FLASHBACK

My name is Riley Thymes, and I'm a Death Omen because of my older sister, Elena. She had leukemia since she was five years old and I was two. But the doctors discovered the cells too late, and despite the years of treatment and all that shit, she was condemned to die.
-oOo-

"E-Elena, don't die, don't leave me alone," I begged. "Please..."

I was sitting on the stool next to my older sister's bed, holding her slender, cold hand. Elena turned her head to me. Her shaven scalp shone like a polished diamond, reflecting the faint moonlight peeking through the near-translucent curtains. She fixed her dusty brown eyes, once the color of dark chocolate, on my own earth-colored irises.

"Don't waste the rest of your life mourning for me when I die", she whispered.

"But Elly—"

"If you do, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life, then bully you for all eternity in the afterlife when you join me again." Elena narrowed her eyes in mock fury.

Despite the current situation, I had to giggle. Even at Death's door, her sense of humor and sarcasm never wavered. We laughed together at the tiny joke and smiled broadly. Suddenly, in the midst of chuckling, Elena started to cough violently, as if she was trying to dislodge her very heart. I grabbed a tall glass of ice cold water that was sitting on her dresser and waited until she was done. My own heart thumped nervously as her hand tightened on mine.

Shakily, Elena took the cup from me and drained half of it in one gulp. When she handed it back, tiny beads of blood swirled around in the remainder of the liquid. She winced as she saw the reddening water and said, "I think it's time."

With those terrible words, Elena collapsed back onto her bed.

"Elena!"

The sixteen-year old girl took several deep breaths, then looked weakly at me. "Riley, you know your 14th birthday is in twenty minutes."

I couldn't help myself; I gaped at my sister. "Elly, right now, you have leukemia, coughing up blood and dying, and you talk about my birthday?"

She laughed softly. "My only regret is that my last gift to you is my death."

It was 11:43 P.M.

Elena's eyes were beginning to flutter.

"Elly...!"

'Woooooooooooosh!'

Woosh?

The windows suddenly flung open. Strong gusts of wind filled the room, tossing my dark hair. Strangely, nothing else in Elena's bedroom moved.

Instinctively, I covered my face with my arms. When the gusts died down, I lowered my limbs, looked at the other side of the bed, and jumped. For there, in front of me, was a young woman.

She was wearing black and pink robes and held a long wooden staff in her left hand. She obviously did not see me as she ignored me completely. Then, she bent over my sister's wisp of a body.

I forgot my fear at that moment.

"Hey you! What are you doing with my sister?"

I was ignored.

The pink-haired woman began to mumble under her breath, making strange movemets wih her free hand. As she did so, Elena began to glow a sickly blue.

I was pissed.

"HEY! Get AWAY from her!" With that, I picked up my slipper and flung it at the woman with all of my might. It landed smack on her face and she stumbled back.

When she stood up, an oval-shaped red mark decorating her pale skin, her eyes were blazing like green fire.

"How DARE you, a human, strike a Death Reaper like me like that?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but she changed her expression in a flash. "Wait...you can see me?"

I scoffed. "'Course I can! You freak, answer me! You Death Eater or whatever you called yourself!"

"I am Anna, a Death Reaper, not Eater! I gather souls and take them to the other world."

I gaped again. "What? So you're taking my sister?"

"Yup."

"No, you can't!" The sudden outburst made HER jump. "Elly's only sixteen! She's getting her driver's permit in two weeks, celebrating her 17th birthday in five months, and her third anniversary with her boyfriend in five days! She's a straight A student and an amazing musician! She worked so hard to get to where she is now, and you're just going to take it all away from her?"

I was gasping for breath when I finished my speech. Anna recovered from her shock afterwards and gave me a look of genuine pity.

11:51 P.M.

"I'm really sorry, kid, but your sister is not going to make it. She has a life threatening disease and her body can't keep up with it anymore. It's her time to go."

Tears blurred my vision as my dark brown eyes flickered from Elena to the Death Reaper. All of a sudden, I got an idea. It was incredibly crazy, insane, and seemingly impossible. But it was worth a try.

I turned to Anna and said, "Take me instead."

She stared. "What?"

I firmly gazed into her eyes. "Take me instead," I repeated. "I've hardly ever gotten sick and when I did, in the smallest degree. Give Elena my health and my life and take my soul instead."

Anna was silent for a long time. "Are you sure about that?"

My eyes widened. "You can do that? Take me, I mean?"

"Of course we can," Anna replied. "But you won't be a normal soul if I take you."

"Why?"

"Well see, Death Reapers are souls who commited the ultimate crime, suicide. The punishment is collecting souls. Those who did what you want to do, trade your life for others, do not really commit suicide. But because of the similarity, they become Death Omens."

My mind was swimming with all of this information. "What's a Death Omen?"

"A Death Omen is what it's called. It's able to smell Death from anywhere within a certain radius, depending on how strong it is. But," she added, "they no longer have a human form."

"What do you mean?" I asked in wonder, enchanted by what I was hearing.

"As in, they're given an animal form, usually something like a cat, wolf, or crow. An ominous animal, usually black, of course."

"Why is that?" I asked again.

She was silent again, looking down at her robes. Then, she continued, "Because their memories are taken away."

"What?" I cried.

"The Council can't have the Reapers and Omens be depressed about their past!" she exclaimed.

"So, you too?" I replied quietly.

"They change your appearance, too," she added again. "Do you think a normal human would have this color hair?" Anna tugged at her long, pink locks.

I was torn. I didn't know what to do. While I didn't want to let Elena die, not when I could save her, but I didn't want to lose my memory either. All of those good times with my friends and family, being together, being happy and sad and upset and all of those emotions…But I don't have a choice now.

"I'll go with you," I decided. "For Elena."

Anna gazed into my dark brown eyes. "Alright then." At that very moment, she whipped out a dagger, huge and silver. Its blade was completely straight and a foot long, glowing the same, sickly blue like the film that was once around my sister. The hilt was plain and wooden.

"This aura is called The Energy of the Dead. Its powers are complicated to describe," she said quietly, her pale face illuminated by the knife.

"Here, take it," she said, offering the spiritual blade to me. I took it gingerly and shuddered as I felt a chill run through my body as soon as I touched it. "Now, stab yourself through your soul!"

I looked at her dumbly. "You want me to do what, where?"

"Strike yourself where your soul resides in your chest!"

"Um, and that is…"

"In the middle of your chest, you stupid ass!"

"Jeez, jeez. No need to be so mean," I whimpered, setting the tip to the mentioned area.

"As soon as the dagger pierces your soul, it'll transfer the energy to your sister. The health of her soul and the health of yours will trade places, and your body will become like hers, and hers yours. A matching incision will appear on your sister's body, as well."

Skeptically, I glanced at the woman. "Are you sure this'll work?"

As I brought the blade forward, she answered, "Well, cases like this only appear every century or so, and I'm new…"

"What?"

She chuckled, and I felt compelled to stop this instant and work something out. But the momentum of the spirit dagger was too strong and I ran myself through.

At that moment, a silver light came from the cut and filled the room, a golden one coming from Elena. I watched as a neutral white light, the energy, I guess, flew out of my body. From my sister, a pure black one emerged. They flew right through each other, my energy slipping into Elena's body, and hers slamming mercilessly into my own. I gasped as pain spread through my body. I guess this is how she felt all along, I thought to myself as the ache blossomed in every cell. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elena's breath slow to a peaceful pace and her face relax. I smiled, but was snapped out of it as more pain racked my poor body.

After what seemed like an eternity, it began to fade, and I felt myself losing conscience. At the brink of awareness, I watched Anna walk towards me. "Now," she murmured, and with a swift movement, slashed three, long claw-like nails across my forehead. The world turned black.

Well, that's chapter 2 and longer than the first one! Yay!

Remember, nice, motivating reviews and I'll continue.