Goosebumps made his entire body shiver as JD set foot onto the stairs of the lab. His eyes wandered over the waves of blood, dried and sticking to the ground as if they were already a part of it. The months had not done any good to the interior, the plants had died and most of the paperwork had turned into dusty mountains of dirt.

It still smelled the same, just like you, but after all those months, JD felt as if the familiar scent faded with each day until it would disappear.

Underneath, the sound of moving metal filled the silence.

With a soft curse on his lips, Baird wiped his bloody hands on his pant legs and glanced into the direction of the stars without looking up. Next to him, Jack floated through the air. The blue painted metal was stained with a sticky handprint, so dark that it was hard to tell if it was oil or rotten blood.

"You're too late.", he said and raised his gaze, to reveal a pale face with blood splattered all over.

JD's heart skipped a beat. He bit his lips, trying to suppress a whimper and tears that were burning in his eyes. While doing so, his teeth dug so deep into the soft flesh of his lips that a trail of blood started gushing out and filled his mouth with the taste of iron.

"Where's dad?", he asked with a weak voice.

"He wanted to try.", Baird wiped some of his tools clean before letting them disappear inside Jack's storage. "But... listen, kid. I'll sound bitter and terrible, but it looked worse than I thought. The cool room is... I've seen people get butchered. It was less worse than this."

With his breath held and burning eyes, JD had to grab the railing of the stairs to keep himself on his legs. His mind was spinning. He felt like his stomach would twist and turn any moment.

"Kid...", Baird send Jack up to him. "Maybe you'll still have some time to... I mean..."

"There's no chance?", he asked, a tear rolling over his cheek.

The older one sighed. As he closed his eyes, he seemed to fight back the urge to tell JD everything was lost. Slowly, he shook his head and refused to open his eyes again.

"I'll clean up.", he said and let out a deep breath. "You should get going."

Without waisting another word, JD turned on his heel and ran while Jack chased after him.

As he arrived at the estate, JD couldn't help but let out a deep, frustrated scream. It was so loud and powerful that the birds who were hiding in the trees got scared and flew away.

The transporter was parked right in front of the gates. Skid marks stretched across the muddy ground, making it visible just how headless Marcus had driven to this place.

He didn't need to know where his father had taken you. A long, clear trail of dark crimson red marked every step he had taken, from the gates of the ruins that once had been the house of his childhood, across the bridge and to the greenhouse. The liquid shimmered in the moonlight, making the stones of the path seem splintered and shattered.

As he stood on tip of the bridge, JD's eyes wandered down into the river.

The amulet still lay hidden between some rocks, covered by the crystal clear water of the river. It seemed as if the movements tried to keep the piece of jewellery hidden under a layer of liquid glass.

With heavy eyes, he slid down into the riverbed and reached for the shimmer. As his fingers touched the cold metal, a shiver crawled down his spine. Every single hair on his body stood up.

"For good luck, huh?", he whispered and raised it to his eyes only to widen them in surprise.

Back then he had payed little attention to it, but now he realised that he knew this amulet.

It belonged to his mother. His father had gifted it to her after his birth, at least that's what she had always told him. Anya had worn it every single hour of the day and every single hour of the night. But one day she had suddenly stopped wearing it.

He had always wondered where it had disappeared to.

A soft gasp escaped his lips.

"Mom..?", his voice was shaking and his vision already getting blurry again. "Did you..? Are you protecting (Y/N)? Please... for me... just this once..."

Quickly, he got back on his feet again. While pressing the amulet to his chest, JD chased through the garden, while Jack tried to keep up with the speed.

His heart was racing inside his chest. All the scars on his arm started to burn. It felt like he was on fire.

But in that moment it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

All he could do was run. Even as the air started to stab his side and scratched in his lungs he ran on, jumped over a few stacked boxes and rushed towards the greenhouse.

But as he wanted to push the doors open, JD hit against it.

"What?", he gasped surprised and pushed again, harder this time.

But as his hands touched something wet, he froze in his desperate attempt to gain entrance.

With horror painted on his face, JD raised his hand to his eyes. His fingers were shaking as the shimmer of dark red came into sight.

In the dim light of the moon, the blood seemed to be as black as sin.

Letting out a scream of surprise, he immediately tried to wipe his hands. But as his gaze fell onto the door for the first proper time, insanity almost took over.

Frozen in shock, JD stood there, right in front of the door and couldn't help but keep his eyes glued to the red splatters that covered the front of the greenhouse.

Blood. So much blood. It looked like somebody had sliced an animal open and swung it through the air.

Everything was red, soaked and covered in the essence of life.

One single handprint was visible on one of the doors. It looked like the person who had placed it wasn't strong enough to raise a hand anymore.

"No...", he begged. "Please..."