Recycling Bin :)

Ruby Red

Prologue

"Goodnight sweetheart," my mother smiled as I stopped in front of my room. She stood in front of her and my father's door, my dad coming up the stairs beside her. I smiled at both of them. 

"Night, love you," I said meaningfully. 

"Love you too," my mom responded while my dad wrapped his arms around his waist. 

"Night Ruby," my dad said as he pulled them into their room. 

"Night," I mumbled just as their door closed. I turned back into my room and shut the door behind me, facing the dark room with tired eyes. Slowly, I felt around in the extremely dimly lit room and found my queen size bed. I threw myself onto it and buried my face into my pillow. 

The day before, I had turned eighteen. My parents and I had celebrated by going to a fancy restaurant by the cove of our small town. I didn't remember the name of it now but it had been a great family dinner. Something I truly missed now-a-days. 

I had barely been asleep for an hour when a sharp scream shot me up. My mother. 

She was screaming something- something I couldn't understand. Words, but not in English. I heard my father yelling out, but in pain. Something was wrong. I ran to my door and tugged at the handle. It wouldn't budge. 

"Mom! Dad!" I screamed through the door. No answer. My mom's words cut off and changed into high pitched screams of agony. 

I took a large step back and sent my foot flying at the door- it still didn't budge. My breathing increased as sobs began flooding through the door. My mother's sobs. My father's voice began shouting in the same words my mother had been using earlier. 

A loud high pitch shriek filled the air, numbing my ear drums and throwing me off my bearings. Then suddenly, everything was quiet. So quiet I could hear my heart beating in my ears. My hand flew towards the door knob and I grasped it. Slowly, I turned the knob to find it unlocked. It swung open to reveal a blood spattered hallway.

My breathing increased ten fold as I stared at the red blood. The bright red human blood. 

My pace slowed to a small shuffle as I moved my feet across the hallway. The blood trail led to my parent's open bedroom door. 

Thoughts flew through my head faster than the speed of light, every thought seeming more impossible than the last.

I concluded it was just a dream, a nightmare. It wasn't real.  My hand found it's way to my arm and pinched it but nothing happened. I was still here, the blood trail, the evidence that someone had been here who wasn't my parents- it was still there. 

I blinked and I was in my parents room. 

The sides of my vision began to go black as I saw the image in front of me. 

My mother was lying on the bed, eyes open and unblinking, blood pouring out from her stomach. 

"Mom," I whispered. There was no way. 

My shoulders began trembling, my knees felt weak. I collapsed onto the blood soaked carpet. I couldn't breathe. There was no way. 

"Ruby," a raspy voice cut through my silent tears. I quickly sat up and saw my father laying just beside the bed. The trail of blood led to him. His side was bleeding heavily. 

"Dad!" I quickly scrambled over to his side. He was wheezing and coughing blood. His brown hair was matted to his forehead with a thick layer of sweat. Cuts ran down his arms from what looked like claws. 

"Ruby, their not dead," he gasped out. "Get the silver- knife in my- pocket," he began coughing again, blood spurting out onto the carpet. 

"Dad I have to call an ambulance. I'll be right back," I reasoned, claiming him delusional. 

"No!" He gripped my arm and pulled me back down to him, his face right in front of mine. "I'm dying Ruby. Take my knife," he pushed something cold into my hands and looked into my eyes. "I know you can do it."

He let go of me and dropped onto the ground, his eyes slowly shutting. 

"No! Dad, please don't die. You're going to live. You can't leave me here by myself! Please, dad, please!" I sobbed, leaning into him and burying my face into his chest. 

"Ruby," he suddenly spoke, but it was a tiny whisper. "Kill them. Kill them all."

He took one last shaky breath and suddenly- he was gone. I could feel the life drain out of him. 

I looked down at the silver knife in my hand and blinked at it's engraved surface. 

"What's this? A child?" 

A voice broke my thoughts. I quickly sat up and spun around. 

At first glance I thought it was human. But I quickly realized it was nothing like that. 

Half of it's face was melted off, the skull beneath it's pale white skin showing. It's eyes were entirely white with a red orb in the middle of them. It's arms were long, it's fingernails longer. Long talons burst out from his shoes, his teeth long and pointed. There was blood on them. 

I stood up shakily and tried to hold back my tears. 

"You going to cry? Just like your wimpy little mother. She killed my family, now we kill hers. It's a fair trade," it said with a voice that sounded like nails on chalkboard.

"What are you?" I tried to sound confident but my voice came out in a childish whimper. Half of it's mouth went up in a creepy smile. 

"A demon. Did you know mommy and daddy hunted things like me? That was before you came along, I suppose. If only they taught you some of their tricks, then maybe you'd be able to defend yourself. Tsk, tsk. If only they kept you locked away somewhere," it hissed, eyes boring into my own. 

It slowly walked over to me and lifted my chin slightly with it’s claws. 

“I’ll leave you for now. When I come back, I want a fair fight. Be ready,” it whispered. 

My hands shook as I felt the sharpness of it’s nails against the skin of my throat.

Then suddenly, the pressure was gone. 

I blinked and looked up to see the demon had disappeared. 

December 8th, 2008. The first time I ever saw a demon. Also, the worst day of my life.