It was near midnight. Every door was closed, and every light was out. The town's people slept away, completely unaware of anything that could possibly take place. The shed located by the pier was also silent, minus the snoring of Dylan. This continuous silence was bound to be broken soon, thanks to an impatient adolescent.
The door swung open, and Dylan nearly fell off the empty crate in response. "Dylan, we're ready to go" Henry Lou had whispered. "…Whoa, how many kids were there? I didn't expect you to get that damaged…"
"It was one stupid girl that did all this to me. She paid for it with her life though, so no worries." Dylan stared at Henry Lou with fear in his eyes. He just spoke of murder so casually, and he wore evidence of his sins all over his body, yet he could look at a person as if he'd done nothing wrong. "I-I see… well…"
"Can you two hurry it up? We're setting up a crime to frame right now; there shouldn't be time for chatter!" Heinrick had swung the unconscious body over his shoulders before making his exit. "Dylan, grab that note"
"Note?"
"It's a note meant for Miss Vienna. Just a little help for your alibi." He pointed to the corner which had his clothes and a slip of paper "Grab the clothes too". Dylan picked them up, but did not read the note, ignoring his own curiosity. "…Well?" Henry Lou had stared at Dylan. "Let's go, shall we?" Dylan said following Heinrick's suit.
The three true criminals went back to the dwelling, which now had blood's odor. Dylan had to take a few steps back to process what he just saw: A lifeless little boy, with an arm that appeared sliced open, a bleeding black-haired girl lying on her stomach, and a slightly older blonde girl with the insides of her neck on display. He swallowed deeply, as if trying not to vomit then went back in.
"Well Dylan, did you have fun beating at the lad?" Heinrick asked as he placed Oliver down making note of the boy's bruises. "This is convenient really. These almost match some of my own injuries; he's just missing a few things…"
"What?" Dylan asked. "You seriously haven't noticed my 'beautiful' eye yet?" Henry Lou pointed at the red mess that once was his left eye, causing Dylan to run out of the area. "He'll never have a stomach for the crook's life" Heinrick snickered. "Agreed" Henry Lou said, taking out the knife which was drunk with the blood of innocence. "Move over, this needs to be done carefully…" the hired killer examined Oliver's neck to find the exact spot for a counterfeit wound. With the tip of his knife, Henry Lou 'sketched' a cut that matched the one on his neck.
Heinrick let the boy finish his work. The hired killer knew better than to simply stab Oliver's eye, for that would wake the prey. Instead, he took his fingers, opened the eyelid, and slowly added pressure. Heinrick stared at this young professional with a sick fascination as the eye popped out, and flinched once Henry Lou had swiftly yanked it out, causing blood to drip from the tip of it. "Here, catch" The eyeball was thrown at Heinrick who panicked and caught it, unfortunately squishing it in the process. "Throw that away"
"Gladly…" Heinrick rushed out. Henry Lou put his attention back on Oliver. First, He stripped off his disguise and 'returned it'. Once the clothes were back on Oliver properly, Henry Lou placed the knife in his hands, and positioned the body near his dead sister in a way that could be believed in a crime scene.
The two men returned to see Henry Lou's bare body. "The clothes" he said, holding out his hand. Dylan tossed them in response, and in a matter of minutes, Henry Lou was clothed. "I've spent my time here. Give Ms. Greene my thanks. If I don't return soon,he'll be mad at me." Henry Lou shuddered with the cowardice he had when the two first met him.Does Andy really put that much fear in him? "Also, you should skim over the letter to help yourselves fabricate some sort of alibi" Henry Lou had left the two men standing there without saying goodbye, not that the three had any 'special bond' besides business for him to say anything. His main priority was to simply get away with murder and return to his tyrant for some feeble attempt of a 'reward'.
"So what does that note say?" Heinrick asked his cousin. "To sum it all up…the lad pretended to be his father, claiming that his son ran away, and thanking the one who kept his son healthy. May I add how damn good this kid's handwriting is?"
"You just did…so, do you have any idea on how we can accuse him of murder without being suspicious ourselves?"
"Leave that to me and my fellow merchants! After all, a ship is coming in early this morning…"
"Damn, why does some crew have to come here at the crack of dawn?" A merchant yawned. "Simply to piss us off?" another one of them had joked. "I'd gladly kick the captain's balls and risk my job if that were the case!" the first merchant laughed. The group of merchants was laying out what would become that ship's cargo. "At least we get paid for this" a third merchant said. "After all, we're almost done anyway-!" He had accidently bumped into one of the barrels, causing it to fall and roll over a series of rocks. "Shit!" Three merchants ran after the barrel, which had enough momentum to roll under the pier. "Thank God it didn't break!"
"Hey, do you guys smell anything funny?" one of the men asked. The three guys followed the smell, and found its source. Two of them ran as they shouted for help. That took even faster than I had hoped…Dylan followed the shouts, and Heinrick followed Dylan.
There were many things that made Oliver uncomfortable as he woke up. First, the aches and bruises from Dylan beating him. Then, there was a sharp pain on his neck. Thirdly, the horrible ache from his empty eye socket was horribly unbearable. Finally, the indistinct murmuring of people haunted his thoughts while he grew conscious. He opened his eye to see someone was carrying a person out of wherever he was. He fully opened his remaining eye to realize one of them was missing. How could that happen? He got up despite his physical pain, only to see the most traumatizing image in his life: Olivia and Noah, his sister and close friend, dead, surrounded by blood, and their slashed parts almost made him want to scream. Instead, he let out the little food he had eaten the previous day on the floor. He looked for Ainsley, but could not see her. Thus, he decided to try and walk outside, thinking things could not get much worse. How wrong he was proven as the door opened, and a man he did not know shouted: "There's the murderer!"
"What?" Oliver had practically croaked. No matter how far he would go to get food, he would never kill, especially not those he practically considered family. Before he would defy the statement, the same man had dragged Oliver out, to be seen by an abnormally large amount of people, who were having their discussions while occasionally looking back at him with disgust. At that moment, he noticed the knife in his hand, covered with blood. He threw the object that made him feel damned as far away as he could. "Don't you dare try to act out again!" A more familiar, and much more hated, voice had shouted. Oliver's head was shoved down onto the ground, and some sand went into his mouth. He coughed out "Heinrick!", but no one could tell. As far as I know, Ainsley's not dead, so where isshe?Oliver looked from his awkward angle and saw his only living friend being bandaged by some of the local women.
Ainsley, can you tell me what's going on? He had wanted to say, but he knew reality enough to know that now would not be the best time to ask questions. A man in uniform walked up to Heinrick and Oliver's accuser. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Well…" Dylan had started, after appearing from virtually nowhere. "My workers were laying out the cargo for the ship which arrived moments ago. One of the clumsy ones knocked over one of the barrels, and that led to them walking in on the scenario causing such fear in our townspeople right now. There were four bodies found. Two: dead and remain in that room, and the other two are out here with us."
"One of them being 'Ainsley Harris', a now 9-year-old girl that had been missing for two years" This authority figure added. "This child's name is Oliver, according to Ainsley, and there is no other piece of information on him."
"Besides the fact that he is the accused" Dylan said. "Even though that's obvious"
"I didn't do anything..." Oliver said, rising in volume "Ainsley, can't you tell them it wasn't me?" The young girl looked at him, as if trying to hide her hurt and disgusted look. Her eyes sparkled with surfacing tears as she looked down at him. "How could I possibly tell them that when I saw them being killed by you with my own eyes?"
How could she possibly say that? I couldn't even hurt Noah, and at the very least I wouldn't kill Olivia...Oh wait, she thinks it is me because of that boy, but we barely look alike besides our hair! Was it the darkness that helped? This means everyone thinks I'm a murderer now!
"That wasn't me though Ainsley" he said, trying to remain composed. "Who else could it have possibly been?" she said. "I also thought 'what would possibly make you do this?' several times as I saw the life in Noah's eyes fade, and as your sister bled… Could you possibly answer that? We were friends weren't we? The four of us acted like close siblings after all…" Tears began to form in her eyes. "Whatever made you betray that, I'll never understand…!" Ainsley swiftly turned away, not caring to hold back her cries. Every statement that she made had pierced at his heart. "I would never…" He whispered as he trailed off.
'Kill them'… They were family to me, even more than those two who I can barely remember! I loved them like any other sibling too… That's why I went through the trouble of feeding you all at night. Me? Kill a five-year-old and my sister? It's not my fault! Please stop looking at me, all of you! Even the kids I played with look at me as if I were a monster…Does my missing eye add to their fear? Is it the bruises that I received from that man who's accusing me? I…it is my fault. Tears now began to fall from his eye, gradually increasing to the point he felt blind. The men began to take him away. I shouldn't have let my guard down that night…I shouldn't have went to Ms. Greene's house. I…should've just been happy being a hermit with the people I care about! Why, just why? Tell me God… after all I remember learning about you…
"For what reason did this happen?" He looked out the barred window of his cell, his eye still red with tears. This cycle of thought, along with those traumatizing images, had kept him possessed for days, and he could not even tell. If it wasn't for his loyal pet bird chirping through the bars, he would still be trapped in his unseen chains of misery. The sight of James flying into the lowly prison cell lifted his drowned spirit, and helped it cling to sanity. "James…!" Oliver had lifted his hand for his pet to perch on his finger. "How have you been? It must have been difficult to eat without me…"
"What are you yapping about boy?" The watchman stared down at his only convict. "Nothing, I'm just talking to James, my pet…"
"How sad can ya' be?" He laughed. "A bird! Talking to a bird? I guess I must not be worth talking to!" The watchman slid the bowl into the cell, letting the some of the soup in it spill. "That's because you don't seem very nice" Oliver stated indifferently. "Idon't seem nice? This is coming from an accused killer?" The watchman began to laugh again. "Well, I wish you luck in court!" The man had continued his laughter as he left for the night.
Why would I even bother defending myself? I have no proof of anything that could be used as defense, and even if I do come out innocent…What would I go back to? The parents I barely knew wouldn't want back only one son who 'killed his sister',mycircle of friends evaporated, and all that remains is hatred and guilt.
"IfI get the chance, I'll just wait until I'm released, then I'll prove my name once I've acquired enough knowledge. Does that seem like a good idea James?" The bird turned its head suddenly, and then flew over to the soup bowl. Is that his way of encouraging me?Oliver stood up for the first time in a while to eat the soup, not realizing how hungry he was until he took the first bite. He finished the bowl, fairly quickly, and lay down on the floor to sleep. His bird watched over him until he finally drifted off to slumber.
For how long have I been sitting? Ainsley had thought to herself as she sat on the chair which now taunted her "Wait on the chair right here, he said. How much longer will I have to wait?" She began to display the typical child's 'patience'. A woman opened the door, but Ainsley could not tell who it was from the distance. "Is she really here?" A voice further away had said. The woman facing Ainsley began to smile deeply and radiantly, and Ainsley stared at her with mixed feelings. "Hello, mother, how are you?"