Method to the Madness

I had spent the night curled up on Elias's chest, listening to the rise and fall of his breath and finding some type of comfort in that. If it were any other night, I would've wished to have been submerged in the darkness of the night for as long as possible, but I found myself wishing for the first rays of sunlight to appear in the window with every ticking minute on the little clock.

I had spent more of that night watching the hands on the circular, analog clock go round and round rather than watching the back of my eyelids as I dreamt. Time had never seemed of an importance to me since I had woken up in Purgatory - where things such as clocks didn't exist - but now I felt like I was dying with every slow tick of the clock.

I couldn't help but feel slightly envious of Elias - oh, both in love and envious at the same time. He seemed to get on just fine with the idea that in the morning we were going to have to wake and tear a girl away from the life that she had known. Here he was, mumbling a quick "I love you," - or that's what it sounded like - before he had fallen fast asleep, while I was unable or unwilling to sleep.

Of course, I couldn't exactly be to blame as the death-witch that only ferried the souls to their judgment day, right? It wasn't like I was the one to kill them; no, I was just the one who would stand by and watch as it happened. Of course, at least I could pride myself on the fact that the scene I would witness wouldn't be too gruesome... She was a cancer patient; no matter how unfortunate that was, I sensed that she was expecting it to happen at some time.

These thoughts clouded my head so rapidly and so violently that I was seriously turned off from sleeping, unable to wrap my mind around the fact that I would have to watch that beautiful, youth-filled girl die. Thankfully, the first rays of the sun arrived and I was up and out of bed. It was still way too early to wake up Elias - since the Belfast sunrise was at an early 4:56 a.m. - but at least I could tell myself that it was daytime and I could get up now.

Once I was up, that didn't seem so important. The monsters that had been clouding my thoughts all night were still there - only more than in thought now. During the night, the concept of what I had to do still seemed so far away...and now? Now was the time that I was going to have to visit her dead spirit and help her to the afterlife. Now it felt as if the world was going to swallow me whole for the job that I had to do.

Why did I feel guilty? It was my job after all. Still, I could only wonder what it was like. Before all of this new life for me, I had been one of those girls here. I had lived a human life (even though I wasn't supposed to know of that now) and I had died. When I had died, I wasn't taken to an afterlife destination... I was left in Purgatory. When would I leave? Probably once I had gone mad and crazy... But at least all the while I had Elias by my side. I sincerely wished I would've just been carried to the afterlife like all of the others...

For the time being, I turned my attention from the clock and to Elias in his sleeping form. Seeing him so calm was enough to calm me and I found myself laying with him again, running my hands over his chest in a sort of frustrated angst that wanted to be close to him in order to feel calm. I should've known it would awaken him, but I just wanted to be closer to him.

"Good morning to you too," he teased, smiling up at me with his bright eyes as we laid together then. He had taken my hands and kissed my knuckles gently. "You're stressing," he observed without having me say anything. "You shouldn't be. Everything is going to be just fine and then we get to go back and relax! Alyson, I love you."

I smiled and nodded my head. Even if my mind was racing about this mission - and how nothing would be relaxed when we got home and had to hide our relationship - I would always take comfort in Elias, and that was all that mattered.



Eight o'clock sharp was when we had to be there, so we had left at seven thirty. It wasn't that far of a walk - and it wasn't like we needed any preparation anyways. It would be a simple job; since she was going through a natural death of relatively-natural causes (unlike a car accident or such), no spell would be needed to detach her soul from her dead body... Just a little coaxing would do it.

Needless to say, we didn't use an invisibility spell this time. She could see us now, since it was her time, and we would talk her through the last few minutes of her life.

...That thought was a lot nicer of one until we had gotten to the house... Then I was scared out of my mind.

No one was home except her, laying on her bed all on her own. I could tell already that the death was coming to her; she seemed quite out of it already: dimmed light in her eyes and a disoriented look as she took long extended times before she blinked. It was like she was having a staring contest with the ceiling.

I felt slightly bad, feeling as if someone should've been with her during her last few moments; then again, we were - maybe that's why we were sent here anyways... I stroked some strands of hair out of her eyes and she looked over at me, perplexed.

"I'm Raven," she said in a weak raspy voice as she tilted her head, "but my friends call me Rae." I didn't say anything, glancing over at Elias for an approval or disapproval. There was a change in her eyes and she sat up a little. "Are you an angel? You're a very pretty angel."

I smiled down at her then, no longer able to hold this feat of silence that I was willing to stay with me even longer. "Something like that," I said in a soft voice, just above a whisper yet in a low voice. Part of me wanted to cry, but I knew that I couldn't do so. I was a deathwitch; I couldn't give this much satisfaction to death as he stole our victim's breath away from them.

She smiled up at me and reached out to touch my face. I flinched slightly, unaware of a human’s touch. “I knew you were real.” It was amazing what a few moments of the ticking clock did to her. Her voice had deteriorated to almost nothing in a matter of a few seconds.

Just like that, it was as if all time stopped. There were a few labored breaths…and then – nothing. Time seriously did seem to stop…Well, for her it did. I actually heaved in that sort of sob-type way and I had to cling to Elias for a moment until he had calmed me down enough to rationalize that I had to do what I was always called to do.

I nodded my head and reached over to shut her eyes that were deadly staring up at the ceiling now. Then my hand slid down over her chest and stomach, encircling over her legs and arms as they went. It was the Selvic way to do things. Then I rested my hand over her beatless heart, whispering a “Libera te. Veniat ad me.”

Like I said, a little coaxing was all it took. Then the silvery figments started to collect, coming from out of her mouth as the easiest escape route. It fell into my hands softly and once her body had stopped shaking from the release, I encapsulated her in my hands and she was turned into a little ball of energy that was easy to transport.

Elias didn’t speak but had a dark look in his eyes. We had to go back to the safe house where we would remain the rest of the night. I felt better after doing what we needed to; hopefully I had made her feel safe and secure before she was to pass into the afterlife. I wanted some encouragement after all of this, but Elias seemed rather tight-lipped. He kept looking at me suspiciously and I just kept all of my good feelings within, not wanting to start a fight with my Guardian – and my love.

It was when we got back to the safe house that he smiled down at me and kissed me quickly. His smile was too big – and I noticed it… That familiar look – but how?!

“Alyson Taylor,” he said in a swift, knowing voice. “I love you.”