Cherry Red Murder

Arguments and Paint

Every year, for as long as anyone can remember the Kingwell family hosted a ball on the 18th of December. To celebrate what you may ask? Twenty years before our story takes place, the wars had been bloody and vicious. Eventually, the governments of each of the seven separate countries decided it was best to merge their borders, forming the Heptunion.

Generals were sent home honored for their work in combat. The 18th of December was the last day of the war.

Now, we must be introduced to the Kingwell family. Jane Kingwell was a prominent general in the war and highly honored for her work in combat. Thus when the war ended, she was elected representative of the seventh state. Jacob Kingwell was a businessman and founder of a famous clothing line called Kingwell Textiles. Analise Kingwell was a 15 year old girl who was rather self centered. She always wanted more clothes and never wore something more than once. Stephan Kingwell was a 12 year old boy who loved to paint. The way he moved his brush you'd have thought he did it for centuries. And this is where our story begins, with Elise Kingwell.

Elise was a 13 year old girl who was extremely intelligent, while also highly trained in combat. Smart as she was, she lacked empathy and compassion. Such had been proven earlier that day, when Stephan came to his sister to ask her for her red paint. Not bothering to look up from her book, she refused.

"Please?" he insisted. "Ana took mine because her mask came in the wrong shade of red and now I'm all out. You never touched that jar that Aunty Martha gave you for your birthday last ye-"

"Well I don't want to hear it." said Elise promptly.

"But this is the event of the year. The leaders of every single state are visiting. This is my chance to make a good impression on the leaders of the second state, and maybe even get admitted into their school for art! It's the best one in the Heptunion," Stephan said this with enthusiasm, but it did not match Elise's reaction.

"GET OUT!" she shrieked, shutting her eyes with effort.

Glaring bitterly, he walked out of the room.

"KATE!" screamed Elise from her room. "Get me a tall glass of water!" "Sure, Miss!" the young woman replied, "ice or no ice?" "Ice of course you silly girl!" screamed Elise and got back to her reading. Her water arrived and she took a long sip. Her siblings were so frustrating, but drinking the cold water cooled her down both physically and emotionally. But she had always found ways to get back at them. She smiled, shut her eyes and leant back in her chair. She could relax for now.

Stephan was furious. Analise had taken his paints without permission and Elise had gone out of her way to prevent him from using hers. Why are they so fussy? He thought. He went to look at his banner to find a way to accommodate the missing red color. He found it, and he gasped, sharply. Someone had covered his banner entirely in red paint, and he knew exactly who. He wasn't going to tell his parents; this had gone too far. He was taking this into his own hands. Elise had ruined his chance of getting admitted into the school for art in the second state. His head pounding with fury, one thought echoed in his mind. She's going to wish she never did that.

---

Later that evening, the mansion was decorated and beautiful. There were decorations everywhere and Jane Kingwell even hired a professional ice sculptor to carve statues. All was well until a scream pierced through the air. It came from Analise's room. Usually it was a dirty skirt. Occasionally a kid breaking in on a dare. Knowing Ana, it could be either one. When they arrived however, they found that she had not overreacted. It was rather horrid. Her poofy, red-orange, phoenix-themed dress had been sliced and vandalized. Ana herself was in tears among the pieces of cloth.

"What happened?" Jane asked. "Ana, I thought we talked about not shredding your clothes even if you didn't like them."

"No mother. You don't understand. I came in here and found my entire dress ripped apart." Ana glared furiously at Stephan and Elise. "One of you did this! You because I took your paints and YOU because I wrote in your book last week!"

She had refused to say anything of her siblings' names since they had stolen her diary and shared it with her friends, two weeks before. She had some rather interesting things to say about Peter Kambile. Ana had promised to retaliate. 

A fanfare echoed throughout the halls; the rest of the state representatives had arrived.

"Look, Ana," said Jane patiently, "The rest of the people are here. Remember that peacock dress that I said I wouldn't let you wear until your sixteenth birthday? Well, I'll let you wear it now. Go freshen yourself up and be ready for the guests."

Ana wiped her nose and got up.

"Alright," she said, "as long as I can wear that blue necklace with it! And you have to talk to them." She pointed to her two younger siblings.

"Good," said Jane, "I will be having a talk with Stephan and Elise tomorrow, when the ball ends."

"But I didn't do it!" insisted Elise angrily.

"I know I didn't either," protested Stephan eagerly.

"Be quiet all three of you! The guests are here. We can sort this out in the morning," Jane said, "now, get ready."

Whether they did or didn't do it, no one cared the next day, because at ten in the morning, Kate ran out of Elise's room screaming. Elise Kingwell was dead.

Authors note: I really hope you guys like it! I've been wanting to write a murder mystery for ages, and finally got to! I plan to keep publishing chapters every couple of days! 

Love you guys!

-C