Blood of Decusia

Chapter Two

"Clove?"
Mina's voice snapped me back into reality. Her hand was on my arm, her face concerned.
"Are you ok?"
I wasn't sure how to answer. One minute, I was looking at the necklace and the next, I was in a memory. Not just any memory, but one that took place hours before my family died. My recollection of that night is fuzzy at best. Before now, I couldn't remember anything from before waking up to the phone call.
"Yeah," I finally answered, "It's beautiful."
I turned the box so she could see it. For a split second, I thought I saw confusion on her face, but it was immediately replaced by a smile, which was a change from her normal hard gaze.
"It is," she said, "I'll help you put it on."
As Mina helped me with the clasp, my head was spinning.The memory had left me shaken, especially the idea of the necklace on the table, which was identical to the one in the box. I don't know what my family had been fighting about, but the way my mom had hid it from view when I came down the stairs, it was obvious that was the cause of their fight.
"I should go," I said, "Can I take your car? I think I missed the bus."
"Yeah sure," she smirked, "Just don't crash it."
I gave her a hug and grabbed the keys. As I got into Mina's beat-up silver Camry, my hands were shaking. I was so confused, my head was pounding and I could feel the sting of tears behind my eyes.
On the drive to school, I was so distracted I almost swerved into the opposite lane three times. When I finally pulled into the school parking lot, my anxiety was through the roof. I felt like my whole body was shaking. The vision, the necklace, nothing about it made any sense. My family had a massive fight about this necklace and then that night they all die in a fire, only for the necklace to reappear 10 years later.
"Hey, birthday girl!"
The voice and knock on my window snapped me out of my thoughts. Amity, my best friend, was peering through my car window. Her reddish brown hair blowing in the wind and her green eyes as bright as the smile on her face.
Amity had been my friend for eight years. She transferred from California in fourth grade. In the two years after my parents had died, I had become kind of a loner.
I was eating lunch one day when a girl with red hair and freckles plopped down in front of me. She looked like what I pictured Anne of Green Gables looked like, which my mom used to read me.
I don't know why she chose me to befriend, but I never wanted to question it.
"Hi," I said, grabbing my bag and opening the car door.
"Mina let you take the Fossil?" she asked, throwing her arm over my shoulder.
"Yeah, she decided that was her gift to me," I laughed, "That I had the honor and privilege of driving the shittiest and most beat up car in the world."
"Are you sure it's not that Titanic looking necklace?" she asked, "Or did Jack give it to you?"
I froze, causing Amity to almost trip.
"Um, well," I answered, "This was actually a gift from my mom."
Amity's eyes became wide.
"Your mom?"
I nodded, "Yeah apparently she left it for me in some time-lock box."
"Woah," she breathed, "It's beautiful."
"Yeah," I said, "But it's kind of a lot for school."
I tucked it in my sweatshirt and continued inside.
"Well, b-day girl, time for a fascinating lecture on the Monroe Doctrine."
The rest of the day passed in a blur. A few people in passing wished me a happy birthday, but the events from this morning were still bouncing around in my head. I stopped by the entrance of the school, waiting for Amity. I pulled my phone out for the first time all day and noticed 4 missed calls from Mina.
"There she is!"
I turned and saw Amity walking toward me, talking to Aden Borrey. My heart skipped a beat. Aden Borrey was the ultimate high school cliche and of course, I was head over heels. He had long dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He was the star quarterback, student body president, and arguably the most popular and attractive guy in our whole school.
"Well if it isn't the birthday girl," Aden said, smiling with his perfect teeth.
"Hi," I said shyly, my hands feeling cold and clammy.
"Are you coming to my party tonight?" he asked.
I opened my mouth to say no, but Amity jumped in.
"Of course!" she said, "We wouldn't miss it!"
"Awesome! See you then!"
He ran to catch up with some of friends. As soon as he was out of earshot, I turned on Amity.
"What was that?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" she asked, innocently, starting to walk to her car.
"Aden Borrey? Are you serious? I'm not going to that party!"
"What are you talking about? Of course we are!"
"First off, Mina would never let me and second of all, no."
She rolled her eyes.
"First of all, you don't know until you ask and also, probably most importantly, you're an adult now! Mina can't tell you what to do anymore!"
"Have you met Mina?"
Amity laughed, "Good point! Let me know what she says and call me."
That reminded me of Mina's four missed calls.
"You go ahead," I said, unlocking my phone, "I'll catch you later."
"See you tonight!"
"Yeah, sure."
I dialed Mina's number. It rang and rang with no answer. Weird. I called again. Nothing. I told her last night that I was going to the library to study for my History exam, but her not answering worried me.
"I'll just swing by," I muttered to myself.
I tried her two more times on the drive back. Still nothing. As I pulled into the driveway, I immediately knew something was wrong. The front door was open slightly and I remember Mina screaming at me for accidentally leaving the door open for three hours after coming home from school. She went on and on about how someone could break in and rob and/or murder us. I had laughed and made the point that we lived in the safest neighborhood in town.
"Mina?" I called, pushing the door open all the way.
The living room was trashed. The TV was smashed, the couch turned over and its cushions torn with feathers everywhere. Mina's prized forest paintings were destroyed and the pictures of us smashed and books ripped up.
Every instinct told me to bolt and call the police, but for some reason, my worry for Mina won out.
"Mina?"
I made my way into the kitchen to find it in a similar state, with the drawers' and cabinets' contents pulled out and thrown on the floor, and the kitchen table flipped over.
"Mina?"
Someone moaned.
"Oh my god!"
I ran over behind the table. Mina was lying on the floor, in a pool of her own blood. There was a blossoming stain on her shirt.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," I whispered, dropping down on my knees.
"Clove," she groaned.
"Mina! What happened? Oh my god, oh my god!"
The tears were now streaming down my face.
"L-l-lupos," she breathed.
Her eyes were fluttering now, as she struggled to stay conscious.
"Mina, please," I pleaded, grabbing her hand, "Look at me! Focus on me!"
She brought my hand, still in hers, and put it on her chest.
"U-Una."
Using my free hand, I dug my phone out of my pocket. I dialed 911, but before I could hit the call button, the screen went black. Of course I had forgotten to charge it last night.
"Shit, shit. Hang on, Mina. You're going to be fine."
I started to get up to find a phone, but Mina squeezed my hand, stopping me. Her eyes had gone wide, like she was scared.
"M-malum," she breathed.
Then she froze. I couldn't hear her gasping anymore.
"Mina?" I whimpered.
Nothing. Her eyes remained open and wide.
"No, Mina!" I sobbed, grabbing her face, smearing it with the blood from my hands, "Mina, please!"
I needed to get out of here. I needed to find someone, anyone. I stumbled to my feet, turned away from her body on the floor and immediately ran into something solid, knocking me down on my butt. I looked up and my heart dropped.
It was a massive man, well over six feet tall and heavily built. He was dressed in black from head to toe including the fabric mask over his face, so that only his eyes were showing and he was looking right at me. In his right hand, he held a long knife that was red and dripping with blood. Mina's blood.
My flight instinct took over as I quickly staggered to my feet and tried to run, but I slipped in the blood. Before I hit the ground, strong arms grabbed me by the waist and threw me back. I hit the floor hard, knocking my head. I saw stars and reached around the back of my head. When I brought my hand around, there was blood, presumably mine, but maybe Mina's.
Someone grabbed me by the arm and yanked me to my feet. Another man, nearly identical to the one that I initially ran into. Through my blurred vision, I could see the first man nod at his partner, who started to drag me toward the back door. I tried to let my body go limp, but that clearly didn't bother him.
As my hand dragged, I felt the bottom of one of Mina's hideous clay vases that had survived the raid. Without even thinking about it, as if my body was ahead of my mind, I grabbed the vase and swung it up, making contact with the man's head. He let out a grunt and loosened his grip. I pulled away and tried to make a break for the door, my legs shaky and I stumbled into some of the knocked over furniture.
I had just made it to the door and grabbed the handle when a large mass slammed into me, pushing me hard into the door. My head smashed hard against the wood and everything went black.