[rp for howbraveyouare] there was dust on the man in the long black coat...

[deaths_head]

As soon as he found her, he wanted her. She was a dazzling soul, pure and bright and she burned hot. The goodness in her wasn't angelic, it was ferocious--living fire, and he wanted it. The Lord, the Devil, they could both go rot because this woman was going to be his.

The first he ever laid eyes on her was the day he came for her.

She was with the blind lawyer, walking through the police station to meet a client. The lawyer was another one he wanted, but to the Shade's amusement he was clean. In his scarred and sightless eyes, there was no trace of the mark of death. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen, the Man Without Fear, and he was as untouched as the driven snow.

The Shade sat at a detective's desk, just another perp, albeit a big one. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, tattooed arms bare, and a black bandanna knotted around his head to keep his wild red hair at bay.

He waited until Karen Page set eyes on him. An officer walked between them, breaking her line of vision...

When the officer passed, he was standing--and while the big biker was still present to everyone in the room who might be looking, the condemned soul he set his steady gaze on saw something entirely different.

Blood red hair spilled across his shoulders, eyes shielded by the wide brimmed black hat he wore, matching the long black coat that swept the floor. Though those eyes were in shadow, they were still eerily visible, flashing intermittently with sparks of light, glimmering as something in their depths moved and shifted.

And as she watched, the Shade raised one gloved hand, and very deliberately beckoned her forward with a crooked finger.

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[howbraveyouare]

Although she couldn’t explain it, Karen always felt safe around Matt. He just had a kind of presence that brought her a kind of security. Even walking into the police station was no big deal next to her boss, but when she saw the burly perp at the detective’s desk she felt a chill run down her spine. It wasn’t necessarily fear, but it was something, she could tell, and when she saw him again she only knew she was right.

There he was, no ordinary perp but some kind of intimidating man in black. She felt her breath hitch in her throat as he beckoned to her. It was as if no one else could see him. For the first time in that safe space Matt provided, Karen felt a kind of fear and trepidation, but for some reason that even she couldn’t grasp, she slowly walked over to him.

Karen held her hands in front of her, careful not to show how they were trembling. She never liked for people to see when she was scared and being in front of this man, though he was a stranger, was no exception. Getting closer to him, Karen could see his eyes. They were beautiful, in a way. It was a contrast to all of the dark and almost scary parts of him. She found herself staring for a second.

“Who are you?” She asked in a low, tremulous voice. He was a mystery to her, like some kind of phantom. What was he doing here? Karen knew that he had no ordinary business in this place. He was up to something strange and she was going to find out just what it was and send him on his way before anyone got hurt.

[deaths_head]

"I have many names." he replied, deep voice resonating with a touch of sorrow despite his stern expression. "To some, I am the Black Dog, to others I am Reaper of the Wayward...but them that know me call me the Shade."

His stoic mask cracked, softening a touch as he reached out to lay one big, gloved hand on her shoulder. It was a heavy weight, but cool, with immense power in those long, slender fingers.

"By all names, I precede the Reaper, and strive to bring comfort in the warning. This, Karen Page, is yours. You have left to you seven more days. I'm truly sorry."

[howbraveyouare]

Karen was full of despair and horror and for a second it appeared that she might faint. Her knees wobbled a little, but then her eyes closed and she gained composure, opening them again. Her lips spread into a hesitant smile and she shook her head. She pointed a finger at the Shade and shook her head some more, a continuous motion.

“You’re some kind of lunatic. You… You’re just preying on people’s worries and fears.” Her eyebrows wrinkled together into an expression near some kind of outrage. Karen’s lips formed into a scowl of sorts.

“How dare you.” She said quietly, challenging everything she had just been told. Karen wanted to be angry, because if she accepted everything she had just been told then, well, that meant she was going to die in a week and she just couldn’t accept that as truth.

[deaths_head]

"You are human, and thus you are doomed to die." he replied just as quietly, calm in the face of her impotent fury. It was expected--he'd seen the gamut of reactions to the news, from acceptance to tears to blows.

That flash of brilliant anger--he almost wished she'd punch him. Just to see what it felt like. This one he definitely wanted to keep.

"That it happens now, or in seven days, or in forty years, your existence is finite." he continued. "What you have now is a gift few get: time. Time to say goodbye, time to settle your affairs, time to prepare. You can make choices your loved ones won't have to, give them the peace they'll need to grieve--and in this particular situation, you can even choose the fate of your soul."

He paused, raising a challenging eyebrow.

"Which will you choose? You, who walks with heroes? Will you use this gift and save them pain? Or will you waste it in desperation, leaving devastation in your wake?"

[howbraveyouare]

It had started to sink in that this wasn’t some kind of cruel joke. This man wasn’t doing this for a reaction, so why was he doing it? Nothing about this made any sense. Karen rans her hands through her hair, the anger on her face melting into confusion and sadness.

“Why are you telling me this?” She looked up at him, her blue eyes looking a little glassy. Karen could have cried right then if she would have just given in to the urge, but she made an effort to hold out, biting back the tears. Something about this wouldn’t let her cry in front of this man. She steeled herself over.

Karen shook her head, eyebrows wrinkling. “How?” Another question that was on her mind, burning at the forefront. “How is it going to happen? Will it be violent? Will I go in my sleep? Will I get justice?” She was so close to the point where she would no longer be able to fight those tears, inches away, really.

She looked down and bit her lip hard to ground herself, remind herself that her heart was still beating at this moment. She still had days left.

[deaths_head]

His other big hand rose to settle on her other shoulder, both squeezing with a steady strength--lending it to her, willing her to understand his purpose in being there.

"I can only see the mark of death--the future of it ain't mine to see." he replied, gentleness entering his tone, along with that hint of a southern drawl. "I strive to bring comfort in the warning."

He paused, lifting one hand off her shoulder to catch her chin and gently tip her head up so he could look her in the eye. That gentleness was in his expression now, full of an honest, earnest sympathy and sorrow on her behalf.

"If that be a safe shoulder on which to shed those tears of grief, little soul, then it's here. I'm here...and I will be until the last moment. You will not face this alone."

[howbraveyouare]

How did he gain her trust so quickly? So easily? Already Karen found herself putting her fate in this man’s hands and she wasn’t even sure that he knew it. It must have been in her eyes, that look of vulnerability she showed to people so rarely. Hardly anyone ever got to see it. It was a lot like a beast in the wild rolling on its back to show its belly.

“What do I tell them?” She asked in a small voice. “My friends, the people who care about me… How do I explain to them that…” Karen stopped herself with a sigh. “I guess I don’t, do I? I leave them without an explanation. I just sort of… Die.”

Karen looked away, somewhere far off in the distance even beyond the wall of the room they were all in. Her eyes glassed over and she felt faint. She shook her head to snap herself back to reality as best she could. It was difficult to get her grip back having received the news he had just given her.

“I need a drink…” She muttered.