Blood Stained Hands

Unsettling Discovery

At 3 pm

She hits the gas, then slams her foot on the brakes. Her Corolla jerks to a halt as she swings into the driveway, narrowly avoiding the garage door. Her body snaps forward, then back against the seat. She shuts off the engine and bolts out of the car.

A twenty‑five‑year‑old Black woman with a slim build, black hair, and brown eyes stands in a blouse and skirt beneath her coat, ankle‑heel boots planted on the pavement. Her mouth hangs open as she peers down the street in both directions, breathing heavily to steady her breath.

Still unaware of the man across the street in the cul‑de‑sac, she doesn’t see him watching her from the passenger seat of a parked vehicle. A black hooded mask covers his face, with two precise holes cut for his eyes.

Another man stands on the sidewalk outside his house, sipping a warm cup of coffee in comfortable clothes. He stares at her — brows lifted, eyes wide — then glances left.

“Okay…” he mutters, shaking his head. He steps inside and closes the door.

Five minutes later

She dashes to her front door, unlocks it, and darts inside.

She drops her purse and coat on the couch. She rushes through the house, checking the bedroom, kitchen, and office — standing in each doorway and scanning for anything unusual.

Nothing is strange or missing. No intruder.

She returns to the living room and sits on the couch. Leaning toward the coffee table, she opens her candy box…

…and discovers a black ruby among the sweets.

Ten minutes later

She lifts the mysterious object from the center of the candy pile and holds it in her palm. Her heart races. She grabs her cell phone from her purse and dials a number she remembers from a billboard on the highway.

A female secretary reluctantly answers, not wanting to disturb the person the caller is asking for — not this late.

“It’s vital.” The woman’s voice cracks.

The secretary sighs. “Fine.”

She transfers the call. The man checks the clock on his wall — 6 p.m.

“What’s the problem?”

The woman speaks quickly, still out of breath. “A round black ruby was in my candy box. It wasn’t there before.”

Her eyes shift black

Something from the darkness has been planted for me. A target. Someone from my past has made a plea against me. The creature of darkness will not make a move without the human’s “okay.” But this human has made a grave mistake.

Her hand clenches into a fist. Rage burns through her body. Flames surge through her veins and into her hair. Fire ignites as her hair lifts like a campfire blazing through the night. Her eyes burn red, her mouth stretches wide, and fangs extend. She unclenches her hand, fingers stretching as her claws lengthen — then retract. Her hair, eyes, and nails return to normal.

“Call the police,” he says sternly.

“I can’t,” she whispers.

“Fine. I hope you don’t have a criminal record.”

She chuckles. “I highly doubt that, sir.”

“Hm. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. I give all my clients that.”

One day in her past

She escaped evil long ago after stealing a dagger.

It came from a protective cave — a place no human was meant to enter, let alone handle or unsheathe what it guarded. The dagger wielded immense destructive power.

She fled the treacherous cave in distress, racing through a deadly path, leaping with lightning speed over pits of stalagmites to escape unseen. Not toward where she came from. Not toward anything she knew. Only away.

But she was captured before reaching the entrance. Mysterious figures in white hooded cloaks seized her, their faces hidden behind white masks with two holes for their eyes.

Two of them held her arms while another unzipped her waist‑belted pouch and removed the sheathed dagger. The others watched in silence.

Clutched in their grip, she believed her life was over — yet it never came. They released her.

Present

He asks where she is.

“At my house,” she says.

He urges her to leave immediately and come to him.

At 8 pm

She drives onto the highway. A car behind her changes lanes, pulls beside her, and tries to force her off the road.

“Ahhh!” She swerves into a rest stop to steady herself, her heart racing.

“I’m about to panic… I need to get back on the road.”

She grips the steering wheel, breathing in and out until her trembling stops. Then she pulls back onto the highway. “Okay…”

She accelerates — but the driver beside her is no longer in the vehicle. The empty car swerves wildly, and she speeds up to avoid a collision. “Phew…”

She focuses on the road… but something appears.

A creature.

She slams into it — but it leaps and lands on the hood of her car. “Ahhh!”

Its thick black skin glistens as it crawls along the edge of the hood. Claws extend from its fingers and toes, puncturing the metal with each step. Its crimson eyes glare as it inches closer to the windshield.

“Oh my God — no!” She stomps on the brakes, tires screeching.

The creature is hurled off the car, sliding across the street — and something slices into its body. It screams in agony. “Ahhh!”

She trembles as she speeds away, the image of the writhing creature burned into her mind — a memory that made her shake every time it resurfaced.

At 10 pm

She arrives at his office, bursting through the door and running to him.

“Whoa—” he says, eyes wide.

She wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder as tears roll down her cheeks.

He is a Caucasian attorney‑at‑law, thirty‑five, with short straight black hair and blue eyes, who handles criminal cases. He wears a long‑sleeved suit with a tie and laced dress shoes.

His Black, thirty‑year‑old secretary, with silky straight hair falling just below her shoulders, rushes out of her office in a long‑sleeved pantsuit and low‑heeled pumps to assess the situation.

“Bring her some water.”

A few seconds later

She takes the water from the secretary and sips it, trying to calm her nerves.

Seconds later

The secretary retrieves the empty glass from the trembling lady’s hands.

Then the disturbed woman rummages in her purse and hands the man the round black ruby.

He takes it and sets it on his brown desk.

The woman looks calmer now — but she still trembles. He guides her to a black chair on the other side of the desk.

She sobs softly, leaning her head on her palm while her other arm rests in her lap.

“What’s troubling you?”

She asks for tissues. He hands her the box from his desk.

She blows her nose, wipes her eyes, and looks back at him. “Sir… on the highway… a creature — it tried to—”

“Speak no more of this.”

He opens his top desk drawer and retrieves a key attached to a number tag: 306. Then he walks to the office door and grips the doorknob.

“Take this.” He drops the key into her hand. “Go to the room. There’s a bed in there — get some rest. No one will bother you.”

He releases the doorknob and gestures down the hallway with his right arm.

“Take the elevator at the end of this hall to the left. Press 3. The room is on the left.”

At 11 pm

His secretary approaches his desk.

“Are you taking her case?”

“The case is out of my reach. And this ruby I’m holding belongs to the dark side.”

“Oh my God…” She covers her mouth. “What are you going to do?”

“Reach out to the person I hoped I’d never contact again. I’ve never had a case like this. I know he can handle it.”

“You’re not talking about who I think you are. He could be the Devil himself.”

“I must ensure I don’t fall deep with him. I never thought this day would come — shaking hands with the dark side.”

“Oh God… have mercy on his soul.”

“I’m about to dial his number.”

She hurries into her office and shuts the door. She slides to the floor, hugging her bent legs, resting her head against the door as she stares at the ceiling. “Oh God…”

Seconds later

Somewhere else in the world, a man sits behind a black desk in a locked wheeled chair, his legs extended and crossed casually on the surface.

“Ah. I was surprised to see your number. I recall you telling me years ago — when I handed you one of my cards — that you would never ask me for help with cases of the unnatural. Yet here you are, seeking my help for something out of the ordinary. What might that be?”

“A round black ruby.”

Seconds later

“Hello? Hello!”

His secretary ambles out of her office and approaches his desk.

“What seems to be the problem?” She shifts her eyes nervously, ready to bolt back into her office as if something is creeping up behind her.

“He’s not talking anymore.”

“See? He’s the Devil. He’ll be knocking on the door next.”

Knock, knock.

“Ahhh!” She sprints back into her office and slams the door.

“My secretary is ridiculous. It’s probably just the janitor.”

He opens the door — and gasps, inhaling sharply at the sight before him.

“Oh… it’s you.”

He glances at his wristwatch.

Midnight.

Questions

What do you think the black ruby was planted to accomplish, and who do you believe put it in her candy box — an enemy, someone from her past, or something darker?

Why do you think the creature targeted her on the highway, and what does its reaction to being sliced suggest about who or what else is involved?