AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"We'll see," she says. "Constantino broke up with me. Maybe when you get to know me, you'll dump me too."
I squeeze her hand even harder. “He and I are not the same."
"We'll see," she says before taking a step inside.
I follow her, not letting go of her hand. She leads me through the richly decorated halls. It's obvious that she comes from wealth. Perhaps not the wealth of the ruling mob family in the area, but still a pretty good amount of money.
We weave through the long hallways. The house has a sad feeling to it. As we walk through, I notice that there are no pictures of her on the walls.
She says it's her home, but it's almost as if she doesn't belong here. There are a few pictures of an adult couple scattered about. The woman has bright blonde hair, but the man looks a bit more like Raven. Those must be her parents.
"How long have you lived here?" I ask her, wondering if perhaps they had just moved in and hadn't gotten to putting up her photos yet.
"All my life," she replies immediately.
I don't know what to say back to her. I don't think there's anything to say back to her. It feels like a sad existence here, even just at first glance.
She stops in front of what appears to be the door to the basement and takes a deep breath.
"You sure you don't want to turn back?" she asks me.
"I'm sure," I reply, giving another squeeze to her hand.
She opens the door and we begin to descend down the steps. There's a rancid, putrid stench that grows in strength with each step.
When we finally get to the bottom step the smell is so bad that I can barely breathe. I pull my t-shirt up over my nose and breathe through the material. I look over at Raven. Somehow she doesn't seem bothered.
We walk to the corner of the basement and Raven flips on the light.
I stare at the scene with a mix of horror and gruesome fascination.
The man and woman from the photos are barely recognizable. They're curled together in the corner of a small metal cage. I'm no stranger to death, and I can tell that they've been dead for at least three days now.
Their bodies are bloated and have a greenish hue. It's obvious that this is where the smell is coming from.
"Are they your parents?" I ask her.
"They were my parents," she corrects.
"What happened to them?"
"Me," she says. "I happened to them."
"Come on," I say, taking her hand and pulling her back up the stairs. I switch off the light and close the door behind us. What's downstairs can wait for a few more minutes.
A girl like Raven doesn't just murder her parents.
I know there's more to the story and I need her to explain.
I sit her down at the dining room table. The room is lavish, with fancy printed silk on the wall and expensive china on display. It feels like a showroom, not a place where people would gather to eat and share stories.
"What happened, Raven?" I ask her.
She turns her head away from me, looking down and refusing to meet my gaze. The tiny bit of confidence that had surfaced just moments before is gone. She's back to the meek little runaway by the gate.
I reach my hand out and take hers in mine.
"Please," I say. "I'm not upset, and I'm not going to tell anyone. But, if I'm to properly help you, I need you to tell me what happened."
