This is gonna be a multi-chapter fic since I have most of the plot planned out. I have serious writers block with my other fic so I felt I needed a break from it. Don't worry guys, I will get round to continuing On The Ride Home…eventually…
To the outside world, Wintercrest Village looked like a typical picturesque English village. The village was situated far away from any large towns and surrounded by beautiful green meadows. But this quiet little place harboured a dark secret.
It was late afternoon when the residents started to gather in the village square, staring down in shock at the body of a young girl. She was laid out on the hard stone floor with blood pooling out beneath her.
The girl was only nine years old. Only moments before she had been in her bedroom playing with a child's tea set and a collection of small dolls, like any normal young girl would. But then without reason, the girl had stood up and walked over to the large windows, opened them, and jumped out on to the floor of the village square below.
Her mother had been the first to run outside and see her body lying there. The loud screams of grief had attracted the attention of the other villagers, and now they were all gathered in the same spot. The dull grey sky and the slowly falling rain seemed to fit well with the horrifically depressing scene.
"Molly! My baby! My darling!" her mother cried out in anguish, collapsing on to her knees. The other residents exchanged frightened looks with each other. It wasn't just shock or sorrow they felt, it was pure fear. This scene of a child dying far too young was becoming a regular occurrence for them.
"This is the eighth suicide now!" one of the men screamed out.
"What do we do?! All of our children are dying!" another woman cried, clinging to her husband in despair.
"Please everyone, join me in prayer! If we beg God for forgiveness then he will save us from this curse!" the village priest pleaded with the crowd.
"What good will praying do us now?! God has abandoned us!" one of the local workers shouted back. The villagers proceeded to scream and shout out hysterically. But one man in the crowd managed to stay calm among the chaos.
Doctor Edward Ackerman, a well-dressed man in his early forties stepped into the centre of the crowd, raising his arms in the air to grab everyone's attention. He did his best to ignore the body on the floor, focusing instead on the many frightened faces that stared at him.
"Everyone, listen to me! These incidents have gone on long enough. We can't leave things to continue like this. I know none of you will want to hear this, but we need outside help. I can send for someone from London to help us. We can't manage on our own."
His speech was cut off abruptly, interrupted with angry shouts of abuse from the crowd.
"We don't need help from any outsiders!"
"Those big city dwellers won't want to help us! Don't bring those people here!"
"Just leave here Ackerman! You never really have been one of us!"
Doctor Ackerman grimaced a little at the angry chants but managed to maintain his calm exterior.
"Can you really say I am not one of you? This curse has robbed me of my own child hasn't it?" he asked. The crowd soon fell silent again.
"Have any of you got any other ideas? Is there any other possible solutions you can come up with?" he asked in the same calm tone. His logical and cool demeanour conflicted with the tragic circumstances. More silence followed as the crowd exchanged confused glances.
"Then we have no choice. It has finally come to this" he concluded, walking back through the crowd. It didn't really matter to him anymore whether they approved of his methods or not. No matter what anyone said, he had made up his mind what needed to be done.
He returned to the study in his home, pushing aside the various research papers and medical notes he had accumulated over the years. Sitting down at his desk, he started to write his correspondence, explaining as best he could the problem his village was faced with.
"If anyone in this world can help us, it will be those two" he mumbled to himself.