Memories of the Reaper

Chapter Seven

"Derek! You in there?" Wham! Wham! Wham! Somebody was pounding against the door when Derek Grey finally awoke.

"Huh?" Wrestling with the sheets, Derek left the bed, unsurprised to find that his headache hadn't gotten any better; if anything, it had only grown worse. It wasn't on the level of the morning's migraine, but he suspected it could grow to that magnitude by the end of the night.

There was another thud against the door as Derek grasped the knob. He shuddered, remembering the eerie shadow that had passed under his door earlier. He grimaced, not liking how afraid he felt. What are you going to do? Live the rest of your life in this shitty dorm? Stubbornly, he shook his head and turned the knob. The door opened, exposing Greg's freckled face and upset expression.

"Greg? What the hell?" Derek asked, rubbing his eyes. "Why the hell are you knocking so loud?"

"Dude, it's past eight o' clock! Where have you been?" Greg asked.

Derek's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious? It's eight o' clock?"

"It's eight-ten. What have you been doing? Nobody's seen you all day! It was like you had dropped off the face of the Earth! And, after the shit you pulled this morning, people were starting to think that you had skipped town or something."

"What? No..." Derek waved away that thought. "I took a nap. Apparently a pretty long one... Honestly, I could still sleep for another ten right now. I feel like I was run over by a truck," Derek replied, blinking his eyes tightly and opening them once more. The pressure behind his eyes was building.

"How could you take that long of a nap?"

"I have slept for a total of five hours this week. I was tired," Derek told him.

"Damn, only five hours? What have you been doing?" Greg said, growing concerned. He peered closer at Derek, his red eyebrows creating a v.

"Studying," Derek lied.

"Right... You sure you wanna do this?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Greg." Derek growled, rolling his eyes. He wasn't comfortable with the attention his friend was giving him. He already felt like something was wrong, he didn't need somebody to confirm it. "Can we go now?"

"You're an ungrateful bastard." Greg's frown lifted into a smile. "Alright, let's hit it."

"Let me get my shoes." Derek went over to his bed and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes. When he walked back over to the door, he accidentally kicked a metal tin. As it clattered loudly on the ground, Derek looked down and realized that it was Amber's food bowl. "Shit," Derek muttered.

"Is everything good?" Greg asked.

"No," Derek said. He peered in his closet but didn't find the cat. He closed it abruptly. "I had a cat in here earlier, but I can't find her."

"You have a cat?" Greg asked as Derek looked under the lower bunk bed. "I didn't think those were allowed in the dorms."

"She's one of the strays from the forest, but I let her in when she comes around... Here Amber, come here girl."

"Hey, man. There isn't a cat in here. Look around. This place is tiny, dude. We'd be able to see if a cat was in here."

Derek clapped his hands lightly, but it was to no avail. The cat had vanished. "Yeah, but where could she have gone?" Derek looked at the window, which was shut. "It's not like she could have opened the door with her paws..."

"Maybe somebody opened the door looking for you and the cat got out," Greg supplied.

"My door was locked."