Duncan took a deep breath. “I know I sound like a space case, but I promise you, I’m telling you the truth. We are what is known as Immortals. We are born this way, and we have the chance to live a regular, long life. If we die violently at some point, we…resurrect and discover that we cannot die. We don’t grow old, we never get sick, we just stop aging. Our bodies become perfectly healthy, and we never age. We are still human; we still have feelings, we still *feel* physical pain. Our personalities don’t change. Some of us are good, some are evil. We come from all walks of life. It seems that the majority of us are men, but there is a small number of women that are also Immortal. This is the first part of it. Are you with me so far?” Kelly was still staring at him. She nodded her head, one jerk down then back up. He took another deep breath. “I’m not sure how many of us there are today. Last estimate I heard was around 10,000 in the world. Our numbers do decrease, because ! we *do* kill each other…hear me out.” She had started to protest, and he knew why. “There is only one way we CAN die, and that is by…decapitation. If our head is cut off of our bodies, we do die. If the individual that kills us is also an Immortal, he or she then experiences what is a called a ‘quickening’. All the memories, abilities, and power that resided in the other person…enter us, and it is very painful.” He shook his head, then came to sit back down. “Not all of us *want* to kill each other, but we are all involved in it. To be an Immortal means that we are…compelled…to find others of our kind. When we do, very often a battle breaks out. Usually it is a duel with swords. “ At his last words, Kelly suddenly got a frightened look on her face, and he realized that she thought he was going to kill her. “Kelly, I’m NOT going to hurt you. I would *never* hurt you. Please just listen. This isn’t easy for me. Where was I…oh yes. Our legends and histories tell us that there will c! ome a time when all the immortals in the world will be called together for what is called the Gathering. We will all be forced to fight to the death, until only one of us is left, and at the end, that one Immortal will get the Prize. No one knows what the Prize is.” Finally, he stopped. “One of the other things an Immortal has is the ability to sense others of our kind whenever they come within a certain distance of us; it feels like a tingling behind the eyes.” Kelly got a puzzled look on her face and he nodded. “Yes, you started feeling that in the hospital when I was in the room, just as I felt it as I came near you.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “After about 50 years or so, an Immortal also can sense those born with the potential. When I first met you, I knew you had the potential to be an Immortal, and I almost walked out of your life then and there.” His eyes softened and a look of tenderness crossed his face. “I couldn’t leave you. I fell in love with you the first day I met you at the bookstore. I didn’t want you to move in with me because I knew that somewhere down the line I would leave you. It would hurt you so much. Every so often, every 15 or 20 years, I have to disappear and start over again. I don’t age. I need to l! eave my life and start over until everyone who has known me is dead.” She looked up at him. “You really are serious about this? You BELIEVE this?” He nodded his head slowly. “And now you expect ME to believe it.” She got up and walked over to the kitchen. She leaned on the counter and stared at him. “How on EARTH did you think I was going to buy this story? I have to admit, your imagination has been working OVERTIME to come up with THIS.” Duncan sighed. “I guess I have to do this the hard way….I always do.” He walked into the kitchen and opened the drawer where he kept his knives. He pulled out his sharpest 10-inch long knife. He went back to the living room and took off his sweater and shirt. He muttered “don’t want to ruin *another* good shirt” and then sat down on the leather sofa and settled comfortably. He looked straight at her. “I HATE cleaning up this stuff.” Then he plunged the knife into his own heart. Kelly screamed and ran over to him. “DUNCAN!!!!” He laid on the couch, and he wasn’t breathing. There was blood streaming out of the wound. Kelly started sobbing, convinced that she had driven him over the brink. She reached out and felt for a pulse. There was none. She sobbed. “Duncan, oh my god.” She reached out to pull the knife out of his heart, tears streaming down her face and guilt boiling over in her heart. She took the knife and threw it across the room and then laid her head on his chest and started sobbing and crying out his name. After about 30 minutes, Kelly raised her tearstained face up and looked at Duncan’s body. Suddenly, it moved. The body literally jumped off the couch and fell back. Duncan opened his eyes and took a deep breath. “God I HATE that.” Kelly stared at him in disbelief. “But…you were DEAD. You had no pulse and you weren’t breathing…” she stopped. A look of comprehension dawned on her. “This is real? You were telling me the truth?” Duncan rubbed his chest and winced. Then he smiled and looked at her. “Yes, I was telling you the truth. I hope you don’t need a repeat demonstration to prove it to you again.” She shook her head, then a short bark of laughter escaped her. Then another. Soon she was laughing hysterically. Duncan didn’t know what was so funny, so he just watched as she laughed herself insensible. Finally, when she was gasping for breath and was wiping tears from her eyes, she finally said, “and I thought you wanted to get RID of me.” Duncan broke into a huge smile and the! n HE started laughing. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!