Prologue : First Drop

A scream.

Loud and echoing, it cut through the lazy evening air like a knife. And just as quickly as it came, it disappeared.

That's all it took to rouse the entire city from the normal afternoon calm.

It came from a simple building situated somewhere within the city. A pair of women, clearly friends on a daily walk, heard the scream and came over, followed by a group of men. And then some more people. Bustling feet and murmured voices echoed throughout the roads within the city as the commotion drew attention from bystanders. A young boy ran through the crowd dragging along his mother who was trying her best to keep up with him. Further down stood a male who seemed slightly disinterested, but nevertheless followed the crowd to the building.

"What happened?"

"Not sure."

"Hello, anyone there?"

"Can someone explain what happened?"

"Are they okay?"

Voices overlapped and questions were left unanswered as the crowd wanted to know about the source. And what caused it.

Soon, the sound of sirens appeared as local police got wind of the commotion and rushed to the spot. As the officers quickly set up a perimeter, the chief went up to the entrance and knocked, asking for entrance.

No answer.

He waited a little longer.

Another knock.

Still none.

Fearing the worse, he raised his hand and made a beckoning motion. Two officers moved beside him. The chief gave them a nod, the signal for action.

In a swift motion, one of the officers hacked through the doorknob while the other effortlessly opened the door. Then, the three police officers disappeared into the dark building.

But none of this was seen by the young woman who dashed alone through the maze of people crowding around in the streets. Dodging walkers left and right, she held her bag tightly in one hand and her phone in the other. Her breath turned to fog before her in the crispy cold air of winter as she took a turn, then another, and another. Throwing an emotionless "sorry!" when she accidentally hit someone, she never broke stride. Her heart rammed against her chest as if trying to smash her ribs and jump out. She had felt that something was wrong from the morning as if a vial of dread had slowly dripped its way to her heart. But she had ignored it. And now, she hoped there would be no price to pay for doing so. Cursing slightly as she slipped on a turn, she picked up her pace.

Behind her was another person trying his best to catch up to her.

"Wait!"

His cries fell upon deaf ears as she took another turn and ultimately disappeared from his sight. He slowed down slightly. As athletically built as he was, even he could not catch up to someone who ran as if fueled by the fear of death.

Huffing, she finally found herself before the large crowd that had formed around the origin of the scream. Taking a deep breath, she began making her way through the crowd, avoiding stomping feet and jabbing elbows.

After a long struggle, she found herself at the front of the crowd and staring at the scream's source.

No…

No.

NO.

NO NO NO.

She felt her thoughts short circuit as she threw herself towards the building only to be dragged back by strong arms belonging to the people of the crowd.

"NO!"

The sound ripped itself from her mouth as she struggled against the caging arms. She had to make it to the house, see if the people she knew were okay.

"You can't go there, girl."

"That's right. Don't worry, the policemen will take care of it."

"Wait, she might live there."

"Ah-...then, I hope things are okay."

"Miss, please calm down."

Her house, the building where she lived happily with her family, was swathed in police tape and surrounded by men and women in uniform. As she surveyed the scene before her, the dread that had been building up before suddenly dropped and with it, her knees. Her heart could not resist the pain anymore. She just knew that something had happened, something terrible.

"Wha-what happened?"

She croaked out in a weak voice.

The noise of pity from the crowd rose as people began to realize what had happened. The police officers had begun moving and covering the place with another type of tape.

This one read "Crime-Scene: Please Keep Clear".

This tape was only used if someone was killed.

The girl reached a hand forward towards the house. She wanted to rush in and scream and shout. But no energy came to her.

As if in response to her raised hand, one of the three officers came out of the building with his walkie-talkie and scanned the crowd before landing on her.

"Excuse me, are you the daughter of the Edgard, the head of this household?"

She looked at him for a moment, her brain scrambling to process the question.

"Y-yes."

The officer gave her a sad smile before saying, "I'm sorry."

A pause.

"Miss Iris of the House of Edgard, your father has just been murdered."