Darkhearts: Splintered (1)

Ouch.


Scarlett snapped her finger back from the doorframe, and noticed a small red dot on her finger. Was it a bug? She reached her fingernail down and cautiouly tapped the top of the enlarging shape. It went to liquid the moment she did-it was blood. She wrapped the damaged finger in her fist, and used the other to knock twice shaply on the door. About a full minute later, she heard light footsteps on the floor and the handle turned as her latest client, Sabrina O'Karkee, pulled her head around the corner of the doorframe and welcomed Scarlett in.



There was only one word for Sabrina, and that was over. Overdramatic, overdressed, and altogether overdone. She was fifteen, only a year older than Scarlett, yet she was already hiring her. Sabrina was about the same height too, with curly blonde hair to suit her piercing blue eyes and deep dark red lipstick. Scarlett ran a business where she was the one in control of the income: if she hated someone, she could charge them more by making up problems that didn't exist.



Technically, she babysat: but for the babysitters.



See, some people don't have the effort in them to look after the kids for much more than ten minutes, so they'd send the parents off to their date night or anniversary dinner, then they'd call Scarlett to do their work for them. About five minutes later, she'd arrive, and her 'client' would have the night to themselves. Depending on how much she was paid, of course. The business was foolproop, since if anything happened to the kids-which it wouldn't-she was totally unresponsible, since she wasn't there.



Oh, and she could also throw in blackmailing the kids if they threatened to tell the real clients. She'd worked for Sabrina before now, but not in this house.



"How many kids?" Scarlett asked, in a professional-sounding tone of voice. "Two, twins; boy and girl." said Sabrina absentmindedly, checking the time, and suddenly panicking. "There's a note on the fridge, ones of thems diabetic or something. Crap, I'm gonna be late!"

"That's great, Sabrina. Bye." Scarlett smiled to herself, soaking up the satisfaction. "Oh-" Sabrina blushed, her cheeks flushing with crimson, and quickly spat out "Sorry, and thanks; again," and rushed out the door.




Two small figures emerged from the darkened hallway. "Sabrina?" They called out, rubbing their eyes. Scarlett rolled hers, and walked over to them. They were about a third of her height. "My names Scarlett, and I'm looking after you now," she said gently, getting down on one knee. "Now, lets get you guys back to bed." She took one of their hands in her own, and led them slowly back down the hallway. Looking down, she thankfully saw that her finger had stopped bleeding.



***



There was no way she could have seen what was coming. It was about eleven o'clock, and she was watching reruns of Skippy. Sabrina was due home any minute, and Scarlett was desperately hoping she hadn't gotten too drunk. There was a knock at the door, and Scarlett crossed the room within seconds, tired and eager to be home. She opened it, and let Sabrina in. She was walking straight, but looked completely terrified. Scarlett knew why within a few seconds.



Several large, black shapes came bounding up over the fence, knocking it over as she went. "Dogs," Sabrina whispered, and shut the door behind her. She was covered in light red marks, and her leg was bleeding. There was a thump at the door, and while looking at the window, Scarlett saw it begin to crack. A dog clenched it's teeth around the glass and tried to pull it away, like it was making room for the others: but Scarlett wasn't waiting around for that to happen.



She looked around for Sabrina, and soon realised that she was long gone. She ran down the hallway, searching for the kids and soon realizing Sabrina had taken them into the basement, and under no circumstances was she going to open the goddamn door. Scarlett soon heard the pounding of multiple paws making their way towards her. She saw the bathroom, and desperately hoped the lock would hold, as she ran inside and slammed the door behind her. A loud thump came from behind the door as the dogs began to hurtle against it.



She sighed, and leaned against the door, vainly attempting to calm herself. Her figure slumped against it as she slid down, and curled herself up into a ball. A small sting came from her open palm: somehow she'd cut herself in the chase. She stood and stumbled over to the sink, turned on the tap, and tried to wash away some of the blood. There was no use though, since it just kept flowing out. She sighed again, and looked up into the mirror.



Scarlett had charcoal-style black hair, pretty much dead straight with a few waves in a few places. She had emerald-green eyes that sparkled like crystals when they got watery. There was a certain averageness with her: you could see that she could blend in or stand out as much as she wanted to. Her eyes were getting watery now, in fact.



She looked at her reflection, and it winked at her. Her eyes popped wide open, and she saw a sparkle rush through her own eye. She raised a hand to touch her eye, but instead-ever so slowly-put it on the mirror, and gasped. Scarlett didn't feel the cold, hard glass of the mirror behind her hand, and life behind that mirror. But most of all, she felt desperation. Her reflection wanted something, and they wanted it now.



She lifted her hand off the mirror, and was shocked to see that there was no blood on her hand. There wasn't even a cut, just smooth skin. A small tingly feeling had replaced it, soon making her entire hand limp. It spread up her arm and crossed through her entire body, making her alike to a human ragdoll. She wondered what Sabrina and the kids were doing to pass the time as she left the land of conciousness.