I waited impatiently for the bow and arrows to appear. There was almost a minute left until Addison Lawson's death, and I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

But finally, they appeared in my hand. I barely waited for timer to ring, letting go of the arrow as soon as I heard the bell ring. Even in my haste, the arrow met its mark, despite all the doctors and people it had to go through.

Another beeping from my watch forced me to look down, to see my next victim. When I saw the profile, my blood ran cold.

Name: Julian Johnson
Age: 16 years old
Date: May 20, 2016
Cause: Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome
Time: 12:16 am

I sank to my knees, oblivious of the people walking through me. There had to be a mistake. Maybe there was another Julian who was 16 years old. After all, this Julian's last name was Johnson. The Julian I knew was Korean. He should have a last name like Kim or Lee.

                     * * * * * * * * *
At my own house this time, I slumped onto my bed and repeatedly banged my head against the wall. While I did this, I thought of how unfair it was, that it had to be Julian, and how stupid I was, to be injuring myself over a boy I'd known for less than 24 hours. I rubbed my head as I sat up. When I thought about it, the amount of time I spent with him added up to 2 hours, max.

This did not make me feel better.

Knowing I had only 16 minutes to figure everything out didn't make things any better, either.

I hated my life. Like, what the hell was I? Some dumb character in a loner person's book?

                    * * * * * * * * *
There were now 8 minutes left until 12:16. I was already in his room, watching him sleep. I usually killed my victims outside of their homes, but I wanted to see Julian really closely before i had to say goodbye. God, I was such a stalker.

I walked closer to him, where I saw his deathspot glow brighter. I bit my lip, hating the way it seemed to mock me.

I stepped back, and glanced at my watch. There were now 6 minutes left. I looked around his room, deciding to look around.

His desk was very disorganized, with papers scattered all around the desk, and on the floor. A stack of binders and notebooks were placed on the corner of the desk. I wanted to see what was in them, but I didn't bother trying to touch them. I wouldn't be able to touch anything.

I glanced at my watch again. There were 3 minutes left.

I walked back to the bed, where I saw Julian smiling in his sleep. As I pictured myself aiming an arrow at his neck, I felt something wet slide down my cheek? Huh? I reached up to touch it, and I realized it was a teardrop.

Deaths never cried, no matter the circumstance.

Then again, Deaths never fell in love.

Except for that one time with that SD a long time ago. I was wondering what happened to him, when I felt my bow appear in my hand, and saw the strap of my arrows sack on my chest.

Like I did many countless times, I reached back slowly to pull out an arrow. I set it in place, and pulled back, ready to let go when the alarm rang.

But I saw his face again. Stop being like this, Isabelle! I screamed at myself. You're going to forget him after he died, and you're going to forget him if you love him!

Except, I knew I wouldn't forget. Deaths never forgot anything, so I would always be haunted with his smiling face laughing at me.

When the alarm rang, I didn't let go. My fingers shook slightly, but they didn't release the arrow. The alarm kept beeping - it would stop only if the minute was up, or if I finally shot him.

But I couldn't. I couldn't shoot him.

I lowered my bow, loosening the grip I had on the arrow. I was going to put the arrow back in the sack, and just go home, but it didn't work out that way.

Because suddenly, my bow tilted back up to Julian's deathspot. What was going on? I struggled to take control of the force that pushed my right arm back, making the string tight.

"No!" I screamed. I thought I saw Julian's mouth twitch, but it must have been my imagination.

Shoot him, a male voice hissed in my head. Shoot him right now, or something bad is going to happen. Something really bad.

"Delton?" I asked out loud. "Delton, is that you?"

Isabelle, I need you to shoot him right now. If you don't, something terrible is going to happen. If you don't kill him, and follow nature's orders, the Death Realm is going to break again. Do you want that to happen?

I shook my head. "I can't!" I wailed again, the tears now falling freely from my face. "I love him!"

What happened next, shocked me. First, I heard the sound of an explosion come from my head. I dropped my bow and used both hands to cover my ears, not that it would help me. The explosion was going on inside. I thought my brain had exploded, but the sound must have come from where Delton was.

Then, I felt the color come back to my body, and my hands stopped rippling, like they were supposed to. What was going on?

Pretty soon, I had turned back into my mortal form, looking like 16-year old Isabelle Daniels. Was I a mortal? Was I banned from the Death realm now? But...I still remembered everything. And when I bent down to grab for the bow, my fingers closed around it.

I could still feel the adrenaline rushing through me. But something was wrong. I shouldn't have turned back to my mortal body so soon, and especially if I didn't finish my job.

I was wondering if I should just leave when I could, when I heard a laugh come from somewhere. I whipped around, hearing the sound come from the bed. And I saw Julian wide awake, laughing.

I stood there in horror, watching Julian laugh cruelly. "Oh, oh, Isabelle," he finally said when he was finished. "I am touched that you actually loved me. I never thought my powers could be that powerful."

What? "What are you talking about, Julian? What do you mean, powers?" Wasn't he a mortal? "Aren't you a mortal?"

He laughed. "Me? A mortal?" he laughed again. "Oh, Isabelle, you really have so much to learn."

"Then...what are you?" I asked, afraid of the answer I hoped to be wrong. "You're not a Death."

He laughed again, and this time, I thought his hair was starting to turn white. "I used to be a Death. And then I thought, 'Why should we hide in darkness, when we are the ones that control when mortals live or die?'"

I gasped. "You're a member of the Felons?"

He rolled his eyes impatiently, no longer laughing. "I'm not just a member of the Felons, silly; I started the Felons."