Kiyro, Eve, and Jack looked down upon the red paint, confused about where it came from. Kiyro could tell it was fresh, but something about the paint felt slightly off. He didn't know what, but the paint seemed out of place. Especially when it seemed like someone was dragged on top of it, leaving behind long streaks.
"What the hell?" Jack couldn't stop himself from swearing. He was too confused about what he was seeing before him. "You guys did that?"
Eve had trouble forming words, so Kiyro spoke on her behalf. "No. We just got here just like you. I'm not sure where this came from, but it was here." Kiyro squatted close to the scarlet paint on the ground and swiped a bit on his fingers. Then, bringing it up to his nose, he sniffed it. There was no paint-like smell but a slightly metallic smell.
Jack was already following the trails, curious about what was up ahead in the dark hallway. He carefully maneuvered each step around the scarlet paint trail and followed forward.
Eve stood behind Kiyro, too shocked to move. But then, her vision turned into a reality. The thought terrified her, and she repeatedly mouthed the phrase,' It's all a dream.'
Kiyro's eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind. Blood. He stood up straight like a board. The streaks heading towards the dark flickering hallway were a bad idea. His senses were on alert, and he wanted to leave the place as quickly as possible.
"Eve," Kiyro gently shook her to snap her out. "Eve." He shook her harder.
Eve slowly turned towards him with a scarred face. "This is all a dream, right, Kiyro?"
Kiyro slowly shook his head side-to-side, telling her it was not. He wanted to tell her they were possibly in danger, but he did not want to freak her out. Even he was unsettled by how Everything was playing out." We should go," he spoke, trying not to freak her out.
"Pinch me." Eve stared at him, determined that Everything was a dream, and she was still hallucinating the vision that she supposedly had.
"Eve, I'm not so sure it is the right time for that." Kiyro wasn't keen on pinching her, but he needed to move her along without causing serious panic.
"Just do it."
Kiyro reached over and pulled on her cheeks as hard as he could. "Better?" Even when her cheeks were stretched, she still looked adorable.
"Owowowowow!" She pulled back from his painful stretch of skin.
"Now, if you don't have any more things to say, it would be better if we go."
"Where's Jack?" asked Eve. She scanned around, looking for him. "He was here a moment ago."
Kiyro remembered seeing Jack go on ahead towards the dark flickering hallway lights. "Damn." He swore under his breath. This was the wrong time for Jack to search where the scarlet paint came from. "Stay here."
"I'd rather go with you."
"It could be dangerous."
"It'll be more dangerous to leave me here. I don't want to be caught by anyone here. They might mistake me for the one who spilled the paint on the floor."
"Just stay behind me. When I say 'Run,' don't question it and run."
"Why?"
Kiyro smacked himself on the face. "Because when someone yells to run, you take off towards a direction where there is no trouble. You don't want to waste your precious seconds and die because you're wondering what's happening. It's your life."
"Ah, I see. So I'm guessing many people tend to go towards the direction of where the problem is because they're curious."
"Yes. When there is a problem, things happen that don't always end positively."
"Okay." Eve nodded. "I'll run when you say run."
"I hope so too." He quietly mumbled. It was not always an easy concept, especially when it must be done in a dire situation.
"Let's go." Kiyro went first, carefully walking towards the direction the blood seemed to be heading. They walked a reasonable distance until they heard Jack's voice yelling in pain.
"It's Jack!" Eve bolted forward towards the direction of Jack's voice.
"Eve! No!" Kiyro ran after her, trying to catch her before something worse happened. Their pounding footsteps could be heard echoing down the hallway.
Reaching over, he snatched her hand and pulled her into his arms. "Are you out of your mind!" Kiyro tried his best not to throttle her for not listening to him. For once, he wished she would listen and not head towards danger. "You don't run towards him without looking around; you go cautiously." Again, he tried his best to calm himself.
"B-b-but Jack," she tried her best not to pull away from him and run off towards Jack.
"I know. Calm down. We need to watch our surr-" Kiyro stopped and looked up. He felt a cold shiver run up his spine.
"Well. Well. Well. What do we have here." A male voice was so cold it felt like a bucket of ice was thrown on both Kiyro and Eve.
Kiyro quickly pulled her towards his back, trying to keep her safe.
A pretty good distance away from them was the man in a white suit with a skull mask covering his face. His left hand was rubbing a silver cross as it began to twitch. The answer to the scarlet paint was in front of them. There were three bodies on the floor. One of them was Jack unconscious, while the other two were two students that lay dead with their necks slit open.
One was a female all in a white dress, almost angelic in presence. Her blond hair was splayed out, and her neck and wrist were bleeding non-stop. On the complete opposite side of her was a male with black hair and in gothic black clothes with his chest bleeding. They were both holding hands and looked like they were sleeping. In-between the two dead students, painted in their blood, was a phrase: Which wolf would you feed?
Kiyro's skin crawled with goosebumps. A crime scene was before him, and his instincts told him to run.
"Tch. Tch. Tch." The man with the mask clicked his tongue together. "I wouldn't move if I were you. You just landed on a trap, and if you move, it will be set off."
Kiyro and Eve froze. Their eyes darted frantically, trying to find the location of the trap. They could not move forward nor backward.
"Kuhuhuh," the masked man snickered. "I can smell fear from you." He bends on his knees in prayer in front of two deceased bodies. It was a wild sight, a killer praying for the slain.
The masked man spoke with both hands clasped and his head bowed. "Dear Father, Please forgive these wretched sinners. I have brought the lambs to be slaughtered and blood for an offering. For I know your heart rips to shreds for every man that dies by my hand. I can feel your sadness and quivering anger. Each death brings me closer to knowing I have succeeded in the mission. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen."
Kiyro shivered at what this man was saying. In front of him was an assassin of the underworld. One that was not easily seen or found, but this man had purposely arrived at a college in the middle of the day, where thousands of people stayed.
The masked man turned his head towards Kiyro and Eve. His hands dropped to his side next to the silver cross and began to fiddle with it again.
"Would you like to hear a story?" said the masked man. Kiyro could almost imagine the man smiling behind the mask. "There is an old Native American story about two wolves. They had a terrible fight that lasted till one overcame the other. One is evil- he is angry, jealousy, sorrow, regret, hate, greed, arrogance, guilt, lies, superiority, ego, basically the dark side of the world. The other is good- he is joy, peace, love, happiness, hope, serenity, kindness, truth, compassion, faith, and the light side of the world. Which wolf would you feed?"
"Why are you asking such a tale? What point are you trying to make?" Kiyro carefully asked while he looked for an escape route.
The man with the silver mask barked out laughing, startling them. "Don't you see?" He waved towards the dead two students. "The answer is simple. It's the one you feed."