Corruption

Chapter 2: Savior

A/N: I am actually quite surprised at the positive feedback from everyone. Honestly, I was expecting a few people to be a little angry at me (for any number of reasons). At this moment, I should clarify the genres that this fic falls into. As you have found out, this is a heavy drama piece, but it also focuses on the pain and suffering of Karen and Jack. Now, for the hidden third genre… It's actually a romance to top everything off. That part becomes more evident as we progress, but as you can expect, romance is the last thing on Karen's mind.

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All of Mineral Town had fallen into shambles since the fallout of that tragic winter eve. As soon as he had taken over the Supermarket, Zach raised the prices of everything tenfold, while still paying regular market prices for products shipped elsewhere. Many of the small businesses struggled to increase their production to match the outrages demands set upon them, but failed. The Winery, Siabera's blacksmithing shop, and even Doug's inn had crumbled beneath the strain. The Clinic was on the verge of closing its doors, while the Poultry Farm and Yodel Ranch were just making ends meet.

Mayor Thomas had been helpless in the face of the problem facing his town. Zach had swept in, taking the power right out of Thomas' hands just with the use of money. The new tycoon in charge ruthlessly stepped in, offering to purchase the businesses that made these people unique for next to nothing. Then, he forced the former owners to work hard making money for him. Now that he owned the infrastructure of Mineral Town he was able to do whatever his heart desired and could get away with it.

As for Karen, she had sworn revenge against Zach, refusing to give in to him in any way. He told her that he was in the market for a wife and he was giving her the first opportunity. Karen had slapped him across the face, which resulted in the burly man back-handing her with his muscular forearm.

Ever since then, Karen had been wandering the streets, hoping that one of the kind souls would take her in. Everyone would have done so quickly, but the addition of another mouth to feed meant needing to make more money, which was hard enough already. Even Rick, the young man that she had come to fall in love with had turned her away. Heartbroken and homeless, Karen was often seen sitting in the center of the town square, covered in the ever falling snow as she shamelessly wept.

The fact that Karen had denied Zach once before wasn't enough to stop the shipper from desiring the feisty maiden. If anything, his lust for her had grown stronger, almost reaching the point where he would satisfy his hunger by any means necessary. But first, he wanted to make Karen realize the mistake that she had made and understand that her suffering could have been avoided.

Winter was nearing a close and along with the promise of warmer weather, a new hope for Mineral Town was rumored to be arriving. According to an unconfirmed rumor, the heir to the abandoned Hart farm would be arriving in early fall to continue the legacy left behind by his recently deceased grandfather. Everyone knew that a farm would be a great source of income, not only for the farmer, but the other businesses in town as well. In order for a farm to run smoothly and successfully, a farmer needed the help of the Poultry Farm, Yodel Ranch, Siabera, Gotz, and many more.

Zack knew that this new farmer would pose a threat to his control over Mineral Town. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands. When the new farmer, who was named Jack, arrived on the first of spring, Zack was there waiting for the young man. Zach quickly led Jack away from the destitute villagers and their gossip, taking Jack to his new home. "This is your grandfather's farm!" Zack announced proudly with a sly smirk hidden from Jack's sight.

Before the pair was a tiny wooden shack and a large field overrun with weeds. That was all that there was, but judging from the large patches of dirt, some other buildings had stood tall on this land not very long ago. Jack looked over at the town ruler with a suspicious looking glare.

The glare intensified when Zack proceeded to show Jack the interior of the wooden shack. The only "furniture" consisted of two crates and a rather ratty looking blanket. There were no decorations, no help books, and most importantly no tools. "Well, good luck!" Zack wished, quickly backing out the door and leaving Jack in a rather difficult starting position.

By the time that spring was halfway over, it was painfully obvious that any hope for an improvement was history. Zack was being extremely picky with what could be sold and what couldn't fetch a few gold pieces. Apparently, bamboo had gone off the market along with wild grass. Somehow, Jack managed to scrap together enough cash to buy a bag of turnip seeds for twelve hundred gold. The farmer managed to keep his crops watered by cupping handfuls of water and running it back and forth between the river and the field. But, the day before the turnips were supposed to be read for harvest, a mystery culprit dug up the plants. Everyone in town had a fairly good idea of who the crook was, but nothing was said out loud.

Remember how Zack wanted to make Karen suffer? The rightful heir to the Supermarket had been reduced to trying to sell flowers to other villagers. While she did receive apologetic smiles, nobody would buy any of her flowers. That was when Zack would make his move. He had grown out of the stage of looking for a wife, but still wanted something from Karen and the other girls of Mineral Town. In due time, he would get them, but for now, Karen was his object of desire.

It was a dark and dreary Sunday, like most of the days in Mineral Town. The fact that it was raining heavily just made the day worse. Karen stood underneath the pale glow of a dying streetlamp, a basket of wilted flowers hanging limply from her arm. She made no effort to approach any of the people walking through the square on their way to church. Why would today be any different from the other days?

"May I buy something?" A voice whispered into her ear. Not knowing for sure who it was, Karen turned to face the costumer. The sinister smile on Zach's face told Karen that she was in deep trouble. Her mind told her to run, but her legs had frozen in place. The only thing that came to mind was to hand Zack a flower.

Oddly enough, Zack snatched the wilting pink flower in his gloved hand and stared at the fragile plant with great interest. Why was he wearing gloves? Karen could only wonder as Zach began gently stroking the stem of the flower. He paused momentarily and looked up at Karen, his smile now dripping with lecherous intentions. Zack let the flower slip out of his hand as he took a step towards Karen.

A chill ran down Karen's back as the gloved fingers of Zach's right hand ran through her matted hair. Zach leaned over her shoulder, breathing eerily in her ear, "I can help you… but only if you help me…"

"I don't think so!" Karen found the nerve to push away from Zack, but he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back in. "I wasn't asking a question," Zack stated coldly as he placed his other gloved hand over Karen's mouth. Karen tried to scream, but her cries for help were being muffled by Zack's large palm. It was then that Zack forcibly pulled her towards the staircase leading towards the beach. He wanted to take her to his private house down by the ocean.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Someone called out. Karen couldn't recognize the voice, but she was grateful towards whoever it was. Zack released his hold on Karen, letting the girl drop to the ground. She was so happy that she was able to breathe again that she didn't even see her rescuer land a solid punch across Zack's jaw.

Zack was staggering backwards, clearly shaken by the blow. "You're going to regret messing with me Jack. I'll see to it that your farm never is successful." With that, Zack made a quick exit.

So, it had been Jack that had saved her… Karen was about to push herself up off the ground when she noticed the flower that Zack had cast aside laying just a few inches away from her face. Karen gently reached out, taking hold of the stem with two delicate fingers. She could feel Jack place his hands on her sides and carefully help her back up to her feet. Karen turned to face her savior, holding the beaten pink flower ahead of her. Jack accepted the flower, but seemed rather confused as to the meaning of the gift. He could only stare at the decaying plant in his hands. By the time he looked up again to thank Karen, she was gone.

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A/N: Ok. Zack: eviler. Check. Karen: still standing proud, yet scared. Check. Jack: not knowing what's going on. Normal… I mean… Check. I think that I'm getting into some deep meaning with this… Meh, it's entertaining and compelling. I think that I'll keep the chapters this length. It makes for more drama packed sets. I'm sorta cruel, huh? Till next time!