Eliza's Wreck

           Looking all over my body, I was thankfully able to tell that I was not badly injured. My legs and arms had a few scrapes and bruises, but I would be just fine. My car was another story. After rolling, it was beyond repair. The doors were smashed and too damaged to open. Attempting to keep calm and not panic, I took a moment to breathe easy before figuring a way out. The blood was starting to rush to my head as I hung helplessly upside down, my car flipped over with me intact. I needed to get out of this damn car. Finding the seatbelt, I fought to unbuckle it and set myself free. The thing wouldn’t budge. Shit. Now the panic was setting in.

           To my left, I saw a pair of feet walking.

           “Help!” I screamed. “Please help me!” I called out to the black leather loafers. As if I didn’t exist, the shoes kept walking. “Hello? I need some help, I am stuck.”

           The black shoes ignored me, which now pissed me off. Here I am upside down in a wrecked car, and this guy was just going to stroll by like he was enjoying a nice evening walk. Bullshit.

           “Hey, asshole in the black leather overpriced shoes. I said I need some damn help over here!”

           The shoes stopped and turned on their heel to face me. Walking towards me slowly and casually, like I wasn’t hanging on for dear life, the leather shoes stopped in front of my window.

“You can see me,” he said, obviously not in a rush to come to my rescue.

“Of course, I can see you. That car crash didn’t blind me.” Annoyance was bubbling inside of me and I fought the urge to reach out and grab the man by his leg.

           Finally, the man who filled the shoes dropped down to the ground in front of me. He was wearing all black. His clothes were dressy like he was heading to a wedding or a funeral. If his dark outfit was not mysterious enough, his face was enchanting. I jumped back, startled by his beauty. This was more than a man; my body was telling me that much. Knowing that he was not of this earth, I began to piece together why he might be there, only moments after a massive car crash. Was I dead?

“Are you an angel?” My voice was weak and shaky.

The smirk that came across his face ensured me that I was far from right. The mysterious man looked at my seatbelt and snapped his fingers. Without even touching it, my belt unbuckled. Crawling out of the broken window of my car, I struggled to my feet and stood face to face with the strange but alluring man.

“What the hell are you?” I asked.

“Why can you see me?” He seemed just as confused as me. His silver-gray eyes were peering into my own as if searching my soul for an answer.

“Am I not supposed to be seeing you? And you are not answering my question. What are you?” I waited for him to speak, watching his lips for his words to come out.

“I have never met a human who can see me, unless they are dead, and going to Hell.”

“Shit! I knew it. I am fucking dead!” I turned and kicked my crashed car. My foot instantly ached with pain, but what did I care? I was a dead woman.

“Calm down.” The man said. “Listen to me.”

“Why? So, you can steal my soul and feed it to Satan? Well, you are going to have to fight me for it buddy.” I swung at him, hitting him hard in the cheekbone. He fell back a few steps, shocked that I had just punched him. “I’m not going down without a fight!”

“Stop that!” He yelled but I ran towards the grass and picked up a broken piece of glass from my car.

“If you come towards me I will cut you!” I plunged the glass into the air as a warning sign. “I’m serious, stay back!”

“Lady, take it easy.” This intimidating man, who stood a good six foot five, suddenly looked like a scared child. “You are not dead! I am not here for you!”

“What?”

“I am not here to take you to Hell. You aren’t even dead, you’re still alive. You are obviously crazy, but you are still breathing.”

“How do I know you are telling the truth?” I kept the glass pointed towards him, still ready to fight him if needed. “How do I know that you aren’t going to kill me and take me with you to Hell?”

Before I could even process what was happening, the man flashed so fast past me that I could barely see him move. He landed behind me in less than a second and his hand unhanded the broken glass from my grip. What the hell had just happened?

“If I wanted you dead, you would be.” His breath was upon my neck as he leaned into my ear from behind. “And love, if I wanted to take you, I’d take you.”

The wickedness in his voice should have scared me, but instead, I was aroused by his threat in my ear.

“Well, then why are you here?” I turned around to face him. His face was so impressive, but as with most handsome faces, there was a danger lurking in his beauty.

“Have you looked around? You know you weren’t the only one in that crash.”

Having this man step into my sight had distracted me from the events going on around me. I had forgotten all about the other people in the crash. Spinning quickly on my heels, I turned and saw the aftermath. There were three other cars in the accident and all of them looked worse than mine. People were frantically rushing to pull the survivors from the wreckage.

“Oh no.” I stood still as my body shifted and felt unsettled inside. “They need help.”

Taking a step forward, I began to go to help, but the beautiful mysterious man halted me.

“It’s too late.” His fingers were hot upon my wrist.

“What do you mean? You mean…you are here for them?” I stepped back towards him, but I didn’t pull my arm away from his warm grip.

“Not all of them, just one. The rest have gone up above. I strictly work below.”

“Are you the Grim Reaper?” Tears were building up in my eyes.

“My name is Ash and you can say I am the Devil’s right-hand man,” he said. A tear glided down my cheek. Ash reached to my skin and wiped it. “Do I scare you?”

           “No,” I answered honestly.

           Ash tucked my hair behind my ear and gave me a calming smile.

           “What is your name, brave girl?”

           “Eliza.” There was so much tragedy going on around me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

“Please do not watch what comes next.”

“What comes next?”

           “Eliza,” Brushing his warm lips across my cheek he kissed my face gently and then backed away and let go of my wrist, leaving me longing for his touch. “Turn away and hold your ears.”

Before I could say another word, he had flashed from before my eyes. I saw him reappear in front of one of the wrecked cars. Realizing that he was about to take someone to hell, I turned away and covered my ears as he had asked. I felt sick to my stomach as I heard a man scream in terror. Holding my hands tight over my ears didn’t help, and I fell to the ground on my knees in an attempt to escape the horror.

When it was all over, and I could not hear the dead man’s terrifying screams, I opened my eyes and turned back towards the crashed cars. The beautiful mysterious man in black leather shoes was gone, and I couldn’t help but feel sadness as I wondered whether I would ever see him again. What was wrong with me? Had I hit my head harder than I thought? If that mystical man had indeed been the Devil’s right-hand man, he was definitely evil. But something inside of me wanted to know just how good his bad could feel.