The Lost Child

Chapter 15: Bloody Mystery

The car screeched to a halt, tires spitting gravel in a desperate bid to stop.

Alfonso and Arthur tumbled out, their faces slick with sweat, a chilling dread settling in their stomachs.

'I'm worried, is Martha home?' Alfonso's voice cracked, his hand shaking as he tried to dial Martha's number. No answer. Just the hollow echo of unanswered calls.

'I'll try Catherine,' Arthur muttered, his own face pale. He frantically dialed, praying for a lifeline.

'Papa,' Catherine's voice, choked with sobs, pierced through the phone. 'Papa, I'm scared.'

'Catherine, where are you? Is Martha with you?'

'No, Papa. Aunt Martha... she's dead.'

A guttural scream tore from Alfonso's throat. He slammed his head against the car window, the sound echoing in the silence. 'FUCK!' he roared, the pain of the blow a mere shadow of the agony ripping through his soul.

'Where are the robbers? Are they still there?' Arthur's voice was a strained whisper.

'I... I don't know. I was hiding in the bathroom cabinet,' Catherine sobbed.

Arthur, his breath hitching, grabbed his telephone. 'Police,' he said, his voice barely audible.

He reported the crime, the chilling details spilling from his lips. The address, the screams, the terror.

They pulled up outside the house, parking haphazardly.

The front door, once a symbol of warmth and welcome, now hung open, a gaping wound in the facade.

It had been forced, the wood splintered and broken.

Arthur and Alfonso exchanged a look, the unspoken understanding hanging heavy between them.

With a shared nod, they kicked the door open, bracing themselves for the worst.

The scene inside was a tableau of horror. Blood, a crimson tide, pooled on the floor, staining the once-familiar carpet.

Bodies lay scattered, twisted and still, their faces frozen in a silent scream.

Alfonso stumbled forward, a choked cry escaping his lips.

He fell to his knees beside Martha, her eyes wide open, staring into the abyss.

Her hand, still clutching her swollen belly, was stained with a crimson that mirrored the blood that coated her.

'MY MARTHA!' he cried, cradling her in his arms. His fingers traced the outline of her pregnant belly, the weight of their unborn child pressing against him.

He wept, a primal, guttural sound that echoed the pain of a thousand broken hearts.

Seeing the gruesome image, they crashed into their rampant thudding in their heart, it painfully pierced right through their soul seeing them brutally killed.

"MY MARTHA!" Alfonso kneeled down beside Martha's dead body, her eyes were still opened by the baby...

Their unborn baby is right beside them.

Alfonso broke down into tears as he held the baby and Martha in his arms, he screamed at the top of his lungs as he placed his chin on his wife's head.

Arthur couldn't even bare to look at his children's dead bodies, but then he tried to look at them.

Genevieve was beheaded, her head was beside her foot, her eyes were gauged and was replaced by maggots and worms, her legs and arms were decapitated as if she was broken into puzzle pieces, her fingers were cut off and broken pieces of glass were shoved into her mouth, the killera mocked her brutally.

Alice's side face was smashes so hard that her face was about to fall apart, her ear on that side was cut off and her teeth was also pulled out, she had numerous slices in her whole body, her right eye was also gauged out and a screwdriver was pushed inside her private part.

Elisa's whole face was deeply smashed so she couldn't be recognized anymore, her arms are also sliced deeply and her fingers were cut off and were shoved into her mouth.

Arthur screamed at the top of his lungs, what did his family do to deserve this? What did his children do to be killed like this?

And then he shouts Catherine's name, and there she goes, running downstairs to her father and both embraced each other dearly.

"Did they hurt you?" Since she was soaked in blood, but she wasn't injured or wounded.

"No, I was hiding in the bathroom, so I wasn't hurt" She sobbed loudly.

After a few minutes, the cops and the detective arrived in their home, they tried to investigate about what happened and they covered their bodies in white fabric, they noticed that their blood and injuried don't look like they were just killed, it seems like they were killed for 3 or 4 hours ago and they told Arthur and Alfonso about it.

Catherine was already changed and took a bath, she went to the living room with her uncle and father, the cop asked her something, "Did they try to hurt you?"

Catherine nodded, "Yes, they chased me but I already found my hiding place"

The detective turns to Arthur, "Is there anyone angry at your family that you know?"

Mr. Dock threatened them that he will kill them just like how his grandchildren suffered.

"Oh, it's my neighbor, Mr. Dock, his family was killed because the killers though that they are the Shire family and now he's aiming at us."

"Mr. Dock... The one in the news recently?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, how well do you know him?"

Arthur shook his head, "I just observe his presence, I know nothing else about him"

"Maybe we can talk to him"

"The town we once lived is 7 hours away"

"That's nothing, it won't stop us from investigating."