Perfection (Red Wrists 1 REWRITTEN EDITION)

Part Sixteen

(Emma)
I opened my eyes slowly, preparing for the worst of scenes. Preparing for gore, for blood, for mutilation. Instead, I was greeted by a cheerfully eerie Halloween setting. Kids and parents alike were dressed up to the nines in their best costumes. Looking down at myself, I myself was a child, dressed as a princess; pink dress, pink shoes, and the weight of a tiara on my head. My chest was flat, but filled with a youthful joy of childhood. I charged forwards, reaching a group of other children nearly my age.

Three young boys were in the group. A puppet, a superhero, and a small little Grimm Reaper. They all had the same cheerful expression I did. The Grimm Reaper and the superhero were glued to the hip, figuratively. Poking and joking with each other, as kids do. The puppet's face was drenched in sweat, and he was stuffing a mask into his bag. In the subtle heat of the autumn night, he was probably really warm in that mask. Each boy was carrying a bag full of candy, as was I.

"Hey," the puppet said, sounding breathless, "I'm gonna head back to your house, Emma." I smiled at the puppet, nodding and waving him on. The superhero followed him, skipping slightly with each step. The two seemed to be in a good mood.

"Okay," the Reaper chirped giddily. "Okay, okay. We. Me and you? We're-..... we're gonna finish this street. Then we're gonna go back. Okay, Eemers?"

"Okay!" I agreed. He bounded off in the other direction, and I eagerly chased after him. His father wasn't too far behind, easily keeping step to our attempt at speed running away. Even with my dress reaching past my feet, I had become an expert at chasing boys while wearing a dress. We enjoyed our time, collecting the rest of the candy from some houses closing up shop for the night. Once we finished the street, Reaper and I made our way back to my house, his dad close behind.

But when we got there, something wasn't right. I could feel it in the dream, and my adult brain was screaming at me to run away in real life. But the child me in the dream walked to the opened door of my house, peering into the dark room beyond. None of the lights were on in my house. However, I saw a trail of dark liquid on the floor. I gulped. The Grimm Reaper kid behind me gasped, backing out of the house and clinging to his father's legs.

My heart pounded in my chest as I walked further into the house. "Mommy? Daddy?" I called out. No reply. I did however hear a child crying, so followed that. As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, my heart skipped a beat. There was the puppet, leaning over two crumpled figures on the floor. The dark liquid trail on the floor lead right to the crumpled figures. I gasped, covering my mouth as my brain processed what I was seeing. I took a step forward, slipping on the dark liquid  beneath my feet.

I landed on my rear, a sharp pain shooting up my back. My eyes were locked onto the puppet in terror. He turned to look at me, and there it was. That mask. That white mask, black lips, black eyes. Emotionless, heartless, cold. "Emma," the puppet whispered, agony in his voice. "Emma, it wasn't me."

A surge hit my stomach, and I felt bile in the back of my throat. I backed away from the scene, my hands becoming covered in the dark liquid as I moved. A dark liquid that I realized was blood. My parents' blood. The puppet ripped his mask off. Tears were streaming down his face.

"Emma, please. you have to believe me. It wasn't me!" he cried.

The Reaper's dad rushed into the room, letting out a shout of anger as he saw the gorey scene before him. He turned on the lights to the kitchen, and the whole room was bathed in a dull red glow. Blood was everywhere. Walls, floor, even the ceiling was splattered with my parents' blood. Reaper's dad grasped the puppet, pinning him down as he pulled out his cell phone. He was calling the police.

I couldn't take my eyes off of whatever was left of my parents. But even then, the puppet kept shouting at me that it wasn't him. He knew what I was thinking. He knows I thought he did it.

He knows I'm afraid of him.

As I began to stand, the puppet squirmed his way out of the Reaper's dad's grasp and came running at me. He grabbed my shoulders, gripping on tightly. Fear was racing in my chest as he leaned in close to me. "Emma, I didn't do it!"

"Emma!"

"Emma!" came a real voice, charging me out of sleep. I sat up, shaking, sweating, and crying. I looked at the person who woke me up, seeing a very concerned Tim sitting on the bed next to my laying body.

"Emma," he said more softly, "are you okay?"

I gulped, nodding slightly as I replied, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. It was just a nightmare, Tim."

He didn't look too thrilled, but accepted the answer anyways. He nodded, standing up from the bed and picking something up off the floor. A towel, I saw. And as my half-asleep brain was waking up more, I also saw that he'd been shirtless. He was towel-drying himself in his jeans for the day. I blushed, looking away and covering my eyes. "What are you doing?" I asked.

Tim looked down at himself, then back at me. "Getting ready for school. You should probably start with that, you had a long night last night." He threw a shirt on, grabbing his backpack off the floor before heading out the room. "You remember your way downstairs, right?" When I nodded, he continued, "If you take a right from the main lobby area, you'll hit the dining room. Sebastian's cooking breakfast."

After he left, I felt so alone. Especially after that dream last night. I stretched in bed, already not ready for the day.