Book of Random Ideas

Age Doesn't Matter

I always had an odd ability. I could tell how old some one was by the floating numbers over their heads, the numbers that glowed brighter towards their death.

It was sad really, on how I could tell the difference between those that will live for another few years or those that would be dead before the morning... It's really sad if you think about it.

I never asked for this power, I was just "gifted" it.

It never mattered to me, well not until I met her.

The numbers floating over her head were a dull, rusty red, a color that was reserved for those that weren't due to die in a very long time. Yet... That age was what made me confused.

She was nearly eight thousand years old and her she was! Her short black hair in a messy bedhead style, wearing a casual grey shirt with a leather jacket over it. She looked to only be older than me by three or four years!

I gapped at her from behind, standing in the coffee line with pure puzzlement. How could someone be that old...

When she took her cup and food, I moved up, ordering my usual. I was too confused to even realize that the barista was to die in maybe a few minutes. I simply took my food and drink, sitting in the far back of the small shop.

My eyes instantly went over to the booth on my right. She was sitting there, her intense black eyes focused on me, amusement in them.

Her red painted lips curled into a smile as she stood up, leaving behind her untouched drink and food, going back to the front.

It was more confusing... It was more nerve racking...

The way she looked at me... The way she smiled... It was like she was looking at me, but not seeing me... Like she knew my little secret... Like she knew who I was without me knowing her...

The only thing that snapped me out of my thoughts, was a gunshot followed by a scream.

I gasped, swiftly hiding my petite body under my bulky table. I kept myself hidden as a few more gunshots sounded, the shouts of the robbers muffled by some sort of masks.

It was terrifying!

I closed my eyes and had my hands over my ears, shaking uncontrollably. I didn't want to die... I didn't want to be in this situation...

Just as it had started, it was done. One of the robbers laid on his front, dead with bloodied hands of four people, one of them being the barista that had served me.

Humming softly was that woman... Her eyes calm and her body relaxed, scanning the death that laid before her as the other robber ran away. She did nothing, barely flinching as he rushed passed her as the sirens blared through.

Soon, those intense voids went to me, those red lips pulled back into a chilling smile as she chuckled.

"I see you there," She murmured, but it was like I was the only one to hear, the only one to see her. "I'll come and collect you in little while." And then she was gone, dissolving into the shadows that laid around her.

My body froze as my breath caught in my throat. She was a Reaper... She was here for their deaths... And she knew my power.