Breath taker

Part 4- You Might Wanna Clear Your Schedule

Lorelai stood there, just watching her daughter bound down the hill and back to the castle, until she was out of sight. She let out a sigh, and headed up the rest of the stairs to think.

Her girls looked everything like her, same face, same eyes, same hair, same smiles, same everything. You could never believe that their father was that monster. Never would she believe that.

She kept going until she'd left the cave. She then spread her wings and continued out. It was night now. She flew above Sandman's golden strands of dream sand, above the clouds and drifted to a stop below the moon.

Slowing to a stop, she flipped over onto her back and stared up at the bright, full moon and poured out her questions.

"If I did something wrong, could you just tell me? Because they all believe in me, they all know that I'm real. So why can't they SEE me? The only ones who can see me are on their deathbeds, or are cursed. Why is it a curse to see ME? Why? He explained it to me, in part, but no one knows why I am different. You'd know, wouldn't you?" she sighed, before continuing.

"And the girls, why did I have to have the girls? They look nothing like him, but they are his. Why did they have to be his? Everything about them is me! Nyx, she's always smiling, she always has so much to say. Hecate, she's so quiet, but there's compassion and kindness, so much kindness. And Melinoe, she's so curious and dives in headfirst. HE was nothing like any of them. Why did you let me go with him? Why did you let him find me? Why did you give me this power? Why did you leave me alone? You only gave me my name and an order. I FOLLOWED that order. So why can't you give me the answers I deserve?" she paused her vent to think of more to say.

"Y'know it's nice to have someone to vent to who doesn't tell you what they think you should do, who just listens, I think, are you listening? Wait, right. Yeah, that's nice and all that, but sometimes I'd like it if you'd give me an answer." she paused, almost waiting for an answer.

"Alright then, be like that. You know someday you're going to have to give me an answer. I'm stubborn and I'll keep coming back here until you do." she flipped over and flew off in the direction of another hospital.

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Lorelai stood on top of the hospital roof, looking down at the traffic. Sighing, she looked beside her, at the other girl beside her. A car accident had left her paralyzed from the waist down. "So I guess you mean that I will actually jump." the girl said.

"Not necessarily. You might just be cursed." Lorelai responded. "Feels like both of those options are correct." the girl looked down.

"Well I know one person's wrong. And it's not me Jenny."

"Don't call me that, Danny calls me that. And what makes you think I'm not going to die?" Jenny said bitterly.

"Well I am Death herself. Part of being Death means that, yes, I do indeed know when someone is or isn't going to die." Lorelai reminded her.

"So what? You can't stop me from jumping." Jenny retorted.

"True, I can't. But I can simply just stand here, and you wouldn't die. I'm the one who takes away people's lives. You can't die without me, or one of my helpers taking your life. But I'm the only one who can decide to not take a life, the others are on orders and have too." Lorelai explained to her.

"So it's just my luck that I got you today then."

"Ha, it's your luck that you got anyone at all. It isn't your time, so no one's supposed to come, no one even knows about you yet."

"So why are you here then?" Jenny asked.

"Because very few can see me. And if you can, then it's a curse. I know each and every one who is cursed. I tend to keep an eye on them. And I know that you'd jump if you were alone and then you'd be in even more pain because you survived."

"I can't keep going on like this. The only thing that I had in my life was basketball and Danny. My dad's in chemo, I now can't play and who would want to be with a cripple?"

"Yes you can. You have to keep going. Everyone has to keep going. Even when we want to stop running, or crawling in some cases, we keep going. Or else everything will catch up. You are strong. You'll keep going and then, when it's all done, after you've lived a long, hard life, then I will accept you and apologize for all you had to go through because a long, painful life can be one of the worst things to go through."

"So, I'm cursed?"

"Yes."

"Mind telling me what this curse packet includes? "

"I can't. It's the future. You need to take it as it is, or else you'll dread waiting for it."

"I don't care. I just want to be prepared for it."

"You'll live the glamorous life of a celebrity. The alone, hollow, gossiped one. You'll never find eternal love. All the boys and girls you fall in love with break your heart. Your life will be a long miserable one, with the mask of happiness spread over top it."

"Even Danny?" Jenny asked. Lorelai nodded.

"I'm just telling you this so you can prepare. He loves you at this moment, he'll love you still after he breaks your heart. Don't break his, that's too cruel. To do vengeance for something that hasn't happened yet."

Jenny started crying. Lorelai pulled her away from the railing and into a hug. "But you are strong, and you will get over every hurdle. Come along. Go, call your dad. His days, unlike yours, are numbered." she sat her down into her wheel chair and watched her pull out her phone and find the contact. "Good luck, Jenny." Lorelai said as she jumped off the building, spreading her wings.

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Lorelai stopped on the roof of a house as she rested her wings, which she didn't need to do but still did because it felt nice, when she saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye. Reaching up, she stroked the blade of her scythe, returning to her monstrous form as she began to follow the shadow into an ally.

"Hello? Who are you?" she called to the shadows as she steadied her grip on her scythe. "Where'd you go? Come out this instance. Are you friend or foe?" she added. She was hoping this wasn't who she thought it might be.

Please not Pitch. Please don't be Pitch.

"G'day mate." she heard a voice behind her. A large grey rabbit holding boomerangs and a pale teenager about her age with white hair stood beside him. Bunny, the spirit of Easter and a random kid?

"Been a long time since I've seen you Reaper. Last was the end of the dark ages, yeah?" he asked.

"And the first. Who's the kid?" she asked, still on edge.

"Hey." he said, offended.

"Clearly you two haven't met." the rabbit said.

"Well, I do live under a lot of rocks." the Grim Reaper replied.

"This is Jack Frost. You know who I am?" Bunny asked.

"I've heard about you. Theeee...... Australian rabbit who gives rotten eggs to children in spring? And you, no clue who you are, but guessing from your hair and name, you've got something to do with winter?"

"Yeah, that's about right." Jack replied.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What?" Jack asked.

"Well, it's not that often that we bump into each other, and you were not at all surprised to see me, so what do you want? I'm a busy woman y'know." she said.

"Well then you might wanna clear your schedule, this is going to take a while. Fellas, grab her."