CHAPTER 18: MOONSTONE

"Mom? Dad?" Aria called out to her parents as soon as she stepped inside their house. It was oddly quiet, and the neatness of the living room was the exact opposite of the kitchen.

The stove was still on, and the soup was overflowing from the cauldron down to the kitchen floor. The remnants of broken plates and glasses were everywhere, so Aria walked in carefully.

The smell of burnt food was swirling all over the kitchen. Aria turned off the stove, then the oven.

"What happened here?" she loudly asked as if expecting someone could answer her.

She was alarmed when she saw trails of blood below the kitchen sink. "Mom? Dad?" she called out once more with her voice trembling in fear of what could have had happened.

Aria followed the trail of blood with shaking feet. It led to her parents' bedroom. She muttered a silent prayer that, hopefully, it was not what it seemed. She held her b