Twenty Six

***Ruby***

"Ruby... Please get up."

It made no sense to me. Who would wish Diane so much ill that they'd go as far as separating her arms in a brutal way from her body. And her eyes...

I felt the mix of the urge to throw up and extreme sadness inside of me and it was not a great thing. Maybe, it would be safer to get up as Abby suggested. I might see less then.

I didn't see less. Even though I tried to look away, I kept seeing those bloodshot eyes which said a lot about the pain she must have been in.

"We should leave this place Ruby." Abby pulled at my arm but I refused to budge.

" I can't just leave Abby. She's-" I swallowed hard as the whole thing came crushing all over with a greater intensity. "She's my mother..." I whispered into the tense air.

" That's why you have to leave. This is not a sight that is helpful. You need to go somewhere else. "

" But what if she has no one to claim her? " I retorted. " What if she just ends up at some place because I couldn't stay with her till the end? "

Abby's hold on my hand relaxed and she began to shake her head slightly, her legs moving backwards. "Don't do that Ruby."

"Do what?" I finally found it in me to back the deadly scene which the medics and police were now taking care of.

"Don't blame yourself for this."

"I am doing no such thing. "

" You are doing exactly that. We need to leave." She pulled at my arm again to no avail.
" Let's go somewhere else, call your parents and let them deal with this."

" No. I can't leave her alone. I-" My throat began to dry and for a minute the pitiful murmurings around me faded for some seconds. When Abby nudged me out of it I continued, "I pushed her away when she was alive Abby. I-"
Hot tears stung my eyes instantly but I blinked them away.

" Ruby... please let's go."

"I was so harsh to her and I-" The image of her terror filled eyes flashed through my mind and I felt so crushed, I almost fell onto the ground again.

"Please Ruby, don't let guilt get to you. None of this is your fault." Abby watched my face worriedly as she figured it would be useless to drag me.

"I know. I know it's not my fault. It's just-"
The memory where she kept asking for a reunion played in my head and I felt so burdened, a firm hold of the sides of my head could not push the crushing force away.
"I could have done things differently," I said with a sigh.
"I could have said I forgave her for abandoning me. I could have-"

My eyes which were roaming the tarred floor as I talked captured a piece of paper which had blood staining a great deal of the black colour that characterized it.

"Ruby?" Abby asked with more worry.

The paper was just behind the legs of a man whose arms wore folded as he watched the police take care of the issue while asking questions for their investigation.

Ignoring the voice that was telling me to not reach for it without some kind of protection, I bent to take it and a closer look at the paper exposed an almost perfectly caligraphed letter 'X' which sat in the center of the hard paper and stained with most likely the woman's blood.

Something told me to turn the paper, so as I assumed a standing position, I did as her mind instructed and it appeared that a little note was left for someone.

*The girl is next, Adonis*.

That was all it said with a crookedly drawn smiley face at the end.

I was about to toss the paper somewhere when it clicked. The name.
Adonis.
I only knew someone with that name and it instantly didn't make sense to me. What would this X people want with Diane and why on earth would Adonis name be written on a card painted with blood?

"Who on earth is Adonis? Listen, Ruby, you should throw that away and what on earth are you doing holding it with your bare hands?" Abby's voice became sterner as she talked.
"What if it proves to be an evidence?"

My head shifted in the direction we were just coming from and even though the house where the party was being held was quite distant, I could still hear the noise.
"Before it becomes evidence, I need to use it."

" Wait, what?"

" Abby, I need to go back to the party to look for someone. In the mean time, please call my mother and tell her what has just happened."

" But-" I was already dashing the opposite way before I could hear her complete sentence.
My feet bare, my hands feeling sweaty, I secured the paper in my hand and ran as fast as I could.

I knew it was very likely that Mr. Klaus was gone, but I still ran towards the house anyway. The urge to clear up the rising speculations within me couldn't permit me to wait till Monday. It didn't even think about the standing boundary. All I wanted was to understand what exactly was happening.

I needed to know why my birth mother was found mutilated on the bare street of a suburban area.

The party abode soon came into sight. And as I ran some more, my eyes caught the familiar image standing right in front of the house. It was him alright.

Adonis Klaus. He looked lost in thought and it didn't seem like the lighted cigar in his hand was getting his attention.

Taking some seconds to catch my breath, I trained my eyes on him to ensure he didn't suddenly vanish. Soon, I was taking bold steps towards him.

"Mr. Klaus." I announced my arrival with a rather harsh voice and his face lifted in a way that questioned me.

"What are you-"
I grabbed his hand which was caressing the length of the cigar which filled that air with a different scent and planted the bloodied paper on his palm.
"What is-" The way his eyes lit with surprise and a bit of fear confirmed a part of my speculation to my dismay.
Locking his eyes with me, he asked, "Where did you get this?"

"Turn the paper to the other side," I quietly said and as he did, he let out a very shaky breath.
"Mr. Klaus," I started with a low voice, "please tell me the truth. Why is your name written on this paper?"

" Where did you get this paper?" he asked.

" I freaking found bit beside my freaking dead mother!" His eyes widened. " So please, tell me why your name is written there. And-"
I recalled the contents of the note.
" Who is this girl that is next? Who are these people? Who-"

" Your mother?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

I sighed. " Please... Tell me the truth. You are the Adonis in this note, aren't you? Can you please explain what is going on?"

" Ruby..." His shoulders slumped, his eyes wore extreme tiredness instantly. "You weren't supposed to know about this. About... me."

" Am I-" I swallowed hard. " Am I the girl in the note? Why am I next? I didn't know you until you came to work in the school."

" Listen, we need to sit down. This is not something I can tell you while you are in this disheveled state."

" Don't do that Adonis." The fierceness in my voice as I used his first name seemed to amuse him but that reaction soon got replaced by the earlier tiredness and maybe... sadness.
"We are not leaving this spot. I need to-"

"Ruby Celestina Powers!"

" Dad?" I murmured to myself and as I turned, I saw that he was really there. Standing behind me, his hands in his pockets, his entire being exuding gracefulness.

"Isn't it eleven pm yet?"

I frowned. "What? No. It's just-"

" Eight- thirty pm," Adonis completed for me as I looked lost for a minute.

" And you are?" My father's eyes sternly boiled Mr. Klaus down.

" Adonis Klaus." He extended a hand towards my dad. "I am a friend of your daughter."

"Hmm." I wasn't surprised when Dad ignored his hand extension. "Let's go Ruby."

"But..." I needed to ask Mr. Klaus so many things. But, my father was already dragging me towards his car where I could see Abby was already seated in.
I wondered if she called him instead.
If that was so then, so much for being scared of my dad.
"Wait dad. There is something-"

"Diane. I know." There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"We need to know why this happened to her," I said and looked back to see that Mr. Klaus was no longer in front of the house.

"I will work on it Ruby. Don't involve yourself in this. Get in the car." He opened the back seat door and motioned towards the open space.


"Did you call him?" I whispered to Abby who shifted towards the other side.

"What am I, nuts? He was driving by and he saw me. When he didn't see you around, he made me direct him to this place. Lord..." She rubbed her arms. " I think I got goosebumps."

Soon, my dad was in the driver's seat and the car was kicked to life. As the motion steadily increased, I leaned into the seat and replay everything that just crazily happened.

Turned out Mr. Klaus has a mysterious side to him and that mysterious side has my birth mother dead and it seems I might be in danger too.

Can my life ever get not so dramatic? What is my life supposed to be? A freaking K-drama?

K-dramas are great by the way.

A deep sigh came from me and I closed my eyes momentarily to try and numb my mind.

"Ruby..." Abby sounded cautious. When I opened my eyes, she was extending a sheet of tissue paper to me. "Your nose is bleeding," she informed me as I arched my brows.

As I grabbed the paper and proceeded to dab my nose, I felt a little squeeze in my chest. It felt normal as I had been feeling that way since Diane's terrible incident, so I continued with the dabbing.

But the squeeze came again and fiercer. It held my breath for some seconds and that made me hurriedly tap Abby who shifted her attention to me.

"What's wrong Ruby?"

I made to speak but the breath holding thing came again and I found myself gasping for breath and it occured to me. It was just like that night. When I was little.

I felt so helpless, I felt close to... death and tears could not be helped.

My dad's and Abby's concerned voices soon became muffled as the sounds of my heavy, struggling breathing took over.

Soon, my eyes began to close. Soon, I felt like I had lost consciousness.