He picked up the biggest knife in the rack, staring at her. He could see the main artery on her throat, and thought about how fragile humans are. Just one, tiny, ting cut could cause... death.
It's okay. He thought. Don't worry. It'll be over fast.
She didn't think it was okay. When he picked up the knife, she immediately looked uneasy.
She was panicking – he could feel that, but she was trying hard not to show it. How brave... but stupid. He was a fallen angel, he could sense her churning emotions.
The tomato halves rocked gently on the cutting board. He thought about how easy it was to pierce the skin of the tomato, and how easy it would to pierce the skin of this delicate human.
Just one slash, and his curse would be over. No more roaming on Earth, being real but hollow, not feeling anything but still touching things. No more crazed obsession with possessing human bodies, no more only possessing people on the un-christian month. It would be so easy.
She was just plain scared now. She didn't know what to do. She was waiting for him to do something. Make his first move.
He took a step towards her, prepared to raise the knife. Her eyes closed, and she was trying to calm her breathing. He almost felt sorry. No, he did feel sorry.
He was raising his arm now, making the first step to striking. Suddenly, her eyes opened.
"Put the knife down."
Four words. Four words, uttered quietly. They changed everything.
He looked from the knife to her. Then, he put the knife back in the rack. He wasn't going to kill her. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
She isn't going to die today.
He would protect her forever, even at the cost of not becoming human. She was his key to surviving his punishment, and there was not point in becoming human if he can't be with her.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
