Snippet #1376494

Serah made it to her house without much trouble. She hadn't seen the police or any other suspicious person rather than her neighbors looking out window at her figure. Her sweaty, tired, irritated figure. "Darn! I hate running sometimes." She hissed under breath looking up at her house. She mentally prepared herself as she stepped inside, taking off her hat to reveal her ears. "Hello? Anyone home? Mother? Father?" She heard deafening silence in response. It disturbed her, yet piqued her interest. Serah moved further in scenting the air and pausing every few minutes to look around the corners and burst into rooms checking for people. She hadn't noticed anyone so far but there was this peculiar scent in the air. It was one of gunpowder. Something that would have never belonged in her home. Swords and metal were a natural scent but that sour metallic odor of fire and human sweat was disgusting. She wrinkled her nose hoping to dispel the horrible scent. She even feared opening her mouth less she taste it for some reason or another. She moved out to the dojo but stopped short.

Blood.

Serah smelled that always ominous warm coppery scent of blood. The scent that most humans would even cringe from. Serah took a step back into the shadows of the hall fear lacing with her adrenaline. She had been trying to mask her fear and act calm. She trusted her family to be safe. There was no way that someone could defeat them. They were the Mindanao family. They were trained to fight. How would it have been possible to defeat them? Serah felt the fur on her ears and tail stand on end. Her senses all went on hyper drive. She couldn't face what was in there. She knew it was the blood of her family.

My mother, and father. They might be dead. I could die if I go in. I have to know though. I can't just leave it to suspicions. Maybe my nose is somehow plugged and I just think that's their blood?

Serah reached to her shoulders where she had strapped the blade she always carried around. If death awaited her then she would make sure she defended her family's title honorably. Serah shoved the door open and stepped inside. The scene she faced wasn't the one she wanted to find. Swords lay around the ground covered in blood and it was obvious a fight had gone on in the room. She could already imagine her father facing horrible men dressed in black. She moved over to where a pool of blood had gone stagnant. After staring at it and scenting it for what seemed like forever, she spotted a piece of her father's clothes soaked in the blood. It was the tiniest piece but it proved that her father was injured and could possibly be dead. Serah stood quickly tears brimming at the corners of her eyes but she stifled them just as easily. She could feel a new conviction in her heart. "I'll kill them. I will. No matter what it takes." She took the next few minutes cleaning up the blood even though every time she looked at the red pools it made her want to hurl or worse cry. She wanted her parents to have a place of rest though. She didn't wanna leave her supposed home in this condition. So she cleaned up and set everything in order the best she could. After she finished she moved to pick up her father's sword. She knew she would never use it but she felt some sort of attachment to it. Serah went to find the strap in his bedroom so that she could take the sword with her.

Serah found her parents bedroom and rummaged through their drawers to find a strap that would fit. Something happened as she was going through her mother's desk where her father something sneaked things in. She found a gray photo of herself as a baby. She could feel the sentimental value of the photo like her mother looked at the image every night. She could see in the back of her mind that mother that seemed so bothersome looking at this photo and thinking 'I love them.' Serah took the photo and stored it in her pocket. After a little more prodding she found the strap and headed out of the house.

Serah took one look back as she was several feet aways from the house. It was the spot she had stood some times before to look up at her house wondering where her life would take her. Destiny was a funny thing. You would think that your life was all daisies and roses then suddenly the petals fell from the stems and turned black. You still were expected to move on in life.

How ironic. I'll miss you. I'll come back someday though. Eventually, when I can face up to myself and kill those people for what they have done although you might still be out there. If you are, I will come find you. I promise.