EAGLE

1: KINSLAYER

IT WAS A HOT SUNDAY IN ORLANDO.

Jan Mycrobatt nonchalantly stared at the seemingly never-ending arrays of products lined up at the shelves of Yaja Supermarket. Morning as it was, the place was packed with people. Jan was leaning forward on the grocery cart where Kin Mycrobatt was sitting in, playing with the items. Two children, a girl and a boy, pushed their way past Jan, laughing.

"Wouldn't it be totally fun if we bought some whipped cream for Kin's April segment?" Sari Mycrobatt suggested, biting her lower lip as her eyes trailed over the yogurt and whipped cream Section. Jan slowly turned around to look at Sari in utter bemusement.

"You want to dress our baby in whipped cream?"

Sari mockingly widened her eyes at Jan's look. "So what? It would be adorable. You would like that, wouldn't you, little eagle?" She cooed, crouching to see the baby. Kin let out a little giggle.

Sari moaned in delight. "Isn't she a sweetie."

Jan shook his head with a smile. "A sweetie she may be, but I'm still not on board with the idea of you photographing our baby's annual calendar with the theme 'Messy Kitchen'." He did finger quotation marks for emphasis and ridicule. Sari wrinkled her nose.

"On board or not, it's mama who has the last word." She confidently walked over to the shelves, teasingly bending over and pushing out her ass. She gave him a coy look over her shoulder. Jan huffed out a laugh and took out his phone, checking the time. It was a quarter past ten in the morning. "You can't tease me if there's nothing to tease with, honey."

Sari stood up straight with her mouth open. "You did not just do that, J. My ass is fine." She screeched. "Now get out here and fetch me some mushrooms. I'm cooking burger steak tonight and that's the only thing you're going to enjoy."

Jan shrugged a shoulder, stifling a smile. "Fine by me."

Before he could get head-injured by a flying whipped cream container, Jan left the area. He rolled the cart with the distracted baby in it to the mushroom section. He caressed his daughter's head while examining the full trays.

"Pa... pa." Managed Kin.

"Hey! That's right, sweetie." Jan praised. "Papa is here looking for mushrooms because he insulted mama's pretty little ass."

"Ass." Burped the baby. Jan barked a laugh. He continued examining the mushrooms. His stomach rumbled. They hadn't eaten breakfast yet since Sari demanded they do the groceries first.

A few minutes later, Sari reappeared, holding canned tomatoes in each hand. She looked giddy. "Tomatoes for May."

Jan sighed, not looking at her. "You and your crazy ideas." He received no reply. "Hey, honey. Which mushrooms did you want again? I distinctly remember you telling me you didn't want the small ones before— Sari!"

Sari suddenly choked, dropping all the cans violently. She placed both of her hands to her neck, as if there was someone choking her. Something. Her eyes were wide, and they were looking at a certain direction.

Kin.

Frantically, Jan looked over to the baby. What he saw made his lunch meal go straight back up and out. Jan vomited over the supermarket floors, dry heaving when nothing went out. Kin was sitting still inside the cart, her throat slit open. No blood was pouring out of it, but her eyes were lifeless as she sat facing the direction of her mother.

Sari.

Jan felt like he was going to faint. No air was gathering in his lungs, and whiteness was beginning to gather at his vision. He managed to crawl towards Sari, who was now kneeling and desperately gasping for air. He screamed for help, looking around, but Yaja Supermarket was empty. It was as if everyone suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Sari was going white. Her eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. Jan didn't know what to do. He couldn't think. Slowly, as if fighting some invisible force, Sari reached her trembling arm out to Jan. He held it, but she pushed it away. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt at the chest area, then down, onto his jean pockets.

"What is it, Sari?!" Jan yelled.

Sari was gasping with no sound. With a squeeze of her eyes, Sari lurched forward and grabbed the set of keys inside Jan's pocket. She flicked the keychain knife that Jan always brought and directed it to the left side of her neck, where she made a long horizontal slit.

Jan watched with eyes wide in horror. "No!" He attempted to grab Sari's hands, immediately crying out when he made contact.

Her hands were boiling hot. She was heating up all over.

Suddenly, Sari's eyes turned dull. Mirroring their baby's. Instead of blood, neon violet light rushed out of her slit skin, so bright that Jan had to shield his eyes from it. He was still screaming her name when the light enveloped her whole. "Sari!"

"Sir, are you okay?"

Jan frantically sat up and aimed a punch against his attacker. But he was held down by two strong men. His face met the cold floor. He struggled, screaming and crying. "Sari! Kin!"

"Sir, if you will not calm down this instant I will have the guards escort you outside the supermarket immediately."

With a sudden surge of strength, Jan managed to escape the grip of the two men and ran wildly to the direction of the cart, hoping to grab Kin in the midst of his confusion. Yet, Jan's whole body stiffened. His chest heaved up and down as he slowly twisted his neck to the direction of the area where Sari fell.

There was no wife. And there was no baby.