Davy Harwood (The Immortal Prophecy 1)

“Would Jack and Jill have run up the hill if they had no pail?”

I felt a poke in my side. “Stop it.”

The voice laughed. “That wasn’t me, Freaky Cinderella.”

“Don’t call me Freaky Cinderella,” I snarled and whirled around. Nothing. Darkness. As I whirled the other way I saw the same girl, but the scarred man was gone. She held the dagger this time and I watched, frozen, as she took the knife to her arm and gritted her teeth. As sweat beaded over her eyebrows, she started to cut her own skin.

“She was the Freaky Cinderella,” the voice whispered in my ear.

“Who are you?”

“The water.”

“Who’s the pail?”

“You.”

Not the answer I was expecting. “And Jack and Jill are...?”

“Wrong answer, Freaky Snow White.”

I was Snow White now. “Could you pick one fairy tale and keep with it? I’m getting confused.”

“You haven’t been kissed yet. The seven berry gummy bears won’t let you be kissed. I wouldn’t like them if I were you.”

“Thank goodness that you’re not me then,” I snapped back.

There was a pause. I felt surprise in the air. “The seven berry gummy bears need to die.”

“I’ll eat them. How about that?” I was nearing the end of my rope. The voice was starting to irritate me. I liked gummy bears and I hated fairy tales. “Reveal yourself. Now.” I felt the resistance in the air. It swirled around me. As I pulled one way, it pulled the other way. Then I screamed, “Reveal!”

The air exploded. I blinked from the force of it and then I saw myself staring back at me. The real me was annoyed. “Who are you?”

“The water.”

Oh yes. I was a sarcastic brat. “No riddles. Who are you and who am I?”

The other me smirked. “I’m the water. You’re the pail, but you need to figure out who Jack and Jill are.”

“Humans and vampires.”

“Try something more elemental than that. Those are species. Look at yourself.”

I glanced down to my arms and lifted them high. I still saw the silver color pumping through my skin. I saw the tendons and ligaments attached to my muscles and bones. The silver ran through it all. I was a little unnerved, but I gritted my teeth. There had to be a message in all this nonsense.

“You’re life.”

“I’m Davy.”

“That’s what we can call you, but that’s not what you are. Not anymore.”

“I’m…” I looked up, somber. “Jack and Jill don’t exist. You’re the Immortal. You’re life and you’re in me now. It’s not about Jack and Jill. It’s about running up the hill and falling down. It’s about fetching the pail. They wouldn’t have to run up the hill if they didn’t need to fetch a pail of water.”

“You’re starting to get it. She never got it.”

“The hill is…”

“The hill is the pursuit. You’re the golden prize.”