CRAWFORDS - PHASE ONE

PROLOGUE

16 June, 2004.

Thunder rumbled overhead as the patrol car rolled up the long, winding driveway that led to the Crawfords. The flashing red and blue lights slicing through the dreary grey rain at that late hour caught Ares' attention right away, and she hurried to the door, peering out into the stormy night. The police car sat there, lights still swirling as the officers got out from the car and headed towards her.

As Ares searched the officers' disheartened faces, she knew right away that something wasn't right.
"Howdy, I'm Officer Walker, and this here is Officer Davis. Hate to say it, but I'm afraid there's been an incident involving a family member. Mind sharin' a moment with us?" asked one of the officers.

Ares got worried and in a hurry to know the whole thing, she asked the officers to come inside the house, and they sat on the chocolate, modern sofa placed in the living room.
When they slowly delivered the devastating news, "We hate to break it to ya, but we found a body on the trails of Appalachian Ridge, and we identified it to be Zeus Crawford, your father." It felt like a dark cloud of sorrow hung over her as she struggled to process the unexpected tragedy that had befallen them.

Hearing this, her younger brothers, Zyon and Neo, emerged with heavy hearts and teary eyes, from the room where they had silently been listening to what the police officers had to say.

And Ares, who stood there looking at the family picture hung over the wall in which her old man looked the happiest, found herself unable to comprehend the grim words flowing through Officer Walker's lips.
Slowly, just as she processed what the officers said, she couldn't help but sink to her knees as if the weight of her grief was too heavy to bear. Her face was blank, frozen in disbelief. Silent tears coursed down her cheeks, and though she made no sound, her sorrow was evident in every line of her body. At that moment, the world moved in slow motion, and the noises around her dulled.
The cops attempted to comfort her and her brothers, but at that moment, she was beyond reach. A heavy, suffocating numbness had set in, dulling any sensation.

A dark revelation had arrived at their doorstep and this day was going to be etched in the Crawfords' hearts forever, for it marked the beginning of a new dawn following the heart-wrenching news of Zeus' demise.

Or most accurately, Zeus' MURDER.

The Police discovered the body on the rain-drenched hiking trails of Appalachian Ridge, which connected Gatlinburg to Abingdon.
According to the forensic investigators, the victim had been deceased for about a week before being found. The body had turned greenish-red and had begun to release a smell similar to that of rotten meat. There were blood-containing foam leaks from the victim's mouth and nose, and maggots crawled on tender rotten parts of the body as the decomposition took place quicker than it should have been due to the continued rainfall.

After examining the body on site, the forensic team concluded that the individual was a victim of homicide by firearm about five to six days prior. The body showed signs of gunshot trauma. Multiple bullet wounds were present.

The rain had erased other potential clues like the footprints and tire tracks that may have provided some sort of evidence as to which direction the vehicle headed as it was for certain that the victim was not killed on site because there were some recently fallen branches lying on the ground, which could have been broken when the Killers moved the body from a vehicle or something similar to that. A person as hulky as that couldn't have been carried by a single person. At least there would have been two people or more than two.

The investigators discovered something suspicious and unusual. The victim's hands were handcuffed. The cuffs had serial numbers that were in order with the ones at the Smoke Hollow police department, and this evidence prompted the investigators to call in the local authorities of Smoke Hollow to aid in the investigation and to know if it was an officer-involved shooting because this could have been a highly controversial case and could subject to intense scrutiny, especially if question arise about the use of excessive force or the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

As an active member of the tight-knit community of Smoke Hollow, Zeus was found at almost every town gathering. Zeus and the rest of the Crawfords were well-known faces around that quaint town. So when the local officers arrived on the scene and gave a look at the body, initially they struggled, but soon they identified the victim as Zeus. But a background check revealed that Zeus had had a clean record for the past few years. No warrants for his arrest or any previous run-ins with the law.

This discovery left authorities confused as to why someone with no criminal history would end up dead under such mysterious circumstances, especially with handcuffs on.
It had them questioning what sinister events could have unfolded in the shadows that fateful night. Who was behind the murder of Zeus Crawford, and what dark motives drove them to such a heinous act?