Alice
I took a seat next to Runo at the dining table while we all waiting for Kato and the other servents to bring out this morning's breakfast. During the wait, all eyes were glued onto the forty inch flat screen TV that was hung on the wall in front of the table.
It was on the news; only because Murucho didn't know where Kato had left the remote, and he didn't feel like pestering Kato with something so minor. A story about a murder, was being covered at the moment. Three people were violently slaughtered late last night; there were no suspects as to who may have killed them.
Names of the victims were released, but we knew none of them. Murucho shook his head in shame and said, "When did the world become such a violent place?" That thought had come across my mind several times, but the truth was, it had always been violent.
It only seemed like now, that things kept getting worse, when in reality, they had never changed; we all had just finally grown out of our innocence and started to pay attention to what was going on all around us. Shun walked into the dining hall, making him the last of our group to arrive.
I smiled kindly and said, "Morning, Shun." I was trying to make things feel normal for him again, unlike the others, who were constantly making their worry known to the public. I admit that I was still concerned about him, but advertising our worry for him was only going to keep making things difficult.
Shun needed to start leaving all of this behind him and go on with his life, but he wouldn't be able to do that if everyone kept dwelling on it while around him. Shun gave me a quick nod of his head in order to return my cordial greeting without words.
He then took his seat down at the far end of the table like usual, and sat silently. I turned my head and faced the white tablecloth, then sighed. Our breakfast was brought out, but when one of the waiters got to Shun and was about to place a plate in front of him, Shun only shook his head and turned down the food.
Murucho, finishing a bite of food, asked curiously, "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat, Shun?" Our raven-haired friend only shook his head and leaning back into his chair. When I thought about it, Shun really hadn't eaten that much since he left the hospital.
Worry began to take over when I thought that he might have been starving himself due to all of this stress. Something has to be done about this before it gets out of hand, I thought to myself. An idea then came to my mind, and I stood up from my seat.
"Why don't we all go and walk around the city today? It'll give us a chance to get some air and relax." Everyone was looking at me while they took in my suggestion. Murucho smiled and said, "I think that's a great idea, Alice. To be honest, I've been so busy around here, I haven't had the chance to go out and have some fun for quite some time."
One by one, the others started to agree with my idea. Now all that was left, was Shun's input. "What do you say, Shun? Why don't you come with us?" I asked, hoping that he'd join us on our outing.
My whole entire goal of this, was to try and let Shun see that things were still normal, and that not much had changed since his wreck. All eyes were fixed on him as we awaited his answer.
He finally let out a small sigh and said, "I suppose I could go." I smiled and sat back down in my seat. Hopefully, my plan would work. If it didn't, then I had no clue as to how much longer I could stand to see Shun like this.
Shun
About an hour after breakfast, the six of us left Murucho's and began our walk around the city, just as Alice had suggested. The weather was nice; not too hot, but not cold enough for a jacket either. It was pleasant weather. As our group walked along the sidewalk, the girls would occasionally stop by a clothing store and peer into the windows to see what was inside.
I had only agreed to go with the others so they might stop worrying about me, and as far as I could tell, it was working. I was lagging behind the rest of the group when I noticed that Dan slowed his pace down and joined my side.
He leaned over and whispered, "At least act like you're having a good time, buddy, because I honestly think Alice thought this up cause of you." I glanced at Dan. This little fact didn't surprise me; Alice was caring like that. She was probably trying to show me that everything was like it had been before my wreck.
For the most part, things were still the same, minus a few new changes. I just wish they'd believe that, leave me alone, and stop worrying so much. They were practically wearing themselves out by being concerned about me, but Dan had a point.
Alice was doing this to try and help me, and I didn't want her to feel like her actions were for nothing. So, when she turned around and looked at me, I cracked a faint smile. This, in turn, made her smile back. We continued on our walk when I felt a familiar pressence nearby.
I stopped walking and looked around. The others noticed that I had stopped walking, and halted as well. "Is everything alright, Shun?" Runo asked me. Already, I knew there was concern growing on their faces. "Hello there!" a voice shouted from behind me.
I cringed at the nails-on-chalboard voice, and slowly turned around. Running down the sidewalk, frantically waving his hand around in the air, was Grim. He halted just short of me and my friends, not even so much as panting from his mad dash towards us.
"What a surprise, little Re-" He stopped short of finishing his sentence, and I was grateful for it. If he had called me by his little 'nickname' for me, then the others would probably would have been confused. And the last thing I needed was this lunatic spilling the secret of what I was now, or what he was for that matter.
He then continued and said, "Who are they, little raven? Your friends?" I shut my eyes and let out a heavy sigh; I thought I hated the other name, but this one made me stand corrected. Dan and the others stood beside me, examining the mad man that was Grim.
Dan leaned over and cautiously asked me, "Uh, Shun, do you know this guy?" Grim stood there, head tilted to the side, and a blank smile plastered on his face. I mumbled under my breath, "Hardly." Grim skipped over in front of Dan and took my friend's arm into his hands.
"What in the world are you doing?" Dan demanded as he tried to pry his arm from Grim's hands. The Reaper then flipped Dan's arm over so that the underside was facing up. Running along his arm, was a pinkish scar that had been there for as long as I could remember.
Grim's eyes sparkled at the sight of the blemish, and a childish smile was slapped across his face. He then lifted his index finger and traced the path of the scar. Dan was staring at Grim, his eyes wide and filled with complete confusion.
Was that how I had looked when the Reaper examined my scar? Had I looked that freaked out? Grim licked his lips and said smoothly, "You got this scar when you fell off your bike when you were eight." Dan's eyes grew even wider, and his weren't the only ones.
Behind him, the others stared at what was going on in utter shock. Dan then snapped out of his trance and snatched his arm out of Grim's grip. "H-how did y-you know that! Get out of here you freak!" he shouted, gathering the attention of several passersby.
Grim took a step back and told Dan, "Flattering will get you no where, my boy." This caught the others off guard. Before things escalated any further, I stepped between my friends and Grim. Turning towards the Reaper, I whispered in a harsh tone, "You need to get out of here! Now! Before you mess up and tell them what you are!"
Grim smiled and let out a deep chuckle. He then tilted his head to the side, his eyes halfway open. I then realized that hhis gaze was fixated on my scar. "So happy to see that you're not hiding that anymore," he whispered in a husky voice.
"It's too pretty to be covered up, remember that." A chill went down my spine with that being said. Behind me, the others didn't seem to have heard any of what was being said between Grim and I; they were too busy trying to calm Dan down.
The moment of Grim's act of smoothness, went away like somebody had flipped an internal switch inside of his brain. He laughed and said in a shrill voice, "It was nice seeing your friends. I shall see you around, little raven!" He then ran across the street, not even looking for oncoming traffic.
Cars blew their horns at him, but he made it to the other side unscathed. Grim gave us one last wave before running off somewhere else. While standing there, I began to wonder why Grim kept showing up whenever I went outside and into the city.
It was starting to leave a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach; I was actually starting to feel as if I was being stalked by him. I mentally made a note to mention something about to Death the next time I'd see him, whenever that would be.
I then remembered my friends behind me, and went back to them. Dan still appeared to be disturbed by what just happened to him. My friend turned to me and asked, "What kind of freaks are you hanging around with, Shun?" I didn't know how to respond to that question, so I kept silent.
Perhaps I could have told him that I wasn't hanging out with Grim, and that he was the one following me, but that made it sound even more like the Reaper was stalking me.
The others were still gathered around Dan and continuing their efforts to calm him down. They quickly realized that it was probably a good idea to go back to Murucho's, and our group continued on the way back from the way we came.
Shun
When we got back to Murucho's, I informed Kato that I would be on the roof in case somebody needed me or wanted to know of my whereabouts. It was growing dark outside when I walked up to the roof. As I strode across the helicopter pad, I let out a heavy sigh and thought about things could have turned out for the worse today.
If Grim had slipped up and told them about me, then the secret would be out. But maybe the others would have just taken his words as the ramblings of a crazy man. I walked over to the edge of the roof and looked out at the city. It had occurred to me sometime ago, that I would have to give Dan some sort of explaination as to how Grim knew about that scar.
What would I tell him? It was a lucky guess? Even Dan was smart enough not to buy that story. "Deep in thought?" a monotone voice asked me. Rather than jumping and freaking out like I had done the previous two or three times, I chuckled and replied with, "I guess you could say that."
Death stood on the very edge of the roof, the breeze blowing his cloak around like a black flag. "Seen any new deaths?" he asked me, never taking his gaze from the darkening city. I shook my head and told him, "No…..Thank heavens for that."
Death let a short laugh escape. "You're thankful that you're not seeing what now makes you, you? Ah, you get more and more interesting by the day, my friend. But I have a feeling that you will see a death within the next few days. Things like deaths, are very frequent among new Reapers. So, prepare yourself for them."
The wind picked up some more, and I snuck a glance over a Death, expecting the wind to pull the hood of his cloak off and show me his face. But that hood didn't even so much as move with with wind, unlike the rest of his cloak that was now fanned out like a spectacular flag or banner.
I suddenly asked him, "How do you know when somebody's about to die? You never told me." Death's trademark grin appeared. "I see their auras. Those that are about to die, are black in color, while those with plenty of life left, are usually another color. It all depends on how much longer they will be alive. They are literally, the colors of life."
I wondered about what color my aura was now that I was a Reaper. Did I even have one now? Probably not. I then began to think about what color my aura might have been when I suffered my untimely death. How much life did I have left when that happened anyway?
It bothered me that I didn't know. Perhaps I could have asked Death, but I had a feeling that he wouldn't have told me. My mental note that I made suddenly came into my thoughts. I turned to Death and asked him, "What's Grim's deal? Why does he keep showing up everywhere I go?"
Death glanced down at me, and I saw a humorous smile crease what little of his face that was exposed. "Is he now? I guess he took more of a liking to you than I originally thought. There must be something he really likes about you if he's pursued you for this long. Normally, he'll take interest in something and be over it after a few hours, but apparently not this time. Don't worry too much about it though. I'm sure his little obession will pass with time. Or when something else grabs his attention. Whichever comes first."
It didn't how long it took for Grim to move on to something else, as long as he did and didn't follow me around for all of eternity. I noticed, from the little bit of Death's face that I could see, he appeared to be a bit lost in his thoughts as well.
"Didn't know something could trouble Death," I mused. His expression turned into a serious one when he said, "Those murders that happened last night. They were clearly caused by a Reaper. What's bothering me is that I have an idea of who did it, and the other Reapers and I have been unable to capture him and punish him for his crimes for quite some time."
I recalled there being some report on the TV about these murders, but I thought they were just that. Murders. The thought that a Reaper had killed those people, never once came to my mind. "I thought that…..Reapers didn't kill people. That they only sent their souls away."
Death gazed out at the city, which had now turned nothing short of dark; the only light the was around us, was the flashing light on top of the roof that signaled that there was a helicopter pad.
"They're not supposed to, but this Reaper has never followed by the rules. His name even suits what he is. Rogue. For as long as I can recall, the Reapers have been hunting for him to punish him for all the wrong he has done. Yet, they can never capture him for some reason. But you have no reason to worry about him, so don't," Death told me flaty.
Even I could see that this dilemma troubled him. There was a rogue Reaper out there, killing people that weren't supposed to die. How could they not capture him though? I was about to ask Death, but he cut me off. "I must be on my way now."
His cloak then engulfed him, and I was left standing on the roof by myself. And so, before the others started to worry about me once again, I left the roof and went inside for dinner.
back! :p i would have uploaded yesterday (seeing as i didnt have a football game to attend to) but i went with a friend to see the new Resident Evil movie. guess what people, it's not the last one! WOO! but it was WAY better than Afterlife, seeing as there was ACTUALLY a storyline and plot in this one, rather than they were only focusing on effects like in the 4th movie (anyone who has seen that will understand what i'm talking about) they went WAY overboard on effects for the 4th one cause it was the first Resident Evil movie to be in 3D. but they corrected their errors in this one. and all i can say is, "RUSSIAN. COMMUNIST. ZOMBIES. ON. MOTORCYCLES. WITH. RPG GUNS!" how much cooler can that get! XD lol. well, i highly recommend for people that like the series to go see it. so worth it. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~