Hey there! Are you enjoying this fic so far? I hope so! Otherwise it would all be for naught D: Anywho! Please enjoy because this is where things get real. Happy reading!
DISCLAIMER: ALL does not own Devil May Cry. The OCs belong to her and her best friend (Mistrelia of the Ice)
Chapter Two
You're For My Mommy
The small town of Raven's Brooke was less than what Dante expected. As they drove through the deserted residential area they took in the vacant lawns littered with forgotten toys and drawn curtains in the windows. The whole scene seemed to lack color, the absence of smiling faces and laughter painted the neighborhood in varying shades of gray. A tall hill overlooked the sleepy town. Perched on top was a large three story estate. From there he could see that it had been a while since anyone had lived there.
"It's so sad," Camille muttered, more to herself than anything.
"This feels wrong," Bell added, "Without children, this place seems deserted."
Dante nodded. He had to admit that kids weren't really his thing, but it was clear to him now that it would be wrong to leave this case be. These people needed help and he wasn't about to turn his back on them now.
Suddenly, Bell's arm shot out in front of him, impairing his vision for a few seconds, "Here! Turn here! This is where we need to be."
Dante shoved her arm out of the way to see what she was pointing at. An old ranch style house sat on the corner leading into town. A white porch wrapped around the four walls, decorated with potted flowers and porch swings. A tricycle was propped against the wide stairs. He felt lonely just staring at it.
Dante pulled the little convertible into the driveway and killed the engine, "So, who's house is this?"
"This is the address the mayor gave us," Camille said, unhooking her belt and climbing out of her seat, "So I assume this is his home," she grabbed her sword from the back, "You two go on and talk to the mayor. I'm going to go up to the estate and check things out."
Bell nodded, "Just be careful."
They watched as Camille took off towards the hill. Dante had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, "Don't you think one of us should go with her? I mean, we don't exactly know what it is we're dealing with."
"She'll be fine," Bell said, still staring after her friend, "If I know Camille, she can handle herself pretty well."
"Whatever you say," he muttered.
The old stairs creaked under their feet as they approached the front doors. If he hadn't known better, Dante would assume no one was home. But he had seen the curtains shift just slightly as if someone had been peeking out of the window. There was a shuffling on the other side of the door. Both of them waited. When nothing happened, Bell raised her fist and rapped on the door with her knuckles.
"Hello?" she called, "Hello, Mayor Thrasher?"
The door cracked open and a man's face poked out, "Y-yes? Who are you?" he was fairly young, no older than forty-five, with disheveled black hair and green eyes rimmed with dark circles from lack of sleep, "What do you want?"
"Hi, sir. My name is Bell," she stepped forward with a gentle smile, her voice soft, "You called us about your... Uh, problem... Last week. Remember?"
Relief washed over the man's face, his eyes fully showing the exhaustion that had been hovering over him, "Yes, yes! Please come in."
Mayor Thrasher's home was dimly lit and almost as depressing as the lawns outside. Everything seemed void of any color and, from the looks of the cluttered toy chest hidden under the grand staircase, was missing the presence of a young child. The flowers in their vases seemed to wilt, the shadows seemed darker. The whole atmosphere seemed to weep. This is the saddest thing I have ever seen... Dante's brow furrowed.
"I-I want to start by saying thank you for answering my call," Thrasher stammered, leading them into a gloomy kitchen. He gestured to the incredible island rising from the middle of the room, "Please, make yourself at home. Would you like some tea? Or Brandy perhaps?"
"Tea is fine," Bell answered.
"I'll take a beer if you have it," Dante sat heavily onto an island stool.
"Certainly," Thrasher nodded and began making himself busy with filling a silver tea pot with water. The air grew thick with silence.
"The neighborhood seems pretty quiet," Dante finally said. Thrasher seemed to stiffen.
"Y-yes... We've, uh... We've been through hell this past month," he said with his back to the two of them, "It's hard to be active when your children are disappearing left and right."
"Tell us what's been going on around here," Bell pressed, resting her chin on her hands in interest. The tea kettle began to whistle loudly. Thrasher poured the boiling water into a mug and placed it in front of her as well as a glass bowl of sugar cubes and a bottle of honey.
"At first, we thought there was a child abductor among us," he began slowly, cracking open a bottle of beer for Dante and sliding it into his hands, "But then we began noticing a pattern. All of the children disappeared at night from their own beds. It was almost as if they were swept away by the wind. We had no leads, nowhere to even begin looking. And then..." Thrasher leaned against the island for support.
"What happened?" Bell asked, leaning in to touch his arm gently.
"That's when we started hearing the noises coming from the old estate up on the hill - these horrible growling and roaring noises... Then, my daughter..." he said, his voice sounding strained, "My daughter, she was the last victim. The only difference was that I was awake when she disappeared. I walked in to check on her and saw her climbing out of her window. I tried to stop her, but she was running down the street before I could catch her. But I saw..." his voice cracked. Tears began streaming down his face.
"What did you see?" Dante set his empty bottle firmly onto the counter top. he didn't like the sound of any of this.
Thrasher took a deep breath, "I saw a little girl with my daughter. She- she was holding her hand as if she were leading her to the old house. And she looked back at me and... Her eyes... They were red. Like a demon. I believe that girl has been luring the town's children into that house. Please," he begged, "You have to save them."
Bell and Dante cast glances at each other. They were both thinking the same thing.
Camille was in danger by herself.
Camille was thinking the forest was never going to end. She had been walking for some time and there was no sign of any light at the end of the path. Is it a trick? she thought, pushing aside a low-hanging branch. Because if it is, it's not very funny.
From somewhere up ahead she heard faint crying. Is that a child? What are they doing out here? The woman pushed forward, her eyes jumping to nearly everything that was moving. She needed to find this child and get them out of the forest. The crying grew louder, sounding as if it were coming from a ways off the path. She shoved aside heavy brush and bramble, searching desperately for whoever this kid was. Finally, she came across a huddled figure kneeling in a tangle of weeds. It was a young girl.
"Hey," Camille hurried over and crouched next to her. Her blonde hair tumbled over her hunched shoulders, her body wracking with sobs, "Hey, sweetie are you alright? What are you doing out here?"
"I-I lost m-my -hic- m-m-mommy," the girl sobbed, "I d-don't know where she we-went."
"Do you know where you were going?" she asked, feeling her stomach do an uneasy flip. She ignored it.
The girl pointed a shaky finger towards the peak of the hill. Her pretty green eyes were puffy and red from crying, "W-we were hiking up t-this hill and I got l-lost."
Camille rubbed a gentle hand over the girl's back, "Well, I'll take you to her, okay? You don't have to be scared anymore. Come on."
She took the girl's hand and led her back to the designated path. Something in the back of her mind screamed at her to run. She pushed it back. This is the right thing to do. Besides, she's lost. The path that seemed to go on forever finally came to an end. It curved into a circle driveway in front of a large estate. In the center of the drive was an old, dried-up fountain with a crumbling statue of a woman sitting alone in the pool. Weeds tangled themselves at the foundation of the building, snaking up the porch railings in vines and hugging the outside walls, refusing to let go. The windows were dusty, some of them even broken. There was no light coming from the inside. It didn't look like anyone had been living here for some time. The girl squeezed Camille's hand.
"Uh... Sweetie, I don't think your mommy has come through here," she said. The feeling in her stomach was much stronger now.
"I know," came her reply.
"You know? Then why- ah!" nails dug into the skin of her hand. She looked down to see blood blooming in rivets down her fingers. The little girl's face had suddenly gone from sweet and innocent with sad eyes to twisted, grotesque, and evil with red glowing orbs where her eyes should have been. Camille tried to jerk her hand free but that only made her grip harder.
The girl twisted the woman's wrist at an odd angle, snapping the bone clean in half. Tears flooded her eyes as the pain shot through her entire body, bringing her to her knees. The girl began to laugh, her voice containing a deep, chilling undertone.
"I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee. Won't my mommy be so proud of me?" She sang, taking hold of three of Camille's fingers and breaking them with ease. She cried out in pain, "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee. Won't my mommy be proud of me? Ouch, she stung me!" she grabbed her thumb and bent it back with a sickening snap. Camille tried desperately to free her hand, but any sort of movement rendered her useless.
"S-stop...!" she gasped.
The girl giggled gleefully, "I'm squishing my baby bumblebee. Won't my mommy be so proud of me?" the girl took Camille's forearm and cracked it over her knee. Camille screamed in agony, her body lurching forward and tears spilling out of her eyes, "I'm squishing my baby bumblebee. Ick! What a mess!" She planted a foot in the woman's back and pulled her arm clean out of the socket.
Claws raked through her skin, tearing it open and spilling blood down Camille's mangled arm. The girl smiled wickedly revealing a set of razor teeth, "I'm licking my baby bumblebee. Won't my mommy be so proud of me?" She licked her clawed fingers of Camille's blood, the smile growing wider, "I'm licking my baby bumblebee. Ick! I feel sick!"
The girl let go of her arm. It fell uselessly to her side, bleeding streams of crimson into the dirt. The edges of Camille's vision began to blur. Her head swam and her body was growing numb. The pain wasn't even registering anymore. The little girl leaned over her limp body and giggled.
"You're for my mommy."
Everything went black
Eh? Ehh? :D Too much? Oh ;-;
