Shiuli walked out of the master bedroom wearing the pajamas she had woken up in. As she walked toward the kitchen to fetch herself a glass of water, she realized she wasn't alone in the house. She heard the front door open and her heart started beating frantically! Death had just left to wherever he went, who was at the door?
Scared, but knowing she had to confront whoever had walked into the house, she slowly walked towards the door, regretting she hadn't grabbed a knife before.
"Death?" A female voice called out, "you there, brother?"
And just then Shiuli knew who it was, or rather felt it in her heart. Shiuli had heard a lot about Love and her voice held so much of that emotion, that she instantly knew there was nothing to be scared of. Now, nervous to meet one of the closest of Death's kin for the first time, Shiuli quickly straightened her top as she walked toward the voice.
"Hey, he just left," Shiuli replied lightly.
Love and Faith stopped in their tracks as Time smirked looking at the scene unfolding in front of him. The two female creatures were stunned to see such a lovely human girl standing in front of them. Knowing that this could only be the special human who had made a forbidden love possible, Love smiled like she had met the one person who mattered the most to her. And she did. Knowing that this young girl had captured and melted the stone-cold heart of Death was the most exciting thing ever.
"You must be Shiuli!" Faith gasped out loud in wonder, "aren't you a beauty!"
"No wonder Death is so smitten by you! You are gorgeous!"
Turning red from all the compliments she was getting from two supernaturally beautiful women, Shiuli forgot how to reply. She stood there for a moment not knowing how to react. She was delighted to meet the people who were betraying their own kind, just to protect the love she shared with Death. She felt so grateful towards them that she couldn't even speak at the moment.
"Did we scare you?" Time stepped up, looking concerned. "I'm so sorry, we should've knocked before just walking into the house like that."
"Oh, no!" Shiuli finally reclaimed the control over her tongue, "I'm just so happy to finally meet you all! I'd already met you Time, but I've heard so much about Love and Faith here too!"
"I hope Death didn't bore you with tales about us." Love smiled teasingly.
"Not at all! I loved all the stories he shared about you guys!" Shiuli walked up to them, "Please come inside."
As the creatures walked into the living room, they all sat down, feeling a heavy weight being lifted off their shoulders. Shiuli was here, she was safe. That is all that mattered at the moment.
"How are you feeling, Shiuli? I know it has been hard, leaving your life behind." Faith spoke.
"Honestly, I don't feel great. I mean, I left behind a family that had taken me in when I felt like I'd lost everything. But knowing you guys and Death are with me here, I feel calm. It's like I'm not alone."
"But where is he anyway? Where did Death go?"
Shiuli also didn't know the answer to that. She was just as clueless as to the creatures in front of her. All he'd told her before he disappeared was that he'd be back soon.
"Death said he'd be back soon and that he had some business to take care of urgently. I don't know where exactly he went." Shiuli sighed.
Love frowned. This was so unlike Death… knowing that Shiuli was in danger, he would never just leave her alone in the house like that. Where exactly did he go? Was everything okay, or was there something he was hiding from them all?
"Don't worry about Death, he will be back. He is probably just working." Time reassured everyone, "He still needs to do his duties as the creature who governs the deceased, remember?"
Everyone nodded to acknowledge what Time had said, but somewhere deep within, Love knew something was not right.
Changing the tense mood in the room, Faith got up and walked over to the kitchen counter to fetch some water for everyone there. Realizing that Shiuli had just woken up and hadn't had breakfast yet, she quickly grabbed a box of cornflakes and prepared a quick little breakfast for the human girl.
"Shiuli, is cornflakes okay for breakfast?"
"Oh Faith, you really don't have to! I'll do it myself."
But just as Shiuli got up to walk towards the kitchen, Love stopped her gently. Smiling, she urged Shiuli to sit back down.
"You do not have to be so formal with us. We are all kin now." Love's voice held so much affection, it reminded Shiuli of her mother.
"Relax everybody, I'm bringing you all some cornflakes. It's not much, but I think it should fill your stomachs up!" Faith laughed.
***
Louis looked at the young girl sprawled on the seat of his private jet. She hadn't gained consciousness yet and it was such a hassle. He now had to ask his men to carry this girl like a ragdoll. He wished to slap the girl across her face so that she would wake up and use her legs instead. But he was scared of Life… God knows what that evil creature would do to him if he found out he'd messed with his hostage.
"Marcie," Louis called out to his wife who was sipping on her margarita at the bar, "Get the men to carry this girl and put her in the backseat of our car."
Looking annoyed because her husband had just ruined her margarita hour, Marcie yelled at their men to do what was needed.
As the men picked the girl up and walked out of the private jet that had just landed in Paris, Marcie walked up to her husband and looked at him with annoyance.
"You know I hate having to do all these dirty chores with you, right?"
"And you know that immortality doesn't come for free, right?"
If Louis and Marcie had their ways, they'd have been divorced years ago, but they knew too many of each other's secrets and they were bound by the immortality they'd bought from Life. Hence, they had to stick together and be a slave to that wretched creature.
As they walked out, Louis and Marcie walked over to their limousine parked for them. As their chauffeur opened the door for them to get in, Marcie instantly noticed the girl thrown in the back. She couldn't believe what she was seeing!
"She is not riding sitting with us!"
"Where else should I put her?" Louis wanted to slap the woman he had to call his wife, "Just suck it up until we deliver her to Life and we are done with her. Stop creating a scene in front of our staff!"
"I hate this!"
"You think I'm enjoying all of this? I thought you were enjoying torturing the young girl!"
"Stop bickering like a fool and get in! Let's drop her off at that creature's place and get done with this menace."
***
As the angry couple got into the limo, their young chauffeur noticed that the young girl had beautiful brown skin and wasn't moving one bit. She wasn't their daughter! One look and he knew that these two ugly people could never produce such a beautiful daughter. And knowing that their heart was uglier, he knew she couldn't be their adopted daughter either. But the question was… who was she and what was she doing in this car?
Armel Archibald Monet was a 16-year-old young boy who was covering for his 22-year-old brother today. His brother was sick due to something funny he ate for dinner last night and his boss Louis had called stating an emergency. Seeing that Armel had just received his driver's license, Armel volunteered to be the chauffeur for the couple he'd heard a lot of nasty things about.
His heart beat fast thinking that this young girl in the car was in trouble. From the whisper-quarreling that the couple was doing, he could sense the tension in the air. What were they doing to her? Were they involved in human trafficking? Knowing he had to do something, Armel thought of a quick plan.
"Looks like we need to stop at the gas station, sir." Armel looked at the rear-view mirror.
"Are you kidding me? Didn't your brother tell you to fill up the tank before picking us up?"
"I'm so sorry sir, it is my first day at work, I messed up."
Louis was about to yell at Armel when Marcie stopped him. She looked at the face in the rear-view mirror she could see staring back at them. He looked so young and handsome; she smiled her wicked smile.
"It's okay young man, mistakes happen." She licked her lips and Armel wanted to throw up, "Let's make a small detour to the gas station. I need to use the washroom anyway."
"Whatever," Louis scoffed.
Armel cringed at the seductive voice the old lady was trying to put on. He knew all about Marcie and how she'd tried to seduce his brother too. Luckily, his brother was gay, and knowing that fact, she had backed away. But thanks to her disgusting behavior, he could try and pull off his plan. After all, his mother had raised a gentleman. He couldn't just sit and watch this couple take the young girl away. He knew something was wrong here and the girl wasn't here because she wanted to. He would do the right thing.