Episode 2: Happy Birthday 

*Morning*

*When you walk away... you don't hear me say... pleeeaaassse oh baby, don't go!*

Ven groans and turns off the ringer of his cell phone.

*Wait a minute... if I can hear the song then...*

Ven's eyes flip open and he gasps loudly. He looks down and finds himself dressed in his pajamas, but he doesn’t remember changing out of his clothes and he doesn't remember falling asleep. The only thing that he remembers for sure is the beating he got from Jamie and his gang. He leaps out of his bed and rushes to the bathroom and examines himself in the mirror, looking for the scrapes and bruises he received from the day before. To his surprise, there isn't a mark. He comes out of the bathroom and looks around his room. His Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragonball Z posters are still on the wall, his Millennium Falcon Lego is on his nightstand accompanied by a Mobile Suit Gundam figure. Nothing is out of place. Nothing out of the ordinary.

*Odd*

Confused, he races downstairs in search of his mother and finds her dancing and cooking breakfast, whistling an unfamiliar tune.

“Mom,” Ven says dryly.

“Good morning my teenager!” She responds joyfully. “Happy 16th birthday!”

She motions for him to take a seat.

“I’m almost done making your breakfast.”

“Thanks mom.” He takes a seat at the table. “What happened last night?”

“What do you mean?” she replies while cracking an egg over a hot pan.

“I-“ he clears his throat then continues, “I got into a fight didn’t I?”

She cocks her head and looks at him. “No? You came home unscathed, watched TV and fell asleep on your bed.”

“Are you sure?” He asks, examining her face for any sign of her lying. She wasn't a very good liar, well so he thought.

“Positive,” she smiles cheerfully. She removes the now perfectly fried egg from the steaming stove and pours it onto a plate, next to a bed of spinach and buttered toast. "Here." She places the plate infront of Ven, whose mouth begins to water.

“That’s so weird. I remember getting jumped on the way home yesterday," he says while taking a bite out of his food. Delicious as always.

Auroa shrugs. “Anyway, I’m letting you stay home from school today. I do however need you to run a few errands for me while I set your surprise up!” She says excitedly. She kisses his cheek and continues, “Everything will make sense to you soon. You’ll see.”

*That Afternoon*

After Ven finishes his breakfast, he takes a hot shower, brushes his teeth and gets dressed to go to the mall for his mother. He assumes that maybe she is finally taking him on “the” trip that she promised him since he was a small child. His mother never let him leave the city and he never knew why and she only told him that he was forbidden to do so and if he ever did and she found about it, he would be in serious trouble. She only promised him that she would take him on a “trip” when he was “older” but she never specified as to where she would take him nor how old he had to be to go.

He takes a look at the list his mother gave him:

Toilet Paper

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Deodorant

Soap

Underwear

Nothing out of the ordinary. 

He spends about two hours at the mall, gathering the items and then heads back home. Nearing his home, Ven's ears perk up and he gets the sudden feeling that he is being followed. He turns around but of course, he doesn't see anybody following behind him.

*Ven*

A cold whisper to his ears. He whips his body around and finds nothing. He feels a cold wind but notices that the leaves of the trees are not moving along with the breeze.

“I have to be imagining this. This is the same feeling that I had yesterday. I don’t understand.” Ven mumbles to himself.

He shrugs the eerie feeling off and hurries home.

As he approaches the steps to his home, he sees that the front door is wide open.

Odd

His mother never left the door open.

Ever.

He takes a step forward and he then feels an icy chill coming from the inside of the house and a pungent smell.

Something is wrong.

He drops all the bags that he was carrying and rushes inside the house. Once inside, he finds black blood sprayed all over the walls, shattered glass all over the floor and furniture flipped on its side.

“Mom?!” He calls as he slowly walks down the hallway, following a long trail of black blood.

“Mom?” He continues to call. His voice shaky and he feels a sense of dread with each step that he takes.

No answer.

The trail of blood finally leads him to the kitchen, which is usually nicely kept, in a disarray. Pots and pans are scattered everywhere. Silverware and shattered glass are all over the floor. There are splatters of black and red blood on the walls and countertops.

He turns towards the dining table and sees his mother on the floor, laying in a pool of blood.

“MOM!!!” He screams.