When Shadows Rise | I

Ch. 3 | Pain

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Talia was paralyzed with horror and shock. She wasn't able to form any words out of her mouth; all she could do in the moment was sit there with her mouth hanging open, eyes widened, and arms glued to her sides.

Her mother's body slumping back was enough for Talia to see the full, raw picture before her. She could feel the floor beneath her folding onto itself like massive sinkhole.

The next moment was a memory that would give Talia nightmares from now on. She let out the most piercing bloodcurdling scream she had ever heard her voice box produce. She knew she had to run over to her mother, but it was like her legs lost their basic ability to move. Everything unfurled in front of her: her world was spinning and warping, and she felt as though a python was constricting her sense of control.

When Talia found the strength to work her limbs, she threw opened the door and much to her shock, her mother's killer disappeared. Talia was gobsmacked. It was impossible for the intruder to be here one second and then the next be gone without a trace— it was like the earth had swallowed him!

How did he escape? At first Talia had reason to suspect that the murderer escaped through the window, but the window was in perfect condition- just how her mother always left it.

Imma...Imma!

Talia had never acted so fast before in her life than when she scrambled to her mother's body and desperately used whatever was at her disposal to stop the bleeding. By now her hands were smeared with her mother's fresh blood, and Talia felt a dizzy spell was on its way. She didn't know if it was due to her anemia or inhaling the iron aroma coming from the blood, or both. When Talia saw the blood was pouring like a waterfall, she attempted to do CPR on her mother. Each chest compression pumped panic into Talia's veins, as she choked back sobs when she realized her methods weren't working.

She didn't want to believe it. No daughter would. Her denial only seemed to fuel the throbbing pain in her heart, which was seconds away from bursting like a bubble. She had to face the fact that she was wasting her time trying to revive a corpse that had breathed it's last breath before the blade pierced it's precious heart.

So what more could she do? Other than to rock her mother in her arms and murmur a prayer in Hebrew in a brittle voice. Talia's melting pot of emotions erupted, and she continued pouring her heart out until her throat was clogged up and eyes could no longer release tears. Talia clung to her mother tightly, as if she were afraid her mother would disintegrate to dust.

Not even when the police arrived on the scene did she move a muscle. The responding officers only saw a little girl, covered in blood, weeping for her mother to come back.

***

It wasn't long before the medical examiner and the ambulance showed up at the mansion. Talia saw paramedics carry her father away on a stretcher, which worried and relieved her— relieved, because at least her father didn't wound up in a body bag, but worried upon seeing her father's wounded state and being given a ventilator. She hoped, prayed that her father would survive. She wasn't certain if she could get through the night (or any day, for that matter) if her father were to pass.

After Talia answered questions from the police and the paramedics examined her and confirmed that the blood wasn't hers, she sat outside on the marble steps, swaddled in a blanket and watching the police secure the crime scene with yellow tape.