The First One

• Elly Collins, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2015

As soon as she saw him, she knew. She knew that he was the one. The first one. She knew that he was the first one that she would ever kill.

She walked over to where he was in the cafe and sat opposite him, “Can I buy you a drink?” she asked him sweetly, carefully not saying ‘your last drink.’ She looked into his piercing blue eyes that wandered over her face, “Certainly,” he said.
A waiter came over to them ‘One latte and,” she broke off.
“A flat-white please,” he said, completing the order. The waiter left.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“I’m Edward,” he replied, his blue eyes never wavering from her face. “And you?”
The girl thought of name that wasn't her own, “I’m Jessica.”
“Pretty name for a pretty face,” he remarked in a low, husky voice. “Hello Jessica,” he said, a slight smile playing on his lips.
“Edward,” she said inclining her head towards him.
They talked and sipped coffee. The girl observed him over her half-empty mug, watching how he could display his perfect straight teeth when talking, and how his eyes seemed to see into her. She looked away from him, scared he would see the darkness that tarnished her soul.
He drained the last of his coffee and set the mug down on the table. She followed suit.
“Do you want to go for a walk?” he asked her.
“Definitely,” she said, standing up.
“Where to?” he questioned, also rising.
She thought for a moment before saying, “There is a lovely park only a few blocks away from here,” she neglected to mention that no one would see him die there.
They both walked away from the cafe. She looked sideways to the man walking next to her. She looked at his straight nose, his full lips, his blue eyes, his strong jaw line and how they all came together to make the handsome creature she was about to slay. He reached for her hand. She shivered at the touch of his warm palm, knowing that soon it would be cold and no longer full of life.
They slowly walked through the park, surrounded by green trees and bright flowers. When they reached a bridge straddling a thin stream teeming with fish and tadpoles, they stopped half-way over. The man stood so close to her that she could see each of his eye lashes. Her heart began to beat faster and faster, creating a rhythmic tattoo within her chest. She raised her hands and placed one on either side of his face. Grey eyes stared into blue. In one fluid motion, she snapped his neck. She watched the light leave his eyes. He fell to the ground, a marionette puppet with cut strings.
She stood for a moment then walked away without looking back, fierce pleasure expanded in her chest and filled her up until she could contain it no longer. The girl laughed, happier than ever before.