❦ஐ ..::A Bloody Rose::.. ஐ❦

A chill from a sudden breeze went down her spine. Her turquoise eyes slowly flickered open to stare at a dull grey ceiling. She slowly sat up from the cold ground. She scanned her surroundings to see that she was in an old interrogation room. One that belonged to Z.

"...He seems to have found me....All well.." She spoke aloud to no one in particular. It was only a matter of time before he came.

~....~

He stared at her from behind the one-way mirror and scowled darkly as he pressed the button on the microphone and spoke in a deep, serious voice; "Lea Farron. I have found you, after all these years. And now, I am bringing you to justice." He watched her expression intently as he spoke.

Lea hardly glanced up at her name, but she stared boredly at the camera that was supposedly 'hidden' in the corner of the room. Then, she sneered. "Z... it has been a while. I remember the murder I had committed that got you started on this case... " She let out a low, dry laugh before continuing.

"The murder of Zachary Otosumi, am I correct?" Her tongue ran across her lips slightly. "Oh yes, I remember that quite well....It was back when I was still learning." She finished with her infamous sly smirk.

He grimaced at her, nearly flinching at the memory that floated in the back of his memory. "You are still learning, Black Mamba. You will never become good enough to stop me from catching you." He hissed into the microphone. "I already have you cornered. There's no way out. So tell me.... Why did you slaughter my best friend?" He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up at his own words. He needed to know why.

"Oh..?" Lea cocked her head to the side at him, her eyes dancing in the dull light. "Being cocky are we? What do you know...Zero? You may be one of the greatest detectives in the world, but you will never amount up to anything. But..." She trailed off, a ghost of a smile playing over her pale lips. "Since I am here...and in absolutely no rush to get out... I will tell you... I will tell you why, and how I killed him." She leaned against the wall, staring dangerously at the camera.

Zero, as she had called him, tensed so very slightly. His gaze fixed on Lea. She was actually going to tell him?

Lea closed her eyes, remembering the murder vividly in her own mind as she began to tell the tale in her own....creative way. "Oh yes... It was.... June wasn't it? 2004... A breezy summer day... I was feeling....hungry and unstable... I had no real reason for killing him... but then again.." She opened her eyes and narrowed them sharply at the camera.

"Don't we all deserve to die?"

She slowly walked across the room, stopping in the center before continuing. "He was with a girl... Athena I think her name was... on a date. I hid behind an old oak tree and waited until the perfect time... I captured the lovely couple and managed to keep Athena pinned to a tree....

"Zachary begged me to let her go, saying he'd do anything... I remember the words I had spoken as if it was yesterday; 'Anything? Then do me a favor and scream in pain for me.' I pulled out my favorite dagger and began cutting his mouth up... I sliced off his tongue and watched it fall out of his mouth... " Lea stopped speaking and giggled slightly. She stared at the camera with a maniacal smile.

Zero shuddered. He shot her a disgusting look, not caring if she couldn't see it. "You're sick..." He whispered in a barely audible voice.

Lea simply shrugged and continued her twisted tale of gore and demise. "Oh, my dear...You didn't let me finish telling the story. Does it not fit to your interests?" She didn't wait for an answer.

 "I continued my reign of torture and sliced up and down his arms and legs, before slowly ripping them off... he screamed as I had asked him to. But sadly, no one could hear us in the secluded little area I had so carefully chose. Eventually I stopped... watching him bleed to death. His screams were dying out... becoming fainter and fainter as Death beckoned him to a life of Serenity and peace. But he just wouldn't go.."

She gave another shrug, this one a bit more careless with a slightly thoughtful look.

 "So... I decided to help Death out. I plunged my dagger into his heart and ripped it out. I smiled at the faintly beating organ that rested on its blood-coated blade... Ohh.." She shuddered in pleasure at the memory. 

"What a sight it was to see. The poor girl, Athena, stood where I had kept her and sobbed loudly, mourning over the loss of her love. Poor girl... I let her live of course... there was no reason to let her die... and with that... I walked away, making sure to toss the now-still heart into the woods..." She finished, almost melting at the thought of the murder. "You know what happened after that, don't you Zero? They found Zachary's body with his ribcage torn open and his heart missing. Just a bloody hole was left. Hm..~ Such a lovely day that was."

Zero gagged slightly, nearly staggering back. Her words made the story so vivid, he could just see it in his mind. The image of his dear friend's mangled corpse flashed in his mind, the stench of death reeked in his sinuses. But, he regained himself.

"Y-You killed him... in such a horrible way.... what did he do to deserve that? He was a good man..." He growled, glaring darkly at Lea before continuing his angry rant. "You're sick...A horrible, disgusting murderer that should be executed!"

She chuckled darkly, shook her head, and simply waved off his comments. "What did he do..? ...Hm.. nothing I suppose. As I told you earlier... I was feeling hungry and unstable... your friend was just the lucky man I decided to pick..." Her smile slowly faded as she heard his hurtful words.

"Sick? Disgusting? Call me what you wish... but it won't bring your friend back.... Once someone dies... they cannot come back to the living... not as fully human. Even if you did find a way to bring your friend back.... would he still be the same? Zero... don't you know what Zombies are? Mindless creatures that feed on human flesh... that is what your friend would be." She said to him thoughtfully, her psychotic smile faintly returning.

He covered his ears with his hands, trying to block out her crude words. Even if it was the truth, he didn't want to hear it. His inner thoughts tried to reassure him of his woes. 'She's getting into your head... Don't let her! You can't! You won't!!' He sharply looked up and glared at Lea. "I may want him back... but I know he won't be happy in this world!" His calm, steady side that usually kept him sane snapped. He lost it and began screaming and shouting crude and dark comments at her,

 "You...you...sick, sick monster! You killed an innocent man and made an innocent woman watch! You're vile... you're cruel... you're....THE DEVIL ITSELF!!!"

Zero shook his head, trying to calm himself. She was a witch. A monster. He was right though. She was inhumane. A creature born from the depths of the Underworld.

Lea laughed coldly at him, seemingly enjoying his rant. How much she loved making people snap was unknown to many. "The devil?" She questioned him with fake innocence. "Oh, don't make me laugh..." She calmly paced around the room slowly, almost smiling at the despising aura that was directed at her from Zero himself.

"But....I'm afraid we're out of time Zero.... we may continue this later... then again... I should never give you the pleasure of knowing me... so... I bid you a fair adieu... until we meet again." Lea adressed him.  And with that, she was gone.

A single black rose lay on the ground where she had stood, fresh blood was dripping from its sharp thorns.

Zero slowly made his way into the old interrogation room and cautiously picking the rose up and examining it. He yelped and dropped it when he was pricked by one of its thorns. He suddenly vowed to himself while sucking the blood off his thumb,

 "Curse that girl... she's gotten so clever... I have to catch her now... No matter what. I will avenge his death."