The Reapers

1. Life

Seattle, Washington
Present Day

Seattle, Washington, has been under constant cloud cover since Monday with rain. It snowed on the mountain range in Washington State. It was early spring weather. The city was the birthplace of Starbucks. Kurt Cobain lived in Seattle before his death in 1994. There were a lot of pop culture moments happening in the city.

Sydney Grace Harper was sleeping in her warm bed. It was almost five in the morning. She had a nine-hour shift at the hospital. As soon as her alarm clock went off, Sydney rolled over and hit the clock with her hand. Mornings were not her specialty. She sat up in her bed. Then she heard her roommate Gabrielle in her room. Gabrielle was kicking out her nightly guest from the apartment. Sydney watched the man walk down the hallway past her bedroom. Sydney brushed her blonde hair away from her hazel eyes. She was twenty-six years old. When she got out of bed, Sydney headed for the shower. Gabrielle was sitting up in bed. She was puffing on her first cigarette of the day.

Gabrielle and Sydney met in a coffee shop. Both were looking for a suitable roommate. They agreed to pay the rent in 50/50 and divided house chores. Gabrielle was originally from Florida. She moved to Seattle, Washington for college. Sydney was originally from Southern California. She moved to Seattle to get away from her parents. Gabrielle was a tall brunette with soft chestnut eyes. She was a teacher's aide at the nearby elementary school. They have been roommates for three years. They were like sisters.

***

After Sydney got her shower, she got dressed in her scrubs. Sydney headed out to the kitchen. Gabrielle was making coffee in the coffee kettle. Sydney sat down on the kitchen stool. Gabrielle grabbed two mugs from the kitchen cabinet. She placed one mug in front of Sydney. It was a quiet Monday morning. Sydney got a cup of coffee while Gabrielle got a shower. It was nearly six thirty in the morning.

"Gabby! Don't forget the trash for the dumpster." Sydney yelled out.

Gabrielle popped her head out of the bedroom doorway. "I will. I'm going to get fabric softener after work." She called out.

"You know Snuggles." Sydney said back.

"I will see you after work." Gabrielle replied.

Sydney shook her head after she left the apartment. She bumped into Malcolm and Panda in the elevator. Malcolm lived next door for three years. He helps out when he can for the girls. Panda was a three-year-old Akita. She had fluffy black and white fur. Sydney scratched behind Panda's ear with her fingers. Malcolm was the same age as Gabrielle and Sydney. He had bright blue eyes and light brown, almost blond, hair. He was tall but athletic. Gabrielle noted one time that Malcolm had kissable lips and great cheek bones. He always had his hair combed back, with hair gel coating his hair.

"Who was the man who left your apartment?" Malcolm asked Sydney as he leaned back on the wall.

"I do not know his name. Probably from Tinder again. You know, Gabby." Sydney answered, looking at Malcolm.

"Tinder makes me think of nasty sexual transmitted diseases. I might have to bleach everything in her room." Malcolm replied. He pressed the lobby button on the button pad.

"After work," Sydney told him.

"Plan on it." Malcolm said it with a smirk.

They went down five floors to the lobby. After they got out of the elevator, Malcolm went one way. Sydney went the other way, towards the street. She walked down the street to the bus stop. She thought about riding her bike to the hospital. It was too damp to ride to work. She stood in a crowd of people waiting for the bus to come. The bus drove down the road. It stopped at the corner. Sydney took money from her wallet for the bus fare. She placed the money in the ticket machine. Once the ticket came up, Sydney took it and went to find a seat on the bus. The bus drove away down the road to the next stop.