Shuffle The Deck

Chapter 36 - Hemophobia

As soon as he was about to press the dial button, she pulled back her vacuum pole and took a singular stride toward him. In the same motion as her swift step, she slammed the vacuum's head into the man's skull, crushing and killing him instantly. His lifeless corpse slammed against the carpeted floor, blood pumping out of his head horrendously. The sight and smell of the scene made Lilah inhale sharply, attempting to maintain her composure.

But the job wasn't over yet. A woman frantically tore off her heels, at the sight of her comrade's death, running to exit for her life. Shizuku motioned over to Lilah, who blinked in response. 

Unnecessary bloodshed wasn't her forte, so when she sprinted towards the woman's back in less than a second, she muttered a quick "sorry" before plunging the dagger into her head.

The woman's eyes widened with terror, and she tumbled to the floor like a broken doll.

More blood pillowed out of where the dagger stuck, and Lilah shut her eyes and turned away. Shizuku cocked her head curiously.

"Blinky, let's clean this up," she commanded, flicking a switch on her vacuum cleaner's pole. The top of the machine immediately sprung fanged teeth and a long pink tongue, making it look like it had a mouth. 

A shiver crawled up Lilah's spine. That was way too weird. She watched as the vacuum sucked in the corpses, blood, and any other items the victims had been carrying. And they disappeared into it. There was no explanation, no reason, they were just gone.

Lilah heaved a steady sigh, wiping her forehead. She had to get over such a childish fear.

"Is everything alright?" Shizuku asked, looking a bit concerned.

"Yeah, of course. Just a little freaked out, that's all."

Shizuku smiled lightly. "It's fine, everyone had this reaction at first. But, I'm a valuable asset to the Troupe, and so is Blinky. So I can't do anything to make you get over the disgust for now. You'll get used to it soon enough," she reassured completely monotone.

"Sorry, I never meant to be rude," Lilah stated awkwardly.

"I told you, it's fine. Now c'mon, we have a job to do."

Lilah nodded and followed Shizuku through the doors that she held open, realizing her fatal mistake mere moments too late. 

"Delilah, wait-" She quickly turned to the woman with a bite of her lip, but every cell in Lilah's body had stopped for a split second. Her blood ran cold, and her heart slowed down. In front of her lay not just thousands of mangled corpses, but blood. So much blood. Gallons. Maybe even dozens of gallons if she focused hard enough.

With an aghast expression, her eyes darted to every corner of the room. "Oh god," she managed to squeak out before crashing to the floor and losing consciousness.

Shizuku quickly caught her and lightly tapped her cheek.

"What's going on with her?" Franklin asked from across the room, Shizuku turning her head to him.

"She's out cold. She has Hemophobia with large amounts of blood," the girl explained.

"Oh," Feitan blankly said. "That's kind of weird."

Shizuku just scoffed lightly. "Don't you have a phobia too, Feitan?"

He stared at her blankly and then turned bright red.

"N-No! I don't," he stuttered, quickly regaining his dark attitude.

Shizuku just rolled her eyes and set Lilah on the wall behind her. Franklin looked at her with a satisfied grunt. Feitan was still brooding over Shizuku's callout, sulking with his hands deep in his pockets.