Emily stood rigid, with her back against the slimy wall. The figure remained in the shadows.
"Who are you?" she asked again.
"I'm a friend, Emily. A friend who wants to give you a gift"
Emily still kept her distance.
"What kind of gift?"
"Emily, I have the power to give you what you desire most in the world." Emily remained silent. She did not trust this figure.
"I still don't know who you are. If I don't know who you are how can I trust you?"
"Fine. I go by many names. But you can call me the Creeper."
"The... Creeper?"
"Call it a childhood nickname. Anyway, would you like this gift?"
"I'm not sure..." Emily looked away. Her mind had spun with ideas of what could be happening, but the Creeper was still a stranger to her.
"Emily, how would you feel if I told you that you could once again feel breath fill your lungs, and colour in your cheeks. What would you say if I could make your heart beat again?"
****
Victoria was ready to collapse. She and Victor had been searching for their daughter Emily all day. Victoria, exhausted, collapsed into Victor's arms and began to weep.
"Oh Victor, what if we don't find her? She could be stuck in some hollow tree, or seriously hurt, or even dead! Oh..." she sobbed into Victor's chest. He stroked her hair and cuddled her close.
"Sshh, it will be alright. We'll find her. I promise." Victoria continued to sob. Then the heavens opened and poured on them. Victor removed his coat and draped it around Victoria.
"I'll walk you home and then I'll keep searching. Do not fear, my darling. We shall find her." And with that Victor led his distraught wife home.
****
"Is this true?" Emily asked. "You - you could really do that?"
"Yes. I could. And I will. If you want me to."
"But why are you helping me?"
"Because I have watched you Emily. I have seen yur troubles. I think you deserve some hapinness. Let me give you a new life."
"O-ok, but, will it hurt? I mean is there anything I'll need to know?"
"You will look slightly different than before. Oh, and it won't hurt. At first." Then the Creeper reached his hand into Emily's chest. He reached around, then clawed out what appeared to be Emily's heart. This would not hurt, because Emily is dead. The Creeper held the heart in his left hand, and into his right hand he breathed a strange gas. This gas turned into a tiny blue flame, which flickered and danced on his fingers. He then poured this flame over the heart. The heart was swallowed up in a huge purple flame. The Creeper then thrust Emily's heart back into her chest. She screamed in agony. It felt as if her insides were being burned. She fell to the ground, her eyes streaming, and she looked up to the creeper. But he wasn't there. Suddenly, the pain went away, and rain came pouring down on Emily. She rose to her feet, holding her hands out in the rain. Then she saw her hands. They were pale pink and tender. She ran her fingers over them, they were soft. Emily began to laugh. She felt her hair and pulled it in front of her face. It was silky, and smooth, and strawberry red. Emily ran her fingers over her snub nose and thin lips. She shreiked with laughter. She then placed her hands over her chest. She could feel the steady beating of her heart. Emily was almost crying now. The creeper had done it. She was alive!
