Part 3- Autumn's Child by Devandra Banhart

"Mona Stone? My name is Detective Wallis."

It had been exactly one week since the night Delia and I had been attacked at a gas station. I was still in the hospital, sore and aching, but healing nonetheless; physically at least. Mentally, I couldn't seem to pull myself together. It seemed one minute I was crying hysterically and then the next I was staring at the ceiling numbly, playing over all the special moments Delia and I had had together. At the moment, my memory of us at our senior prom was interrupted by the detective I had finally agreed on meeting.

I looked to her dark, outstretched hand. I took it.

"Nice to meet you."

"I'll try not to take too long. I understand Doctor Roderick is going to let you out soon. That must be something to look forward to."

I gave her a tight smile. It actually wasn't worth much to me. If it wasn't for my family, I would have preferred to waste away the rest of my life in this damn hospital bed.

"Miss Stone, I want you to replay the events that happened at the gas station Saturday night. As you know, you are the only witness we have, so if we catch the people who did this, they will be put on trial and you will have to testify."

"What if I don't want to testify?" I couldn't imagine sitting in the same room with the people who had killed Delia. I wouldn't be able to stand it.

"Then we won't have a case, and they will walk back out on the streets free to do the same thing again to somebody else. You are our only key to putting these people away. You do understand?" Detective Wallis's brown eyes were questioning. She could effortlessly see my reluctance, but I could tell that she wouldn't let me back down easily. I let my eyes drift down from her stare and I began to pick at the bed sheet as I spoke.

"You mean the man who was cut… He didn't make it?"

"No."

The man who had been cut by the machete had still been alive before I had been knocked out by the gang leader in the maroon mask. I had slight hope that maybe he had made it, but like how the rest of my week had gone since that night, I was left more than disappointed. That left three murders on my conscience now. I couldn't help but think that they all had been my fault; one more than the others.

"Okay," I said sighing, gaining my composure before I continued, "Delia and I had gotten lost on our way back home. We had been at our friend's party a couple of hours out of town, but going back home we passed our exit. We had gone quite a while before realizing it, but we both decided not to turn around. Delia had said she knew where she was at. How, I don't know. I don't see how she could have ever been through that part of town before. Anyway, we were running low on gas, so Delia pulled into the gas station and began to fill up. I was really thirsty, so I got out and walked inside to get a bottle of water. Delia had just walked in and we were about to pay when two mustangs pulled up."

"Two mustangs? Can you describe what they looked like? The year, if possible?"

"Uh, yeah. One black, the other red. The black one had red tribal looking graphics on it. The red one had black ones. They looked like they could have been from the late 60's, early 70's."

The detective jotted down my statement on her legal pad as I replayed to her the rest of what had happened that night. I told her what the man named Joe looked like, describing him in as much detail as I could. I had to stop when it came to talking what had happened to Delia. It was already too much to bear thinking about it, speaking about it aloud… It was nearly impossible.

"I want to thank you for your time, Miss Stone. I know it's been a very hard week for you. If there's anything you need," she proceeded to hand me over a business card, "give me a call. Take care."

I thanked her before she took her leave, and I was once again left alone with my memories and guilt to ravage me. I only had a couple of more days before I would be released from the hospital. Abruptly, I realized that being in this state of body and mind was not going to be acceptable once I got home. I wasn't going to let myself lie in bed and feel guilt over something that had been beyond my control. I was going to get on with my life and live it well for Delia. I owed it to her and my family more than anything. Although I didn't find it fair, it was the only gift I could think to give her.

Unless… Unless I did something more. One option was I could help the police find the men who did this, testify against them and hopefully have them all placed in jail for the rest of their miserable, pathetic lives. I could also lock myself in my room, claiming amnesia and deliria when I had given my statement to Detective Wallis and let them all walk free. Or… I could give into my guilt and anguish, my anger and enmity towards the gang of criminals that had brutal killed three innocent people, and I could take back what had been stolen from me. Yes, I could swallow the last of my pride and sense of self-preservation to go after the man who had killed my best friend. I would kill him and all the others who had hurt my family, Delia's family, and those two men and their families. Once I started I wouldn't be able to back down, and if they killed me, I hoped at least I left them thinking that I had put up a good fight; that I had fought with passion rather than blindly, like them.

I had a lot to learn and a while to heal, but I would do it with grace, acknowledging everything that I could to help me win this war. It would be a long road, but I would have to bear it with patience. I wanted to be thorough to insure the best possible outcome for myself and my family when it was over. Until I was strong and capable enough, I needed to get as much information on this gang as I could. That meant helping the police find them, but then I wouldn't be able to testify against them in court. That was fine by me. They had their chance for redemption long before they decided to show up into my life. I wasn't going to send them to jail now with the possibility of them getting out just a few short years later with nothing more than a slap on the wrist and a few months probation. It was up to just me now. I couldn't trust the legal system anymore than I could trust a pyromaniac with a gallon of gasoline and a pack of matches.

More than anything though, I just wanted to know why. Why had they entered that store just to kill? What was their motive?

"Kill him or you're not one of us!"I remembered maroon face screaming at Joe before he slit the man's throat.

One of us, I pondered. What, he had to kill someone before he could join their gang? Was that the true reason for all the damage they had caused that night? Something as trivial as being a part of some horde of maniacal thugs was motivation enough to go out and kill another human being? I couldn't understand the justification behind it. Who in their right mind could? And why had they attacked Delia? They obviously had finished with what they had been there to do, why couldn't they just have left us alone? We couldn't see any of their faces considering they had all worn ski masks. Maybe we were just the cherry on top of their otherwise festive night.

I felt I could have understood better if they had been robbing the place rather than just striking it for no other reason than for the sheer joy it brought them. Normally, I was the type of person to forget what wrong had been done onto me, choosing to believe in karma rather than revenge. This time I couldn't turn my head and look the other way. My gaze was firmly locked in one place, and that was on the vengeance I planned on returning to the men who has so kindly given it to me in the first place.