Preface
She walked across the parking lot and whipped her black hair into the air. I rolled my eyes at all the guys lingering behind her like she had some kind of a magnet that attracted them to her. “Look Charles! The new girl’s finally here!” Sadie said. She laughed. “Seems like she’s already making friends,” she said, eying the cluster of boys following her. I scoffed. “More like acquaintances,” Addie said. She pointed her nose up into the air. Obviously she didn’t like the new boy magnet stealing all the boys away from their addiction to her freakishly blonde hair.
“Do you like her Charles?” Sadie asked. Addie laughed, “Oh please! Charles wouldn’t be interested in a girl if she was an unbelievably kind supermodel who had a huge crush on him and was also emo,” Addie said. I growled. “I’m not emo,” I said. “Yea you are,” Jason said.
“Shut up Jason. I’m not.”
“Dude, ya you are. Seriously just get over it no one really cares.”
“Um ya Jason some people do care,” Addie said. “Malibu did.”
“What are you trying to do, pour salt on the wound? Geez Addie sometimes you’re totally heartless,” Jason replied. “Nah, it doesn’t matter anymore. Malibu’s gone. She was kind of a brat anyway. Just change the subject,” Sadie said. I walked ahead of them and into the classroom. I went into the English room and sat down at my table. Cynthia came up and sat down too. “Isn’t it great that we get to sit together Charles?” Cynthia said sarcastically. I stared down at my desk, “Can’t you just leave him alone for one day Cynthia?” Sadie said as she walked by. Cynthia grinned at Sadie evilly, “Nope.” Sadie’s dark cheeks reddened. “You better watch it,” she said. Cynthia laughed, “Ooh I’m SO scared!” Sadie put up her fist, but I caught her at mid-punch. “Sit, Sades,” I said. Sadie narrowed her eyes and mouthed, “This isn’t over” to Cynthia, but she continued on and sat at her table. The new girl walked in and gave Mr. Frocks a yellow slip of paper. Mr. Frocks nodded and pointed to the seat next to me. The new girl started to walk over to my table, so I concentrated on the sheet I had to fill out. She sat next to me and smiled at Cynthia, “Hey, I’m Katie,” she said. I sucked in my breath, “You-your names Katie?” I asked. She looked at me, smiled, and then nodded. “Ya, that’s my name.” I sucked my breath in again. Malibu’s real name had been Katie. She just liked being called Malibu because that was where she was from, and she was proud of it. I had been too blind to realize how that was kind of majorly self-absorbed. “What’s your name?” Katie asked. “Did you know Katie means pure?” I asked her. She raised one of her eyebrows, “Um...ya I did. How did you know that?”
“I had a girlfriend named Katie once,” I said, looking back at my lab sheet. “Ah yes, Malibu’s real name was Katie wasn’t it? That little jerk was too proud of her rich hometown to let anyone actually call her that. Well, she didn’t deserve to be called pure anyway. She wasn’t,” Cynthia said. Katie looked at me again, “I’m sorry,” she said. I looked up, “For what? How do you know she did anything to me?” I said. “Because you weren’t depressed last year,” she said. “What?” I said. “I lived on your street last year, but then I went to stay with my dad for a while, and now I’m back,” she said. “I know that,” I said, “I meant what do you mean by that I’m depressed?”
“Well, you just seem kind of sad...”
“He’s emo Katie,” Cynthia said.
“No he’s not. He’s just sad,” Katie said. I looked up at her in disbelief. No one ever said I wasn’t emo. No one ever settled with me just being sad, being heart broken. They thought I had gotten over it. “No, trust me, he’s emo. He got over Malibu a long time ago,” Cynthia said. Katie looked at me and shook her head. “No he didn’t,” she said. I stared into her eyes, trying to figure her out. This girl was weird. Katie laughed, and I shot up an eyebrow. “What’s funny?” I asked. “You’re quick to judge,” she said. She winked and turned to Cynthia again to ask her about the school. I stared at her and wondered. What did she mean by that? Quick to judge? I never said anything out loud about her. And how did she know I wasn’t over Malibu? I looked down at my paper. The bell rang and Katie stood up. I looked at her outfit and realized she was wearing pajamas. “They’re sweats,” Katie said. I backed away from her towards Sadie. I turned to Sadie, “Hey,” I said. I turned my head and saw that Katie was gone. I walked into the hall with Sadie.
The rest of the day went by in a breeze. At the end of the day, I walked out of the school and into the forest to take the shortcut to my house. The light suddenly disappeared. A strange, musical hissing came out of the wind, seeming to call me toward it. The darkness started to overtake me. It was cold, and I was alone. I wanted someone near me, and this voice in the wind seemed to be what I needed. I walked forward following the noise deeper into the forest. I walked into a clearing, but still no sunlight shone down on me. The hissing circled me, and I realized that itwas coming from someone. Someone who was circling me so quickly that it seemed there was wind. Someone with hair so black it looked like it was dark because of their speed circling me. Someone who wanted me there, now. Someone who did not have good intentions for me. A death whisperer. Rumors of death whisperers had spread everywhere, but I had never believed them. I closed my eyes and curled into a ball on the grass, covering my ears. I had heard that doing this kept death whisperers from completing their task, from killing you. I opened my eyes slightly after a while and I saw a girl screaming and ripping trees out of the ground. Her voice was like honey, it poured out slowly and was very sweet and addictive. The darkness no longer overpowered me, and I realized that I had overpowered the death whisperer. This girl was the death whisperer. I had always thought that death whisperers were only male. I stared into the red yet milky colored eyes of the girl and realized that I recognized them. “Katie!” I breathed. The girl turned abruptly and grinned widely. Of course, she couldn’t understand me when she was in this state. She laughed loudly and beautifully, and I got up to run. I ran away from her, towards the light, but I found the darkness inching closer and closer to me, and her song was luring me to come back to her. I ran out of the forest and into the sunlight. She came to the forest’s edge and screamed, outraged by losing her prey. She dropped on all fours and ran away, her body shifting into a wolf-like creature that threw the forest back into darkness. I backed up quickly and tripped over a rock. I turned around and ran home. Katie...was a...death whisperer.
Katie
My mother got worried when she found me screaming at night. She got more worried when my eyes appeared to roll to the back of my head, but my eye-doctor said that my pupils had actually just changed color to the same shade as my eyes. She got even more worried when I started hissing at people and talking in a musical tone. She got even more worried than that when I started wanting to run everywhere, and when I started to be able to run so fast she didn’t see me leave. She got the most worried when she found me in wolf form laying on my bed. In fact, she got more than worried. She totally freaked out. She started screaming, “There’s a wolf in my house! My daughter got eaten by a wolf!” My natural instincts made me...whisper to her. You see, death whisperers only whisper to people in a mental state of pain. When we are in our natural form, we can’t control our instincts. I can’t believe what I am. What I have become. I am a monster. I am a murderer. I cannot control myself. I was not always like this.
Everyone gets their heart broken, but not everyone gets their heart broken by a death whisperer. If a death whisperer breaks your heart, you are in a mental state of pain. The state that death whisperers naturally must kill. When a death whisperer puts you in that state, your instincts turn against the state. Death whisperers are so beautiful, no one can blame them. So instead of blaming the death whisperer for putting them in that state, they blame the state for being in them. So their natural instincts turn them against the state, and they want to destroy it. Not just in themselves, but in everyone, everything. They want it to vanish. So their natural instincts take them over completely from time to time, and they whisper the feeling to death. Unfortunately, the person carrying the state cannot live without it. It is in their mind, and the mind cannot survive without it, so the mind must be killed too. Of course, without a mind, humans are nothing. So death whisperers become killers. We do not mean to be killers, in fact, we want to help. We want to rid the world of a feeling nobody wants. Unfortunately, no on can live without it. So now I am a monster. An unstoppable, (even by myself,) monster. Yes, I am unstoppable. Once my mind is set on killing the feeling inside someone, it does not stop until that feeling is dead. Charles would not live to tell the story of me, and I could not stop it.
Charles
The next day, I woke up to the sound of rain outside my windowsill. I got into my grey convertible and put the cover up. I drove to the school. I stopped at a stoplight and saw Katie sitting in a black Porsche with her windows down. The song “Apologize” was playing in her car. A shiver went up my spine as I remembered what had happened yesterday. I told myself repeatedly that it had been nothing but a dream, but somehow I knew that it hadn’t been. I pulled into the school parking lot and got out of my car. Katie got out of her car and everyone instantly stared. She had a puffy white faux jacket and expensive jeans on. She took her hood off and shook out her black hair. I turned from her and walked to my class. There was no doubting it, that girl was a death whisperer. The smell of blood and roses had been sent through the air when she whipped her hair. Her appearance was irresistible to human eyes, as death whisperers’ must be to help attract their prey. Her voice was milky and sweet. Her hair was black. I walked into the English room and sat down at my table. Katie walked in and sat next to me. Se shrugged off her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair. She was wearing a dark red tube top with two black roses in the left corner. She sure was an eyeful. “Hello Charles,” she said in her milky voice. I gulped and looked down at my paper. She frowned, “What’s wrong?” she inquired. Cynthia sat down just in time to hear Katie’s words. “Ah, Charles is just a negative guy. Always in a bad mood. Isn’t that right, Charles?” she said. I looked up at her and scowled, then turned my attention back to my paper. “My point exactly,” Cynthia said. Katie wasn’t satisfied. After class, she asked to talk to me. I shivered a little bit, and she pulled me over to an area between two buildings where no one could see us. I stood there and fear filled her eyes. They filled with tears and she looked away from me, “You saw me didn’t you?” she said, “I tried to kill you, didn’t I?” She broke into full on weeping, and I felt the urge to comfort her. “Yes...” I replied, “I saw you. And you did try to kill me.” She looked up at me and the fear in her eyes turned to anger. Suddenly, she disappeared. I looked off into the distance and saw her running away at lightning speed.
Katie
I ran into the distance. “I am a monster” I hissed to myself, “I am evil. I am a murderer. I am unstoppable. I am indestructible,” I went on, “I can’t stop myself. I can’t age. I can’t die. I can’t. I am. I can’t. I am a death whisperer. I can’t not kill him.” I came to a cliff and stopped at the edge. I dropped myself onto the grass of the cliff and stared at the clouds. I had to face the truth. I was a death whisperer, and that could not be changed. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, how far I ran, Charles would die. He would die...unless...unless I killed that emotion in him before my other self did. Suddenly, my mind was filled with nothing but Charles. I had tried other times to kill the emotion a different way, by pretending to be in love with my victim, but I could not pretend forever. Eventually, I had to leave those people. Then the emotion would return to them,and they would become death whisperers themselves. But now, as I considered trying to save Charles’ life, it was not hard to fill my mind with him. It was not hard to think of him as elegant, beautiful, kind...mine. It would not be hard to save him. It would not be hard to fall in love with him. In fact, as I lay there on the grass, I realized that I was. After all, I knew exactly how his mind worked. He was perfect for me...in a weird kind of way.
Charles
I stared after her. She seemed to challenge me. Her every movement was a challenge, as if she was saying to me, “Can you handle this? How about this?” Her eyes beckoned me to her. I shook my head and walked back onto the campus. She was made to be like that. I would not fall under the spell all of the others already had. I was not that easy to convince. Her song played over and over in my head the rest of the day. I stared at the clock as if it was keeping me from all my life’s desires. When school finally ended, I hurried out the doors and jumped into my convertible. I found myself driving off in the direction in which Katie had run. I didn’t know where I was going, but I put my foot on the pedal and accelerated. My car’s cover was down and the song “Viva la Vida” was playing on my radio. I drove for miles until I came to a cliff. I skidded and my car spun in circles. I got out of my car and found Katie laying on the grass. My legs seemed to move themselves as I walked over to her. My arms grabbed one of her hands and pulled her to my car. “What are you doing here? What are you doing with me?” she screamed. I pushed her into the car and slammed the door behind her. I backed away from the cliff and drove back in the direction of the school.
Katie
“Where are we going?” I asked. “I have no idea,” he said. “How did you find me?” I asked. “I have no idea,” he said again. “Why did you come after me?” I asked. “I...I don’t know,” he said. “What do you know?” I inquired. “I know that my foot is on the gas pedal and I didn’t put it there. I know that I just went and picked you up with absolutely no control of my body. I know that you are in my car now asking me questions I don’t know the answer to. And I know that I don’t know why I am telling you this,” he replied. “I asked,” I said. “Yes, but I didn’t reply. My body did. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!” he shrieked. I smiled and leaned against my seat. “You’re falling in love with me,” I said. He turned his head to me, “What?” he whispered. “When a person falls in love with a death whisperer, they can’t control themselves. Their instincts take over, and if the death whisperer loves the human back, then the two are inseparable,” I replied. He looked into my eyes, searching. “Do you love me?” he asked. I smiled, “I think so.”
Charles
“How can you tell if you are in love with a person?” she asked. “Well, apparently your instincts take over entirely and don’t let you control yourself AT ALL,” I said. She laughed, “Ok, so how does a NORMAL person know if they’re in love?” she asked. I sighed, “I...well...it’s usually in the eyes. Katie- er, Malibu, I fell in love with her when I saw her eyes. But I guess that particular relationship isn’t the best one to be running off of,” I said. She smiled, “How about rain? I heard that a lot of people fall in love in the rain,” she said. “Nah, that’s just what they tell you in cheesy romantic comedies,” I said. She laughed, “Ok, so scratch the rain. What else?” I couldn’t believe I was actually talking to a girl I was in love with (because obviously I was,) about figuring out whether or not you’re in love with a person. Normally, this would have been really awkward. But everything felt so...calm with her. Relaxing, like I had nothing to worry about. Like I didn’t need to practice asking her out because I knew the right words would come out at the right time and I knew she would say yes. It was the strangest feeling in the world. To be in love with someone who could kill you, and probably would, and feel more calm than I normally did.
Katie
I was in love with a human. A HUMAN! I couldn’t believe it. It was like a shark falling in love with a fish. I laughed, “You know, me falling in love with you is like a lion falling in love with a lamb.” I laughed again. “What?” he said. “Stephenie Meyer,” I said. “Oh. Right,” he replied. “Where are we going?” I asked. He squinted and looked at a sign up ahead. “Um... I don’t know...I can’t read the...sign...” he said, “It says Venice,” I said. He shot up his eyebrows, “VENICE? But we started in Orange County! That’s like over two hours!” he said. I laughed, “If you’re following the speed limit it is. But you’re going...about 120 miles an hour.”
“Agh! What?! 120! How am I going 120 miles an hour and not crashing?!”
“You’re forgetting who you’re in the car with.”
“What, can you control traffic or something?”
“Not exactly...”
“Then how am I not crashing?!”
“I’m kind of controlling the car with my mind. You’re not really doing anything except putting your foot on the pedal.”
“Oh. Wait...are you like telepathic or something?”
“Sort of...” I said. His eyebrows shot up, “Can you read my mind?” he asked. “Ya,” I replied. “Crud!” he yelled. I laughed, “It’s not that bad. Here, we should get home.” I turned the car with my mind and got us home within a matter of seconds. I got out of the car at the school parking lot. “That was the weirdest thing I have ever taken part in or witnessed in my entire life,” he said. I laughed, “See ya tomorrow,” I said. I walked over to my car and drove home.
Charles
I sat in my car with an astonished look on my face. I was in love. With a death whisperer. Who was telepathic, and who just took me on a 120 miles per hour drive to Venice from Orange County. Weird. Really, really weird. I put my hands on the steering wheel and turned the key in the ignition. I pulled out of the parking lot and drove over to Ruby’s. I parked in the parking lot and walked into the little restaurant. I sat down at the bar. Addie walked over to me and Sadie waved at me from the table she was taking orders for. “Hi!” Addie said. She smiled, “I love these waitress uniforms! I feel so old fashion!” I smiled, “You look ‘old-fashion’ too,” I said. Addie grinned widely, “Hey, somebody’s in a good mood! What happened?” I rolled my eyes, “I just went for a drive,” I said. “Oh? Where’d you go?”
“Uh...Venice?”
“WHAT? Nuh uh. School’s only been out for like an hour!”
“Ya well...would you believe that I was driving with the new girl and she was telepathically making me go 120 miles an hour?”
“Um...no.”
“Ya that’s what I thought.”
“But I might believe that part about you being with that new girl. She seems kind of obsessed with you.”
“What?”I asked. “Addie you’re needed at table 5!” Sadie’s sister called. “Ok boss! Coming!” Addie called. “I’ll talk to you in a minute. Just talk to Sadie for a minute,” Addie said. “Sadie! Come entertain Charles!” Addie called. Sadie roller skated over to me and smiled as Addie roller skated over to table 5. “Sup’ Charles? Isn’t it cool that there’s roller skates with these uniforms?” she said. I smiled, “Girls. You all think the same.” She frowned, “Huh?”
“Never mind. So how’s the job going?”
“Well, it would be nice if Jason wasn’t such a pig. Then we’d have a lot less to clean up. And less to serve. And the cook would have A LOT less to make,” she said. I laughed, “Nice. Jason is a pretty messy eater,” I admitted. “A pretty messy eater? He’s like the world’s messiest eater,” Sadie said. “I second that,” Addie said. I smiled as all the rest of the waiters, the cook, and the guy at the cash register agreed. “You guys are mean,” Jason said as he walked over to me. “What’s up Charles?”
“Not much. I was hanging out with the new girl,” I said. Jason whistled, “Whoa! Charles is actually makin’ moves!” he said. He punched me in the arm, “I was wondering when my boy would be back.” I rolled my eyes, “Dork,” I muttered. Sadie and Addie laughed. “Geez, what do you guys have against me?! Seriously!” Jason said. Sadie, Addie and I all laughed, and Jason punched me in the shoulder again.
Katie
“You’re in love with a human?!” my dad shrieked. Jamie popped her gum, “I don’t get what’s so bad about it. I’m human, you’re human, mom’s human. So what if she falls in love with a human?” My dad rolled his eyes, “Stay out of this Jamie,” he said. “Why should I? She’s my sister,” she said. Jamie was fourteen. Of course, at that age, she thought she knew everything. She was gorgeous, she had a boyfriend, she had straight A’s in school, she had all brand name clothes, and she had an older sister that was a death whisperer. Of course, she didn’t care about that part. She was perfectly fine with having a freakishly gorgeous sister who had a freakishly good voice, did freakishly well in school, and was telepathic. In fact, a lot of times she tried to use me in her advantage. Being stuck at seventeen was perfectly fine with her. One time she said that once she was seventeen, she was going to make me bring her to some male death whisperer and then force him to break her heart so that she could become a death whisperer too. I slapped her when she said that, but she didn’t give up. “Jamie, you should stay out of this,” I said, “I appreciate you standing up for me, but I think this is between dad and me,” I said. Jamie scoffed, “Whatever.” She turned back to the television and started flipping the channels again. “Dad, I’m in love with him, and there’s nothing that you or I can do about it. Besides, it’s not like me being in love with him will effect anything. In fact, I’m kind of saving his life by falling in love with him,” I said. My dad rubbed his temples and walked back up the staircase muttering, “Be in a good mood, be in a good mood, be in a good mood...”
Charles
I walked out of the diner with Addie, Sadie, Jason, and Sadie’s sister at 9:30. “Party at my place!” Addie said. I smiled, “I’m in,” I said. Everyone cheered. “Par-tay!” Sadie and Addie yelled. I got in my car and everyone else got in Sadie’s sister’s. We drove to Addie’s house, and Sadie’s sister dropped them off and sped away. By the time we got in the house, the whole place was filled, “Well Addie, you sure know how to dial quickly!” Jason said, eyeing the cell phone Addie was using to invite people. We went over to the speakers and Addie put in her ipod. She put on the song “Hot ‘N Cold” and Jason and I went over to couch while the girls danced. Jason laughed and I smiled, “Addie has a lot of friends,” he said. I smiled, “How much you wanna bet she doesn’t know half the people in this room?” I asked. Jason put his hands up, “Oh no! I’m not blowing off my money.” I laughed. Addie walked up to us and grabbed Jason off the couch and they started dancing. Sadie walked over to me and smiled. She waved her phone in front of my face. “I’m calling the new girl!” she yelled over the music. “You suck!” I yelled back. She laughed and plugged one of her ears so she could talk into the phone. She frowned. “Ok. Ok. No problem. Thanks. See ya tomorrow,” she said. “She can’t come.” she yelled as she closed her phone. She shrugged, “Oh well, maybe next time.”
Katie
I hung up my phone and ran out to my car. I drove straight over to Addie’s house, but I kept my distance. I was sure to go into my other stage as soon as I walked into that dimly lit house, and there were probably a lot of broken-hearted people in their. Why else would they go to a last minute party on a school night in some girl’s house that most of them probably didn’t know? I couldn’t chance it. I looked into the window from across the street and saw Charles sitting on the couch. Some girl walked up and sat next to him, and it looked like she was trying to flirt, but Charles got up and walked into Addie’s kitchen. I smiled and drove back home. I walked into my room and sat on the floor. I put the song “Bella’s Lullaby” on my ipod. I opened my window and cold air flowed in. I jumped out of my window and ran through the trees to a highway. I ran from there to a little mall, and then I walked up to Ruby’s. The doors were locked and the ‘Closed’ sign was flickering. I walked up to the restaurant and climbed up the wall. I summer-salted from the wall to the roof. I ran on the roof and jumped to a tree nearby. I leaped from the tree to the roof of Macy’s. I stared into the store through the skylight. The cold wind bit at my skin. I shoved open the skylight and jumped into the mall. It was early December, and giant fake ornaments were hanging from the roof. I stood on the railing of the third floor and jumped onto one of the ornaments. I swung from ornament to ornament. Then I dropped to the first escalator and slid down the siding. Eventually, I grew bored of the mall and I jumped back onto the roof. From there, I jumped to a tree and then back to the floor. Most people would probably have a heart attack if they even tried any of what I just did. I was quite used to it.
Charles
The next day, I drove to school with a smile on my face. I drove to school just in time to see Jason get in a fight with someone. Katie was trying to pull the huge boy off of Jason. “Stop! Simon stop!” she yelled. Her long black hair was frizzy and sticking out. “STOP SIMON!” she screamed louder. She grabbed the boy’s waste and ripped him off of Jason. “Jason!” I yelled. Addie pulled into the parking lot and ran over to Jason. Her eyes filled with tears, “What’s your frickin’ problem?!” she screamed at the boy. I rushed to Jason’s side and saw blood running down his cheek. “What happened?” I asked Katie. Katie’s eyes were filling with tears. “This is my brother, Simon. Oh I’m so sorry! I told him to stop! I-” she said, “It’s ok Katie. I just want to know how this started,” I said. Katie burst into tears. “Your little friend here was threatening my sister-” Simon started, “He was kidding Simon!” Katie burst out. Simon growled at Jason, “You have a bad sense of humor. You better watch it pretty boy,” Simon said to Jason. Jason cringed, “Man, I was just kid- I won’t say anything again,” he said backing up on the ground. Simon growled loudly at him. “You better not,” he said. “What did he even say?” I asked Katie. “He said that the last girl you were with doesn’t live here anymore,” she said. Simon turned to me abruptly, “You’re the one?!” he screamed at me. “Umm...” I started. Simon started to lunge at me, but Katie stopped him, “Simon! He didn’t threaten me!” she yelled. “Actually, it’s true, my last girlfriend doesn’t live here anymore. But that’s because she chose Malibu over me and she moved there and started dating some actor,” I said. “I’m sorry,” Katie whispered. Simon grabbed Katie’s backpack, swung it over his shoulder, and grabbed Katie’s arm. He pulled her over to the English room. I walked in after them and sat at my seat. Simon pushed Katie delicately onto her chair and kissed her on the top of her head. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Then he walked out of the room, his hugeness being covered momentarily by his elegance. “Who was THAT?!” Cynthia breathed, “He’s hot!” Katie laughed, “That’s my brother,” she said. “Ah, so beauty runs in the family,” Cynthia said. Katie laughed, “Yea, I guess you could say that.”
Katie
I walked out to the parking lot with Charles after school. “Why is Simon so overly-protective of you?” he asked. “He’s not really my brother. Have I ever told you how a death whisperer becomes a death whisperer?” I said. “No, you haven’t,” he replied. “Ok, well, what happens is a death whisperer falls in love or pretends to be in love with a human, and then falls out of love or stops pretending, and the human’s heart is broken. Because the death whisperer is the one who broke their heart, they become a death whisperer. I...accidentally created Simon. Once a death whisperer sets its mind on killing someone, or rather the feeling inside someone, they are unstoppable. So I tried to get rid of the feeling inside him myself by pretending to be in love with him, so that I wouldn’t have to kill him. Eventually though, I had to stop pretending. And when I did, his heart broke. And he became a death whisperer. He moved in with my family and I, and he was still in love with me. Nowadays, he’s not in love with me anymore. He loves me, but he’s not IN love with me. I’m like a sister to him. So we tell people that he’s my brother, because people would probably be suspicious as to why he lived with me otherwise,” I said. “Whoa. Simon’s a death whisperer?” Charles asked, sounding astonished. I laughed, “Yea, strange to consider, right? Some huge guy running around you in circles and singing to you,” I laughed again. Simon walked up to us and scooped me up into his arms. “Time to go!” he said cheerfully. He messed up Charles’ hair and said, “See ya later dude. You better take care of my sister.” Then he looked around to make sure nobody was watching and he ran with me in his arms through the forest to our house. I sighed, “You know I can walk by myself,” I said. “Yea, but what better time to make a guy jealous than right after you told him the guy who kissed your head in class isn’t related to you?” he said with a laugh. “Jerk,” I muttered. He smiled, “Jerk’s my middle name,” he said. I laughed, “And human or not, Simon’s your first.”
Charles
I watched as Simon and Katie disappeared into the distance. Sadie skipped over to me with a big smile on her face. “I’m going to work. See you later!” she said. The school emptied, and I found that everyone had huge smiles on their faces. Jason and Addie walked out of the school holding hands and smiling. Confused by all the smiles, (especially Jason’s, since he had been punched very recently,) I got into my car and headed for home. It started to rain, but I didn’t put my cover on. I heard a strange screaming noise, and I followed it. The clouds were gray, and the rain was cold on my skin. I heard the screaming again, closer now, and I put my foot on the gas pedal to go faster. The noise got closer and closer. The road was completely empty except for me. I saw a girl laying on the road up ahead of me. I pulled over and jumped out of my car. The screaming was coming from the girl, and she was shivering. She was covered in blood. I scooped her up in my arms and brought her over to my car. I put her in the seat next to me and buckled her seatbelt. I put up the cover and drove to my house. No one was home, so I brought the girl to the living room and put her down on the couch. She started moaning, and more blood came out of her. I grabbed my phone and the first aid kit and rushed to her side. I dialed Addie’s phone number and started to dab the girl’s wounds with water to clean them out. “Addie! You need to get here quickly! I found this girl on the road, and she’s bleeding badly! Come quickly!” I said. “I’m on my way!” she replied. I closed my phone and took out the rubbing alcohol. Addie, Sadie, and Jason came a few minutes later, and Addie and Sadie helped me tend to the little girl while Jason started a fire. “Should we call the ambulance?” Addie asked. “I’m going to call someone who I think might be more effective,” Sadie said, and she took out her phone. “Katie? Hi, it’s Sadie. We’ve got a little emergency over at Charles’ place, and we need your help,” she said into the phone. “How is Katie more effective than the ambulance?” Addie muttered. “Katie’s little sister went missing yesterday, and I’m pretty sure this girl looks exactly like the way Katie described her,” Sadie said. Addie gasped, and Katie slammed open the front door. “Jamie!” she screamed. She ran over to the girl and scooped her up into her arms as if she weighed nothing. “Katie” the girl said. “Yes, yes I’m here now Jamie. It’s gonna be ok,” Katie said. “It was so dark...and the singing...so dark...” Jamie said. Katie hissed loudly and hugged the girl closely to her waste. “Jamie no. No...it wasn’t...I won’t let them get you Jamie. I won’t let them get you...” she murmured. She hugged Jamie closely to her chest and started patching up her wounds with her open hand. “Thank you Charles. Thank you Sadie, Addie, Jason. Thank you for helping my sister,” Katie said while fighting back tears. “So dark...” Jamie murmured over and over. “I have to go now. Thank you for all your help,” Katie said, and with that, she picked up Jamie in her arms and left. Katie
I ran through the forest with Jamie in my arms. She repeated the words, “So dark...” over and over. Tears were filling my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them fall. What could I do? A death whisperer had gotten to my sister, and it would not stop until she was dead. The only way I could save her was to make her fall in love with someone who wouldn’t break her heart, and I was no matchmaker. “Jamie!” Simon screamed as I ran up. He took her from my arms and brought her inside. He lay her down in front of the fireplace to warm her up. “What happened?” Simon asked me. “A death whisperer got to her, but she got out of the forest before it completely finished its task. Then Charles found her and brought her to his house. Sadie called me, and I saw Jamie’s image in her mind, so I ran over to the house. Oh Simon, what are we going to do?” I asked through tears. Simon hugged me with his open arm. “We can’t bring her to the hospital, the wounds she has couldn’t be made from just tripping-” he started, “I meant what are we going to do about the death whisperer?! Whoever it was, it won’t stop until she’s dead!” I almost yelled. “So dark...” Jamie said again. I broke into full on weeping, and Simon said, “We’re gonna have to become matchmakers...”
To be continued...
© 2009
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