Crimson

Prologue

"Wake up!"

Shrugging off the distant voice my tired limbs, aching and begging for rest, force me back into a cold dreamless slumber.

"Wake up!" The voice is louder this time, only when hands grip tightly upon my arms and begin to shake furiously do I awaken to the dark, dank room of which I frequently slept.

Frustrated I push the hands away and stare into the terrified eyes of my mother.

"Umika, get out of here now!" She yells as a sudden roar erupts from downstairs followed by a loud crack from the support beams above.

"What?" I attempt to ask but I am pulled from the bed and thrown into the hallway. Loud crackling sounds from behind and I glance in exhausted astonishment at the flaming demon before me. Scorched and ashen wood follows its footsteps as it continues to hungrily demolish everything in sight.

Appearing beside me my mother gasps and grabs hold of me, pulling us back to the far end of the hall. Tears begin to fall from her eyes as she attempts to find an escape route and I can do nothing but watch as the demon moves steadily closer.

"Here," my mother takes hold of me, lifting me into her arms as she points to the window within the undamaged study.

"Wait!" I struggle against her hold, "father…"

She shakes her head grimly and continues to the window without looking back.

Forcing the old shutters apart she places me upon the sill.

"Climb to the roof," She says, pulling a blade from the sash at her hip, "find a way down and run Umika."

"But…"

"Just go," she yells, her eyes burning as she watches the doorway, "You will live to find out who did this to us, you must go on. Now get out of here!"

I stand unsteadily upon the sill catching one last glance at my mother as she approaches the doorway that has become licked with flames. I swallow back the sob in my throat and reach my arms up to the slanted roofing above. Touching only with the fingertips my heart starts to pound in panic. The roar of the fire below worsens and the house shudders as a loud crack erupts from within. Tears pool in my eyes, blurring my vision and a sob threatens to escape my lips. I strain to reach further and manage to grip the ledge of the roof slightly. Another roar sounds from below and a loud crash erupts as the windows shatter. A scream wrenches itself from my throat as shards of glass tear into the skin of my legs.

Weakened as blood trickles from the wounds my feet slip from the sill and I am left dangling by the tips of my fingers. Looking far below I can see nothing that would make the fall anything but painful. Glancing above I see nothing but hazy smoke billowing skyward and the roofline of which my fingers are slowly beginning to part from. Attempting to find another route is becoming fruitless and I find myself dangling from a lost hope. Another crack erupts from within, louder this time, and I am unable to prepare myself as the roof collapses, falling into the ruined building below. Departed from the roof I can feel the wind rushing past me, the view of the second floor moving further away as I fall helplessly through the dark smoke ridden night. I feel as if I am floating in some awkward dream, nothing seems real, until the sudden sharp pain wracks my body as I collide with the ground that had once been thirty feet below me.

Laying there struggling to breath as the wind had been knocked out of me I cough against the smoke billowing out of my home. I attempt to sit up but the slightest movement sends sharp shocks of pain throughout my entire being. So I lay there, as my vision grows hazy and the darkness threatens to take over cackling in the background. Believing with all the sorrow that has become lodged in my heart that I failed, my mother died in vain.