A Reaper's Mission

Chapter 13: Loreto (Emma)

Michael and I land in another suburban area, after three very boring visits. I sigh thinking back to the guy who was in a meeting the entire time. I look around and want to choke at the cookie-cutter houses. They aren't even different colors! Every house is the same brown with white trim. The mailboxes only differ with the numbers and names. Otherwise, they are alarmingly similar. Does no one wanna be unique here? I feel like I'm back in the neighborhood he made.

            No.

            "So, where are we now?" I ask Michael, getting myself out of my own head.

            Michael gives me a stupid grin, "Glad you asked Emma! We're visiting Loreto next!" He exclaims, starting to walk to one of the cookie-cutter houses. How do these homeowners even know the difference? "Since it's summer, Loreto is at home, and more than likely playing video games."

            "Video games?" I parrot back to him. I've heard of games of course and videos, but how are they combined? Games are games and videos are videos. Right?

            "They're games you play on the tv." He explains, finally walking up a pathway (even all the flowers are the same!). "Sorry, I forget that you're from a completely different time period sometimes."

            "I don't think you're from this time period either." I point out to Michael.

            "Yeah, but I interact with this new time period, so I can understand it." He turns around to throw a bragging smile my way. He walks through the door and I follow him, begrudgingly admitting he's right. Only to myself though, I refuse to inflate his ego anymore. I don't know how he carries that blimp he calls a head.

            "So what's Loreto like? You've given me the rundown of everyone else." I say, studying the walls and smiling as I see adorable pictures of a small boy. Another child?

            Michael purses his lips, "Loreto is...shy, I guess." He wrinkles his nose, not seeming to like his own answer.

            "You guess?" I ask, surprised. Everyone else he's been so confident with. I had to listen to him rattle for ten minutes about why a banker he watches had every right to choose a vegan lifestyle. And for a waitress, he gushed about her talent for singing and playing guitar. He swore she was gonna be a superstar!

            He sighs, "Loreto is hard to describe. He's extremely closed off that even I struggle to read him. He likes video games and to read. Hates school with a passion. Only talks to one person. Not particularly close to either of his parents but seems to love them so much." Michael bites his lip. "He's always struggled to get close to people. He's adopted and people are always giving him grief for it and asking questions he doesn't have the answers to."

            I blink, "He sounds kinda complicated." Michael laughs.

            "Everyone is complicated, Emma. It's just that I've been with others longer. Loreto doesn't like getting close to people, as if he's afraid of something." Michael explains, and he gets a look on his face giving away the fact he knows the secret. He turns around from the kitchen looking confused. "He must be upstairs," Michael concludes heading back to the front of the house where the staircase was.

            "You said he talks to one person, so they must be his friend, right?" I say, feeling a bit proud that I could conclude something about someone as if I was getting close to Loreto. Is this what it felt like to be a guardian? No, Emma. Don't think like that.

            Michael bites his lip once more, "Of a sort." What does he mean by that?

            We make it up the stairs and immediately we hear sounds of guns going off and my heart drops. I move my hand, ready to turn my cross bracelet into my scythe. But... wait...this must be the video games that Michael was talking about. I look at Michael and he looks unconcerned, confirming my suspicions. Detective Emma. A smirk curls on my face at the thought. He walks to the second door on the right and walks through the closed door. I follow suit and I gawk at the room before us.