Chapter Nine: Death Penalty

The air around me was cold and thin, and the dirt beneath me was just as cold, gooey and reeked of fresh blood. I knew I was in a five-foot deep hole, seeing a bright white circle above me. I was having a difficult time breathing due to someone's freezing hand covering my mouth. They were trying to suffocate me while their free hand wildly roamed my body. So far every time I tried to break free of them, I was hit in the head with something heavy and blunt.

A hammer maybe.

I coughed, feeling my lungs tighten, tasting their blood spilling into my mouth from where I bit their hand and the blood bubbled in my throat. In a desperate attempt to escape for the millionth time, I head butted my attacker and heard them yelp, falling backward. I took advantage of their sudden pain, managing to lift my knee and drove it into their stomach as hard as I could.

They let go of my mouth, inhaled brusquely and fell to my left side. I used whatever strength I had left in me to force myself back onto my feet and once the adrenaline began to pump, I used my hands to dig into the earth so I could climb out of the hole that they had thrown me into. However, before I could reach the top of the grave, the scenery changed and I was now standing on a deck next to mucky brown water. Water? Was this a lake?

The air was fresher and warmer, whizzing around me and my lungs welcomed it. Breathing in and out, still feeling like an animal being hunted down, I felt the world around me spin as my eyes searched for my attacker. The lake, the woods, and the sky began to blend together like a watercolor painting.

"Humans…are easy prey." A cold, raspy voice purred in my ear, and an involuntarily shiver rushed down my spine, causing my whole body to jerk and my eyes alarmingly shifted to find the culprit.

"Is it sinful…to kill those who kill?" The voice asked curiously and it began cackling uncontrollably, hitting high pitches. The leaves on the trees abruptly morphed into thousands of scarecrow and they were flying towards me, crowing and cawing. I could even hear the flutter of their wings as they flew nearer.

"SERENA!"

Erica's frustrated, booming voice echoed in my ears.

"Wha-?" I jumped at first and then lifted my head off the cool, black counter that I had fallen asleep on and stupidly slipped off the stool with a thud. I blinked, feeling the instant pain on my hip and rubbed it before wiping the sleep out of my eyes and blinked again. "What?"

Erica scowled, her arms now over her chest. "You know better to sleep while you're working."

"Sorry," I mumbled, fully aware that I was lucky she didn't just stick a needle in me to wake me up.

That was the most disturbing dream I've ever had.

Yawning, I straightened myself out, smoothing out the wrinkles on my shirt and I rubbed my face again to make sure I was completely awake. I returned to my former post at the tattoos, waiting for the artist to show up.

For the past two weeks I had tried to get a hold of Kiren but no such luck. At first it amused me because with all the contacts she gave me, not one was responding but now it was bugging me. I peeked at my navy blue cell phone, frowning after not seeing any missed calls or text messages. I decided after my last call that I wouldn't leave another voice message because there is a fine line between concern and harassment. I'm pretty sure I was walking that fine line.

"Sorry I'm late," someone muttered behind me. I spun on my heels quickly to see a tall, brooding male with jet-black short hair that spiked up. He walked passed me to get to his working area and I narrowed my eyes to study him.

He fit the bill well enough for a tattoo artist. He had a red serpent tattoo on his right ankle that went up to his calf, a black crouching panther on his left forearm and I could only see the start of another tattoo on his collarbone. His ears didn't have any more room for another piercing and his nose was pierced too, reminding me of a bull. He had a bored, thoughtless expression on his face and his book bag hung over his shoulder carelessly.

"You're twenty minutes late," I said dully, "but I honestly don't care. It's her that you have to worry about."

He shrugged indifferently, not opening his eyes as he dumped all his stuff onto the desk. "She ain't much."

"Jade Splinter," Erica snarled furiously once she caught the sight of her co-worker, her hands on her hips and her nostrils flared. She stood right behind me, causing the hair on my neck to rise, and my survival instinct told me to run. "You're-"

"Twenty minutes late, yea, she already told me," he said, tilting his head to me as a gesture as he unpacked his tools. "Now if you ladies don't mind."

He closed the faded black curtain on her and Erica, as I watched, turned purple in the face. I took that as my hint to scram before the lovers dragged me into their warfare. I went back to the cashier and while I was mentally absent, I silently cleaned the counter until I heard the door jingle. I had added a bell at the top of the door three days ago so it would announce when a customer had entered, but I looked up only to see Anthony carrying two plastic bags filled with food.

"Hey, how's it going?" I asked, attempting to converse with him but he avoided my eyes and stared directly at the black carpet floor.

"ANTHONY!" Erica's voice bellowed and it made him flinch. I ducked the moment I saw the flying red pen, hearing it hit the wall.

"Why are you late?" she hissed at her brother, her blue eyes narrowing dangerously. Her livid face had him frozen on the spot and his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he tried to find his voice.

I rolled my eyes, exhaling loudly. "Give him a break, Erica. Can you not see that he brought you food?"

He actually glanced at me—only for a second! And then nodded vigorously as if it would calm her. "Mom said-"

"Oh never mind!" She shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air as if she had surrendered and stormed into the storage room.

Anthony followed her a few moments later, at first not sure if he wanted to invade her space but he was certain that he didn't want to be around me. I chuckled to myself, shaking my head slowly and I wondered what the hell had possessed me when I agreed to take the job…oh right, 'cause I need money. I was helping Mom pay for my stay at the Cross Academy even though the headmaster had given me enough financial aid.

I heard more bickering in the back and sighed, returning to my cleaning duties.

"Any phone calls today?" I asked her when she finally resurfaced from under the sink, which astonished me to no end. In the past she had always told me that it was a man's job to fix the appliances in the house and she hired men to do it too. Yet there she was, under the sink and messing with the pipes.

And was she wearing overalls?

"You know Mom, you're supposed to let Mr. Tampon do that. I mean what use is he if you don't let him do his job?" I teased her, knowing it would provoke her and sure enough, Mom shot me an irritated glare as she wiped her hands on a rag.

"Stop calling him that. You're almost an adult and you still act ten."

"I'm sixteen going on seventeen—not forty like you."

"I don't think mature sixteen year olds give people insults as nicknames."

"Who ever said I was mature?" I smirked playfully but she continued to scowl. I swear I'm the only person in the house with a sense of humor—even if it is immature.

"So did anyone call?" I repeated my question, dropping my bag on the floor and opened up the cabinets. Food was the second thing on my mind. Kiren was obviously first.

She rolled her eyes and stood up, heading for the refrigerator. "No, sorry, your secretary took her day off today. Why do you keep asking?"

" 'Cause one of my buddies hasn't called me back yet," I said, attempting to sound calm when really I was anxious. Kiren wasn't the type to call someone crying and not inform them why unless she was prevented. Something was wrong and I could feel it.

"Well, they have a life. They're probably busy."

"I most certainly hope so," I mumbled, finding nothing that suited my tastes in the cabinets and closed them.

"Adam is taking us out to eat dinner so don't eat anything," she told me, finishing her drink of water by gulping it down and returned to her former position under the sink. I watched her curiously, thinking that she was probably fixing the sink to show off to Mr. Tampon.

Maybe she isn't my mother. Maybe she's an evil long lost twin who killed my real mother and now she's posing to be my mother.

"Hey Mom," I said tentatively as to not provoke the evil impostor.

"What?" she asked without looking.

"What's my favorite planet and why?"

"Mars because of the color and because in mythology he was the God of War," she answered casually, still focused on the pipe above her and paused momentarily in her work to ask, "why?"

I shrugged my shoulders even though I knew she couldn't see me.

"Just curious."

I tried to fix all of my attention on the Thank God It's Friday's menu in my hands, but my hands were gripping the menu so tightly that my knuckles had turned white and my glare was about to burn a hole right through the menu. I bit my bottom lip to keep my mouth from shooting out insults, tasting a little bit of blood.

My so-called Mom and her new toy were sitting in front of me, kissing and making the nastiest slurping sound I've ever heard in my life. My stomach lurched again and I cleared my throat for the fourth time only to be ignored, which caused me to slam my menu onto the table and the table to shake violently. My sudden movement made the waitress jump, dropping her notepad onto the floor and she swiftly fell to her knees to retrieve it and sighed loudly in embarrassment as she stood up. She cleared her throat, stared directly at me as if she, too, was trying to ignore the couple at the table.

She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and forced herself to smile pleasantly. "Can I take your orders?"

I smiled a fake smile and leaned closer to her. "Yea, could you bring me a long knife? A butcher knife would be fine. I incidentally forgot mine at home. Now I don't have anything to cut their tongues with."

The love couple immediately separated from each other as the waitress visibly paled and nervously clutched her notepad.

"She's just kidding," Mom told her while she glared wrathfully at me, "She has a wicked sense of humor."

Now that Mom's attention was fully on me, I calmly ordered food with a sincere smile so I wouldn't alarm the girl.

"Umm…I'll see what I can do," the waitress said to me, "…and for…?"

Mr. Tampon cleared his throat and rubbed his lips. I was right—he had been making out with Mom to get on my nerves. So as he ordered for himself and for Mom, I secretly toyed with the fork underneath the table, realizing earlier that his knee was close to my leg.

Close enough for me to fork him.

Mom shifted in her seat, her right leg was on top of his lap and I noticed the blush on her cheeks. "So how was work today, Sere?"

I shot a cholericly glare at her. "Oh just splendid dear, now if you could just stop vacuuming his mouth, dinner would be great too."

The lust spell in her eyes immediately drowned in outrage, her lips tightened into a thin line but she kept quiet. Mr. Tampon smiled gently to himself, knowing he had succeeded in pissing me off and tilted back into his chair. We sat in uncomfortable silence until the food arrived and then it was only the sound of the utensils clanking that kept the silence from coming back. I clicked my tongue impatiently, waiting for them to hurry up and finish rather than waste my time by feeding each other. She was even making that ridiculous train sound young mothers made to their infants and it was making me feel sick.

After twenty more agonizing minutes, the dinner was over and Mr. Tampon took us home. The drive home was quiet and unsettling—I caught their hands intertwined and they often exchanged glances. It made me want to barf. As soon as they entered the house, they headed straight to bed though I was positive they weren't going to be sleeping.

And yet, for someone who was supposedly intelligent, Mr. Tampon made a very fatal stupid mistake.

He had left his wallet and his car keys on the kitchen table. I grinned, feeling my evil side take over and I ignored their whisperings as I called Erica.

"Hey Miss Scorpion," I greeted casually into my cell, pocketing his wallet and twirled the key chain that held his car keys.

Erica groaned tiredly and her tone hinted that she didn't want to be bothered. "I thought you said you only gave people you hated nicknames."

"There was a time before we became friends that I hated you," I said, "Not the point though. I need your help and Mom can't know that you helped me, which is why I used your nickname."

"Assuming that I'd help you of course," she sneered and this time I heard the bickering of her parents in the background. No wonder she was cranky.

"It's got something to do with You-Know-Who."

"Mr. Tampon?" she perked up.

I felt my grin widen as she took the bait. "Yep."

The tone in her voice immediately changed, sounding a lot more cheerful and mischievous.

"What do you need?"

"Serena," Mom said my name reproachfully as she searched through the cabinets of the kitchen, "have you seen Adam's wallet or car keys?"

I could already hear the accusation in her voice and I gave her an apathetic frown. It was useless to try to seem innocent since she had a habit of instantly knowing that I was guilty. Guess I just have that kind of face.

"Sorry, not his keeper," I replied curtly, tying my shoestrings and I stood up. "Why don't you ask him?"

"He says he can't find them," she sighed, putting her hands on her hips in a thoughtful way and her eyes inspected me. "If you see them let us know, okay?"

I shrugged impassively, "Obviously."

As I walked out of the house I could hear her rummaging through the house in search of the lost objects and I couldn't help but grin. The walk to work was a peaceful one. It was nine in the morning so most people were already at work or sleeping. The air was light and breezy since the sun still hadn't heated up the earth, and the clouds looked like white puffy sheep.

Once I entered the store, the bell chiming as I went, Erica turned to face me and flashed me a lighthearted grin.

"They suspicious yet?"

"Nope," I grinned back.

"How long do you think it will take them?"

"They'll probably realize it was me when I get back home."

"Think they'll find the stuff before they know it was you?"

I shrugged and looked around. "Where's your boy? Late again?"

Erica's face instantly fell and became annoyed. "He's not my boy. He's a close friend, but that's it."

"Right," I said offhandedly, "he late?"

"Shouldn't be," she answered with a sigh as she glanced at the white, Chinese cat clock on the wall, "I messed with his alarm clock yesterday and set it back for a couple of hours. He should be here early."

As if on cue, the bell chimed and there stood Jade Splinter, a harassed expression clearly written on his face as if it went against God's law to toy with his belongings.

"Ah huh," I uttered, looking back and forth between the two cautiously. "I think I'll take my leave."

I suppressed my giggle, knowing it would trigger an argument, and sped behind the counter to get ready for the day. I watched the two 'friends' go to the storage room and heard the door slam shut, and the shouting that came afterward. I was beginning to understand how Erica felt when she was stuck in between her parents while they argued. Hearing Jade and her fight reminded me of her parents.

I sighed, wondering if children suffered the fate of repeating their parents' mistakes.

The bell rang for the third time and a man with wild black hair entered, his one blue eye staring directly at me. I shifted my weight to my other leg, feeling slightly uneasy with him staring at me and mustered enough nerve to stare back at him.

"Can I help you sir?" I asked, letting my eyes linger on him and took in his foreign appearance. The eye patch on his right eye compelled me to gaze at it in wonder.

"No. Just taking a look," he replied. His voice had a familiar accent and he kept his penetrating gaze on me. My stomach knotted, realizing he didn't mean he was here to look around the store, but to look at me.

"You're not from here," I stated, feeling unfriendly and fretful.

A small smile played on his chapped lips, "The accent is a dead give away."

"Where are you from?" My nose scrunched up, catching the scent of cigarette smoke and backed away from the counter since he was too close to me. The distance gave me fresher air.

"Japan," he answered with an affable smile, adjusting his eye patch without letting me see what was behind it. Not that I wanted to see anything. His reply struck a cord in me. Now he's definitely on my creep list. I mean this isn't coincidence. How often did I run into someone from Japan? Not often! I folded my arms over my chest defensively and was just about to tell him to leave when-

"Really? She just came back from there." Jade joined us and I scowled at him for giving the stranger that piece of information.

"Oh?" The visible blue eye widened in interest.

"Yep," Jade replied, grabbing his headphones so he could tune out Erica, "...some expensive, private academy."

"Oh?" the man repeated and I glared at the two of them.

"Right, so are you done looking?" I ominously narrowed my eyes at the man, whose smile only got bigger and his eye held mirth.

He took the hint.

"Yes, I'm done, thank you," his eye lingered on me, "For your time."

"No problem," I grunted.

Jade glanced back and forth between us, looking like he missed on out something important. When the man left, the bell ringing as he went, Jade gently nudged me on the shoulder with his elbow.

"Dude, was he bugging you?"

"Kind of," I grumbled under my breath and busied myself.

Jade's dark brown eyes stared at the door and he frowned. "My bad for talking too much…but…if he comes back let me know."

Before I could tell him to back off and that I could take care of myself, he disappeared into his 'tattoo office'.

I sighed again; already tired of working and glad the day was over. I fished out my house keys, walking on autopilot on the familiar path back to home, and my thoughts traveled back to the Japanese stranger. I took a shortcut through the Lake Wood Parks; a playground consisting of four swings, monkey bars, and two yellow slides. I pulled out my cell and it read nine P.M. Sighing, I shoved my cell back into my pocket.

Mom was going to give me hell for working so many hours, but I rather be at work than with the lovebirds. Unexpectedly, my cell began to ring and I extracted it from my pocket. I glanced down into the screen and realized it was an unknown number.

Kiren?

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Serena-chan?" Kiren greeted back tentatively, barely whispering.

"KIREN! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET A HOLD OF YOU SINCE FOREVER!" I bellowed into the phone and the cell's battery abruptly died, sending me into a shouting frenzy.

"OF ALL THE EFFIN' TIMES TO DIE AND YOU DIE NOW? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FRIGGIN' KIDDING ME!"

I growled at it furiously, the heat rising to my cheeks and I thought I heard a teapot whistling inside my head.

How typical! I swear someone, whether it be fate or destiny or whatever the likes, enjoys pissing me off.

I suddenly felt a cold draft shoot down my spine and the hair on my neck rose. Instinct, or whatever it was, was warning me. Someone had been following me.

Before I could turn around or look over my shoulder to see if I was actually being followed, someone with strong hands grabbed me by the shoulders and brutally threw me against the ground. I shrieked in both surprise and panic, and gaped into the hideous red irises of the bearded man on top of me. I slapped him with my left hand, which made me feel really stupid, and seconds later I slammed my right fist into his cheek, catching him off guard. He reeled back, howled in pain and my eyes widened in horror as I saw his mouth begin to foam. His red eyes cruelly narrowed at me and he snarled, flashing me his fangs-

Hold on a damn, disturbing second. THOSE WERE FANGS! AND HE HAS RED EYES! RED! RED EYES! HOLY SHIT!

He managed to pin down my arms above me using only one of his hands despite my struggling and the other hand forcibly tilted my head. The scream I made when he bit into the arc of my neck ripped my throat and for a moment I believed I damaged my vocal cords. I grunted, shrieked, kicked and when I got my right hand free, I began beating his back.

None of that stopped him.

And FUCK he's HEAVY! And his fucking FANGS hurt like shit!

Is it sinful to kill someone who kills?

The question randomly popped into my head but I recognized the masculine, insane voice from my dream. I shivered feverishly, hearing the sickening slurping sound and I winced when I felt the fangs digging deeper. I grunted, beginning to feel tremendously drowsy and I had to fight the urge to close my eyes, afraid that if I did close them I would die.

That's when I heard an earsplitting bang and saw, in relief and dread, the Japanese man holding a gun in his left hand. The man on top of me slid to my side, his red eyes turning hazel and the life in them vanished.

I couldn't move, frozen with shock and yet trembling.

"Sorry I didn't get to you sooner," the Japanese man grunted, a cigar in his mouth and he shoved the gun into his trench coat.

I coughed, flinching in pain because of the throbbing on my neck and didn't dare to try to stand. I knew I would have fallen anyway.

"Relax, I'm not here to harm you," he tried to reassure me, now kneeling beside me.

I took in a deep breath, backing up to get away from him and I bumped into the yellow slide. Sure, he might have just saved my ass but I didn't know him and I couldn't trust him.

"Okay, look, you're going to black out soon. So I'll tell you something before you pass out. My name is Touga Yagari. Or Yagari Touga, whichever way you see it," he introduced himself calmly, adding, "and I am NOT your enemy."

I nodded my head, hearing something loudly buzzing in my ears and my head began to feel heavy.

True to his word, I did black out.

I was in the grave again. I could smell the earth, taste it in my mouth and my fingers grasped the ground. I sat up, taking in my surroundings and concluded it was the same dream. Or at least, it was the same location. I looked up, finding the opening and became instantly shocked to see Mr. Bunny standing on the edge of my grave, and though I could see clearly it was him, his face was distorted.

His oceanic eyes seemed, for the lack of a better way of phrasing it, like he was on crack. They were huge, dilated and unstable. He had a Cheshire cat grin on his face and was laughing hysterically. Though his voice sounded different. In fact, it wasn't his voice at all! He dropped to his knees next to my grave and leered at me. It was the first time I saw him with fangs and I shivered, my hand involuntarily moved to my neck and I felt two punctured holes there.

OH GOD! I'M GOING TO BECOME A WEREWOLF!

"Serena!" He shouted, disrupting my thoughts on becoming a canine creature and I noticed he was still grinning like a maniac, waving a shovel in his hand. "Is it sinful to kill someone who kills?"

I groaned, tilting my head backwards.

Not that question again.

The scenery melted into darkness and when I opened my eyes again I found myself staring into two enormous red eyes with no body. I felt my body stiffen in panic.

"Is it?" the creepy voice inquired.

I gulped, hitting my back against a muddy wall.

Was it sinful to kill someone who kills?

I didn't know the answer.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

That took longer than you think to write! I kept changing my mind!

Sadly, I will be taking more time to write because in the span of ten months I've had four family deaths, and I wanted to update this before I disappear for a while. Honestly I feel like Death is targeting my family.

So...hope you enjoyed this chapter!