Prologue

I never thought that death was frightening.

Instead, I saw it as a kind of relief. A relief from living.

Being alive seemed harder than it should be. I was alive and I was lonely..., or so I felt. At least if I was dead, I could be reunited with my family. But instead, I decided to carry out my promise towards my mother, to continue living on as long as I had what it takes. That was her last wish, and I was obliged to carry it out.

Perhaps because of this reason, I seemed more daring to do risky things. Maybe in the back of my mind, I was waiting for an unfortunate accident to happen...to bring me into the next world.

Or so I thought.

The seconds ticked by. I stared at his crimson eyes, certain that he was going to suck the life out of me, literally. Anytime now, I will see the light and walk into it, and then, I will be embraced by my mother on the other side.

"You should feel honoured," he hissed, flashing a crooked smile from the corner of his lips, "to be eaten by a picky eater like me."

I gulped. I didn't dare shift my eyes away from his. If I was going to die, I should at least remember my last moment. I burned his image as accurately as I could into my head. His blond frizzy hair was tied up messily in a ponytail. In his plain blue t-shirt and jeans, his body crouched like a hungry animal, ready to pounce on me anytime. He flashed his teeth, or should I say fangs, as he snarled at me menacingly.

He was obviously enjoying every bit of this as his crooked smile got wider. I waited, trying to hypnotise myself that it wouldn't hurt. Yet, the longer it took, the more the fear that I thought never existed came creeping over me.

"What's wrong? Afraid to die?" Obviously, he had read the fears showing on my face. "I thought you weren't afraid of anything."

I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I was searching my brains, trying to reason with myself as to where the fear was from. Perhaps the fear was there all along, but I tried to deny it anyway. Or perhaps...he made me realised that I didn't live to die.

I had never been as certain of my emotions as I was now.

I want to live...to see him again.

To be continued...

Author's Note: Re-edited.