“Hurry!” Casper called out to her. Her legs were growing tired. They had been running for what felt like years. Perhaps her mother’s death was a sign that she should have stayed. Perhaps the week after the funeral was too soon. Running had even proven itself difficult. Was running even worth it? “A Leroux a florist?” her father’s laugh was mocking. The laugh, now a broken record, Gin Carmin was trying to convince herself that this was what was best. Her mother would have supported her dreams. Wouldn’t she? In her honor, she would continue.
She had long brown tresses and the darkest brown eyes. Her parents’ only child, she lived with them in a gated community, away from the “common folks.” Camerone State, with its large iron gates and large stone buildings, was devoid of color, for which she had always had a strong desire. With her mother’s support, her mission was to tattoo the World with the beauty of bursting bright colors, flowers. Now her support was a memory of the mother she wished would come back. She wanted to find her murderer of course, but this dream is stronger.
Oof!
Something hit her. It was a paintbrush... A paintbrush? A paintbrush! Somebody was here with them.
There was a paintbrush at the scene of each crime. “Cass? It’s a paintbrush just like the one...” Her eyes widened.
“Who’s there?!” Casper demanded. They were suddenly engulfed by silence. The birds had stopped humming in the trees; trees that were no longer rustling.
Then, a buzzing sound. Suddenly there was a look of recognition on Casper’s face.
“Shudra?” he called.
There, was a thin short haired girl that Gin had seen before. She looked pale and was dressed in full black attire that should have made it easy for her to be seen in that jungle full of green. Gin did not understand. Where could she had possibly come from?
“That was marvelous. Wasn’t it? You two were so scared! Where do you think you’re going?”
That voice. It was familiar. It was the voice of a friend that was lost years ago. It must be.
“Tram?” That was the name she claimed when they were but ten years old. There they stood ten years later and it was clear that to the short-haired girl’s ear this was a familiar tune. However, she just looked at Gin with eyes full of disdain and hissed, “It’s Shudra, ‘Car.’”
Gin was standing before a girl she met when she was five and all that was there now was a mocking voice coming from a face contorted into an expression of scorn, eyes narrowed, lips pursed and flaired nose.
“Where do you think you’re going with my husband, Car?” The way ‘Shudra’ said “Car” did a number on Gin’s ears. She cringed. Shudra might as well had pulled her long fingers across a blackboard to create that dreadful screeching sound.
“Your what?” Gin did not understand.
A suddenly annoyed Shudra responded by telling her of their marriage that was arranged to happen in the week that followed. Casper just stood with a red hot face full of anger.
“Car, I can explain.”
“Gin Carmin. Don’t you dare call me ‘Car.’”
He began droning out a long story. Words were falling from his mouth in cold shards of ice. They were words that Gin would not hear. She had stopped listening. Shudra’s words had rendered her motionless and took her spirit to another place. Anywhere but there.
“Why do you think I asked you to leave with me? We can both get what we want if we just leave!” He was now shouting. He had noticed she wasn’t listening, but nothing was wrong with Gin’s ears and he was going to make sure she heard him.
“Shut up!” Shudra was tired of Casper’s pleading. “You’re not going anywhere with her!” she shouted. “You’re staying here with me. Did you two think about anything? There is no way either of you would ever survive away from the city. It’s 218 ROHA! Do you really think you can just skip on over to some other part of Roha. They would send you back to Camerone anyway. Wait. You were planning on leaving the country weren’t you? Were you going to Trompere? ”
“Tram!” Gin was now annoyed. “Where did you get the paintbrush?”
Silence.
“I... I... I don’t know.”
“Were you there when they died?”
“When who died?” Shudra was trying to act as though she knew not of what Gin spoke. She failed miserably. She was standing there, not a hint of remorse on her face. The ends of her lips curled.
“How could you?!”
“You said you wanted to paint the world with lots of colors, so I left a paintbrush with your mother, one with the guard that helped you leave the city and one with the poor fool that directed you two to the forest.” She was actually proud of herself. “I made sure you both saw it. Didn’t you see the roses too? Did you like them, Casper?” Shudra must be crazy. She murdered three people or at least knew who did and she was standing here smiling. It was as though the brushes and the roses were gifts from her. What kind of gifts are those? They were left on dead people’s bodies, dripping in their blood.
Gin’s blood was boiling. First, Casper kept such a huge secret from her. Then, the girl that was her childhood friend and the girl that Casper was to marry, is a complete psychopath. That was not all. She killed her mother too. Gin just wanted to smack to smirk of Shudra’s gaunt face. “Keep Calm, Ginny,” she whispered to herself.
“Ginny, Darling.” Another familiar voice floated to her through the air. This was no old friend. There were only two people that ever called her ‘Ginny.’
“Dad?”
The one person she was running from was standing before her. He looked pretty neat. The hair on his head was freshly cut. He wore brand new satin and silk. His eyes shone brightly. There was the face of a man whose wife could not have possibly died just the week before.
“Let’s go home, dear,” he said softly. “You’ve had enough of an adventure today.” Even though his voice was not as harsh as Shudra’s it had the very same effect on Gin. She cringed. Her ears might as well be bleeding at this point. The day’s events were beginning to make her feel sick.
It took Gin Carmin and Casper a day and a half to make it this close to the edge of Camerone state. In just about twenty minutes they could be much closer to their freedom. Gin could be the florist she had always wanted to be, the person that no longer had the Leroux name to uphold. And Casper? He could live on without marrying a lunatic just for the sake of continuing family connections.
Here, Shudra and Mr. Leroux stood in their way.
“Ginny?”
“I’m not going home.” A defiant Gin challenged her father. She had come this far and did not plan on going back. Even though he had never told her about Shudra, Gin trusted Casper. She was going to leave with him and cross the border of Camerone, into Trompere.
“I fought hard in Roha’s Independence War from Trompere. You will not dare show disregard for my struggle. In fact, I did not pay Shudra to keep you in this state for no reason. You will carry on the Leroux name. Now your mother isn’t here to allow you to make stupid decisions.”
“You paid Shudra to kill Mom.” “Casper Dune, too. She’ll pay for disobeying my order. So will you if you don’t start walking home.”
Tears streamed down Gin’s round face. This could not possibly be real. Her own father a cold-hearted man, definitely, but a killer? He took the life of Gin’s mother. Now, Casper’s secret was nothing and her anger at Shudra, irrelevant. From her, this man took the only person that ever believed in her. Gin would have her revenge.
As the Sun set, streaking the sky with red, she pulled a pocket knife from her jacket.
She begun to paint the world. It was not necessarily a color she had in mind when she first said she wanted to be a florist, but a blood red.
The next few minutes were the equivalent of an eternity. The eyes that not too long ago challenged Gin, were filled with sadness. There was no remorse in murdering those three people, but Shudra now blamed herself for creating, what she saw as, a monster.
“Shudra,” Gin whispered, “Are you coming with us?”
She shook her head no. Words would not come, but a salty tear escaped from her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks.
Casper and Gin only stared at her, her cheeks flushed, eyes swollen. She fought to regain her composure.
“You both know you don’t want me there with you. You love birds can go on. I won’t follow you this time. Promise.” A soft smile played on Shudra’s lips, contrasting with the menacing ones she gave earlier.
They were not “love birds!” Gin would have protested if Casper had not slipped his cool fingers around hers.
“Come on, Car, don’t you at least want the Sun to set in Trompere tonight?” Gin’s best friend gently led her away from her father’s lifeless body, away from Shudra, away from Camerone.
They climbed the large stone walls of Camerone State, an event neither would ever be able to recall. They sat beneath a beautiful Trompere tree, leaning against its large, brown trunk. As the Sun retrieved its light from their tired faces, they fell victim to nightmares of the exhausting day’s events.
~Fin!~
There was a paintbrush at the scene of each crime. “Cass? It’s a paintbrush just like the one...” Her eyes widened.
“Who’s there?!” Casper demanded. They were suddenly engulfed by silence. The birds had stopped humming in the trees; trees that were no longer rustling.
Then, a buzzing sound. Suddenly there was a look of recognition on Casper’s face.
“Shudra?” he called.
There, was a thin short haired girl that Gin had seen before. She looked pale and was dressed in full black attire that should have made it easy for her to be seen in that jungle full of green. Gin did not understand. Where could she had possibly come from?
“That was marvelous. Wasn’t it? You two were so scared! Where do you think you’re going?”
That voice. It was familiar. It was the voice of a friend that was lost years ago. It must be.
“Tram?” That was the name she claimed when they were but ten years old. There they stood ten years later and it was clear that to the short-haired girl’s ear this was a familiar tune. However, she just looked at Gin with eyes full of disdain and hissed, “It’s Shudra, ‘Car.’”
Gin was standing before a girl she met when she was five and all that was there now was a mocking voice coming from a face contorted into an expression of scorn, eyes narrowed, lips pursed and flaired nose.
“Where do you think you’re going with my husband, Car?” The way ‘Shudra’ said “Car” did a number on Gin’s ears. She cringed. Shudra might as well had pulled her long fingers across a blackboard to create that dreadful screeching sound.
“Your what?” Gin did not understand.
A suddenly annoyed Shudra responded by telling her of their marriage that was arranged to happen in the week that followed. Casper just stood with a red hot face full of anger.
“Car, I can explain.”
“Gin Carmin. Don’t you dare call me ‘Car.’”
He began droning out a long story. Words were falling from his mouth in cold shards of ice. They were words that Gin would not hear. She had stopped listening. Shudra’s words had rendered her motionless and took her spirit to another place. Anywhere but there.
“Why do you think I asked you to leave with me? We can both get what we want if we just leave!” He was now shouting. He had noticed she wasn’t listening, but nothing was wrong with Gin’s ears and he was going to make sure she heard him.
“Shut up!” Shudra was tired of Casper’s pleading. “You’re not going anywhere with her!” she shouted. “You’re staying here with me. Did you two think about anything? There is no way either of you would ever survive away from the city. It’s 218 ROHA! Do you really think you can just skip on over to some other part of Roha. They would send you back to Camerone anyway. Wait. You were planning on leaving the country weren’t you? Were you going to Trompere? ”
“Tram!” Gin was now annoyed. “Where did you get the paintbrush?”
Silence.
“I... I... I don’t know.”
“Were you there when they died?”
“When who died?” Shudra was trying to act as though she knew not of what Gin spoke. She failed miserably. She was standing there, not a hint of remorse on her face. The ends of her lips curled.
“How could you?!”
“You said you wanted to paint the world with lots of colors, so I left a paintbrush with your mother, one with the guard that helped you leave the city and one with the poor fool that directed you two to the forest.” She was actually proud of herself. “I made sure you both saw it. Didn’t you see the roses too? Did you like them, Casper?” Shudra must be crazy. She murdered three people or at least knew who did and she was standing here smiling. It was as though the brushes and the roses were gifts from her. What kind of gifts are those? They were left on dead people’s bodies, dripping in their blood.
Gin’s blood was boiling. First, Casper kept such a huge secret from her. Then, the girl that was her childhood friend and the girl that Casper was to marry, is a complete psychopath. That was not all. She killed her mother too. Gin just wanted to smack to smirk of Shudra’s gaunt face. “Keep Calm, Ginny,” she whispered to herself.
“Ginny, Darling.” Another familiar voice floated to her through the air. This was no old friend. There were only two people that ever called her ‘Ginny.’
“Dad?”
The one person she was running from was standing before her. He looked pretty neat. The hair on his head was freshly cut. He wore brand new satin and silk. His eyes shone brightly. There was the face of a man whose wife could not have possibly died just the week before.
“Let’s go home, dear,” he said softly. “You’ve had enough of an adventure today.” Even though his voice was not as harsh as Shudra’s it had the very same effect on Gin. She cringed. Her ears might as well be bleeding at this point. The day’s events were beginning to make her feel sick.
It took Gin Carmin and Casper a day and a half to make it this close to the edge of Camerone state. In just about twenty minutes they could be much closer to their freedom. Gin could be the florist she had always wanted to be, the person that no longer had the Leroux name to uphold. And Casper? He could live on without marrying a lunatic just for the sake of continuing family connections.
Here, Shudra and Mr. Leroux stood in their way.
“Ginny?”
“I’m not going home.” A defiant Gin challenged her father. She had come this far and did not plan on going back. Even though he had never told her about Shudra, Gin trusted Casper. She was going to leave with him and cross the border of Camerone, into Trompere.
“I fought hard in Roha’s Independence War from Trompere. You will not dare show disregard for my struggle. In fact, I did not pay Shudra to keep you in this state for no reason. You will carry on the Leroux name. Now your mother isn’t here to allow you to make stupid decisions.”
“You paid Shudra to kill Mom.” “Casper Dune, too. She’ll pay for disobeying my order. So will you if you don’t start walking home.”
Tears streamed down Gin’s round face. This could not possibly be real. Her own father a cold-hearted man, definitely, but a killer? He took the life of Gin’s mother. Now, Casper’s secret was nothing and her anger at Shudra, irrelevant. From her, this man took the only person that ever believed in her. Gin would have her revenge.
As the Sun set, streaking the sky with red, she pulled a pocket knife from her jacket.
She begun to paint the world. It was not necessarily a color she had in mind when she first said she wanted to be a florist, but a blood red.
The next few minutes were the equivalent of an eternity. The eyes that not too long ago challenged Gin, were filled with sadness. There was no remorse in murdering those three people, but Shudra now blamed herself for creating, what she saw as, a monster.
“Shudra,” Gin whispered, “Are you coming with us?”
She shook her head no. Words would not come, but a salty tear escaped from her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks.
Casper and Gin only stared at her, her cheeks flushed, eyes swollen. She fought to regain her composure.
“You both know you don’t want me there with you. You love birds can go on. I won’t follow you this time. Promise.” A soft smile played on Shudra’s lips, contrasting with the menacing ones she gave earlier.
They were not “love birds!” Gin would have protested if Casper had not slipped his cool fingers around hers.
“Come on, Car, don’t you at least want the Sun to set in Trompere tonight?” Gin’s best friend gently led her away from her father’s lifeless body, away from Shudra, away from Camerone.
They climbed the large stone walls of Camerone State, an event neither would ever be able to recall. They sat beneath a beautiful Trompere tree, leaning against its large, brown trunk. As the Sun retrieved its light from their tired faces, they fell victim to nightmares of the exhausting day’s events.
~Fin!~
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