Elisa

Red. The only color that now covered the once vibrant, yellow walls, as well as the carpet that was once a tan color. Each step on the carpet felt damp and sticky. The room was dark, the only source of light came from the moon shining in through the opened window. The bodies of slaughtered women lay in a pile, one on top of another in the middle of the room. The shadow of a knife loomed over the bodies. The sound of human flesh being cut into filled the quiet room. The bodies were being carefully skinned. Everything would remain, except for the bones.

Knock, knock. No answer. A female who appeared to be in her mid-twenties stood in front of a door. Her name was Elisa Reynolds. She was part of the police department and it was nearing the end of her shift when the call came in. A concerned neighbor hadn’t seen their neighbors leave their house in days and they wanted someone to go check on them. Of course, Elisa was the one who got stuck with that task.

“My name is Elisa, I’m with the police, can you please come to the door?” She yelled out. A few moments passed and still no answer. Her long, blonde hair was beginning to stick to the back of her neck from the heat. She pulled her hair back into a bun and sighed. “I’m coming in!” She braced herself as her hand reached for the doorknob, to her surprise the door had been ajar without her noticing.

Taking a step inside she quickly had to cover her nose from the stench. ‘What IS that awful smell?’ Taking in a breath she walked further into the house. The first thing she noticed was how dark the house was. She tried to switch on the lights, but it wouldn’t come on. Even without the lights, she could see the bright yellow of the walls. The carpet she stood on was of a tan color, but it appeared dingy as if it hadn’t had a good cleaning in a long time.

There was little furniture from what she could see. To her left was the living room, which only had a couch, a stand, and a tv that sat on that stand. To her right was the kitchen area. It had a round, wooden dining table while the countertops were made out of marble. The fridge was a plain white fridge that looked run down. Ahead of her was a narrow hallway that led to other rooms. The scent was coming from there.

As she walked down the hallway the stench grew stronger. Eventually, she came face to face with a wooden door at the end of the hall. ‘This has to be the source of the smell.’ She thought to herself. Slowly, she opened the door. The sight before her was one she had never hoped to see. In the middle of the room, there was a pile of what could have only been organs, while the windows looked like they had sheets over them. The carpet and walls were completely covered in red stains, the only thing it could be was dried blood. On closer inspection, she realized the sheets were actually human skin. She couldn’t stop the vomit that escaped from her throat.

“What the hell happened here?!” She couldn’t stop herself from yelling. Before she knew it, she was running out to her car. She had to radio this in, as fast as possible. “This is Elisa Reynolds, I was the one sent on the welfare check, I need back up. There’s been a murder.” Murder. She couldn’t believe something like this was happening in her little town.

The backup was quick to get there. Elisa stood off to the side as crime scene tape was put around the perimeter. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a crowd starting to form. ‘Oh boy.’ She was mentally exhausted, she just wanted to go home after what she had been. She still felt sick to her stomach from what she had experienced.

“Elisa, how are you holding up?” A man’s voice came from the side. “Holding up as much as I can. Since I’ve been working on the force this is my first time having to see something like this, especially one so brutal.” The one who approached her was her coworker, he did the same line of work as her but they never spoke until now. The male nodded, causing some of his slick black hair to fall down into his green eyes. “You should go home and get some rest, I’ve got things covered from here so you have nothing to worry about.” She nodded. “Thanks, uhm…” “Jackson. Jackson Bridges.”

“See you around Bridges.” Elisa gave a slight smile. He returned her smile. “Just call me Jackson.”

It was almost ten o’clock by the time she got home. She should have been home and relaxing around three. “What a day…” She murmured to herself. Standing in the middle of her kitchen, she sighed. “I feel like after today I might not get to be home as often as I would like.” She said to no one but herself.

“Sis?” A soft voice called out, Elisa could hear tiny footsteps coming down the stairs. “I’m in the kitchen!” She called out. At the entranceway stood a little girl who looked to be about eleven years old. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, she looked like she had just woken up. “What is it Elizabeth?” Elisa asked in a soft tone. Strands of brown hair fell into the little girl’s face. “I thought I heard you, so I came down to see if you were finally home!” The young girl approached Elisa with arms out. Elisa embraced her into a hug and rubbed her back gently. “Work had me stay over later and I didn’t have a chance to call. Have you eaten yet?”

Elisa was Elizabeth’s older sister. They had the same mother but different fathers. Elisa never met her father, while Elizabeth’s father passed away when she was only eight. He had been murdered but the culprit had never been found. Elizabeth took after their mother, having a round, baby-like face and hazel eyes. Elizabeth had more of a pale complexion while Elisa had more color to her complexion. Elisa’s eyes were also more of a grayish color.

Elisa always wondered what her father looked like, her mother always said she was the spitting image of him. For some reason her mother never had any pictures of her father, only saying that she couldn’t remember where she left them at last.

She was probably lying but Elisa would never know because just last year their mother had passed away from some illness that Elisa couldn’t remember. Not that she cared much.

“I’ve already eaten, but I was trying to stay up to wait for you but I had fallen asleep.” She said sheepishly. Elisa smiled, picking her little sister up in her arms. “Let's get you back in bed then.” Carrying Elizabeth back up the stairs in her arms she was able to forget about the troubles of her day. Her main focus was her little sister, the only family that she now had left. They only had each other, and Elisa was going to make sure Elizabeth knew she was always there for her.

Once Elizabeth was tucked in, Elisa jumped into the shower. The memories of that day’s incident were etched into her mind, and now that she was alone, she wouldn’t be able to forget for a while. Maybe never.

The sun shining on her face woke Elisa up. Her head was pounding. She grimaced as she grabbed her phone and noticed all the missed calls she had from her supervisor. ‘Shit, how could I have slept through all those calls?’ Instantly she called back, her heart racing in worry of what could have happened.

“Elisa, I’m glad you finally called back.” Her boss was the type who usually sounded authoritative as he spoke, but for some reason his tone was gentle. “Sorry boss, I didn’t hear my phone go off and had slept through your calls.” She could only imagine the expression he had, the kind of expression that would tell you that he wasn’t going to listen to any excuses.

“It’s alright. I was calling because I was needing you to come in today. I know yesterday was hectic and that you were looking forward to having the day off, but I went back over your report of the incident and it makes no sense. I need to come in and resubmit the report.” Elisa ran her fingers through her hair, aggravation starting to boil inside her, but at herself.

“I’m so sorry, I was just all over the place yesterday from what I saw that it was hard to concentrate on what I was writing. Can you give me a bit to find someone to babysit Elizabeth?” “Take all the time you need.” Elisa let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, sir.” There was only a hum of acknowledgment before the call ended.

“Well, I better get Elizabeth up and start the day.” She went to her room and grabbed a scrunchie and pulled her hair up, threw on her uniform, and went to go face the day that was ahead of her.