Shadow Lines

Note at the end. This book is based off of Markus Zusak's novel, The Book Thief. Any idea or style of writing that resembles his novel belongs to him. This is not a fan fiction.

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Prologue

Death.

A word so simple, yet so horrible as well.

Humans.

Violent, disturbing creatures that have made this world a bitter edged reality that no one can change.

And then there are people like me.

The Shadows.

One Simple Message:

We are the people who are never seen, never heard, or never known. We are the people who watch and wait.

We are the line drawn between human and angels, demons and sin. We are neither good nor evil. We are simply there. To watch and wait. For what, you might ask.

For death.

We are there when a human dies, and then we carry them off into the world between heaven and hell. We bring them into Judgment.

It was one humid summer day in Oregon when I arrived. I stood in the shadows, as usual. I could never touch the sun.

The little girl stood over her brother, watching him as he convulsed on the ground. I blinked once. Twice. I felt no pity for her brother. No mercy. No grief. Why should I? It was my duty not to question anything. It was my duty to simply carry the dead souls off into Judgment.

The little girl remained there, never moving. Her brother suddenly twitched and remained still, his lifeless eyes staring off into the distance. The girl uttered a strangled cry as she tried to comprehend that her brother had just passed away.

You may wonder what he died of.

My answer?

I'm not sure. I didn't care at that time, to be honest with you.

I waited and looked up into the sun. I waited. And waited. Slowly the sun inched its way across the sky, and the shadows slowly moved until one of them was close enough to the boy. I glided forward and remained under the shadow, crouching to the boy's level and scooping him up in my arms.

And suddenly the girl gasped.

I looked up calmly, sure that she could not see me, but she did.

That was how I first met Evelyn Arousela.

The sky was blue.

The air was hot.

I stared into the brown eyes of Evelyn.

She stared back.

"You...you're..." she stuttered, and suddenly glanced down at her brother's soul in my arms. "You're taking my brother away."

"How can you see me?" I simply stated. No human, in my entire existence of being a Shadow, has ever set eyes upon my kind or me.

"What do you mean? You're standing right in front of me!" she blurted. "And how...why...? You-you're carrying my brother. But my brother's dead right here. How is that possible?"

"How can you see me?" I repeated again, and I felt a flicker inside of me. Emotions. Grief. Disbelief. This could not be possible.

Another Message:

No human alive had ever set eyes upon a Shadow. Nor has a Shadow ever experienced human emotions.

I felt the boy's soul stir in my arms. Evelyn glanced down at him, and I saw water form in her eyes. Or what humans called tears.

"Is he going to heaven?" Evelyn asked quietly.

I didn't say anything-I was too busy looking at the girl. My mind was racing for the first time. Questions that I never asked before popped into my head.

The boy suddenly stirred again and his soul began to dissipate in my arms. I sighed, knowing that if I stayed any longer, the boy's soul would evaporate into nothingness. No, that was not allowed to happen. I had to bring him to Judgment.

I allowed my body to slip away, up and up into the air. But something stopped me before I could truly disappear and travel to Judgment.

The girl's voice.

Evelyn's.

"I'll find you someday." I heard her whisper. "And I'll get my answers. "

And then I was gone.

I didn't truly understand that she would follow up on her promise when we met again ten years later, when the girl was twenty.

And that is where our story begins.

It includes Evelyn Arousela, Lucifer, angels, a brother, a friend, and me. The Shadow with no name. The Shadow who, however, would receive one not far into the future.

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