Twelve years later...

Death had always fascinated humans around the world. It holds a certain kind of mystery nobody could describe. What does one experience when one dies? What happens when the soul leaves the body? Will there be an unknown universe waiting for the soul? Or a messenger perhaps? An angel who would guide the soul in the Afterlife?

Death may most always tie up with sadness and agony but yes, people still regard it as a fascinating phenomenon.

Be it in whatever religion, gender, age, social status, and race, a person most likely welcomes the thought of death and dying at least once in their lifetime. Fear it, accept it or ignore it, death is the one thing that is...

"... constant in the ever changing world," Solene finished and then twisted her lips. She stared at the sentence longer than any geek would and munched on the lesson it was trying to relay.

The fact that she'll have to make a reaction about this article didn't bother her much. After all, she was studying Psychology with special attention to Thanatology because she liked it and because of her family traditions.

Her family had always been the unique kind. A little known fact about her father was that he could see spirits of the dead since childhood. Ghosts if you may. And her mother, married to him for forty-five years, greatly believed and supported him. She saw it as a gift rather than a curse.

Solene's grandparents in the father's side were a very superstitious duo too. They had specifics on where to place trinkets that they claimed would act as barrier and discourage any lost souls into their household. They also had traditions and beliefs about the dead, the life beyond and how to communicate with them. Their house was built under the Feng shui principle too, specifically to repel bad spirits.

All in all, Solene's life was surrounded by death, or specifically, it's principles, ideology and material representations.  Joking around, Solene once called her family, the Adam's Family, with all the death-inspired life they were living.  And hey, what better way for her to top it all off other than to get a special degree in Thanatology, right?

But deep inside her though, Solene knew why she wanted to study the uncommon discipline.

It was because when she was at the tender age of six, she saw her father die with her own eyes. Her mother was there too, crying silently while he was gasping for breath, trying to explain something to his wife with which Solene didn't understand.

Her father's death had affected her life thereafter. Her mother said it was a case of heart attack, but she didn't accept it. She believed he was killed. Killed by a man with long dark blue hair and piercing red-green eyes.

He was there when Solene saw her father lie frail on the ground.  He held a weapon that was unusual for her, almost like a staff with the top surrounded by a cloud of smoke.  A tip of a blade was noticeable at the far end of the smoke, somewhat curved and sharp.  Very sharp.

Solene kept that discovery to herself, cocooned safely by her young heart until the present.

Over five years of studying, she had tried to research about the entity and the one information that came close to it was a Grim Reaper, or the Angel of Death. For her, it somehow clicked, but there was a problem. As per the books, Grim Reapers don't kill humans. They collect souls.

How accurate these books were, she didn't know, but she aimed to study more on this aspect, and maybe even find a way on how to kill a Grim Reaper. After all, she wanted to avenge her father's death.

"Shit, it's almost seven!" she cried out just as she caught a glimpse of a wall clock above her head. Hastily, she scooped out all of the books that had scattered on her table—a total of four books that were thickly bound, stacked them up and brought them to the library counter.

On the way there, she noticed a man walk past her. He caught her attention not only because he wore chic clothes but also because he was taller than her. She had been one of the three tallest women in her university and she was sure she hadn't met a man who could contend with them, not until now that is, and it seemed he was handsome too judging by the fine-shape of his jaw and facial features.

"Hi Dally, I'd like to bring these books home please," she stated when the librarian looked up past her counter.

"For your thesis again?" the woman named Dally asked.

Solene shook her head. She adjusted her red asymmetrical blouse as well as her sneakers and then smiled, but her eyes were actually looking elsewhere.

"Ah, no, just a weekly task instructed by my professor," she answered whilst trying to find the tall man who had disappeared into a bookshelf.

The librarian shrugged. "Okay, library card then."

"Here," Solene placed the card on the counter and then went back to look. This time, she saw the man sit in an area where there weren't any students. He opened a leather-bound book and flipped the pages, instantly engrossed on whatever the contents were. He was even oblivious of the many college women ogling him from the other tables.

Meanwhile, the librarian did her routine work that consisted of stamping, typing the details on the computer and asking for Solene's signature before all of the four books were released to her.

"There.  The due date is two weeks from now," Dally said with a pleased grin. She couldn't even tell that Solene was partly out of herself when she handed the book. "I deliberately extended it for you because you're a frequent visitor here."

'Frequent' was an understatement though when Solene knew she had been coming to the library almost daily for this past six months.

Solene awarded the librarian a smile anyway and nodded, putting the inviting presence of the man at the back of her head.

"Thanks Dally. You're the best."

"Say hi to your grandmother for me," the librarian chimed just as Solene placed the books on her recyclable bag.

"I will," she said and then walked away.

Unconsciously, her eyes shifted back to the man still sitting on his seat. He was still reading and judging from his furrowed brows, clearly quite invested with it instead of the women obviously fawning over him some meters away.

She gave herself a shrug.

"It looks like the library is going to be full this day."

~ 0 ~

"You're late," an old man sitting on a couch pointed out the moment Solene walked through the front door. For a seventy-five year-old senior, he still had a thick mass of gray hair and could still walk properly without the aid of a cane.

Solene dipped her head shyly and approached her grandfather.

"Sorry pops.  I'm on a tight schedule with my school work." She stooped low and placed a quick kiss on his forehead.

Her grandfather cringed.

"Seriously, you're the only college student I know who goes to the library almost everyday," he commented.

Solene didn't see it as a complain though. She just chuckled and walked towards a bookshelf near the kitchen.

"All part of a student life pops," she answered whilst placing her newly acquired books on the shelf.

"Bah!" her grandfather waved a dismissive hand and clucked his tongue. "When I was your age, I was gallivanting around school looking for a fun time! Your grandmother too.  Oh, yes, she was a party beast.  How come you didn't inherit that from us?!"

"Because dad, I brought her up like the studious girl that she should be," came the reply of Solene's mother as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Hi mom," Solene leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"You're late," her mother gave her a pointed glare.

"Sorry. I'll be early next time," Solene promised.

"Urgh, nonsense," her grandfather interrupted. "Death by studying," he ground out, not looking at the television anymore but to the two women snickering to themselves. "Yes, I'm pretty sure Solene's going to end up with that if she won't stop reading."

"Father, you are spoiling your granddaughter," Meridith sighed and neared him, placing a quick kiss on his forehead too when the old man continued shaking his head.

"Thanks pops. I'll take note of your advice," Solene grinned and thereafter went to the kitchen.

"Hi AC! Come here you," she immediately crouched down when she saw her ten-year-old adoptive-brother playing Lego's under the dining table. She hoisted the boy up and gave him a cuddle before the boy decided it was enough.

"Is grandma coming?" Solene asked when AC slipped from her hold and went back under the table.

Meridith nodded at her.

"Yes," she turned to the cupboards and pulled out four plates. "She'll arrive before—" But then she paused after realizing her mistake.

"Before?" Solene parroted, quick to notice her mother's unusual  lack of words. She gave her mother an arched brow, sensing something wrong.

"Before we have a mother-daughter talk," Meridith continued.

"Why? What's wrong Ma?" A sudden spark of anxiety surfaced inside her. She hoped her mother would answer, but Meridith only gave her the four plates and said:

"Let's eat first."

*

*

*

By the time their dinner had ended, Solene's anxiety had grown a hundred fold. She felt she was the center of everyone's attention when she sat at the far end of the living room where the outside playground of her adoptive brother could be seen.

Inside the living room was her grandparents and her mother all looking pensive. She could feel the atmosphere around her different from the usual daily evenings they had. It was always cheery and light, but now, it almost looked like someone was being sent to the guillotine.

"It's time Solene," Meridith proclaimed without a heartbeat.

Based on the weight of her mother's gaze, Solene immediately knew exactly what she meant.

She sighed and as oppose to earlier where her shoulders were stiff as a board, now it had sunk.

"I was hoping you had forgotten about it," she said, glancing down the wood floor.

Meridith shook her head and frowned. "You know I can't. It was your father's last wish."

"Yes, I know," Solene cut in. She looked at her grandparents who chose to stay silent and then to her mother looking for approval. "But maybe I can request the Rantzen family to...you know...cancel the agreement?"

"Solene," Meridith's voice lowered, a silent warning coming from it.

"Or maybe to give me a few years more?" she added, feeling her throat tightening.

"Solene, honey, you're turning twenty-one within a month. You know exactly that's the deadline," her mother answered.

"It's just that I don't understand why I have to marry into that family. I haven't even seen my betrothed." Solene stood up and crossed her arms to her chest. "He, whoever he is, hasn't even had an inkling to check on me, or maybe even introduce himself, maybe establish rapport, or create a friendly relationship first? I mean he has the whole twelve years of my life to do that and yet he didn't."

"There must be a good reason for that, Solene," her grandmother chimed in. "This family is after all the most prominent in Basque."

In contrast to her grandfather's happy-go-lucky attitude, her grandmother was all by-the-book kind of woman. She was prim and proper. She had the cleanest bun on her head and wore the most well-ironed dress. It looked as if she was a seasoned governess of some royal family. What his grandfather said with her being a party beast somehow couldn't be believed.

"Still..." Solene managed to say. She could feel her grandmother's eyes reading her like she always does ever since she picked up that weird book of her father.

It unnerved her sometimes, but still her grandmother was family. She could never hate it.

"A representative of the Rantzen Family has called in yesterday and said that someone is going to get you on Saturday afternoon. They already made arrangements of your university and their sister university in Portugal. In that way, your studies won't be affected."

"That's thoughtful of them." Solene hid a scoff.

Meridith stood up, approached her daughter and squeezed her shoulders.

"You will be fine, Honey. Everything's going to be fine."

Solene bit her lip and took in a good amount of air. There was no other way but to relent. She knew this day would come. She had come to terms with it since she hit her teen years where first kisses and first dates should have been experienced. She had already mentally prepared herself with it. She loved her father and she will fulfill his wish.

"May I at least know the name of my groom?" she broke out after a few seconds. "Or even that tidbit they didn't share."

Riza, her grandmother, stood up and like a Lady of the Water, glided towards her and cupped her chin as if blessing her.

"Your future husband's name is Lord Henri Rantzen."