Chapter 2

I squeezed Riru's arm. We both froze and watched.

Dressed all in black, the terrifying figure kept

his face down. He stepped from behind the tall

gravestone — raised his arms in front of him –

and began staggering stiffly toward riru and me.

“No000. Oh, noooo.” Another moan escaped

my throat.

And then the staggering creature raised his

head -- and I screamed. “Sai! You jerk!"

My little brother tossed back his black hood and

burst out laughing. He has a high, shrill hyena

laugh that makes me want to strangle him.

But I grabbed him by the shoulders instead,

and shook him hard. “You little rat. You scared

us to death."

That made Sai laugh even harder.

Riru laughed, too. “He got you this time, Asahi."

“Me?” I cried. “Me? You were scared, too, Riru."

"No, I wasn't,” she said. “I was only pretending."

The sky grew even darker, and I heard the

rumble of thunder in the distance.

"Let go of me," Sai said.

I didn't realize I was still gripping his

shoulders.

He stamped hard on my right foot.

"Owww!" I uttered a cry and staggered back.

Sai laughed again. He's a little creep.

He's always following me and trying to scare

me. I'd like to smash him. But as the man of the

house, my job is to watch over him and take care

of him as best I can.

The truth is, I can't really hate him. Mainly

because he looks just like me. We both have

thick, wavy black hair, round faces, dark eyes,

and we're tall and kind of beefy.

“Look what I found," Sai said. He

grabbed my hand and started to pull me along

the grassy path between the graves.

The wind felt wet. It shook the trees and sent

the dead leaves skipping over the old tombstones.

“Look,” Sai said, pointing down.

Riru and I stared at a deep hole in the ground.

“It's an open grave," Riru said.

I shivered again. I pulled my jacket tighter. "It's

an open grave, waiting for someone," I murmured.

I grabbed Sai. "Maybe it's waiting for you!"

He pulled away. "Maybe it's waiting for someone named Asahi," he said. His dark eyes flashed.

“I dare you to jump down there."

My eyes darted over the grave. It was deep

and the mud walls were black. Even in the din

light, I could see fat worms crawling over the

grave floor.

Riru laughed.

“What's so funny?" I snapped.

“Your face," she said. "You look so terrified.

It's just a mud hole, Asahi."

“No, it isn't," I replied. “Someone dug this for

a dead person. It isn't a hole - it's a grave."

"I knew you couldn't do it,” Sai said. He

laugh and smile, like he'd won a big victory. “I'm braver than you are! I'm braver than

you are!”

Riru turned to me. Her green eyes locked on

mine. “Go ahead. Jump in,” she whispered.

"Don't let Sai win."

I squinted into the grave. I watched the worms

crawling in the mud at the bottom. It looked

so dark and disgusting down there. But I had

just met Riru. I didn't want her to think I was a

coward.

I stepped to the edge.

Should I do it? Should I jump?

Before I could decide, someone gave me a hard

shove from behind.

"Hey!" I let out a scream and went sailing

into the grave.

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