Our Failures

Chapter 5: The Slaughter House

 I was nearing my house, walking through the neighbourhood I'd always known and sadly not being able to recognize it. Every building had large circles with Asteria's symbol marked with large red lines. It was a rebellion symbol that was all too familiar in less fortunate areas of the city but this neighbourhood has always been a good one. There was a low crime rate, the people were kind and kids rarely were seen inside. Now, however, no one was seen, no children, and no kind people. I looked down the road and saw that my home had been desecrated. It now adorned the mark of the Merushians, as though putting their symbol everywhere would help them rise above us.

I refused to acknowledge the symbol as I knocked on my door, hoping that my parents were home. I waited for a moment more before knocking harder, the door moving forward a little. I looked down and saw that the door had been busted recently, a small crack running along the door frame. I pushed the door open, a creak being the only response. The inside of the house was a mess, furniture was strewn about, the TV was missing and there were red Merushian symbols all over the walls. I walked further in, being careful not to disturb anything as I moved.

A pungent smell assaulted my nose as I moved closer to the kitchen, the door was closed and I almost left it that way in fear. I calmed my breathing and prepared my magic for a powerful telekinetic blast just in case. The door was already partially opened and all I had to do was push it. The metallic scent of blood filled my nostrils as I recoiled in shock of its potency. All over the kitchen was blood, covering everything. Yet there was no body there, it was empty save the cooking supplies and blood. Feeling a slight twinge of relief I backed out and closed the door before making my way to my parent's room, the scent of blood fading from my mind.

The door to their room was beaten upon, a series of large dents and scratches all along it. The handle was ripped out leaving a hole that was easily able to peer into the room. I pulled the door open as well a slight scent of blood hitting me again. There was far less blood only a little on the covers and on the wall, but on the wall the blood actually spelt something. On the wall were the words "RUN LITTLE BITCH" written in blood with the Merushian symbol directly below it. There was however no one else in the room except me, so I had to assume my parents did just as it said, ran.

I retreated from that room as well and moved to the last room worth exploring, my own. It was weird to find that only my room had been left alone, there were no bloody words, no upturned furniture and the door hadn't even been broken down. As far as I could tell it was perfectly normal and that worried me. What if they were still in the house? Or maybe they were coming back. Then I heard loud footsteps from the living room. I pull my magic together and cast redirected all the light from behind me. Now so long as I stayed against this wall they wouldn't be able to see me.

I moved forward, my back pressed against the wall as I shuffled along. I made it to the bathroom when I finally saw one of them, except that it wasn't a burglar but rather a police officer and coming in behind him was my dad. I sighed in relief as I let go of the illusion I was holding and showed myself, which was nearly a fatal mistake as the police officer hit me in the chest with a powerful kinetic blast, sending me through the bathroom door and straight into a puddle of old blood.

"Are you ok?" My dad yelled as he made his way over to me. I was lifted out of the puddle by him before he told the police officer who I was. The man apologized profusely before continuing his search of the house. "Now, why we go get you cleaned up?"

My dad led me to his car, an old thing with one of the less than popular engines that ran off of gas. They were nearly banned forty years ago but it was argued that they could someday come in handy, even if we have better methods nowadays. Ten minutes later we found ourselves at my aunt's house. She was my aunt on my dad's side and much nicer than Aunt Beatrix. She even had the water running for me when I got there so I was able to immediately jump in and clean off what was evidently pigs blood.

Pigs blood was used a lot for these types of things, as it was meant to symbolise that we were pigs for the slaughter with enough riches to keep us fat. At least that's how it was explained to me in my extremist classes on the base.

After I was done showering I talked with my mom and dad. Found out that dad had gotten home and found it like that and warned mom so she wouldn't go, then he left to get the police. I told them of my new rank as a Healer classed Sorcerer. They were all proud of me and my aunt even gave me a few dollars to get myself a present.

Sadly, it was cut short as my dad got a call from the police. I watched as his face went pale, losing color faster than I thought possible. Then after he finished the call he told us what happened.

'They were searching the house and in your room, they found a bomb," He said as he looked at me, "unfortunately they only found it because it detonated. Three police officers and seven others were killed in the explosion." He hung his head as he plopped on the chair. I couldn't believe how close I'd been to death. I walked off and called Sarapeth, it was time for me to go home.