She was still trying to work out how many people might have been down here judging by the gouges on the wall and the spatter patterns when she spotted a pool of blood a few meters down the corridor. The spatter on the walls seemed to stop there, but beyond that, was a trail of blood, as if someone, or something, had been dragged.
"Fuck." That cleared that up. The someone was either mortally wounded or dead if he had to be dragged away from where he evidently fell. She looked closer at the trail, to see if there was anything that would indicate the size of the victim, and spotted a set of bloody footprints.
She couldn't quite make out the pattern, but now that the light was stronger, she could definitely tell that the blood was fresh. Not more than an hour or so old. She looked up towards the light, startled. Whoever these people were, they might still be down here. She regretted all the noise she had made earlier, but it was too late to worry about it now. She gripped Kurobara tighter in her hand, feeling the excited vibrations of the spirit within, and narrowed her eyes at the brightness.
She could make out a crude doorway hewn into the rock and earth, supported on 3 sides by heavy wooden beams. Beyond that, there appeared to be a room. The trail of blood and footprints led inside.
She inched forward silently, keeping her breathing in check until she was within reach of the doorway. She turned and placed her back against the wall, zanpakuto held at the ready, in front of her. Hoping she had the element of surprise, she spun round, placing herself firmly in the doorway, ready to attack anyone that might ambush her, but no attack came.
Instead, she was treated to the most horrifying vision she could imagine. Her heart leapt into her throat and she gasped, unable to believe what she was seeing. She dropped to her knees, Kurobara falling to her side, and began sobbing.
This was a nightmare. No. It was worse than a nightmare.
Deha knelt on the floor, her head in her hands sobbing uncontrollably. Her whole body shook as she bowed her head, her red hair mingling with the red of the blood on the floor. She could feel it steeping into her hakama but she couldn't move. She couldn't even look up to confirm if what she had seen was real. And she didn't want to either. The longer she sat on the floor, not looking, the longer she could pretend it wasn't real. But she knew she had to. What if it was a mistake? What if she hadn't seen the broken and bloodied body of her brother lying propped up against the far wall, like some twisted, obscene doll.
Sucking in a deep breath and blinking back her tears, Deha raised her head, eyes closed. She reached out and felt along the floor for Kurobara, twitching as her fingertips traced through something wet and sticky. The blood at least, was real. She found the hilt and gripped it in her hand before using the zanpakuto to steady herself as she got back on her feet.
She still didn't dare to look across to where she had seen the body but she knew she couldn't leave this place until she had confirmed it. She also knew she had to check the room for signs of the assailant and make sure he wasn't still there. After all, she was a shinigami. She had a job to do and she was damn well going to do it if it meant she could pretend that everything was still ok for the few moments it would take her to scope the place out.
