Reaper

Chapter 2: The Orphan Family.

Author's Note: In this chapter, we see the unfolding events that have lead to Alex becoming a Reaper. It doesn't fill you in on the full background story, as there are still a few more background stories to come. It also asks a few questions that'll be answered in later chapters. Everyting after this chapter will be Alex in Japan, adjusting to his new life, and finishing the background stories. The chapter is rather long, at 24 pages in word processor, but I find it goes by very quickly. Pretty sure I got all the spelling mistakes and the such. And I'm also pretty happy I have all the neccessary information that's needed to understand what's happened to the kids. So with that in mind. Enjoy!


Chapter 2: The Orphan Family.



The wind whipped at at Alex’s face as his motorcycle roared down the air field towards the entrance way. Like a meteor, the bike rocketed through the open space, it’s bright white head lamp blazing like a brightly burning supernova in the depths of space.

The baritone blast out the end of the exhaust pipes was intoxicating. It’s deep, punch in the chest roar rattled Alex’s bones and organs, pulling his cheeks back and forming nothing short of a smile of pure ecstasy.

The scenery around Alex blurred into nothing, the darkness enveloped airport melding into a large, dark streak at the edges of his vision, while the landscape ahead of him rocketed towards him as if on fast forward, the slowly flashing lights of the airfield entrance shining like stars in the night, calling towards him with each, gentle wink of light.

Far behind Alex in the blanket of darkness, were the rapidly shrinking, mountainous airplane hangars. Each hangar stood tall and silent like headstones within a cemetery. Fitting as it is as hangar thirteen now held within it cavernous depths the bodies of fifty slaughtered mobsters, housing their bodies like a mausoleum.

It had only been a half hour ago that Alex watched as the fifty mobsters butchered six of their former allies after they had sold them out to the authorities. As punishment, each of the six men had been executed amongst their peers, a demonstration of Mikel Sarulean, their former boss’s fury.

Alex watched as the six men were hacked, burned, shot and stabbed to death, leaning against the wall of the hangar and looking as if what he was watching was rather entertaining. After the six men had been butchered, their blood spilt to the ground to appease Mikel’s fury, Alex had decided it was time for the fun to start.

Springing into life, Alex demonstrated his power, as with one powerful swing of his sword Banyuo, he cut two mobsters in half at the waist, smiling indulgently as he did so. After his first attack, it had only been several minutes before Alex left the whole of the Sarulean mob lying on the ground, butchered like cattle and bleeding to death.

But to his credit, it had been all Banyuo’s doing really.

Six feet tip to tip, looking exactly like a butcher knife, except larger, Banyuo was a fierce blade. With a blade ten inches wide,Banyuo had been able to rip through the mobster ranks as if it was as easy as cutting through overgrown grass.

But with his job done and the mission accomplished, Banyuo was now tightly wrapped in a fine, white silk wrapped that glowed in the few remaining rays of evening light, thrown over Alex’s shoulder and riding serenely on his back as he sped towards the airfield entrance.

High above Alex’s head, a titanic black storm cloud had settled itself over the city of Winnipeg, bringing with it an odd silence that seemed to be very out of place in the city. With each passing second, the dark cloud was drawing closer and closer to unleashing it’s fury upon the city, which would undoubtedly leave the city very beaten and severely battered when it’s fury ceased.

"So Alex? Do you think we’ll be home before the rain starts and Monica has supper ready?", Banyuo asked deep inside Alex’s mind as he roared through the airfield entrance and onto the service road that lead back to the main airport road, "I don’t feel much like getting wet tonight."

"No sweat Banyuo,", Alex replied with a smile as he gave an enormous twist of the throttle, the powerful engine roaring loudly and gaining speed rapidly, throwing the motorcycle into triple-digit speeds instantly, "You think I’d miss our weekly Friday evening supper for something as trifling as a few pissed off mobsters?"

"Good point. You’re like a fly to honey when it comes to Friday evening supper.", Banyuo said thoughtfully as Alex roared onto ‘Airport Terminal Road’

Flicking the bike sideways, Alex slid the bike around the corner, listening to the serene mixture of bellowing engine note and the squealing rear tire as it clawed for traction while sliding sideways, leaving a long, arcing black mark on the darkness covered pavement.

Speeding past the airport terminal and around the loop, Alex emerged on the wide, smooth road that would lead him back to the intertwining streets and road of Winnipeg, which were bound to be empty with news of the approaching storm. This was good news for Alex, as waiting for him at home was a hot, home cooked meal, and with so little traffic foreseen, he’d make record time.

Flanked on either side of the street Alex was riding on, large gray concrete fields stood silent and barren. Usually filled with a rainbow assortment of cars that had been parked and left by their owners while they flew away to distant corners of the world, were now empty and grey, the cars having been moved for safe keeping in the face of the storm.

Gradually, like mountains rising from flat prairies, buildings began rising up from the ground, stretching and reaching towards the sky. Small, at first, the early buildings were short, one story, shabby affairs, many with grime encrusted windows and walls with peeling paint. These were the type of buildings one would expect unsuccessful small businesses to be ran out of, or local delivery companies that had a reputation of being unreliable.

Like a crescendo in a marvelous piece of music, the buildings began growing and growing, steadily becoming more and more beautiful.

As Alex rode on, the buildings began changing and warping. Growing and growing, the buildings began changing into small strip malls with various stores selling an arrangement of different products, like clothes, sporting goods and the such. Further on, the stores grew into two story shopping centers with a various array of manikins and body doubles displaying the latest fashion trends to the street below. Larger and larger the buildings grew, until they peaked into large, ten story hotels, their windows blazing in the darkness like roaring fires.

In contrast to the buildings nearest to the airport, the buildings had become more and more clean. Their walls seemed to glisten in the newly illuminated street lights, displaying an array of soft, warm colours that blurred into a dimly lit rainbow as Alex sped by.

Alex had ridden these streets so many times that he barely took notice of the many different business that were ran out the array of differently shaped and coloured buildings. Grocery stores, Chinese food restaurants, bars, home decoration boutiques, even the enormous shopping mall that was Polo Park blurred into oblivion as Alex sped by, steering his powerful bike onto Portage Avenue, the main artery of the city of Winnipeg.

Usually packed with cars, the people inside of them in various states of annoyance at the traffic or else talking on their cell phones about what a friends sister’s brother had said about them, was now as deserted as the airport.

Alex sped by the banks, garages, fast food restaurants, car dealerships, veterans associations, eye doctors and the University of Winnipeg without paying them any attention. Everything was old to Alex, and not worth his attention, as he had seen it countless times before as he and his friends went to the movies, the mall, or out for just a casual cruise.

"This kind of takes you back, huh Alex?", Banyuo said quietly in the back of the Alex’s mind as he trundled past the construction sight of a soon-to-be sky scraper with real waterfall, "To when it all it began I mean.", he finished as Alex sped by large shopping malls and departement stores.

"Yeah,", Alex sighed as he gave the throttle a powerful twist and the bike roared forward, the street lights around and the traffic lights above blurring into streaks of yellow, red, green and white, "It does Banyuo. Everynight like this takes me back.", he finished as he sped by the large MTS arena that was set in the heart of Winnipeg.

It had been a night like this one that everything in Alex’s life changed.

It had been a night like this one that Alex’s parents, and the parents of his three best friends Monica, Feilos and Max, had been murdered.

It had been three years ago when the Reilly’s, Shephard’s, Guerrero’s and Gilmore’s had gotten together for a Friday evening dinner at a fancy restaurant, leaving Alex, Monica, Feilos and Max by themselves at Monica’s house.

The kids, a then tender age of sixteen, were used to it as every second Friday, their parents would get together and go out for dinner. The parents had been friends since before Alex, Monica and Max had been born, and from the first day the Guerreros had moved to the neighborhood when their kids were starting first grade.

Leaving their kids behind, the parents would go out for a night of fine cuisine, drinks, dancing and movies, a way to celebrate their pay cheques and relax after a couple hard weeks at work.

But the four friends didn’t mind, in fact, they enjoyed it. It gave them a chance to order in pizza and rent movies, listen to music, laugh, joke and play video games as loud and as long as they wanted. It gave them a chance to just kick back, relax, and let it all hang out, and in the case of Alex and Max when they got into Mr and Mrs. Guerrero’s liquor cabinet, literally let it all hang out.

It had been a night like this, three years ago, when a messenger dressed in blue came calling at the door of the Shephard’s residence.



*****



"Hey Monica! When did they say the pizza guy would be here? I’m starving!", Max called out from the living room of the Shephard household, to Monica who was in the kitchen, as he sat spread out on the sofa.

The living room of the Shephard house was very spacious. Covering every inch of floor, was soft, light blue carpeting that always felt cool to the touch, yet comforting to walk on. Taking the place of an entire wall, eight large windows with Venetian blinds overlooked the street of the quiet neighborhood in which they lived. Small cabinets and china hutches decorated the wall opposite the windows, looking like a display in a shopping mall window.

Filling almost the entire room was a long, white leather sofa that was able to sit five people side by side comfortably, and four squashy leather arm chairs on either end of the sofa, forming a large half circle. The chairs sat around a wide, dark cherry wood table with a small bouquet of flower in a frosted blue pot in the middle. Behind the table, pressed against the wall, a large, wide screen TV of seventy inches faced the occupants of the chairs like a movie screen, it’s powerful surround sound speakers spread through out the room and set high in the corners, finishing the affect of having their own personal movie theater in their home.

A tad shorter then Alex, at about six feet tall, Max was very well built, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. His arms and legs were well chiseled with muscle, his chest and stomach as hard as stone with muscle built up after three years of extensive weight training and muscle building for his high school shot-put career. To add to his slightly ‘carved out of stone’ look, his head and face were slightly squarish, with a straight cut jawline and rounded chin. His light brown eyes were always bright with warmth and laughter, his nose was on the slightly large aside, but no one paid this much attention as they were usually drawn to his stunning, white-blonde, shaggy hair. To show off his figure, Max could usually be seen wearing tight shirts with very short sleeves that hugged his figure.

Despite having the look of a biker gang member or bouncer at a night club, Max was a very gentle, easy going person, preferring to talk thing out then rather get in a fight. And for his peaceful demeanor and easy going nature, Max was very liked by everyone who knew him, especially the girls, as it wouldn’t be odd if he started joke about things like doing his hair and nails with the girls of his high school classes, much to the laughs and giggles of his fellow class mates

"I just called five minutes ago Max,", Monica replied, walking out of the kitchen, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, looking at Max as he watched TV with a smile.

Monica was the kind of girl that every teenage boy wanted. Tall for her age at six foot one, Monica’s body was lean and slender, yet slightly defined with muscle from her years of running track and field events. With long, slender legs and arm, Monica looked more like a supermodel then someone who would run track and field, especially with her long, light brown hair that reached down past her shoulders. Her most stunning feature had to be her face. Gently rounded and beautiful with vivid green eyes, small nose, slightly pointed chin and soft lips, Monica really did look the part of a supermodel. The second most stunning part had to be her chest, as she was more well endowed then the other girls in her high school year, much to the displeasure of those very same girls.

To hide her figure slightly, Monica would usually wear a white tanktop that was always covered in either a light grey, black, or white zip up hooded sweatshirt.

Like Max, Monica was a very easy going person, who for one reason or another, always seemed to be smiling. She never yelled or raised her voice, and her thresh-hold for annoyance was well beyond saint-like. Amongst the people she knew, Monica was very liked by both the boys and girls, though the latter did get a little jealous that the boys would pay a bit more attention to her then the rest.

"Yeah dude. She just called five minutes ago,", Feilos said looking over to Max, with a smile and giving him a friendly shove on the shoulder as they sat on the couch, "If you’re hungry, have some of the vegetables that Monica’s parents left us.", he finished, gesturing to a small plate of carrots, cherry tomatoes and peppers on the table infront of them.

A tad shorter then the others, Feilos was a skinny boy, yet still very well toned, with a good amount of muscle and a good figure. What he lacked in muscle, he mad up for by having long,exceptionally flexible arms and legs and being very fast. Being of Brazilian descent, Feilos’s face was rounded with dark brown eyes, small nose and wavy brown hair. As his parents had come straight from Latin America, Feilos’s skin still kept it’s natural dark look, giving him the look of having spent a bit to much time in a tanning bed.

As if to add to his dark and mysterious appearance, Feilos always wore white khaki pants and brightly coloured cotton, button up shirts with simply white or grey muscle shirts underneath. All of it added up to give him the look of a rich business man spending time at his Malibu beach house.

Like a business man too, Feilos was a man of business so to speak. When it came to school work and projects, he was very serious, taking on a roll of an army Sargent telling his troops what to do, making sure everyone knew what they were doing and working hard right to the end. But for everything else, Feilos, like his best friends, was very relaxed, constantly laughing and joking, his dark brown eyes alive with joy.

"Oh that’s great Feilos,", replied Max, playfully shoving Feilos back on the couch, "If I was a rabbit."

"Oh c’mon Max, suck it up," Alex said from the chair he was in, his legs draped over one of the arms of the chair and his back resting against the other, "It’s not like one carrot will hurt you. Unless you stab yourself in the eye with it.", he finished with a smile.

"And don’t say it won’t happen, cause we’ve seen you do it before Max!", Monica laughed as she joined the other in the TV viewing area, flopping down in one of the chairs and curling up into a ball.

"Only that one time!", Max chuckled, leaning forward and helping himself to a cherry tomato.

These were the nights that friends lived for.

Nights where they would get together without any parental supervision, sit back and enjoy eachothers company, channel surfing and eating food, not thinking about school, homework, their part time jobs, or the different crisis’s of the world. All they thought about was how lucky they were to have three best friends who they could sit back and relax with, and know that they were thinking the same thing.

As it was a Friday night, with the weekend well insight, the friends were whiling away the evening watching cartoons, sitcoms, and the action shows they were fond of, relaxing after a hard week of school and everything they had to deal with.

Just as a show about a boy given special powers to fight evil spirits and guide good spirits to the other side, known as the ‘spirit civilization’, was starting, the door bell rang it’s gentle, metallic ring that echoed in the house.

"I’ll get it. That’s probably the pizza,", Alex said lazily, grabbing the back of the chair with one hand and pulling himself into the air, flipped over the back of the chair.

"Nice moves there Kerri Strug!", Max said as Alex touched down lightly on his feet, Monica and Feilos chuckling and applauding Alex’s performance.

Chuckling himself, Alex crossed the living room and passed through a large, arch doorway set in the wall. The carpet abruptly ended and turned into a hard wood, polished floor. Alex had walked into the large coat room that was directly connected to the living room. A long bench had a jumble of shoes sitting with in it’s shadow. On the wall at the end of the coat room was a large, ladder like arrangement of coat hooks, holding firm a rainbow assortment of coats. Facing the street outside was a heavy, burled oak door, stained light brown. It had a three, crystal clear windows set within it which sparkled slightly in the light.

Through the windows, Alex could just make out the blue, flat topped, tri-pointed brow of a policemen’s uniform cap standing outside on the darkened door step.

"What the…,", Alex breathed, groping at the wall beside him, and finding the light switched, flicked it on and bathed the doorstep outside in a warm, welcoming light.

Alex’s heart was strangely beating faster and faster, pounding somewhere in the bottom of his neck. His breathing had become oddly strained, as if the air was very thin, making him slightly light headed. His throat had become oddly tight, as if there was some invisible elastic band around it, squeezing it shut.

Swallowing the best he could, the act itself being rather difficult as his throat was so tight, Alex crossed the floor with several, slightly shaking foot steps. Grasping the handle of the door, Alex twisted and slowly opened the door.

Just as Alex suspected and figured out, a tall, uniformed police officer was standing behind the door.

His blue uniform glowed in the light of the doorstep and coat room, his belt holding his gun and police badge shining brilliantly as if they had just been polished.

He must have been one of the more seasoned officers, as his face was slightly lined with fine wrinkles, and the hair poking underneath the edge of the his hat displaying wisps of grey.

Normally, he looked like the kind of person who would always be smiling, but today, his blue eyes were looking very woeful, and his expression was that of someone preparing to deliver bad news, as his hands were clasped infront of him, and his breathing was oddly strained.

"Is this the Shephard residence?", the police officer asked, reaching up and removing his hat, put it under one of his arms in a show of respect.

"Y-yes it is.", Alex stammered, a cold dread slowly rising up with in his stomach, yet not knowing why.

"I’m officer Durn. Are you a member of the Shephard household?", the police asked, his expression becoming more and more woeful.

"N-no. I’m a friend of their daughter,", Alex replied, gesturing with his arm towards the gently lit living room where Monica, Max and Feilos were watching TV.

"May I please speak to their daughter?", Officer Durn asked, his eyes slowly filling with something looked like grief.

"Yeah. One second.", Alex said, not taking his eyes off of the officer, "Hey Monica. You have a visitor!", he called over his shoulder to the other room.

"Be right there!", Monica called back, and a second later, Alex heard her crossing the floor on the soft carpet.

Emerging into the coat room, both Alex and officer Durn saw that for a split second, Monica had been smiling, but upon seeing the police officer, her smile faded, replaced by a look of confusion and terror.

"Ms. Shephard?", Officer Durn asked, standing tall and taking a deep breath as Monica joined Alex at his side.

"Y-yes. Is there something I can do for you?", Monica stammered, staring at the police officer as if she was dreading the worst news imaginable.

"My name is officer Durn. And I have some sad news to deliver to you.", Officer Durn replied, "May I come in? It may be easier if you’re sitting down."

"Yes…yes ofcourse. Come in.", Monica said, gesturing Durn into the coat room, looking dazed.

Wiping his feet on the mat at the entrance, Officer Durn crossed the thresh-hold and entered the brightly lit coat room.

Like a hostess leading her guest into her house, Monica lead officer Durn into the living room, where Feilos and Max remained sitting, watching TV, unaware of what was about to happen.

"Hey guys. What’s the hold up? Is that the pizza guy or…", Max said, turning around on the couch but stopping as he caught sight of Monica and Alex leading officer Durn into the living room, his voice dying instantly in his throat.

"What’s wrong Max?", Feilos asked, turning to look at what had caused Max to go silent so suddenly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Feilos caught a glimpse of a man wearing a blue uniform, and slowly turning around, watched as officer Durn was lead around the chairs by Monica, taking a standing position infront of the TV.

Both Alex and Monica sank into the chairs closest to officer Durn, looking tense and anxious without really meaning too.

The mood of the room had changed dramatically.

A moment ago, it had been full of warmth and laughter, the friends enjoying the evening by themselves without a care in the world.

The next moment, all happiness had been sucked out of the room, replaced by a tension so thick it seemed to be weighting down the very air itself, making it very difficult to breathe.

"Ms. Shephard, it might be best if your friends left us to talk privately.", Officer Durn said gently, looking at Monica as if he was trying to spare her from something like embarrassment.

"No..no, it’ll be fine.", Monica said, shaking her head but still look up at the policeman with a tense expression on her face.

"As you wish ma’am.", Officer Durn replied with a nod of understanding.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, officer Durn closed his eyes and left out a long, slow, relaxing breath through his nose before opening his eyes once more and looking into the tense faces of the four friends around him.

"Tonight, at 8:54pm, we received several phone calls involving what appeared to be a shooting at The Forks’ Taste of the World Festival. It claimed that several people had been hit and were now in grave condition. At 9:10 we arrived on the scene, and the paramedics were taking away several people to St-Boniface Hospital for treatment. Two of those people were Gregory and Stacy Shephard. Your parents Monica.", Officer Durn said, looking at Monica with eyes that were hurting with grief.

Monica choked. Her chest heaved and her body began to tremble. Her eyes began to well with tears, yet not wanting to distract the officer from the horrible news, held them back, and forced her self to speak, though her vice was very strained and quiet.

"Go on.", she choked, clasping her hands tightly within her lap to hold them still.

"They are currently in surgery to have the bullets removed. As it is right now however, it is unclear if they’ll survive.", Officer Durn continued, his face falling and a small tear running down his cheek.

It was to much for Monica to handle.

The tears she had been so bravely holding back burst forward, and before anyone knew what had happened, her face was in her hands, her loud sobs of anguish echoing around the room. Her whole body was shaking with each tremendous heave of her shoulders and shuttering gasp of pain. Tears trickled from in between her fingers, falling like rain to her lap and speckling her pants poka-dotted.

The friends were shocked. They had known Monica’s parents for so long. They were honest, hard working people who never hurt anyone. They always gave to several charities, donated old and new clothes to shelters, donated food at Christmas time, and always help prepare and chaperon school events, dances and festivals. But now…now that they had heard that there was a chance that Monica’s parents might die…it seemed as if the world had dropped from underneath their feet, leaving them weightless and confused.

Alex, Feilos and Max all looked dazed and horrified, their faces white with shock. Their jaws had fallen open, and their eyes stuck wide open. Their gaze fell from Officer Durn’s face, to the dark center table in the middle of the half circle of chairs.

"I know this is very difficult to hear,", Officer Durn said quietly, his voice slightly awkward as if he was an intruder on the friends grief, "If you want, I…"

"Wait!", Alex cut through, jumping to his feet and staring desperately at Officer Durn.

"Y-yes?", Officer Durn asked, slightly taken back by Alex’s sudden change or mood.

"What about our parents? Our parents were with Monica’s parent’s at the festival!", Alex said desperately, speaking very fast yet seeming to be unable to control it.

As if the others had just realized the same thing, Feilos and Max both looked up into Officer Durn’s face, their faces now as white as ghost with the thought of what might happen. Monica too, despite being in a state of utter grief, pulled her face up from her hands and stared at Durn as well, her eyes red and puffy and her beautiful face streaked with tears.

"And you are?", Officer Durn asked, slightly confused by what Alex had asked.

"I’m Alex Reilly!", Alex said desperately, patting himself on his chest with his open hand, his face alive with horror, "And this is Max Gilmore and Feilos Guerrero!", he finished, gesturing with his hand at Max and Feilos, who both slowly stood up and stared at Durn, their faces as horror struck as Alex’s.

Reaching behind him, and fiddling with something behind his back, Office Durn pulled out a small, coil bound note pad and flipped it open. Rifling through the pages, Officer Durn stopped on a page half way through the book and gazed down at the notepad.

"Reilly…Reilly…Would you be the son of Markus and Sarah Reilly?", Officer Durn asked Alex, though by the tone of his voice, he already knew the answer.

Slowly, stiffly, and with great difficulty, Alex nodded.

"And Max Gilmore, son of Tyler and Nancy Gilmore?", Durn asked, his eyes full of sorrow as he looked at Max, "And Feilos Guererro, son of Diago and Maria Guerrero?", turning his pain stricken gaze to Feilos.

Like a mirror image of eachother, both Feilos and Max nodded together, both of them staring at Durn with looks of utter terror on their faces.

"I’m sorry you three. Your parents are in surgery as we speak right now. Their fates are just as unknown as Ms. Shephard’s parents.", Officer Durn told each of the standing boys slowly, showing every sign of sympathy for them.

Feilos fell back down to the couch with a muffled ‘fwump’, looking shocked and terrified. Max and Alex on the other hand remained standing, seemingly paralyzed on spot while Monica began crying again into her soaked hands.

Alex’s brain seemed to have crashed into a brick wall. Right now, somewhere in one of the hospitals of Winnipeg, Alex’s parents were fighting for their lives, and he was helpless to do anything. Alex had always been strong willed and determined in the face of adversity, but yet that seemed to crack and shatter as easily as spring ice under the realization that his parents, and the parents of his best friends, were on the death’s doorstep, preparing to ring the bell and leave him and the others behind forever.

No matter what Alex tried to do, his body seemed rooted on spot. He wanted to sit back down, but his body was frozen. He wanted to cry at the horrible news that he was about to become an orphan, but the tears wouldn’t come. He wanted to speak comforting words to his friends, but his mouth wouldn’t move.

All he could do was stand there like a statue, while the seconds ticked by, bringing him and the others one second closer to the time when their parents would leave them forever.

"Take us there.", Alex croaked.

Somehow, miraculously, Alex managed to form those three simple words against everything that had happened to his body. His mouth felt like stone, and his tongue as heavy as lead, yet he managed to speak, three simple words that meant everything to him right now.

"Pardon Mr. Reilly?", Officer Durn asked, unsure of what he had heard.

"Take us there." Alex said again, this time his voice becoming stronger and stronger, "Take us to St. Boniface right now, so we can see our parents.", he finished, slowly balling his fists and setting his face into a look of utter determination.

All around him, the friends seemed to come out of their daze, and were suddenly looking at Officer Durn with new fire. Though they had just received the worst news of their young lives, each one of the four friends now had a look of steely determination etched all over their faces, even Monica, who’s face still shone with tears, yet was set in her resolve.

Officer Durn looked around into each of the faces of the four friends looking back at them. It was amazing, he thought, how four friends who’s only relationship was nothing more then being friends, could each look so similar in their resolve to see their dying parents.

Swallowing, Officer Durn’s head slowly began to bob up and down, each bob growing larger and larger until he was clearly nodding in agreeance.

"Okay. Let’s go kids.", Officer Durn said, striding around the circle of chairs and towards the doorway.

Without wasting a second, each friend hurled themselves towards the door, jumping and leaping over the couches and chairs like hurdlers in the Olympics.

Sprinting to the coatroom, the friends rammed on their shoes, and flinging open the doors, followed Officer Durn to his white and blue police sedan with bar lights ontop of it.

Though the neighborhood where Monica lived was very nice, none of the friends paid any attention to it, as their vision was firmly fixed on the car infront of them, the chariot that would speed them towards their parents bed side.

Flinging open the doors of the sedan, Alex, Feilos and Max piled into the back seat while Monica and Officer Durn jumped into the front. Slamming the doors shut behind them, the friends waited as the key of the car was twisted, and it’s power eight cylinder engine roared to life in a concussive bark out the exhaust pipe.

Throwing the car into gear, Officer Durn planted his foot on the pedal. Underneath them, they felt the rear end of the car slide slightly as the rear tires pawed for traction while screaming in protest at their misuse, leaving twin, four feet long black tire marks on the pavement behind. Reaching to the dash, Officer Durn fiddled with a button near the shifter for a moment, and before the friends knew what had happened, the sirens ontop of the car exploded into life, bursts of red white and blue flashing around the houses that they sped by, on their way to see their parents, possibly for the very last time.

Alex and the others took very little notice of this however, as they sped through the neighborhood, sirens in full scream. Instead, their mind was elsewhere, specifically with their parents, and the parents of their friends.

Alex’s mind was with his own parents, and how much they meant to him.

Being the only child, Alex never had a brother or sister he could talk to with his problems, and his parents, knowing this all along, were always there for him. That was what he liked most about his parents. No matter what, he could talk to his parents about anything. Whether it was girlfriend troubles, an argument he had had with one of his best friends, school trouble, help for a school project, or whatever, his parents were always there to help him out.

He had always been close to his parents. It seemed that with only the three Reilly’s together, that it brought them closer together then they ever thought possible. Whether it was the time that Alex and his mom got in a water fight while taking care of the lawn, or Alex and his dad settling a bet of seeing who was the better cook, by preparing two suppers at the same time and having Mrs. Reilly tasting them both. It seemed many times that Alex and his parents were more like best friends then mother,father and son, but that’s how Alex liked it.

And what of the Mr and Mrs Shephard? Mr. And Mrs. Gilmore? And Mr. And Mrs. Guerrero?

Alex’s memories were just as fond of them as his own parents.

Like in the summertime, when ever the friends would hangout on the weekend at Feilos’s house, Mrs. Guerrero would always bring them pineapple slushies that she made herself in the blender to help them cool off.

Or how Mr. Shephard would always make a delicious cake for the four friends to share at school on their lunch break when ever one of their birthdays rolled around.

Or how Mr and Mrs. Gilmore would always turn their whole, large backyard into a giant haunted house on Halloween, and invite all the kids from the neighborhood to come and explore it, and how they’d always let the four friends play witches, vampires, werewolves and zombies.

Alex wasn’t just scared about losing his own parents on this night. No, Alex was scared about losing the parents of his four best friends aswell. Parents who had made Alex’s life so much fun, that he considered them just as much a part of his family as his own parents.

None of the friends spoke during the car ride as they sped through the streets of Winnipeg to the St. Boniface Hospital. Each of them was thinking about just how much their parents meant to them, and what the other parents meant to them aswell.

Before the friends knew where they were, the police car was bumping over the curb and steadily climbing upwards.

Shaking their heads as one, the friends saw that were approaching the front entrance of the St. Boniface Hospital, slowly circling around it’s entrance loop and stone fountain in the center.

Slamming on the brakes, Officer Durn pulled the car down to a halt and flung open his door as Monica flung open her door and threw herself out onto the pavement, sprinting towards the main entrance.

"C’mon boys!", Officer Durn called to the boys, flinging open Feilos’s door and gesturing them to get out.

Wasting no time, the boys piled out of the door and hit the ground running, their shoes sliding on the cold pavement beneath them as they dashed forward. Everything around them blurred into nothingness as they sped towards the main entrance doors, only the few inches in the middle of their vision giving them an indication as to where they were.

Silently, the doors slid open as the boys approached and without skipping a beat the boys ripped through the door and into the brightly lit entrance way. Skidding to a halt, the boys looked around the entrance hall for any sign of Monica, their hearts racing and tension building with each passing second.

All around them, people were staring at them, as if they had never seen three boys before. There was a large sitting area full of comfy looking arm chairs with large tables in the middle of them displaying a variety of magazines for the visitors to read. Scattered through out the entrance hall, leaning against the walls and set in the corners, leafy green trees sat silently, their leaves waving to everyone in the slightest of breezes.

Infront of them, a large desk with black granite top stood like a welcoming party for all visitors, the three or four nurses behind it all standing up and looking down the hallway to the left of the boys.

"Alex! Look!", Max shouted from beside Alex.

Turning to see what Max had shouted at, he saw that he was infact pointing down a large hallway that the nurses were looking down. Rapidly shrinking with each powerful stride, Monica was dashing away from the boys at top speed, her hair flying behind her like streamers.

Without a single word, the boys pushed themselves forward, accelerating to top speed in only a matter of steps. Their feet beat furiously against the hard white floor surface, echoing loudly as they pumped their legs furiously to catch up with Monica.

The windows and walls blurred into nothing but white blobs as the boys sprinted down the hallway, following Monica the best they could. Somewhere around them, a muffled voice said something along the lines of ‘you can’t go down there!’ but was immediately silenced by what they could only expect was Officer Durn flashing his badge and telling whoever called out to them that it was alright.

With each passing step, the friends grew closer and closer too their parents, but yet the anticipation seemed to lengthen the hallway they were sprinting along to titanic proportions, each door divided by what felt like a mile.

Ahead of them, the boys saw Monica grab the hand rail that was sticking off the wall and fly around a corner, disappearing into a hallway only slightly smaller then the one the boys were in.

Throwing themselves around the corner, Alex, Max and Feilos’s feet slid slightly on the polished surface, causing them to stumble slightly as they desperately tried to catch up with Monica.

There was a flash of light above Alex’s head, and his brain, for one reason or another, seemed to be able to understand it, and told him that he was now entering the ‘I.C.U.’.

As Alex was just about to tell Max and Feilos this however, he noticed that Monica was growing larger and larger with each passing heartbeat.

She had stopped in the middle of the hallway and was now staring through one of the windows lining it, her face alive with horror. Planting their feet as hard as they could, Max, Alex and Feilos skidded to a halt, their shoes screeching along the polished surface like a car’s tires locking on pavement..

"Monica! What is it?", Alex panted, putting his hands on his knees and doubling over as he caught his breath, Max and Feilos doing the same.

Without saying a word, Monica pointed to the window she was staring through, as if what she was seeing was beyond words.

As one, the boys turned their heads to see what she was looking at.

They were staring into a large, spacious room about the size of Monica’s living room. It’s walls were white and the window at the far end was black as it overlooked the night covered street of St. Boniface. The room was filled many different machines. Some were respirators, with a gently rising and falling spring like bag of hair. Others were heartrate monitors, small lines peaking and falling with each passing heartbeat. There were I.V.’s filled with red blood, and yellow, clear liquid which the friends knew was plasma.

The room was full of doctors and nurses, all bustling around what looked like no less then eight beds. Each of the nurses, who wore either blue or pink hospital issued clothing, had a clip board and was talking very quickly with a doctor, dressed in white pants and a white lab coat.

The beds of the room were filled with eight people, four men and four women. And even though their faces were covered with clear plastic breathing masks, they knew right away that those people were their parents.

In the bed closest to the door, Alex’s parents layed motionless, their eyes closed and their chests gently falling and rising. Alex had inherited his dad’s face, while he inherited his mom’s hair and eyes. Behind Alex’s parents, Feilos’s parents were laying in their beds, resting peacefully. Feilos looked more like his dad then his mother, but he had gotten his nose and eyes more from his mother then his dad. Across the room from Alex’s parents, the Shephards were resting after their surgery. Monica and Mrs. Shephard were practically identical, except for her ears, which she had gotten from her dad. In the far corner, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore were resting in their beds. Like Monica, Max was practically identical to his dad, except for his hair which he had received from his mother.

As the friends looked in, relief washed over them like a tidal wave. Their parents were out of surgery and resting in their beds. They were breathing fine and showing normal vital signs while doctors and nurses bustled around them. They were going to be alright.

For the first time since receiving the news of their parents hospitalization, Alex smiled. It was his usual, warm, welcoming smile that so many people liked to see. And he wasn’t the only one. Max, Feilos and Monica were all smiling aswell, tears of joy running down Max and Monica’s faces, while Feilos tried to hide his own tears by hiding his eyes behind his hand.

As one the boys straightened up, looking at one another as they smiled. Moving for the first time, Monica looked at her three best friends, smiling her usual warm, comforting smile, though her face was streaked with tears.

Together, their lips trembled, and in one, fluid motion, the friends threw their arms around one another, pulling eachother into a large group hug. Their ordeal was over. Their parents were going to live, and the friends couldn’t possible be happier at this news.

"They’re going to be alright," Max, sobbed slightly, "They’re gonna make it!"

But Max had spoken to soon. For from inside the room, a shrill, beeping sound tore through the air, followed by another, and another, and another.

Breaking away their hug, the friends looked through the window once more, and their faces breaking into looks of pure horror instantly

Like a house of cards collapsing, the heartrate monitors of the eight parents began crashing, getting weaker and weaker with each passing second. The doctors were scrambling as they withdrew several large machines with hand held pads from a closet set with in the rooms wall.

"No…this can’t be happening…it just can’t be!", Alex breathed, and without really meaning to, he strode across the hallway and pressed his hand against the window, gazing into the room, horrified at what he was seeing.

Mrs. Guerrero was the first to have to be defibrillated, as he heart rate reached zero and her monitor began screeching. With a quiet, whispered screech, the machine was charged. When it was fully charged, the doctor placed one pad in the center of her chest and the other on the side of her body, and pulled the trigger.

Her body shuttered and lifted off the table, as with a menacing "Fwump", a powerful charge of electricity were passed through her body.

The heartrate monitor remained at zero. Again the machine was charged, and with a second, terrifying ‘fwump’, her body lurched upwards off the bed and fell back down. But yet her heartrate remained at zero.

"Mom…mom…mom!", Feilos cried out somewhere from the hallway, and in a heartbeat, he was pounding on the window next to Alex, desperately trying to reach his dying mother.

At the front of the room, Alex’s dad had gone to zero, and he was being defibrillated, and in the far corner, Max’s dad was being defibrillated aswell, and Monica’s mother was being defibrillated. Each and every single one of the parents was crashing at once, and there was nothing any of the kids could do, but watch helplessly as their parents slowly died.

It was a horrible sight. Monica and Max watched horrified from the hallway center as the doctors attempted to shock their parents back to life. Feilos and Alex watched with their faces pressed against the room window, desperately pounding on the glass, as if trying to raise their parents from a deep sleep.

In the corner of his tear filling eyes, Alex saw several doctors and nurses rushing past him and through the door to his right, hurrying into the room and lending assistance to the doctors and nurses already hard at work trying to save their patients.

Then it happened.

One of the doctors checked his watch, and muttered something the nurse closest to him, before he gently took the sheet of Mr.Gilmore’s bed in his hand and slowly pulled it over his face. Then on the other side of the room, another doctor did the same and pulled the sheet over Mrs.Guerrero’s face. Then over Mr. Shephard’s face, and Mr. Reilly’s face.

"No…they can’t die….they just can’t!", Alex breathed, his face screwed up in horror as tears began streaming down his face, "I won’t let you die!", he shouted, and without thinking, he threw him self sideways and grabbed the handle of the door, and began pulling with all his might.

The door seemed locked, as even though the handle was being twisted and pulled, it wouldn’t budge. Furiously, Alex tried to break into the room and reach his parents. He thought that if he was there, he might be able to revive them, he might be able to do something then just watch helplessly.

The door rattled and shook violently as Alex heaved with all his might on the handle, trying to either break it down or tear it off it’s hinges. Nothing mattered to Alex except getting his parents. Beside him, Feilos had slid down the wall and was now crying uncontrollably against the wall, the sheet of his father’s bed having just been pulled over his face.

Alex began hammering on the door with all his might, his fist like clubs against the wood, each strike echoing around the hallway in a deafening boom.

Everything around Alex faded into blackness. The door infront of him was clearer then ever. The only thing that mattered to him was getting to his parents and bringing them back from the dead, and for that to happen, he had to break down the door blocking him.

Somewhere from behind, two sets of large, powerful hands grabbed Alex by the arms and began pulling him away from the door with great strength. Alex didn’t know who it was but he continued to fight tooth and nail against the force.

Slowly the door began to shrink as Alex was pulled away from it. Alex kicked and strained against the arms that were pulling him, staring his arms and legs as he struggled against the unseen people pulling him back.

With his face taken out of the door, Alex saw that Max was now crying against the wall opposite the window, the blankets of his parents drawn up over their faces, his massive, powerful body heaving and shuttering with each raw, painful sob.

"Max! Hold on! We can still save them!", Alex cried out to his friend, but he could have whispered for all the good it did as he continued to fight off the pair of hands dragging him back, "Let go of me you bastards! My parents are in there! They need me!", Alex cried, managing to throw one of pairs of hands off his arm and trying to sprint back to the door.

In front of him, Monica swayed on spot and collapsed to her knees, and with one swift motion, her face dropped to her hands and she began crying as loudly as Max and Feilos, crying into her hands as she sat on her knees in the middle of the hallway.

"Monica! Hold on! I’m coming!", Alex shouted straining harder then ever against the hands holding him, a new pair grabbing him around the middle and trying to pull him back.

Harder then ever Alex strained against the hands holding him, trying to rush over to Monica, Max and Feilos, trying to console them, trying to console his best friends in their greatest time of need.

Pushing his muscles past their breaking point, Alex began dragging the bodies holding him forward with all his might. His arms and legs were screaming in protest, yet his insane desire to comfort his friends and revive his parents drowned all of this out. Alex didn’t care what pain he was feeling, as the thought of losing his parents was a greater pain then he could ever imagine.

Then it happened.

The last, constant shriek died away, to be replace by a ringing silence. Without really meaning to, Alex stopped struggling and looked through the window.

The bottom of his stomach fell out as slowly, and with slightly trembling hands, a nurse dressed in all pink, pulled the covers of Alex’s mother’s bed up over her head and gently set them down on her now lifeless face.

Alex’s whole body went numb. The pain he was feeling in his muscles had been obliterated, replaced by a feeling of literal nothingness. His arms and legs seemed to have turned to lead, to heavy to move, let alone hold. His muscles weakened, and eventually lost all strength, falling limp in the hands of those holding him. His breath caught in his throat, and his heart seemed to stop as he looked through the window at the tragic faces of the nurses and doctors who had been trying so hard to revive Alex’s, Monica’s, Max’s and Feilos’s parents.

The hands holding Alex let go and disappeared. It seemed that they had taken over the job of supporting Alex, for as soon as they let go, Alex’s knees buckled and he dropped to the floor.

For a moment, Alex stood straight on his knees, looking like someone who was praying. His face was still turned towards the window, but yet he seemed unable to pull it away from it.

A burning heat built up Alex’s eyes, so intense it felt like they were being burned with red hot coals. His bottom lip trembled, and the ever increasing heat burst from his eyes and splashed down his face, raining to the ground in a gentle patter of tears.

"Mom…Dad…No…NO!", Alex screamed, and with all strength leaving his body, he collapsed forward on all fours, crying into the floor uncontrollably, pounding his fists as hard as he could on the hard floor, trying to shatter it with each blow.

There friends remained. Each one in a state of utter and inconsolable grief. They had just watched as their parents had died right before their eyes. They had been so sure that they were going to live, watching them rest peacefully in their beds, but as quickly as a street light changing, their parents died right before their eyes. Their momentary glisten of hope taken away, shattered by the horrible truth that had unfolded right before their eyes.

The friends faces were streaked with tears. Their voice hoarse from crying. Yet neither of the kids wanted to leave the hospital. All they wanted to to was stay in the hallway and cry outside the room where their parents had died. All they wanted to do was grieve together over the loss of their family. All they wanted to do was remain in the moment that changed their lives forever, never moving forward, never looking back.

All they wanted to do was cry.



***



It had been three weeks since the four friends laid their parents to rest in a grassy cemetery bordered by mighty oaks and wispy willows, it’s rows upon rows of headstones standing silently like night guardsmen.

It still seemed like a bad dream to the friends, as they couldn’t believe that they were now orphans. Parentless, sixteen year-old orphans, who’s hearts were hurting, and souls screaming for release from a world that had been dark and grey. Where the people were faceless zombies, spewing meaningless words of condolences that meant nothing from them as they knew nothing of the pain that friends were feeling.

Every day since the funeral, the four friends would visit their parents’ graves, bringing a flower each time they did, remembering all the happy times they had, yet being over shadowed by the one single, tragic event that took them from the friends forever.

Sequestered under the largest tree in the cemetery, the eight graves of the parents formed a large half circle, facing a small vase carved out of white marble and sitting atop a black granite pedestal.

It was Friday after school, and the friends had dropped their school bags by the pedestal. Outside the cemetery, fellow high schoolers were walking home, laughing and joking as they prepared for the weekend. Inside the cemetery however, everything was silent and sullen, the friends’ anger and sadness filling the air like a toxic gas.

In front of her parents graves, Monica was on her knees, crying silently as she mourned, her tear stricken face pointed to towards the ground, as if trying to hide her grief from her best friends, her hands clasped firmly on her lap. Feilos’s arm was outstretched and his hand resting on his mother’s headstone, tears streaming from his deep brown eyes as his head hung limp on his neck, his body heaving with sorrow. Max was standing infront of his parents’ graves, one his hands covering his eyes as he wept silently, the occasional tear seeping through his fingers.

Alex on the other hand seemed to beyond crying.

He stood infront of his parents’ headstones, his hands behind his back as he stared down at them through tear filled eyes. Though the tears were in his gentle blue eyes, they didn’t flow, for they were being held back by an even greater feeling then sorrow; Pure, undiluted anger was holding them back.

Coursing through his veins like poison, his anger was beyond anything he had ever experienced. It was so raw, that it was blurring his vision more then the tears in his eyes. It was so pure, it was constricting his throat, making it difficult to breath. Is was beyond white hot anger. It was beyond words.

The only way to put his anger, was murderous.

Though his grief was strong, strangling his lungs and holding his heart in a vice, his desire for revenge was even stronger. The only thought on Alex’s mind since the funeral was how he’d like nothing better then to find his parents murderers, and tear then apart with his bare hands, spilling their blood to the earth to avenge his parents souls.

"Mom…Dad…", Alex breathed, his voice trembling as he stared at the red granite headstones of his parents, "I don’t care how long it takes…but I’m going to find your killers, and send them screaming to hell. Even if it kills me!", he choked, the tears in his eyes finally breaking their walls and streaming down his face out of anger.

"Please Alex…don’t say that! We don’t want to lose you too!", Monica choked from the ground, not looking up she spoke.

"That’s right Alex. Leave it to the police. I don’t want to lose a brother to these killers like we lost our parents!", Max said, his voice strained from the crying as he looked up from his hand at stared at Alex through puffy eyes.

"Don’t worry Max,", Alex breathed, his eyes blazing with anger, "This brother is going to find our parents’ killers and come back alive with their heads around his neck. You can count on it.", Alex snarled, his hands balling into tight fists.

"That’s exactly what I thought you’d say Alex.", a deep, calm voice spoke out from behind the friends.

Instantly, the friends stopped crying over their parents. Turning to look at one another, each of the friends stared into one another’s confused faces. It had just been the four of them a moment ago, yet clearly there was someone else in the cemetery with them.

Slowly turning around on the soft grass, the friends stared behind them from, looking for where the voice had come from.

Leaning against the granite pedestal and playing absentmindedly with one of the flowers in the marble vase was a tall, well toned man wearing what looked a high class, black business suit and silver tie. Through the sleeves of his suit, the friends could tell that the man’s arms were muscular, and his hands were large and looked quite rough, like one would expect someone to have if they worked with their hands all day. Through his suit, the friends could also tell that his torso was also quite muscular. His face was slightly weathered, looking like he was in his mid fifties. He had grey eyes and a small nose, and pointed chin that seemed to give him a very friendly look. His black hair was on the slightly long side, the front of his hair pulled back into a split and pulled back over his ears.

It was a strange sight, as the man looked like he was a powerful CEO of a successful business, yet he was in the middle of a cemetery, looking quite calm and casual.

The friends were at a loss of words. They had been interrupted in their moment of grief. A moment that was meant for them, and only them, sharing their grief with one another and spending time with eachother, the only family they had left. Yet an outsider had interrupted them, barged in on their grieving, and was looking unapologetic for it.

"Who are you?", Alex snarled, his anger burning hotter then ever before, "And how did you know my name?"

"I’m just a casual observer.", the man replied calmly, grabbing the top of the flower he was playing with and snapping it off, "And I know everything about you.", the man finished, tossing the flower aside and directing his attention away from the vase, fixed the friends with his startlingly cold grey eyes.

"What do you mean you know everything about me?", Alex, growled, taking a step towards the man and clenching his fists even tighter, turning his knuckles snow white.

"It’s just like it sounds. I know everything about you.", the man said calmly, sliding one of his rough hands into the pocket of his black pants, "I know that when you were six, you, Max, banged the back of your head on a coffee table, and that you still have the scar underneath your hair just over the top of your left ear. I know that you Feilos, had to play Cinderella when you were eight for the school play when they exchanged the rolls of boys and girls, and your nickname for a week afterwards was ‘Finderella’. I know that when you were eleven Monica, you almost drowned at the beach, and Alex was the one that saved you. I know that you Alex, have a birth mark that looks sort of like Australia on your right butt cheek. And I also know Alex, that you truly mean that you want to find and kill your parents murderers.", the man finished, smiling slyly at the friends.

The friends stared, awestruck at the man before them. He had told them moments of their past that no one but they could possibly know. And what’s more, he knew about the birthmark on Alex’s backside. No one but the friends and their late parents knew any of this information that he had just recited. This man was honestly telling the truth that he did know everything about them.

Instead of subduing his anger however, this only fueled Alex’s anger even more, fanning the flames of rage deep inside Alex’s heart into a raging inferno.

"Who the hell are you!", Alex snarled, his body shaking terribly out of anger, Max and Feilos slowly joining Alex at his side, staring at the man with clear mistrust.

"Who am I? That’s a good question.", the man replied, rubbing his chin and looking at Alex thoughtfully, "I have many names. But for all extensive purposes, you can simply call me by my preferred name. I am Death. At your service.", the man said, bending his free arm infront of him, and holding it infront of his stomach, bowed to Alex, Feilos, Max, and Monica who was now standing behind the boys, in a sign of respect.

Alex’s eyes squinted, in a clearly confused look, his face following suit as his once furious look was replaced by a look of confusion.

"What did you say?", Alex asked slowly, positive he had heard the man wrong, the flames of anger inside of Alex slowly dying away.

"I am Death. The Grim Reaper. The Black Angel. The Harvester of Souls.", Death replied, smiling widely, "Call me what you want, but it all comes full circle to the same end. I am Death.", he finished, running his hand through his long hair and looking calm.

Clearly, Alex thought, who ever this man was, was playing with them. Not only had this man first interrupted their grieving, but was now playing them for fools with the ridiculous story that he is the Grim Reaper. The confusion Alex had momentarily felt was now gone, incinerated by his anger, which had reignited in a heartbeat and was well beyond anything Alex could handle.

"Do you really expect us to believe that?", Alex snarled, slowly marching forward towards the man, "You appear out of nowhere, barge in on our grieving, come up with some bullshit story and expect us to believe it!", Alex roared, his voice rising uncontrollably.

"Well I’d hardly say it’s some ‘bullshit story’ as you put it.", Death replied casually, scratching his chin absentmindedly, "But yes, I do expect you to believe it. That is ofcourse, if you’re dumber then you look.", he finished, smiling slyly at Alex.

"You son of a bitch!", Alex roared, and unable to control himself, charged forward and drew his fist back.

Monica gasped and Max lunged forward trying to restrain Alex before he did anything he’d regret, but he was to slow.

In a single step, Alex covered the distance between he and Death, who remained standing calmly infront of him. Roaring with fury, Alex launched his fist infront of him, aiming for Death’s smiling face. As fast as lightning, the fist tore through the air and collided with Deaths face.

Or did it?

The fist had rocketed through where Deaths smiling face had been, there was no doubt about that, but yet it didn’t hit anything. Alex stumbled and his fist flew through Deaths face but didn’t hit anything. Regaining his balance Alex stared at Deaths smiling face, untouched and unchanged, infront of him. Taking a step backwards, his face showing ever sign of confusion, Alex was unsure of what had happened. It was as if Death had suddenly become a hologram infront of him, his shape remaining yet all solidity vanquished.

Unsure of what to do, Alex slowly raised his hand, and hesitating for a moment, swatted it infront of him, aiming for Deaths face once more.

Once more, Alex’s hand passed undisturbed through Deaths smiling face, meeting nothing but air. It was as if Death really had become a hologram before his very eyes.

"Still have any doubts about me?", a calm voice called out from behind Alex and his friends.

Spinning around as one, the friends saw that Death had somehow teleported behind them, and was now sitting ontop of Alex’s fathers headstone, his feet pressing against the granite face, holding him steady as hie sat on the headstone, his head resting on his fist as his arm rested on his bent knee.

Resembling a famous sculpture of a man sitting and thinking, Death smiled broadly at the four friends, who were staring at him in utter amazement.

Twisting back around, Alex stared at the Death that was standing infront of him. As Alex stared, bewildered by what had happened, the smiling figure of Death slowly began to fade away, becoming more and more clear, until it vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind.

"How did you…", Alex breathed, his voice dying in his throat as he slowly turned around and stared at Death, who was looking quite content.

"Do that?", Death finished for Alex, "I told you. I’m Death. I have powers that are well beyond your comprehension. So what ever seems strange to you, has one simple answer Alex. Still don’t believe me?", he finished, straightening up as he sat on Mr’ Reilly’s headstone.

"Well I’m finding it hard to believe that you’re a normal man, I’ll give you that.", Alex replied fairly, the others nodding in agreeance, "But I still don’t believe you’re death!", he finished defiantly, though deep inside, he was having a little trouble not believing it.

"Fair enough. Here let me show you something.", Death said, patting his knees with both hands, "Let me see…how can I demonstrate…", he trailed off, scanning the cemetery around him.

The friends watched as his his slowly scanned the cemetery behind them, his face set in a look of thoughtful debating as he tried to pick out the perfect example to show the friends that he was truly Death.

After a minute of so of searching, Deaths eyes fell on a spot just past Alex’s shoulder. Smiling, Death slowly raised a hand and pointed at the spot he was staring at.

Turning as one, the friends followed Deaths pointing hand and fixed their eyes on the spot he was gesturing towards.

Death was pointing at a large Oak tree on the opposite side of the cemetery. Normally it wouldn’t have meant much, except that the tree’s branches were quietly groaning under the weight of what looked like nothing short of two hundred Ravens, all of their black heads and beaks fixed firmly on the friends as they gazed upon them with their shiny black eyes from a distance.

"Birds? Big deal.", Max said, shrugging his shoulders, breaking his silence for the first time since Death arrived.

"It is a big deal,", Death replied, raising one of his hands beside his head, "Just keep watching.", he finished, and bringing his thumb and middle finger together, snapped loudly.

As if the birds had been gunned down, each and everyone of them instantly fell from the tree and rained to the ground below, bouncing dully as they hit the grass, forming a large black pile of dead birds a foot high that encircled the whole of the tree

The friends stared, awestruck at what they saw. They just watched as two hundred birds, who at one moment had been watching them silently, dropped dead at the snap of a finger from a man claiming to be Death, being struck down down faster then a light bulb going out.

Turning on spot, the friends stared, slack jawed and wide eyed at the man on Mr. Reilly’s headstone, who was looking quite calm and relaxed.

"Okay…I gotta admit that seeing that makes it very hard not to take you more seriously.", Alex said, nodding slightly towards Death as he sat on the headstone, "But this could just be some sort of trick. How do I know we’re not on one of those hidden camera shows?", he finished, trying to come up with any reason possible not to believe Death.

Deaths smile slid from his face only to be replaced by an unbelieving frown. Looking away from Alex and his friends, and gazing out over the cemetery, watching as laughing school kids continued to pass by. Slowly, Death raised a hand to the back of his head and rubbed in a thoughtful sort of way, though his face was showing signs of slight annoyance.

"Okay…I really didn’t want to have to do this,", Death said after a quiet, thoughtful minute, dropping his hand from the back of his hand and slapping his thigh, "But I guess if I have to, I have to.", he finished, looking back at the friends and hopping down from the headstone.

Slowly Death began marching forward, his eyes firmly fixed on Alex.

"I don’t usually use this, cause it’s bitch of a mental drain,", Death breathed, pulling the sleeve of his right arm back and rolling it to the elbow, "Not for me…the victim that is. Flooding their minds with my memories is very draining.", he finished, strolling past Monica, Feilos and Max and stopping within half an arms reach of Alex, raising his hand slowly to ear level.

"W-what are you doing?", Alex asked apprehensively as he stared at Deaths hand, unsure if he was about to be throttled infront of his friends.

"This!", Death replied, his voice suddenly ice cold.

Like a mousetrap springing, Deaths arm exploded forward, his hand spread wide like a claw. Before Alex could react, Deaths palm smacked into his forehead and his fingers closed around his head, holding it firmly within his hand.

The last thing Alex saw was a brilliant white flash, before he was suddenly surrounded by an endless sea of blue.

Blinded slightly by the brightness, Alex rubbed his eyes, trying to readjust to his new surroundings.

Finally adjusting to the sea of blue around him, Alex slowly began looking around him. All Alex knew was that he was suddenly standing in a place of pure blue, streaked by the occasional white, fluffy clouds.

Clouds?

With an air of discovery, Alex suddenly realized that he was standing in the sky.

Looking around, Alex saw that he was indeed in the very sky itself, with clouds gently floating by, a cool breeze blowing over his skin, and the warm, intensely bright sun high in the middle. It was if he was standing in the sky above a tropical paradise.

But something was wrong.

The opalescent blue sky and crystal white clouds were streaked with thick, black clouds of what looked like smoke. High in the sky, there was no one but Alex, standing alone in the sea of blue, yet from all around him there were unmistakable screams of pain and thunderous explosions.

Looking around him, Alex saw nothing but more blue sky streaked with black smoke. Yet the screams pain and explosions continued with out any source in sight.

"What’s going on?", Alex asked out loud, slowly twisting around in midair and looking behind him.

"Look below you Alex, and you’ll see.", a deep, calm voice replied to Alex’s question.

"Death? Where are you?", Alex asked out loud, looking around yet not seeing him in the clear blue sky.

"I am below you Alex. I am above you.I am all around you. For I am everywhere Alex.Take a look for yourself.", Death replied smoothly, sounding highly amused.

Slightly confused by Deaths request, Alex hesitated for a moment, then slowly dropped his gaze from the blue sky, to what ever was beneath him.

Alex’s heart missed a beat, as he he instantly knew what he was seeing

Far below him, in full colour and sound, Alex was overlooking a battlefield straight out of World War Two.

Like ants scurrying across pavement, thousands upon thousands of soldiers were running towards one another, rifles held to their shoulders and firing as fast as they could. Each rifle flashed to life with a burst of flame, launching bullets that whizzed through the air, ripping into the bodies of the enemy soldiers, felling them instantly in a spray of blood and a scream of pain.

Alex watched as far below, machine gun nests thundered to life, a constant flash of flame bursting from the ends of the large barrels, the roar absolutely deafening. Like dominoes in a row, soldiers collapsed to the ground as their bodies were ripped by the machine gun fire, the bullets cutting through them like a blade. The men fell to the ground without so much as scream, splashing into the blood soaked mud below them

Alex watched as large, ground mounted cannons with enormous barrels exploded to life, lobbing shot after shot into the air, the shells coming down to earth moments later, exploding at the feet of the terrified soldiers, ripping them to pieces instantly and scattering their body parts throughout the battlefield.

Shooting from the sky in silver streaks, large propelled driven planes flew low along the ground, their wing mounted machine guns in full blaze. The ground exploded in a line of geysers of dirt as the bullets ripped into the ground, forming two constant lines of spray as the airplane roared along the ground. Soldiers below ran for their lives, scrambling as fast as they could away from the rapidly closing lines of bullets. Before many of the soldiers could take a single step, their bodies were cut in half as each bullet ripped through their flesh. Instantly, the soldiers tumbled to the ground,their bodies held together only by the clothes they were wearing.

Alex stared, awestruck, as massive bombers with four engines soared slowly over the battlefield in a deafening, powerful roar. Like birds laying eggs, silver bombs began falling from the bottom of the planes’ bellies in a menacing whistle, exploding moments later one after another in zig-zagging lines on the ground, cratering and pockmarking it in their aftermath.

All around Alex, many propeller driven airplanes were thundering around him. Like watching a swarm of bees, airplanes were diving, weaving, barrel rolling and looping around one another. Every fighter plane had it’s guns in full blaze, streaks of lightning yellow blazing from their guns and rocketing through the air. The bullets would streak by the airplane they were shot at, the target barely able to dodge the bullets. Occasionally a pilot would be successful, it’s powerful bullets tearing through the skin of the enemy craft, riddling it with holes. For a moment, the plane would sputter flame, smoke billowing from the holes of it’s skin, before, in a dazzling bright flash, the plane would erupt in a fiery explosion that would light up the sky. Like flaming meteorites, the wreckage would rain down to earth, tails of smoke following it all the way to the ground.

Alex was watching with bated breath as the soldiers were gunned down, ripped to pieces and blown to bits on the ground far below.

He was horrified at what he was seeing. He was watching as these young mens’ lives were being ripped from their body, their bodies left to rot and bleed in the aftermath of the war. He watched as these young men screamed in pain as their arms were torn off by machine gun bullets, or their legs taken off by land mines, their bodies thrown into the air like ragdolls. He watched as the dying men cried out for their families, pawing helplessly at the blood soaked ground around them, trying to find help in their dying moments. Really, the only way to describe the scene before him, was Hell on Earth.

"Do you see now Alex?", Death asked from all around Alex, causing Alex to startle, " Do you see now my true power. Do you see what I am capable of?", he finished, his voice as cold as ice.

"This isn’t real…it can’t be! It’s a trick! It has to be!", Alex breathed, unable to take anymore of the killing below and looking up into the blue sky.

"You still doubt me? Must I show you more?", Death asked Alex coldly, "If I must, I will. Prepare yourself.", he finished, his voice nothing more then a murmur, yet it was still louder then the explosions of screams below Alex.

Like lights in a movie theater slowly dimming as the movie began, the blue sky around Alex, the screams of pain and the thunderous explosions gradually died away, the scene infront of him fading to blackness.

For a moment, Alex was in complete darkness. His eyes strained for any sign of life, but he might aswell have stuck his head in a can of black paint for all the good it did, as there was not even the slightest sliver could be scene. The thrum of Alex’s rapidly beating heart was prominent in his ears. Though Alex didn’t want to believe what he had seen was real, he knew that it was, no matter how much he denied it.

Slowly, a strange, ringing beep began filling the air, drowning out the sound of Alex’s hammering heart. Somewhere infront of Alex, a small speck of light blazed to life, growing larger and larger very quickly, as if he was driving very quickly in a dark tunnel.

In no time flat, the light had rocketed towards Alex, and in a flash of dazzling white light, it had washed over him like a tidal wave, the ringing beep now to deafening levels.

Blinking several times, Alex’s eyes took much longer to readjust to his new surroundings. When they had finally readjusted and Alex could properly make out what he was seeing, his heart stopped and his breath caught in his throat.

Floating somewhere near the ceiling, Alex was looking down on the hospital room in which his parents, and consequently Monica’s, Max and Feilos’s, died. The air was full of the shrill shriek of the heart-rate monitors which were showing all of the parents’ heartbeats at zero. Already dead, Mrs. Guerrero and Mr. Shephard, white sheets drawn over their faces.

To their credit, the doctors and nurses were working harder then Alex remembered, trying to revive the dead and dying parents. Every few seconds, there was a heart wrenching ‘fwump’ and one of the bodies of the remaining parents would lurch horribly as thousands upon thousands of volts surged through their body.

Outside, Alex could see himself from several weeks ago being dragged backwards by two, powerful looking men all of whom were dressed in all blue. Alex was struggling as hard as he remembered, straining himself to try and get to his parents.

Outside the window, Max swayed for a moment before his face broke into a expression of pure pain, and turning away from the window, began crying uncontrollably against the wall, the sheet of his mother having just been drawn up over her face, joining her husband who had died moments before.

Outside in the hall, Alex was telling Max to hold on, that he was coming to help, that he was going to bring their parents back. He was fighting tooth and nail against the men, who were clearly straining to hold Alex back, let alone drag him back.

In the room, below, the doctors who had been working on Mrs. Shephard had finally giving in, admitting defeat and letting her pass on. Pulling the sheet up over her face, one of the nurses brushed a tear away from her face as she left Mrs. Shephard’s bed side to help the remaining patients.

Outside, as expected, Monica dropped to her knees, crying into hands, her body shaking uncontrollably. Watching as he struggled, Alex saw that with a powerful burst of strength, he managed to throw off one of the men holding him, sending them flying into the wall, their head smacking the wall, and their body going limp, only to be swarmed by a third man who grabbed him around the midriff from behind.

With a sudden, horrible air of realization, Alex knew what was about to happen. Slowly turning his attention back into the room, Alex watched as the doctors began working furiously on Mrs. Reilly, trying to revive her with everything they had.

"No…please don’t!", Alex gasped, unable to take seeing his parents dying again, his heart racing faster and faster.

"So do you believe me then? Do you believe me now that I’m death?", Death asked coolly as one of the nurses grasped the edge of Mrs. Reilly’s sheet and slowly lifted it towards her face

"I believe you! I believe you!", he screamed, not wanting to see his mother’s final moments, "Just make it stop!", he bellowed, closing his eyes and grabbing his ears, trying to block out the sound of the heartrate monitors, hoping against hope that it’d be over when he opened his eyes.

When Alex opened his eyes, the world around him was fading to white, the shrill shriek of the hospital room dying away. Gradually the white infront of his eyes began to slowly darken and fade to green, his ears filled with a gentle whistle of wind.

Blinking several times, it took Alex a moment to realize that he was on his hands and knees, staring at the emerald green grass below him. Each blade was gently blowing in the breeze, forming a gently sweeping wave of green before his very eyes.

His eyes were wide and staring, seemingly frozen now in a look of permanent fear. His heart was racing as fast as if he had just ran a hundred miles. His breathing was sharp and hard in his chest, each breath sending a searing pain through this body. He was sweating profusely, sweat dripping off his nose and falling to the ground in glistening droplets. His body was shaking terribly as if he was recovering from a violent fit of vomiting. His brain was in pain, feeling as if it had been smashed around the inside of his skull for the past hour.

"Alex! Alex! Are you alright?", several scared voices called out to him.

Looking up from the grass and gazing around him, Alex saw that his friends were all kneeling around him. Monica was kneeling infront of him, her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with fear and glistening with tears. Max was on his right side, one his hands on Alex’s back and the other around his elbow, holding him firm and looking a tad scared. Feilos was on his other side, gently patting his shoulder and looking concerned.

"So Alex? Still don’t believe me?" Death asked as he walked into Alex’s visions and squatted down beside Monica, smiling broadly.

Alex stared for a moment at Death’s smiling face, unsure of how to answer. Finally, thinking he had lost all sanity and that it was a trick of his mind, Alex nodded.

"After seeing that, I’d find it hard to believe you are anything but the real thing.", Alex breathed.

"Excellent. I knew you’d believe me after that.", Death said, standing tall and straightening his suit.

"Alex, what happened?", Monica squeaked, not taking her hands away from her mouth.

For a moment he stared at her, unsure of what to say, but then feeling that the insanity he had just seen made more sense then even the most elaborate plans could ever make, he replied in all honesty.

"I don’t know Monica…but I know what I saw was real. And this man…this man truly is Death!", Alex breathed, his face falling back to the grass below and his hands trembling worse then before.

His friends stared at one another, scared at what they had heard. Unbenouncement to Alex, they had watched as Alex fell to the ground on his hands and knees while Death held his hand firmly to Alex’s forehead. As if he was being tortured, Alex was screaming as loud as he could, his eyes bulging from his heads as if what he was seeing was the most terrifying thing he had ever scene.

Thinking that Alex had been unhinged by what ever happened, the friends exchanged a last, terrified look, before looking back down at Alex with slightly worried expressions on their face.

"Are…are you sure about that Alex?", Monica asked hesitantly, unsure of what Alex’s reaction would be, "About him being death and all.", she finished, gesturing over shoulder at Death who had taken his seat back ontop of Mr. Reilly’s headstone.

"Am I sure about it?", Alex replied, looking up into her scared face, "I’m positive.", he breathed, flashing her a small smile.

"Hey man, let’s get you up here. We should probably get you home,", Max said from Alex’s side, and a moment later, Alex felt as Max’s powerful arms lifted him off his hands and knees and set him on his feet.

With his weight back on his feet, Alex swayed terrible and grabbed instantly at Max’s muscular arm for support. Monica was still looking worried but seemed to be somewhat relieved now that he was standing, staring up at Alex as he tried supporting himself on Max’s arm.

"Alright Alex, let’s get you home and get you to bed. You’ll probably need all the rest you can get after what had happened,", Feilos said in a matter-of-fact voice, pulling Alex’s other arm over his shoulder, helping support his weight, Monica hurrying to her feet and joining her friends as they prepared to leave.

"So Alex, is what you said still true?", Death asked from the headstone he was sitting on, watching as the friends turned to go.

"Is what still true?", Alex asked, staring at Death as he was supported my Feilos and Max, signaling his friends to stop so he could continuing speaking with Death.

"That you want to find your parents’ killers and send them screaming to Hell?", Death asked smugly, resting his chin on his fist and resting his arm on his knee, smiling broadly.

"Ofcourse it is. I meant it then and I mean it now.", Alex replied calmly, yet his voice with a slight edge.

"And what would you say if I told you I can make that desire of yours a reality?", Death asked smugly, smiling at Alex.

Alex stared at Deaths gently smiling face for a moment, a little caught off guard by what Death had asked. Though he didn’t know what Death meant, after seeing what he had in the past ten or so minutes, he had a feeling that what Death was saying had some truth behind it, and wasn’t just a load of hot air.

"What do you mean Death?", Alex asked slowly, fixing Death with a slightly mistrusting look.

"It’s quite simple really,", Death replied, sliding off of the headstone he had been sitting on and slowly walking towards Alex, "I’ll give you everything you need to destroy the people who murdered your parents, in exchange for you doing a few…errands, as it’d be, for me. It’s as simple as that Alex. You agree to do what I say, and your parents will be avenged.", Death finished, stopping infront of Alex and fixing him with an insane stare.

It’s was truly unnerving for Alex to be fixed with Death’s stare. Before, Death had a look of humanity in his eyes. Though his eyes were cold and grey, there was a certain warmth behind them, a somewhat comforting warmth that, if it had been in any other situation, would of made Alex trust him from the get -go. Yet now, it seemed to have been replaced by fathomless darkness, a darkness so pure that simply staring into Death’s eyes threatened to suck Alex’s very soul out of his body and taint it forever with it’s darkness. It was as if pure evil was burning behind Death’s eyes, only inches from escaping it’s bonds.

Despite this look of pure evil behind Death’s eyes, Alex’s heart was racing at the thought of being able to get revenge for his parents murders. His parents had been everything to him, and when they died, Alex died inside. His parents death had plunged Alex into a world of unimaginable heartache and pain. Though he knew that killing his parents killers couldn’t bring them back to life, Alex knew that if he did this simple task, he’d be able to get on with his life, knowing that no family would have to suffer what he had just went through.

As Alex stared into Death’s evil eyes, a slow smile broke across his face. Larger and larger it grew until it stretched Alex’s mouth as far as it’d go, barring his teeth in a joyous smile. As if his neck was suddenly made of rubber, Alex’s head fell to his chest, and his face disappeared from site. Quietly at first, Alex began to chuckle deep inside his chest, slowly growing louder and louder until it was nothing short of a laugh of pure evil.

Monica, Max and Feilos were unnerved. Usually warm and kind, Alex’s laugh was infectious, making the people around him smile and relax. Yet now, his laugh was cold and evil, chilling his friends to the bone and sending a shudder through their spines. The friends looked at one another, their eyes wide and fearful and their skin blanching slightly out of fear.

"What do I say Death, to agreeing to doing your errands?", Alex asked, talking to the ground yet every word clear and crisp, and removing his arm from Feilos’s shoulder, grabbed the collar of Death’s crisp, black suit, "I’d say where do I sign up!", Alex breathed, raising his head from his chest and fixing Death with a look as insane as his own.

His usually warm, blue eyes had become suddenly cold and menacing. Behind his eyes burned a darkness so raw, that it was if evil incarnate itself had risen from the depths of Alex’s soul, fighting furiously to escape. It was as if Alex had become a completely different person altogether, all of his humanity gone, replaced by nothing less then pure evil.

The insane look in Death’s eyes died away, to be replaced by the look of warmth they had when Death first met the four friends, his grey eyes bright with joy. It seemed that Alex had done exactly what he had hoped for.

"I knew you’d say that Alex,", Death breathed quietly, nodding in approval, "I knew you would."





*****



"Alex? Hey Alex!"

Alex snapped back to his senses.

All around him, the city had changed from one of tall office buildings, lit with large street lamps and glowing signs, to a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, with two story houses, paved driveways, endlessly rolling green lawns, and glowing street lights standing atop large green polls.

The windows of the houses were brightly lit, each one glowing brightly in the now utter darkness that had consumed the city. The window was now nothing short of gale force, as each powerful gust bent the trees in the many yards to their breaking point, ripping branches and scattering leaves around the neighborhood.

The wind was blowing powerfully through the houses, whistling loudly between the houses and rattling the windows, setting off cars alarms and blowing flat the sea of green grass. The only thing louder then rushing wind was the snarl of the engine of Alex’s motorcycle.

Alex, as it turned out, had zoned out during the whole ride home, and now found himself trundling up the slightly cracked, paved driveway of his house, slowly rolling towards it’s large, gaping door and cluttered interior. It had been three years since his parents died, but the reaction had always been the same; he’d zone out and flash back to that day, completely oblivious to what he was doing at the time.

Alex’s house was an average, 2 story building, with large windows on the front that overlook a small garden and well maintained lawn, aswell as a small porch outside the front door. Along the side of the house, the driveway of Alex’s house and the one next to it were merged together, forming a large, lane sized paved driveway, each going to their own respected garages.

"Sorry about that Banyuo,", Alex murmured as he pulled the bike into the garage, flipped down the kickstand and killed the engine, "I was just remembering a few things.", he finished climbing off the back of the motorcycle and leaning it on it’s kickstand.

"I could tell. It’s always the same when you’re thinking about it,", Banyuo replied as Alex left the garage and closed the door behind him, "But then again, anyone would act like you everytime they remember it.", he finished as Alex made his way up the concrete path towards the back door of his house.

Grasping the handle of the screen outdoor, Alex twisted it and pulled the door open, reaching out and grasping the second, brass door handle of the larger, dark stained oak door that had three windows set with in it.

Pushing it open, Alex walked into a partially carpet back yard coat room that had an open closet and coat rack set into the wall, holding a wide arrangement of boots, shoes and coats for various situations.

To his left, a set of stairs lead to the basement of the house. Infront of him, a wide, brightly lit room could be seen through the door frame, in it, a large, half circle of white leather sofas and chairs sitting around a very wide screen TV. With in the chairs, three heads could just be scene poking over the tops of the backs.

Kicking off his shoes and stashing them in the shoe rack underneath the coat rack, Alex pulled Banyuo from his back and hung him up next to three other long swords.

One of the swords was a large katana, except twice as wide. It’s handle was wrapped in a fine gold silk with a golden diamond set with in the butt of the handle. The guard of the blade was circular and jagged, like a small saw blade. The swords sheath was jet black and had a long golden chained wrapped around it with a silver heart at the bottom of the sheath and at the opening for the sword. A small brass plaque above the hook the sword was hanging off of read ‘Aisuru’.

Next to Aisuru, a second blade hung from it’s own respected hook. This blade was an exact copy of an bent bladed scimitar, only much wider, measuring ten inches at the hilt, and swelling to an impressive twenty inches at it’s widest part, gradually tapering to a vicious point at the end. With it’s square guard, in which the sides were curved inwards, it had a very elegant look. The blade was curved quite a bit, giving it the appearance of being smaller then it actually is. The handle of the blade was covered in a fine silver silk, with a gently glowing silver diamond at the end. The sheath was very elaborate, completely silver with sunken imprints of flames, which shone jet black. The brass plaque above the hook read ‘Shinoe’.

Hanging beside Shinoe was the last of the magnificent blades. Looking like a serpents tongue, the blade split in half and forked into two, smaller blades, each bending outwards and forming a large ‘V’ shaped sword blade that ended in vicious points. The handle was wrapped in a dark, glistening silk, and the butt of the sword also forked outwards like a serpents tongue, a black glowing diamond held firmly with in it’s valley. The guard of the sword, like the blade itself, was also forked, two pairs of serpent tongue like V’s sprouting from either side of the blade. As if painted in blood, the sheath of the sword was completely crimson. A third brass plaque above the hook the sword was hanging from read ‘Venganza’.

Smiling to himself, Alex reached out and hung Banyuo by his shoulder strap on the lone free hook, a fourth and final plaque above it reading ‘Banyuo’ before strolling casually into the living room.

The living room he had emerged in was covered in light blue carpeting and had a large arrangement of windows filling the whole of one wall. Sitting around a large wide screen TV in white leather sofas and seats were Alex’s three best friends, Max, Monica, and Feilos.

After their parents death, the friends thought it best if they all lived together. They had all been very close before their parents death, acting more like siblings then anything else, so when the worst happened and their parents died, it was only natural for the four of them to move in together, looking out and caring for one another like a real family. In that time, they had also come accustomed to calling themselves ‘The Orphan Family’, as they didn’t want to choose a single last name for them too go by. It was a little strange at first, but now the friends had become accustomed to it.

If they hadn’t decided on this idea, they would have been split up and sent to far corners of the country to live with their surviving family, or in Feilos’s case, back to Latin America, never to see eachother again..

In the time they had started living together, they had hung pictures of themselves at the beach, opening Christmas present, helping organize the street wide easter egg hunt for the kids of the neighborhood, and finally, a single, solitary monument to their parents; A lone picture of all eight adults together at a barbecue set in a silver frame, perched between two red candles.

Since the time of their parents death, nothing had changed amongst the friends. They were still as close as ever. They still loved to laugh and joke around. They still took every second Friday to order in food and relax. And they were still as easy going as ever.

The only real changes that took place were for one, Monica’s chest getting a tad bigger as she grew older, and the four of them being given the duty of Reapers.

Aided with their powerful swords, Banyuo, Aisuru who belonged to Monica, Shinoe who belonged to Max, and Venganza who belonged to Feilos, the four friends were now the Reapers of souls.

It was now their duty to go around, killing and harvesting the souls of murders, rapists, kidnappers, and the other evils of the world, sending their souls to hell for punishment of their evil ways.

"Hey Alex! About time you got here!", Max said, craning his head around and smiling as Alex hopped over the back of one of the seats and flopped down into the soft cushion.

"Yeah. The mobsters put up a bit of fight. Took me longer then expected.", Alex replied with a sigh as he stretched his arms high above him.

"Did they really put up a fight? Or were you just busy toying with them like before?", Feilos asked, smiling slyly at Alex from the sofa seat beside Max, his feet resting on the table.

"Okay you got me. I was toying with them. What can I say? I felt bored.", Alex replied, kicking his feet up on the table infront him and sinking low into the seat cushion, shrugging slightly.

"So how many points did you get for them?", Monica asked, smiling at Alex as she sat curled up on one of the chairs opposite Alex.

"See for yourself.", Alex replied, reaching into his back pocket and withdrawing a small, leather bound and covered book.

Shining jet black in the light, the book was filled with about a hundred small pages. All that was to be seen on the cover was a single word, written in bright gold letters, "DeathTomb."

Flinging it across the room like a frisbee, the book spun through the air. Catching it deftly one handed, Monica flipped open the book and began flipping through the pages, reading it like a normal book.

The DeathTomb had been one of the things that Death had given the friends to aid them in the new found duty as Reapers. Though it looked like a normal booklet on the outside, on the inside, countless names were written on the lined paper within it, each with a corresponding number and crime that they had committed.

This was the book that Alex, Feilos, Max and Monica used to know who was to be brought to justice at the end of their swords.

Even though they had been reaping for the past three years, the ‘points’ as the friends referred to them, have never been explained. For each criminal slain, a number between one and one thousand would appear next to the names after they were slain. Though the friends knew not what the numbers meant, they used it as away to see just who was the better reaper.

"Wow, impressive Alex.", Monica said with a whistle, looking up from the DeathTomb and smiling at Alex, "For those fifty mobsters you only got forty-thousand points. You really were toying with them.", she finished, tossing the book back to Alex, which flopped down into his lap.

"That’s what Banyuo said too, but then again, there were fifty of them to kill.", Alex said fairly, sliding the DeathTomb back in his pocket.

"And then again, you seemed it prudent to lecture them before killing them.", a cool, calm voice said from beside Alex.

Turning and looking at the chair beside him, Alex saw that the once empty chair was now full.

Sitting beside Alex, his legs crossed, was a man with grey eyes, small nose and pointed chin and long black hair. His arms, which were resting on the arms of the chair, were muscular looking through the sleeves of his fine, black business suit. He was watching TV and looking quite relaxed, not at all like someone who had just materialized out of nowhere.

The friends stared at the new arrival to their home. Though he had literally appeared out of nowhere, neither of the friends seemed to mind, as Monica rolled her eyes at the sight of the man looking and shaking her head slightly as if the man was slightly annoying, while Max let out a small snort of disdain. In reality, the friends had become quite used to this as Death would always occasionally pop in out of their house

Alex stared at Death for a moment, blinking several times letting out his own small snort of disdain before turning back to the TV.

"And what brings you around to our quaint little house?", Alex asked, not looking at Death as he and the others watched a commercial about a new sitcom coming in the fall.

"Can’t a man just drop by and chat with his friends once in awhile?", Death asked the friends as a whole as he too didn’t pull his eyes away from the TV.

"Sure he can…if we were friends that is.", Feilos said comfortably from his seat in the sofa, not looking at Death as the show they had been waiting for started.

Death let out a snort that quickly turned into a string of cold chuckles.

"I can see you four haven’t changed a bit since the last time I saw you!", Death chuckled, his shoulders rising and falling with each cold chuckle

"Let’s cut the formalities and just tell us why you’re here Death.", Max said shortly, not looking at Death like the others had.

"I’m here to tell you that you all are going on a trip.", Death said pleasantly, taking his eyes away from the TV and looking around the living room at the friends, who hadn’t shown the slightest signs of caring about what he had said.

"Oh yeah? What kind of trip Death?", Alex said, lazily scratching his chin absentmindedly but paying Death little attention

"Well Alex. You’re taking a nice long trip to Japan.", Death said casually, turning his attention to Alex and smiling.

Alex’s brow furrowed for a second, and he looked slightly confused for a moment, before finally prying his eyes away from the TV, staring into Death’s smiling face.

"Come again?", Alex said, confusion prominent in his voice.

"You’re taking a nice, long trip to Japan. And you Max, are taking a trip to the Middle East. Monica is taking a trip to the United States. And you Feilos, my good man, are going to South America.", Death replied, looking around the room and smiling at the friends.

Now he had the attention of the friends.

Each of the four friends slowly looked away from the TV and turned their attention to Death as if they had heard him wrong. Their faces were wearing clear signs of confusion, and they kept looking from one another, as if hoping that one of them had understood what Death had said.

"What are you talking about Death?", Feilo’s asked slowly, leaning forward on the couch and staring at Death intently.

"I thought it was obvious Feilos,", Death said smoothly, "I’m breaking up The Orphan Family."

The friends stared at Death, shocked by what he had said. For the past three years, Feilos, Alex, Monica and Max had been a family, the only family they had left, and Death knew this. But now…now he was talking about breaking them up? This had to be a joke. It just had to be.

"What are you talking about Death?", Alex asked Death coldly, dropping his feet from the table and sitting straight in his seat.

"Well, as you may or may not know Alex, with the death of the Sarulean mob, your DeathTomb is now full.", Death replied smoothly, "And with it filled, there are no more criminals for you to reap…in Canada. So now it’s time that I send you all abroad so that you may continue repaying your debt to me by harvesting the souls of the criminals of the world.", Death finished, standing up from his seat and straightening his suit.

For a moment, the affect of Death’s words weren’t immediately felt. But slowly, like boiling water rising, the words began to register within the four friends, their faces breaking from ones of shock to faces of anger and understanding.

If what Death was saying was true, and the friends knew it was, they would be broken up and sent around the world. The only family they had left would be torn apart like their original families, and they’d be orphans once more.

"You can’t do that Death.", Alex breathed, rising from his seat and staring Death in the face, anger breaking across his usually handsome, smiling face.

"And why not Alex?", Death asked, crossing his arms and looking thoughtfully at Alex with a smile on his face.

"Because when we agreed to do these errands for you…", Alex began slowly.

"You agreed to do exactly like I told you.", Death interrupted, "When I gave you the means to avenge your parents deaths -the swords, the certain powers you now have- you entered a contract with your very souls, you entering with your blood aswell as your soul Alex, or have you forgotten?", Death finished, slowly pacing back and forth in front of the TV, the friends following his every step.

None of the friends answered, but instead remained silent, Alex standing on his feet, slowly flexing and unflexing his hands into fists.

"When I gave you these powers, I told you that there would come a time that you would have to leave the place you call home, and venture out to continue your reaping duties.", Death continued coldly, "That times has now come. The criminals of Canada are now dead. You have done your job here. But through out the world, evil is still prominent. It is now your duty to leave your home, and go out and reap the souls of the evil of the world. It is your job to bring the evil of the world to justice. As Reapers, you are to go where I tell you. Do as I tell you. No questions asked.", Death finished, stopping his pacing infront of the TV and facing the friends.

"And what if we refuse?", Feilos asked defiantly, standing up and staring at Death with eyes full of anger,"What if we refuse to do as you say?"

"I think you all know the answer to that. Especially you Alex,", Death replied, shooting Alex a cold look, "I believe ‘the punishment’ is still fresh in your mind."

Alex’s skin blanched slightly when Death mentioned ‘the punishment’. It was indeed still fresh in his mind and Alex had no desire to re-expeirence it.

Accepting Alex’s silence as his submittance, Death took a deep breath, and when he spoke, it was in a cool, calm voice.

"This matter is not up for debate. It simply isn’t,", Death said slowly, "As Reapers, it is your job to harvest the souls of those who have sinned, and send them to Hell for their punishment. If you neglect your duty and stay here, it means that the evil of the world will never be punished. And those who commit the sins, will continue to do so, harming others, making other’s suffer, destroying families. You fail to do your job like I told you too, you’ve broken our agreement, and your soul will be destroyed as punishment, you along with it. This is not a matter of whether you want to go or not. It is a matter of that you have to go, or face the consequences.", Death finished coldly, staring at each of the friends like they were soldiers preparing for a suicide mission.

Neither of the friends spoke. Each of them was remembering clearly that when they agreed to become Reapers so that they could avenge their parents deaths, they had agreed to do exactly as Death said, no questions asked. It seemed that it had slipped their minds as they all had clearly forgotten and planned to stay together for aslong as they could.

But now Death had come to the friends and told them plainly that they were to retreat to the distant corners of the Earth and continue destroying the evil that resides there. Even though it was their job to do so, it didn’t make the thought of leaving eachother for lands unknown any easier.

"You have one week to leave Canada and head exactly where I tell you. If you fail to do so, I will destroy you in a heartbeat. No exceptions.", Death said coldly, and with that, Death vanished into thin air with a small flash, leaving not a single trace of himself behind.

The friends remained silent as the room was full of the happily chatting people on the TV show they were watching.

They had just received the news that they were to be separated from one another and sent around the world. Neither of the friends liked that thought, especially since they were the only family they had left, and now, whether they’d ever see one another again was unknown.

"Alex?", Monica asked, looking at Alex as he stared through where Death had vanished, "What do we do?"

Looking at Monica, Alex saw that she looked close to crying, her eyes shining with tears that had yet to spill down her beautiful face. Monica always was the one that cried for the family, and the thought of losing her best friends was clearly one of those times that was to much for her to bare.

Taking a deep breath, Alex answered her in all honesty, though deep down, he didn’t like to say it.

"We do what Death says Monica," Alex breathed, balling his hands into fists, "Whether we like it or not, he’s right. We agreed to do whatever he said, and this is no exception."

With that, Monica’s face fell to her hands, and she began to cry softly, the thought of losing her best friends and family to much to bear.

Feilos fell back into his seat, his face alive with an expression of shock and sadness. Max was sitting bent forward on the sofa, his head hanging on his shoulders, staring at the ground with his hands folded over the back of his head in a very mournful looking pose.

Alex remained on his feet, standing rooted on spot, unable to move. It was like watching his parents die all over again. All feeling seemed to have left his body, leaving only a numb, weightlessness in it’s wake.

In one week’s time, Alex would be alone in the world again, most likely never to see his friends and now family ever again.

The silence in the room was absolute, except for Monica’s strained sobs. Neither of the friends spoke. They seemed stuck in the moment, unable to break free of the horrible thought that in one week, they’d be leaving everything they knew and loved behind for places unknown. Worst of all was the thought that in one weeks time, they could be saying good-bye to eachother for the very last time.

Needless to say, this was the second worst Friday evening of Alex’s entire life.




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