Shadows of Deception

Chapter two - pg. 1

The stillness shattered with the violent crash of the front door splintering inward. Edwin vaulted from his chair, his heart slamming against his ribs like a caged thing seeking escape. In the span of a single heartbeat, the tranquility of their suburban cocoon was torn asunder, replaced by the chaos of the intruders who stormed their sanctuary with predatory swiftness.

"Eddie, what's happening?" Denora's voice, laced with fear, barely rose above the calamity.

He had no time to answer. Dark figures—faces obscured by masks and eyes glinting with malicious intent—flooded the living room. One assailant lunged for Edwin, his hands outstretched like talons aiming to maim. He dodged to the side, adrenaline fuelling his movements, but another grabbed him from behind, wrenching his arms back in an iron grip.

"Dee, run!" he shouted, his voice strangled with desperation.

But she stood frozen, her eyes wide with disbelief as the nightmarish scene unfolded around her. Before she could take a step, one of the invaders seized her, dragging her towards the kitchen. The sound of shattering glass and porcelain filled the air as their home was ransacked, the violation of their privacy punctuated by each crash and thud of overturned furniture.

"Denora!" Edwins's cry was guttural, born of primal terror. He fought against the hold of the man restraining him, but his efforts were futile against the brute strength pinning him down. 

Through the whirlwind of violence, Edwin's gaze found Denora just as a blade flashed in the dim light—a cruel silver arc that seemed to move with preternatural speed. It descended upon her, and her bloodcurdling scream cut through the tumult.

"NO!" Edwin's world narrowed to that singular, horrifying moment. The scream echoed in his skull, its resonance threatening to fracture his sanity. 

The attacker withdrew the blade, now stained with the scarlet lifeblood of the woman he loved. Denora's body crumpled to the floor, her limbs severed in a grotesque display of savagery, her bright smile forever dimmed. The sight of her, so full of vitality mere moments ago, now reduced to pieces in a pool of spreading crimson, was an assault on every sense.

"Please, please, stop," Edwin choked out, tears blurring his vision. He strained against his captor, every muscle screaming in protest, but his struggle was as effective as battling the tide. All he could do was watch, helpless, as the life he knew—the soft laughter, the shared whispers, the gentle touch of fingers entwined—was butchered before his eyes.

The attackers left as abruptly as they had come, leaving behind the stench of death and the echo of their destruction. Silence returned, a grim mockery of the peace it had once been, now hanging heavy with the absence of a heartbeat that would never sound again in these walls.

Edwin slumped to his knees beside Denora, his hands shaking as he reached out to touch what remained. But even as his fingers grazed her skin, cool and rapidly losing its warmth, he knew there was nothing he could have done, nothing he could do now but drown in the shock and horror that enveloped him like a shroud...