Hide and Seek X- Crimes

The sun is nowhere to be seen as the sky had been drowned by the darkness of the night. Simon parked his car in front of his house, he wondered how's Aurelia now.

Is she still up?

He opened the front door just to be welcomed with silence. Simon is surprised because he realized he had gotten used to not being alone.

This is the first time his house is silent, with no victims to torture.

But where is Aurelia?

Putting away his coat while looking around he smelled something that all but alerted him.

What was that musky smell of gasoline?

Simon's eyes widened when a flame blaze through the kitchen and in a blink of an eye the whole reception room was flaring with fire. He tried to step and put the fire away with a swing of his coat. But it's clearly not just coming from one point, it's swaggering from all places.

It's like the whole house had been leaked with the odorous liquid!

And funny how he is in the middle of a fire circle.

"Aurelia!" He shouted, still trying to cease the hot flames but with no luck. Soon Simon started to have difficulty breathing as the smoke thicken in the surrounding, he can't move in his place because the fire has surrounded him as the doors and other vulnerable material cries in surrender and eventually collapse.

In this time he cursed being a human that is far too weak for nature.

His breath became heavy, which soon turned into pants and gasps that is begging of air. He started to see patches of black on his vision as oxygen slowly leaves his system that had been covered with the hot clouds of gasses. But before his eyes come to a close, he saw something in the far distance.

He saw a small silhouette of someone.

And as a light suddenly flashed through that someone's face, he saw them smirk that he can't discern at the moment of how he's losing his senses.

He saw her smirk.

Aurelia.

---

Walking past the faceless students, the nineteen years old Aurelia keep her emotionless face as she walked down the entrance. She's bothered by the noise. The morning greetings and the laughter of the students that are obviously hanging out with each other just to feel the sense of belonging everyone is craving for.

She didn't understand why everyone is such a parasite.

But she keeps her cool.

On the way to her class, she bumped with none other than Lucas Matthews. Lucas is her bully in middle school until her junior year, but would you see that,

She's now the one who's bullying him.

In middle school, Lucas's family own the biggest share that did the trick but after his rotten reigning, as she called it, he's forced to step down as they got bankrupt in the summer of ninth grade.

To be honest, he can just step into this university because he got a scholarship from her parents when they're still alive. So now, he's putting up with her 'special treatment'.

That's just served him right.

"Look where are you going fag," With a glare, she said viciously. Lucas is a foot taller than her but she has the guts to do that because she's carrying him a favor.

But to her surprise that not like the other times he would just ignore her or just nodded his head, Lucas now returned the glare and growled at her with utmost anger.

"Do you think I care?" Gritting his teeth, Lucas harshly grabbed her wrist. "You can't treat me with that attitude anymore," He snapped and pulled her somewhere, smirking down at her maliciously.

For a few moments, Aurelia was scared. No. She was terrified. Lucas can easily beat her up just like he used to do before. Especially now when she treated him terribly for revenge.

Though, her fear didn't last long. She can't remember why or how but she calmly followed Lucas that's still grabbing her wrist. All fear is now long gone and she feels too peaceful if you asked her.

It's quiet. It's tranquil. It's nice to feel that kind of feeling.

When the somewhere they're going to turns out the rooftop, Lucas let go of her hand with a force that her arms swing back with impact.

But she feels nothing as she casually massaged her wrist.

"Now, if you beg me and kneel maybe I'll be generous enough to not put a bruise on your pretty face," Lucas said as he turned to her with his hands in his pocket. Aurelia arched an eyebrow at the ridiculous remark.

"So talkative," She commented and looked down on her hands and wrist that is now sporting a bluish red color. It's such an eyesore.

"What do you say?!" Lunching at her, Lucas grabbed her neck down like a mad man. He's far more aggressive than before, she thought. Now that they're just an inch apart from each other, Aurelia can see how his eyes are bloodshot. It's obviously not from anger.

He looked like he just cried.

She frowned, confused.

That soon turns into a smirk.

Then into a full-blown ludicrous grin.

"Ha, you still had the guts to be happy?!" Lucas shouted in front of her face, spits drizzling about. He forced her head onto the ground that made her cough as the impact had just made her ears ringing for a second as she practically feels her brain shook, not to mention the strong grip on her neck that's now burning with pain.

However, a laugh erupts through her and her body is quick to tremble from it.

"You lost the scholarship, aren't you?" She asserted, still laughing while gaping with the difficulty to breathe properly. She can see how Lucas's veins in his forehead pop out as well as the veins in his arms that are choking her.

"You're crazy," Lucas whispered, lost in his pool of feelings. He didn't know if he should be frustrated first or be scared of how this girl's mind works.

She's still provoking him while under his grasp, gasping for air.

Aurelia grinned again and then kicked him straight in the stomach. Lucas tumbled down while Aurelia helps herself up. She removed the dirt on her skirt like nothing and her, being choked down seconds ago didn't happen.

While she was passionate about cleaning her dirtied skirt, Lucas launched on her again but this time they fall over the edge of the wall. Where one mistake can give them broken bones and death.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Aurelia. We don't need to come to this point at all. Just apologize." Lucas struggle as he keeps balancing and pushing Aurelia down the wall, her upper body is hanging in the air.

"This rooftop is on a six-story high building, are you sure you don't want to settle this?" He said, smirking. At least he tried to. Aurelia smirked too as she looked down to see the rocky bottom of the ground.

"Still talkative, I see." She taunted and Lucas pushed him down further where only her knees have the support of the wall and she's barely hanging. One more push and she will come crashing down, literally.

"Say one more—"

Kicking him on the stomach she cut what he was about to say. Aurelia grasped the edge to keep hanging, it's not a big deal to her as she was a part of the gymnastics. Jumping, she balanced herself and stands up. She walked towards Lucas who dropped down on his bottom with a thud. With her small frame towering over his, she surprised him when she dragged him by his collar and pushed him over the edge of the wall.

In the same exact spot where he mishandled her.

"What does this feel?" She whispered to his ears and he looked down. Lucas audibly gulped as the roles reversed. Then he smirked with difficulty, saying,

"Surely, you will never dare to—"

But he never had a chance to continue that statement.

He dropped to the ground, bloody dead. With little bones peeking out from their right places from being dislocated.

And Aurelia just watched.

Just like how she watched her family be ashen to death.

---

Fire.

How wonderful to gaze upon the red and the oranges dance together.

It's crazy how can they be colorful.

Aurelia turned away, ignoring the flashing lights of the burning house with still visible shadow inside who's staggering about that triggered her past memories of crimes.

It's a shame, he doesn't stand up as what he's been diagnosed with before. While having a fair share of tortured victims, he came out more soft than he was described on the papers of the doctors' prognosis.

Complete the opposite of her that's someone deemed innocent by the court.

But just that, the court. The court that can be tamed with some paper that fueled the society.

Darting towards the direction where Simon and his car had come from, she set the initial agenda that she needed to find James. He will be happy to see her again no doubt, she thought.

But as soon as she started moving in the direction of potential freedom, she stopped having to look back at the house that's brightly lit for the obvious reason. There's no such thing as neighbors in the well-hidden location they're in, so no doubt the man will soon be forced cremated in the morning like his house.

But why is that she now of all moment feel hesitant to live.

For a moment, she stared at the house unmoving, completely blank but then started to walk again.

Now, to its direction.

Disregarding the fact the what she will do next will defy all of her hard work to escape the now-familiar residence that served as her new prison cell.

But she did not feel any remorse to do just that, she completely ignored the actuality that what all she hides had been exposed as the man surely seeks the truth when he went away.

And surely he's not dumb to saw how she's also fucked up in mind.

But as though completely possessed by a different person, she ran towards it now with anxiousness. Her knees forced themselves to stride faster as fear and worry filled her up and with the stolen key she got, pulled the door open. With one thing in mind,

Save him.

---End of Part 2: Hide and Seek

*Up next Part 3: Sickly Twisted*