HUES OF A MURDER

Chapter 7: When the world is grey!

A scream filled the air. Cyan looked over at Scarlett. She was screaming. Her eyes were fixed on the bizarre tableau in front of them.

Ruby was an unearthly spectre with blood - infused snow blonde hair. Rose's white dress was covered in blood. She looked catatonic.

Cyan wondered if she was aware of them. "Rose?" he tentatively moved towards her. "Scarlett, go and inform someone." He didn't get a response. "Scarlett" he shouted.

She slowly turned towards him.

"Find someone. Go now." he commanded.

"Oh! OK!" she left hurriedly, as if trying to escape.

"Rose, come on. Let's get out of here," Cyan coaxed her. He put his hands around her and helped her stand up. She looked at him and tried to say something. She showed him her blood-covered hands. "We will clean you up, but let's get out of here first, OK?" he said in a gentle voice.

But she stood staring at him. He suspected that she wasn't listening to him. He tugged her towards the door, stepped out of the room and closed it.

He looked up to see people running towards them led by a man.

Scarlett was shouting, "Rose, Rose, are you OK?"

"What happened?" the man asked.

"Rose, are you hurt?" a blonde-haired woman asked her. When she didn't get any response, the woman turned towards Cyan, "Is she OK? Is she hurt?"

"She's fine. She's in shock. Ruby is dead, I think. We need to call the police."

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" the woman began panicking.

"Shh! It's OK! Calm down. We need to think this through, Zelda." The man rubbed his stubbled chin. "Where is the body?" the man demanded Cyan.

He pointed towards the study. The man nodded and went to the room.

"Everyone, stay here. You come with me," the man nodded to another guy, who, Cyan recognized as the guy who stood guard at the staircase in the foyer. The guy, who was a small giant, nodded at him and they opened the door. "Jesus!" the man muttered.

Cyan tugged Rose, "Come on, Rose. Let's go and sit somewhere."

Scarlett followed them to the reading room. She was shivering. "What are we gonna do?" she panicked.

"I have no idea," he replied.

Rose and Scarlett sat in a sofa while their friends gathered around them to talk to them. The woman named Zelda went outside though the French windows to call someone.

Cyan took his phone out and went after her to call Skye. The network connection was feeble. After trying a couple of times, his call went through. "Skye, hello?"

"Hey, buddy. Did you have a good time? We are just coming home. Fifteen minutes." AC/DC blasted through the phone.

"Hello, hello, I can't hear. Can you reduce the volume of the music?" Cyan hollered.

"Just a sec," the music stopped. "What's up bud? Did you reach home?" Skye's voice sounded jovial.

"Skye, is Rusty with you?" Cyan wondered how he was going to tell his brother about the murder.

"Yeah! What's wrong?" Skye realised the change in his brother's tone.

"You have to come to the manor. Now." Cyan was impatient.

"Hold on. I am putting you on speaker," the purring of the car engine filled Cyan's ear.

"Cy, it's Jay. What's wrong?" Jay asked.