Chapter One ~ Death Comes Knocking

A normal morning in the Icarius household turns grim as something unusual is discovered about Michelle.

Michelle Johnson awoke from her sleep with a cold sweat pouring down her face.  After several seconds of panicking and getting her eyes adjusted to the dark bedroom, she realized she had another nightmare.

 She glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside her and saw that it read '9:05 am'. She slept in an hour later than she would've preferred. Moving her hand over to the empty side of the bed, she realized that her boyfriend wasn't laying next to her.

 The faint sound of her two daughters could be heard coming from their bedrooms down the hall, and the slight whiff of what smelt like bacon occasionally entered her room. "I woke up just in time for breakfast," she thought to herself.

 After slowly getting up and stretching, Michelle then took the blanket and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She felt slightly better and proceeded to get herself dressed for the day. Once her morning routine of brushing her teeth and using the bathroom was finished, she then headed downstairs to the kitchen where the smell got stronger.

 Stopping at the entrance to the kitchen, Michelle watched her boyfriend leaning over the stovetop with his back faced to her. He frantically moved back and forth as he tried to cook breakfast. She found it insanely cute and couldn't help but smile.

 "Morning, Jason." she said to him.

 He looked back, slightly surprised to hear her voice.

 "Oh, morning sweetie," he said returning the smile. "Finally awake?"

 "Yeah," she replied while entering the room and sitting down at the table. "Why didn't you wake me?"

 "I couldn't bring myself to wake you, you just looked so calm and peaceful," he answered. "I was going to bring this up to you so you could have breakfast in bed but I guess I took too long."

 He let out a small chuckle and grabbed a plate out of one of the cupboards above him.

 "As soon as I saw the time I wanted to get up as quick as possible," she said smiling. "I would've slept in longer if it wasn't for another nightmare waking me up."

 "Another one?" Jason said with a small frown. "Are you okay?"

 "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "I still can't remember what they're about but I know I was terrified. I always wake up panicking."

 Jason placed the bacon on a plate and walked over to Michelle, placing it down in front of her before kissing her on the forehead. "Well, the good thing is that it's only a dream."

 "Yeah," said Michelle, picking up a piece of her breakfast and biting into it. The bacon was overcooked and way too crispy, but the thought of Jason going out of his way to make it for her made her feel special eating it.

 "I heard the kids in their room, did they eat?" she asked him.

 "Yeah," Jason answered. "They came down, quickly ate, and rushed back upstairs. They were giddy over something but they wouldn't tell me what it was."

 "Typical." Michelle giggled before suddenly feeling a sharp pain in the side of her neck. She quickly placed her hand over the spot where it hurt and let out a small yelp.

 "You okay?" Jason said looking concerned.

 "I just got a pain in my neck," she said rubbing the area. "It feels really sore."

 "Let me check," replied Jason, bending down and moving her silky brown hair out of the way. He examined her neck and noticed two small bumps with what looked like dried up blood on them. His eyes widened in shock.

 "What..." he said with a deep concerning tone to his voice.

 "What?" said Michelle slightly worried. "Is something wrong?"

 "It... looks like you have bite marks on your neck." he answered.

 "Bite marks?" she replied. "What do you mean?"

 "Two small bumps with dried up blood." said Jason, slowly getting up and sitting down next to her.

 "You don't mean..." Michelle replied in terror at Jason's observations.

 "It looks like it..." he said to her.

 "But how?"

 "I'm not sure..."

 There was an awkward silence for several seconds as the two of them pondered the possibility of an old threat they dealt with many years ago suddenly coming back to haunt them.

 The silence was then broken by a knock at the door.

 "I-I'll get it." said Michelle, trying to clear her throat.

 She got up and headed to the front door in the living room, looking back at Jason who had his eyes fixed on the table, thinking to himself about what was going on. Michelle turned back to the door and took a deep breath before grabbing the handle and opening it.

 She was surprised to see a tall man wearing a long black cloak standing over her.

 "H-Hello?" she said nervously. "Can I help you?"

 "Yes." the man said in a deep and threatening voice. "You have something I need."

 "Wh-what's that?" she said, terrified.

 The man reached his hand above his head and snapped his fingers, quickly making a long sharp scythe appear out of thin air.

 "Your soul..."