Misery Looms

Chapter 11 - Crimson Slaughter

A metallic smell hung limp in the air and then the colour red filled every crack on the road.

"My name is Lilith."

***

Edward bolted from bed, hands gripped sheets tightly and sweat clung to skin. A nightmare? Maybe, but as Edward tried to remember, the contents of the dream slowly dripped away and it left only dread.

Something wasn't right.

The thought lingered while Ed slowly untangled from the sheets. Eyes drifted to his hand and the dread like an anchor drifted to the bottom of his stomach. A thin layer of dried blood was caked under his nails.

Ed got up, but through the haze of confusion he'd failed to noticed how morning creped in and sufficed the shadows. Ed walked to the bathroom and eyes never left the dried blood.

Why was there blood? Who's was it? Those thoughts circled around as he tried to scrub it away. Was it his and if it wasn't, then what the hell happened? Once more Ed tried to pull at the contents of the nightmare or was it a memory? But there was only a hole that housed the shadows.

He looked up from the sink and into the mirror. Then realized he wasn't wearing the same clothes he fell asleep in. What the hell? Ed thought and turned off the faucet. Hands curled around the edge of the sink, but that's when a burning pain spread from fingertips to the base of his hand. Teeth clenched from the pain as he pulled away and that's when he saw it, a thin strip of morning light that laid innocently on the edge of the sink.

Morning? That can't be possible because Ed couldn't remember waking up last night.

Eye's traveled back to his hand saw how pink burnt flesh slowly turned back to normal and there was no longer the lingering pain. That's when the morning light caught his attention once more as the strip of light had gotten stronger and longer by the minute. He needed to get out of the room.

As he walked back to the room it felt like exhaustion tugged on his body, eyelids became heavier and every step became more sluggish. As soon as the door opened the sight of the bed pulled and his body begged for rest. Before Ed got too far the sight of a pile of clothes curled up on the floor stopped him.

Once Ed held the fabric and upon exemption found that there was no blood anywhere on the clothes. Through sluggish thoughts, he didn't know where to start to find out what happened. However before that line of thought went any further he'd flopped onto the bed and before he could curl up within the blankets he was asleep.

Blood filled every crack on the road, a body lay cast in shadows and the sweet metallic taste filled his mouth.

Ed's eye's slipped opened and saw that the room was cast in darkness as night had overtaken the sky once more. Thoughts about what happened earlier still swirled around as he got up and wondered if it really was a nightmare or was it a memory that escaped when he woke up. It made some sense if it was a memory as it would explain why he couldn't remember waking up last night. He thought more about it as he walked out of the room and to the kitchen.

There on the kitchen table was today's newspaper. Ed got closer and was able to make out the front page which retold the story of the murderer's latest victim. Ed picked up the paper.

Five people were killed the other night and then there was another victim. When would the murderer stop? Ed thought and started to read the first page, but couldn't concentrate on the text as images slid in and out of his mind, but one image stuck and it was a body of a man, no older than twenty and blood clung to his body like a second skin.

Ed flipped to the next page to try to rid the image, but it did little to help. Eyes traveled to the bottom left where there was a picture of the victim. The newspaper was dropped and landed on the table with a dull thud. Ed stood still, hands shook and eyes went wide.