The Reaper

Chapter 6

"Janice, stop staring at the squirrels like that." 

Janice looked at me, then back to the fuzzy backyard rodent. She had been looking at them that way since we began walking. Her eyes held a mixture of nervousness and ferocity. Like she would gladly rip the animal's head off, but she was anxious 

"I have been charged with your safety." she responded, finally ending her staring contest.

"Yes, and the squirrels are cause for concern." I replied, sarcasm dripping in my voice.

"They could be shifters." Janice remarked, her voice calm and collected.

I shook my head. "Ares would be able to detect them."

Janice rolled her eyes as we approached my front door. I raised my hand to knock on the wooded door, but before I could, it was swung open, almost crushing my skull. 

"Hey, Jodie." I said, staring at my foster mom.

Jodie smiled, and I caught a bit of purple lipstick a bit out of place. "Andrew, who's your friend?"

It figures she'd ask that first. "This is my friend Janice, from school. We're working on a project togther."

"Why does she have a gun?" she asked, staring at the large weapon strapped to Janice's back.

I grinned nervously. "It's, uh, not real. That's our project. We're going upstairs to work, love you, see you at dinner!" my words came out rushed as I dragged Janice upstairs.

"What was that for?" Janice asked, laying her bazooka on my bed carelessly. 

"If she knew it was a real bazooka she would have never let you in here. Seriously, do you have to carry that thing everywhere?"

Janice nodded dismissively, taking out a piece of paper. "Don't you have homework?"

I rolled my eyes, taking the wrinkled sheet of notebook paper from my backpack. Groaning, I stared. English was my least favorite subject, even if I did extremely well in the class. I was a smart person, not an advocate for schools across the world.

"Writing prompts," I muttered as my pencil met the page. "The ultimate destroyer of imagination." 

At that, Janice looked up from her paper. "Destroyer?" she asked, her voice edgy and cautious.

"No, not like that," I replied, "I mean I don't like writing prompts, that's all."

"You have strange ways of wording things."

I shrugged, glancing back down at the blank sheet of paper. Perhaps I would enjoy the task if it was interesting. Instead, the English class had been given the task of writing about what we would do if the power went out for a week. It was a bit elementary for my taste, but I supposed Ms. Herandez considered the topic challenging enough for most people in the class.

After about a half hour, Jodie came upstairs, carrying a plate of chocolate chip cookies in one arm, and holding the door open with another. "I thought you two might be hungry," she said, holding out the plate.

"Thanks, Jodie. You can go now." I said, taking the cookies and placing them between Janice and I.

As soon as she left, Janice stared at the cookies like they were going to bite her. "What are they?"

"What, you didn't have cookies in your cave?" I asked.

She shrugged. "What you do with them?"

"You eat them."

"They're food?"

"Yeah. Is that surprising?" I asked.

She nodded. "They look much too artificial to be food." she commented, picking one up to observe it.

"Just eat it, cave girl." I rolled my eyes, taking a bite out of one.

After a few moments of skepticism, Janice finally took a bite. When she did, her eyes lit up like she had just discovered the meaning of human existence or something equally amazing. "These are really good."

"Told you," I smirked, "And if you think they're good like that, wait until you try them with milk." 

Janice nodded, taking another cookie from the plate. "Do you have any milk?"

"Not currently. Kyle's going to pick some up." I replied.

"Why do you insist on calling your parents by their first names?" Janice asked, her voice distorted by cookie crumbs.

"No reason. Just a respect thing we have going on." I lied, turning my focus back on my English homework

Surprisingly, Janice seemed to accept my half attempted answer and returns to doing whatever it was she was doing before.

~

"So, milk? Wouldn't it get the cookie wet?" Janice asked after a few minutes of silence.

I smiled, crossing my arms. "You have a lot to learn, cave girl."

She frowned. "I no enough to live."

"No, Janice. You really don't."