Crimson Stained Lips

Chapter 1

The moonlight bathed the room in an ethereal glow, the tinkling of the wind chime mixing with the faint music from outside the window. The room is tidy, books stacked on the shelf, A photo frame kept at a corner of the bedside table. At first glance, the room seems decorated impersonally, but looking closely one can see trinkets of the girl that was and the woman that would be. The desk, in stark contrast to the rest of the room is littered with papers, drawings, an open sketchbook in the center. 

On the little table beneath the mirror, makeup is scattered around. Notes all over the place, of things that had to be done. The smell of a sweet perfume still hung in the air. Pieces of glass are scattered over the floor, small, with jagged edges. Swept to the side clumsily, she'd pick it up later.

And on the neatly made bed, she is lying, peacefully asleep, or so it seems.

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Like every other day, Viola Mitchell  makes her rounds of the hostel. Looking for the girls that she didn't see at breakfast, Making sure the rooms are locked, and whatever tasks are in her check list for the day. And first on her check list is to talk to Dahlia Williams. 

Dahlia, the twenty something year old, is nothing short of a menace. Always waking up late, skipping classes, drugs, drinking the whole ordeal. Most people would think that the warden would let her do what she pleases, but Viola cared for the students in her hostel. She looked after them, and cared enough to know about them. 

In fact she knew them well enough that when she saw the door of a certain Scarlet Miller, unlocked while it was time for class, she rushed to see what was wrong. She walked in with a smile, which immediately dropped the second she saw what lied in front of her. Her mouth fell open, a terrible scream escaped her lips.

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Dahlia Williams is done with this hostel. But there's nothing new with that, she's done with almost everything. She wants nothing to do with this hostel, she wants nothing to do with this college. The people in her wing are annoying. Her fucking dealer is annoying.

Yeah she does drugs, not because she's complicated, no. She does drugs because she likes doing drugs. She likes the rush, the feeling of being untethered. What she hates is someone screaming on the top of their fucking lungs at nine am when she has a hangover.

She leaves the room to shout at whoever is screaming bloody murder. Finding no one in the hallway she walks towards the only room that is unlocked. Scarlet's, which is weird because there is no way that she is skipping a lecture. 

Honestly, she probably saw a bug or something and got scared. Scarlet, too sweet to tolerate. 

"The fuck Scarlet, why are you screaming bloody-"

At the door, she recognized that smell, Dahlia could recognize that smell anywhere. The pungent metallic smell of blood washed over her sense the moment she stepped near the door. The warden was lying their. Dahlia's body went into autopilot. She checked the warden's pulse, faint. She dragged her away from the door, splashed water on her face. Then she called 911.

Ms Mitchell will be fine. She'll wake up in a while. But what scared her is Scarlet.

 Scarlet lying on her bed with her eyes open, lifeless. Blood spilling from her lips and the slit on her throat, and flowing down her dress and onto the bed drenched with crimson red blood.