| 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 | 𝙰.𝚁𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕 | 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍

7 | MURDER

     IT HAD ONLY been a few days since Lenora's funeral when Arvin got back to his job. Rosey felt more alone at school that she did when she was bullied, everyone was empathetic towards the teen and showed pity but Rosey didn't want that, she wanted her best friend back. Arvin was still picking her up after school and on this one day, he had news about the girl they had lost. Rosey got into the car but instead of heading home, Arvin sighed softly and turned to Rosey.

"Did you know that Lenora was pregnant?"

Rosey let out an audible gasp. "No, she was pregnant? There's no way, we both know Lenora. She would never."

"This guy in the coroners office, Dudley. He's a drunk but he ain't no liar." He stared out of the window. "That preacher ain't said no words for her. Not for people who kill themselves."

"You think it was the preacher?"

He nodded. "I know it was him."

Arvin got home and decided he would start to spy on that preacher, he knew what the preacher had done and he would not let him get away with it. It was quiet at home without Lenora, everyone kept to themselves and no one dared to enter her old room. Rosey was still staying in Arvin's room but was usually outside walking around, trying not to focus on her tragic end.

As the day came to an end and both Arvin and Rosey laid in their beds, the female spoke out in a soft voice, slicing through the silence.

"Hey Arvin?"

After a moment, he responded. "Yeah?"

"Can I lay with you?"

"Of course."

Rosey slowly stood from her bed, being careful to not step on a creaky floorboard as she made her way over to Arvin. The boy sat up slightly and lifted the covers so she would be comfortable and warm when she laid with him. She got in and immeadtly cuddled up against the boy, who placed the covers back down and wrapped an arm around her, which forced Rosey to lay her head on his chest. Neither of them wanted to sleep and so just sat in the dark and silence,

"Hey Arvin?" Rosey spoke again, getting a hum in response. "What are we gonna do about that preacher?"

"I'll handle it darlin'." He mumbled in a sleepy voice as he had finally begun to get tired. "I'll make sure he knows what he's done."

Rosey nodded and closed her eyes, also feeling sleep being to dawn on her. She smiled slightly when she felt a pair of lips kiss her forehead and say a goodnight before she drifted off to sleep, the boy following soon after.

Two months rolled by and Arvin had been spying on that preacher, finding out he had a new target, a girl who had barley begun high school. Rosey had been at school as normal, being picked up by Arvin before being dropped off at home and letting him go to what she believed was work. She had yet to return to her childhood home, she was scared of what he uncle could do. That was until she found out that he had sold almost everything in the house and was now talking about how bad her parents were. But then one day after school, she had a thought.

Rosey had enough, she wanted to hurt him. Bad. For everything he had put her through and for now having sold her family possessions and destroying their reputation. So she began her plan, she stole one of Earskell's guns and made her way to her childhood home. She had her doubts, her father always taught her not to deal with problems like this, like she had with her bullies but to her, but it was the only way. The only way to get rid of the abuser, the only way to get rid of the man who ruined her childhood home.

She stared at the house when she arrived, the gun feeling heavier than ever as she debated her plan. She could let him walk free or she could end it. She knew what she had to do and she took the first step towards a change. Meanwhile, Arvin had a similar idea. While what he was doing wasn't for his own gain, it was for Lenora's, he knew what he was doing was going to lead to a change, he just didn't know what type.

Back at Rosey's childhood home, the teen had walked in after no one came to the door. She silently walked through the house until she came upon her uncle kneeling in front of the fireplace, trying to light it. She raised the gun and pressed it at the back of his head, the man didn't move.

"It really took you all this time to finally reach the point of murder." He spoke but Rosey didn't reply. "If you wanted to kill me, your gun wouldn't be on safety so what do you want to know."

Rosey took a sharp breath. "My daddy. Did he really die in an accident?"

"Yes..." He replied. "But I may have had a part in it, I knew the machine was going to collapse, it didn't look like it. I asked your daddy to grab my watched after it fell under it. One kick and it all went crashin down."

"Why are you admitting it?"

Her uncle smirked, although she couldn't see it. "Well, I can get it off my chest if you're gonna kill me. You know, I never once felt guilty about all those things I did to you, you deserved it."

"No I didn't."

"But you did. You got away from me before and at first I wasn't planning to let you go a second time. If only it weren't for that damned boy."

Rosey thought back. That man. The man who tried to..."It was you in that alley."

He hummed. "Yeah. I just couldn't help myself. You looked so pretty in that little dress. I tried looking for it the other day, but you got rid of it."

Rosey took the gun off safety and pushed it further into his head where he chuckled. "You ain't gonna do it girl. You don't have the guts." This only made her angry. "You could never pull the trigger, that's how your fuckin' daddy raised you to be a p-"

He was cut off by a bullet going through his head. He dropped to the floor and Rosey let you a breath she was holding, the gun now with one less bullet. She looked at him, her hands shaking worse than they had ever done. She just killed someone. Her uncle. Her own family.

She needed to find someone. She needed to find Arvin.