Marie, Can't Be

ERIC POV

The image I saw was nearly heart stopping. Well, it would be if I had a heart. I shook my head to push those thoughts away. Marie Cameron. I hadn't realized how long I was staring at her photo. She has dark brown hair, long enough that not all of it could be in frame. The large loose curls throughout her hair seem to swallow the plain blue background of the photo. The light before her is bright enough to show off her emerald green eyes. They would have looked brown in darker lighting. She has some freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her rosy lips barely curled into an unintentional smile on the edges. She looks happy despite not being able to give a true smile. Only twenty five years old and not yet worn down by the world. I could tell that this was a passport photo. An older one. A bizarre choice for the Reaper company, but it made me wonder if she just hasn't been visible for surveillance for that long. My attention was brought back to her full lips again before I shook it off. I forced myself to stand and looked around the room. I was alone. I do not know for how long. I suppose I had been staring at her for some time. Considering how quickly they push us to work now due to a large number of the human population set to die at once from old age, I knew my coworkers had likely made their way to the human world already. I haven't even packed. I didn't imagine that my case would require this much effort from me. I thought it would have been a quick one and staying wouldn't have been necessary. Another elderly person. Not someone that would have had years of life left to live if they weren't picked by death. I put her paper into my own folder then into my work satchel. I started to head out of our ten story company building. It is a beautiful sight and incredibly well made. Since I am used to seeing the building regularly, I spent the walk to the bus station at the bottom level thinking about how I could terminate her life. The thoughts made me feel sick for reasons unknown to me, but I know that it's her or me. Either she can be terminated or I will be. What are some easy choices for someone her age? Hopefully not something that requires too much interaction. Cancer? No, that might take too long. Hit and run? No, she lives in a small town and the perpetrator might be discovered easily. I tense to the sound of the bus doors squealing open. I felt my heart begin to pound with each of the bus steps I walk up. I kept wracking my brain. Such a thing usually doesn't seem to difficult for me. It wasn't until I sat down that I realized.. I think I've got it. I know what to do.