Prologue
He was veiled in a cloak darker than the night. It was the colour of death in the shadows. A midnight murder.
He skimmed the damp alley, silent. He was always silent. Soundless as dusk on the edges of twilight.
The figure watched the couple, bathed in lamppost glow, with scarce interest. He just needed to wait for the boy to leave, and then he could complete his job. It was the girl he was after, and it wouldn’t be long until he would meet her.
With great reluctance, the male departed from the young woman, smiling and laughing as he swaggered down the street with an air of joy that lifted him into the inky evening.
The girl sighed happily, scraping her shoes on the concrete unconsciously as she delved into thought.
Perfect.
The dark figure floated from the depths of the sightless, and entering the beam of the streetlight.
The girl finally noticed the figure, and gaped in horror.
She didn’t even get to scream as he lifted his weapon.
Chapter 1: Meeting under the Lamppost
Tick. Tick. Tick.
I scrawled down meaningless words onto greying paper as I sat in a torturous class. I don’t think that the sound of the clock would ever escape my mind.
Besides that, the Science lesson was exceedingly dull. How many times had she filled out this worksheet? It was the fourth, at least. How many times did the teacher think that we needed to write it? No one’s really learning, because we all use the answers from our last worksheet to fill out our new one. Call it revision; it’s just a waste of paper.
Done. Another time-wasting, mind-numbing task. I actually feel dimmer than I did going into class. Oh, the irony.
I peeked at Cathy, and feigned anxiety.
“I don’t know about this, Cath,” I whispered. “These questions are so hard.”
Cathy nodded, playing along. “I bet I got all the answers wrong.”
I sighed. “What number is this anyway?”
“Tenth?” she suggested.
I checked.
“Fourth,” I said, and then spied another sheet. “Make that fifth,” I confirmed.
Just another dull day in a dull class with a dull sheet staring back at me for the fifth time, and yet I’m still bursting with excitement.
…
So, why was teeming with thrill in the midst of mundane?
Tim Hallens.
I haven’t seen him in months, and I couldn’t wait to reunite with him this evening. Tim Hallens. My boyfriend.
We could barely wait to see the other, that we decided today was better to meet again, then tomorrow. We were planning to meet each other under the lamppost at the bend near the corner shop we used to go to when he lived here in Ridfort.
I remember when he lived here. It was the most magical time of my life. Two and half years we had been dating; ever since I was thirteen. It was only recently that he had left. A few months after my fifteenth birthday had gone.
I hated that he had to move to Pallengia because of his parents. Apparently they had made the decisions to move years ago, and that they had been planning for all that time. How selfish. I never got over that one fact. I resented his mother and father, but it never brought Tim back.
Ah… the corner-shop. Messing with shopkeeper and laughing. Buying ice-cream, pizza and pop-corn because we were having a night in, watching movies that would generally come under the genre of horror.
Watching movies with Tim was always fun, even if the film was the most rubbish thing to be put onto a DVD. We ended up laughing, even if we were scared out of our mind. But it was better then, because we would huddle into the blankets and whisper words to ease us into peaceful sleep. I loved those times. They were memories I would conjure when I was feeling sad or lonely.
Just a few more hours, and I wouldn’t have to invoke reminiscence.
…
I heard Tim’s worn joggers slapping against the pavement as he walked towards me. And then he came into view, beaming brighter than the streetlight I was under. So was I.
“Neesha!” Tim exclaimed, expressing my delight.
He gripped me in an aching embrace. I never wanted him to let go. Not even loosen his arms.
“I gosh, I missed you,’ I whispered in his ear, brushing my lips on his ear with our proximity.
We kissed, lips indestructibly locked, holding each other tight. The months washed away in those minutes of tender silence. Nothing but our breath in the night.
Finally, we unlatched and Tim stepped backwards.
“It’s good to see you again,” he said.
I nodded. “You have to tell me about everything tomorrow, okay?”
“Deal.”
We spoke a little more, than Tim headed off, leaving me to my thoughts.
My heart was singing, and my mind was reeling. Oh, tomorrow. It would be the best day in so long.
It was then that I felt a prickle along my spine. I became paranoid, as though someone was watching me.
The feeling of love and warmth began to drain, replacing the feeling with fear and ice. My breath quickened.
I turned around, and gaped. No, this could not be happening. This was an apparition. I was seeing things.
But deep down, I knew I wasn’t. Deep down, I knew it was real.
The Grim Reaper raised his scythe.
“Neesha Moord,” he uttered. “You are coming with me.”
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