Irradiated

Chapter 3: Murderer

~@~

I stared at the blood trailing along the floor, a thick path in the way of the front door, leading towards the staircase. Scared to think what I would find upstairs, I ran into the kitchen and came face-to-face with a bloody knife on our marble counters. It glistened in the eerie light with an insane sort of gleam. I stared at it, not breaking the gaze I held with it, in fear that the next thing it would cause to bleed would be me.

I took small steps away from the kitchen and back towards the entryway of the front door. I heard distant footsteps from above me and knew there was someone upstairs. While I slowly walked up the stairs, they creaked below me like an old wooden rocking chair: swaying and rocking, creaking with the weight of the person sitting on it.

Once I reached the top of the flight of stairs, I saw the one thing that was ever capable of tearing my soul into shreds. The dead and blood-stained bodies of my parents lay on the floor in front of me with my brother standing a distance away from them. He had his back turned to me and he seemed to be shaking, but laughing menacingly at the same time.

He turned towards me and his once light brown eyes burned with a deep and strange light. It was a light of pure darkness. His hands were covered in our parents' blood and he continued to smile at me.

"See? See, Mathias? Are you looking?" I shook my head absent-mindedly and instead let my vision blur with tears.

He embraced the blood on his hands and grinned. "This is what I needed. I needed a break-through, Mathias. And this has given me that. My parents have been the first to experience who I am, and what I've become!" He screamed out the last sentence in a cry of vengeance.

I stood trembling and collapsed beside my parents onto my knees. "How could you do this? Why would you do this? Who would do this? Why?" I hyperventilated as I stammered out my words in a soulful pain.

Trevor stalked towards me and giggled. "Someday, you'll understand. The glee, the thrill, the stress management... you won't be able to stop, and then, you can answer me instead. Tell me how I could do this, why I would do this, and who would do this." I looked up at him with hatred in my eyes. I didn't say anything, but his smile faltered under my glare.

He climbed out through one of the windows in his bedroom and escaped the house before any unnecessary trouble showed up. However, I stayed frozen and unable to move. The more I thought about the things my parents did for us, the harder I seemed to cry. My sobs and screams could have been heard through the whole city, but I eventually stopped, when I couldn't cry anymore. I stood up and sauntered down the stairs again. I didn't want to be in there. I wanted to get away as far as I could, and I never wanted to go back.

~@~

The beginning of tears glistened in my eyes while I stared up at the night sky. Every scent, every feeling, and every touch flooded back to me in an instant. I no longer trembled, but I couldn't erase the memory out of my mind.

Stars accompanied the tears in my eyes and made them shine a brilliant ember color. The night noises rang in my ears with the same cries I gave out in the day of my parents' death. Echoed screams chimed in my ears, making them hurt with every sound. I finally stopped replaying the memory and let myself down easy. I wouldn't be able to keep going like this. I needed to stay strong. I had to, not just for myself, but for everyone I sort of cared for. Sort of.

A voice beside me whispered, "Hey, don't cry..." I turned my head slightly to see Angeli sitting outside her own tent. How long had she been there? I didn't know, but I was glad I wasn't alone out there. I tried wiping away the tears, but they only replaced themselves again.

She came back over to me and used the back of her hand to help me wipe them away. I was surprised at her sudden action, but I appreciated it nonetheless.