THE DEATH OF LACIE BELLHART PART 3

Margret Bellhart was a middle-aged woman with eyes that resembled cold ice, mixed with a kind of pain that only a childless mother could carry. She had curly blonde hair that was beginning to whiten with age and wore clothes that hung loosely on her body. All from unexpected weight loss. Her face was thin and hollow too, but she was good at hiding her grief behind a polite smile and composed eyes. Aiden could even see the workings of insomnia that had totally wrenched her features. If she didn't already look exhausted, Aiden would've picked up on the resemblance earlier. The likeness that she and Lacie had.

Margret had been nothing but sweet and courteous since Aiden arrived an hour ago. She acted like the type of person who enjoyed the company, even going as far as to offer him vanilla flavored cookies with sweet and creamy coffee to wash it down. Aiden was going to say no but froze up the instant he saw how excited she was to finally talk to someone. He couldn't say a word after that and decided to take them anyways, despite not being hungry.

"Has it always been just you and your daughter?" Aiden asked while taking small sips of his coffee. It warmed his body in an instant and the steam coming off it smelled of rich hazelnut. Aiden never thought he'd like the smell of it until he was served a cup. He was only ever used to smelling Alice's kind of coffee. The blackest and boldest kind. He never liked the taste of it but that type of coffee really did suit her.

Margret took a seat across from Aiden and rested her hands gently on her lap. "Hm, yes. Lacie's father…didn't care to be in his daughter's life. He left before she was even a month old in my belly," she said with a slight grimace in her tone, only to quickly cover it up with a smile.

Aiden felt his lips turned into a frown when he realized he struck a nerve. "I'm sorry to hear that. It must've been hard to raise a child as a single parent."

"Oh, not at all." She insisted with a forced smile, quickly hiding it from sight though when she brought her coffee cup to her lips. She took in the sweet aroma for a moment as if she was trying to calm herself, and luckily it looked like it helped. "Lacie was…an amazing girl. One that you would never believe. She had a kindness of a child, but the mind of a mature adult. She complained as you expected a kid would, but she would get over it in no time at all. She helped me around the house a lot and would practice the violin in her free time."

Aiden nodded his head slowly. His mellow blue eyes turned around the room and inspected all the trophies and meddles that lined the walls. All of which were violin awards in Lacie Bellhart's name. "She looked to be quite skilled…to win all these awards," he pointed out with a small gesture of his hand.

Margret seemed to perk up at the mention of it, springing life back into her eyes. "Oh, she was. She was, indeed." She insisted before shuddering slightly and sinking back into her chair, hands folded on her lap as if she was trained to do that. It was like expressing any kind of joyful emotion was forbidden for her. "Lacie was a prodigy, no doubt about it. The day of the concert was one to remember…but not because she went missing. It's because of how many people she had brought to tears, all from her violin. You would have thought…that God took control of her arms and was playing himself. I never heard a melody so beautiful." She blinked a couple of times when a thought occurred to her. "Oh, I have a VHS tape if you want to listen to it."

"Sounds like a plan." Aiden smiled as Ms. Bellhart rushed up from her seat and hurried over to a storage closet located out in the hallway. She fumbled through boxes of Lacie's old things before coming back with a black VHS case. She handed it to him with all the eagerness a proud mother would have. There was even a hint of pride in her bright blue eyes. "Much appreciated, but with all due respect…may I ask what happened on the night of Lacie's disappearance?" Aiden asked hesitantly, watching Margret's face carefully as it morphed to gloom and grief all over again.

Margret took in a shallow breath and sat back down, stiffer than she was before. She glanced over to the table beside the couch and stared at the gold sheen of one of Lacie's trophies. The one her daughter was rewarded the day she went missing. "I'm not sure…what happened that night. I remember how cold it was, and that it was snowing when Lacie and I walked out into the parking lot," Margret began, swallowing hard but also smiling from the memories. It seemed that the moments before the accident were still fond to her. The last moments she had with her daughter. "My dear Lacie…she had looked so cute that day. Blonde curls…blue eyes… and a red and black dress. She was trying her hardest to carry both her violin case and trophy at the same time…all the while smiling." Her tone then began to change as she shifted to the darker part of her memories. "We had gone to the car and had set her things on the ground. I turned away to put them in the trunk and…she must've wandered away. Next thing I knew…I heard a heavy sound and a small cry. I turned around but…Lacie was gone. I panicked pretty quickly after that and went running around the parking lot to try and find her, yet all there was…was a small puddle of blood on the ground…and my daughter was gone." Aiden didn't know what sounded worse. Her words or the way Margret's voice cracked after saying them. She was nearly in tears just having to explain it again. "I'm sorry. I had explained this so many times to the police, yet…I just can't get used to saying it."

Aiden quickly interjected. "I don't think this is something you get over, Ms. Bellhart." He went on to console her for a couple more minutes until it was nearing time for him to leave. He had to get back to Alice. "I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, Ms. Bellhart. " He thanked her while getting up.

"Oh, it's fine." Margret stared down at her lap and smiled shyly. "It's been quite lonely here as of late. I love any kind of company I can get." She looked back when her smile suddenly dropped. She stared at him, puzzled…then apprehensive. It was like she had noticed something strange about him that wasn't obvious until now. "Aiden Cromwell, right? Do you…perhaps know something about my daughter's disappearance?" she asked him while reaching her hand up and grasping his loose sleeve.

Aiden felt himself shudder all the way to his toes as a deep sense of dread took him, but only for a second. He looked into Margret's eyes in search of a reason that would make her ask that, but he couldn't find anything. Just a mixture of anxious emotions. A mother's worry. That's all there was to see. Yet the way she asked that question still bothered him.

"No. I'm sorry. You know just as much as I do." Aiden took her arm and gently pulled it off him, leaving it to fall loosely at her side. "Please take care of yourself, Ms. Bellhart." He made a swift exit after that and walked out of the house before she could question him any further. He closed the door behind him and took in a deep breath, groaning under his breath. "Mothers. Why do they have a sixth sense about these things?" he said while heading to his car. He stopped though when he heard his phone go off in his jacket pocket. Aiden's face scrunched up as he pulled it out and looked to see who it was. "Alice?"

Alice's face was colored in various shades of black, blue, and purple, with trails of red blood falling from her hairline. Her knuckles were inflamed and there was a cut running down her bottom lip that stung too. Aside from that though, it was about the only thing that was wrong with her. She wasn't in pain or anything like that and was just patiently waiting at the bottom of the steps with a harsh and hollow look in her eyes. Now knowing of the horrors that Philip had committed.

Alice turned her head up when she saw Aiden's car turn down the driveway, kicking up piles of dirt and rock as he came to a screeching halt. She could tell even before he got out of the car that he was angry, though it showed less on his face and more in his actions. He jumped out of his driver's seat as if it was on fire and made a quick jog over to Alice, a storm in place of a shadow at his feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked while kneeling down to check his sister over.

Alice sighed and pushed his hands away. "I'm fine. Hell, a lot better than Philip is doing, " she said dryly while pushing herself up, bones creaking after the beating she sustained an hour ago. "He pulled a baseball bat on me…so I beat the shit out of him."

Aiden scoffed and gestured to what was left of her face. "After getting a few good knocks out of you, I see."

She shrugged before heading back into the house with her brother. "It's 'cause he snuck up behind me when I found out his dirty secret," she said through clenched teeth. Alice opened but then closed her mouth for a moment, struggling silently to try and find the words to explain what she found. "His, uh…his bathtub's full of blood. He tried to clean it up…but I found it with luminol."

Aiden stiffened and suddenly stopped in the doorway. He looked down and muttered to himself. "Shit…" He looked a little reluctant to continue but followed Alice anyways.

They walked into the horror bathroom where Alice said Philip would be, and he was just as she explained it. She really did beat him worse than her. While Alice was black and blue. Philip was just black, covered in bruises, and probably broken in a few places too. Aiden thought he was dead since he wasn't moving but noticed a second later that he was only unconscious.

"Wow…you really did a number on him," Aiden said in awe, wondering how a full-grown man was able to get beaten this badly by someone as young as his sister. He's seen it a couple of times already, but it never ceased to amaze him.

"A couple numbers. Yeah." Alice walked up to Philip and lightly kicked his leg to try and wake him up. "Hey. Phil, we're gonna need you to wake up. Hey!" she growled and kicked him a bit harder.

Philip stirred after a while but still wasn't quite aware of what was going on. He groaned and sat up, bobbing his head back in forth until he cranked his neck up and met the menacing Cromwell gaze, piercing him like a red-hot bullet. He came too very quickly after that and looked away, much to Aiden's annoyance.

Aiden got down close to him and forced Philip to lift his head. "No. We're not doing this. You're not gonna stick your head in the sand. You got some explaining to do." It wasn't often that Aiden's voice changed, but when it did, it becomes cold and dark, mirroring his sister's hollow and uncaring eyes. Neither of them was going to stand for his silent guilt anymore. "Out with it, Philip. Because right now I'm doing everything in my power to not kill you. So, you either do it now…Or I will force the truth out of you."

Philip swallowed hard and did his best to not look away. His eyes blurred with tears, but he knew they couldn't care less about that. They were only after one thing now. They wanted the truth…and they were going to get it one way or another.

"I…I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Philip began saying. He took in a deep shuddering breath and could feel his heart shrivel up with every thump against his ribs. "I swear. I…it was just an accident."

Alice's face turned up into a scowl. "Quit crying. Because I really don't care. What did you do to Lacie Bellhart?"

"Give us all the details, and don't leave anything out," Aiden said.

Philip held his tongue for a second as his eyes flickered across the room, gathering his thoughts and taking in everything that had happened up till now. It took him another minute, but he finally began to speak, spilling out the truth like blood through an open wound. There was no detail untold. No part unspoken. Not a word missing.

"It was snowing and...I was drunk. I was looking for a place to get warm when I wandered into the Redwood Concert Hall where the girl, uh…Lacie Bellhart was playing at." He bit down on his lips and appeared reluctant to speak for a second. "I don't know what came over me, but when I heard her play …I just began to cry. It was like my heart was being pulled from my chest and I was shown every ugly thing I had done, and I just stood there," he said breathlessly as tears started to run down his face.

"The whole play?" Aiden asked.

Philip nodded, sniffling. "The tears didn't stop, even after the concert was over and everyone was leaving. It was snowing, so the roads were slick, and it was hard to see. I got into my truck and began to drive out, but…I couldn't see past the ice on my windshield." He stopped yet again, but this time they noticed how ragged his breathing had become. "I…I didn't see her. The snow was thick, and my eyes were blurry. Next thing I knew…I felt something…hit my car. It rolled under my front tires…than my back tires." He was barely able to finish his words when his sobs overtook him.

Alice's mouth dropped open as all the hot blood drained from her body. "You hit her…"

Aiden was the only one that remained composed and unfazed, though it was likely he was hiding his dismay underneath the façade. "Then what happened?" he pursued, but this time waited a bit long for Philip to gather what was left of himself.

Still crying, Philip continued. "I got out to see what it was I hit…when I saw a little girl…in a black and red dress." He squeezed his eyes closed and made a wrenched sound from his throat like he was bottling up a scream. "I got scared and didn't know what to do. So, I… put her in the back of my truck and drove off before anyone could see. The whole thing had to have lasted less than five minutes." Once again, he paused for a minute. "I took her back here and set her body in the tub until I figured out what to do with her. I rolled her in my old bedsheets though and took her out to one of the old logging roads that no one uses anymore…and buried her." He finished but felt and looked no better than before. He looked like he could pass away there and then from the regret.

Without saying another word, Aiden got up and gestured for Alice to follow him outside the room. He closed the door behind him first before speaking to her. "So what do you want to do?"

Alice's face scrunched up as she studied her brother's emotionless expression. Something he only does when he was truly disturbed by something. It was his way of keeping himself together and focused. "What? You mean to leave the poor bastard here to get ripped apart by Lacie's ghost?" she asked

"Yeah…actually," he answered bluntly, but it wasn't much of a surprise to her. "You said it yourself. The man's a bastard who killed a little girl in a hit-and-run accident, took her body, and buried her where no one would find her. Away from her mother."

Alice grimaced. "I get it. I really do, but I think we should finish this case. This guy gets killed. Fine, but we're bringing this little girl back to her mother," she insisted since it was the least they could do. They can't bring back the dead, but maybe they can lessen the pain for Margret Bellhart's sake. Just so she could have something to bury instead of an empty coffin.

Aiden nodded slowly and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "I guess that's what we're doing. You think he remembers where he buried her body?" he asked.

"Yeah. Things like grief and regret don't go so easily," Alice assured.

"Good. He better remember because we're bringing him out with us…and he's gonna be the one to dig up her remains," Aiden spoke coldly before heading out to the car to start preparing for the long night ahead of them.

Author's Note:

I was expecting this to be a three-part story arc, but I guess I underestimated how long it was going to be. I'm pretty sure it'll wrap up in the next chapter though, and after that we'll get right back into the usual Winchester-Cromwell stories!