Loving the Reaper

by Alexis Michaud

  Chapter 5

  Valerie awoke the next morning with a clear head. She knew there was no use in fighting the match. She was destined to be with the reaper and who knew maybe she would grow to love him. She dressed and got ready for school grabbing a cup of coffee to go. She wanted some extra time this morning so that she could talk to Alistar before school. As she walked out the door she noticed Alistar waiting and for the first time since they had met she happily climbed into his car. “I have decided to accept my destiny.” She tried a smile and when that didn’t work she just shrugged and looked out the window. “I’ll let the ancestors know and we will begin the process.” They both sat in silence as they drove to the school. Alistar turned off the ignition and sighed. There are many things you will have to learn such as rules and other things to keep our secret safe. It will take a lot of time to learn everything but we will help you. You have to promise the spirits you will never tell another living soul when the ritual is performed. If you do tell I will be forced to kill you and there will be nothing I can do about that. You have to be very careful to always keep the secret.” Valerie was a little scared by this but she didn’t let it show. She had no reason to tell anyone nor did she have anyone to tell. She would be just like everyone else just with a deeper darker secret. She didn’t know how she would live with herself but she knew there was no way of stopping it. She sighed and told him she would meet him back here after school. They both climbed out of the car and went their separate ways. Valerie decided that if they were going to look like normal teenagers they should start out dating like any other teenage couple. In their first class she passed a note to him purposely getting caught so that the teacher would read it out loud. Sure enough he grabbed the note from Alistar and proceeded to read it aloud. “Let’s go out and see where this goes…” The whole class giggled and I winked at Alistar who had caught on to my plan. He decided to really play it up by saying aloud to the class “well I thought you would never ask!” The whole class began to hoot and holler which made the teacher quite upset. He quickly cleared his throat and got everyone to calm down once again. The next couple classes were filled with whispers and sideways glances from people who just couldn’t believe the new kid and the shy girl were going to go out on a date. Valerie mentally patted herself on the back for a job well done. Lunch came and she found herself actually excited to have Alistar there waiting for her. She pulled out her chair and sat next to him feeling eyes all over them as they talked.

  Valerie knew they couldn’t say too much right now because there was so much attention on them so instead she decided to ask him about normal teenage things. “So tell me… What do you like to do for fun? And what are you like?” Alistar blushed a little by her questions he wasn’t expecting to get personal so quick. “Well I like to draw and play guitar… I like to work on my car. I listen to a lot of rock and I am a big fan of reading. How about you?”

  Valerie thought for a moment kind of surprised that the reaper actually had human hobbies. She giggled at the thought which made Alistar scrunch his nose in wonder of what she was thinking. “I like to read mostly but I do love music and I love to paint. My dad liked to paint and of course he taught me everything he knew.” She smiled a bittersweet smile as she remembered him teaching her how to hold the brush and how to use certain paints. Alistar understood she needed a moment so he sat in silence until she was ready to talk again. “where would you like to go for our first date?” he smiled genuinely excited to hear her answer. “Well I thought we could grab a pizza later today.” He beamed at her, he was glad she was being so enthusiastic about the whole situation. “sounds good maybe my parents will stop by.” Valerie nodded knowing exactly what meant. The two enjoyed lunch together making small talk the whole time. And when lunch was over Valerie felt more at ease than she had. She realized that when they talked about everyday normal life it was easy to forget his dark side and her dark future. The bell rang and the students filed out and to their classes. The last ones out were Valerie and Alistar, they walked in silence and as they parted ways said their goodbyes. Valerie sat in her last classes in a peaceful silence she alternated from doing her work to wondering about what her future would be like. Part of her was scared as hell but another part of her was okay knowing that she didn’t have to worry about what her future would hold. It was like it was already planned out for her. She thought about Alistar and in some weird twisted way she felt like she would be safe with him. Funny how just yesterday she was terrified of him stalking her. Now she's promising her unending life to him. Her thought process was beginning to scare her so she decided maybe it was better to go back to her school work. It seemed the more she tried to convince herself that this was just crazy the more she felt that it was the right decision not to fight it. Valerie got most of her school work done and she decided whatever she missed she would finish at home. She knew she now had a so called date with her lifelong partner and his ancestors tonight but she had to at least stop at home to let her mother know and she thought she might be able to get a little work done before he showed up to pick her up. She picked up her books and papers and shoved them in her backpack. She got up and made her way to her lockers to drop off the books she didn’t need and to pick up her free time books to take home with her. She slowly made her way outside and just as she figured there was Alistar’s sleek black car right in front of the steps waiting for her. She rolled her eyes and smiled as she made her way to his car. As she got close to he opened the door for her. His smile took her breath away. Her head spun Whoa! what was happening all these sudden feelings just kept popping up out of nowhere. This was crazy she felt herself falling for him so suddenly. How was this happening so fast? She took a deep breath and sat back as he drove her home.