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Chapter 19: A Murder of Ravens

I followed the tracks all day and night for several hours. I found a couple stops which gave me gas, and saw that the name of one was "D&J's," some sort of pit-stop between two giant dusty hills. But as I continued on, there seemed to be fewer and fewer stops. I had to improvise, so I grabbed my empty water bottles and began filling them with the gas that was available. I knew I was reaching the people I was following when I found one of their campsites, with a fire still burning. I kept following their tracks, and found myself with only one bottle of water left. If I didn't find them by the next day, my fate may stay the same as the girl whom I took the bike from. But as the night crawled onto the horizon, I found myself running into another fireplace, barely visible but there. A large bus, each set of wheels further out then the next, was situated around the fire, similar to a snake. Before I made it to the fire though, they had spotted me, and sent black birds at me, repeatedly pecking and cawing in my ears. I knew they were ravens, yet they didn't stop me from driving. I pulled out one of my blades from my back, and began chopping off their feathers, showing that I wasn't going to stop. I raised my blade, then pressed it into the sand, slowing my bike until I was right next to the group. It was just about night, and when my bike finally stopped, I heard a combustion of laughter, where there was so much that I could barely figure out where it was coming from. When a group of five came from the first bus, I watched them leave, holding a weapon each. They were chuckling while wielding their weapons, making two of them jingle. The first person to leave was slim, she held a chain with a sharpened end at one end, while wearing a deep blue cloak. Then there were two men, seemingly twins, one holding a sledgehammer, and the other weilding a curved blade, similar to a sickle. They wore a mix of dark red and orange. The next two only wore black, and held two hatchets in each hand. They were the only ones who seemingly didn't laugh, though I could tell they were smiling. "I think this is the first time anybody has ever come to us, yeah brother?" said the sledge wielder, to which his brother replied with a nod while still chuckling. The blue cloaked lady looked at me, then yelled for them to begin. "These are the rules, big shot. I'm sure you've heard of us, so we'll make this short." I interrupted her, and said I hadn't a clue who she was. She looked surprised, then began to walk towards a book that was being held by a random member. She snatched it when he wasn't looking, and ran through the pages until randomly stopping. She read some of the page, and then threw it behind her for whomever was there to be hit. She unraveled her chain, and held her weapon as though she were about to battle when she yelled, "Pull out your weapons, I want to battle you."

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    There are moments in a person's life that they have to choose between life and death. My body always chooses life, and that's probably why my mind immediately made me go red. The lady, although fast, didn't even have a chance. There was five seconds before I was in front of her, pushing my blade into her chain, then another half a second before I came into contact with her cloak. The tip of my blade ripped it, and broke her chain as I lifted it up to slice her neck. Though before I could, she jumped back, and floated in the sky as she now marveled at the ability I had. I took her three seconds before she called the two boys to help stop me. I went after the one with the sickle first, seeing as how he would be a bigger problem, but as I turned around to face him, a jingling chain sent the hammer right in front of me. Skimming my face, I quickly turned around, and instead ran towards him. He was tall, and took a step back, as if he were retreating, but as I came closer, he reared back, pulling his left arm back with him. I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge it, so I used it to my advantage. I jumped up, pulling my legs in and putting them vertical to him. He punched the soles of my shoes, and I jumped as it happened. I was sent all the way back to my bike, digging my feet into the ground so I didn't topple as I skidded to a halt. The sickled brother was charging, so I quickly got into my chest, and grabbed my second blade. All of a sudden, my tint went from red to orange, and everything seemed that much slower. I watched the sickle-wielding man charged at me, and as I did, I lifted my hand. I felt a strange sort of power course through my veins, and as he grew closer, I closed my palm, forcing the strength out of him. He dropped to his knees, and soon fell into the ground, whispering over and over that they found him. I was still going over my new powers, and watched as the two black cloaked people walked over and tried to help the other man up, but I pulled my fist up again,forcing them to stop, and in a voice I never had before, I said, "Let him die... I need another soul..." and then I let them go, pushing them to the ground as well. My mind went back to red, then dulled out until I was back to myself. I watched as the people in front of me, originally laughing and mocking me, now in shock, watching in horror as one of their leaders slowly died. One by one, every single member left each bus, bowing, towards me. The person who took me over was the Reaper, and while I was standing, I felt too exhausted to do anything. Soon, every single member had created a circle around me, bowing their heads, and as the moon rose from the sky, It grew blood red, illuminating the world in a hue the same as mine.