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~~ It was the scent of blood. It was the dew left behind by a careless murderer. There was blood splattered along the wall and floor like an abandoned work of Picasso. Whoever did it was smart, slashing the throat in just the right place. The bodies of two past lovers hung side by side, lifeless, pale and in mourning. The girls had no idea what happened, but it seemed once they opened their eyes to the crude scene in front of them, their world just suddenly stopped spinning. Mayumi walked slowly over the loud wooden flooring. In the process, passing each memory embedded in every crack of the home, leaving the laughter and smiles that once supported them.

She knelt down in front of the bodies of her parents and using her finger removed her bangs from her face. She stared at the death in their eyes and smiled. Her smile was filled with as much sadness as anger. What was she to do? No one could help her but it seemed everything was left in her hands. Once her sisters got home she would have to deal with more tears than she had mops to clean them with.

She raised her head and scanned the area. An invisible stench rotted the air. The blood was fresh, still running from her mother’s arms and dripping from her father’s eyes. It almost looked like tears. Mayumi got up scraping her hand along the wall making sure to feel her parent’s blood. The tingling of their warmth ran through her fingers and she could feel the rage pulse throughout her body. Her legs threw themselves back down to the ground and she began to cry. It was a first for her: crying. Her surroundings seemed different. She was no longer at home but at the grave of her parents. There was a mastermind, a murderer, a worthless piece of shit that did this.

No matter what she was going to figure out who did this even if it involved her own death. Death seemed like a new escape, maybe if she joined them she wouldn’t have to face reality. Making her way over to the sword that rested on the fireplace mantel, she slipped. A piece of paper caught her ankles and caused her to fall flat on her back. There was something written on it but the words were all a blur. She slowly brought herself up and reached for the sword. She rubbed her hand along its thick, black shell and played with the string that hung off its hilt. She ripped it out of its resting place and threw the case off. She was exposing it, the true beauty of a deathly weapon. She raised it in the air and watched the red of blood reflect off the blade and into her eyes.

She heard voices coming from outside. She remained still, it was best she did not move. The voices, they were ones she has heard every day, the sound of her sister’s. Finally, they were home. She continued to stare at the blade. The door slowly creaked open and the small patter of her little sister’s footsteps sent an innocent music throughout the house. Mayumi could not make eye contact but she could feel an expression of doom shade over her sister’s innocent face.
“Mayumi…” she whispered softly. “What have you done?”
The house remained silent. Everything was polluted, the air, the joy, their lives. This event had polluted their lives with an unstrainable feeling of anger. Koemi walked over to her parents and stared at them, letting her tears fall ever so loudly. Mayumi got up and walked toward her sister, placing her hand on her shoulder. She felt her hand being slapped away.
“Don’t touch me…murderer.”
Koemi lifted her eyes, now frozen with anger and looked at Mayumi.
“Your hands are filthy. Don’t ever touch me…again.”
Mayumi stood with her mouth slightly open from shock. Did her sister seriously believe she was the murderer? What reason would she have? It seemed like things went from worse to a near death experience, and things only got colder when her other sister, Machiko came home.
Mayumi was pushed against the wall by the small hands of her older sister. Machiko examined her intently.
“If you know nothing, then what do you know?”
Her brown eyes laid full of mystery. The past few nights Mayumi had noticed her sister sneak out late into the night. It seemed that she wasn’t the only one who kept secrets. Mayumi didn’t think this was an accident unlike her other two halves. Her parents were killed for a reason and she was going to find out why.
“It seems you know more than you would like to share…Machiko,” Mayumi answered back.
Machiko brought her face closer to Mayumi.
“You’re one to talk about secrets. How is it that you just happened to be the first one home?”
“And why were you the last? Is seeing our parents not important to you?”
The two quietly looked at one another. They both had points and knew it was childish to argue back and forth. The death of their parent’s had truly punctured their trust in one another but it bandaged it as well. Their family was never perfect to begin with.
Mayumi thought back to a few weeks ago when her mother came home late. It was a sight to see, her usually clean and well organized mother, returning home with her clothes dirty and unbuttoned. She looked like she was either beat up or had the night of her life. Knowing her mother’s past Mayumi assumed it was both.
“Why are you just coming home now?” Her father would ask.
Her mother would just hang her head down.
“It was a long day at work..” She always managed to say.
“Which job, the one where my wife share’s her body with more than just her boss?”
Her mother’s teeth would clench tight and she would just storm upstairs. Mayumi would sit by the steps and watch, making sure to keep her distance. Her father was good at hide and seek. He would always hide his emotions to the point where no one would be able to find them. She was surprised at how much he tried to hide, to suppress his emotion but every time her mother returned home, his tears always shed.
The life she was living in a sense seemed fake. Was it fake? Or was it more like uncooked ramen? The heat would boil them over. The starch in the long strands would build up and stack, creating a strange white bubble in the soup. The flavor was bland, it just didn’t taste right, but that was always how Mayumi liked to eat it.
It seemed that the events in her life seemed to all come down to this point. She zoned out of her thoughts and pushed her sister back.
“I was not given a heart so that I could live without love. You’re just as broken as I am but that does not give you the right to accuse me. This family was already shattered. If you want to break another piece then kill me now!”
Machiko swallowed hard. She never expected this from her sister. Had she driven her too far? Why were things happening this way? Her eyes began to water and her arms trembled. She was only an empty shell now. Her only job was to protect her sisters and she was the one destroying them all. She was alive but she felt like she was already dead. The nights when she would sneak out to meet her boyfriend, she could have been home, eating dinner or helping with laundry.
Machiko collapsed to the ground and grasped her shirt.
“What have I done?” She asked crying.
Her nose began to turn red. Mayumi took a deep breath and walked over to her support system. She sat down next to her and slowly stroked her hair.
“We will find them…the killers..”
“If we don’t find them..”
Mayumi was interrupted by a sudden shock of pain in her leg. She let out a quiet scream and Machiko tried to figure out what was wrong. She felt like she was being taken away. The pain continued to grow as she watched a face manifest in front of hers.
“Come here..” She heard it whisper.
Her vision was fading which made it harder to make out the already blurry figure that was in front of her. The red tint of lava made up the color of his eyes and quickness urged in his voice like a howling wind. She began to gasp for breath.
“Help me!” She managed to scream.
The face disappeared an Machiko found her body pulsating with fear. Machiko stood by her and watched in utter shock. It seemed for a moment her sister had been possessed. A sudden sprout of pain grew from Machiko’s cheek. Mayumi looked at her sister and could see a giant split cut on her face.
“What happened?” Mayumi asked.
Machiko remained still for a second and tried to touch her cheek with trembling fingers.
“You just scratched me..”
The girls just sat there and Koemi came running over to her older sister. She tugged at Machiko’s skirt, trying to pull her away.
“Get away from her,” Koemi whispered continuing to pull her.
Mayumi watched as these actions unfolded before her. No progress was going on only blame and pointing fingers, she was tired of it.
“Someone killed our parents. You may think what you want but I am going to find them,” She said in confidence.
She lifted herself from the floor, and went up to her room to pack whatever she could fit in her bookbag.
 

~~She mumbled to herself cursing her life and regretting the way things were turning out so far. She shoved the essentials into her bag: deodorant, toothbrush, cell phone and her good luck charm. Mayumi recalled the day her mother bought the charm for her. At first she thought it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen. On a short silver chain hung a blue fish being swallowed by a serpent, how her mother thought that was good luck escaped her mind every time. She sat down on the soft cushion of her bed and thrust herself back. She fell on the bed with a loud thud. It was one of those times where she just wanted to be alone, allowing herself to drown in the silence.
She continued to stare at the charm and noticed a small symbol carved into it. Mayumi looked up at the ceiling and noticed the same symbol drawn. She shook her head thinking it an allusion. The red paint dripped from the ceiling and onto her face, that’s when she noticed it was written in blood.
At this point Mayumi couldn’t care what her sisters thought about her because she was going to prove them wrong. She lifted her head and stared at the symbol. Her chest began to burn and she rolled off the bed screaming in pain.

She kept screaming in pain but her sisters did not come in. She lifted her shirt to reveal her bare stomach. It seemed like there was a flame inside her, chewing her up them spitting her back out. Tears began to roll uncontrollably down her face and just as a stamp or tattoo the symbol appeared on her stomach.
It felt like an invader, a virus took over her body and left its mark. She laid there, her hair soaking in her own drool. The symbol was small and towards her left ribs. Mayumi noticed that there were small words written: Death makes us all equal. The phrase juggled around her brain. She could hear footsteps coming into the room. Her sisters finally came in…after she was done screaming.
Machiko bent down and looked at the mark. She slowly stepped back seeming to forget that it was her sister, not a monster. Mayumi grabbed her things and stormed out the door, quickly glancing back trying to remember the happiness that the house once held. It went from a cloudy day to a miserable day with pouring rain.

Mayumi did not grab a jacket yet she continued to trudge though the small puddles and the forcefulness of the wind. The city looked like it had transformed into a ghost town, hardly anyone was out on the streets and some of the street lamps were broken.
She had no idea where she was going so she just let her feet carry her wherever they wanted to go. She found herself approaching train tracks when she began to feel watched. It felt like there were a pair of eyes resting on her shoulders, anticipating her every movement. Mayumi stopped walking. She did not turn around because now she could sense someone was right behind her. Their breath was floating through the cold air. Mayumi turned her head slightly and was greeted by a familiar face.

Mayumi look him in the eye and could hear his voice echo in her head.
“Who are you?” She asked him.
The man simply smiled and grabbed her hand.
“Let go of me you pervert!”
Mayumi couldn’t escape the strong grip of the man as he tried to lift up her shirt. Once he saw the mark on her side he stopped and stared at it. While he was distracted Mayumi did what she felt was right. Bite him, taste his blood that was all she wanted to do. She tried to shake the strange thoughts from her head.
“Return with me,” The man said.
“To where?” Mayumi asked curiously.
The man smiled with a devilish grin that revealed a set of fangs. Mayumi began to slow her breathing as her heart raced faster. She looked down at the man’s hand and noticed his nails were as sharp as claws. He took his finger and began stroking her cheek.
“This will hurt,” He told her.
She could feel him digging his nail into her cheek as he began chanting in some mysterious language. Mayumi didn’t cry because for whatever reason she could not feel any pain. Her surroundings began turning into a blur and the dark colors of night swirled together into a dark cloud. It felt like at that moment although there was a strange man with her sticking his nail in her face, she was at peace. Her body felt light, reminding her of the times when she was little and her mother used to push her on the swings.