The Grim Reaper's Mate

Chapter 29

Myra’s POV

The moment, an accident, a risk taken that had gone wrong and a careless mistake.

With school finished and two and a half months before I was due to start University my plan was to work and play hard, to make the most of my time with my friends before moving hundreds of miles away from home. A summer of sun, sand and surf, born and raised by the sea we thought nothing of getting into wetsuits and braving the cold waters of the southwest coast of England, even splashing around in bikinis from time to time.

It probably wasn't the best day for it, the surf was choppy and the sky was looking ominous in the distance, but it was the best swell we'd seen all summer and we couldn't resist the chance to catch a good wave or two, and who thinks of riptides and undercurrents when the sun is shining, and that cute guy from Psychology 1 is there with you?

Four of us went out that day, all with our boards, off we went, paddling out to where we couldn't reach the sea bed any longer, where the water was colder and darker, and the waves were higher, rougher.

For about an hour we messed around in the foam, the waves we tried to catch failed us time and time again, they broke too soon or they were too chopped up by the ever increasing wind.

"I think we should head back to shore." I remember saying at one point, while we clung to each others' boards to catch our breaths. But we didn't go back in, we all turned out to sea, watching, waiting, there would be another wave, there would be at least one good wave, there always was.

Wishful thinking?

"That one!" Someone shouted, pointing out to this blue, grey wall of water than was rising towards us, big and fast, clean and sweet.

We should have noticed the pull of the water underneath us, we should never have let go of each other, we should have looked back to shore and seen just how far we had drifted while we had been messing around.

But we didn't.

Moments, that's all it was. A few seconds where I looked at the wave, looked at the shore, looked out of the unnatural calm of the water before us. This wasn't a good plan.

"Guys.. Maybe we shouldn't..."

"Aw, don't be chicken Myra, we've ridden bigger waves before this."

"But something isn't..."

And it was too late, they were off, up on their boards and into the path of the oncoming monster and I had no choice but to follow, well, there is always a choice, but sitting where I was wouldn't have changed what had happened.

We caught that wave, we rode that blue grey monster for all of ten seconds, and those ten seconds were euphoric. Flying. That's what it feels like. Standing on a board and flying over the water, towards that yellow sand, faster and faster, controlling it without realizing you are. Magic.

Then it went wrong. That moment came, and there was nothing we could do to stop it.

The wave broke, Sooner than we had thought, harder than we had anticipated, and right over our heads.

I remember wondering what had happened as I crashed into the foaming water, as I felt my feet fall from my board, the salt water burning my eyes, rushing into my mouth and lungs as I screamed. Then there was a thud and everything went fuzzy, everything stopped hurting and I was sinking, just watching the bubbles float up towards the surface, the light fading away slowly until there was nothing except the gentle hold of the water.

Beep. Beep. Come on kid, stick with us. Beep. Beep. We're losing her! Hold on kid... Mya...

"Myra, open your eyes for me." The voice was louder and clearer than any of the other snippets I seemed to be hearing. I couldn't work out what was happening, had something bad happened? That beeping, those words, they sounded like... No, it couldn't be.

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking hard against the onslaught of light,

Too close to the cliffs, that was the problem, dragged out by an undercurrent.

"Myra." The voice spoke again, too loud. The light was bright, my eyes were burning, too much salt. "Myra can you hear me?"

"Y... Y... Yes." I croaked, my throat was dry, and I didn't even know who I was talking to, I still couldn't see properly. "Where are you? Why is it so bright?"

"Oh, sorry." He, for it was definitely a male voice sounded a little embarrassed, and as he spoke the light started to fade, fading inwards towards it's center.

That was when I saw him, a human, or at least, human in shape, surrounded by that glowing white light, and that was when I realised.

"No!" I screamed, trying to get up, trying to run, I had to get away from him, I had to get back.

Severe head trauma, that's what they say.

"Myra, please?" He called after me, the light was fading and he seemed to be solidifying. There was no way of telling where I was, where I was going. "Myra." He called again, his voice firmer and more commanding this time. "Stop." And I did just that, my feet stopped running so quickly my body barely had time to catch up and I nearly toppled over, but he was there, a quick arm catching me before I fell.

"That's better." He told me, his voice softening once more. "Myra, don't be scared, this isn't as bad as it might look."

They tell me I'm crazy when I talk about this.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked, but already I was feeling calmer, and I made no move to pull away from him, his arm still around my waist.

"My name? Hmm, yes, you may call me Alex. As for where we are, that's a little harder, this is Here, it's a place between places. Between your world and between mine. Understand this Myra, you can not stay here, you must make a choice whether to move on, or to go back. But not just yet eh?"

He wrapped his other arm around me, so subtly and slowly as I spoke that I barely noticed until I realised that I was leaning back into his chest. I closed my eyes for a second, another moment, and just let him hold me, whoever, whatever he was.

"So what are you Alex? My Guardian Angel?"

"Almost Myra, almost." He began, his voice soft and low. "I wait Here, the place between, I greet those who are stuck here, who have not made their choice for whatever reason. Usually those ripped untimely from their mortal world, like you."

"So, I'm dead and you're what? Here to help me decide whether I want to go back or move on?"

He looked down at me, a caring expression on his face, the one you get when you have to tell people bad news.

"Yes Myra."

I stopped breathing, my mum broke down into tears as she watched through the window, they kept trying, they wouldn't let me go that easily. A stupid mistake causing so much grief. One moment at a time.

I turned to him, tears burning the back of my eyes, and placed my hand on his chest, staring up into his blue eyes.

"This feels too real to be death." I told him, my voice threatening to break at any point.

Looking up at him, all that light faded away, sucked into him somewhere, I saw just how perfect he looked. His hair was brown and fluffy, sticking up in odd directions, the kind of hair that would never behave, no matter how much you combed it. Grey, blue eyes that looked just like the sea, that shone when I touched him, that lit up when he smiled.

He pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me, one around my waist, another coming up to stroke the back of my head, his fingers softly combing through my hair. "It's ok Myra, you don't have to move on, you can go back, it's not necessarily your time to leave, that's why you are here with me." His words were soothing and even as I buried my face into his chest and cried.

Crazy they say. Who talks to an angel about not whether it is really their time to move on?

Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand I looked up at him again, taking a deep breath to calm myself.

"You're a fantastic kid Myra." He said, brushing the hair back off my face and running his thumb along my cheek to wipe at another stray tear. My head was spinning, but I wasn't scared anymore.

One moment, one second, that's all it takes to turn your world on its head, one moment to stand up on tiptoes and kiss. Oh. My.

"Myra." He breathed as my lips touched his, but that was all he said, no attempt to stop me, no attempt to prevent what would happen.

His hand slid lower on my back, pulling me in tighter towards him, the front of our bodies pulled in tight to each other. One hand slowly, creeping down towards the swell of my ass, hesitating at the top of my bikini bottoms.

I hadn't even realised I was still dressed as I had been when I'd gone in the water, that all seemed like such a long time ago. Not that I had expected my looks to change, I just, I don't know really. One red halter neck bikini top that was doing little to hide anything. Thin and small, just enough to cover my enough of my breasts to be decent and matching red bikini bottoms, high cut on my legs and tight. I didn't even want to think about my hair.

"Myra, you are a fantastic girl but I can't..." He said, pulling away from me, as if he'd just realised what he had done.

"Oh, right, yea, you're an angel, you don't actually exist." I shrugged, but my hands didn't leave his waist and his didn't leave mine.

"Let me finish." He chided, grinning cheekily. "I can't stand here, this close to you and not want to touch you, not want to lay my hands on every inch of your skin. I want you Myra, I want you to be mine."

Absurd they tell me, wanted by an Angel? What kind of insanity is that? Angels are holy creatures.

"Yes." I whispered, barely trusting myself to speak, scared that speaking would make it all a dream, that I would wake up on the sand, maybe a little sunburnt, but not with him. "Yes." I repeated, louder this time, so there was doubt about what I had said.

"Really?" He asked, looking a little shocked. "Are you sure you want to be mine?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Being this close to you makes my skin burn, I want to be with You!" "Good." He said, and for a moment I was confused, his voice sounded harsher than before, and then the world started to spin. I clung onto him, my arms tight around him, but soon even he seemed to be shifting in my arms, changing.

I screamed and without warning everything went black, there was no sound, no light, nothing.

One moment, one word and everything changes. Nothing can stay forever. And at that moment I had never known what was coming for me next. Or rather who was coming for me next.