Heroic Villains: Toxic Hero

Headline Thirteen: Knowing When to Call Bull

Lilibeth Acree

The sun hadn't even risen yet when a series of clumsy notes on a stringed instrument penetrating the walls of Lilibeth's apartment. Her neighbors so far have been nice enough to understand she liked being alone and quiet. They liked it just as much as she did, or so she thought. The melody was a prudent and evil thing at first. It wasn't a song at all just a mush of notes clumsily strung together, each note was held for a moment of two before moving on to the next off tune screech that pressed against the walls of Lilibeth's bedroom walls, waking her hours before her alarm.

She sat up on her elbows, blinking into the dark of her room, and frowned as she pushed her mousy brown hair out of her face. It took her some moments to find that the music was so loud because it was happening on a real instrument and in the room that shared a wall with her bedroom. It took a few moments longer for her sleepy brain to remind her that, that wall was the one shared by the Winters brothers. She wasn't aware of either of the brothers were musically talented; if talent is what you would call that racket.

She quickly got up and grabbed her robe as she exited her room, stepping into her book filled apartment's main room. She repaired them as a passion. Flicking on the light, Lilibeth searched her dining table and coffee table for her phone so that she could call Kieran Winters, who was paying her to keep tabs on his place and call if anything out of the ordinary happened. Music from their place wasn't something she's ever heard among the usual moans and shouts, so she figured it was worthy of a call. Kieran had explained his brother had health problems and had a hard time sleeping among other things.

She fumbled around uselessly shuffling papers around. As she looked the music became something less clumsy and much more put together. The complexity of it made Lilibeth pause in her search. Talent wasn't good enough of a word for the beautiful music escaping from that place. It was pleasant, whimsical, and teasing; Lily had never heard such a thing before. Only in someone else's imagination could she think of something so wonderful.

She found herself drawn to it, peeking out of her front door to the closed one to her left where the music was flowing out of and down the hall. She didn't understand it herself, but she felt the person playing the instrument wasn't smiling.

Lilibeth stepped from her home and out into the dim lit hallway. The carpet lining the floor was rough against her bare feet, it was light blue. The walls were white while the lights lined the area where the ceiling met the wall. The doors were grey as they were aluminum metal, they were light like a wood door, but they were also solid making them hard to get through. Each studio and apartment were equipped with dead bolts. Lilibeth didn't make anything near the asking price for rent with her hobby, but her parents were swimming in money, and they paid for it.

Lilibeth was at the door, turning the handle and stepping in. She shouldn't be doing this, but it was okay, the music needed her. Within the apartment of the Winters brothers was dimly lit by a single lamp where Kieran stood by a table playing the weeping violin. He turned to look at her with piercing deep green eyes.

"Mr. Winters...?"

"Lilibeth, you have some explaining to do."

"I-I don't understand," Lilibeth stammered as Kieran set the violin and bow in its case and turned more fully to look at her.

"Tell me what you know," He demanded as he stepped over to her, his boots clicking against the wooden floor. He caressed her cheek warmly and yet his stare was cold.

"About Coy, he's doing fine, been quiet most nights," She explained, but his eyes narrowed at her in suspicion, "Honest, the only weird occurrences being the music, but it's just you. I... I really liked what you were playing, what's it called?" In return for the compliments, Kiren just stared.