|
There was a knock on the door. When Anna opened the door, a small girl stood with a bouquet of flowers. She was taken aback, as the woman before her looked wild, with stringy red hair and smeared red lipstick. “Those are pretty flowers,” Anna said. “I like the red ones.”
“Um…..I’m selling them, miss. People told me you like flowers…….um….”
“I like the red ones,” Anna replied, “especially roses.”
“I……would you like to buy one?”
“I……don’t really have any money.”
“Oh,” the girl replied. She shook a little, as if she had a cold chill. Her brown pigtails wavered slightly. “Maybe I should come back another time….”
“No, wait!” Anna said desperately. “I want a flower! A red one……would you like to come in? I think I have some change in my couch……”
”I……don’t think I should. I could come back tomorrow…..”
“No, please……I’m sure I have some change in my couch. I really would like one of your red flowers.”
The girl stopped inside the small apartment and stared in awe. It was if all colors but one color had been flushed away from this strange world. Anna came back with a few small coins in her hand. “Is this enough to buy a red one?” The girl said nothing, but handed Anna her flower of choice in exchange for the mediocre ransom. Anna started off towards the vase and beckoned to the girl. She followed, in an almost trance like state. “I want you to see how pretty this flower is in my red vase.” The girl, however, could not focus on the vase. She stared at the mirror in front of her. Tattered pieces of paper were matted to the surface with a thick brownish crimson substance in a collage with a few cards. Anna noticed her staring and frowned. “It’s drying already……and I’m so tired today.” The girl looked up at Anna, and gasped. A small trickle of red was flowing down her leg. “It’s OK,” Anna said, smiling wearily. She lifted up the edge of her skirt to reveal several massive jagged cuts on her outer thigh. “I’ve just had to use a little too much today. But now I can rest and look at the pretty red flower you gave me.” As the girl started to back away, a card fell from the mirror. Then another. Anna looked at the girl in terror in grabbed her arm. “Don’t leave me……please….she’s going to kill me!” As the girl started to struggle, Anna started to cry and look about the room wildly. “Please,” she wailed, “you don’t understand! She hates me! She’s……going to……kill me!” As the girl started to cry, Anna looked at the mirror. “She’s going to kill me. I don’t want to die! I’m so beautiful…..” Anna turned and looked into the face of the terrified girl, streaming tears. “….and you’re…..so……ugly…….”
……………….
When the police arrived, Anna was dead. She was slumped over her desk, and had lost most of her blood. The body of an unidentified girl was propped in the corner, holding a red flower, had been dead at least two days. Both wrists were slit, as was the throat. The face had been peeled away, and was lying by Anna’s corpse, waded in a ball. It was later found that it was used like a rag to apply several coats of blood to the mirror of the armoire. Anna’s frantic 911 call had come less than 20 minutes before. The only words she spoke on the phone were “Please, she’s going to kill me…..I just need a card…..” Her left forearm was slit from wrist to elbow, bone deep. Her blood, still wet, had been applied as a fresh final coat to the grisly mirror. The mystery of it all, though, was it appeared Anna had died from strangulation. Although it was determined the bruise markings on her throat were most likely of feminine origin, no suspects were know. The only other clue was a message, scrawled on the wall in Anna’s blood, barely readable red against red, which simply said:
“uoy evol I”
__________________
|