02.

His child is gone, and Hadassah died.

Addison?

He could only watch helplessly as it happened.

In a bid to free herself from her assaulter, Hadassah bit into Laine’s palm with such force that she could have drawn some blood. He grunted and threw her violently onto the ground, hurling profanities at her as he kicked her. She curled up.

Mateo seemed amused by the scene “Don’t ruin her face, I haven’t seen it yet.”

With that, Laine eased up, dissatisfied as he stepped away, still muttering curses as he brought his injured hand closer to his face to be examined.

Mateo stepped forward, offering a hand to her like a saviour “Are you okay?” he asked, his mirth remained unhidden “Why did you run?”

Hadassah ignored him, looking up only to search for her husband. Seeing him pinned under Tristan, she ignored her own pain, barely managing to stand before she dropped to her knees.

“Addy?” she called out with a weak voice as she crawled to him.

Her call stimulated him, with a newfound strength, he struggled rather ferociously to free himself but it was all for naught.

Mateo, seemingly hurt by her deliberate disregard for him, sauntered to her side. He squatted in front of her grabbing her by the chin, he forced her focus away from the grunting Addison and on to him “I just wanted to see your face.” His voice was gentle, but his hand was heavy and his gaze, vicious.

The action caused Addison to growl, an action that earned him a mouth full of dirt and grass as Tristan to shove his head harder into the ground.

“I see even clerics have a taste for the finer things…” Mateo commented as he examined her face “…although, she seems like a rather feisty one.”

“Be careful, she bites like a rabid dog.” Laine interjected, still feeling vengeful.

Hadassah continued to ignore their comments, focusing her attention solely on Addison. An action that seemed to displease Mateo greatly. His hand grew heavier on her jaw “If you were a bit more polite, he would not be suffering so much.”

“What?” she whispered, his words confused her.

I should be more polite? To whom?

“I can let him go...” Mateo continued “…you just have to ask nicely. I’m not an unreasonable man.”

She dug her fingers into the ground, restraining the urge to lunge at him and claw out his eyes “Let him go…” she couldn’t help but snarl at him.

He chuckled “She’s like a cat.” A comment had drew out a scoff from Laine. “I like her a little bit.”

With that, Addison was thrust into a horrifying and hopeless nightmare. No, perhaps a nightmare would have been better as this was his bitter reality. He watched as they took turns to assault her, and when he managed to free himself just enough to offer aid he was struck on the head with a force filled with Tristan’s wrath. His body lay limp but his mind remained sharp as he could do nothing but watch as her mind retreated from her body and the life slowly drained from her eyes.

The sun rose early in spring. It wasn’t until the day had broken that he regained feeling in his limbs. He stumbled lifelessly to his feet. A few metres from him lay the body of the once lively and beautiful woman he cherished more than his life itself. He stared at her naked body… bruised, battered and bloodied. Her pretty flower dress had been ripped off and discarded. Her jaw hung loosely, a result of the ire she incurred from Laine when she struggled to escape them.

Calmly, without any wasted movements, he retrieved his coat that slipped off her shoulders when she ran, covered her exposed body as if to preserve her warmth before cradling her into his arms and began what was the most arduous journey in his life. Every step forward was more difficult and heavier than the last. No matter how deeply he inhaled, how much air he tried to draw in, it was just not enough.

An eternity had passed when he arrived at the sheriff's office. He held her closer as the shocked attending officer offered him a seat.

“You want to file a complaint?” the officer thoughtfully inquired for the third time. One only needed a glance to know what had happened. The man before him a face stained with dried blood, likely from the obvious blow to the head. His jaw and left eye spotted a rather unsightly bruise. He smelled strongly of grass and dirt. His face was bloodless, and he shivered uncontrollably, despite that, the only decent cloth he had on him was reserved for the obviously lifeless body in his arms. He clearly had a terrible night.

“Mister-” he started again.

“Last night, my wife and I were on a walk by the lakeside when we encountered Mateo, Tristan and Laine…” Addison started suddenly, his speech was slow and dull, each word tinged with a tremor “…who then proceeded to assault and rape my wife.”

Not only the attending officer, but every other person were stunned into silence.

The poor officer, how would he handle this case? Not that Addison’s story was too absurd to be true. It was believable beyond a doubt, those men were known for their poor habits and quite frankly, lawless attitude. It was not the first time they were associated with such despicable actions. In fact, the whole town was acutely aware of their escapades. In the past, there have been cases filed against them, but the complaints never amounted to anything of consequence for the trio.

Tristan was an army veteran, rumoured to have been dishonourably discharged, who returned from service to help his father, the town sheriff. Tristan currently holds the post of deputy sheriff, although he doesn’t do any work of importance. Where there’s Tristan, there’s Laine, his younger cousin, who always follows behind him like a loyal dog, and incidentally, he is also the youngest child of the current Mayor. And Mateo was the first son of the business tycoon, who probably owned three-quarters of the town. The prospect of facing off against the three would frighten anyone especially in this small town.

Do you understand now why the room was stunned silent?

The had been three days since Addison’s life fell apart and nothing had happened. The world didn’t stop spinning, the sun rose and set like normal, the earth did not split open and the waters did not overrun. Such is the nature of life, when one grieves the grief belongs solely to you and no one else. It is simply your world that stops and loses colour, only your life that is put on hold and loses joy. No matter how unbearable the pain of loss, it is only one’s pain to bear and no one else. This is how Addison felt. His empty gaze settled on Jonathan, the church elder, he was saying something but lately it was extremely difficult for Addison to concentrate.

“What did you say?”

Jonathan let out a sorrowful sigh “You have to organize the funeral, it isn’t right to leave her in the morgue like that Addy, she deserves a proper sendoff.”

“But the investigation is still ongoing.” He answered quietly, his empty gaze now fixed on the floor. After turning over Hadassah’s body to the officers for further investigation, he remained in the church not doing anything in particular, he just remained there seemingly lost in his own colourless world.

“Addison, go home, clean yourself up, have something to eat and get some rest.”

“But the investigation-”

Jonathan steeled himself, determined to help the young pastor regain some life “You wasting away here does not help the officers in anyway. Get up and take care of yourself, then you can so something for yourself.” He softened his voice, placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder “Do it for Hadassah, for your child too.”

Two weeks… two agonizing and torturous weeks had gone by and nothing had happened. No, that is an inaccurate statement. The days that passed were indeed agonizing and torturous, for that there is no dispute. But to say nothing had happened?

First, the news had spread around town like wildfire. There were many opinions on the matter. Many felt pity, even righteous anger, as for the others… unfortunately, intelligence is not gifted to every individual that walks the earth. Either way, it was a rather stimulating topic of conversation.

Secondly, Mateo’s family stepped forward to offer up their sympathies. His father, Eisen, expressed great disappointment in his son’s action before offering compensation for his misfortune. Of course, it was money and a promise to help the church in fulfilling their mission. Even the dissemination of the gospel came with a cost. He was immediately rejected and politely escorted out.

Thirdly, the Sheriff, Tristan’s father and Laine’s uncle, seemed to have vanished. That, or he had a real knack for avoiding Addison. Same with the Mayor. The pair of brothers seemed to share the talent.

Finally, the funeral happened. It had to. He owed her… owed them that much. It was all that kept his mind from completely deteriorating. What started as a solemn service quickly became a sensation as Eisen, the ever-elusive Mayor and his Sheriff brother were in attendance, accompanied by their families including the accused trio. Addison gave the whole affair no attention, focusing purely on sending off family.

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