Chapter 9: New Beginnings

The world is full of loss. Many people suffer countless blows, as the people they love are lost. There will always be loss, so long as there is hope. As much suffering we encounter, new beginning always rescue us from despair. They reach out to us in our time of need, and we are ready to try again. But even the freshest of new beginnings don't work, and there will always be loss in our world.

Amy had always been a happy person. As a child, she'd laughed and played. As she grew up, she always saw the positive side to everything. Even after she married Matt, she looked past his drinking habits and saw life how it was meant to be seen.

But as life grew on, Amy struggled to wear a smile on her face. Life had worn her out, and her smile was becoming weaker. That was until Amy Bourne found out she was pregnant.

Of all the joys in this world, Amy loved children. She was deemed the perfect mother, as she was selfless and loving. So Amy sat in the bathroom, waiting. Her first test had been positive, but Amy believed she needed a reassuring. So she sat and waited.

Amy checked her watch, and smiled. It was time. She checked the pregnancy test and gasped. Her eyes leaked tears and she sat in a stunned silence, dropping the test on the floor.

It was negative.

---

Florence went into the bathroom for the second time that evening. She had a large bag in her hands and was hoping to remove the remaining evidence. But she couldn't see her husband's body and began to panic.

His deceased corpse was missing from the bath tub which she had left him in and she began to worry. Where had her husband gone?

---

As Ellie Jones walked down her garden path to dispose of the rubbish, she saw a handsome man on Mr. Dale's lawn. He had wild, blonde hair and daring blue eyes. His chest was muscular under the white shirt he wore. He grinned cheekily at her and Ellie melted instantly. He was gorgeous.

Feeling a little more daring than she would usually, Ellie waved politely at him, resisting the urge to go and speak to him.

"Lovely evening isn't it?" he said. Ellie felt her bones turn to jelly. His accent made him sound both smart and sexy. Ellie nodded and then disposed of her rubbish, turning sharply and heading back to her residence.

---

Florence was in the kitchen. She was busying herself, cleaning the kitchen worktops. Her husband was gone and she was worried. Florence suddenly noticed her ring. She slipped it off her hand and pocketed it. Then, she heard the door swing open. She turned around, and her eyes nearly fell out their sockets.

Her first reaction was to scream when saw her husband. Sam was stood naked in the kitchen door way, with only a towel preserving any modesty remaining. His hair had fallen out in clumps and his skin was badly damaged. But he was alive.

Florence ran towards the back door, but Sam leapt in front of her. He pushed her and she shrieked, falling back against the fridge. She was breathing heavily, wondering what her husband wanted.

"You killed me…" Sam whispered.

"You're not dead," Florence sobbed.

"No. But you'll be." Sam said, approaching her with a glint of menace in his cold, dark eyes.

Florence looked into Sam's eyes, wondering why she'd married him. There was no trace of the man she loved in those cold dark eyes. Her hand frantically stretched out behind her looking for something to defend herself with. Then, she found what she needed: A knife.

Florence held it behind her back, feigning fear as her husband approached her.

"It's the end of the line for you, sweetheart" Sam said, a foot away from Florence,
"I disagree," Florence said, and she pulled out the knife. For the second time today, Sam looked mortified when his wife killed him, but this time, Florence stabbed him directly in the heart.

Blood gushed out her spouses wounds, and Florence shrieked as the blood stained her clothes and hands. But Sam fell to the floor, already dead.

"What have I done?" Florence wondered, looking over her husband's dead body.

---

Emily sobbed into the shoulder of a muscular police officer. As soon as she'd found her dead best friend, Emily had alerted the Police and called for an Ambulance. She'd lost her only friend, but she couldn't help but wonder who had killed her?

Emily watched a blonde man pull a white blanket over Catherine's body and watched him wheel her out. The police smiled kindly at her, and also left. Emily sighed. What would she do now? The policeman had told her to go home and rest.

But Emily remained, and looked around the cluttered living space of her neighbour. She was searching for evidence. The blonde was about to resign to bed when all of a sudden, clues seemed to jump out at her.

She spotted a tape, which was labelled 'Sophie'. Emily frowned. Catherine had no daughter, and no relatives, who were called Sophie. So Emily took a closer look. But the tape was no use. The magnetic tape had been torn out and cut to ribbons. Emily sighed, and looked around once more. Then she saw a piece of paper.

She glided across the room, and picked it up.

'I know what you did, Terri. I know all about what you did. You disgust me. If you don't confess, I will kill you.'

Emily gasped. "Oh my god," she whispered, and a photo slipped out. It was a young girl, about five years old. She was pretty, with long, golden locks and green eyes. She resembled someone Emily knew. Then, the woman turned over the photograph and discovered the girl's identity.

"Sophie Wilkinson?" Emily wondered then she noticed a stain on the photo. It was red.
"Oh my god," Emily shrieked.

It was blood.

---

Charlene Gates knocked on Amy's door. She was very happy, after discovering she was pregnant again, and like the first time, it was Matt's. The doorbell rang three times, but it didn't stir Amy.

She was sat in the darkness of her living room, with the television on. She sat eating Ice Cream, watching home movies flash before. There was Matt, and Tom. They were both laughing and playing. Then she saw herself, pregnant with baby Catherine. Amy felt more tears run down her face as she thought of her lost baby.

The doorbell rang again, and Amy roused from her trance. She got up and answered the door, in her husband's clothing. It was slightly baggy on her.

"Hello," she said; her voice hoarse.

"Hello Amy," Charlene replied, and the other woman looked up.

"What are you doing here? Get off my property," Amy said, anger in her voice.

"I just came to tell you I'm pregnant." Charlene said politely. "And it's Matt's"

Something exploded inside Amy.

"You little whore!" she bellowed, and punched her neighbour in the face. Charlene stepped backwards, her face scarlet and her nose bleeding.

"You're jealous," she said, before Amy delivered another blow to the other woman.

"The hell I am," Amy roared sarcastically, hitting Charlene in the stomach.

"You can't face your cheating husband is sleeping with me!" Charlene cried, excited. Amy elbowed Charlene in the gut, then punching her in the face.

Miss Gates wobbled dangerously in her red high-heels.

"You cow." Charlene hissed.

Mrs Bourne felt her common sense implode. She knocked the other woman off her feet and began to beat Charlene to a bloody pulp.

Matt ran out and pulled his wife off his lover. Charlene lay, bleeding and whimpering while Amy was breathing heavily, tears in her eyes. "Go back to where you came from." Charlene whispered, and Amy ran off into the street.

Her body carried her to the sidewalk, when she collapsed. There was the sound of rubber on road, and a loud engine. Not daring to look up, Amy closed her eyes…

---

Brad sat by the river. It was sunset and he watched the red sky turn orange, then pink and finally become blue. He sighed. The evening breeze was cool, and Brad relaxed. He looked around; checking no one was watching, then he dropped a large cardboard box into the river.

If he'd turned around, he would have seen some of the contents spill out. A photograph of a pretty blonde haired girl, and a rattle fell out. He continued towards his car, as a pillow labelled 'Sophie' fell from the box. And as he climbed in his car, the box opened up, and the water around it turned a sinister red. Brad returned home, no longer worried by his secret.

But the one thing Brad didn't know was that Ben Jones had watched him dispose of the box. And Brad didn't see Mr. Jones gather the contents and head back home.

These were the pieces of the puzzle which Ben needed, to understand the Wilkinson secret. But a small scrap of paper escaped Ben: The scrap of paper which would have revealed Terri's killer, and their motive. If only he'd stopped and looked…

---

Amy woke and she was in a strange house. It was poorly lit, the windows were grimy and there was clutter all around. She sat up, and could smelt musky cologne in the air. Wondering how she'd got here, Mrs. Bourne stood up, the warm blanket slipping onto the floor.

"I made you a cup of coffee," a voice said, and Amy turned. Mr Dale was stood there, with a steaming mug of coffee, like he'd promised. Amy accepted it, and drank it without question.
"How did I get here?" she finally asked.

"I nearly ran you over," he said with a chuckle. "Poor you. You were laid on the sidewalk, not moving."

Amy nodded. "So are you O.K.?" Andrew asked. Amy had never felt so appreciated by someone. Andrew sat down.

"Yes…I guess" Amy said, and suddenly she noticed how handsome her neighbour was. "Andrew?" she asked.

"Yes?"

Amy struggled to speak what was on her mind. The two drew closer to each other until Amy could see every line on Andrew's face. Their lips pressed against each other, and Amy Bourne closed her eyes. At last, she finally felt at peace.

Yes, so long as there is loss, there will be hope. No matter how horrible our losses seem, there is always new beginnings. There will always be hope for what's to come. There will always be trust in the ones we love. There will always be lust for those we admire. And there will always be suffering as we seek new hope. Yes, with loss, there is hope. They go hand in hand. New beginnings will always be a part of life. But loss will be lurking, right around the corner…