An Experiment In Red

Ruby Smith

It had been a year since he lost her.  His wonderful gem, his one and only.  He knew her as Ruby Smith.  He presumed the name she had given him was a lie, as when he looked up her name, there was no record of the flawless girl.  This dismayed Luke more than anything, for even though they spent a few short hours together a whole year ago- which felt like eons- he felt like they had created something beautiful.

Or maybe not.  After all, is one measly bit of information such as your name something you'd trust a stranger with?  Luke had trusted her with his own full name- Luke Anthony March- but she had merely nodded, nothing more.  And when he asked her name, she paused for a long time, before uttering the words "Ruby Smith" in a shy sense.  Luke had believed it at the time.  But not so much now. 

He had initially been attracted to his lovely for her appearance.  Her features were gentle, as if crafted by the seraphim themselves.  Her eyes were under lock and key, but sparkled like honey in the rising sun.  These golden eyes held the secrets of the devil in them.  Her chocolate brown hair knotted around her face- her perfect face- in a lazy, attractive fashion.  Her very existence screamed trouble.  Luke wanted to see more of what this tiger of a woman was.

He had approached her, as he remembered, leaning against her locker and biting his lip.  She was the new girl at the school, and was a grade under himself.  Luke assumed she was merely fourteen or fifteen.  This didn't matter to Luke, he was bursting with confidence that day, and was ready to take down any challenge. asked her name.  She had scoffed, prancing away from him at his very existence.  The hunt was on.

Later that day, he remembered walking her home, as they had both stayed after school, and it had gotten rather dark.  He had laced his cold fingers into her warm ones, they were pulsing with the warmth of her crimson blood underneath her skin.  They had talked about movies, shows and music, as the crickets hummed in the dead of the night.  No cars were on the street;  just him and his wonderful Ruby.   Alone together, just as they would rightfully be in the afterlife.

Ruby was a hungry lioness.  But she bowed down to her king, life, ever so obediently.  She was a good Catholic girl by day, but at night, as she advertised, she was a creature of overwhelming desire.  Luke felt himself nearing the end of the hunt quickly, and soon the overwhelming satisfaction would fulfill him and his every need.  He needed Ruby, his soulmate, his one and only.

He recalled her house, as well.  It was neat, with a cinnamon scent filling the air at the moment you would enter.  It was posh.  Dark blue walls and wood flooring.  The wood was freshly cleaned, he could tell, and shone like snow on a sunny winter day.  There were so many rooms, it was like a maze, but Ruby guided him through without issue, thank goodness.

He had no intention of seeing her hurt anytime soon- he would protect her.  He loved her.  Ruby, Ruby, Ruby.  Luke would do anything for Ruby.  But it only took a few moments, as she said she was going downstairs to fix a snack, for her life to be lost.  She had screamed so loudly.  Just five minutes after she went into the kitchen, his world became a living hell.  One he hadn't intended on living that day.  She found her on the floor, the door wide open, and her throat slit.  Her perfect, precious skin, it was now sliced in two on her sensitive neck.  He tried to save her.  He tried to cover the wound with his own hands so she wouldn't bleed out.  But Ruby gasped for breath, and more and more blood drained out of her body.  In a few mere moments, her lifeless, pale, cold corpse lay on the ground.  And her blood splattered on the dark walls and hard flooring, as well as his clothes and face.  He remembered the feel of his lover's warm blood on his face, grotesque and tragic.  Luke had lost her the same day he met her.

And since then, Luke had been set on one thing.  To find her killer and to end his very life, as revenge for the precious being he had stolen away from him.