Chapter 46: The Red Shoes’ Curse

**Trigger Warning: This chapter contains themes of violence that may be upsetting for some readers.**

KIX:

I whined as I saw the title of the blog site Jade was looking at – The Red Shoes’ Curse. Suddenly, the calling card I picked up from Gary’s knapsack earlier came back into my mind.

The site had the same red high heels in the title card, surrounded by a square knot of green vines. Somehow, the site gave off a fairytale-like feeling.

Jade and I looked intently at its content as we browsed on the site. It read:

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The Red Shoes Curse

When I was still young, I came across a story about a girl who came to the dance in her red, sinful shoes. She partied all day and all night instead of going to church until the angel of heaven had to chop off her dancing feet with her bloody, red shoes still alive and dancing.

That story haunted my dreams ever since. I hated girls who paraded around their red shoes. I hated girls who would frequent the streets at night with their red party dress, enticing any man they come across with. I hated to them to the point that I wanted to kill them…

So one day, I really did…

I was pissed off from my professor. I had a lot of stuff to do at school, and I wanted to blow off some steam. I went outside at the dead of the night and walked around.

That was when I saw her – a girl with beautiful long hair and with really pretty eyes that looked golden-brown up close. She looked warm and friendly. She looked kind too… except that she was wearing a red dress and a pair of red shoes.

I took this as a sign from the angel of heaven. Good girls never wear red. They would never wear such a combination of clothes in the dead of the night if they were not up to no good…

And so I killed her… It was not an easy task, but I did it. It was the first time I had ever killed another soul out of a whim. I had only some experience in murdering animals, so I thought it would definitely be different. After the deed though, instead of feeling nervous, I found it to be… thrilling!

My first kill was a success, so to make it truly breathtaking and keep the magic alive, I had to make a second kill.

Just like my first doll, the second one was also someone heaven sent. She had long, black hair that looked so silky and luscious that I would have definitely enjoyed looking at her all throughout the night. She was all smiles too. Unfortunately, she was also wearing the fated color – a pair of red, freaking shoes.

Just like my first victim, I showed her no mercy. She had been chosen by heaven. She was definitely cursed, just like that first girl. I was only the medium by which I fulfill the wish to send her off there…

So if any of you wanted to keep that pretty little head of your intact, dear, don’t wear red… And if you do wear red and did not wish to heed my warning, then, you know what’s coming. I would be on your door steps soon…

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¬Jade shuddered after she finished reading the blog quietly in front of me. I, on the other hand was furious.

What the hell with this self-confessed killer thinking when he wrote this? So, Misha’s only fault was that she was wearing red on that day? She was supposed to meet with his old human boyfriend in secret, the one she had to dump because of her family’s protests… Now this killer is actually telling me he killed her just because she chose that color?

“The Red Shoes’ Curse… Let’s check it in here too,” Jade said out loud absentmindedly.

She reached for a USB stick somewhere. I didn’t know what it contained, but it smelled different from Jade, so I could only surmise it wasn’t hers.

She went through a series of folders inside the USB until she landed on the one entitled ‘Diary.’ She clicked the last entry, ‘August 7.’

I scanned the diary contents alongside Jade. Apparently, whoever this USB stick belonged to must have also come across the Red Shoes’ Curse’s blog site. She was thinking of investigating it further herself.

I could only guess at this point who the owner of that USB file was…

“Kix, this is it,” Jade said as she stroke the top of my head while I propped myself in her lap. “I think this was the reason why Marian died… But why? Why did she get curious at this story? What led her to investigate this site?”

Jade opened a social media site. She searched for Marian Rabelo’s profile and stopped at a picture of her showing a pair of red shoes while donned in a crimson dress…

I looked back at my mate, and I saw how Jade’s eyes fell on the dress she wore earlier. It was as red as the shoes she had worn – the pair of shoes I had seen sitting in her shoe rack several times since I have been here in the dorm. Those shoes looked a lot like the one Marian Rabelo was showing off in her profile picture.

Jade went to the shoes and touched them. She examined the shoes, but it seemed she didn’t find what she was looking for…

“Stupid killer,” Jade muttered. “Did he mean to say he only killed them because of his hatred for the red color? He’s sick…”

I barked in agreement. How can such a person even compose this blog if he was in his right mind?

While Jade was looking at the red shoes intently, an uneasy feeling crept over me. She wouldn’t possibly think of doing what I think she’s thinking of doing, right?...

“What do you think, Kix? There might only be one way to chase Marian’s and those other girls’’ killer,” she muttered. “Should I do it? Should I try to become a bait like Marian?”

“No, of course not,” I growled back in vehement refusal. What the hell was my mate thinking?

I looked at how Jade’s eyes widened in surprise and then in fright after what happened. When I realized it, I wanted to slap my own head against the pavement.

I must have mind-linked with her just now. She had just probably heard my protest loud and clear inside her head.