Case of Life and Death

Case 005 - Lilia Heirro

The queen of hearts lost her own,

Fell farther and farther down her throne,

Dusted herself off, she lived all alone,

Until the day she was finally known,

April 14, 2027, 2:25 AM, the suspect and the unidentified man have been dueling for 22 minutes. 

Lume was exhausted. Lume and him had been duel-talking for about half an hour and she just couldn’t continue anymore. She’d heard the blood rushing through her ears for too long, and she really wanted her fight to be over soon so she could sleep with Red on her twin-sized bed. A slice came from Lume, and he stepped to the side, parrying her attack and throwing shattered glass shards from the necklace Lume gave him while they were in the orphanage. Lume picked up her backpack in a split second, stopping almost all the tiny droplets of iridescent glass from hitting her, with only her middle finger getting nicked by a small piece. 

“You just never quit,” He snarkily told her, “Do you?” 

“I’ll quit when I’m at your funeral,” Lume responded, hurling one of her mini-throwing knives at him. “Where are your ‘best friends’?” Lume sarcastically added.

“They’re a little late,” He started, “But by the time they get here, the only thing they’ll find from you is a dead body.” 

He charged at Lume, not phasing her at all. Lume grabbed his arm and pushed it onto the floor, pinning him down. “Guess who’s on the floor now?” Lume asked him, with a slight grin on her face.

“I’ve been merciful, Lume,” He told her while swinging his next weapon, a… book? “But this has got to end soon.” 

“Fine,” Lume tackled him to the ground, grabbing his neck and wrapping her arm around him.“But I really wanted to continue this dance.” Lume pulled tightly, choking him with a smile on her face. 

“Bye-bye, Lawrence.” Lume felt that his body went still, but still breathing. She stood up, dusted herself off, and felt a small metal star cut right past her face. It couldn’t have been her… could it be?

“Well hello, Lume.”

---

June 27, 2026, 6:56 AM, the suspect returned to the crime scene with an accomplice, Viktor Anglears.

Viktor’s hand grazed a slice of grass, feeling the ashy nature of a former arson site. The Haven of Hope, founded by Edith Thompson, had been burned down in January 2015. A freak fire accident had burned down half the entire building, completely destroying the attic and second floor of the reused mansion. Even if the police and local authorities had warned everyone to stay away from the ruined orphanage, Viktor thought that exposure therapy would’ve been ‘good’ for Lume. 

“Uh, Lume?” Viktor started, speaking slower than usual. “How are you holding up?”

“Okay, for now.” Lume walked slower than Viktor’s, as if she was struggling with each step she took. “But I don’t know why you would think this is a good idea for therapy.” 

“I saw it online,” Viktor told her, “it said that exposure therapy is a good way to overcome trauma-”

CREEEEEEAK

A high-pitched ringing noise came from the back of the orphanage, and a frightened Viktor jumped to hide behind Lume, could someone else be snooping around? “Get off me, Viktor, it’s probably just a rat or something.” Lume started jogging at a mild pace towards the doors of the abandoned orphanage, overgrown with moss and other living things that shouldn’t be alive. Lume tried to pull on one of the doors, but it was sealed shut. “Hey, Viktor! Stop waiting like a deer in headlights and come over here!” Viktor shuffled a little, wondering if he should follow orders from someone who was not mentally stable at all, then realized what would happen if he didn't. He reluctantly waddled over to the gross, mossy doors, and grabbed one of the handles. They both pulled on the doors in tandem and unhinged the lock. 

The first thing Viktor smelled was ash, then mold and burnt wood. The first thing Lume smelled was home. Even though Lume’s life in the orphanage was absolute hell, this was the only place she ever felt connected to.

“Why did I choose to come here?” Viktor muttered under his breath.

“I remember why I loved this place, Viktor.” Lume moved as if she were slow dancing. “Because of the mystery, the atmosphere, everything about this place scared the other kids, but I loved it here.” Viktor quietly scribbled down on his notepad, ‘Stockholm Syndrome?’

“So, Lume,” Viktor unconfidently shifted closer to Lume, trying to be cautious of the spiderwebs. “Are you experiencing any feelings of discomfort, or would you still like to continue?”

“Eh,” Lume brushed off both Viktor’s words and a cobweb on a tiny blue vase. “Let’s go.”

As the pair of weirdos walked through the burnt-down orphanage, Lume saw a hooded purple figure dart past the corner of her eye. For a millisecond it was there, then a millisecond later, it was gone. She was going to tell Viktor, but she realised she didn’t care that hard about this, and if she told Viktor, he would care too much.

Viktor was terrified of this place. He hated every step he took in this horrible building and everything scared him. He hated how the graffiti on the walls made the abandoned factor of the orphanage even worse. He swore that he saw a vase shift over to the left by a few centimetres, but if he told Lume, she would just say that he was being irrational, so he kept his mouth shut. 

The two of them walked for what felt like hours and had finally reached a crossroads, one path leading towards Lume’s room, and the other up to Ms. Edith’s office. But before they could make any decision, a delicate, off-white letter with a golden and purple stamp had gracefully slithered down towards the duo. It was addressed to Lume Lilith Steele, which had actually scared Lume (just a little). No one knew her middle name, and she had even forgotten it at one point, but just this one word alone, made Lume understand that this person had to be very, very, important.

The letter read as follows:

“Dear Lume Lilith Steele,

You must be wondering who I am, but you shouldn’t.

Yes,

I am someone from your horrid past, and I hope you remember that I remember you. But please let me get straight to the point:

You shouldn’t be here.

Do not take another step.

If you comply, I’ll let you be unharmed, and you can go. If not…

From, Your Best Friend.”

---

November 12, 2013, 2:25 AM, the suspect is with her fellow accomplices, Lawrence Morrison and Elanor Felix Ladron.

Lume had a slight fear of blood. Every time she was injured or had blood coming out of her body, she would get nauseous and sometimes faint. Many people, including herself, had told Lume her brain worked… weirdly. Bruises? She was fine. Broken arm? It’s okay. A little nosebleed? Drop to the floor. So when she saw other people’s blood, that was horrifying, for her and everyone around. But with the influx of random drops of blood and the weird red liquid sprayed on her wall (they found out it was spray paint, but they had to sacrifice Larry’s stomach), Lume had to suck up her fear, swallow it, and then shove it into the deepest pits in her stomach, because she was fine. 

This newest blob of blood was found in the corridor, right next to her room. The trio barely even noticed the stain at first, since the flooring was a nice cherry-stained bloodwood, but the blood was a darker shade, closer to mahogany. 

“So,” Elanor started, “What do we even do about this?”

“We shouldn’t get rid of it, as it might be our last drop.” Lawrence warily paced. “But we should pick it up first before anyone else tries to tamper with it.” 

“I just found another drop,” Lume told them, only standing a few feet away. “So the second choice.”

The walls of the orphanages were eerily tall as if they weren’t there to keep the kids safe from whatever was outside but to keep whatever was outside safe from the kids. Lume wasn’t an engineer, but she was 90% sure that they couldn’t get the building permits for that. Coupled with the children’s wallpaper that had been tattered and bruised for a few years, the orphanage looked like it came straight out of the shining. 

Lawrence ran and grabbed a few paper towels from the toilet, ignoring anyone who came in front of his path. But when he was about to turn the corner, he saw the ‘notorious’ mean girl group in all of Haven, 5LOWER. Why were they called that? There were five girls in the group, and each girl was named after a flower, Poppy, Veronica (on a technicality), Amaryllis, Magnolia, and Lilia, who swore that she was named after the lily of the valley. They were all a few years older than Lume, with all members being around sixteen. On paper, their personalities all matched the flowers they were named after. Poppy had a bubbly but aloof personality, Veronica was the mom of the group, Amaryllis was the goth, brash girl of the group, and Magnolia was reduced to just a nerd. If any weirdo was looking into the orphanage, they would see that 5LOWER was just like a normal-looking friend group. 

They were the complete opposite.

5LOWER. (they said that if anyone pronounces or writes their name wrong, 5LOWER. will take them down) was doing its usual thing: gossiping in an intersection about people who could be spotted there. This time, it was the hallways, where they usually hung out. Ms. Edith had told them off every single day because they were ‘blocking traffic,’ but a group of teenage girls could never listen to an old lady. 

“Hey!” Poppy shouted at Lawrence, “What do you think you’re doing, twat?!” Lawrence could not care less where a click of girls was talking, so he just ran through them. Lawrence ran back to Lume’s room, almost knocking into different corners. 

“You took soooooo long, Larry.” Elanor whined, “What happened?”

“He took one minute and fourteen seconds,” Lume sighed, crossing her arms, leaning against one of the walls. “And with the horde of teenage girls rapidly approaching our location, I think we know what happened.” Magnolia was angry cat-walking over to Lume’s room, with a snare on her face. Lume had to mentally prepare herself for the mental bloodbath.

“Excuse me, Lawrence Morrison,” Magnolia started, “Do you not realise what you have done?” 

“Obviously not, Madge,” Veronica put Poppy in Amaryllis’ arms, “He doesn’t even look sorry.” 

“What did Larry do?” Elanor stepped in front of Lume and Lawrence, trying to protect them.

Poppy hobbled over, “He-sniff-stepped on my-sniff-toe!” She started sobbing inconsolably, to the dismay of 5LOWER. Veronica and Magnolia rushed to try and console her, whispering about how they were going to make him feel sorry, but it was no use. Lume knew that all of these girls hated each other, but the only reason they were friends was because they were ‘popular’. 

“So?” Larry asked, unbothered, Elanor’s least favorite emotion from him but Lume’s favorite. 

“So?! Say sorry!” Magnolia shouted, “Or I'll make sure you’re sorry.”

“Why should I say sorry? It was her fault that she was standing there.” 

“Are you stupid?! That’s not how it works!” 

“Ladies, ladies, calm down,” Lilia Heirro stepped in between the arguers, “What’s the problem now?” Lilia was a somewhat tall, basic wasian girl, with dark black hair, square-shaped glasses, and a closet that would kill a Victorian child (crop tops and pajama pants). She had quite a reputation as a mediator who would sometimes start problems. She acted nice on paper, but ask any kid living in the orphanage at that time (even though most of them aren’t alive anymore), and they would tell you she was more like a mob boss than a caretaker.

“This little boy over here stepped on Poppy’s toe.” Magnolia pouted.

“Only because they were standing in the middle of the hallway!” Lawrence whined back. 

“I go to the bathroom for two minutes and this is what I see,” Lilia muttered under her breath, “Okay, Lawrence, say sorry and we’ll stop hanging around the hallway, deal?” 

“Fine,” Lawrence whispered, Lume had to make a mental note to shout at Lawrence when they get back to their room. “Sorry for stepping on your toe, Poppy.” 

“Whatever,” Poppy sniffled, Lilia was about to scream. Why did everyone have to act like a child? “What are you guys even doing here?” 5LOWER. started looking around the corridor, and the trio’s heartbeat was rising. Why were they so scared? It wasn’t that big of a deal, right? 

After searching for what felt like hours, 5LOWER. had stopped searching around the weird trio (group name in progress), so they could all take a huge sigh of relief. However, Lume was the type of kid to notice things no one else did, so she was able to spot that each member of 5LOWER. looked at one of the blood spots, but did not say a single word about it. Suspicious? Lume was more than that. Why would a group of teenagers who loved tormenting children not say anything about the blood…

Unless they knew something about it.

---

April 14, 2027, 2:25 AM, the suspect appears to be in an altercation with an unidentified young woman.

“Hey, Lume,” Lilia started, with a sarcastic smile on her face. “It’s been so long. We should’ve met up earlier!” She threw a handful of metal shurikens at Lume.

“Shut up, Lilia.” Lume’s hand was hit with another metal star, and a little bit more blood dripped down her forearm. “You would’ve just killed me, like what you’re trying to do right now.” 

“I don't know what you’re talking about, bestie.” Lilia fake-grinned, just like what she used to do when they were kids. “Come on, Lume, can’t you fight any better? I thought you were training with that boy.” Lilia slightly nudged her head over to Lawrence’s unconscious body. 

“Didn’t you send him to tire me out?” Lume sidestepped from another metal star, almost tripping over Larry’s body.

“Do you think I would send someone as weak as him to fight you?” Lilia spread out her fingers and put her hand on her chest, in the same motion as someone trying to be a victim. “If I wanted to lose, I would’ve gone to an ugly competition. Obviously, you’d win, but that's not the point.”

Lume’s dance with Lawrence had sped up as Lilia had been tagged in. Lilia didn’t play defence, she was like a wild boar, it didn’t matter how big or small the target was, Lilia just wanted it dead, no matter the cost. Even though Lume had been training in self-defence since she left the orphanage, Lilia was born into a life of crime, with her abusive parents being taken away from her, she had to learn how to thrive on the streets, a few years before she had ever made it to ‘Haven’. 

Lume stepped onto a raised platform and tried to hide behind a glass wall.

Lilia was faster.