The secrets of a twisted war

The graffitied address

Frostbite and The Devil Giraffes

On a dense, frigid morning, Dee awoke to the sound of teeth chattering, and heavy breathing. She rose to see Mi-Su slumped up against the concrete wall, her hands purple from frostbite. Dee instinctively ran to Mi embracing her cold and fragile body, trying to warm her with the friction of her cotton shirt. After a few hours and numerous failed attempts of warming Mi, Dee felt that she had no other choice. Using the metal crowbar she used to enter the bunker, she pried it open once more and set foot into the snow, cradling Mi in her arms. With Mi-Su's additional weight, it made it harder to lift her feet in and out from beneath the deep snow. With hardly any more realistic options to save Mi's life, she headed to the chemist just a few blocks away hoping it was open, if not she would take matters into her own hands. After trudging down a few streets of icy roads, she could see Mi-Su slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. However, if she expected to see the chemist's bold OPEN/CLOSE sign, she was sadly mistaken. The building lay in heaps of rubble, and mounds of stone. All of the pills and medication had also been destroyed along with the building when it was bombed. After kicking all searching through the debris she came across a small plastic tub that read: PAINKILLERS. Dee popped the lid and poured a few tablets into Mi's mouth, hoping it would sustain any pain until they found a safe shelter.

Dee carried Mi-Su, cradling her like a baby, she needed to find help, any help. Once back in her street, her house in view, she banged on her neighbour Sasha's door, praying she would answer. After minutes of waiting and no signs of response, Dee propped Mi up on one leg, using her free hand to punch a hole in the glass beside the door, allowing her to open it from the inside. Ignoring the large glass shards wedged into her bloody knuckles, she kicked the door open. Once inside, Dee lay Mi across an armchair, her legs dangling off the side, and opened the nearest door. Slowly and carefully, Dee turned the metal handle, earning a creak from the door, as she pushed it open and peeked inside. From all of the rotten food and empty tins on the ground, she could tell this was the pantry. Smashed tins, broken bottles and sweet wrappers were scattered across the floor, still, no signs of Sasha, or Sash, as they usually called her- for short. Dee swiftly exited the room, leaving the door open to avoid confusion. Across the hall was an archway, that accompanied a series of Korean graffiti, that was sprayed on the wall beside it. Through the archway was the kitchen and living room, which now looked like a scrap heap. The couches were sliced open spewing springs, and the tables were flipped over, pots and pans lay strewn about the room, still no sign of the red Sash -another one of her childish nicknames. On the left of the kitchen was a set of dark oak stairs, in which Dee slowly approached, being careful not to make the wood squeak as she tip-toed up the steps. Once at the top, she saw three separate rooms, one with an archway, one with a door, and one that used to have a door, but the door is smashed to pieces. Overwhelmed with curiosity, she took what looked like the safest option first. The archway. As soon as she stepped in the room she knew within seconds what room she was in, the music room. The music room was once filled with soft guitars, booming drums, and obscure band posters, but now, similar to the kitchen, it looked like a scrap yard. All of these once treasured instruments were ripped open and chopped up, the posters also having slashes across the band members eyes. Sasha, Dee, and Mi, along with there friend Elise (that moved to Los Angeles a few years ago,) used to be part of a band called The Devil Giraffes. Dee was the lead singer and the others played bass, drums, and acoustic guitar, sometimes switching instruments if they got bored but not often. They weren't the most successful band ever but each time they played at the local pub – the packhorse- the crowd cheered and roared with applause. The banned lasted till Dee met Thomas, and had to set her priorities on caring for her home and family. After thinking back on some hilarious moments of her band days, she stepped back through the archway and into the room with the intact door. This was the bathroom, however, this wasn't your ordinary bathroom, it was smashed and cracked to pieces. Tiles and stone were smashed on the walls and floor, and what frightened Dee the most, was a bloody handprint, still fresh, dripping down the mirror. Dee fell back in horror, the lights in the bathroom began to flicker, and a baby girl appeared in the mirror. The baby looked tormented, her eyes black with horror. She had short blonde hair tinted with dark red blood, which was slowly seeping through her torn black dress. A few seconds later the baby waved and the bathroom seemed normal once more, except the bloody handprint still dripping down the oval mirror.

Thinking that she was hallucinating from lack of sleep and nourishment, Dee carried on her search into the smashed room, that wasn't much worse than the rest of the house, this was Sasha's bedroom. The bed, similar to the couch, was ripped up, springs and cotton emerging from the huge gashes in the mattress. The bed was covered in numerous bloody handprints, along with fresh blood dripping from a knife that lay on the bedside table. Dee frantically dashed from the room, salty tears escaping her eyes, and anxiety knotting in her chest. Her stomach was churning with every step, she needed to just grab Mi-Su and run as far as her legs would take her. Running down the stairs arms ready to grab and carry Mi-Su, she found, Mi-Su was gone.