Can't Fight Time: Chapter One

"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." Nina recited the Mark Twain quote out loud, much to the surprise of all of her classmates, and most especially of her professor.

Well, he did ask what I was reading, Nina thought, smothering her smile under a quick cough as she continued to stand with all eyes on her, the book of famous quotes held between two fingers.

"And how exactly does that relate to the Arab Spring, Ms. Strathmore?" her professor asked caustically, sending her a look that her fifth grade bully would have cringed at.

"It doesn't." Nina said succinctly, lowering her head in what she hoped looked like shame. "I apologize for interrupting class... again," she finished softly, her tone not nearly as repentant as her words.

The history professor rolled his eyes at Nina, clearly frustrated, before turning back to the board and resuming his lecture. She looked around the class, trying hard not to stick her tongue out at the sea of glaring eyes. The squeak of chalk against the chalkboard and the shuffling of chairs and papers let her know her little interruption had been forgotten. Smoothing her cream-colored skirt over her thighs, Nina sat down quietly, dog-eared the page in her book, and then before picked up her pen so she looked studious.

Whirling her pen between her fingers, Nina stared past her schoolmates to the rolling hills of green outside the classroom's window. Dust collected in the separated glass panes of the windows smudging the bright flowers and green grass outside. Grey-white walls, ancient wooden desks, and over three hundred students surrounded Nina in a lecture hall that was both too big and too small. It always amazed her how, in the sea of people and laptops, Mr. White always managed to find her goofing off. It wasn't like there weren't a hundred people playing on their phones, updating their statuses, and covertly listening to music or Snapchatting with their friends. Guess I'm just special. Yay for me.

Nina chuckled mentally as she tuned out the lecture and ran through her mental playlist of songs. Just because she couldn't listen to music didn't mean she couldn't play some songs in her head. There was one song, in particular, that had been stuck in her head. It'd been there for a while but Nina couldn't remember when she'd heard it or why it had stuck with her for so long. It wasn't like she could remember the singer or even the title. Nope, just two lines played on repeat, a broken record that annoyed her as much as it interested her.

Like the beat beat beat of the tom-tom....

....Like the drip drip drip of the raindrops

She tried to remember more of the words, but all she couldn't seem to remember anything but those two lines and the melody of trumpets and bass. Mentally blowing out a sigh when Mr. White narrowed his eyes at her, Nina sat up straighter and tuned into class. I'll look it up later.

"Focus or you're gonna fail," she muttered to herself as she picked up her pen and began to scribble down notes.

Time melted away until the tell-tale shuffle of papers and the ding of laptops being shut down brought her back. Somehow Nina had drifted off again and missed the rest of the class. Meh, the slides'll be up by the end of the day. Shaking her head, she listened to her teacher as he yelled out to his departing class "... If you have any questions on today's lecture, email your T.A.'s. Remember, your first paper is due Friday. Have a good rest of the day."

Covering her mouth over a large yawn, Nina shuffled through her backpack for her headphones and phone. Obnoxiously loud conversations and rambunctious laughter became her background music as she gave up her search and stuffed her textbook and notebook in her bag then slung it over her shoulder. Nina nodded to her teacher and a few familiar faces as she moved out of the room and down the hallway towards the exit.

Moving away from the hall, she weaved through the hundred or so students milling around with moves that an ice dancer would have been proud of. Soft grass absorbed her footprints as she moved around the students, twirling to avoid skateboards and bikes. A smile broke out as she looked up and spotted her favorite building on campus: the beautiful and secluded chapel.

The brick building was tall without being imposing and, despite its name, the chapel didn't subscribe to any particular religion. It was one of her favorite places to read, meditate, and just get away from the usual chaos that was her life. There was just something about the building that made it feel not just like a sanctuary, but a home.

Skipping around the building, Nina tripped over the same tree root she always tripped over. "They really need to fix that." Or I really need to just stop tripping over it.

She slowed down as her favorite spot loomed just ahead, buried in a maze of trees and foliage. While Nina loved the chapel, her real peace and tranquility were found in its mazed gardens. Behind the chapel was a labyrinth with a small, bubbling fountain in the middle surrounded by stone-backed benches. The leaves and roots absorbed any sound, and made the center of the garden the perfect spot for curling up and reading a good book.

"Freakin' finally! I need to work on my scheduling for next semester, so that I don't take another three hour lectures." Nina breathed a sigh of relief as she made her way through the maze towards the fountain. Moving around the circular fountain dead ahead, she settled down in one of the stone-backed benches under a weeping willow.

Sunlight streaming through the trees provided the perfect amount of light for reading. "Ah... Peace and quiet." My two favorite words.

Propping her legs up, Nina tucked her toes under her long skirt and rummaged through her backpack for her book. Settling in, she zoomed in on the next quote. Truth is stranger than...

***

"Amica?" A lightly accented voice called Nina away from her slumber, "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" She struggled to open her eyes, only to find the most beautiful creature leaning over her. "Huh?"

Leaning back, Nina was momentarily thrown off by the man engulfing the space around her; not exactly threatening, just... all-consuming. He'd give a linebacker a run for his money! she thought as she leaned towards him and sucked in a deep breath of what smelled like fresh, rich soil and piercing winter cold. It was a combination she'd never smelled before and, as inconspicuously as she possibly could, Nina took another deep breath into her lungs, relishing the crisp scents.

"I was wondering if you were alright? I thought there might be a problem, with you sleeping outside in the middle of the night and all," the man stated evenly, with no hint of censure in his tone, just concern and curiosity.

Hmm... He sounds better than chocolate tastes! Is that even possible? Nina wondered silently, still shaking off the layers of sleep clouding her brain. Wait. Middle of the night?

"I'm sorry, um, what did you say?" she said on a yawn, leaning forward and making a move to get up, the stone suddenly feeling hard and cold beneath her. "I think sleep is still clouding my brain."

The man leaned away from her and took a step back to give her some space. Whether she was happy about that or not, Nina didn't care to guess. She was grabbing her bag and untucking her legs when the man answered her: "It's 1:30."

"A.M?" Nina blurted out as she shot to her feet and stumbled, not realizing her legs had fallen asleep. The man immediately reached out and steadied her, while still being able to dwarf her. That wasn't an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination; at 5 foot 11 and curvy to boot, Nina didn't have to look up at many people.

Cold shot up her arm, and goosebumps appeared on her skin as Nina craned her neck to look up at the giant in front of her. Thick black lashes framed blue-diamond eyes, and polished, pale silver skin with just a hint of something exotic covered thick, corded muscle. But there was something in his eyes, something that both enthralled and haunted her. It was like a deep chasm of loneliness, pity, and a touch of fear.

"Yes, it's pretty late," the man responded with a deep chuckle, slowly letting her go as she regained her footing.

"Well, shit! There goes Statistics and 20th Century Lit," Nina mumbled sourly as she shook off his gaze like it was a physical thing around her. His laugh penetrated her and settled to a slow burn in her belly with the deep timbre of his voice and the softly accented words that made her think he might be Greek or Turkish. There was something mysterious, almost deadly about the stranger. It wasn't unsettling exactly, but it made her very aware of the man in front of her.

"So, like... Um, thanks for waking me up. I guess I didn't realize how tired I was." She shuffled her feet awkwardly, feeling a bit intimidated by his size. The fact that it was the middle of the night, and they were well enough away from anyone hearing her scream in case her knight in shining armor turned out to be a sheep in wolf's clothing, didn't bother her as much as it should. Well, if he was going to kill me he had plenty of time when I was out cold.

Blue-diamond eyes met hers, and Nina would swear she saw sadness race across those shining depths before they went flat. A crease marred her brow and Nina opened her mouth to ask if something was wrong, but at the same moment a noise to her left startled her. Every horror movie flashed across her mind as Nina whipped her head around expecting to find some kind of serial killer hiding in the shadows. That sounded like a muffled gasp.

She peered into the darkened, thick foliage in the hopes that Nina would see a rabbit or squirrel eating or something. She didn't see any friendly creatures, but she also didn't see any creepy looking guy with a knife poised over a dead body. But I don't want to stay, just in case my intuitions shot.

Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, Nina turned back to the stranger but was struck with another goosebump-inducing chill that made her shiver from the tips of her toes to the bridge of her nose. "Um, thanks for the--" But the man was gone, as if he'd never been there.

"And that's my cue to get the hell out of dodge," Nina whispered under her breath as fear slipped into her body; she grabbed her bag and all but ran out of the thick maze. She didn't dwell on the sinking feeling that the maze was longer, darker, and seemed to have branches reaching out to get her.

Note to self: stop watching crime shows! From this moment on, you're on a strict diet of happy, mindless kid's shows. Her voice was a bit hysterical, but she was still talking, still breathing, and that was all she cared about.

***

Grim hid a smile as he watched Nina look back at the spot where he'd just been and then dash out of the labyrinth as if the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels. A wry smile twisted his lips. Well, maybe not hounds, but reapers were.

A deep sigh escaped Grim before he could corral his emotions. Centuries of existence hadn't curved his emotional tendencies, though they had dulled them. Well, that was before her anyway. Grim would have liked to blame it on his mother, but after nearly two millennia he was convinced that it was just his character flaw. Reapers, by their very definition, didn't have the luxury of feeling pity or sadness for humans; they weren't saviors, just middlemen.

With that thought in mind, he moved out of the cloaking darkness and passed through the wall of foliage, until he reached the body of the dying girl. He didn't feel the leaves whip at his navy sweater, or twigs and thorns rip his black jeans. He was less than nothing as he passed through the wall, the only trace left behind of him being a slight frost over the plants and a chill in the already cool night air.

Bending at the knee, Grim waited for the last flicker of life to fade from the dying girl's eyes. She could see him, the veil between this life and the next allowing her a glimpse of death. Grim was glad he'd decided to appear as a human and not as the stereotypical rendition of a Grim Reaper. That form he only used for the truly wicked of humanity, a sick pleasure he found in watching their eyes widen and fear take their body a second before they died.

But for the child in front of him, he took no pleasure in her death. She was only a sacrificial lamb, a consolation prize for a man who denied himself his real kill because of sentimentality and love. A pitting smile twisted Grim's lips as he looked over the girl's features and figure, so similar to Nina's that it was both terrifying and beautiful.

Wildly curling hair reached past the girl's shoulders, but Nina's was coiled a bit tighter with flecks of red that were easy to see in moonlight and sunlight. Her skin was like toffee, and only slightly darker than Nina's raw sugar coloring. The girl also lacked the curves that Nina seemed to have in abundance, a thickness that made her look more desirable, like she could take a man and give as good as she got.

No, they weren't exactly the same, but they were exceptionally close. Ah, he's getting desperate. Grim noted with resigned tiredness as he took a deep breath over her body and sucked out her soul. Dark red and sea foam green swirled dangerously from her last emotions. He knew the colors well, had seen them far too often, fear and resignation.

Grim rose from the body of the young girl so like Nina that he knew it was only a matter of time before he would collect her soul too. Another sigh escaped him as Grim felt the soul settle in his body, right next to his slowly beating heart. When it came time to take Nina's soul, he wondered what would happen with his emotions then. Never had Grim become so attached with a human he'd only just watched from a distance. But there was something about the sassy, smart, and funny girl that drew him in. Perhaps it was the happiness surrounding her, a feeling of joy that persisted despite the trial placed in front of her. Grim had yet to find that peace, that happy center that seemed to be a part of Nina's soul.

It was one of the reasons he was attracted to her, one of the reasons he wanted her. But desire was not a reason to upset the careful balance that existed in this world. He was a reaper, straddling life and death, keeping the balance between the two. Pity, desire, and loneliness weren't sufficient reasons to break the laws that had been in place for centuries, laws that had been made because other reapers had acted on their wants and inadvertently killed humans. He would not break the rules and jeopardize the world, his family, everything, for one lovely human woman.

Decisions, responsibility, and duty weighed heavily on Grim's shoulder as he turned and walked away into the night, until he became the night.