The Reaper

Chapter 8: I Will Find You

"Mm...!" Another day of sleeping in, another day of winter break. I shoot both my arms straight into the air, stretching as far and wide as they can make. I shifted over to the side and noticed that Lauren was already out of bed. I head down the stairs to see Lauren at the dinner table still in her jammies, being crafty with her hands again. I take my seat pouring cereal in the bowl with neither of us saying a word.

"Good morning, Daryl," Pam greets from the kitchen, squaring away all the utensils after cleaning them.

"Morning, Pam," I clear my throat after realizing my voice is still groggy.

"How was your sleep?"

"It was good."

"Yeah? D'you know how long you've slept today?" There was a huge moment of pause, trying to think of a number while Pam is still putting away the utensils. "You slept about eleven hours. You should try and not sleep too much; otherwise, this winter break will fly by real quick."

I say after pouring milk, "I'll try not to, Pam." I look over to Lauren after taking the first bite of my cereal. Both of her hands are a mess, covered in something wet and red while messing with something. "Lauren, what is that you're playing with?"

"I found this white bird outside and thought I bring it and play with it."

"And what's that red stuff on you and the bird?"

"My blood." She shows both of her palms to me, seeing a long and deep cut mark on each of them. I begin to wonder if those cuts were self-inflicted, but I'm getting this strong feeling like someone else might have done this to her.

"You two want to go and play outside?" Pam asks, finished with the kitchen, wiping her hands with a cloth. "It's pretty warm outside and the snow should be nice and soft."

"Okay," Lauren says somewhat excited.

I leave behind the unfinished cereal, following Lauren through the front door and then diving into the snow without any winter wear feeling the fluffiness and the warmth of the snow. The snow feels warm and comfy; we can dive right into it and not worry about getting cold. Even the weather is nice and sunny, as Pam said.

"Oppa, let's make a snow angel!"

"Okay, we'll make the snow angels right beside each other. See how they look when they're flying side by side."

Lauren smiles, jumps herself into the snow with her back, and starts sliding her arms and legs across. I follow her lead, sliding my arms and legs beside her. It feels a bit hard, though, because this kind of snow feels like it's not allowing us to form the snow angel. I look up at the sky and amongst the trees. It's all dark and cloudy, and countless of black birds cover all the tree branches like leaves. Suddenly, the color of red quickly seeps through the clouds making the whole entire sky red.

BANG!

A sudden blast of light flashes before me. In utter confusion, the place went night, and all the blackbirds cawing and flying away in response to that huge boom-like sound. I look at Lauren – she's gone. The spot where she was doing her snow angel is covered in splattered blood. Is she hurt? Where did she go? Quickly, I get up – "Ow!" Suddenly, I feel a very painful sensation in my right leg. It's as if something is broken.

"Oppa!"

I swiftly look down at where the house is at. Lauren is standing by the front with four people behind her. I sit up to get a better look. They all stand closely in a group, looking straight at me. Somehow, I can't shake this feeling that I have seen them somewhere.

The tall man slightly bends forward, touching Lauren's shoulder. He puts a knife against her throat. "So, this is your brother?" he calmly asks.

"Yep," the short Hispanic man with a flat top says in a cheery tone, "that's him."