The Wrong Murder

Chapter 1 ----- Gone

Author's Note:
I'd like to express my gratitude to Rachel2589~ who is a good friend of mine and also the editor of this story.

"The start of what, Ivy?" Anthony asked, terrified. "The end, Anthony, the end." Ivy's eyes gleamed in madness as she pulled out the ribs of a dying man, with her bare hands. She wore an evil smile, blood trickling down her face shone in the light of the moon. From behind the corpse crawled out a small figure. Apparently, the man shielded his child from getting impaled. Ivy stopped dead, putting down her hand slowly. The child trembled in fear, he shook his father, hoping that this is all just nothing but a nightmare. Hearing no response, he crawled to him, his overall staining the blood ...

This story took place in a poor village in Afghanistan. War has come among them. The blade of a knife slipped through the ribs of a man nearing his 50s and punctured his lung. He wheezed out incomprehensible gurgles before choking on blood and collapsing in a viscous mess.

His clothes slowly dyed a crimson hue, staining the sand in a gooey mess. His only child didn't even dare to look in the eyes of that man, the one who people call General and bow in respect. He shows the eyes of a predator looking for its prey. Those cruel eyes give people the chills. That child shivered, terrified.

She crawled up to her father, "Father..." she whimpered. She shook her father, hoping that he would open his eyes. Knowing that her father had left her, she drifted into darkness, away from the harsh world, then into her own.

"...collapse...urgent..." Ivy heard the words of a woman echo as she slowly regained consciousness. 'Huh, so is this limbo? Not quite as I expected.'She stirred and with great effort, opened her eyes. Sterile sheets.White everywhere. 'What, is this some kind of crappy movie?'

She tried to find something, anything that would give her a mere hint of whatever was happening around her,but flopped back down to the pillow as the annoying sound of a heart monitor beeped from somewhere behind her. 'So I'm in a hospital. Figures.' Suddenly, she felt a dull throbbing in her head.'Ugh...'The general. Knife. Red. Red Everywhere." Father!" She shot up on the bed, clutching her head as bits and pieces flashed through her brain.

In a panic, she let out a choked sob as she threw away the covers on her and shakily raced for the door, stumbling as the different tubes and wires were pulled off. 'No no no this is not happening where is father this cannot be true' She barely registered her heavy breathing and the flatline of the heart monitor as her legs gave way and she crumpled to the ground like a broken doll, hiccuping and sobbing uncontrollably.

Then a hand clamped onto her shoulder. Ivy managed to stop herself from screaming in fright as a woman hefted her back onto her bed. She stared at the woman in front of her. She looked... unfamiliar... with brown hair at shoulder-length and green eyes. Glasses, a clipboard and a white cloak introduced her as a doctor.

She then knelt in front of her, "Ivy, I'm Kelly, and you are in hospital." She glanced at Ivy's face, attempting to read her expression, "Where is father?" Ivy's hand curled into a fist, her nails digging her palm. She knew the answer already. Kelly hesitated. She had no idea how to tell a little girl that her only family was dead. "umm..." she stuttered. Racking her brain to find the right wording, "...he's...gone" She tried to avoid the look on Ivy's face by looking at the carpet. "Gone..." Ivy repeated. The word echoed in her mind.

She felt a tear trickle down her cheeks and tried not to have a break down in front of a stranger by biting her tongue hard when she found herself in Kelly's arms. Kelly set Ivy's head against her chest and attempted to sooth her by stroking her long hair with her fingers. Ivy's silent tears slowly turned into sobs, then she cried herself into a restless sleep.