Broken-Hearted Cupid

Job Details

Brielle sighed as they moved the last box into what would now be their home. It wasn't anything fantastic, but it was nice. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and everything else you would need in a house, though what she loved about it was the outside. The porch was framed by lovely white columns and a dark brown door contrasted with the red steps, which led to the yard and garden. It was what Brielle would have wanted as a permanent home in her life before she died. She was reminded of all the things she would never get to do, and a feeling of despair overwhelmed her. All she wanted to do was give up.

"Hey, Brielle, it's okay I can get everything set up from here. Why don't you go lie down upstairs, and I'll call you when I've made dinner," Avery spoke disrupting her thoughts as he came up behind her.

"No, I'm fine-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. You go do it or I'm kicking that pretty little ass of yours!" He interrupted. Brielle smiled. Avery was the one thing that made everything worthwhile. She had no idea what she'd do without him.
As if he had heard her thoughts, he gave her a knowing smile then hugged her and pushed her toward the stairs.

As she climbed them to her room which already was fixed with her things, Brielle felt exhausted. Coming back to her hometown had really broken down her emotional walls she had built, and now she felt vulnerable. Her heart ached more than it had in years, and not the dull consistent ache she had grown used to. She wanted to go to sleep forever, but that wasn't an option. So as she lay down in her bed, she finally felt some relief as she drifted into oblivion.
****
Brielle woke up to the smell of heaven from downstairs. God, she loved living with an angel. He knew how to do everything perfectly well except for math. That absolutely puzzled him. She stumbled downstairs not caring about anything but her hungry tummy. It growled giving away her approach as he turned from the stove to face her.

"Goodness, even when you look like crap you're still gorgeous," Avery spoke.

"Well thanks, I love flattery served with dinner. That's just what I ordered." He flicked a chopped piece of onion at her, but went back to finishing dinner.

"So I should probably brief you on your job while we eat, tomorrow's going to be a big day." Damn, Brielle had almost forgotten she wasn't here just for torture. she had a job to do.

"Okay, although I'd rather go back to bed," Brielle stated when he put two plates of Chicken Parmesan on the table.

"Well,darling, that's just called avoiding your issues and I will not let you do that, so let's eat and then we'll talk," Avery responded.

As expected the food was amazing, but for some reason Brielle never felt satisfied by food. if it wasn't for Avery pestering her about how she could still lose weight and look like walking death, she would've stopped eating years ago. The first few minutes of dinner were filled with small talk, but Brielle knew he was just giving her time before he got into exactly why they were here. As if on cue, he began to talk.

"Okay, so this is it," Avery began. "Recently in this town, there have been a series of murders." At the mention of that, Brielle looked up from her plate. this was not the routine job. Usually with murders, there were hopeless causes that not even angels were supposed to intervene. It made no sense that they would have been brought her here for this. "It is always the same type of victim, teenage girls. They go missing for a week then turn up on the beach broken, bruised, strangled with a shattered heart carved into their chest and a rose stuffed down their throat."

"That is cruel," Brielle interrupted. It seemed as if this killer was doing this for show, someone who wanted to be famous with a trademark kill. She thought of Zane and was angered by the audacity of someone to mutilate and mock their victim for this purpose after they had already done so much by murdering them. Was anyone allowed peace anymore?

"It is extremely cruel. So far there have been seven victims, and the police have no idea who it could be. Now, how this relates to your job, the sister of one of the victims is your target. After her sister was murdered, she shut everyone out and began to spiral down a dark abyss because she blames herself. She has a limited amount of time before she gives up, and I've been told without her the killer won't be caught. If she dies, there is no hope of this stopping. But this is where you come in, her true love goes to the same school as her, right under her nose. He is the beginning of her healing; he will give her a reason not to give up and then we are supposed to help her heal. Though of course at the moment, they are both oblivious to each other's existence for some unknown reason. So you have to help this girl find a reason to keep going to save her and future victims of the killer." Brielle began to panic. She had never had to do this before. Her job was to make two people meant to be find each other to make up for all of the hearts she had broken not pull someone out of despair and save them from themselves. There was no way she could do that. She couldn't even do that for herself.

"Avery how can I do that? How do I even know where to start?"
He smiled. "You have to do what you do best, manipulate hearts." She frowned at him. His words only did more to increase her worry.

****

Dinner had passed quietly as Brielle tried to take everything in. Her task was impossible. She knew she could only fail. Avery had been giving her worried looks all night, and that had only helped to confirm her thoughts. She lay in bed now even more confused and hopeless. She wanted nothing more than to end it all, but there was no way out. Her inner turmoil increased, and by the time she was finally able to doze off, her pillows were drenched in tears and her heart ached more than she had felt in a very long time. All she wanted to be was numb; she didn't even want happiness anymore. Brielle was too far gone herself. There was no way she could save someone else.