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Fiction Romance Fantasy

"Shut it, the both of you!", the librarian hissed at us. I sighed and nodded towards the back. Eve nodded and we slowly got out of the seats and headed to the bookshelves at the back.

We reached a mostly secluded shelf where the librarian wouldn't hear us. I looked to Eve, her lustrous black locks framing her beautiful face. 

"So, where were we?" I asked. "Right," she said blinking, "I believe we were exchanging ideas for our books," "That's right. I believe vampire Vikings is a cool concept," I said.

"You think so?" she asked.

"Yeah you know, Vikings that invade in the night, it's cool."

"Thank you. And yes you can use my name in your book."

"Appreciate it, m'lady,"

She gave a short laugh and turned to the shelves. Her eyes fixed on a book and she slowly drifted towards it. We were in the educational section of the library.

I slowly trailed behind as she picked up the book and ran her fingers over it. She let out a shuddering breath as if holding back tears.

I looked at the book. It was a physics textbook by Avaline. G.G. "This book was written by my mother," she whispered, "just before she-" A tear slid down her face before she could complete.

She closed her eyes and hugged the book to her chest. I hugged her, trying to comfort her as she fully broke down and tears streaked down towards the ground. "I'm sorry for your loss," I whispered.

She gave a brief acknowledgement and only then seemed to notice I was there. "Thank you," she whispered so low that I could barely hear it.

"You don't need to thank me for being human, nor do you need to blame yourself for being one," I said. A ghost of a smile played on her lips, "That's wise," "Thank you," I replied.

She took a deep breath and composed herself. She wiped her eyes and breathed out. "Well," she said, "I think I should go home now,"

"Very well. You want me to drop you home?" I asked. "I don't wanna weigh you down, I'm sure you have things to do," she said.

"I'm free for the time being. Please, I insist." I said.

She finally relented and we headed out. "Where do you live?" I asked and she told me to drop her off at a place about two kilometres away.

We walked out of the gate and I brought her over to my bike. It was a black Harley Davidson motorcycle. She raised an eyebrow on looking at the bike.

"It's safe, come on," I said and hopped on. She sat behind me and held the handles to the side. We reached her house in about ten minutes.

House was an understatement. It was a large white concrete mansion with a huge front garden and a security booth. She got off and saw me gawking at the place.

"It's my godfather's place. He doesn't use it much anymore, so I moved in," she said. "This place is massive," I said. "That it is," she agreed though I heard no mockery or excessive pride in her voice.

"Will I see you soon?" I asked. "I'll be at the library at the same time next week. See you then?" she asked. I smiled and nodded. "Bye," she said and opened the gate and walked inside.

After that, I headed home. She was on my mind for days afterwards. The next week I headed off to the library again and I saw her there again.

She was near the back shelves when she saw me. She grinned and waved for me to come. I walked over and she seemed quite happy with my arrival.

We chatted for about an hour afterwards and I managed to obtain her number during that time. That day when I drove her home though, I saw something that would haunt me for ages.

I stopped at her house again. She got off and headed to the gate. At the same time, a tall dark-skinned man headed out of the gate. He looked like he was going out for some high-class party.

He stopped Eve as he saw me. "Who are you?" the man asked me. His voice was quite deep and I couldn't place his accent.

I took off my helmet and held out a hand, "Noah, sir." He approached me but didn't shake my hand and so I lowered it. "Is he your new boyfriend?" the man asked.

"Yes, what's it to you?" she answered. Both of us raised our eyebrows at that answer. I felt a deep swirling in my chest and I looked away for a second, blushing.

"He must pass the test," he said and looked at me dead in the eye. Eve's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest but she was too late.

The man's eyes changed and they became hollow orbits. In them, I saw myself, dead. I was sprawled on the ground and a rose with its petals scattered about lay beside me.

The blood seeping from my chest matched the blood-red colour of the petals. My mind seemed to be slowly melting. I saw the man kneeling next to me but he was different.

He wore a dark robe and held a giant scythe in his hand. I watched in horror as he plunged it into my chest and ripped out a glowing orb. And as he did that the vision vanished.

I was sitting on my bike. I was not dead and didn't have blood seeping out of my chest. He held the stare for a second more and his eyes morphed back into normal.

He laughed and patted my back, "He'll do," Having said that he walked away. Only then did I notice that Eve held my face in her hands.

Her eyes were moist but she had the biggest smile on her lips. "What did you see?", she asked. My brain struggled to find answers under her intense eyes but I stammered out, "I saw... my death,"

 "And your mind hasn't melted," she said and hugged me tight as if that were a great achievement which it certainly felt like.

"Who was he?", I finally asked.

"He's my godfather," she replied.

"Your godfather is death himself?" I asked.

She nodded and gave a short laugh. "So I faced my death?" I asked. She nodded again. "Well I'm quite proud of myself I must say," I said.

"Well, I'm proud of you too," she said, smiling.

"Does that mean we're a, um, a thing now?" She nodded and after a moment's hesitation, leaned forward and kissed me.

My heart pounded in my chest. Her hands went down and held my collar. My hands slid around her waist and pulled her closer.

I don't after how long but eventually, she pulled away. We were both breathing heavily. She smiled and walked back into the mansion without another word.

I turned and headed back home. We met several times over the next few days and weeks. She filled a void in my heart that was missing. Life was good.

April 24, 2021 10:09

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