Shudders: Retribution

Chapter 17 - The Boy

"I'm home!" His small voice yelled as he entered into his house and closed the door behind him.

      He heard footsteps approach and saw his father come around the corner. "Hey, Einstein! Did you have any trouble getting home?"

"No." He kicked his boots off before handing the soup over to his father. "Mr. Clint gave me free soup for me and Christian."

"Oh did he now." His father took it and led his son to the kitchen table. "Did you thank him? That was really generous of him."

"I did." Gabriel took a seat at the table while his father prepared the soup. As per usual, his son immediately got started on his homework without the man having to ask him. One of the many reasons why he called him Einstein.

"Christian! You're brother's home and he brought soup!"

      A thud from upstairs made the man hold back a laugh. It was followed by the rush of feet coming down the stairs before a boy in pajamas and horrible bed hair appeared. He had his blanket tied around him like a cape while a tissue was shoved up his nose. "SOUP! WHERE?!"

"Righttt here." Their father placed two hot bowls of chicken noodle soup down on the table. Gabriel took his calmly but watched as his brother jumped into the chair in front of him and start chowing down on his soup. It was like the flu didn't affect his usual energy.

"Thwanks, bwo!" Christian sputtered, mouth full of noodles.

"Don't talk with your mouth full! You'll choke." Their father warned but the sick boy ignored him, continuing to eat the soup at his own speed.

     Gabriel took a bite of his own and went back to his homework. But he stopped and gave another glance to his family.

     Christian, his twin brother who has been sick with a sudden flu for the last two days.

      His father who left to go back to his home office to continue his work as a freelance designer.

      Then thinking about his mother who wouldn't be home until later. The flu that his brother had has been going around to the point where many people were seeking aid at the hospital his mother was a nurse at. She's been away from home a lot because of it.

      But Gabriel didn't put too much thought into it. He simply ate his soup and worked on his multiplication.

      If only he knew what would happen in the coming months...

      Everything began to turn black and his head started to feel heavier. Suddenly he wasn't sitting at the kitchen table anymore, but feeling himself being placed on one. He felt the hard surface against his back and hands steady him before the feeling of them disappeared. The darkness surrounding him began to accept some light. His eyes wavered open before slowly closing again. He could hear the rapid footsteps of another more clearly as the ringing in his ears steadily went away. His hand moved towards his side but was quickly pulled away by someone and placed to his side. His shirt was lifted up and a sudden jolt of pain came that forced his red eyes open as he let out a yell in pain.

      Yama turned his head to see (Y/N) with her hands over his side and a knife cutting into his skin. She pushed him back onto the table with her free hand to keep him steady as she carefully created the cut. Just like he did for her.

      She threw the knife away when she was done and Yama took deep breaths as the horrible throbbing came back.

      (Y/N) tried to steady her own breathing as she observed the wound, expecting his body to simply push out Xed's blood like hers did. But nothing. He was bleeding but none of the dark green blood came out.