Living in the world where everybody knows the date of other people death wasn't so cool as you imagine. Every day walking down the street you could see small numbers above the persons head. It isn't so bad. But the person don't know when they die. You couldn't tell them. Even if you wanted to. This is the worst thing. If you tried to tell someone they death date two things could happen. First one is that you can't open your lips. Like they were sewed together. Of course you can talk with them normally about things but not about the date. The second thing was worse. You could die. That's why nobody even tried to do this.
The person knows if it's the day of their death by looking at other people. If they start to be nice to you and try to do everything you want, you know your time has come. Of course there were people who starts to panic and screaming that they don't want to die, but most of them just stay calm and let the fate do what it wants.
Braxton Dudley was a teenager living in this world. He had a happy family and zero problems at school. His life was perfect, that's what everybody thought. It wasn't. Why you might ask? He felt sexually attached to people next to him who would die in the next 24 hours. Of course he would never admit it. It was too embarrassing. Imagine walking to the school on a very lovely summer day. The birds are singing, your friends are making a happy talk next to you and you enjoying your life. You walk next to an old man and suddenly you have a very dirty mind of you and him doing a very interesting things in a bed. Yes, it's horrible.
It started when Braxton was only ten years old. He was riding on the bike to the local shop. His mom asked him to buy bread. And because he's a very nice kid he agreed to it. It was a very warm spring day. Something new in the city he lived in. Baxley wasn't a big city like New York or Los Angeles. It was pretty small. It had its own hospital and city hall and even a port. Being placed near Mississippi has its own perks. All around Baxley were forests, the nearest city was around 50 kilometres (31 miles) away. But the citizens weren't worried about that. They were happy here where they were.
Braxton lived in the richer part of the city. His father being a very popular lawyer and his mom a very busy doctor. They lived in a villa placed near the forest, little away from the city but still close to the boy's school. There wasn't something like private school for rich kids. There was only one public school where they surprisingly had place for all the children from Baxley.
Braxton rode on his bike near a police station when he felt something tight in his pants. He stopped and looked down trying to figure out what's going on. Not knowing what to do he jumped off his bike and reclined it on a tree. His parents told him that if he ever had a problem he should go to the police where a friend of his father works. So he did as he was told. He walked up the stairs and through the door. A policeman was standing near probably having a break so the boy walked up to him.
"Excuse me sir, can you show me where mister Blankenship currently abides?" he asked nicely
"Blankenship? Oh! You must be Dudley boy he was talking about! He's in his office on second floor. Go up this stairs and it's the third door on the left." The black haired man said pointing at the stairs behind him.
"Thank you sir." Braxton politely thanked and walked in the direction he was told to go. After going up the stairs and down the hall he knocked, as he was told, on the third door on the left.
"Jonson! If it's you again then it would end worse than the last time!" a very angry deep voice shouted from inside.
"Excuse me sir! It's me! Braxton! Can I go in?!" the boy asked not moving from his place.
"Braxton?! Holy shit! I'm sorry! Please come in!" Blankenship panicked. Dudley opened the door and silently closed it. "Please, sit on the chair. And please don't tell your parents that I said bad words! They would be very angry! Especially your father!" the boy sat on the chair standing by the desk placed by the window. On the other side of the bureau a man around his late thirties was sitting in an armchair.
"If you would answer my question then I won't tell them."
The man sighed. "Ok. What is your problem?" he asked.
"When I was riding on my bike by the police station I felt something hard in my pants. I hope I'm not becoming sick again. I don't want my mom taking care of me. She's very overprotective." Blankenship looked with wide eyes at the boy.
"Felt something hard in your pants? I thought you already talked about this at school."
"About what?" Braxton asked dumbfounded.
"About becoming a man. You see, when you see something interesting , the blood goes to your penis and he stands up. Just like soldiers when a general is walking by. They stand straight. It is sometimes very embarrassing, so please, don't walk around saying you have an erection. And no, you're not becoming sick. It's normal for us men. It will go away after a while so don't worry." Blankenship explained very carefully everything to the ten years old boy who sat here looking at nothing, probably thinking about what happened. After about three minutes he snapped out of his trance.
"Alright. Thank you very much mister Blankenship. I will not tell my parents about your bad words. And I should be going. I don't want to make my mom more worried. Goodbye." Braxton calmly said and walked out the police station. He grabbed his bike and started to ride again to the direction of the shop. After he got in here he again reclined his bike on a tree and walked inside. The lady at the cash desk smiled in his direction.
"Hello Braxton! How can I help you?!" she asked in very sweet voice. Her curled blonde hair framing her oval face.
"My mom told me to pick up the bread. Can you give it to me miss Hartman?" the boy smiled.
"Of course! Here! It was waiting for you! Please!" she said giving a plastic bag with bread inside to the boy. "Say hello to your mom from me." She waved at him while he walked through the door outside again. He rode back to his home and give his mom the bread. He thought about telling his mom what happened but decided not to. She was always very overprotective. He didn't wanted to worry her more. So he decided to keep it as a secret.
Through the next nine years he found out why he nearly always had an erection next to people. He just looked at the date of their death and everything made sense. He still didn't told anybody anything about that. It was too embarrassing to him.
People normally didn't look at the date of their friends death. They tried to ignore it. Especially people in Baxley. They just lived their own life not caring about the numbers. That's why it took Braxton so long to figure out what's wrong with him.
Today was the day of the graduation. Braxton's class finally end the school and step into a new stage of their lives. Since this morning in Dudley's villa everybody was busy with making everything perfect. Even his family from Europe, Asia and Australia has specially come for this important day. On the other hand Braxton was sitting in his room writing on the phone with his friends. He was very happy to finally leave Baxley and go to New York where the college of his dreams was. He wanted to become a judge. He got this idea from his father.
But the fate had other plans. Life wouldn't be so easy as he imagined. When he finally get his diploma and sat back on the chair he felt something tight in his pants. He frantically looked around. Above his best friends head was today's date. Oh no. thought Braxton. His best friend happy with his diploma started to run around. He didn't saw the rock and his feet slipped. He would have lived if he didn't land on his head breaking his neck in the process. His parents ran to their dead son crying. The rest of the people tried to stay calm and help the parents with the loss of their child.
After this event Braxton locked himself up in his room. Not eating and not doing anything for three days. When he thought he would finally die his father broke the door down and his mother helped him.
Two months later with help of a psychiatrist Braxton was sitting in an airplane flying to New York. Everything was good for now. His parents rented an apartment near the college he was going to and he didn't need to worry about the rent. He just needed to study and got a diploma. It was fairly easy to do.
When the plane landed and he stepped out he saw that here people looked above each other heads as if they were judging them. It wasn't Baxley anymore.
He got into a taxi with only one bag and gave the address to the chauffeur. After about two hours driving he finally saw where he's going to live. He paid the driver and opened the door to his new home. It was a big apartment with enormous living room connected to the kitchen, bathroom next to the door, big bedroom with bathroom attached to it and second smaller bedroom. It looked very expensive. He sighed. His parents really should stop spoiling him.
There was a small problem. Maybe not small but gigantic. New York wasn't a small city like Baxley. There lived like hundred times more people than in his home city. More people means more deaths and that means more boners. He could already feel one. Trying to ignore it he unpacked his baggage and went to sleep not caring about anything.
The next day he washed himself and dressed into a nice suit that his mom insisted him to take. He went outside closing the door and walked to a nearby café to buy food. He ended up buying pancakes and a cup of coffee. After he ate his breakfast he went to the college to see the principle. He walked inside the big building and asked the woman at the reception if he could talk with mister Smith.
"You need to go up the fourth floor and the last door on your right." She informed him while calling someone. He did as he was told and after a talk with the principle he could already tomorrow start lessons. He thanked the older man and went shopping. After buying groceries and few clothes he came back home. It was already 3PM. He called his mom saying he's alright and after that he went exploring.
The college wasn't so beautiful as he thought it would be. The professors were nice and studies weren't so difficult. But other students weren't the same nice people as the ones back home. Every day at least one person was bullying him. At the beginning he tried to ignore it but it only became worse. Braxton started to fall slowly into depression. Professors didn't saw that because he was still the best in the class and didn't fail any exam. But inside he was a broken man.
When he started to think about suicide she came. The girl that will change his whole life.
Her name was Britt. She was a very nice and beautiful girl with long brown hair and blue eyes. She was in the same class as Braxton but she never noticed him. She came from a very rich family from Texas. She always wanted to became a judge but her family didn't supported it. They wanted her to became the next heir on their gun company. She never enjoyed it. Making something that can kill people and poor animals wasn't her dream. She ran away from her home and enrolled in this college. She didn't had her own apartment as Braxton. She was sharing one with three other girls. Unlike her the girls weren't so nice and innocent as her. Every day they would make a huge party and drink beer and smoke weed while fucking guys. Even if Britt hated it she needed to have something to live in. She was working as a part time job in Starbucks so she didn't had enough money to go on her own. But she was still second one in the class. She was extremely clever but not as clever as Braxton.
This day she was walking down the hallway to the exit. Her last lesson just ended and she wanted to go home to study. On her way she found Braxton laying on the floor badly beaten. It was the first time that they have beaten him so hard. She ran to him and checked his pulse. He was still living. Good. Not wasting anymore time she called ambulance and rode with him to the hospital. After doctors were done with checking him she walked inside the small white room where Braxton still laid unconscious but with his left arm in a gips and a bandage around his head.
After a hour with Britt worrying about him and doctors checking him up every fifteen minutes he finally wake up. He groans in pain and slowly opens his eyes. Finding himself in a white room with hospital equipment around him was new. He looked around finally finding Britt looking at him.
"Who are you?" he ask tiredly.
"I'm Britt McCoy. And you?"
"Braxton Dudley. What happened? Where am I?"
"You're in hospital. I found you laying badly beaten in the hall. How do you feel?" Britt asked with care.
"Uh.. My arm and head hurts. But I feel alright."
They started to talk with each other talking about their life's. When Britt mentioned where she lives now Braxton suggested that she can live with him. She agreed and the same day when Braxton could leave hospital she packed all her things and moved in to the man's apartment.
After that they become the best of friends. They were sitting together at the lessons and making the projects together. Nobody could separate them.
A year later Braxton asked her if she would become his girlfriend. She didn't disagree. They were very happy together.
One day someone called Britt. She was shouting and crying at the person on the other side of the line. Braxton was shopping so he didn't saw that. When he came home Britt was sleeping so he unpacked the groceries and went to sleep too.
Next day they as always walked together to the college. Everybody they meet on the way looked apologetically at Braxton. At the college the bullies bought pizza for him and the teachers didn't mind he was talking with other students or that he was eating the pizza in the class.
He know that his time has come. He came back home and found Britt sitting on a couch watching TV. She came back earlier. He sat next to her.
"My time has come." He sadly said. She didn't do anything. She didn't even move. "Britt. Are you ok?" he asked looking closely at her face. Her face was stoic. For the first time she didn't show any emotions.
"Braxton, I've told you who my father is. I've told you what he do for living. And I need to say." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She hugged him tightly. He embraced her back. Everything was peaceful.
Suddenly he felt sharp pain in his chest. Right next to his heart. Britt pulled back and Braxton saw she had stabbed him with a knife. He looked at her with betrayal in his eyes. He looked up at the date of her death. She would live longer than him. Even if he wanted to kill her too he couldn't. It isn't her time yet.
"Why?" he whispered painfully.
"My dad found a fiancée for me. A very handsome and rich prince. I couldn't say no. Even if I don't like his job I couldn't say no to this. I didn't wanted to break your heart so I decided it's better to kill you. It wouldn't hurt so much." She explained with fake caring look. "And don't worry. Your parents wouldn't know. This apartment is too nice to waste. And if I told them that you're dead they would stop paying the rent and we wouldn't like that, would we?"
"Of course not honey." Behind her stood tall blond haired man. He was very muscular and wore a very expensive suit. Braxton couldn't hold it anymore. He could feel the darkness embracing him.
"You bitch." He whispered and give his last breath laying now motionless on the couch with a small pool of blood appearing around him.