Requiem for a Mouse by Jamie Wang Page B

shrill laugh escaped him. He spluttered blood over the girl. It pained him to laugh so hard. He clutched his stomach, heaving the laughter out of him. By the time he had managed to calm himself down, the crowd had thinned. If he had awoken anyone else, they were smart enough to stay inside. All that remained was the stragglers inching away from him and the little girl.
    She opened her mouth to talk, but no words came out.
    Vlad smiled, never having seen anyone actually frozen with fear before. It was rather cute. He walked up to her and pinched her chin, peering into her doe-eyed stare.
    “Please don’t kill me,” the girl cried. Tears crawled down her cheeks.
    “Do you know who I am?” Vlad brushed her cheek with his knuckles, painting it with her brother’s blood.
    Her words came out in short stutters. “The Slasher.”
    Vlad took a deep breath. “That’s right,” he whispered into her ear. He gave her a bloody kiss on her forehead and walked away. The remnants of the crowd parted for him, none dared make eye contact.
    Behind him, the girl wailed into the night. They started out as short staccato notes that crescendoed into a beautiful finale, a perfect conclusion to his symphony of screams. He placed a hand over his thumping heart with a smile so wide it hurt.
    Vlad looked toward the heavens, already wanting more. “If you could scream, how would I make you scream, God?”

LISSANDRA
     
    “Mom!”
    Lissandra awoke in the usual manner.
    “Mom! I’m hungry!”
    Normally this wouldn’t have bothered her, but her body felt like dead weight. The drop had been harder than she anticipated and now she was paying the price. If it wasn’t for that red-eyed girl, she might not have even made it back.
    “Quiet,” she muttered at her little brother and snuggled deeper into her pillow.
    “Mom!” her little brother wailed.
    With a sigh, Lissandra pushed herself up. Her joints audibly popped into place. She leaned over to the left and gave her little brother a small kiss. “Okay Leon, I’ll make you some food.” She elbowed her older brother on the right, “Gunther, help me make breakfast.”
    Gunther stopped snoring and rolled over. With his back turned to her he asked, “With what food?”
    Before she could respond, he was asleep again, his snore deeper than before.
    “Damn it.” Lissandra took care to whisper. Leon was too quick to pick up on new words. She crawled out of bed with a groan.
    “Liss, where’s mom?” Leon asked.
    “Leon, shh, I’ll make you something. Just go back to bed and when you wake up, I’ll have your favorite soup all ready for you.” Lissandra’s voice was soft and high as if talking to a baby.
    Leon frowned, dissatisfied with her answer. “But where’s Mom? Why isn’t she here?”
    That’s a good question, Lissandra wanted to say, but one look at Leon’s wet eyes stopped her. He was too young for the truth. Lissandra plastered a smile onto her face. She was a poor replacement for their mother.
    “Mom’s a little sick right now,” she said. “But don’t worry, she’ll get better real soon. Until then, just let your big sis take care of you. Now back to bed with you.”
    Leon, finally satisfied, retreated under the rough covers of their bed. “Okay, Liss.”
    Lissandra smiled as she watched him fall back asleep. When his gentle breathing became slow and deep, she left into the living room. On the sofa was her mother with bottles of alcohol spilled beside her. The entire room reeked of its smell.
    “Mom, time to go to your bed.” Lissandra nudged her.
    Her mother shifted slightly as she burrowed deeper into the cushions. “Charles, is that you?”
    Lissandra sighed. “No mom. Look, let’s get you to bed.”
    Her mother drunkenly waved her hand, trying to shoo Lissandra away. “Let me sleep a little more. I was just with daddy.”
    “Mom, Leon’s going to wake up pretty soon. You don’t want him to see you like this, do you?”
    “Liss, don’t bother me,”