Driven Off the Edge

Chapter II – A Carpet of Red

Warning:
Violence, and plenty of gore ahead. Please do not read if you have a sensible stomach. I hold no responsibility over your actions while reading this chapter.

You have been warned.

-/-

The mirror was now cracked: Spidery, thin lines covered every inch of its silver and perfect surface. The image was distorted, disfigured.

Demented

It had become Imperfect.

It had been several days since Lumi had broken the news to Mathieu. By then, Lumi had completely cut herself from the world, and openly cried about Erin's death. Mathieu had been shocked so far into grief, that he felt like it was a dream. He thought it was just a terrible nightmare – a horrifying one. Nothing could shake him out of it – and no one knew about Erin's death so far. Then somehow the news leaked out, and everyone he knew (and people he didn't even know) gave their condolences, and he numbly accepted them.

Mathieu was beyond feeling. The police had found Erin in her home, a hoodie with a crumpled up maple leaf had been covering her face, and after they had processed it and declared that it was useless to the investigation, they gave it to Mathieu. Since then, he hadn't let go of it.

"It's my fault…" he murmured, over and over. "My fault… if only… if only I had been there…" he ran the fabric through his hands, his eyes closed. His hand closed around a piece of paper, and he pulled it out, curious. It was just a scrap, probably ripped from a notebook, but the scrawl… he narrowed his eyes, what did Ivan want with Erin? He read it once, twice, and until the words began to blur, but Mathieu had memorised them by heart.

"I killed her for information that she would not give.

Sorry, da. But it had to be done.

- Ivan, Representative of Russia"

"What…" Mathieu whispered hoarsely, after several minutes of sitting alone. "What… Ivan… Ivan killed Erin…? But…" at this, his mind began to spiral out of control. No one could be trusted – not even Lumi. Not even himself – how could he? When the one person who was under his protection was murdered? A dark look had entered his eyes; something that had been buried a long time ago – something wild –had been unlocked. He gripped the hoodie tightly, and gave a psychotic chuckle, and Kumajirou hid from his owner, terrified. Mathieu stumbled out of the room, delirious; searching for something.

All of them – every single one – they will pay. They will pay for taking Erin from me!

… And Ivan will be last. I will kill Lumi first, to make him understand the pain – to feel the raw agony of losing someone.

Mathieu headed out of his home the note clenched tightly in his grip; the hoodie lying forlorn and forgotten on the floor.

-/-

Lumi, for the sake of being alone, had locked herself inside her attic. For once in her life, she didn't want to be bothered, so she locked her back door, locked all the doors inside her home, with the curtains drawn, and then locked herself inside her attic. Tears still fell from her cheeks to the ground, but she made no move to wipe them away. Her friend had died – murdered. No one knew who it was, only that there was no motive. Nothing was stolen, nothing was damaged… and the strangest thing is that no one found a note or even a single fingerprint. Everything had been wiped down – including the light sockets. It was insane – who in their right mind would kill Erin? She was harmless, shy – hell, Erin hardly ever got angry!

But what troubled Lumi the most, was how Mathieu was handling it. No one had heard from the man since Lumi had broken the news to him, and she had watched him get up despondently and just… walked way as if he were in a trance. It scared her; she was worried that he had just… vanished inside himself. She had mentioned to Ivan before she had left the conference that she had unwillingly interrupted that something was wrong with the whole incident.

There was something… off about it.

Lumi gave a sniff, and reached for another tissue. Giving a shaky sigh, she shook herself. Comon Lumi, she berated herself, there is no time to be feeling sorry! Mathieu needs his friends now more than ever! Her gaze trailed off to the window, and stared at the sunshine pouring in. How can the world be so cheerful… when it lost someone so unique… someone so caring? Another shaky sigh and Lumi stood up, rubbing her cheeks. Well, I have to snap out of it! The others can mourn – but I have to stay strong! She gave another shake, seemingly waking up from a bad nightmare. Forcing a grin on her face and her spirits up, Lumi unlocked the door; carefully descending the steps of the attic.

She was blissfully unaware of the visitor downstairs – a deadly visitor.

-/-

It was the sight of the door slightly ajar that worried Ivan.

Lumi never – ever – had her door open, even by a crack. Yes, it was usually unlocked, and he wouldn't be alarmed it was locked. However, with the door hanging slightly ajar and off its hinge – it alarmed him. Carefully, Ivan shifted so that he had an easy reach of the TT-30 pistol that he had concealed under his coat. Normally, he wouldn't be carrying it, but due to recent times with Japan and China merging into an Empire – one always had to be careful. Neighbours could easily turn into enemies on a turn of a dime.

"Lumi, you are here, yes?" he called out, and not receiving an answer, panic began to flare along with warning signs. But he pushed the panic back – he couldn't let it get the best of him. "Answer da; so I will not shoot." Again, he received no answer. Slowly, Ivan crept over to the door, pushing it out of the way, noting the smear of semi-dried blood that was against the wood. "You are here, yes? Answer me please."

No answer.

"Coming in, yes; do not shoot if you are armed." He announced, and drawing and gripping the TT-30 tightly, Ivan proceeded to push the door out of the way – dropping the gun and staggering back; his face pale. "Wh…" he couldn't speak; what he saw left him speechless.

Beyond the loosely hanging door was utter chaos and destruction. Curtains were torn, furniture damaged – a vase that had been holding white lilies (now stained a blood red) lay on the floor, shattered as the petals seemed torn from the stem. Blood was smeared everywhere, signs of struggle were everywhere along with slashes of some sort of knife were upon the back of the door. There were bullets still embedded in the walls, a picture knocked off its hanger. Several puddles of blood could be seen and a soft gurgling – almost like someone struggling to breathe – sound could be heard from inside.

Ivan felt sick – there was no way a person survived that much carnage and destruction.

"Lumi – you are here yes? Answer me now!" panic had settled in, and Ivan shoved the door out of the way; forgetting about the weapon. He had to know – he had to know if she was still alright. He heard the sounds of his boots walking through the blood and almost gagged at the smell – bleach and blood mixed together (almost like someone tried to clean up) was overpowering his sense of smell. He put a hand to the wall, only to pull back in disgust as his glove soaked in the liquid that stained the walls.

Tell me she is alright – yes. He prayed, even though he knew it was futile. There was no way someone survived this… this monstrosity. The sounds were getting closer, and everywhere he went, he just saw more destruction. Slash marks upon the wall, smashed picture frames… glass glittering in the dull weakening sunlight. Ivan proceeded to the kitchen, where it looked like a tornado had swept through it. The phone was disconnected, and on the floor, he saw something that drained the rest of the colour from his face.

A hand that seemed to be lying lifelessly on the floor; a puddle of blood had formed around it. Rushing forward, Ivan dropped all caution, dropping on his knees next to the young woman he was searching for.

Lumi was barely recognizable. There were multiple lacerations everywhere on her body, the blood seeping through her clothes. A gunshot or two could be seen, and her throat looked like it had been slit – but not to where it instantly killed her. Her wrists were oddly bent, as if they had been broken. He gingerly lifted her head, and his contact caused her eyes to flutter open – only to close.

There was no recognition from woman that lay before him.

Quickly, Ivan looked around for the phone; to find the receiver laying several paces away. It seemed like an hour, to dial the number and then wait for someone to answer. Finally, someone picked up.

"Hello, what's your emergency?" the operator said in their monotone voice. Ivan was irked at them – this was an emergency and they weren't even making a big deal!

"Yes, someone is hurt – very hurt."

"How hurt sir?"

"She –" he steadied himself, "Badly hurt yes. Many slashes and a gunshot; Lumi is barely breathing. Please – send help now." Ivan was about to hang up the phone, but the operator was asking questions.

"Sir – sir stay on the line; is she breathing?"

"Yes – she is breathing."

"She is awake? Make sure she stays awake!" Ivan tapped her cheek gently.

"Lumi, Lumi wake up yes – you need to wake up." Her eyes fluttered open again, and seemed disoriented before closing her eyes again.

"We're sending help right away – keep her awake." The operator reminded him, before the line was cut off.

"Lumi – Lumi; wake up yes. Please, wake up." Ivan begged, tapping her cheek; feeling so lost in the world – wondering just who in the world could do this to someone who was so innocent.

Destroyed