Melan

Prologue

The rain beat softly down on the front rails. It was a cold drizzly night. Rose, the house maid, wrapped her jacket tightly round her body as she stepped out of the front door. She quickly grabbed an umbrella resting by the side of the wall. It was still dripping water but as she was locking up, she had to bring it in. The wind was gentle but the cold was piercing. As she turned to go back into the house, she noticed a black cat by the fence, behind the flowers. She trembled slightly and got back into the house.
"Master must have brought it in" she muttered to herself. Rose hated cats, especially the black ones. The last time she saw a black cat, she lost the chance of becoming her hometown's first supermodel.
  Rose made to get into the kitchen but the ringing of a cellphone stopped her. She moved from the sitting room into the dining room and found Mrs Zoil's cellphone on the table. She picked it up and came back to the sitting room. She looked at the study just adjacent to the room. Mrs Zoil had said that she did not want to be disturbed. But the announcement of the election results have been over for fifteen minutes. Besides, it was Mr Zoil calling. So, she rang the bell to the study. No response. She couldn't hear a thing. Of course, she wasn't supposed to. The study was soundproof. Rose was about to go when she noticed that the door to the study was unlocked. She pushed it open.
          Mrs Zoil sat in a couch, her eyes glued to the television screen. She held the remote control in her left hand and a kitchen knife in the other.
     Rose made to step in but stopped short. The remote control was half covered in blood. The floor nearby was covered in blood. The slit open wrist was still releasing drops of blood.
     Mrs Zoil looked tired in death.