Die Vermillion (Version One)

Chapter One: Cold, dark rain

          Eden walked down the road in the heavy downpour, securing her backpack on her shoulders once more. Water trickled down the hood of her blue raincoat, and onto her face when she looked up at the dark, clouded sky. It was around 2 o'clock, and she had just gotten off her bus. It was a long day at school, loaded with projects and busy-work. Eden will be home alone today at least, so she can finally relax. She felt so tired, a nap would be nice too.

          As she approached her sizable house, a shock crawled throughout her; the door was wide open. Eden slowed to a stop in the rain. Did somebody break in? Should I call the police? She didn't think it was necessary, and that maybe the wind pushed it open. Things like this only happen to other people, never her own, so she should be safe.

          A large crack of thunder resounded through the sky, so Eden walked inside. She was wet enough already. She looked around her house, and nothing seemed out of place. Then she remembered her dogs.

          "Max! Willow!", Eden called. She heard the clicking of nails on the wood floor, and the large Bernese Mountain dog walked up to her. She felt relief, but only for a second.

          Eden kneeled, and pet her dog. "Max, where's Willow?". She stood up, and called for Willow. She walked past her ferret's cage, and walked around her house. Keeping the door open, she looked for the other mountain dog. She took off her backpack and coat, setting it on the floor in the kitchen. Willow!", she called. Eden heard a loud alarmed whimper. "Willow?" She heard another response, it being a high-pitched bark, coming from the basement. She started to get a bit nervous, the basement door was shut, why was she down there? Why does she sound afraid?

          She walked closer to the basement door, and Max growled, walking slowly beside her. Eden turned the knob, and opened the door. "Willow!", she yelled again. She didn't get a response this time, so she tried to turn the light above the stairs on, but it didn't work. "Damnit, must be out of power". She went over and grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen counter and decided to go down the stairs, but Max stayed where he was, growling. "What's wrong boy?", Eden asked, as fear started to build up inside her. She turned away from him, and cautiously walked down the stairs. She pointed the flashlight in front of her, and continued to walk down. When she reached the bottom, she called Willow again. No answer. She walked around her basement, looking around in the darkness. "Willow?", she whispered. And again, no answer. What's happening? Eden heard another crack of thunder, and this time a flash of lightning lit the room. She saw something on the ground, under one of the windows. She walked closer in the near to pitch darkness, and shined the flashlight at the ground. Eden's eyes widened. There was blood all over the concrete flooring, and following it, led to a heap of fur, blood, and what seemed to once be a dog, but was now a decapitated animal corpse. Eden screamed, backing away. "Willow? Willow?!". She turned around, with fear and anxiety crawling through her skin, and bumped into a tall figure. Eden shined the flashlight at the figure. "Hey, get that out of my face!", said a tall man with a raspy voice. "No", she said, backing away, and bumping into another man. "Get her", he said. "No!", Eden screamed, elbowing the man behind her hard in the stomach, and then kicking the other in the face. Gymnastics paid off.

          Eden ran from them, scrambling up the stairs as they were yelling and then climbing after her. She ran out of the basement, and quickly went to her ferret's cage to retrieve it. She opened the door and put her arm out. "Silver, quick!", she said. The small white and silver ferret jumped out and climbed up Eden's arm and onto her shoulder, getting a grip on the clothing. Eden called Max and then ran out the door, into the rain. The two men scrambled out the door after her, and Max stopped. She turned around and called Max again, but he did not look at her, and instead growled at the men. "No! Max!", she yelled. "Get her, NOW!", the tall man yelled again. Eden had no choice but to keep running, Max wasn't going to listen. She turned and ran again, at her highest speed towards her neighbor's house. The rain pounded her, and her ferret had tucked itself into her sleeveless top.

          Just then, she turned around to see Max barking and growling at the large dark man trying to run after Eden. The dog lunged forward and grabbed onto the man's arm and tugged hard. He screamed and the other man shot the dog, and got his partner up and running after her again. "Max! No!", Eden screamed. Max had bought her time, and potentially saved her life. Thank you, she thought as she kept running, expressions of fear flashing across her face.

          She reached her neighbor's house, and ran up to the porch, exhausted. She frantically rang the door bell, whilst looking back to see the men no longer chasing after her.

          Finally, Eden's neighbor opened the door. "Why hello- ", her neighbor started. Eden Pushed through and collapsed on the floor, trying to catch her breath. She looked up at her neighbor, who seemed confused. "Close the door! Close it now! And lock it!", yelled Eden. Her neighbor closed it, and locked it; puzzled. "Francine", she said, still breathing heavily. "Two men broke into my house, and tried to kill me. They've killed both my dogs, and are now trying to catch me. But I have the ferret". Silver crawled out from her shirt, and looked at Francine, nose twitching. "Oh dear, let me call the police officers right away. Stay here honey", Francine said, walking to the phone. Eden sat up, and was soaked from head to toe. She took off her shoes and socks, and sat there with Silver, just shocked. Fear was still crawling all over her, like bugs under her skin. Eden was lucky she could run so fast, and that her reflexes were near lightning fast. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten away.

          A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "Oh, that must be the police then", said Francine, walking to the door. Through the foggy glass, she could see one large man and a thin tall one.

          "Francine, wait", Eden said, eyes widening.

         "What is it Eden? It's only the police Hun". As Francine was turning the knob, Eden got up.

         "Wait! Don't open that door!" There was a loud bang, and Francine fell to the floor. The two men walked in, and looked at Eden. They didn't look happy. "You-you've caused us enough trouble, you little shit", said the tall man, trying to catch his breath. Eden tried to back away again, only to turn around to another man, who hit her in the head with a baton. She fell to the floor, unconscious. Everything was dark again.