16 years earlier

"Take them! Mary take them! You have to go!"

Mary stared at the two blond headed children who had just been thrust into her arms. Her son stared at her with sapphire eyes that were startlingly wise and more than a little unnerving for a one year old. His small hands curled around his blanket as he watched his mother. The other baby was just as quiet, her eyes a startling violet blue that also appeared excessively knowing for her age. Though Mary had never said anything, the age within the children's eyes had always slightly unnerved her.

Now it terrified her.

"Mary!" She blinked in startled surprise at the man before her, the man who had just handed her the children, John. He was her husband, but she now realized she didn't know him at all. She had never known him. The thought sent a fresh wave of cold dread down her spine. Goose pimples broke out on her flesh; she could barely breathe through the anxiety clutching at her chest.

"Mary, you must get them to safety."

She began to shake as she clung to the children who had yet to make a sound. "Take them! Take them where?" She had to battle against the tears filling her eyes and clogging her throat.

Jessie, the girl's mother, nudged John out of the way as she stepped forward. Her dark blue, almost violet eyes were turbulent, and her unruly golden hair tumbled around her face. "To my mother in Florida, she'll know what to do. She'll keep you safe."

"Safe from what?" Mary hated the hysterical note in her voice, but her body hummed with panic.

"She'll fill you in when you get there," Derek, Jessie's husband, informed her. "You must go Mary." Unlike Jessie and John, Derek was relatively calm. Exceptionally calm considering he was telling her to take his daughter and flee to Florida. Flee from what, Mary didn't know, but they seemed adamant that she go. "If you stay, you will die. They will die. Now go!"

Mary gaped at him as her heart hammered. "I don't understand," she cried. "I don't understand any of this!"

"I'm sorry honey, but you must listen to us. You must get yourself, and the children, to safety," John insisted.

"What about you? Why don't you come with me?" she demanded. She wanted to grab hold of his arm and shake some answers out of him, but the children within her grasp stopped her from doing so.

"We can't, they'll only follow us. We'll meet you later," Jessie informed her, though Mary realized with heart wrenching certainty that Jessie was lying. They would not be meeting her later. Mary was beginning to realize she would never see any of them again.

"The police, we must go to the police," she whispered.

"They're useless," Brent said harshly. Mary's gaze shot to the man who had been mute until now. Mary didn't know Brent well and he had never seemed to approve of her much for some reason. However, he’d been friends with Jessie, Derek, and John for years even though he was a good twenty years older than them. Mary had never understood their strange relationship, but they were extremely close, and often kept her in the dark as they whispered with each other. She had always resented their relationship, and her exclusion from it, but she had kept her bitterness hidden, unwilling to upset or annoy her husband. "If you involve them, you will only get them hurt and yourself killed."

"They're coming." John's body tensed as his lip curled into a sneer. "Go!" He dropped a kiss quickly on her head before shoving her toward the door. "Go now, before it's too late!"

Mary stumbled as he shoved her out the back door to the waiting car. A car that she hadn't started, but was already idling at the ready, and appeared to have bags shoved into the back. "Wait!" Mary froze as Jessie snagged hold of her arm; tears shimmered in her eyes. "Take care of my daughter. Please Mary, I am begging you to keep Cassie alive!"

Mary stared back at the frantic woman she had considered her best friend. She'd never been more wrong about someone; Jessie was alien to her now. Mary managed a small nod but her mouth was dry and her throat clogged. "I will," she vowed.

Jessie released her and took a step back as tears rolled down her cheeks. Mary had no idea what was happening, but their distress spurred her into action. Fleeing down the back stairs, she hastily strapped the children into their car seats and jumped behind the wheel. Her hands were shaking as she shifted the car into reverse and pulled out of the drive as calmly as her thumping heart would allow.

She glanced back at the home she had shared with her husband and his friends. People she now realized she knew nothing about. Nor, she realized with bone shaking certainty, did she know her own son. She glanced at the eerily soundless children in the rearview mirror. The girl was usually fussy in the car seat; she was immobile now and didn't fight against the straps. Her son was usually fast asleep the minute he hit the car, but he was staring at her. With their blond hair and wide, unblinking eyes, Mary was suddenly reminded of the Children of The Corn. A chill ran down her back as she choked on the tears burning her eyes.

Shrill screams pierced the night. Mary jumped in surprise, her eyes flew back to the house as the sound of splintering wood shattered the air. For a moment she couldn't move as more shouts, and the sounds of an ensuing battle, rent the silent night.

Then, her survival instincts kicked into gear. Shifting into drive, she stomped on the gas. The tires spun on the asphalt and squealed loudly before finally grabbing hold. The smell of burning rubber followed her as she sped down the road toward Florida. It was almost a ten hour drive, but she had a feeling she would make it there in record time.

She never looked back; she knew nothing but death followed behind her. She was certain that whatever had killed them would be coming for her next. The realization she’d lost her loved ones wasn't nearly as unnerving as the fact that though she squealed through turns, raced through red lights, and people blared their horns at her, the children remained hushed, and knowing.

* * *

Twelve years later

Sorting through the change in her hand, Cassie hastily picked out the nickels and dimes, and absently shoved aside the pennies. She glanced at the unattainable soda machine before digging into the pocket of her cutoffs once more. All she wanted was a cold drink, was that too much to ask? Apparently it was, as all she pulled out were a few pieces of lint, a gum wrapper, and dirt.

Cassie fought the urge to kick the machine in frustration; it wasn't its fault the price of soda had gone up fifteen cents. It was the stupid, greedy, owner of the store. Glancing past the machine, she peered into the dingy windows of the Five and Dime. Mr. Lester was watching to make sure she didn't do exactly that. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at the man, but then she would be banned from the store, and he did have the best selection of baseball cards, candy, and comic books in town.

Glancing regretfully back at the bright red machine, Cassie shoved her change back into her pocket and turned away. She would just have to drink from the water fountain during baseball practice. She scrunched her nose, already dreading the taste of the metallic water fountain.

Grabbing her mitt from the store windowsill, she turned back to the main thoroughfare. She didn't make it one step before she was brought to an abrupt halt by a tall, thin man, with a hawkish nose, and pale, gray eyes that studied her. Cassie's hand clenched on her glove as she took a small, instinctive step back. She was not some five year-old who would wander away with a stranger, but she didn't know what the odd man's intentions were.

Glancing briefly over her shoulder she was relieved to find Mr. Lester still watching. Though he liked to squeeze as much money as possible out of the kids, he wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to her. She turned back to the strange man. His eyes were still fixed upon her, but she saw no ill will in his steady gaze. Instead, there was an odd sense of relief in his eyes.

A slender girl stepped beside him and slipped her hand into his. Cassie's tension eased at the sight of the black haired girl who was so trusting of the strange man. The girl studied Cassie from exotically slanted eyes the color of a gleaming onyx. Those eyes pierced Cassie, pinning her to the spot as they seemed to see straight into Cassie's soul.

A little unnerved by the girl's intense gaze and scrutiny, Cassie turned her attention back to the man. Though he seemed to be in his late thirties, maybe forties, and was old enough to be the girl's father, they looked nothing alike. His hair was a light brown that was going gray at the temples. His eyes were far from dark in color, and unlike the girls smooth olive complexion, he was very fair.

"Are you Cassandra Fairmont?" he inquired, the faint hint of an accent in his tone.

Cassie didn't understand how this man knew who she was, let alone her full name. Her stance shifted as she prepared to bolt into the Five and Dime. "Do I know you?" She was proud her voice didn't waver when she spoke.

"No, but I may have known your parents."

Cassie's heart leapt into her throat, her arm dropped limply to her side. Her fingers eased their grip on her glove to the point she nearly dropped it. Other than her grandmother, and Chris's mother, Cassie knew no one who had ever met her parents. Though Cassie often asked questions about her parents, her grandmother rarely spoke of them. Once in a while, she would share stories of Cassie's mother when she was a little girl, and her father, as her grandmother had also known him as a child.

However, Chris's mother never spoke of them; she hated any mention of Cassie's parents, or Chris's father. She used the mere mention of them as an excuse to retreat deeper into her drunken stupor, or to hit the bars in search of a new conquest. It used to bother Chris, but lately he’d taken to ignoring his mother as easily as she ignored him.

Now, this strange man was standing before her telling her he may have known her parents, and quite possibly, Chris's father. It was a lifeline, a level of hope she’d never experienced before. This man, this stranger, could be their one chance to get to know their parents better.

"My parents?" she managed to choke out.

The man's eyes were gentle as he nodded. "Yes, if they were Derek and Jessie Fairmont?"

The man blurred as Cassie's eyes filled with tears. She rarely heard their names spoken, rarely had the chance to acknowledge they’d ever even lived. It was as if everything about them had ceased to exist when they were killed in the car accident. Not just their bodies, but their memories, history, their entire lives had been buried forever.

Now, they were being openly acknowledged, openly conversed about, and it was by someone she didn't know. Cassie glanced at the slender girl, surprised by the wealth of caring and understanding in her warm onyx eyes. Swallowing heavily, Cassie rapidly blinked back her tears as she tried not to completely fall apart in front of the strange pair.

Taking a deep breath to steady her pounding heart, and raw nerves, she turned back to the man. "Yes," she answered. "They were my parents."

Relief filled him; his shoulders slumped as he broke into a brilliant grin. The girl squeezed his hand as she did an odd little jump step and beamed happily. "I told you," she said excitedly.

The man shook his head at her, but there was no censure in the gesture as he continued to smile. He thrust his hand out to Cassie. "My name is Luther Long; I've been looking for you for a long time Cassandra."

Cassie stared at his extended hand as confusion swirled through her. Though she sensed no ill will from them, they still scared her a little. Then again, the strange man did claim to know her parents, and best of all, he actually spoke about them. The temptation was more than she could stand.

Thrusting her hand out, she grasped hold of Luther's warm, well calloused one. His grin broadened as he shook her hand briskly.

In that moment, when their hands joined, her life was irrevocably changed. The course of her destiny forever altered. Over the following years, Cassie often wondered if she would have run screaming from him, and the changes he would bring to her life if she had known.

Eventually she came to realize there was no outrunning destiny. It was very much like the Reaper in that way, and like The Reaper, destiny could be cruel and indiscriminate. Though these were things Cassie later learned, she was still ill prepared for her life to be forever changed, her innocence to be shattered that day.

Nor was she prepared for the day when he walked into her life four years later, forever altering it, and her, once again.