Heart Soaked In Blood

Glass Skin

"Well there's no legs or arms as you can see." "Wow really?" Mike piqued. "It's like there's no sitting torso in front of us!" Naib would have laughed if he could. Instead he'd cover his grin by swiping off the non existent dirt on his lips. Two deaths in a single day huh? Well one is newly fresh compared to the other. Edgar had reportedly thrown himself out the window of the third floor of the manor. The window was broken into pieces, his blood lingered onto the tips of the glass. A peeled piece of skin ripped away from his arm, leaving it to drown in the blood stained glass.

Then Luca was found with his limbs torn apart. His body was sat on a bench in the garden, making it seem like his face was facing the ground and sleeping with a tablecloth for a blanket. Naib didn't know Eli was going to pull such a stunt like that again. Perhaps he had a thing for showing off his art. It was still unlikely he had killed Joseph. Naib internally groaned, dawning at the thought. A hunter dying? That was unheard of. It's not logically possible for such a thing to happen. They were already dead, so how would they be dead again! Naib's brows furrowed just by the mere thought of it. Officially deceased huh? That was all bullshit to Naib.

    Eli crossed his arms, tapping his foot against the wooden floor. "Do you want to know of his body or not Mike?" Eli scolded, signaling Aesop to continue. Mike only rolls his eyes, staring back down at the table. "The arms look... so strangely cut, but yes it fits the arm Mike found on Vera." Naib looked down at Luca's body. His bruised eye wasn't there anymore. It was simply an empty socket now with dried blood crackling onto his face.

Eli must've been pissed when he was cutting off the man's legs because they looked like they'd been through more than a single cut. Dirt covered cuts were above his now decapitated legs. Either Eli couldn't make a single clean cut or he was that angry. Sure enough, his arm was gone. All that was left were the details of the bone and layers of skin exposed. But there were still pieces of dirt left inside the flesh despite Aesop's best apparent effort to clean it out. Some of his remaining parts were cut more smoothly than others. The ridges always ended up crooked somehow, there were always deep marks above the decapitation.

Naib rubbed the back of his neck. "Well at least we didn't kick out an innocent woman."  Even if Mike did frame her. "This whole situation is so strange." Mike sighs, fumbling with his fingernails. Naib crossed his arms, raising his brow. "Which part?" Eli asked as Aesop covered Luca's corpse. "All of this happened when Edgar came along. I thought he did everything, but then he threw himself out the window. Why?" Aesop shrugs, replacing his gloves. Eli stood there blankly, his lips formed into a straight line. "I'm not sure. I suppose we could discuss it with Martha when she's back." Eli frowned.

"But how was Vera able to move the body after we kicked her?" Naib asked. Eli's lips thinned. Naib could feel his glare despite his blindfold.  "Ooo!" Mike grinned, jumping up in the air. "There might be a second person involved!" "Exactly." Naib smiled back. Eli turned away from Naib, a scowling look on his lips. "The only issue is if we should let the others know." "No." Aesop answered immediately. Naib felt his eyes start to glow for a bit, watching the discord dance around the conversation. Eli was going to be pissed at Naib later. "Keep investigating it yourself, Subedar. Keep it as quiet as possible. If we tell them, hell will break loose."

Mike raised his hand, a frown on his face. "Is this relating to Edgar's death?" Mike asked. "Yes." Aesop's eyes frowned towards Mike. He'd never show pity for me would he? "He'd fallen off the third floor. His body was beyond anything I could fix. Even if he did survive, he'd be stuck with an odd posture, no arm, and he'd lose his ability to speak." "How'd you know?" Eli asked, rubbing the top of Brooke's head.

Aesop's eyebrows fell, a soft look in his eyes as he looked over at Eli. "He'd fallen head first." Eli frowned, Brooke following with a sad coo right after. "Oh dear...."Seems fun if I were to ever die. "Hey Naib, this is off topic, but did you ever find anything to do with Joseph's death?" Finally an interesting topic. "Besides his corpse disappearing three days after we found it, no. The owner confirmed he died, so he's officially gone with the manor I presume." Naib shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"What did Wu Chang say about it?" "'The owner states he is decreased so he is decreased.'" Naib mocked with a groan. "It was odd the way they spoke. But they are the literal gods of hell." Mike jumped off the ground, his eyes widening staring straight at Naib. "Huh?!" "They control the gate to what we consider heaven and hell." Eli answers, a small smile painted on his lips. "People worship him back in China. Fiona told me about him. You only pray to them at a funeral or if you wish for a good life and in this case..."

      Eli frowns, his head tilting over to what was left of Balsa's corpse. "I suppose you're smart enough to figure it out from there, Morton." Martha sighs, walking into the room. "Hi MarMar!" Mike cheered with a wave. Martha frowned. Her eyes looked down at the second body on the ground. She lifted her head over at Mike before releasing a sigh. "Please refrain from calling me that." "Ms. Martha!" She deadpanned at Morton, a visible frown on her lips.

"I haven't found any new information on anything else yet." Martha huffed, a poor attempt in trying to hide her sigh. "But however, I do have an issue on how Luca was placed on the bench right after Vera was exiled." "How did that manage to happen?" Mike asked, placing his hand under his chin. Naib shrugs. "Everyone was too wary from the trial so no one was out last night." Mike turned over to face Naib. His eyes filled with paper thin wonder. It's almost as if he didn't care at all, but he had to leave some light in his eyes. Naib couldn't hold back his grin looking into Mike's eyes. It was like staring at a grey wall, nothing else. There wasn't even a light source to try and plant shadows on that wall. His eyes were empty, a blank room full of grey and no windows or a door. He didn't even seem to be trapped, he made that room after all.

Mike blinked. "How do you know that?" "I told Naib to watch out for anything suspicious last night." Martha explained. "Since he's on... a break of sorts." Naib turns over to Aesop who now decides to cover Luca's body. Eli frowns, crossing his arms. "The owner hasn't spoken about anything about this?" "Besides the fact that matches aren't being posted anymore, no not much. Emma hasn't gotten any letters either."

Martha finally releases a sigh, rubbing her temple. "It's almost as if they don't care about their own manor." Naib groans, nodding along. "I suppose we can't do anything about it. I suppose we'll have to tell Andrew to get to digging tomorrow." "I don't think he can..." An odd chuckle peered out of Mike's lips. "Victor's been in his room all day and Andrew is his emotional support." "I'll get to digging then." Naib internally groaned thinking about the thought. Why did Andrew have to be so broken about a few deaths?

      Light footsteps filled the room, light enough to tiptoe down the halls but heavy enough to know that the person was close to stomping their foot into the ground. "Joseph?" "Hello." Joseph raised his hand up and waved in front of the woman's face. "Did you find anything interesting today?" The woman asked as Joseph pulled his hand away. Joseph sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Not quite yet."

Silence filled the room right after. The sounds of distant bystanders filled the woman's ears. The steps became more distant until the woman couldn't hear them anymore. Joseph only stood there, he crossed his arms, seeming to wait for the woman to say something. The woman internally sighs, fidgeting with her hands in her lap.

"Wu Chang misses you." The woman frowns. Joseph took a single step towards the woman. "Did he say so?" Joseph asks, raising his voice a tiny bit. The woman feels a weight lifted off of her shoulder as Joseph sounds more interested. "They often come by your room to drink tea." "Oh." Joseph's voice deepens, stepping back to his original spot. "It's upsetting to see them pour two tea cups." The woman tried again. "That's not much to worry about." Joseph sighed. WOOSH!

The light footsteps sounded more muffled, distant, then gone. The woman frowned, fumbling with her hands. I thought he would be more concerned.