3 months with grim reaper

The shadow

"Are you sure about this?"

Jennie retracts her foot stretched out of platform. The voice is grim, breaking the dead silence that envelope the station. She turns instinctively to her right and finds herself standing next to a woman clothed in black.

She should be afraid. Of what exactly? Sweet release of death? Being a misfit in the world? The impending loss of loved ones she truly cares? It won't matter because each of them leads to one single belief that she shares the same destiny as unclaimed baggage at lost and found.

There is no place for them in this world.

Certainly, the random appearance of a creep out of nowhere won't be life threatening to her.

"Are you having second thought?" The woman voice is deep and hoarse and it startles Jennie when the mysterious stranger turns to face her. She doesn't expect to be greeted with these delicate and well defined features. The voice is a perfect deceit that complements cold aura around the woman well.

It's ironic how when she is on the verge of ending her business with the world that her human traits still lingers. Otherwise, how can she be distracted by physical appeal of someone else?

The woman never breaks away the eye contact. It's quite telling she doesn't mind to wait out either. Jennie shifts her gaze to the rail track to breath out the stuffiness off her chest. Now she feels intimidated. Possibly by the realisation of how painful the death can be, but largely by the question the woman asked. No one cares enough to do that. It is all her decision.

"Leave me alone. Don't make this harder than it is." She clenches her fists, letting on more that she intends.

"So you are afraid after all." Jennie feels humiliated for a moment. Without wasting a single second, she twirls to glare angrily at the woman.

"What do you know about my life! Who are you to judge!" She sinks her nails into her palms to stop the tears from flowing, but they seem to have minds of their own. There is no emotion on the woman's face. She must be a sociopath or demon. She has to be.

"Do it."

"What?"

Jennie tries to conceal her shock. The woman remains expressionless and indifferent. She is probably right.

It has always been her against the world. Did she just hold out hope that this stranger might show a fraction of concern to her? She laughs at her foolishness before taking a bold step forward. The train can be heard moving at full speed. This is it.

She squints at the blinding light but it doesn't faze her one bit. Where is the flashback most people talk about in their final moments or is it just a myth? The sound of the engine roaring is deafening, signalling to her that the end is near.

Her heart is still, or rather dead. She closes her eyes and takes a leap.

Instead of falling forward, she feels some unexplainable forces thrusting her backward. So, delusion interferes to make the whole process less awful. She smiles at the thought but it's quickly replaced with cry of pain when she lands on her back with a loud thud.

"What the hell!" She rubs the back of her head repeatedly to sooth the pain. Plunging to her death is the plan she can't afford to flop because living with permanent damage to her body or becoming disabled for the rest of her life are not consequences she is prepared to deal.

She opens her eyes frustratingly to see what goes wrong, as if this is a drill she could go over again and again. The first thing that comes into her view is the same infuriating woman looking down at her. Facial features remain still and unbothered. It's better that way. The least she needs now is offer of warmth or sympathy. They won't be genuine anyway.

"This is not a game! You asshole!" Jennie yells back at her in tears. It is humiliating nonetheless. "Back off!!" She struggles to stand up as the pain follows every slight movement she makes.

It takes her quite a while to lift her upper torso up against the wall.

And then, her senses are suddenly wide awake.

Wall?

The distance between the two ends of platform is not some wild ideas that can be toyed with. Not her. Not her male counterpart. Not even wrestler, bodybuilder, athlete or guinness world record holder who could summon such amount of strength to fling her across the platform.

Does her mum forget to tell her their ancestors are some powerful sorcerers who decided to seal their supernatural abilities for good?

Then, her eyes casted to the woman, eager to connect the dots. There is a sudden gust of wind that blows the woman's hair off her shoulder. It's hauntingly beautiful. No words are exchanged between them. Her pale skin forms a sharp contrast against the dimmed backdrop. It's like peace transcends them all of a sudden and she feels safe again even though she barely knows the woman.

This is what it feels like to be safe. She understands it now and she wishes she could freeze this moment to compensate all the time she has lost to fears and insecurities she grows up with. A few pieces of leaves start to dance and swirl under a lamppost, drawing her attention back to reality. The woman remains still like a statue, eyes locked onto hers.

If she continues to stare without spilling any word, Jennie is definitely coming up with something to break the eerie silence. Her eyes dart across to the leaves for moment of clarity.

The sudden realisation jolts her awake with fear as she watches the leaves prancing around.

There are clearly shadows following the leaves and without a doubt, she has her own laying next to her. But she can't find any near the woman. What is she? A magician?

The woman picks up the mild fluctuation in Jenny's expression, clearly giving herself away of the frantic attempt to stay calm.

"Took you long enough." Jenny could see the corner of woman's lip lifted slightly. She fights to maintain her composure.

Death is common and she isn't scared because her whole life amounts to nothing. Taking her own life is a decision she makes and its within her control. But having some other extraterrestrial intelligence or creature commit the deed is not what she prepares herself for. Some of the gore flick scenes conveniently rush to the top of her head. The death is undeniably distasteful.

Please don't be a predator.

"What are you?" Stupid question.

"Not what you have in mind."

"Wait. What? You could read my mind?!" Jennie crosses her arms to guard her body swiftly, debating whether to reveal her displeasure over invading her privacy.

"I'm here to offer you a deal." The woman ignores her question and continues without waiting for Jennie's response.

"I grant you 3 wishes. You repay with your life." Jennie stays quiet, immersing in deep thought. At this point, she isn't skeptical of her words nor power to fulfill her end of the deal. Life has long lost its meaning on her but if she is able to use these wishes to do some good, she could probably stay for a while more.

"How long do I have." She looks up to the woman with a renewed will.

"3 months."

Jennie takes a deep breath before matching the woman's gaze.

"I will take it."

The woman walks to Jennie and lowers herself down. Perhaps it all happens too fast or Jennie doesn't realise that she gets caught easily by the presence of the woman. She barely has time to suppress her racing heart when the woman slides her fingers in between hers. There is a sharp pain that sears through her palm.

js

She studies the miniature fonts closely.

"That's Jisoo. I'm your grim reaper."

Her words resonates deep into the night. One that Jennie won't forget.