You can barely hear her breathing. If it weren’t for her chest rising and falling, you’d think she were dead. But then again, if you thought she was dead, you weren’t far off the mark. You’d actually be right in a few minutes, because that’s all she had left. Three minutes and twenty-one seconds.
No matter how long you do this, it hurts every single time. And that was saying something, seeing as I’d been doing this for God knows how long. I’m just glad I don’t have to do this alone. I mean, I do my part alone and I’ve never actually met any of the others, but there have to be more. There’s was too many people dying for me to handle by myself. Even angels can’t be in two places at once.
When I died, apparently I was good enough to go to heaven. But, somehow I was tricked into getting a job like this. Maybe I wasn’t that good as a human after all. Surely, I must’ve done something wrong to suffer this kind of torture?
I look back at the girl. Emily. Emily Jacobs. When I met her two weeks ago, she was so happy. She was cheer captain, had loving friends and family, got good grades and she was pretty too. In other words, she was alive. But then she met me. As far as she knew, I’d moved in next door with my workaholic mother she’d never meet. I was just another potential friend to her.
Five, four, three, two, one.
The doorbell rings, like I knew it would.
Emily’s there, like I knew she would be.
She brought muffins with her, like I knew she would.
Being a Death Angel sure got boring sometimes. Knowing what your victim is doing, every second, for fourteen long days.
As I open the door, I’m greeted by a high pitched and enthusiastic ‘Hi!’.
Doing my best to match Emily’s enthusiasm, I greet her back..
‘Hey there!’ My cheeks hurt from smiling so wide. She looks me over quickly before introducing herself.
‘I’m Emily Jacobs, your neighbor! I’d shake your hand, but mine’s kinda busy.’ She ends with a big smile. Had I not known this would happen already, I’d be surprised at how sincere her smile was.
‘My name’s Eve, nice to meet you.’ We stand in silence for a few seconds. I feel obliged to break it and start speaking again.
‘Would you like to come in, or…?’ The question hangs in the air. It’s weird, asking something you know the answer to. I suppose I should be used to it, but still.
She can’t come in, because she has to go pick up her younger brother, Matt, from soccer practice.
‘I’d love to, but I have to go pick up my brother. My mom’s practically forcing me to.’ She ends with a laugh.
Poor little Matt, I think, he was going to be so confused when Emily stopped coming home. I feel a pang of guilt. When I take Emily, I take Matt’s childhood with me.
There’s eight seconds left. I brace myself for the worst part. This is where Emily’s mother falls to her knees, screaming, pleading to take her place.
Three. The heart monitor skips a beat.
Two. The doctors come to check what’s happening.
One.
For a few seconds, you hear nothing but the heart monitor flat lining, but then it erupts into chaos.
Doing my best to ignore Emily’s mother screaming at the top of her lungs, I walk over to Emily, standing next to the bed.
‘Let’s go.’ I say as I take her by the hand.
