Chapter 2: Don't fear the reaper
A heartbeat was the only constant sound that was heard.
It was slow and deafening, but despite how disoriented she was she recognized it as her own. Her lungs were working efficiently so she could not blame the sight that was before her on the lack of oxygen.
She felt like her eyes were submerged underwater, everything was difficult to look at. Nothing stayed still, nothing came into focus, and she wanted to cry at how confused she was. Apparently no one was taking pity on her today as the world continued to spin around, she in the center of it all trying to figure out a way free of this nightmare. Suddenly there was murmuring; and the visions that were rapidly moving all around her started to slow down and solidify into humanoid beings, as if they too wanted to hear what the voices were saying. The humanoid beings were tall black figures, or maybe tall figures in black, she didn't know.
But then a loud scream interrupted her thoughts; a bloodcurdling scream that rips into your soul and has you clawing your ears and closing your eyes in desperation. The screaming she noticed came from another humanoid figure that was different from the rest. This one was not cloaked in black, it looked almost human and it was surrounded by the others. As the screaming got louder everything became clearer, like some sort of sick and twisted system. She noticed now that they were in a room, but this was not an ordinary room, it felt different. The poor creature in pain was definitely human and it was lying down in the center of both the room and its occupants. She still could not make out the details of the person; it was as if someone or something was trying to keep her from finding out their identity. But despite all that she still felt as if she knew these people, especially the one screaming. She could not tell if the others were hurting the person or not, but the pain and suffering were so great that she herself could barely remember a time when the misery was not present. In fact it was starting to get to her. She started to feel pain and she had no idea where it was coming from. She crumbled to the floor and held her body as she shut her eyes in pain. Her face was wet and she hoped it was from tears and not blood. The screaming that had been going on for so long now had an echo to it. If she were able to formulate any thoughts she might have wondered if she was losing her hearing because of the piercing sound or was she now joining in on the chorus. The latter seemed more likely. Writhing in agony she noticed somewhere in the back of her mind that the floor was made out of stone. She sobbed and clawed at anything and everything until the world went black.
She squirmed and writhed in the sheets as if they were strangling her. Her first instinct was to scream, and scream she did. She yelled and shrieked bloody murder until someone burst through her door and tried to free the young girl that was confined by both the sheets and her nightmare. Her savior, a middle aged woman grabbed the little girl and shook her by her shoulders; desperately calling out to the frightened child.
Finally the words seemed to reach her and the barriers of her nightmare shattered. The first word to fully register in her clouded mind was the most familiar one. 'Cricket' – her name. She blinked her eyes a few times and focused her attention on the concerned looking woman sitting on the bed beside her. Relief flooded the elder's woman's face when she saw Cricket completely awake.
She stroked the young girls ebony hair in a comforting manner and with her hand also caressed her cheek, moist from either tears or sweat – probably a combination of both. The room was dark except for the night light in the corner, but even in the low light she could see the warm smile on Donatella's face as Cricket tried to calm her wild heart.
"What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" Donatella whispered.
She did not stop stroking her hair but the hand that was on her cheek moved to take her smaller one in her own. Cricket nodded than began to tell her what it was about. All the while the elder had a troubled expression on her features. Cricket knew she should respect and listen carefully to what Donatella had to say. For starters she was middle aged meaning she had plenty of life experience. And another reason, Donatella was different. She would never call herself a physic or a medium really; according to her she could just interpret things better than most people. Cricket hoped that the same could be said about her dream despite the uneasy feeling she was getting from her guardian's worried gaze.
She averted her eyes when Cricket finished her story and took a deep breath. Finally the woman looked back at the child.
"Cara," she said it softly and the look on her face showed that she did not want to go through with this. "You believe in Destino right? Destiny."
At this the young girl nodded and Donatella continued. "And that it was Destiny that brought you to us, that you are like me, you are special."
At this Cricket looked confused, she shook her head no, she did not understand. Donatella gave a patient sigh and wondered how she should explain.
"When I was very young like you, I used to get dreams and, feelings about people or things around me, and many times I was right. Now I am not saying that your dream will come true" Donatella added quickly with her hands up in defense at the scared look Cricket was giving her. She could not really blame the child for being afraid; she would have been as well.
"I am merely saying that I have been noticing things about you Cricket and you have a gift that you should not ignore." Then Donatella's expression turned dark again.
"That dream you had, where you were watching someone in pain and it felt like you knew them, and then you yourself were in pain; you must understand that suffering is a part of life."
She reached over and started stroking the young girls black hair again, an encouraging smile on her lips. She needed to help prepare the little girl for the difficult life that surely lay ahead of her, she sensed that much with what most people would call intuition. If the child before her was having these kinds of dreams now, imagine the pain and suffering the little angel in front of her will go through when she gets older. It broke her heart, but she did not let her warm smile falter and tried to prepare her now as best as she could.
"But no matter how bad it gets you always have the strength to make it through. Now try and get some sleep mio amore."
Cricket wanted to sleep but then whispered shakily "But Donatella, I felt like I was dying."
The woman's hand stopped then slowly moved to her lap to hold her hand, the smile that was previously there gone; and her eyes held such sadness. "Then when your time comes – as everyone's does – it comes. Just remember…"
"Don't fear the reaper."
To say she woke up with an uneasy feeling would be the understatement of the year, especially since Donatella's words were still swirling in her mind when she did. Still, she was happy to escape the darkness.
It was not the first time she's had that particular dream. Sometimes it's just the nightmare in all its agonizing glory and others it's the entire memory, like now. A deep pang of grief hits her as she remembers her once foster parents Donatella and Giuseppe and how she was taken away from them because social services thought that they were getting too elderly to take care of her. The couple was very good to her and reminded Cricket of her own Italian parents that had passed away just a few short years prior.
She had them to thank for getting her to speak Italian again and is the reason why she is fluent today despite growing up in the United States. She still has the memory of the day she left them but never allows herself to remember; even her previous memory and how terrifying it is, is less painful than that one. She misses them frequently and hopes the feeling is mutual.
Turning her head to glance at the digital clock she curses. It's a quarter to six; she's not supposed to get up for another forty minutes. However knowing she won't get any more sleep she sits up.
Cricket runs the palm of her hands over her eyes so her vision is a little less blurry and throws the covers off her. She swings her legs over the bed until she is sitting at the edge with her feet on the cold hardwood floor. Good thing she wears socks to bed, especially in the winter.
She gets up and makes her way to the bathroom with no hurry at all. 'uggh I hate mornings.' Reaching her destination she ungracefully hurls herself in before closing the door. She looks in the mirror and is not surprised. Her hair is a mess – a product of sleeping with it lose – and her eyes are trying to adjust to the light instead of the blissful darkness it was in just moments before. She grabs the brush and gets to work, combing her hair, washing her face, all in an effort to join humanity once again. Ten minutes later its mission accomplished.
She notices soon enough that she forgot to pick out her clothes last night so she just goes for something simple and quick; boot cut jeans, black &white converses, and a black long sleeve button up shirt that she leaves the top two buttons open. She puts her hair into a semi high ponytail with two wisps of hair framing her face and applies a bit of lip loss and eye liner and mascara to enhance her favorite feature, her green eyes. She rarely puts on more makeup than that.
Grabbing, her books, backpack, and keys she heads into the kitchen and decides to just have some cereal, mostly out of laziness due to the time of day. She leaves her apartment, the same apartment she got after she had become emancipated last year at 15, a year earlier than most. Finally a legal adult she could access the money her parents left upon their death. With that money she was able to move out and even get a car, a yellow Camero considering that was always one of her favorites. Walking down the stairs she greeted one of her neighbors Ms. Giordano from 401, a short, plump woman with brown hair and rosy cheeks. She often cooked for others and more than once Cricket was a target to that kindness.
-O-
Upon reaching her school she fortunately found a parking space near her first class. Her school was an Instituto d' Arte and she loved it. Imagine being in Florence Italy! And studying what she loved most art and history. She would have loved to go to a Liceo Artistico school, but being on her own now she needed a vocational school. Either way she felt fortunate to be here, this is the kind of thing she would have only been able to dream about were she still living in the United States.
She walked through the doors of the main building until she reached one of the Hallways, passing the teacher's lounge area and office as she did so. She bumped into several students just loitering around while others were off to meet friends most likely, and some were adding new pieces to the colorful and creative displays.
This was a school for the arts and it seemed that they were always doing some kind of mural and no empty wall was safe for long. In the one she was currently in, it contained a beautiful countryside scene with meadows and wild flowers and all the works. This part of the building had few windows so the school decided to make up for that. The opposite wall contained news and notices of events or dates that were coming up, the most popular one would be that formal winter dance that was approaching. Cricket did not pay too much attention to it especially since she broke up with Pietro.
"Cricket?" She nearly groaned out loud, she knew that voice. Maybe if she kept walking she could pretend to remain ignorant.
But no such luck. Through her peripheral vision she could vaguely see a tiny body trying to make her way past the crowds and looked to be struggling as the vast majority just ignored her. Cricket could hear her name being called again and again, slightly muffled from the various bodies around her pursuer. Meanwhile she contemplated on what would happen if morning people moved to a separate society so they could spread their early bird cheer on each other instead on the rest of the civilized and rightfully bitter community. She felt horror sink in as her name started to sound closer and squeezed the strap of her backpack in preparation as finally the petite body reached her.
Sophia Capaldi was her name and just about everything was her game. She established the welcoming committee, is student body treasurer, leader of the community service group, co-founder of the friends for animals club, and now is the head of the dance committee as well. Everyone expected her to be a shoe in for class valedictorian, she herself included. Sophia was a nice girl really, just a bit overbearing sometimes and sadly she was not the only one that thought so.
"I-I finally caught up to you." The young blond was slightly out of breath and if she noticed the other girl playing deaf, she didn't show it.
"Oh, yeah." Cricket just nodded and tried to smile without it looking too forced. Her companion here was always trying to collect people for various events or causes and she wondered what sort of task was going to be asked of her this time. Normally Cricket would politely avoid her or skillfully swerve out of her way but she it was way too early and she had not had any caffeine yet which meant that she was a little…cranky.
"I've been meaning to ask you, we need help with decorations for the dance and since you're one of the best artists in school who better to ask right?" She finished with a bright smile that just said 'hello world let me make your day brighter' and Cricket thought how it could be natural considering the time.
When she thought about the request it didn't seem that bad really, and this could be her ticket out of the dance; she could say she was too tired to attend or just did not feel like spending anymore time around the decorations or something.
"Oh, thank you Sophia. I'll um, see if I have time with work and everything and let you know."
The perky blonde smiled wider (which surprised Cricket as she did not think it was possible) and said "That's great Cricket I hope to hear from you soon?"
With that the two parted ways before she passed by the cafeteria to pick up some much needed coffee and reluctantly headed to the direction of her class.
When she reached her locker and switched her books for the ones she would need now, she saw two familiar faces walking towards her. She smiled and closed her locker before leaning on it.
"Good morning" greeted Cricket.
Lucca and Anita were Cricket's only friends here at school but she didn't mind, she liked them very much. They both repeated her greeting and Lucca said playfully
"You're here kind of early aren't you?"
He leaned on the locker next to Cricket's and gave her a big smirk, his brown eyes holding unspoken laughter. Cricket irritatingly sighed and rolled her eyes. She slouched even more against the locker and snapped
"Yes I am, I woke up early now don't remind me."Lucca chuckled at her obvious bitterness.
Just then a young man that stood out from the rest walked past them. He ran a hand through his short dirty blonde hair as his brown eyes were bright with excitement from a conversation with another boy from his team. He was tall and muscular, and had a naturally athletic look to him – a sign of things to come; he is quite talented in sports.
Giovanni attracted more than one girl's eye down the hallway, Cricket was not one of them but her friend Anita was. Anita was a desperately shy girl with long light brown hair, blue eyes, a soft olive complexion, and glasses. She was pretty, but so timid and self conscious that not many really noticed her. Anita did not take her eyes off Giovanni until he was out of sight.
Cricket glanced at Lucca and saw that his previous good mood had disappeared and he was now staring at the floor. Cricket felt bad for her friends, she wished she could help them but they were both so stubborn. Suddenly the bell rang and that startled everyone. Anita looked like she just woke up from a daze and looked around for a moment. She turned to her two friends and said quickly
"I have to go; my class is all the way in the next building."
Without waiting for a response she turned left and walked through the doors at the end of the hallway. Cricket glanced at Lucca and saw that his eyes had followed her sadly and were still trained on the spot he had last seen her in as if he had the ability to look through walls and see her now.
"You should tell her you know" Cricket whispered.
He chuckled bitterly and was back to staring at his shoes. "As if I could ever compete with Giovanni Abbatelli, star football (soccer) player."
Cricket looked at him sadly; she hated to see him this way. "I think you can." She said softly. "In fact between the two of you my money is on you."
She gave him a small smile and was relieved when he finally looked at her and gave her his own weak grin.
"Thanks" And he sincerely meant it. "You're not just saying that because you're my friend right?" He raised an eyebrow at the question and gave her a smirk. Cricket snorted and rolled her eyes. She gave him the same kind of smirk before replying
"No, I'm not."
He made a disbelieving noise but the smirk did not disappear. Cricket shook her head a little at him, still smiling. "Come on, we better get to class."
"Yeah" Lucca agreed. "See you later." Lucca waved and walked off. Cricket mimicked before walking off in the opposite direction.
Nothing really exciting happened that day it was just her regular school schedule. In fact the most excitement she had was in French class.
Ms. Bouvier was walking in between the aisles slowly and purposefully, black heels clicking every step she took. Her red blouse was tucked in her long black pencil skirt and her long blonde hair hung around her in waves. With her light green eyes carefully looking around and at each student it was no wonder she was what the boys in this school dream about, especially since all of their other teachers are old enough to be their parents and their science teachers just look like science fiction.
Two girls in the back of the class were passing notes, taking advantage of their professor's blind spots, while several other girls stared enviously. Cricket was not really surprised, they did that on an almost daily basis and if she were being honest she could not really blame them either; she would kill to have their teacher's long legs.
Ms. Bouvier instructed them chapter four in their textbooks and everything went quiet. Cricket tried to concentrate and do the assignment but her thoughts were elsewhere. She could not get her mind off of her dream last night. Normally it's just something that stays in the back of her mind and resurfaces every once in awhile, like how most people get colds every now and then. But sometimes it gets bad; like the first week after she moved to Italy. The same dream at least four or five times that week. And then when she moved to Florence it was even worse. The dreams lasted longer; she was tempted to see a psychologist. Fortunately they stopped and last night was the first and hopefully last time she experienced it, at least for a while.
Every time it occurs it leaves her with a feeling of dread that is difficult to escape. She can't shake off the feeling that she should not ignore it but what more can she do; she already drew in her sketch book what she remembers. Apparently she was very deep in thought because before she knew it she heard a murmuring sound that she didn't really pay too much attention to. When she hears her last name being called twice she looks up to see a stern faced Ms. Bouvier and realizes that the murmuring sound was actually the class, they were doing repetitions.
"Ms. Gagliardi" Her French accent and the aggravation in her voice make the words she is speaking sound soft but firm.
"Are you paying attention?" Cricket's focus was coming back, albeit slowly and she stumbles out a "umm… wi"
It sounds more like a question than an answer and she knows that, but at least is grateful that the boys attention is not on her but rather their teacher so it's just the females in the room that she has to worry about being humiliated in front of. Ms. Bouvier is not convinced and Cricket can't say she blames her.
"Very well Ms. Gagliardi than please answer this question in a complete sentence. " Qu' est-ce que tu aimes faire?"
Cricket's mind translated that as "What do you like to do?" and answered "J' aime peindre et lire." she hoped that it came out to be "I like to paint and read."
Ms. Bouvier gives a curt nod and proceeds down the aisle. Cricket released a breath that she did not realize she had been holding in and assumed that she got it right. She hoped she would not get called on again in her other classes, she knew she was going to be distracted today.
-ooOoo-
From the shadows of the late afternoon sun two cloaked figures stand by waiting. They are hunters by nature and every instinct of theirs is sharp and focused.
One of them sniffs the air, it won't be long now and he knows it. As the sun slowly begins to recede their surroundings are bathed more and more in deliciously dark shadows, their time is approaching now.
They take a few steps closer and prepare to take charge of their domain – the night. As the bodies begin to pour out of the old large building their senses go into overdrive. Their hearing picks up any comment every voice until it finds hers.
Their sense of smell captures dozens and dozens of sweet, exotic, and rich scents that have their mouth watering. But no, now is not the time for that, they have a job to do. Their eyes scan them all quickly and efficiently, casting them off as quickly as they were considered. Their razor sharp nails dig into the brick wall closest to them as they get frustrated. One simultaneous thought between them 'where is she?'
The crowd begins to dwindle and only a few females remain, neither girl stands out from the rest. A dark satisfactory smile that borders on predatory passes through both of them. She is the one.
She is the one they have been waiting for.
-ooOoo-
Monday is one of the Bakery's busiest days. In the morning everyone is so bothered by the start of the week that they need something sweet or warm to get them through the day; hence why she just arrived at Lucia's bakery.
Walking through the door Cricket hears the familiar bell that signaled a customer. Her sense of smell was soon overwhelmed by the wonderful scent of fresh baked bread and so many types of sugars and frostings blended together to make irresistible treats, she loved this place.
The bakery only had a few wooden seats and tables for those who were waiting for their orders. Cricket only saw one dark haired man with one ankle over his other knee and an open newspaper lying on top. With one hand he held the paper and with the other he reached for his steaming espresso and carefully brought it to his lips. His eyes never left the paper while his small round glasses rested low on his nose.
Over by the counter where the sweets were openly presented was a woman not even forty fussing over the cash register. Cricket smiled at the sight and walked over to owner, it was not uncommon for the woman to have trouble with the device.
"Buonasera Lucia" Cricket greeted a little teasingly, she knew her boss was frustrated.
Lucia turned to her left, surprised that there was even someone next to her. The woman's black hair was in a bun, wisps of it everywhere due to her constantly running her fingers through it. Her white T-shirt that held the bakery's name was surprisingly clean but the apron she wore around her waist that lay over her black slacks was covered in flour. Her dark brown eyes held a bit of surprise that quickly vanished as well as anger but most of all exhaustion. There was some flour along her arms that contrasted heavily with her olive skin and stuck to it; leaving Cricket to believe that her slightly sweaty flesh was due to her recent position by the ovens. Lucia breathes out a sigh of relief when she notices who it is.
"Oh good Cricket you're here." Cricket chuckles and drops her bag by the counter while Lucia furrows her brow over some calculation over the register.
"Let me guess, it was busy today." At that Lucia looked up with a fire in her eyes, seemingly not caring about Cricket's smug smile.
"Oh you would not believe it, one of the worst! I just can't wait until you graduate so you can come and work for me full time."
"Well that's good for business isn't" Cricket cocked an eyebrow. She didn't mention that she had a couple of other offers to work full time as well, but whatever happened she would still be a frequent customer here.
"Yes I suppose it is." Lucia waved her off, too tired to agree with that logic. "A little too good actually" she muttered.
"That bad?" Cricket made a face and asked warily.
Lucia only answered with an "Mmm" too busy counting change.
"So that means I have a lot of work to do." Cricket said sourly, she already knew the answer to that but now it was Lucia's turn to look smug.
"Clever as always little Cricket" Replied her boss with a grin.
"You can start with the cookies." Lucia gestured with her head towards the back. Cricket gave a sigh; and just like that she went to work.
After the trays and trays of cookies were put into the oven then put back on the rack to cool off, the batter needed to be mixed. And after the batter was mixed with the proper ingredients, inventory needed to be done. After everything was accounted for the counter needed to be cleaned before finally she could move on to her final task for the evening, sweeping.
Cricket was beyond tired and could not wait to get home and finish the few assignments she did have before resting. It occurred to her now just how hungry she was and immediately she went over the food she had at her apartment. She thought about soup. Soup sounded simple and perfect right now. 'Yes soup is good.'
Suddenly it felt like a chill crawled up her spine and Goosebumps began to sprout across her skin. She looked over her shoulder with the broom in hand. For a moment she thought she saw a shadow move outside but it was too dark to see and could have very well been her eyes playing tricks on her. She tried to focus her eyes again but now could not see anything besides her reflection in the glass window.
This has been happening often recently, about the past month or so, in which she looks over her shoulder expecting to find someone staring at her or maybe even the boogeyman. However this time she can't ignore it as easily as the others, but not being able to see anything she has no choice but to continue sweeping.
When the floor is done Cricket bids goodnight to Lucia who conveniently lives right upstairs. She grabs her stuff and heads out the door. As soon as she does she is greeted by the cool and refreshing night air that she loves so much. Cricket takes a deep breath and smiles at the beautiful full moon that lights up the sky before walking to her car around the corner and behind the bakery.
She adjusts her bag on her shoulder which captures her attention for just a moment and when she looks up she nearly collides with two dark cloaked strangers. She jumps back in surprise "Oh!" and places a hand over her beating heart, these two men obviously startled her but neither one seems fazed at all.
Cricket quickly becomes wary and confused but it turns to fear when they shared an emotionless glance. Cricket was not one to panic, panic was always the enemy and she knew how to take care of herself. However when she noticed their eyes something which she did not pay attention to before due to their intimidating all black cloaks, her fear was brought to a new level.
Their eyes were sinister as the devil's own. And although Cricket was not a religious person there really was no way to describe those demonic burgundy eyes. True they could have been contacts, especially these days with all the supernatural fads but something told her that was not it. Perhaps it was the same something that was screaming at her to run.
And so despite the fact that she knew how to handle herself Cricket listened to that voice and she ran, she ran as fast as she could away from the strangers. Okay she was not an Olympic athlete but she was not slow either! There was no way they could have caught up to her that quickly! But they did.
One of them blocked her path when she reached the corner, confused she turned around only to discover that the other one was just steps behind her. Even though they made no show to stop her – neither one them spread their arms to prevent her escape – Cricket knew she was trapped. She was panting not out of her short run but because she was downright panicking.
For the first time since their encounter one of them spoke, the one in front of her. "Please be calm," His palms were up and his voice while monotonous was also smooth.
"We mean you no harm." The one behind her finished the other's sentenced and mimicked his tone perfectly.
There was nothing at all threatening about their voice and if Cricket was honest she would say it was kind of nice. She might have even actually listened to them if her heart wasn't beating so wildly and reminding her of the danger she was in.
Cricket with as much force as she could muster said "leave me alone!"
She swung her backpack at the one in front her and was for once grateful at the amount of books in there. Unfortunately that act did next to nothing and Cricket was too preoccupied to notice.
Apparently their patience ran out because the cloaked man that was behind her physically grabbed Cricket. She struggled and thrashed as much as she could yelling at him to release her and such but he just held her effortlessly. The one that was originally in front of her was shorter than the one holding her, but still taller than Cricket since the one behind her was about six feet tall.
The shorter one was now right in front of Cricket with a smirk on his face and she wanted nothing more than to wipe it off. Cricket raised her leg and kicked him as hard as she could but soon realized that something was not right. Despite the fact that Cricket did not miss, his nose was not broken, his smirk was still intact if not wider than before, kicking him was like kicking a wall. She had a look of upmost horror and wonder. These… people are almost not human.
"Now stay still and we won't hurt you." The one she kicked said and as soon as he did the one behind her put a cloth over her mouth.
As soon as she realized it her eyes went wide and her struggling increased tenfold. The last thing she saw was the wide smirk of the shorter one before she was captured by the darkness that started out her day.
-ooOoo-
Buonasera – good evening
Phew, long chapter. Please review.
