Nerium oleander

Raindrops

The headlights illuminated the empty highway as drops of water fell one after the other, dampening the concrete. Ivan tapped his finger on the steering wheel, the upcoming green light blinked slightly, he should have headed home.

Perhaps, preparing himself a decent dinner was better than driving aimlessly around the town, but that was a lie, he knew where he was heading, if you don't admit it, if you don't say it out loud, it counts as a coincidence, right?

He didn't despise Mr. Vargas or Lovino, the house was beautiful and they were fairly kind towards him. He couldn't stand the memories such a place brought him, every corner of that house seemed to whisper Katya's name in his ears, and having a clouded mind, led him into the same rutinary behavior to calm himself.

As the light turned red, Ivan stared at it, annoyance flaring up in him. Why had he bothered to stop? There were no cars anyways and skipping a red light wasn't the worst he could do in this town.

The small forest on the side was grim, the leaves grumbling as the drops of water hammered on them. He remembered running around and laughing with his sisters, playing hide and seek with them after school, it was a shame Katya became an expert in that game.

He glanced at the glovebox, opening it, a flashlight and a crumpled paper rested on it, unfolding it Ivan stared at the fading letters, the illustration of a ferris wheel, cotton candy and colorful balloons mocking him. He frowned, placing the leaflet on the glovebox again.

A screech on the car's door made him flinch, Ivan glanced at the window, finding no one outside. Nails scraped against the metal, followed by a canine whine. Ivan sighed, opening the door of his car, a fairly big dog peered inside, sniffling him and barking.

"Remus," Ivan sighed, reaching out a hand to touch the animal's damp head but stopping as it kept barking. "What are you doing here, buddy?"

The dog shaked off the water and jumped inside, going back and forth on him and the passenger's seat, emitting an adde stench. Ivan's smile faltered as he glanced at the animal's pawns, stained with mud, dripping water and... blood.

He sighed, reaching out to inspect the dog carefully, it didn't seem to bleed, then where did he get stained? The animal sniffed and jumped out of the car again, resuming its barking.

Ivan retrieved the flashlight, getting out of the car, the dog wagged its tail, picking up its pace, pausing every now and then and looking back at him as if waiting. After a while of wandering between the tall trees, it stopped, sniffling on the ground and wiggling its tail.

The cold rain grew harder making Ivan shiver, he sighed. "You better show me something good." he said, his feet sinking on the wet leaves. The dog merely circled around him, barking.

Ivan sighed, observing the trees around, one of the trunks was scratched, he approached the tree, the dog barked again, scratching the same spot, crawling on the wet soil. Remus dug on the ground, his paws scraping and moving the leaves. The tacky smell lingered on the air making Ivan gag, he kneeled, observing the wet dirt the dog had moved. He reached out his hand, touching the leaves, they were sticky, burgundy smeared on his fingers.

Looking up, Ivan faltered, a bitter taste crawling on his mouth as he took out his phone and waited for Alfred to pick up. Nothing. He sighed, calling Ludwig instead.

The body was hanging on the branches, like a fly stuck on a coweb; the skin had a sickening yellow tone, proof of the deteriorated state of the corpse. Draped in a dirty fabric, a dress with flowery pattern on it, while the limbs hanged out carelessly.

Ivan took a step forward, trying to glance at the victim's face, he could feel his heart hammering on his chest, a knot forming on his throat but he could not make out the face, it was hidden by the trees' shadows.