Xavier could tell that none of them were emotionally stable to deal with the situation. He acted immediately, taking the body out of Vincent’s hands. He had his men stage a break-in. They tossed the furniture around the room, breaking everything in sight.
The diner had to look like people had broken in. Marcie was their victim, raped and murdered by humans. He laid her body on the ground and took her head out of Kayla’s hands and put it beside it. Sam left and came back a few minutes later. He had two dogs in his hands. He ripped their necks and poured the blood on the floor.
Solara, Kayla, and Vincent watched as a knife was doused in blood and dropped a few feet away from her body. Stephan still held Scarlet on the floor. She was quiet and staring into space.
“Get something to clean that wall.” Xavier was still giving his men instruction.
***
Scarlet raised her head, she was wondering what was on the wall. She hadn’t paid attention before. Marcie’s eyes had distracted her. She stretched out her head and read the writing on the wall. She scrambled out of Stephan’s arms and stood up. She stood next to Kayla, before the wall reading the message, letting each word set in.
Eric stood still behind them with a mop and a bucket of water. He didn’t know what to do, he looked around the room for help but everyone else was watching them. He put them down and took a step back giving way to Solara and Stephan who stood behind the two women.
“Wait.” Kayla was trying to wrestle with the anger boiling deep within her. “You know this guy.” Her finger pointed at Zen’s name and her eyes were on Stephan.
“Yes. But that will have to wait.” He knew he owed them an explanation. But as for now, he needed to get them out of there and back home. He was especially worried about Scarlet who hadn’t taken her eyes off the wall or said anything.
Solara pulled Kayla out of the diner. She didn’t struggle against him this time. She went willingly and sat quietly in the car. Stephan lifted Scarlet and carried her out of the diner. Her eyes never left the wall when he took her out of the room.
As they drove off Scarlet’s head was turned back. She was still staring at the diner. Her eyes and face didn’t show any emotion. It was like she had been frozen. No tears, no silent sobs. She never said a word on the way home. Her eyes were now on her hands that were holding each other on her lap. As everyone alighted from the car, Scarlet didn’t move. She remained seated staring down at her hands that held each other, still on her laps. Stephan and Kayla watched her as the others went into the house. They were waiting for her to exhibit some sign of life.
Stephan reached into the car, once he had one hand beneath her and the other firmly on her back, he lifted her out of the car. He looked down at her face and couldn’t see a change in her expression. He used his foot to kick the door closed then carried her into the house. Stephan carried her straight to her room. He set her on the bed and took a step back to watch her. She sat on the bed, her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying and her cheeks were stained from the tears. Her hands still held each other.
“Are you alright?” He contemplated taking her to the hospital. He wasn’t an expert on human emotions and her frozen state worried her.
He crouched beside the bed and looked up at her drooping head, searching her face and her eyes. He thought of how she screamed and cried back at the diner, he wished she was doing it. When she blinked and looked at him, he let out a sigh.
“I need to clean up.”
She held out her hands to him, and for the first time that night, he saw her bloodied hands. He saw small smudges of blood cotton strap top on her chest. He remembered how she had clang Marcie’s head to her chest.
Slowly he raised her hands above her head and eased the top over her head. He used it to wipe off the blood on her hands and tossed it to the corner of the room. He pulled her to her feet and tagged the flannel pants down her legs.
She didn’t make an effort to help him, she let him undress her and carry her to the bathroom. He stood her up under the shower, letting the hot drops of water drum on her skin. She looked on as he soaped her body and shampooed her hair, she didn’t care about how clean she got. The only thing she wanted was to get the blood off her.
He left her under the shower when he went to get a clean towel from the other room. When she was alone, Scarlet sat in the tub and hugged her knees to her chest, and rocked herself back and forth. A new wave of grief hit her, a direct hit to her heart and she couldn’t bear it anymore. She put her head on her knees and cried hysterically.
Stephan stood by the door a towel in his hand and watched. He couldn’t bear the fact that he somehow caused her this grief. The only reason Zen was there was because of him and now Marcie was dead. Her sobs tore into his heart
He dropped the towel and climbed into the tub with her. She climbed onto his laps, her arms locked around his neck, and cried. Stephan held her closer to him and sat with her. He caressed her back and rocked her. The hot water washed down each tear she cried. She listened to the drumming of the water to the ceramic tub as she comforted her. Her lids got heavy and soon she fell asleep in his arms, under the hot water to the soothing rhythm of the water.
Stephan carried her to bed and tucked her in bed just as she was. He didn’t want to risk waking her up. It had been a long night and sleep was exactly what she needed. He stood by the window looking out to the night sky. It was dark, the moon was hidden behind the thick clouds, hiding from the horror of that night. Tomorrow would be a new day, by that time he knew she would have absorbed everything. She was going to have questions and as hard as they might be he had to answer them.
He turned back and looked at her face, with the light from the stars. She looked so peaceful snoring slightly under the thick duvet. He changed his pants before he climbed into the bed with her and held her in his arms.