Crimson

Stained Crimson

I opened my eyes with the smell of blood lying thick in the air.

‘Oh thank god.’ It was Jeff who spoke.

‘I don’t think God had anything to do with this.’ I murmured hoarsely. I coughed to clear my throat and looked around. There were piles of dead bodies around my room, pushed into corners. Each had been opened, had their organs removed and then moved to the side. I sat up slowly, ignoring the pain in my chest as I did so. ‘What’s going on?’

‘We happened to be passing your house when we heard yelling and some screaming and we checked up on you.’ Jeff told me, smiling hugely. ‘And there was your little human friend sitting on your chest trying to cut off your head.’

‘Frederique tried to cut off my head?’ I blinked. ‘As in my wife?’

He nodded. ‘She had a huge pile of things next to her, chainsaws, matches… She was going to destroy you.’

‘What did you do to her?’ I looked at the broken bodies, searching for hers among them with a sinking feeling.

‘I locked her in Anna’s room.’

I nodded. Frederique was alive. ‘Is Anna…?’

‘Dead?’ His voice broke and he looked away. ‘I don’t know. She brought you here, stayed with you for hours until she was sure you’d be ok… Then she left.’

‘She left?’ I blinked back unexpected tears. ‘So she’d be dead?’

He nodded and I swallowed hard. ‘Can I see Frederique?’

‘I don’t know if you want to…’ Jeff shifted uncomfortably. ‘Stabbing you… Changed her... Somewhat…’

‘What do you mean?’ I looked at him. ‘Is she not human?’

‘No, she’s very much human.’ Jeff assured me. ‘She’s not entirely hinged is all.’

‘Why is Frederique sitting in the corner of my room stabbing my walls?’ It was Anna.

I spun around. The muscles around her mouth turned upward and I smiled at her. ‘You’re still alive.’

‘I couldn’t leave without making sure you were fine.’ Anna smiled. ‘Jeff’s been teaching Frederique how to wield a knife. I think he’s trying to make a killer out of her.’

‘Jeff…’

Jeff giggled. ‘A man can dream.’

‘Can I talk to Fred?’ I asked. Jeff was still giggling when he nodded and I went up to her. I cracked the door open a crack and Frederique’s eyes snapped to the noise. She smiled, it was a bizarre smile, it didn’t reach her eyes, showed too much teeth and didn’t really turn up at the edges.  It wasn’t even a smile, she was quite literally baring her teeth at me, like an animal.

‘Hey Fred.’ I gave her a soft smile, moving slowly and lightly, barely making any noise at all as I moved across the floorboards. I stepped a bit too hard on a floorboard with a bit too much creak and suddenly panic shot through Frederique’s eyes and she leapt up, lunging at me with her knife and going straight for my throat. I knocked her arm to the side quickly and stepped in, catching her left arm and twisting it behind her back and with my free hand I took the knife from her gently.

‘Shhh.’ I whispered into her ear softly, ‘It’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.’

I could almost hear her thoughts turning and spinning in a tumultuous vortex, confusing her and scaring her at the same time.

‘Jack?’ She asked softly and I gave a deeply relieved sigh, my entire posture relaxing and instead of holding her in a restrain, it was an embrace. ‘I thought you died.’