It was a quick break, clean and bloodless, mostly. A small trickle dripped out of the corner of the boy’s mouth, collecting in a small puddle on the white sand. She moved close to his head, squatting in the moonlight, and realized that the blood didn’t look red at all. She thought she had really loved this one, trusted him. He was so handsome and smart, and possessed most of the qualities she desired. This one had had great potential, but he started asking all the wrong questions, and in the end she had to dispose of him too. He was already number six, and she wondered how long it was going to take before she found her match. She leaned over and kissed his forehead, his eyes, his nose and finally his mouth, still warm but unmoving under her own.

 

Waves crashed on the shore behind her. She turned, facing the water standing tall and terrifying on the sand, waiting. Her toes dug into the soft powder and a whisper of a breeze swirled her shift lazily around her slight frame. The waiting didn’t bother her, nor did the body lying at her feet. Both were incontrovertibly a part of her life in that moment so she would breathe, and just be.

 

In the far distance, across the inky water, an orange light popped into existence. She reached into the air in front of her and summoned a light, pale blue and warm. The orange light blinked in response to her light and began moving toward her across the water. She looked down once more at the beautiful boy and regretted that he hadn’t been stronger. Regret was something she was forbidden to feel, but after so many attempts at finding her match, she began to feel as if there might be something wrong with her instead. The orange light reached her, encompassed her, and she was drifting within the light, over the water away from the boy. She looked back just as a large wave washed over the boy’s body, dragging it into its cold depths. She closed her eyes and succumbed to the music in her mind, lulling her into the sleep that would take her home. She would start over again, and this time get things right. She was, after all, running out of time.