A Date With Death

After the old man paid for our lunch, Marcus and I said goodbye before splitting for the day. He had classes to attend, and I had to find a way to save his life seven days from now. For some reason, the weight of this responsibility felt much greater than I would have thought. It felt as if an ethereal chain had coiled around me.

Turning my attention away from my feelings, I continued my walk home while analyzing the people around me. A majority of them would die at an older age, with a few outliers dying from diseases, accidents, or murders.

When thinking about the murders and accidents, the way to save them was honestly very simple. Keep the people away from the murderers or the causes of the accidents. However, despite the simple nature of the task, actually achieving the desired result is quite complex.

Let's say someone was said to die in a car accident. I could simply keep them away from cars on the day of their death. The problem lies in the fact that true isolation is very rarely accepted, and I can't just tell them about their oncoming death, or I'd sound nuts.

Then there's the people who get murdered. It's not like I can charge straight at them and hope for the best. The most I could do to help the victims would be sneak attacks to take down the assailant. And even if I did save them, there's no telling whether I'd become a victim in their place.

Any strangers I save would be people I can save without putting my life on the line. I'm under no obligation to do anything more. That changes however when I know the person who is going to die.

How do I keep Marcus away from trains for the duration of next Saturday? I could just spend the whole day with him in the city, but any emergency could throw a wrench in my plans.

My best bet would be to take him out of the city. Next week is a holiday so I could just ask him to go camping. We've gone camping together many times before, and the camping trip we scheduled for the year is two weeks from now. I'm sure he wouldn't refuse if I asked him to move it a week in advance, I did it for him last year.

With the basics of a plan made, I turned my focus away from my thoughts and sent Marcus the planned excuse. He responded shortly after agreeing to the change saying, "It actually works out better for me that way. My midterms for my classes are on Friday so camping would be a nice break."

I let out a sigh of relief before giving his message a thumbs up and relaxing my nerves. I start to pay more attention to my surroundings, as I'm coming to an intersection I need to cross. The crossing light is red, so I stop. I check the people around me, and then I freeze.

(Five seconds till death. Cause: Car)

A person to my right is looking at their phone while their headphones are plugged in. They don't notice the crossing light and are about to step right out into the traffic. With no time to hesitate I reach out to grab the person's hoodie, jolting them back and bringing them back to reality.

The person has a look of shock as they observe the car they were about to walk directly in front of zoom passed. Their body starts to shake as they turn to me, who is still gripping their hoodie. "Thank you," he said, in a grim voice "I nearly died."

"Pay more attention to your surroundings," I say, stating the obvious before walking forward as the crossing light turns white. The guy is left standing there dumbfounded. Maybe he'll be more attentive from now on.

The remainder of my trip home was thankfully uneventfully, with nothing out of the ordinary. I take a deep breath to calm myself as I cross the threshold into my apartment. Today has been long and draining.

I place the bag from the mall next to my game console, before I head to the bathroom. I take a quick cold shower to calm my nerves, and before I know it, I'm relaxing on the couch checking my email. "Now that I'm at home, I can finally put down my guard."

Knock, Knock, Knock

Perhaps I spoke too soon. In a bit of annoyance, I go to open the door. When opened, A cheerful woman was there to greet me. This was Aria, my neighbor, and friend. She's a blond-haired southern bell who moved up from the south for college.

We've gone on many dates in the past, and have even talked about officially dating on multiple occasions. She's a sweet girl, but for some reason, I just can't feel that way about her. Luckily she didn't seem to take my rejection harshly, as we remained friends to this day. I don't think she's given up on me though, as she frequently comes by to "hang out".

Turning my attention back to the young lady in front of me, I am met with a wave of questions "Good afternoon Leo, how was your day? Did you see the news? Are you free today?" 

I felt my head spinning from the abrupt interrogation brought on by the bundle of energy in front of me. Trying to form coherent responses to each of her questions, wasn't normally difficult as this has become an almost daily occurrence. However, today was different.

(Two days till death. Cause: Car Crash)

God damn it! why do all my friends feel the need to die this week? First Marcus, now Aria. Maybe my friend group is cursed. Am I going to die? Whatever, I'll just spend my time with Aria after classes on Monday.

"My day was good, I didn't see the news, and I'm free now. Want to come in Ari?" I answered Aria, who nodded excitedly and entered before I could change my mind. I chuckle to myself before closing the door and locking it.

Aria plops herself on the couch, and I soon follow. What follows is a lengthy discussion about what she saw on the news. She told me about the stabbing I witnessed earlier today and was shocked to find out I was there when it happened. "You didn't get hurt did you? Let me check."

It's times like these I wish I could control my feelings. Any feelings of love I may have had have been dead since before I can remember. I've never had a crush, and have never developed romantic interest in anyone. I know I like girls as I find them physically and emotionally attractive, I just can't love them.

I did try dating a girl in high school to see if maybe I would develop feelings of love over time, but that just led to me breaking her heart when I told her that I couldn't. I went to a psychologist to see if there was something wrong with me, and they said that aside from feelings of love, all my other emotions were fine.

The sad part is that despite not being able to feel love myself, I can feel the love of others quite easily. I know how much Aria loves me, which is why I tried so hard to fall in love with her. When she found out I might never be able to love her, she was devastated. But when I saw her next, her love for me had become even higher, to an obsessive degree.

Maybe Marcus was right earlier today. I'm pretty sure if I ever fell in love with someone who wasn't Aria, she would kill me. Luckily, that shouldn't be a problem. If I couldn't fall in love after going on over 100 dates, I don't think I'd be falling in love with anyone anytime soon.

"I'll be fine Ari, I was just an observer." She sighs in relief, before showing an expression of delight at my next suggestion. "Oh by the way, would you like to have a movie night on Monday? After your classes are done, I'll pick you up and we can have the rest of the day to ourselves." 

A happy smile slowly creeps onto her face, as she nods excitedly before answering with a giddy tone. "That sounds amazing. It's a date, right? Does that mean you're trying to love me again?"

"I've always been trying to love you Aria. I'm sorry for not being able to. I feel like I'm just using your affection. And yes, if it makes you feel better, you can consider this a date." I try to answer her in the most truthful way possible. It's the least I can do for her.

Out of all the women I've taken on dates, Aria is probably the one I would feel comfortable spending the rest of my life with. If I could just love her, I'd have asked her out months ago. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to just accept her love, but another part of me says it's wrong.

Aria seemed to notice that my thoughts were taking a depressing turn, as she hugged me tightly before speaking in a calm caring voice. "Don't force yourself, Leo. I know how much you've been trying, and I appreciate it. I truly love you, even if you can't love me back. I know how hard you're trying to love me, and If you didn't care so much about not being able to, I might have just claimed you for myself a long time ago."

Her words send shivers down my spine, and while I can't feel my romantic feelings, Aria's a different case. Her feelings wash over me like a tsunami, leaving me drowning. I know there's something I should do in this scenario, but I can't bring myself to do it. I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. Tears form in the corner of my eyes and begin to roll down my cheek.

I'm scared. This whole situation is too much for me. I heard a voice that prophecizes death, I witnessed a murder within ten feet of me, I saved two people who were going to die, and the two people I'm closest with may die in the next week. What the hell am I supposed to do? I'm scared I'm going crazy, and I cry.

Aria just sits there hugging me awestruck for a few seconds before hugging me tighter. she lowers my gaze to hers before moving in and kissing me. It's not a lewd kiss, but a soft love-filled kiss meant to share her feelings in a way words can't explain. For the first time since I heard the voice with Marcus, I felt truly safe.

A minute later, Aria broke the kiss but continued to hug me just as tight. She wiped the tears from my eyes, before whispering in the same calming tone she used earlier. "I don't know what happened to you earlier Leo, and I understand if you can't tell me. You know I love you deeply, so you should know that I would notice something. I'm right here if you need me so please don't keep your pain to yourself."

Her words caused my once calm heart to beat wildly like never before. Is this... love... it feels nice. My eyes once dried, tore up again, as I reciprocated what used to be a one-sided hug. I tried to convey my feelings in the same way she conveyed hers to me. I kissed her. 

Shock took over her face before an excited gleam flashed in her eyes, as she began to kiss me back. For a woman who desperately loved someone who until now was unable to love her back, Having that person finally reciprocate your feelings must have been a dream come true.

Minutes flew by as we continued to make out on the couch, only taking breaks to breathe when necessary. When the mood finally settled, we were both left panting for air. Aria lay in my arms, resting her head on my chest, listening to the rhythm of my heart while smiling.

Seeing her smiling like this, knowing it was because of me, only made my heart rate increase more. I don't know if what I feel is actually love or just something my mind made to defend my sanity, but I'd like to think it's the former. All I know for sure is it's a first for me.

Slowly but surely, My heart rate calms down. Sensing this, Aria looks up at me with an expectant look on her face. Knowing what she probably wants to hear, I take a deep breath before speaking.

"I don't know if what I'm saying is the truth, but I think I love you, Ari. It's the first time I feel this way, and all my knowledge points towards this being love. With that in mind, there's something I want to tell you. It's the truth so please hear me out till the end." Hearing my words, Aria adopts a serious expression while nodding at me giving me the go-ahead.

"Beginning at 1 PM today, I was able to know when people would die, and how."