Raining Blood

To Be Human pt. 1

The rain sparkled against the window. Dozens of old buildings reached out to the dim skyline. Barren trees reached their leafless branches up to the clouds. The rainy season was starting to set in. Branches were swaying in the wind, waving at the red sky. A storm was brewing. 

"This is Darren Stryker, from Heart-line, your one-stop shop for all things creepy, how's it going Internet?" A voice said. 

Pre-recorded applause filled the background. "Haha, love the enthusiasm," Darren cackled. When he calmed down, an edge of seriousness came to his voice. "Today we're here to talk about a case very close to home. Joining us today is our very special guest, a man who's solved more cases than the police can give him, give it up for, Detective Knight!"

The fake applause echoed once again. A different voice came over the air. There was something odd about it. It was cold and level. Every word was spoken with startling precision but there was something almost floaty about it. It was almost like the words were coming from afar, from some otherworldly being looking down from above. 

"It's great to be here, Darren," the voice said. Even Darren seemed on edge when the man spoke. 

"Thank you," Darren replied, a bit of hesitation in his voice. Then he got serious again. "Detective, you've worked on countless cases, but today we're here to talk about one. The Sterling Murders."

"A very gruesome tragedy," the detective replied, "And a very difficult puzzle to piece together." 

The bus slowly came to a stop. A figure with a hood over their head slowly stood to their feet. The only thing that stood out about them was their red shoes. 

Something was trailing behind them. It had the appearance of a woman, except she was frail beyond belief, to the point of being skeletal. Her face was pale, and her long hair flowed over the person in the black jacket. The specter's claw-like fingers reached into their neck. Without a word, the person in the jacket stepped off the bus with the skeletal woman following after.

The bus driver glanced at his rear-view mirror. A girl with red hair and a school uniform was standing upright towards the middle of the bus. Her hair blocked her eyes from view. An earbud was in one of her ears. 

The bus driver's eyes trailed after the girl, following her for longer than normal. Without even looking at him, the girl stepped out of the bus into the pouring rain. 

She had no umbrella or a jacket. Instead, she trudged through, oblivious to the cold water flowing over her skin. The rain matted down her hair. Somehow, it made her appearance even more sinister. She turned up the volume on her phone.

"The Sterling murders are the name of five murders that occurred in this area," the detective continued. "The man who perpetrated those crimes was a man named Joseph Sterling."

"How did you put all the pieces together?" Darren pressed. 

People were moving out of the way as the red-haired girl walked forward. There was an unnatural limp that followed her everywhere she moved as if the handbag she was carrying in her other arm was filled with bricks. A few people who saw her seemed frightened of her, especially by the strange expression on her face. 

"It certainly was a challenge," the detective explained, "When the investigations first started, each case seemed unrelated to the next." 

On the street, a woman with short black hair and a black coat was walking down the street confidently. A long red scarf fell from her neck. 

As she walked passed, a man with an odd hair cut checked her out, turning on his heels to get a better look at her. The woman gave him a passing smirk. The man saw it, smiling widely as he turned on his heels in the other direction. He was humming a tune that belonged at a carnival.