Ruler Vol 5 Chapter 28
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Author: Anit666
Editor: Weasalopes
The smell of blood woke me up.
My eyes opened and my vision remained hazy for some moments, then it finally cleared up.
I looked up at the white ceiling, and then glanced at the clock, which showed half past seven-
Wait what!?
My drowsiness was completely blown away the moment I saw the time, and I immediately got up from the bed. I dashed and entered the bathroom. Five minutes later, I was back in my room. I took out the shirt and pants from my closet, hurriedly put them on, stuffed the tie in my pocket, and finally picked up my bag.
I fished for the key of the main door from my drawer, and after putting on my shoes and locking the door, I ran for my school.
“Shit!”
My first day of school, and I was already going to be late! Even though I was looking forward to it so much!
Thankfully, the school was at a walking-distance from my flat. Since I covered it by running, I reached the school just in time; the school gates were still open.
I looked at my right hand to check the time, but it seemed I had forgotten my watch. Well, I could still see students pouring in from the gates, so maybe I wasn’t as late as I thought I would be.
After calming down my breathing, I finally made my way towards the school.
The school building was separated from the main gate by a pathway that was lined by trees on both sides. It was spring, so a pleasant wind was blowing. The breeze hit my sweat-stricken body and helped me cool myself, while the gentle rustling of the trees formed an amiable atmosphere which helped me calm down.
There were students all around me, though most of them were in a group. I could see some seniors here and there, and hear the shouts coming from the ground on my left. I was looking forward to my first day at school.
Suddenly, something fell from the pocket of the girl walking ahead of me. It fell right in front of me, and I instantly identified it to be a handkerchief.
I picked it up, dusted it, and called out to that girl.
“Excuse me.”
She stopped and turned around, her chestnut brown hair fluttering with her movements.
“Yes?”
She blinked, and my gaze was instantly stolen by her clear, brown eyes.
“Y-you dropped this.”
I passed the hanky to her; my body was stiff and my voice a bit hoarse.
“Ah, thank you………… er…………?”
“Oh, I’m Thor. Thor Norton.”
I managed to tell her my name.
“I’m Sherry Miller. Thanks for picking this up, Thor.” She smiled sweetly.
Just then, a gust of wind blew and her hair flailed along with it. She caught the flocks of hair shrouding her vision with her hand and gracefully tucked them behind her ear.
She then looked at me and smiled again.
Ahh, such a warm, gentle smile. It reminded me of my mother, who also used to smile like that whenever I made her happy.
“Thor?” Her eyebrows wrinkled a bit, and she waved her hands in front of my eyes. “Classes are about to start, so let’s go.”
“Ah, r-right.”
I followed her inside the building. As luck would have it, we were in the same class.
And that’s how I met the love of my life, Sherry.
The smell of blood woke me up. It was intense, as though my whole body was being bathed in it.
My eyes opened, and my vision remained hazy for some moments. Strange scenes flashed in my mind- a gleaming metal like object, something red, then something brown. Finally, my vision cleared up.
I looked up at the white ceiling, and then at the clock, which showed me 5 minutes past 10.
Wait- ah, right. Today’s a Sunday.
Given that today was a weekend, I didn’t want to leave the comfort of my bed. But as my mom had said- ‘All laze and no work would make Thor a dull boy’.
So finally, I ended the struggle with my bed and left it. Weaving through the various books, clothes and wrappers strew about on the floor, I made my way towards the door.
With a yawn, I opened it and stepped outside. But the moment I did, I heard a quiet splosh from my feet.
I looked down and…………… I was standing in something red. No, I was standing in a puddle of a red sticky liquid. The puddle was as big as five footballs huddled together, and most of it had dried up, as if it was…. blood.
I looked further down the hallway, and bloody footprints stretched down from the doorway till the kitchen. After looking at them again, I leant against the wall.
Yep, this is not real. This is a dream, and I’ll wake up from it any second now. I just need to go back to my bed, lie down, and when I wake up, my hallway will be as good as new.
I almost turned around and went inside, but the scent of blood held me back.
Right, since this is a dream, there’s no need to hurry, is there? I might as well see what’s at the end of these footprints.
With that thought, I forced myself to stand straight. I inched forward reluctantly. Taking care not to step on the footprints and the other, smaller drops of blood, I made my way towards the doorway of the kitchen, where the trail ended.
There was another dried puddle of blood in front of the kitchen doorway.
I gasped and my head jerked backwards.
Nope, no matter how I look at it, this isn’t real. I’m still in a dream. All I need to do is go back to my room and get in my bed, and everything would vanish into thin air.
Yet, my hand went towards the doorknob and gripped it. Sweat trickled down my forehead and my heart thumped inside my chest, and I stood in that position for some moments, debating whether I should open the door or not.
Finally, the part that was curious won, so I turned the knob and opened the door. What greeted me was a pair of human feet poking out in my view from behind the countertop.
My stomach flipped and I began hiccupping. I wanted to do nothing but go back to my room.
But I gritted my teeth and forced myself to continue. I entered the kitchen and looked down.
In the middle of the kitchen, blood formed a large oblong swamp, on top of which was the body of a boy. He was wearing a white shirt, which had been stained red by his blood, and black jeans. His legs were straight, while his hands laid by his side.
Alright, Thor. If this is a dream, then this is the right time to wake up. Come on, wake up. Wake up, bitch! This has to be a dream!
I bit into my hand and chewed on the skin, but it only caused me to wince in pain. I looked at where I had nibbled myself and saw a bite mark, from which a small amount of blood was flowing.
Was this not a dream? Time to find out.
Slowly, I took a step towards him, then another, until I had reached his elbow. His head had been jerked back and his neck was severed. Someone had cut his throat with a sharp knife or something.
His mouth was agape while his eyes were covered by his bangs. I stiffly crouched beside him and with my trembling hands, pushed aside his hair.
“He is…………!”
What I uncovered was the face of a boy who I was familiar with; we were in the same class after all. While we were not close enough to be called friends, we weren’t on antagonistic terms either.
His name was Samuel Hayden, though everyone in the class called him Sam.
I met his lifeless gaze, and it dawned on me that he was really dead.
Everything turned dark. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. My stomach felt sick, and I fell down on my butt. All I could do was to wait for my body to move again. I wanted it to be a dream; I wanted all of it to be a dream.
So I sat there, unmoving and staring at his eyes. Everything was chillingly quiet, and even though it seemed that thousands of hours had passed, I was still sitting there.
Was this not a dream after all? Then the blood I smelled when I woke belonged to this?
I now just wanted to crawl into my mom’s bed and hug her until I fell asleep. She would take care of this nightmare for me.
But she had left us a long time ago, so I had no choice but to handle everything myself.
Right, I should first check if he’s really dead or not.
I sat up straight after much effort and stretched my hand towards his face, but the world spun and my hand trembled. Taking deep breaths to calm myself, I resumed and finally put my finger beneath his nose.
However, I didn’t feel any breeze on my finger.
I moved my hand down, towards his throat. Avoiding the part which had been gashed, I felt around for a pulse.
Again, nothing.
This man, Sam, was really dead, and for some reason, his corpse was inside my flat.
Wait………… doesn’t this situation point to that I had killed him?
No no, that’s not possible! I can’t kill anyone! I might get violent when I’m really angry, but I would never kill anyone!
Let’s look at this properly.
I stood up and leaned against the countertop. After taking a really deep breath which was laden with the smell of blood, I forcefully turned the gears of my mind.
First of all, the blood is dried and the body is cold. Which means that some time has passed since Sam died.
Now, last night, since it was Saturday, I was at my neighbour’s place. Right, we watched movies till midnight, and played games for three hours straight. Around 3:30, I left his house.
By that time, my eyes were already heavy from sleepiness, so I couldn’t really make out my surroundings. I just opened my door- the lights were off- and straightaway went to my bed and slept.
I hadn’t noticed anything abnormal then. So if someone put this body in my home…..
I left the kitchen and went to the main door of my flat, which was- locked.
I dashed to my room and opened the drawer of my desk. My key was still there. I checked all the windows of my house, but they were locked as well.
That meant that no one came to my house after I went to sleep, which in turn implied that Sam’s body was already at my house when I came back from my neighbour’s.
So, someone came to my house in the middle of the night and left Sam’s corpse?
No, wait. I was at my neighbour’s from 6 pm. So, the culprit had a time slot of around 9 hours to leave the body at my house. He could have done right after I left for all I care. If Sam had been killed right around then, then it would show up in the autopsy report, and my alibi would become useless.
My eyes flitted around my flat; from the pool of blood in front of my room, then to footprints and the droplets of blood, and then to the puddle before the kitchen. Something was amiss; where did all this blood come from? It was as if……………
As if Sam had been killed here in this flat itself.
My head spun and my mind froze. Questions echoed inside my brain; who had done this? Why? When?
Someone had snuck inside my flat with Sam, killed him here, and left his corpse in my kitchen. Why? Why here of all places? It wouldn’t make sense if all he needed was a place to hide the body, so maybe this was all done in order to frame me? Who would do that, and why?
What should I do? Call the police? But would they believe my story? That someone left the body inside my flat and I simply found it when I woke up? No, no they won’t. They’ll make me out to be the killer and arrest me.
And I was damn sure that I hadn’t killed Sam.
Then what should I do?! Run away? To where? They’ll find me within days. Then should I hide the body? How would I do it? Bury it? Chop it and throw it in the river? No, it’ll be discovered.
Oh god, oh fuck, what should I do?!
No no, I must control myself. This isn’t the time to despair or cry! I must find evidence to expose the killer and call the police; that’s the only way I’ll survive.
Determined, I went back inside the kitchen, but the lifeless eyes of Sam scared me, so after covering him with a sheet, I started searching around.
This paid off, as I found a bloodied knife in the sink. Using a hanky, I picked it up. The blood had dried. Most likely, this had been used to kill Sam.
I placed it on the countertop and resumed my search. I wanted something which would point out the identity of the killer, but found nothing.
I went back into the hallway and looked at the bloodstains again, trying to picture the scene which played out during the murder.
There was a puddle in front my room, and the footprints were leading away from it and towards the kitchen. Most probably, Sam had been attacked right in front of my room, but he didn’t die instantly. So, he walked away, towards the kitchen, as evident by the droplets of blood.
But why the kitchen? Did he want to find a weapon to defend himself?
The killer followed Sam into the kitchen and finished him there. So maybe the footprints belonged to the killer. But there was no sign of struggle in the kitchen, so maybe Sam had already died by the time he reached it.
But what was Sam doing in my flat? Who brought him here, and how?
When I went through the windows, none of them had been broken, and I was sure that I had locked them before going to my neighbour’s flat.
I went towards the door, opened it a little, and after confirming that no one was around, I stepped out and closed it. I crouched in front of it and scrutinised the keyhole; aside from some old scratches, there was nothing which could prove that my flat had been broken in. And again, I was sure that I had locked the door before leaving.
There was only one key to this flat, and right now it was lying inside my drawer. I returned to my flat, my feet feeling heavier than before.
I went over everything I knew; the flat had been locked and I was the only one inside it. There was only one key, and it was with me. There were no signs of anyone breaking in, and there was a corpse inside my kitchen.
No matter how I looked at it, I was the only one who could have killed Sam. And that’s what the police would believe too.
No! There has to be something which I missed! Something which would prove that I did not kill Sam!
With that conviction in my mind, I started searching my entire flat, hoping to find something, anything, which would serve as proof.
“Huh?”
When I was going through my trash can, I noticed something unfamiliar and took it out. And it was a……… used condom. There were of two, actually
Now that was something which clearly didn’t belong here. I had no condoms, and I had no one to use them with. So where did they come from? Did….. did Sam use them with the killer?
Sounds unlikely, but it can be evidence, so I should store it for now.
So, I tucked them into a plastic bag which I placed on the table. Besides that, I found some food items which I did not remember buying, and an apron. Suspicious, but I simply might have forgotten about them.
So, aside from the condom and the bloodstained knife, I had nothing. Well, I did check the footprints, and they didn’t seem to be mine, so there was that too.
That was all; that was all the evidence I had which could prove my innocence.
I sat on the couch in my living room and stared at the bag containing the condoms and the knife, pleading at them to tell me where they came from. I thought and thought, but I couldn’t determine whether this would be enough to show the police that I hadn’t killed Sam.
What should I do then? Run away? Again, where to? Someone would eventually find out about Sam’s death, and then they would hunt me down.
Suddenly, I heard a click resembling the sound of a lock opening, and it had come from my door. The door opened, and in stepped a………… girl?
The girl had brown hair and brown eyes, and in her hand, she held a plastic bag.
The girl was Sherry.
I froze the moment she entered, which was a fatal mistake.
She looked into the hallway and saw the bloodstains. Then she leaned sideward a little and peeked inside the kitchen. And all I did was stare at her.
“Thor?”
She called out to me, and I came back to my senses. Alas, I was already too late for that. She stared at me with confused eyes, and then her gaze travelled to the knife on the table.
Aaaaaaahhhh, what should I do? She was the only person I wanted to be unaware of this, and she was standing right in front of me. Should I tell her the truth? Would she believe me? Most likely, she wouldn’t.
For a moment, I glanced at the knife. Then the next moment, my body shuddered; why had I looked at the knife? What did I intend to do with it?
Finally, Sherry opened her mouth.
“His body is still here?”
…………………………………………Eh?
What? Huh? No, just, wait. What did she say?
She walked towards me, put the bag on the table, and then…………… sat on my lap?
What?
She faced me, clasped my cheek in her hands, and after giving me a look that seemed to be burning with passion, she leaned in and……………kissed me.
Sherry Miller, the girl I loved, was kissing me.
Her tongue invaded my mouth and played with my tongue; swirling around it, teasing it, sucking on it. Our saliva mixed together and a slightly sour taste spread inside my mouth.
She pulled back and while gasping for breath, mumbled.
“Ahh, I couldn’t wait to see you, so I dropped by.” She smiled sweetly and snuggled into my chest. “Hope you don’t mind.”
……………Right, why was I so confused? We are in a relationship, aren’t we? Yes, we are. We are so deeply in love with each other that every day, she spends the night here, right in my arms and on my bed.
We make love to each other whenever we get the chance, and we had decided we would do so all day today.
Wait, every night? But wasn’t I at my neighbour’s flat last night? And what did she mean by ‘His body is still here?’
“Sherry.” I caressed her head gently and she purred. “Do you know anything about that corpse?”
“Mm?” She looked up at me. “Of course. I killed that bastard, after all.”
Huh?
“Why?”
“Well, I came to your flat last night, but you weren’t here.”
“I was at my neighbour’s flat.”
“Right.” She nodded. “So, I decided to wait for you, but that’s when he showed up.”
“Samuel?”
“Yeah.”
What? Who told him my address?
“Why did he come here?”
“For me, duh. Don’t you remember? That guy was so obsessed with me that he basically followed me everywhere.”
She is………… right. Yeah, I remember that. He was so obsessed with her that he had turned into a full-fledged stalker. On many occasions, I had beaten him up myself because he had crossed the line.
“So last night.” She continued. “He rang the bell and I opened the door thinking it as you. The moment I did, he shoved me aside and stepped inside. Then he started spouting nonsense about how much he loved me and would do anything for me. He even tried to force himself on me!” She harrumphed.
“Then?”
“So, calmed him down with some sweet words. I said that you had trapped me here and that I wanted to get out. He instantly bought it hehe.” She giggled. “I invited him into the bedroom, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and- slash.”
She snickered as she moved her hands in the same way she might have done while killing Sam.
This……………… makes sense, doesn’t it? Yeah, it completely does. There’s no better explanation.
My skin itched and I involuntarily gnashed my teeth.
Hmph, that fuckface bastard, how dare he assault my Sherry in my absence?! How dare he touch her? I told him over and over that Sherry belonged solely to me, but he still had the audacity to chase after her.
Ha, serves him right! It was his fault for trying to split us apart. Of course, Sherry would flip out and kill him. She loves me so, so, much after all.
I love Sherry, and Sherry loves me. And no one can separate us. We are meant to be together, and will always stay together. Anyone who dares to get in our way would face our wrath.
Hmph, if I had been there with her, then I would have killed Sam in a much more gruesome way. Fucking bastard!
“Hey.” Sherry tugged at my shirt and looked at me with puppy eyes. “Let’s do it.”
A warmth spread inside my chest, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Ahh, she’s just too cute. I just wanna lock her inside this apartment and spend my entire life with her. And I’m sure she wants that too.
“Sure.”
She smiled lasciviously and lifted her body. We stared into each other’s eyes for a moment; her eyes were glinting with a burning desire to become one with me, and I was sure that mine were the same.
I gripped the back of her head and pulled her in. Our lips met, and this time, I went on the offensive with my tongue. My other hand went towards the soft mounds on her chest and fondled them. She let out a soft moan, which stirred up my instincts even more.
For a moment, Sam’s body appeared inside my mind, but I quickly brushed it off.
Who cares about that little shit anyway? It’s just the body of an insect that was buzzing around Sherry to get her affection; we just swatted it. We could throw it in the trashcan or something.
With our smouldering desires, we were soon in our birthday suits and all over each other. I gently nibbled her collarbone and she moaned. I proceeded to lick and peck at her neck, and she hugged me even tighter. Embracing, caressing, slobbering, smooching; we had already lost ourselves to our desires.
After all, all that matters is this moment. I don’t give a shit about Samuel or Michael or that God or being a Hero or saving humanity. They can go shove themselves up their asses for all I care.
This moment, where I love Sherry, Sherry loves me, and Samuel Hayden doesn’t exist, is all I want.
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