Warning: mild gore. Blood and stuff, but nothing too explicit
High school AU
***
It was winter. Light snow coated the sidewalk with dozens of imprints from people's shoes when they walked, or ran, to work earlier in the day. The air was chill enough for the need of gloves and scarves, and when you breathed, you can see your own breath before it faded into the background. The trees were bare, their leaves replaced with thin patches of frost as they waited patiently for the next spring. Fairy lights hung on the lampposts, the last thing remaining from the holidays in December. No one had the thought to take them down yet and the warm glow shined brightly against the dark night sky.
Winter was Azazel's favorite season. He always admired the way the world had to die before it could live. Beginnings have ends and life has death, nature knew that better than any human. It had order, an understanding that to rise, you must first fall. Autumn, rightfully named, was that fall. Now it was time to rest, to stay down before it was time to regrow in Spring. Azazel didn't believe in any particular religion, but whoever created the world must've been a genius.
Currently he was walking along the white coated sidewalk, adding his own imprints to the snow. A scarf that was wrapped around his neck also covered his mouth to protect it from the chill, and his hands were in the pockets of his winter coat to preserve warmth. His hood was up and as he walked he looked downward, getting a clear view of the path before him. White snow and gray cement until he saw something particular that made him stop walking. Surrounded by harmless ice was a splotch of something red and vivid. Blood. Azazel then spotted another one a few feet away. And another. A trail. Curious, he followed the odd path into an alleyway, the splotches getting larger and deeper until they became puddles the further down he went. As he arrived to the dead end, his boot stepped into one of the puddles, staining it red.
Laid against the wall that made the alleyway a dead end was a man with his stomach ripped out. His insides were out in the open for all to see as blood poured out of them. The unfortunate man's eyes were wide with terror, the image of fear forever shown on his blank, glassy eyes. Standing in front of the newly made corpse was a black haired woman, a knife dripping with blood was in her gloved hand. Ah. Apparently he just stumbled upon a newly made murderess and her poor victim. Said murderess must've heard him approach and she turned around, revealing a familiar face and gray eyes. Azazel took off his hood and pulled down his scarf, causing her sigh in relief.
"I thought you were the police for a second", Lilith said, visibly relaxing.
He looked at her, then the corpse. It was then he realized the victim was none other than Adam Firstman, his brother-in-law. Azazel, who never cared much for the man, looked back at Lilith and said, "You thought wrong, little sis". Lilith chuckled and started to walk toward him before she hissed in pain and clutched her shoulder. Her shoulder was red with blood, her blood apparently. Azazel ran over to her and helped her stand. "C'mon", he said, "let's get out of here before the real police arrive".
***
Lilith sat on the couch in her brother's apartment, wearing an oversized shirt while he cleaned her shoulder wound, an open first aid kit laid at his feet. It stung, but the pain was overshadowed by the warm heat that came from the fireplace. The flames cracked and sparked, eating at its meal of wood along with a blood stained outfit and a knife. Two mugs of tea sat on the coffee table, little wisps of smoke emitting from the liquid as a warning to not drink it just yet.
"So", Azazel said as he worked, "Adam put up quite a fight, huh?". He finished cleaning her shoulder and now worked to bandage it.
"Not really", Lilith replied, "he got the knife for a scary second and aimed for the heart. Got the shoulder instead. I then got it back and, well, you know the rest". She looked ahead, deep in thought, "He didn't even hesitate. I was his wife and he didn't even think before hurting me"
Azazel wasn't surprised. The love between his sister and her husband has been fading for years, sometimes he wonders if they were even in love in the first place. But they were once, he was at their wedding, he heard their vows, he saw the disgustingly obvious love in their eyes. But the flame of their love was ignited so quickly, it only made sense that it would be snuffed out just as fast.
"Why'd you kill him?", he asked. Azazel finished bandaging Lilith's shoulder and picked up the mugs. He offered one to her, "What finally made you snap?". Lilith took the mug and attempted to drink it, flinching back when her mouth touched the hot liquid. She tried again and succeeded, taking a big sip and then placing it back down on the coffee table.
"He was cheating on me", she explained, "I got home early from work one day and found him going at it with another woman, and it wasn't the first time either. Adam had a mistress for the past six months now."
"Bastard", was all Azazel said. But inside he was fuming. How dare he? Vows weren't enough? Years of marriage weren't enough? Lilith wasn't enough? Was Adam that weak willed to not tell his wife he wanted a divorce, instead sleeping with someone else so that he'll be satisfied? Azazel didn't know Adam well, but he thought his brother-in-law was at least a decent person. Lilith noticed his internal rage, "Stop it", she scolded, "I killed him, remember? There's nothing you could do now", she took another sip of her tea, finishing it.
"He's lucky you did. If it were me, the police won't even be able to recognize him when they find his body", his eyes darkened as he imagined the scenario. Pleading for mercy, screams of agony, and blood, so much blood...
Azazel snapped out of his thoughts and finished his tea also. "But you're right, he's dead. Now what?", he asked. Lilith now had to get away with the crime. When the police find Adam, she's gonna have to be the grieving wife, the sad widow, the heartbroken survivor. And he'll have to be her alibi, play the part of the comforting elder brother, the one she was with when the love of her life was taken from her.
Lilith frowned, "I don't know", she said, "I thought killing Adam would give me peace but it didn't. Well it did partly, I'm content, but it feels...unfinished, incomplete, like I'm only halfway done. There's something else, someone else's life I must end before it could all be over".
Azazel sighed. Getting away with two murders is harder. With two, detectives can make connections, figure out factors that they couldn't with one. The killer can mess something up, leave something that can get them in prison, or even on death row. He couldn't let that happen to his sister, not after everything they've already survived through. But while it's difficult, it's not strictly impossible. It could be done, and he knew that if he didn't help, Lilith would do it on her own. Stubbornness ran in the family as much as fragile sanity did. Azazel couldn't stop Lilith's revenge, but he could make sure she didn't die in the process. And he'll admit, it'll be fun.
"You killed your husband", he told his sister, "Did you kill his mistress?"
Slowly, but surely, a smile grew across Lilith's face, "No", she said, "No, I haven't".
(End)
