Part III: The Last Insinuation

- One week before Eunice's death [1st person POV]
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I can't do this anymore. The pain, the hatred, the lying. It all hurts too much. This village
was founded on the principles of trust and empathy, at least that's what Tortimer used to
tell me. But now...I don't know what I should think anymore. This is a black society, a
black reality. A black darkness is encroaching upon us and I fear I cannot hide from it.
Help me strength. Help me truth. Help me life...There is a shrouded dagger I fear, and it
has the bloody stain of greed splashed on its blade.

**************************************

There was a briskly strong wind, not one that instilled a pleasurable smile, but one that
tore at you with its strength. I slammed the door behind me, the past few days had been
down-right horrible. The tax collection service that Tortimer was trying to enforce was
not working. I remember just last week a few villagers went to the waterfall and dumped
all their money into the river in protest. Such chaos, I used to think that we were a happy
people. But we are not.

"Hello Eunice." Mitzi stepped towards me, apprehensively looking around as she usually
had been doing these past few weeks. There were some reports of muggings in the forest
at night. Shocking to think, we were such a quaint village, yet there were those being
robbed within the confines of the animal crossing. I had learned carefully the past few
moons that I should lock my door whenever I leave. Several months ago this would have
been thought of as unthinkable in the village of Brighton. But now...times are different.

"Good afternoon Mitzi," I lightly drawled my words as I turned the lock on my door.
"How are things?"

She shook her head, something was awfully wrong with her. She was usually cheery,
even in the recent times of darkness. But now she held an aura of distress over her.

"I don't know anymore," she shook her head as I could make out tears pouring down her
white fur. I felt a bolt of empathy shoot inside of me as I watched her sob. What had
happened I thought, what had happened to make this poor woman cry?

"Why are you crying Mitzi?"

She merely shook her head, resistant to tell me.

"Tell me Mitzi, I must know. We are friends remember."

She kicked the dirt at the ground, biting her lip to hold back her tears of anguish.

"Did someone hurt you?" I questioned with a hardened tone in my voice. I knew that this
could be the case. I had never seen her this distraught before and it worried me. I knew
she had started seeing Vladimir the past few days, and something inside of me told me
not to trust him. I didn't want to trust him. He frightened me. There has been talk of
conspiracy against Tortimer, from Vladimir specifically, and it all incites fear from my
soul.

"It's Vladimir."

I knew it I thought as she sat down and cried in the yellowing grass. The gray sky
moaned down an impure drizzle of misery as I stood and watch her wail in agony. Mitzi
was all I had right now. I needed her to be strong for me. I needed her on my side.

"Did Vladimir hurt you?"

She merely nodded her head between sobs. Her eyes were outlined by reddened puffiness
as each tear soaked her fur even further with the soft drizzle. It was too much for me to
bear, I gritted my teeth in anger. Whatever he did to her, she did not deserve it, but as I
came closer something laid upon my eyes that drew a gasp from my throat. She looked
up at me with a haunting welt on the side of her face. The black bruised skin engorged
above her fur making me cringe.

"There's no more money Eunice, we're broke. I don't know what to do!"

I ran up to her and embraced her as it was all I could do. My hug was all she had right
now, I could not let her destroy herself because of her depression or because of her
domestic problems. But I was scared. Scared of what was happening. It was funny, but it
seemed all this recent pain stemmed from money. An irony that played in my mind.

"Mitzi you can always stay with me. I don't want you near Vladimir anymore."

She gasped in fear, "Oh no, I couldn't do that, he'd be so mad at me. I'm supposed to be
selling peaches right now too. Gotta sell peaches Mitzi, you gotta sell peaches!" She
hysterically sobbed into my shoulder.

"Mitzi, don't ever feel pressured by Vladimir to do anything." As I uttered my words of
wisdom and comfort, she swiftly got up, and began to step backwards away from me. It
was as though I had become something to fear as well.

"Eunice, I can't stay and talk anymore, I have to go."

She rushed off into the trees, still distraught and wiping tears from the cruel drizzling rain.
I was definitely worried, I feared for her. But did I fear for her life? At the time I didn't.

**************************************

The blaring of the telephone woke up me up with stark punctuality, pulling me from my
slumber. I looked over at the classic rotary style appliance, picking it up meekly. It must
have been 3 o'clock in the morning. Who in their right mind would call at this hour?

"H...Hello?"

"Eunice, the ones who desire money will kill you."

The phone clicked dead as my heart shot into my throat. A rumbling of thunder could be
heard in the distance as I looked around the room. The shadows plastering twisted images
on the wall. I could see myself in those shadows. I could see a knife raised up towards me
behind my curtains. Lightning flashed for a brief second, highlighting an owl's face. The
beak clearly defined. A shiver of goose bumps slithered up my neck as the resounding
thunder followed shortly after. I needed a drink.

Stepping gingerly down the stairs, I peered into the kitchen. The quietness of my house
frightened me. It terrified me. Someone had just called me, it was a voice, male, but who?
At three in the morning, who would call me? I opened the refrigerator, there was a half
empty bottle of milk and a circular cut of cheese. I took the bottle, and left the cheese
where it was. It had been there for weeks. I still hadn't made up for my losses incurred
from Tortimer's tax system over the past few weeks.

Another flash of lightening lit up the room. I realized that I was sitting in darkness, I
reached for the light switch, quickly flicking it, but nothing happened. The power must
have gone out, it was not raining outside though, just the fluster of thunder and lightening
blanketing the terrain in quick bursts of sound and light.

I felt uncomfortable in my own home. I took the bottle of milk with me back up stairs,
placing it on my small modern end table. I poured myself into the sheets letting the
comforting fabric take me in its arms. I needed to be held and right now the only arms I
had were those of my soft downy blankets. Goodnight, shadows. Goodnight fear.

**************************************

I stepped outside the next morning, to a strange sight. Copper was talking to Vladimir in
front of his house which was across the field from my dwelling. I stepped back behind
the door, choosing to peak from around the hinged barrier instead of openly watching. He
looked angry. Copper was waving his hands around in temper. Vladimir was shrugging
his shoulders. Something had happened...

Where was Mitzi?

I had to find out. With determination, I marched towards Copper as he walked away from
Vladimir's closing door. He took notice of me, giving me an emotionless nod.

"Copper wait!"
He looked back at me grimly, "Yes Eunice, what is it?" he mumbled as though frustrated
by my presence.

"Did something happen? I must know, is it Mitzi?"

He looked around the field as though vulnerable to the surroundings before returning his
fixating glare back on me.

"I must say Eunice, you must possess a knowledge we are all unaware of. Are you sure
you want to hear this?"

I nodded my head in anticipation. His tone suggested something malevolent, evil, dark.
Something horrible had happened, I knew it. My nerves were shot with suspense as he
looked around as though fumbling for the right words.

"Mitzi is dead."

I gasped.

"Her body was found at the bottom of the waterfall last night during the storm. We are
still trying to figure out what happened."

It was all I needed to hear, I ran towards my home as swiftly as I could. I couldn't
remove the mental image of Mitzi from my mind. She was strong brave, but now gone. It
was pointless to remorse for her, it was pointless to wish her to return to life because she
was not in our lives anymore. She was dead. I, as who I was, was neither compounded
nor capable of comprehending the complexities of death. I lived in a village, nay, a reality
where death was something that only happened to those who were old and feeble. Not to
those who were young and vibrant as Mitzi was. The only time I had ever lost a friend
before was when they took the train to the next town over and set up residence there,
never to the clutches of death.

What happened? Or better yet, how and who?

I glanced at Copper who was walking away with his head down before glancing over at
Vladimir's house. Mitzi was so distraught the day before because of something he had
done to her. It only connected in my mind that he was involved with her demise. I paced
towards his door, finality in my steps. I was going to get an answer whether it took all my
strength or not. Before my tightened fist could reach the door to knock, it opened
abruptly. Vladimir's burly figure filling the archway.

"Excuse me," he grunted as he stepped around me.

I merely stood there, unable to say anything as he passed by after closing his door. What
was wrong with me? I was so stupid. All I had to do was stop him and ask him about
Mitzi. I felt awfully inept in that moment. But I had another idea...

**************************************

"You again?" questioned Copper from behind his desk in the police station. Usually he
stood out front but for now he was overlooking documents on Mitzi inside. There was not
much on her, just a title deed to her house, birth certificate and an old defunct tax form.

I swam in my thoughts to try and come up with what to say. I didn't want to sound obtuse,
but if I didn't say anything then I was going to lose my chance as usual.

"I have to find out what happened to Mitzi."

He paused in his studies, and glanced up at me. A stressfully annoyed expression hung on
his canine visage.

"As do I, It's my job thank you very much."

He returned to his intent studying of the documents with a magnifying glass, ignoring me
as I stood there.

"Can you tell me what you know so far?"

"Yea, she was quite rich and that's about it," he absently muttered as he flipped over the
papers. Snapping back to the realization of my presence, he looked up. "Why don't you
go bother someone else Eunice, I have work to do."

I turned around to find Booker flat up against me. I nearly stepped on his toes because he
was so close.

"Why are you following me?" I questioned in aggravation.

He merely muttered something I couldn't hear in response. I gave up and stormed out of
the station. I have never been more rudely treated in my entire life I thought as I fumed in
anger. However there was something that peculiarly caught my attention as I walked
through the forest back home. Copper had said in the station that Mitzi...

...was rich.

If she was rich, then why would she had told me yesterday that she was broke? Where did
her money go? Did someone steal the money, then kill her because she found out what
happened? Was it...Vladimir?

**************************************

Unfortunately as I look back on my life, I died before I ever got the answers. And in my
death, I found out there was a much larger puzzle at hand. The questions that pervaded my mind
before were pointless considering the larger aspect of the situation. My only hope is that a
traveler from afar can come to the village of Brighton and discover the truth of malice and greed
under this village's foundation. The evil must be uprooted and my only regret is that I
was unable to stop it.

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Alright, got the first three parts done! Thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far.
This story has been fun, and I only hope it gets more enjoyable as time goes on.