Heartless Reaper

I panted as I stopped running; looking around me and leaning back against a tree.
My breath was slow and strong, most of the hard breathing was from fear.
Is he still following me?
A sigh escaped my lips as I sat down on my butt, hugging myself as I thought about what I’ve just done and what has just happened. My life has now changed forever.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” I repeated over and over, shaking.
I closed my eyes, trying to pull myself together. You would be just as scared as me if you were running from Death.
You see, I’m a reaper; a real death taking, life giving reaper. It’s part of my choice to let someone live or die. I have that power in my hands.
Just recently however I had ran away from my job… Why, you must ask? You’ll find out later.
I suddenly felt a burning sensation in my head and a ringing alarm in my ears…
Someone is dying!
I leaped, running towards the alarm; it isn’t far away at all. My feet pushed me hard from the ground in a quick motion, making me run faster than any human. I didn’t breathe because I felt like my throat was on fire and my chest burning with searing pain. Water fell from my mouth and I sickly spat it out, choking. The person who’s dying is drowning!
I ran as fast as I could, the forest around me going by as a blur. Suddenly I heard feet next to me matching my own speed. I turned my head and saw a beautiful, over-sized wolf.
The wolf was a reddish-brown, very sleek and had very intelligent, dark eyes. This is no ordinary wolf, I knew. The wolf growled at me, a questioning gaze in its alarmed eyes. And as it looked into my wide eyes, the wolf look shocked and almost stopped running.
“Someone is dying!” I shouted, but then choked as more water spilled out of my mouth, burning my throat like little stabs.
The wolf looked scared and ran forward fast, passing me by only a little. I matched its steps and suddenly a cliff was ahead of us. I didn’t hesitate and jumped with my arms out.
My chest was on fire inside; I almost hesitated in the water, fear growing inside of me. I shook the fear out and kept on swimming, taking large strokes. A splash near me took me under and a hand grabbed mine, pulling me up.
I would yell at the person, but I couldn’t in this condition. I pulled away from the stranger and swam towards the area where I felt death growing. I dived under, seeing a girl who was barely grasping to life and also saw a hair of red.
‘Evil!’ hissed my mind.
I growled and grabbed the girl, pulling her to me and then looked at the woman with the fire red hair. I felt my face crack and my eyes glow; a beam of purple in front of me. I knew I had the face of the woman in front of me and I cursed her with all my power. I showed her all the people she took lives from and showed her a piece of the underworld. All the pain she caused, she is now experiencing to an extent where she’ll be in agony, but never near death.
It wasn’t a pretty sight and she screamed, running away.
I raised myself out of the water and swam to the shore with the girl in my arms. There was two men waiting, the younger looking one was wet, but grabbed the girl from me and set her down gently, pressing his hands against her chest in attempt to do CPR.
He was beautiful; his eyes were a dark brown, almost black and his black hair cropped short. His skin was smooth and a russet color tan and it suited him well. His body was layered with muscles, his bare chest covered in water droplets. His face was scared, sad, and very angry. His lips were pulled down, as if a permanent frown.
The other guy definitely had an aura of being in charge. He was a lot larger and had more muscles layered all over than the other boy. His face was calm and honest, but had a slight hard edge to it of an invisible weight over his shoulders. His face was squared and his jaw strong, worry over his face.
“Breathe!” the younger one yelled, his voice wild, “Breathe, Bella! C’mon!”
I felt pity for the man, so much care in his voice towards the dying girl.
“Sirs, she won’t wake up… She’s hardly clinging to life! But I can keep her alive and wake her up,” I murmured, turning away from them as they turned their heads.
My face was still building together from the curse I made. I didn’t want them to see such a sight. I gasped out when my face finally stitched the last piece of skin together. It was painful steps, but well worth it.
“How can you help her!” spat the man venomously at me.
I turned to him, “Because I’m special, just like you, shifter,” I said, approaching the girl with my hands up towards the men.
The older one, looking surprised, nodded, pulling the other back and letting me have space to the girl called Bella.
I kneeled besides the girl and raised my hands over her chest. I felt her pain: the dull throbbing of water flooding your lungs, the rocks scratching up and down your throat, the fire coursing through your body taking you down.
My face cracked once more, my features breaking apart and falling off into dust. I had the face of no one, but my face was just white mist floating with two shining orbs glowing purple. I breathed in and then breathed out softly, frozen air hanging around the wet beach. I took another deep breath and this time when I breathed out, black smoke shot out of my face and flowed around the girl’s body.
“Live!” I breathed, my voice soft like the wind.
But the girl didn’t want to let go and grab on to my voice, not just yet. She shook wildly, but only for some seconds.
“Bella?” the younger boy asked, “Bells, honey can you hear me?”
“How long has she been unconscious?” the other asked.
I listened to their conversation as I tried reviving the girl.
“I don’t know,” he said, “A few minutes? It didn’t take long for the girl to tow her to the beach.”
I was smiling, though no one could tell; not even myself. I put more energy into the girl, making sure to make her wake up.
Bella started breathing faster, her chest noticeable moving instead of the barely moving breaths.
“She’s breathing. She’ll come around. We should get her out of the cold, though. I don’t like the color she’s turning…” said the older one.
The girl gasped and her eyes moving from under her eyelids, she spat out water and coughed. While that was happening, my face was reappearing and building together once again slowly, my eyes probably a dull violet.
I moved away, running towards the waves and letting the two men to handle her.
“You think it’s okay to move her?” asked the younger man.
“She didn’t her back or anything when she fell?”
“I don’t know.”
They hesitated.
“She’s fine,” I murmured, loud enough for them to hear.
I faced them once my face was completed and saw Bella’s eyes snap open.
“Jake?” she croaked, her voice dry.
The younger one leaned over her, “Oh!” he exclaimed, relief all over his face.
So his name was Jake?
“O, Bella! Are you okay? Can you hear me? Do you hurt anywhere?” Jake asked, his eyes looking deeply into hers.
I watched them closely, sitting down silently on the sand.
“J-just m-my throat,” she muttered, her lips shaking and her body quivering.
“Let’s get you out of here, then,” he said, sliding his arms under her body and picking her up as if she were nothing.
“You got her?” the man asked, looking at Jake.
“Yeah, I’ll take it from here. Get back to the hospital. I’ll join you later. Thanks, Sam.”
I awkwardly got up, ready to leave and leave the people alone, but Sam looked at me and beckoned me to come.
Silently I walked towards him and he walked away, I followed.
We walked away from the beach, leaving Jake and Bella behind.
“You seem to know who we are…” said Sam, looking at me intently.
I nodded, “You are shape shifters, taking the forms of wolves.”
Sam smiled, “Clever. Now may I ask, what are you?”
“I’m a reaper,” I muttered, stuffing my hands in my damp pockets. My shirt was clinging to my skin and my hair wet and dripping salty drops.
He looked at me in confusion, “A reaper? Like Death?”
I laughed, “No, Death is my boss. I am merely one of the many reapers who walk across Earth taking care of the humans to mark their death; letting them live or die. Death is the caretaker of it all; he’s the one who brings the dead souls to the crossing.”
Sam nodded, his eyes sparking with interest, “So you let Bella live.”
“Yes. I favor the life of humans and envy them… For I will never be able to have that normal life.”
It was Sam’s turn to laugh, “Bella’s life isn’t normal! She’s stuck between werewolves and vampires.”
I shrugged, “I’ll trade.”
He continued to chuckle, “Jacob really appreciates your help. He deeply cares for that girl…”
“I could tell.”
Sam smiled, “So reaper, I have some questions to ask you.”
I opened my arms, “Let me at ‘em.”
“The whole… Bringing back to life thing. Why does your face crack? How about the mist part?” asked Sam, losing his cool composure as his face turned very curious.
“Ha, well… The whole bringing back to life thing is all part of my job. I have the power to do it. My face cracks when I’m cursing someone, bringing life, or taking the soul away to death. When I curse someone, my face mimics the one being cursed and I show all the terrible things about the person; depending on the person, it will always be different. Usually I show a piece of the underworld or Hell; however you like to call it.
“When I bring life or death, my face turns to mist. Black is life and white is death. You might think it’s the opposite, but in our beliefs, it isn’t. Black is for life and vitality. White is for hope and heaven; the way to move on past. When I bring life, I breathe black where as when I take life, I breathe white. Do you understand?” I asked, smiling.
Sam nodded, “That’s very interesting. I never met a reaper or heard of one actually here… I only heard them in…”
“Stories? Just like I heard you in books, shifter?” I said, smirking.
Sam raised his hands, “I get your point.”
We came to a stop in front of a hospital where I felt many pain inside.
I grunted out and stepped away.
“Are you alright?” asked Sam, looking worried.
“I do not want to go in there… Too much pain and death is near,” I groaned.
Sam frowned, “Harry Clearwater, do you sense him? His heart is…”
“His heart attack weakened him greatly, he’ll put up a fight, but he will die.”
The man gazed at me intensely in the eyes, an aching look struck inside, “There’s nothing you can do?”
“I’m sorry, shifter, but after saving one life… I cannot save another that fast after saving Bella’s. I wish I could, but alas, I am too weak,” I said, rubbing Sam’s tense back.
Sam sighed, “Thank you, reaper.”
I patted his back, “I apologize, Sam. I cannot do anything.”
He tried to smile, but it failed and he walked inside, his once strong steps now slouching with misery.
A sigh escaped me and I looked back towards the beach, feeling the need to see that beautiful man again.