step. His gaze was as impassive as ever, but deep in his depths, there was fire, a dark fire that she could feel searching and scorching inside her. The feeling was scratching at her insides with sharp claws. Alarmed and afraid, she ripped her gaze away and dashed to the door of her school.

When she glanced back at the bus stop after finally calming herself down, he was standing right there on the sidewalk, staring at her with the same dark fire. The hood of his baggy sweater was drawn over his head, unexpectedly causing a sinister effect on his eyes. For the briefest of moments, she had imagined that his eyes were gone and she was looking at a clean white skull. Holding in a scream, she hurriedly turned around and ran into the building. Panting heavily with her back against the door, she slowly turned her head, just to see that he was right there on the other side. Her scream resounded through the halls as she instinctively ducked to the ground and covered her head. She was trembling like mad, waiting for the door to open and for him to attack her.

“Emily, are you okay?”

Instantly snapping her head up, she met the concerned gaze of one of her best friends before sharply turning to see…that he wasn’t there anymore. No one was there. Was it just her imagination playing tricks on her? No, it couldn’t be…could it? Maybe she was losing her mind.

Moving carefully, she stood up and faced her friend. Smiling and giving them a shrug, her friend reluctantly let it go and said, “Come on. Let’s get to class.”

She nodded in reply, but right before turning the corner, she looked at the door and there he was, leaning against the door as he met her gaze from the corner of his eye. Giving her a smirk that chilled her to her bones, he turned and walked away casually, as if he hadn’t just scared a teenage girl three years his junior out of her wits.

His face haunted her ever since. Every time she closed her eyes, he was there and his eyes held the same fire. Sometimes, she could escape it and fell asleep looking at his face in the darkness. Shortly after, her teachers would whack her desk with a wooden ruler, waking her from her sleep. For some reason, that angered her, even if in her dreams was the one place that he haunted her the most. She had to admit. The guy had a really beautiful face, boy or girl. In consideration of what she couldn’t deny, he should be a model or with his style, the leader of a gothic rock band. Actually, it made her wonder…what did he do for a living?

She didn’t see him again that afternoon, the next day, or the day after that. His face was fresh in her min, but the one that the face belonged to had seemed to completely disappear. Would it be wrong for her to search? Would it be weird to look for someone who both scared you and intrigued you? Would it be stupid to chase someone with a natural presence as large as the skies and seemed as unattainable as the wind? The answer, she didn’t know.

“Emily, do you mind doing the dishes?”

Looking up from her desk, she locked gazes with her mom standing in the doorway and replied, “Yes, mother I do mind. As you can see, I clearly have work yet to be done.”

Turning away from the woman, she took up her pencil and started writing again. Upset, her mom all but yelled, “Emily, I order you to do the dishes!”

Calmly putting her pencil down, she turned to her mother again and replied, “Will you please make up your mind? First, you ask me, then you order me. Why bother asking me if you’re going to order me to do so anyway? How about letting me do my work and coming back when you’ve got it figured out?”

Thinking her daughter was giving her attitude, her mother yelled back, “Well, I can ask and order you if I want. You’re my daughter. And now I’m ordering you to do the dishes. I don’t care if you have work. Get downstairs and wash the dishes, and that is definitely an order!”

Exasperated and trying to restrain herself, she got out of her seat and walked downstairs to the kitchen. As she washed the dishes and put them away, she stayed silent, knowing that if she talked, she would end up frustrated, yelling and cussing at her bipolar mother. Her mother stood by the kitchen counter and suddenly cried, “Oh, are you giving me the silent treatment?! Yes, you are. Well, you know what, you’re grounded!”

Furious, the girl shot up and screamed, “I’m not giving you the silent treatment. I’m keeping my mouth shut cause I know that if I talk to you, we’ll get nowhere and I’ll end up shouting and swearing and you’ll yell at me. If you ask me, that’s a waste of time and I really don’t feel like fighting with you!”

Shocked, her mother immediately cried back, “That’s it! You’re giving me attitude and I don’t like attitude. Now you’re definitely grounded!”

Crying out with frustration, she stomped her foot and screamed through gritted teeth, “Fudge!”

Not able to stand another minute with her mom, she stormed out of the kitchen, her mother screaming behind her that she was definitely grounded, that she had an attitude, and that she needed to change her rebellious ways. The b***h. She was only rebellious because of the insane bipolar woman yelling at her and constantly switching between her moods like a kid with issues. With her dad, she was nothing like this. There was compromise and understanding and fun, but no, her mother had to be the contradicting psycho who dominated the house with a fist of block-minded tyranny.

She slammed the door to her room and bolted the three locks that her father bought her for her birthday last year. Thank God for that man! Still angry, she opened the window to her room and climbed onto the roof. Her mom wouldn’t dare scream at her or go after her on the roof. The woman may be bipolar and insufferable, but she was a coward, a pathetic wretched coward.

Taking deep steady breaths, she looked in the distance and gazed at the blazing sunset. At the sight, his face appeared again and his dark blazing eyes burned into her. Why couldn’t she escape him? What was wrong with her?! Her head fell into her hands and she shook her head, trying to erase his image and feel sense come back into her mind. Of course it didn’t work. If it didn’t work before, how could it work now? Just then, something at the edge of her vision caught her eye. Sitting up straighter, she looked down at the sidewalk and gasped. It was him. He was back and he was staring right at her. Desperate, she tore her gaze away from him and searched for a way to get off the roof without going back in the house.

“Emily.”

She almost screamed, but his hand covered her mouth just in time to stifle it. His large hand was colder than anything she had ever felt in her life, even when she had spent ten minutes locked in a meat locker when she was nine. Wait! How did he know her name? How did he get onto the roof so fast? How had he moved without her noticing? The questions swirled around in her head, breaking her attention away from him. He had his eyes fixed on her, spontaneously pulling his hand away and leaning in to nuzzle the pulse in her neck. That instantly snapped her back to attention.

The guy was so cold, she was shivering from his touch. Looking down, his gaze met hers and before she could register what had happened, his lips captured hers, causing her to fall. Only one thing was wrong though. His lips were colder than ice, almost as if she was kissing…death in the flesh. Just as the thought struck her, her eyes flashed open and memories streamed through her mind. Every accident, every escape unscathed, every death that she should’ve been a part of, he was there in the background, staring at her. Unlike her, it wasn’t ever luck. He knew right when they would happen, where they would happen and yet, people only noticed her. People seem able to see him. They were unable to. When people whispered bad about her, when she didn’t expect him there as she had grown accustomed to his presence, people were unable to see him. The girls that went on the bus looking for him and yet, sat down with an expression of clear disappointment, even though he was right there as he’d always been. If he was death, what did that mean?

“Emily.”

Having been caught in her thoughts and the stream of memories, she had barely noticed him move away from her, when he stopped kissing her. Meeting his gaze, the fire in his eyes that haunted her was back. She tried with all of her might not to scream, to see his beautiful face transform into a skull. Suddenly, the smooth words he spoke reached her ears and penetrated her mind.

“Tell me to go and I will go…either way, you will be mine. I will never let him have you.”

Momentarily confused, she watched as he moved away, fading away. With one last glance at her, the look on his face was burned into her memory, alongside his eyes of terrifying fire. It was the look of pain and anger and regret. In that instant, she had seen the conflict inside him and thought of his words, “Tell me to go and I will go…either way, you will be mine.” Would he really leave her just like that? What did he mean when he said that she would be his? What had just happened?

The next day, she was in a foul mood. Usually, she was a happy and energetic person who made everyone laugh at just how “crazy” she was, but when she was angry, it was not a game to mess with her. She snapped at everyone, her head hurt, and no one better confront her or else receive a glare so dark, they’d see the gates of hell in her eyes. In the last class of her day, one of her good friends was in an exceedingly happy mood. It was quite the phenomenon, the same as her being in her obviously bad mood. Her friend was actually happy and smiling and asking for hugs. Could she deny her friend? The girl who was the good kind of bipolar, who was blunt and critical and too negative, who didn’t know the meaning of normal, who found humor in darkness and death. No, she couldn’t. This girl was the one person to cheer her up because when she was in a good mood, she was so crazy and did the weirdest of stuff that it was practically impossible not to smile and be lightened in spirits. Anyways, with her bad mood and her confusion, she needed a hug right now and who better than her good friend that usually rejected and was sickened by all signs of affection, yet was asking her specifically for a hug.

Giving her good friend the hug she requested, she was taken aback as her friend suddenly whispered, “I need to tell you something after class.” Her friend pulled from the hug right as the bell rang for class and smiled at her. She was dumbfounded. Was this friend of hers really showing concern? That was a first.

Class proceeded and her boyfriend showed some concern for her. Sometimes, during class, she glanced back at her friend, just to find that her friend and her boyfriend were glaring at each other. At one point in class, the teacher had to leave for a few minutes. The moment the teacher’s footsteps disappeared, a feud broke out between the two. Very few people could understand what they were arguing about as they had suddenly broke out in their native tongue. Trying desperately to calm them, she received a major shock as her boyfriend suddenly cried out, “She wants to get you to break up with me!” Startled at his proclamation, she turned to her friend and questioned her with her gaze. Not bothering to avoid her gaze, her friend looked her square in the eyes and replied, “After class.” Almost with perfect timing, the teacher came into the class and seeing how things appeared, started a lecture on conduct. To the students’ dismay and joy, the lecture took up the entire class period.

Right after class, her friend urged her to walk home, so they could talk. Reluctantly, she obliged. She didn’t know what her friend was going to say to her, but what she would hear would rock her to her very foundation.

“Emily.”

“Wait, did you just call me “Emily”?”

Calling her by her real name and not her given nickname, her friend was worrying her. This had to be serious if her friend called on her like that.

“Yes. Now I’m worried about you. Break it off with your boyfriend.”

Angered, she took a step away and shouted, “No! I happen to-.”

“HE will not approve. I’m warning you, Emily, and I know you have feelings for HIM. You can’t deny that. You have to break it off with him.”

Confused, she couldn’t figure out who her friend was referring to her…until he popped into her mind. Her friend was talking about death, but how did she know? Why was she warning her? Apparently seeing her unspoken questions in her eyes, her friend responded simply, “Yes, I know about him. Please listen to me. The only reason you’re so stuck on your boyfriend is because he’s first. You have to end this!”

Logic screamed in her head, saying that her friend was right. She could sense it, like all those other times when she sense a death coming. However, before she knew what she was saying, she impassively replied, “No.”

Pain entering her good friend’s eyes, she was confused and lost sense of the world around her. She thought that darkness had fallen over her, that everything had disappeared and she was mentally treating. That’s how it registered until the head lights caught her attention and the cars swerved around. All she heard was the sound of screeching tires and crashing metal before darkness seized her…forever.

Staring down at her from on the sidewalk, her friend calmly walked into the street and kneeled beside her. She was still alive, barely, and gazed up at her friend. Behind her friend, death stood looking down at her with a soft smile. Sharply her attention was diverted to her friend as her friend’s unfamiliar hand cupped her cheek. Her friend had touched her on the shoulder or back of the head many times before, but this time, her friend’s hand was just as cold as death. Confused and slightly scared, she taken aback when her friend impassively said, “You see. This is why, but don’t worry…You belong to master now.”

Deceived, her friend had deceived her by death’s command. Hurt, he hurt her by going to such lengths just to have her. Betrayed, he betrayed her by killing her.

Now, she was dead…

Reviews

[Ruby Moon]

mmm...i think i read this before but didn't manage to review it
i like this piece but i think that you could put a bit of the beginning of "eternal emily" here so that we know there is a sequel or maybe give put an author's note on the sequel being posted here?
by putting the author's note you can tell us about the sequel without changing the story
but in this form it can be a stand alone
^-^
i hope you can put an extra space between the paragraphs?
it would be easier to read

on the story and everything else, it is a good read as usual
you always have good ideas and you have a way of bring your chracters out
thank you for passing me a read request and for posting your work...
looking forward to any future postings you might be thinking of putting up
sorry if i offended you