Read the book: «Fly Away»

Would you ever try to be your own biggest supporter?

So much of a supporter that you indulge in telling the truth and nothing but the truth?

Not just telling your parents whether you smoked a cigarette or not, but…

Exposing the dark satanic secrets of those who dare to go against God’s will…

Chapter 1

‘You’ll never come back.’

A dark summer afternoon stood outside as a woman was strolling beside the main street. The neighborhood was calm as everyone was sitting in their homes after picking up their kids from school. Suddenly her phone rang as she was walking near a well-lit small house.

“Hello?” – she asked.

“Margaret?”

“Yes?”

“Come by. It’s urgent.”

Stumbling towards the tree she grasped it.

“It happened?!” – Margaret queried.

A moment of silence arose after which a short answer followed:

“Yes.”

The call ended. She put the phone in her pocket immediately and took off running.

…

A chair on the porch was squeaking as Charlie was smoking in it with his glasses on. They were quite exquisite with blue outline, definitely expensive. Midnight hit: only a couple of people were walking in the streets and Margaret was one of them as she neared the stairs of the house and stood there.

“Why are sitting here?! Show me!” – Margaret screamed running up the stairs.

He took his time making her wait in silence and said:

“Are you sure, Margo?”

“What are you talking about?! Of course I am!”– she stated immediately letting it be known.

Someone’s voice could be clearly heard from a distance:

“Hey! Keep it down, asshole!”

“Let’s go inside and discuss it, ok? No need to scream outside.” – Charlie said.

A famous day and a prophecy.

The theater was full of people who were all looking at personas sitting at the table on stage. A young woman walked up to the microphone; it was her turn to ask a question.

“Good day, Margaret. My name is Anny and I want to ask a question about how you go about dealing with what you endured in the past?” – she paused, and Margaret saw her hands shaking.

“It’s ok, Anny. Take your time, don’t worry.” – she said.

“Umm, thank you.” – Anny said with a big smile on her slightly chubby face and proceeded. – “I’m really nervous. Do you ever think about what had happened?”

Silence arose in the room as Anny’s voice stopped echoing in the theater. Even people at the very end got silent and were waiting for an answer.

“That’s a good question. What I’m going to say is very cliché, but bear with me.” – a slight laugh went around the room and disappeared as she continued. – “Yes, of course I think about that, I think about all of it. But…” – she massaged her eye and proceeded. – “You must live on and inspire people by telling them the truth. Even if they capture me, I’m fine with it.”

People’s faces in the room changed – it got serious and almost prophetic. Suddenly, the woman sitting to Margaret’s left in the costume spoke out:

“That’s it for today, guys. Thank you for your questions.”

Margaret glanced at her with a very serious face and looking back at stage said:

“Thank you, guys. Love you all.”

The whole audience stood up and were clapping, chanting at the same time:

“MARGO! MARGO! MARGO!”

Halfway leaving the stage, she turned around and looked at everyone in the audience –filled with joy and gratitude, they were clapping, every each one of them; a slight smile appeared on her face.

“Come on, we got to go!” – the woman in a costume said with a very commanding voice and Margaret felt a hand on her shoulder. The stage got empty, but the clapping proceeded, even got a little louder.

Chapter 2

“Thank you for coming today,” – Smith said and looked at the ground. – “I’m sure Margaret would’ve appreciated your effort if she was here.”

Daylight was sneaking in through the windows of the church. About a dozen people gathered inside the walls of the church for only one goal.

“Only information that’s available to us is her last location, nothing more unfortunately. We’re going to head out there to start our search tomorrow. Thank you all for coming, be at the bay at 6 p.m.”

People were confused and were looking around about the time of the search operation and Smith noticed.

“We chose 6 p.m. only because there are some works being done in the forest before, some environmental works.”

Smith wandered back from the microphone and stood there for a moment, looking at the priest nearing the stand.

“Let’s pray together.” – he said into the microphone as soon as he came.

In almost a trance Smith walked off the stage, feeling dizzy. The girl standing in the front row saw him wander and almost ran to him.

“Hey, you’re good? Where are you going?”

He glanced at her blonde hair mixed with black and said while rubbing his face.

“Oh, Josephine. Yeah, I’m good, just to the bathroom, need to wash my face.”

He suddenly rushed forward and disappeared, turning into the corner of the hallway. Josephine turned around and kept looking at him until he went away.

“Please everyone, pray with me!” – the priest said louder, and Josephine went back. She closed her eyes and held her hands together saying the first words of the prayer.

…

The first day.

‘Charlie?’

A big group neared the forest from the bay far away and stopped before entering. The man in front turned back to the group and said with a megaphone:

“Thank you all for coming guys! My name’s Isaac, I’m the head of the operation. We are on the south side of the Menny forest, and we’ll be exploring the west side today, be attentive and alert, stay near each other. Let’s get to work.”

Smith looked at the forest behind Isaac with high green trees which created a dark ambiance as he looked further.

“I really hope you’re here, Margo.” – he said quietly.

They spread out on the west side, covering it completely. Day time made it easier for them to start the search and take the first steps into the forest.

“Go, Atlas! Go!” – Smith said walking on the left side of the group. Atlas ran forward and stopped, sniffing something as it got his attention. Smith was walking up to him, curious.

“Hey, you’re holding up?” – a female voice sounded behind him.

“Wow, you scared me Josey, why would you sneak up on me like that. I’m… holding up, I guess.”

“Yeah,” – she said and looked at him for a moment, then spoke again. – “I’m sorry, but I got to ask – her mother died a couple of months ago and she was never the same after that. Do you think it has anything to do with it?”

“What is it, Atlas?” – Smith asked.

Everyone walking around looked over at the dog. As Smith got closer, he saw feathers covered in blood.

“It’s just a bird, Atlas. Come on.”

Atlas stood at the same spot, loudly barking.

“Come, Atlas! Let’s go!”

The marching of the group continued in its rhythm with its focus back on their surroundings as the dog left the spot.

“It’s strange, there wasn’t blood and feathers anywhere else. Got to be somewhere nearby.” – Smith thought.

A couple of hours went by – somewhere around 4 hours with no signs from any of the four groups. All four groups gathered by the local lookout. Isaac spoke:

“First day of search is over, guys. The works in the forest will be over by 2 p.m. tomorrow, so we’ll start then, continuing with the west side. There are temporary houses built in the south, we’re heading there to relax and sleep. Keep it up, may God be with you all!”

…

Heavy steps could be heard on the porch of the house. A man, judging by the black shoes, walked up to the door and took something out of his pocket laying it on the wooden bar. After carving something on the wood near it, heavy steps echoed on the wooden flooring disappearing in the distance.

The phone ringing woke Josephine up as she immediately grabbed it, sighing.

“Yes, who’s this?” – she asked with her eyes still closed.

“Hey Josey, it’s me, Smith. Listen, we need to talk about something urgent. Meet me at the bay in an hour.”

“I hope it’s something important, Smith. I’m coming.”

She put the phone on the counter and started dressing up, looking out of the window through the blinds. Squinting on the wooden top at the front for a while, rubbing her eyes, she said:

“What’s that?”

Totally dismissing it, still in a sleepy state of mind, she walked to the toilet. A phone call met her as soon as she got out and now fully awoke Josephine for sure saw something outside with her peripheral. Checking the surroundings by lowering the blinds, she walked outside making sure that no one was there. The picture got clearer as she stepped closer and closer to it – a VHS tape lay there, with 'J.' written in white over a grey label. Josephine rushed back inside immediately and closed the door.

“Yes Josey, I’m getting in my car, I hope you’re on your way.”

Looking at the ground with her heart beating out of her chest, holding the phone, she said:

“Umm, Smith. I found a VHS tape by the front door just lying there.”

“What?” – he asked, confused. – “A VHS tape?”

“Yes. Do you think this is some kind of surprise, someone from the camp maybe?”

“Come to the bay, we’ll talk it over.”

She put the phone in her pocket and looked at the tape outside once again. Locking the front door, she grabbed it and put it in her bag, rushing to the car immediately.

Chapter 3

Local’s solitude and tradition.

The water was clear blue, waves were slowly reaching the shore and disappearing. A sunny day was upon the town, but the Sun was hidden behind the clouds, peeking through from time to time at Smith standing on the shore. He bent over the steel guardrail and stood still, looking deep into the water.

“Margo, where are you?”

Putting his head up after five minutes and looking to the left, he saw Josephine walking up to him through a weird tunnel-like alley. He turned around and now his back was facing the vast sea behind.

“Hey, Josey.”

“Good morning, Smith. How’d you sleep?” – she answered nearing him, looking into the distance with squinty eyes.

“I didn’t, that’s why I’m here. Listen.” – he said and turned back. – “I just thought. That house near the forest, remember? We got to check it out.”

“Really?”

“Don’t worry about it, we just need to check something, and we’ll be out of the house.”

His eyes shifted to the horizon and with solitude he stood there leaving her confused and curious.

“Okay. But you know I’m doing this for you, right? I never even liked her. She was rude and just an asshole.”

“Come on… She was just quiet.”

“With you she was, when you were fucking her.”

“Josey, what the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Smith raised his voice and she put her head down.

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to say she was quiet, probably loud with you, huh?”

Smith put his arm around her black coat.

“What’s wrong?”

As they locked eyes a slight smile slowly emerged on her face.

“Just going through a hard time, you know. And also, this tape that I found in the morning. It’s very weird, Smith.”

“Can I see it?”

Birds flew over their heads, flying to sit on the stones near the water. Locals gather at the same time as always for quarter of a decade at this bay. The bond is strong with each other knowing exactly what to expect – birds expect food, locals expect the company, the company of another God’s creation.

…

“Good day! The 2^nd day, the same route as yesterday – to the west!”

…

Menny forest. First discovered back in the 18^th century, when foreign invaders depicted it in their journals – very-very old journals. A very interesting reputation of the forest resided by a very rich ecosystem – depictions involve signs, feelings, instincts about the forest. Instincts of betrayal, hatred, satanic predisposition. Might be that the invaders were not welcomed in these lands.

…

“What were you doing here, Margo?” – Smith asked himself.

Chapter 4

‘Margaret is alive?’

The bright balcony at the seaside was lit in a very moody way; Limned by the Sun someone’s figure appeared like a shadow in the room. The beach full of people was in action before the still picture of this room not that far away from it and only the journal pages with the pen scrubbing on its surface passionately could be heard which disturbed the beautiful silence of the room, but with a purpose.

“Summer’s coming.” – she said and looked out the window after writing the last word in the diary:

‘Amen.’

Sounds reached the room from downstairs – steps, heavy steps. She took the diary and instantly put it in the crack between wooden flooring. Steps now could be heard clearer with the floor creaking, intensifying the suspense, but deciding to take her time she opened it once again, writing something in a rush.

…

“Listen, I’ll send you my help to find that diary, ok?”

“What? What do you mean ‘I’ll send you my help’? Can’t you clarify?”

“I need to go, Charlie, I’m in a hurry. You’ll find my guardian where my diary is in the room, ok?”

Margaret fleet in the distance, leaving him with no time to say anything.

“Margo! Damn you! Always doing it your own way.”

…

The door to the room bathing in sunlight opened and a man walked in.

“Good day, Ms. Margaret. The food is ready, we’re waiting.”

A tall figure stood in the doorway, halfway in. His deep voice broke the silence and solitude and was continued by him uncomfortably staring at the ground.

“You two can wait.” – she said and sat back down. He glanced at her once again and closed the door.

…

Atlas was running through the open field – a new part of the forest was discovered by the group.

“Hey, look!” – a little girl screamed; The sky was totally occupied by the birds.

“Something’s not right here.” – Isaac stated standing by Smith. He was in his 40’s but looked younger.

“What is it?” – Smith asked.

“Birds… They do not fly south this time of the year, something is happening.”

…

A sad tale of the birds

The sky caught her attention. Birds, freely flying, brought her to walk to the window near the balcony – the window was almost as big as the door leading to it.

“Wow.” – she said quietly. The Sun, standing near the horizon, was ready to disappear into the unknown, to be substituted by its grey sister. Mesmerized by their dance she unconsciously started imitating them, walking to the balcony, and flipping her hands desperately. Wings slowly started showing through her skin and feathers around it started forming – beige feathers with brown spots. They rapidly formed leaving even Margaret in shock, but it stopped as the metal corset which appeared to be around her back held it in place. And as she looked back at the sky, in despair – the birds were in the distance, not recognizing her existence even slightly anymore, heading right to the south.

“Why, God…” – her mouth uttered, shaking from frustration with head dropping low under the moody evening sky colored in dark blue tones.

Chapter 5

A sad smile appeared on his face as he was looking out of the car window, at the sea standing motionless and the horizon above it; owls were hooting nearby.

“Everything’s good, Atlas, don’t worry. Just going to be in there for 15-20 minutes and we’ll come back.”

“Come on, Josey. Where are you at?!” – he thought to himself.

A car came closer on the left side, colored in the orange colors of the Sun. It was Josephine, looking at him, smiling. She rolled down her window and Smith rolled it down simultaneously.

“Hey. How’re you doing? Let’s check it out, don’t really have a lot of time today, got to go to the cinema.” – she said loudly.

“Cinema? What are you, in your teens?”

“Just on a date. I think it’s quite cute, you don’t think so?”

Smith got ready to get out of the car and she continued shortly.

“You should really see someone. I can set something up for you if you want to?”

She stopped and looked at him with a slight grin on her face. He kind of froze with his hand on the handle of the door and looked at the ground.

“Yes.” – he said calmly.

“You want me to set something up? Really?”

Her question followed very fast, strangely fast, like she was waiting for that answer. Smith’s answer followed:

“I hope I see her soon.”

He got out of the car with his dog and went straight for the house on the side of the road, a little further into the woods. Her forced grin disappeared instantly as she got out of the car. But before doing that, she got back in and wrote something in the diary. The previous note was about 4 days ago, on June 5^th, when she found the tape. It shortly said:

‘August 19^th

I hope I’ll see you on your day, Margo.’

The tape slid into her hand from the bag. Silent glare of hers slid on the surface of it, analyzing.

“I’m waiting!” – Smith hollered standing near the house.

She put it all down and kissed the picture of two kids before getting out.

‘They thought they could hide everything.’

The backyard of the house was surrounded by tall trees that could withstand any weather judging by how they looked; Atlas met and started running laps around her. As she looked up 10 steps away from the stairs to the front door, Josephine noticed beige half-destroyed walls, the front side was colored in cardinal red but the paint on the wood went away as the house was built a long time ago. Not thinking anything at that moment, she in trance like state went into the house; Smith was already nowhere to be found in the house. A scream came out of her as he was roaming the house:

“Hey, Smith, what’s this place? It’s kind of nice.”

She walked to the second floor and saw him in the room right by the staircase. The door was wide open as Josephine entered, putting her hand on the door, and saw Smith on his knees.

“What… what is this?!” – she said walking closer and looking at something lying right before Smith, which totally consumed his attention.

…

“Aviation is a big part of my life, Charlie.”

“Look where it brought you, you know too much.”

“Stop it, let me handle this information.”

“It’s bigger than you, Margo.”

Menny welcomes acts of betrayal, the forest is left without God. It’s forbidden. Will he punish those who dare to go against him?

…

Chapter 6

Schizophrenia of reality.

“You want to explain what this is?!”

A chill ran down her spine looking at a big swamp of feathers which resided before Smith, so much so that it was bigger and taller than him staring at it on his knees.

“Remember what I told you? It’s enough to understand.” – he said with a monotone voice.

“They… they kept her hostage?”

Atlas started howling louder and Smith stood up, saying:

“Let’s get going, I saw everything I needed to see. I have mixed feelings about this place.”

Seeing he was not very responsive, she just walked out of the room after him, without saying anything.

“So, it’s all true?” – she said to herself.

…

“You’re telling me she has wings?”

They were sitting by the water at the bay. The weather was calm without any waves in the sea. A slight wind picked up his black hair and wiggled it around.

“Yeah, I know. It’s not easy to believe in.” – Smith answered, leaning at the end towards Josephine; she chuckled.

“Yes, of course, how am I supposed to believe you?”

“Do you believe me though?” – Smith said and looked in the distance, above the calm sea. But when he turned back and looked at her, she was staring at the ground, silently.

“Yes,” – Josephine answered calmly and confidently. – “I do believe you if you say that that’s true.”

Smith smiled while his arm moved and gently landed on her shoulder. They looked at each other and smiled, looking away shortly after. The Sun looked out once again from behind the clouds blessing Atlas with the light who jumped on the bench and sat down beside his loyal friend.

“You know,” – she turned and spoke. – “I’ve known and heard about things like this when I was a child.”

“Well, we all hear about these things when we are children, don’t we?”

“It’s different. Let me explain – my mom went into a forest once with her uncle, to just walk around. I was twelve at the time, that was the last time I saw her. My uncle would never do anything to her, he loved her, so I didn’t even think about him. He said that he looked away for a second while they were talking or went to pee, I don’t really remember, but when he looked back, a big creature was dragging her into the forest and she could not scream even though she was looking at him.” – she kept talking as the weather got a little colder, it was getting late. – “He screamed her name, but the creature was already far away, and my uncle froze at one place because of shock. So since then, there were so many stories about that creature in town, that I was in a way relieved.”

Her last words took him by surprise.

“Relieved?” – he questioned.

“Yes. At least my Mom wasn’t alone at the place where she went.”

Silence emerged. Atlas started sadly howling and went over to her, to comfort her by rubbing his head on her arm.

“I’m sorry about your loss, I never knew that.”

“Thank you. It’s nothing anymore, I got over it, you know. Learned how to move on.” – she said and smiled, looking at him while petting Atlas. – “Let’s go, it’s getting darker.” – she continued shortly after. The wind got stronger as they walked away, and a gloomy afternoon fell upon the streets.

…

The sixth day

A big crowd gathered inside the walls of the church once again, leaning on the dark brown wooden chairs. Only kids ruined the solitude from time to time, deviating, as kids do, but were brought back to the norm by the elders. Isaac climbed up the stairs to the stage, the floor’s creaking revealed his location. The room was almost full – even more people came in comparison with the first day. But this time journalists and people with cameras broadcasting also stood by the stage.

“Hello, dear friends.” – his voice sounded with almost zero enthusiasm, with glimpses of it at some points of with starting or ending the sentence. – “Today is officially the sixth day,” – he took a pause once again and someone could be heard blowing their nose in the last row. Some people turned to look at him or just simply turned their heads to the left or right as he proceeded to talk. – “We are so interested in this search, that we got just kind of isolated in the forest.”

Smith observed his face and was speechless when he saw that Isaac was crying. He pulled himself together eventually and continued:

“And… I start to lose faith because we can’t make any progress.”

“Well, not the best words to say at church.” – Smith said to himself. Josephine turned and looked at him, commenting:

“Yeah, right.”

She turned her head back to the stage, leaving him in shock about how she knew what he said in his head.

“But we won’t give up. We still have time and I’m sure some people here will spend their own time in the future to search for her because they’re so involved.” – Isaac proceeded. But no one in the church seemed to pay attention, they were involved in different things and collectively gathered themselves to clap while he was walking to get off the stage; Smith took off. As Isaac wanted to walk in the room behind the stage, he slowly tapped on his shoulder.

“Good day, Isaac. I appreciate your honesty and will to find her, I really do.” – he said as a man with slight wrinkles on his forehead who cried just 2 minutes before turned around weirdly fast and stared at him.

“Oh, I appreciate you for your kind words.” – Isaac answered with an amiable smile suddenly appearing on his face.

Smith looked in his face as there was not really sadness in his face but kind of joy.

“Are you holding up good?”

Smith caught himself in his thoughts as he was just staring at him for a minute.

“Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to thank you.”

Smith backed away. Turning around, Isaac said to the guy waiting for him with a tablet in his hands:

“The north-west side of the forest is fully observed, we’ll move to the central sides. Ask for permission from the officials.”

“Why is his face so straight like it wasn’t him crying 10 minutes ago?” – he thought to himself as Isaac walked past him with the calmest face he’d seen.

He walked back to the main door to exit the building as Josephine met him halfway with a family. As Smith looked over – there stood a husband and a wife with a kid of somewhere 12 years old.

“Hey, Jeffersons just wanted to show their support for what you’re going through.”

Wife had blonde hair with dark patches in some places and her husband was a little taller, about 5’10. The husband had dark hair with a lot of dandruffs as Smith weirdly recognized. He saw that she was standing with a cake in her hands, reaching to give it for a moment and quickly grabbed it so it wouldn’t be weird.

“Thank you.” – he uttered and walked away not indulging in a conversation, leaving Josephine blushing and seemingly embarrassed. She briefly apologized and ran to him.

“What is wrong with you?!” – she exclaimed.

“What?! I said thanks!”

“Really? You couldn’t have said more?!”

“Look, what do you even want from me, huh?! Did I ask for your help to find Margo, or DID I EVEN ASK FOR YOUR FUCKING EMPATHY?!” – Smith snapped.

Josephine stood lost for words, moving slightly over to let people exit as the meeting was over. He was distraught.

“Wow…” – she answered quietly. Grabbing her forehead, she walked away.

“Fuck!” – he said to himself, before exiting the building with the cake.

…

‘The first warning’

It was raining outside as Josephine was looking through the front window of her house in the temporarily built neighborhood. Not one other house could be seen by her from the window, because her house was on the front and was facing the main road. A stolid expression covered her face, some might say vacant as she was fully covered by a long warm blue blanket with white stripes that her grandfather bought her as a present for her graduating and getting a master’s degree in criminology. A phone on the bed cupboard was ringing as she was staring into the dark blue sky of the sad afternoon; she stood up, putting the blanket down – Josephine was wearing a white tee and was very skinny with quite long and smooth legs that were exposed because of the grey shorts. Looking at the phone ringing, she turned it upside down and went over to the couch.

“Fuck off, Smith.” – she stated while looking at the table in front of the TV and grabbing the tape.

“Well, you proved to be useful still.” – Josephine thought to herself as she put the tape in and walked back to sit on the couch.

The room got very dark as she refused to turn on the lights and the TV started playing the video. A dark image with white random dots all over it appeared on the screen.

…

“They’ll get all of your friends, relatives and ANYONE who’s associated with you, DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“Will they get mine and MY PEOPLE’S freedom?!”

“I’m… sorry that you don’t get it, Margo…”

“Oh, I DO! BELIEVE ME!”

…

Chapter 7

The video kept playing in the dark room and her face was still hidden in the dark. Slowly but surely, it started getting brighter and brighter and Josephine got herself to be more comfortable. In the moment of reveal, suddenly a knock could be heard on the door. Stopping the video, she turned around to look, but the window was covered with blinds and in silence only the cat snoring in the other room could be heard. Standing up slowly she went to the door but stepping closer she stopped and turned to check the blinds on the left first. Josephine put them up slowly, as far as possible from the door and as the outside revealed itself – the only thing that could be seen was the empty porch under the dark sky. She got closer to the window and started looking around more broadly and seeing something in her peripheral to the left, she jumped up in shock – but it was just a leaf carried away fast by the wind. Sighing in relief, she closed the window and went back to the couch, pressing the button to resume the video. It kept playing and a bright white screen made her eyes appear in the dark – her curious, wide opened eyes. Someone behind the camera was filming a family – to be more concise, two kids in the courtyard, playing with each other sitting on the grass.

“Mary?! Daren?!” – Josephine said under her breath, quietly. She stood up and went to the shelf – to the photos of Mary and Daren who previously were in the video. Josephine collapsed on the ground.

“WHO ARE YOU?! HOW DID YOU FIND THIS VIDEO?!” – she screamed throughout the whole house.

A loud bang sounded on the door and this time she didn’t pay attention, closing her ears with tears fresh on her face. But she couldn’t escape the sound of the banging as it kept intensifying, getting louder and more repetitive. Tired of it, she stood up and left photos on the ground, pacing towards the door. Her face took a different shape as she opened it and saw the picture outside – it was empty. Looking to the right and left, she didn’t see anyone.

“Is everything good?” – someone asked on the left and as Josephine looked, it was a group of neighbors walking around the neighborhood. A woman with a baby carriage proceeded not hearing anything back – “Darling?!”

“Yes, yes. Everything’s fine,” – she answered, distraught. – “Just heard a knock on the door.”

A woman suddenly had a comforting smile on her face hearing her answer.

“It happens, darling. Don’t tire yourself out, get your sleep.” Correcting her hair and slowly coming back to her feelings, Josephine answered before walking inside:

“You’re right, I’m just tired. Thank you.” A woman smiled at her once again. Walking inside and closing the door, she made sure that the door and the blinds were locked and put her head on the door, totally lost. She walked to her phone and picked it up from the bed drawer, putting in a number. The ringing stopped.

“Hey, Jacob. Have a minute?”

“Oh, hey, Josey. Why would you call me this late? The kids are sleeping.”

“I’m sorry, it probably wasn’t the best idea. I’m just…” – she said and stopped before finishing.

“You’re just what? Is everything fine?”

“Never mind, you’re right, it’s late. We’ll talk another time.”

“No, it’s alright. You’ve already called, so you might as well say it.”

He chuckled in a friendly manner as Josephine proceeded:

“I don’t know. I found this videotape outside of my door and I watched it to see what’s in it.”

After a moment of silence, he asked:

“Are you in your apartment right now?”

“No… I’m taking part in this search.”

“Josey…” – he uttered disappointed.

“Yes.” – she paused, waiting for him to say something but he didn’t. – “He just asked me to help him out. This VHS tape shows a video of our kids playing in the backyard of our old house. Remember the one on the Lane street?”

“What?! Who filmed it?” – he asked with a slightly confused and monotone voice.

“I don’t know, let me watch it again. I think I saw someone’s hand in the video.”

The silence ensued as she put the video again as skipped to the part where she remembered briefly seeing a hand. Suddenly her eyes widened as she realized:

“I didn’t put the sound on! Hold on.”

Slowly increasing the volume, laughter and chatter echoed throughout the room more and more. The color drained out of her face, shock took over her, like electricity from the whole town was put through her body, she couldn’t open her mouth. Hearing the video too, he asked:

“Is that… Is that your voice?”

Looking at the screen, she saw a hand – a female hand with red nails and a golden ring on the finger – the ring seemed familiar. She quietly uttered couple of words:

“Yes, it’s me.” – taking a short pause. – “But what does all of this mean?!”

He didn’t answer this time either.

“Jacob?!” – she stated, aghast.

“You know what it means. Don’t pull our kids and me into this and don’t call me again, I’ll look after them. Bye.”

Before she even came up with something to say, Jacob ended the call leaving her with the annoying sound of the phone ring.

…

‘Why are you so calm, Margo?’

The sky is cloudy as it’s shown through the kitchen window and every top drawer inside of the kitchen is orange and red.

“You’re enjoying your meal, Margo?” – a deep male voice utters and gets her attention from the drawers to his big bald head, sticking out of the table with other parts comparatively smaller as he’s slurping the soup. She looks down at her portion – a medium plate with green soup in it, looking right into her soul. Big chunks of bread were calmly swimming on top with small portions of beef. Also looking down she sees her newly washed white dress.

“That bread is there to make it tastier and faster to eat.” – he says seeing her stare the soup, without much amusement on her face. The woman sitting to her right is also eating. She puts her hand on Margaret’s shoulder and is inviting a strange feeling.

“Why does it feel so familiar?” – she thinks to herself.

“Eat, dear.” – she stated, taking her hand off a minute after saying it with a raspy voice. She seems quite fit as Margaret glances over – evenly proportioned and well looked after and even though she seems in her 40’s she could very successfully pass as a 25-year-old. Almost doesn’t look real with her hair – perfect blonde, not a noticeable deviation towards black. Margo picks up the spoon and starts eating afterwards, forcing a smile on her face. She looks once again into the window that only has the view of the sky – her smile disappears as she’s just watching clouds move into the distance.

“How great, no one’s forcing you to into any direction or the other. You just go.” – Margaret says and her eyes squint as she realizes. – “Well, the wind tells you where to go, but it’s more of a cooperation.”

She puts the spoon down and picks up her arms to put them on the table, leaning forward towards the window, not looking away from the sky. They both notice her and without saying anything, return to what they were doing – he keeps violently slurping while almost using soup as a snack for bread while it should be reversed. She’s eating green soup with mashed potatoes on the side and even if you put your ear to it, you could not hear anything.

…

“What about your supporters?!”

“They would have to forgive me at first but will thank me later.”

“Ok…”

…

Agitation of the crowd

The car turned off after Smith just parked it in the parking spot near the building. He rushed to leave the car to see what was going on, but before doing that, he turned his head to the right, where his dog was sitting and said:

“Come, Atlas. Let’s see what’s going on there.”

Opening the door, Atlas jumped out and Smith, standing outside, after seeing about 100-200 people outside standing in the entrance of the city, he put the files that he held in his hand in the car and closed the door.

“Wow.” – he said quietly under his breath, but his monotone voice made it a little louder.

People standing in the crowd were mostly female – about 65-70% and were screaming together in unison:

‘JUSTICE FOR MARGO!’

‘JUSTICE FOR MARGO!’

One of the posters stated:

‘FIND HER OR WE’LL TAKE THE MATTER IN OUR HANDS.’

“They’re some die-hard fans, I’ll tell you that.” – stated a man, who appeared from behind. Smith turned his head in a little bit of a shock after being fully emerged in watching this grouping and the person standing before him was the leader himself – Isaac.

“Oh, it’s you.” – Smith said and immediately left with the dog walking right beside him.

He kept looking at him walking away and eventually just shrug his shoulders while Smith was far in the distance. Isaac walked towards the group and put his inviting and ‘happy-to-see-you’ smile on.

“What is this trailer?” – Smith asked himself out loud.

Trees sway side-to-side as the wind approached and played with Smith’s brown hair. Coming near it, Smith stopped for a second turned around and pressed the button on the car key to make sure that it’s locked. Seeing the yellow-orange lights of the car turn off, he turned around and went over to the trailer. Climbing the stairs that were built for it – especially for the trailer, he looked at them carefully before stepping and saw a person’s head move out of the sight from the small window to the right. He looked behind him and saw just a couple of people walking and most of them, as he looked to the left, were going to the gathering, to see what’s going on. The trailer was standing before the big part of the field covered in bushes and couple of trees, but bushes were so tall that even climbing on top of the staircase he couldn’t see the group.

“Well, it doesn’t help that I’m not that tall.” – Smith thought to himself.

He looked at Atlas who was waiting for him to approach the door, or he just thought so – the dog was just looking at him and sometimes at the door. Facing the door and coming closer to it while the wind was at times violently pushing him to the left, he eventually knocked on the door.

“Whose trailer is it? Is it just press? Why am I knocking then? That’s so stupid of me. Or maybe is just security they sent to protect the houses when people go on the search.” – he thought anxiously to the door, waiting for an answer. No getting any reaction from the inside, he raised his hand covered with a bandage and put it towards the door to knock again when it opened quickly and quietly, so Smith looking away reached and almost started knocking on the person’s face standing in front of him and only Atlas quietly howling made him turn his head. Looking at the person in front of him, he slightly blushed out of embarrassment – a woman in her 30’s with an unfazed face stood before him, she was of an African descent. As Smith wanted to say something and was figuring out what, he felt a constant daunting pressure from her stare, but he considered himself a man’s man, so he tried to play it off and not notice it while noticing it even more at the same time. He put his head up and said:

“Good day, umm, I’m sorry for knocking almost… forget about it, I’m Smith… Smith Harper.” – he said and proceeded to stretch his hand in a way that would propose a strong firm handshake. Looking at his hand she stretched hers and gave him a firm one, which changed his face a bit.

“Well, I kind of saved this from becoming a” – he thought to himself quickly.

“My name is Feline – Feline Marcel. A newly signed detective on this case. You guys made a lot of noise out here.” – she said, while looking around.

As Smith looked at her, he noticed her black hair staying firmly and organized on her head, without any detail out of place and her uniform – blue colored t-shirt of some police department.

“Why are you looking me up and down? I know I got a great figure but be a little respectful please.” – Feline said with very calm, almost robotic voice.

Smith raised his eyes and started right into hers, with blush coming back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, was just assessing what kind of a person you are. I’m really sorry.” – he said and stared into the ground. Noticing it, a tiniest smile formed on her face which was wiped immediately so that he couldn’t see it.

“Nice to meet you, Smith Harper. Don’t do that again.” – she said and give a warm smile. – “See you soon!”

“See you.” – he said and turned around as the door closed behind him. Atlas slightly howled and looked at him as Smith commented. – “Yeah, I know buddy, I had better social interactions, trust me.”

Atlas ran forward to couple of people standing near the group – Josephine was there.

…

The realization that the balcony was way bigger than she expected or even realized made her experience more amusing for a split second. Margaret walked to the left side of the balcony – one that’s closer to the sea and its waves dancing near the shore and the cold wind reminding her of spring. Grasping it and taking it all in for solid 10 minutes, she turned her head around and looked inside to see if someone’s there and not seeing anyone Margaret snuck to the right side of the balcony and at the end of a guardrail greatly hid under the roof, she slowly pushed a coin. In a way that it was not in the reaching of a wandering eye, but also in a way that the eye searching for it would find it easily. She stood there, turning her body towards the sea, and looking onto the horizon after which tapped in a calm manner on the foundation of the guardrail and went back in. As she stepped in, a voice echoed throughout the room:

“Did you sleep well, my highness?”

It is a deep voice, his voice.

“Would you stop calling me that, Gilbert? What’s wrong with you?”

“It’s her orders, my highness. Can’t do anything about it, my highness.”

She shrugged her shoulders after staring at him for some time. Her face was still like a rock as she went down the small stairs far away from the room; the cement of sand color was destroyed in some parts while some parts of the floor were covered in dust that came off the walls. She went down on the bottom floor and opened the dark red door in a weirdly cold hall to go outside – it was bright; the sea on the right side calmly went back-and-forth and the sand covered halfway to their house, almost all of it until their house’s territory’s wall stopped the Saharan paradise from moving further and instead territory was a dream of a biophile – color green dominated the whole territory inside even the brown newly colored bench had plants climbing on top grabbing to its legs. Margaret stood there with her hair standing still as there was no wind and her corset hardly showing under her zip-up jacket. She was looking at the sea for a while, it might not have even been acknowledged by her as she sat down on the bench with that same look – an inexplicable uneasiness with a sprinkle of curiosity. Seeing people in the distance walking by the sea brought her attention – they were walking, at times jogging along the empty beach and strangely both were wearing red clothes – one of them had only red stripes on her white clothes. Grinning from ear to ear and walking in the distance, suddenly they both developed wings – one of them grey, the other white with grey undertones – gracefully flew into the sky as Margaret was following them with her eyes. There were no other birds in the sky, only very far away.

“Can I sit here?” – a female voice softly sounded on her left. Margaret turned around and it was her – one with perfect blonde hair. Margo nodded her hair and she sat beside her. She softly put her hair back and sat down with attentiveness looking at the bench for any dirt.

“How is your day going, Margaret?” – she asked, sighing in the middle of her question.

“The sea is beautiful.” – Margo stated, looking at her after finishing.

She looked at the sea and chuckled:

“So, you don’t want to stay?” – she asked and paused continuing after. – “You don’t want to help me?”

The sun was beaming and waves slowly nearing the shore, forming right there. A light warm summer wind brought whiff of the sea to the house as it was getting hotter and hotter.

“No.”

Her decision was announced. It was as confident and strong as it could be. Margaret smiled and turned to the sea – her hair was all over the place because of the wind that picked up this moment. A woman turned too and the smile on her face didn’t go away even though it changed for a second.

Chapter 8

The mystery of the pill

Atlas ran and stood beside Josephine to get her attention as Smith was getting closer to the group. Coming closer he heard them discussing all these people who got together and the man with glasses, standing before asked:

“What even are they here for?”

“You don’t see it? They’re fans rushing us to find her.” – said a woman standing by Josephine’s side.

Josephine looked over seeing Smith coming over and eventually looked over his shoulder at the new trailer where he just came from.

“Who’s that?” – she asked first, putting her hair back.

He could hardly hear what she said and got closer so she could hear him.

“The new detective, the old one got fired – wasn’t the best at his work.”

“How do you know that?” – she said and looked at him squinting her eyes.

“Got the information from the locals while someone was still sleeping.” – he said and looked away.

“You still haven’t told me about what I saw at that house where we went. Also, I know I didn’t pick up your call yesterday – but something really disturbing happened.” – she said genuinely distraught.

Isaac standing in the field and already gathered a lot of people around him, shouted:

“Let’s go, only couple of days left! We’re going on the east side of the forest today!”

“Let’s go and talk it all while we’re on search.” – Smith said and with Josephine they left to the group.

Suddenly a guy in glasses came by Smith’s side, a little shorter than Smith. Black shoes that he had on were very clean and well-polished.

“I’m sorry about the question, maybe it’s kind of inappropriate, but why are we searching in the forest?” – he asked.

“This is the last place someone saw her – Margo entered the forest and disappeared.”

He was confused as Smith looked at him after finishing.

“What?!” – Smith exclaimed.

“What if she never even wanted to be found? Have you thought about that?”

He asked, looked away; Smith glanced at Josephine who was perplexed by what was happening.

“What kind of question is that? You’re telling me she went missing and didn’t want to be found?!”

“I mean, anything can happen, don’t you think?”

Smith suddenly exploded.

“Hey, why wouldn’t you get the fuck out of here before I smack you, huh?!”

He wasn’t surprised by his hostile behavior at all.

“And who even are you?” – Josephine asked.

“Alex.” – he commented shortly and left.

“What was that?” – she asked as they reached the dark entrance to the forest.

Smith looked at her and then around for a moment then said quietly:

“I don’t know, some smart ass probably, thinks that he knows something.”

Josephine changed the subject:

“Yeah… By the way.” – she said and took a small bottle of medicine out of her pocket. – “I’ve been taking these pills for a couple of days; they really helped me with insomnia. You should take them too.”

There was an orange bottle of medicine in her hands, Smith still in thought looked at the bottle:

“Oh, wow, really?!” – he said and took one on the spot. – “Can I keep it?”

“Yes, of course! Take it.” – she answered.

“Thank you, I appreciate this.” – he said and proceeded shortly after. – “That guy was questioning me like it wasn’t me who found the house here.”

She got confused:

“House?! Which house?!”

“I didn’t tell you? Then listen, there’s a house near here, it might be important. We’ll talk about it later. I hope the new detective can do something about the situation or at least care about it.”

“Let’s see. I think I saw her outside – she’s very pretty.”

“She’s not here because she’s good-looking, she has a job.”

Smith said and looked at the distance, then around.

“Don’t act too tough. You know she is.”

An older man spoke from behind them – they recognized his voice, a stranger living in these woods who was just really happy that people came here after all this time.

“Y’all talking about that new young detective girl?” – he asked with a rusty voice. – “With the kind of ass she got she has all the rights to ruin my life. You know those kinds of girls?” – he asked, giggling, and tapping on Smith’s shoulder. – “It’s a gift – a gift that enables them to do anything.” – he sighed and continued.

“Look, I think you managed to ruin your life without those girls.” – Smith answered.

“Eh.” – an old man sighed and walked away.

“You wanted to tell me something important?” – Smith asked Josephine as the old man sat on the wood behind them.

“Yes, I watched the tape – it was me filming my kids in the backyard.”

“What?!”

“Yes, but why would it be outside of my house and who put it there? Who even got it in the first place?”

“Maybe you got tired these last days and was hallucinating?”

“I don’t know; I just don’t think so.”

Silence arose. The wind picked up, it was a little colder and grass swayed. He picked up his head, with squinted eyes and face full of care.

“Look, I’m not a psychiatrist, I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe someone's really out there, doing some weird shit.”

She sighed. “We’ll see. Do you want to tell me about her, what’s up with those feathers, you were saying some fiction novel fantasy shit.” – she said and seemed confused and curious slightly.

“She could always fly, that’s the truth. Since she was a child, she found out that about her – she had wings and could fly high with the birds.”

Even though he was saying a very non-real and controversial thing he was very nonchalant.

“So, you’re really in it, huh?” – Josey said and had a confused mocking face. – “You really want to tell me you believe that she can fly?”

“If you don’t want to help me and start arguing again, the document is in the car – you can leave whenever you want.” – Smith stated.

“Don’t start again, please.”

Suddenly people were in a hurry somewhere and everyone around them, where there was about 50 people rushed into one place. Alex came up from behind and screamed:

“They had found something! Come on, faster, let’s see what it is.”

Atlas ran behind Smith and Josephine as they started fast walking towards it.

“Look, I’m not forcing you to believe me, it’s not easy to believe in it, sounds like nonsense. But make your decision after I show you some pictures.” – Smith said as they were walking fast in a lot of noise around – people were pushing, sighing, and looking at each other. They came closer and Smith pushed everyone out of the way with Josey by her side and got to the front. It started pouring lightly as the two approached the site. Smith looked down at the same time as her and stood there without any movement, he felt the presence of the detective to his left, doing the same thing as him – analyzing what was there in front of them. Detective jumped into the hole in the ground, it was quite deep as everyone sighed and came closer to it – almost fully the hole was filled with dead birds, but all of them were owls. They seemed like they were not murdered, but just fell into the hole. She started picking their legs with one glove on and searching for clues around. Smith saw something – there was a glimmering gold coin, but weirdly with silver details which lay on one of the birds near the center. As Smith opened his mouth to say it, Josephine shouted beside him:

“There’s a coin there, in the middle.”

She carefully turned her head around for some reason and looked at it, picking it up slowly after with a tool and put it in a pre-opened plastic see-through bag. As Smith looked around there were no other signs of anyone in the hole – nothing was left behind. No one was there. An owl hooted three times above the hole.

“Let’s go, I need to talk to you right now.”

Smith said and they rushed out of the site immediately with Josephine. The detective emerged in her work saw in her peripheral them rushing and continued working, stopping for a moment. The crowd stood speechless staring in the hole as the weather turned into gloomy even though it was May. Josephine looked around nervously to not look weird and suspect.

“What is wrong with you? You can’t tell me that while being less attention-grabbing?” – she said visibly mad.

“I’m sorry, but do you remember when I told you about her flying?” – they were standing close away from the group about 10-15 meters as he was almost whispering. – “I told you about the birds, remember? Listen, I think it’s all connected…”

Josephine interrupted him:

“OH man, come on. You’re reaching at this point, don’t you think? I think this is just the job of a weirdo living near the woods. That homeless guy, maybe he did this, you want to go ask him?” – she said and pointed somewhere, where the homeless guy was sitting in the distance. Smith for the first time seemed okay with her taking the lead.

“Okay, I don’t think it was him, but let’s talk to him.” – he answered without any enthusiasm and interest in this what he thought pointless interrogation.

Detective who got out of the hole and was filling documents put her head up and glanced at them for a second and seeing them go over to the homeless in a mysterious manner decided to examine them further not looking away, just staring at them, but doing it so that they don’t see her. It was quite easy; she was far away. They walked over quite fast, and Josephine tripped and nearly fell as Smith catches her and they walked up to the man sitting on a piece of wood. Weirdly he uttered very fast, as soon as they came up to him:

“So, they found it, huh? Do they think it’s connected to her case?” – he said with big round eyes like he was shocked.

“Relax, freak. We’ll ask you questions.” – Smith said.

“Since when are you a detective?”

“I’m sorry, go ahead.” – Smith said to Josey.

She turned her head slowly to the man sitting on a wood and asked, slightly moving forward:

“Hey, by chance, could you have made… that hole with birds inside?”

He didn’t answer, just kept looking at her then looked away at the site.

“Hey, she’s asking you a question.” – Smith said with a raised voice and came closer. Josephine stopped him and looked at him in a way that he would get the message to relax.

“Yes, yes, I did it. That was all me. No lie told, I like putting birds in that hole.” – he said and not once looked them in their eyes, just wiggling on the wood.

“Yes! Good choice of words.” – Josephine thought to herself.

“Are you on…drugs by any chance as well?” – she asked.

It evoked something in a man as he went on a rant:

“What are drugs? Drugs is life, drugs are everything around us, I’m not on drugs. God is on drugs; how otherwise could’ve he created this.” – he said and spread his arms showing everything around. The forest was a little less gloomy on the east side, more Sun got to the surface as trees were a little smaller; grass was dancing on the surface dressing the forest almost in a carpet – big green carpet with brown dirt spots and flowers here and there.

“Wow, he said something right there.” – Smith thought to himself with his face softening up a bit. An old man looked at him and recognized it and a smile slowly started appearing on his face amused by his word’s effect, but Josephine suddenly interrupted the moment.

“Stop with this nonsense, did you take something today?” – she exclaimed, but not angrily, almost like she stopped playing along and turned deadpan. He lost the smile on his face and answered calmly.

“Yes, I smoked a little weed.” – he said and looked away, getting shy, not being able to look into their eyes.

Smith’s face tensed up once again and he said:

“Okay, let’s go tell that to the detective, she seems quite competent.”

Josephine stopped him as he started to walk towards the site. Atlas ran forward, stopped, and looked back, waiting for him to continue patiently.

“Do you trust her? Be honest, we don’t even know her.”

Smith looked at the detective far away as she reacted fast and looked back at her papers again.

“Josey, do you hear yourself? She’s a detective, she’s not here to pick fucking grapes. She’s our help, almost only help to find out what’s going on here.”

“You’re right,” – she said and put her hand on her forehead. – “I’m sorry, just kind of losing my mind with everything going on around, not getting a lot of sleep.”

Smith looked at her with his face changing once again to being less tense and serious as she was looking down.

“Look, I appreciate you even being here and doing this for me. I know that it’s hard for you, especially after the hard divorce.” – he said and hugged her. They hugged for quite a long time.

“Kiss already, it’s getting boring.” – a homeless man said falling in a hysteric laugh that was continuous seeing their reaction to his words. They walked back to the hole with Atlas running in front. Walking around the crowd with quite a difficulty, they got to the detective who seemed to be already ready for them and greeted them with an inviting face.

“Good day, detective. How’s it going? This is Josephine.”

Josephine went forward and shook her hand with a smile from both sides. The detective was quite serious, as she turned the smile slowly faded away and Smith continued.

“How’s the search going?”

She looked down for a moment to think, then continued:

“I just started, and I got to say – there’re a lot of weird details about the mission, would be great if someone helped with any information.” – she said and carried on looking around casually.

“Well, yes, we want to give you information actually about this hole.” – Josephine said.

She looked at them both standing in front of her, and the leader of the search group could be heard in the distance:

“Let’s move on! The day’s nearly over!”

The Sun was slowly setting down to the west and although it was still high in the sky, its light was slowly dimming.

“Let’s go sit down and we can discuss what you have for me.” – she casually and calmly said, pointing to the bench on the left right next to the hole.

…

“So, you’re saying the homeless man of this forest is the one who made it?” – the detective put her leg on another.

“Yes, that man.” – Smith said looking behind and pointed at him turning around.

The detective looked in the distance and looked back at them smiling.

“What?” – Smith asked curiously.

The detective looked at Josephine as she nodded in a conforming manner, shortly to confirm something only Feline and Josephine understood.

She looked back at Smith and said:

“Okay, that homeless man behind me is the one who built the hole? Am I understanding you right?”

Smith nodded positively. She put her legs normally.

“So, Smith, where do you think she is?”

“Why’s she talking to me like I’m a child?” – he thought to himself.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t here. I have the information everyone has.”

“Right.” – the detective answered, looking right into his eyes inscrutably – “So, thank you for the information, I’ll definitely look into it.”

They stood and walked away back to the village while group was finishing the day. But before going too far, Smith remembered and went back. He sat down once again making her put her head up from the papers.

“Hey, I almost forgot,” – he said and proceeded without a pause. – “There’s a house near the forest, on the west side which is connected to the case. I believe that’s where they kept her for some time.”

The detective turned serious and looked at Josephine for approval while she nodded to confirm.

“Why do you keep looking at her, I’m talking to you. You think I’m lying?”

“No, no, I’m sorry. Please go on.”

“The previous detective made some improvements on the case, and we were close, so he told me these details that he didn’t put into official documents for some reason, that’s how I know if you’re wondering.”

She was amused by this detail, but at the same time shocked.

“Wow, I’m pleased by the fact that you want to share this with me. Thank you.”

Smith answered with a stale face:

“No problem, I’m just trying to make it quicker, not saying it because I like it or something. Do you know why the other detective didn’t want to put the information in the official documents?”

“I mean, there are a lot of reasons why – maybe he didn’t like the system. Maybe…” – she answered and looked away, in thought.

“What?” – Josephine asked standing nearby. Atlas was lying in the grass opposite the bench.

“I need to think about it more, so thank you for your information. I hope I’ll see you in the village.” – she stated, still in thought and rushed away in the direction of the village. Looking at each other as the top of the trees buckled under the will of the wind and the Sun was still trying to give it its last try to light the forest and was slowly fading away suffering a loss on the horizon.

“Well, that was weird. What was she thinking?” – Smith asked.

“Who knows, she was thinking of something. It might be anything, we’ll catch up with her in the village. Let’s go.”

They walked away in the distance, to the south-east to catch up with the group who were probably by this time getting ready to return to the village.

…

“She betrayed him. That’s interesting. But those kids needed to be saved, I did a good job with that tape, now she’s more careful and aware.”

…

The wind was flowing her hair around as Margaret and they both stood outside of the house, near the front door.

“So, I guess you didn’t like our summer house, huh?” – she said.

Margaret looked at her wild eyed.

“No, no, I love it. Just want to go home, thank you for inviting me.”

“It was my pleasure, miss.” – he said, bowing before her.

“No need anymore, Gilbert.” – the woman exclaimed.

Margo smiled at him graciously, afterwards turned around and asked:

“So, where do we go? What is the way back to the city?”

“Yes, of course, we’ll go through the land then pass the forest.”

“The forest?” – Gilbert asked.

The Sun shined on her face as she turned around and calmly said:

“Yes. The forest.”

…

Menny forest – where you go and never come back. No outsiders are allowed. You remember right?

No one who’s NOT right for the forest is ALLOWED OR WELCOME!

‘Oh, poor Margaret. You really thought you’ll change something? YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU’LL MAKE THE FOREST COLLAPSE AND DISSAPPEAR? You just made it more bloodthirsty.’

But maybe she’s not wrong… after all.

…

He looked at the ground and went back inside not saying any more words. Margaret saw his demeanor change as he went back.

“Is the forest dangerous?”

“No, don’t worry about it, even though he’s a big guy, he’s always been scared of that forest, just doesn’t like it for some reason.” – she said while her blonde hair was still even though there was some wind, and the Sun shined at it making it very bright. They smiled at each other, and Margaret turned her head to look at the distant road in front of her again while she kept staring at Margo without her smile disappearing, but it went away slowly as she turned her head and stared at the ground before going inside in a following minute.

“Well, I guess I’m going home.” – Margo thought to herself and peeked inside of the house and went in to grab her bags.

…

“Something about this forest. It just doesn’t sit with me well, Josey.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely creepy.” – she answered Smith, her expression taking on a wry look as she widened her eyes in an understanding way. She continued. – “Didn’t you notice that Atlas was barking the whole time he was on the site and not only there, in the whole forest?”

Smith looked at him as he was distressed and wiggling about barking from time to time.

“Maybe he senses something, don’t you think?”

“Yes, of course, lots of dead animals, that’s what he senses. And only God knows what else.”

“Yeah,” – Smith answered. – “By the way, I’m really curious about who’s responsible for the tapes that you found at the doorstep and why’s it your videos? Who has access to your videos?”

“I don’t know, don’t really give my tapes to anyone and also those tapes are very personal, and I even forgot they existed.”

It was quiet as only animals could be heard in the distance; it was afternoon. Walking around in silence for 5 minutes, Smith said once again:

“Do you remember those times in the city? We all lived near each other and were seeing each other almost every day coming back from work.”

“I mean those times were still a part of reality up until she went missing, but I understand you, those days were amazing.”

“I remember that day. It was crazy seeing that in the news: ‘Famous military pilot went missing yesterday at’. Don’t really remember the time, but…” – he said and stopped and as Josey looked at him, she saw that his eyes welled up.

“I know you too were extremely close and I’m sorry for your loss.”

“No one’s lost yet! We’ll find her, NO MATTER WHAT!” Smith objected immediately. Tears rolled down his face and Josey understood looking at him that she blurted.

“I’m sorry Smith, we’ll definitely find her. I misspoke.”

He didn’t answer but just stopped and crouched, petting Atlas.

“You want to go to the bay? Let’s just sit there at the bench and talk about life.” – she said.

“Yes, let’s do that, Atlas wasn’t at the bay for a long time.” – he answered.

“Let’s go and meet with the group faster so we can go to sleep at the right time.”

“Why’d you need to go to sleep at the right time? Is school tomorrow?” – he said mockingly, chuckling at the end. She seemed disappointed.

“No, just to have energy next day for activities.”

“I mean, you can just drink coffee.”

“No, we shouldn’t. It’s not good for you.” – she said and looked in the distance, in thought.

“Oh, so you’re one of them ‘healthy diet-healthy body’ experts.”

They both started laughing as he stood up and continued to walk towards the group again, laughing about it for 15 m constantly repeating the joke.

Chapter 9

He was looking at the sea standing by the guardrail separating them from it. They were almost on a platform, looking down at the sea, gradually appearing as you step forward. The weather was sunny, which made it harder for them both to look up. Smith looked at her face as it was the safest place to look under the bombardment of the Sun. She smiled looking back at him – they smiled looking at each other and he put his head up looking at the sky where the Sun hid under the clouds for an instance. She didn’t look away. But she was not smiling anymore, just looking – with the compassionate look of a mother which was at the same time filled with despair. His abandoned of much attention face with hair growing on his neck and his facial hair was not taken care of although remained that childish feature – some kind of hope, light in his eyes that was always there, but hid deep within him.

“You know, I’m sorry I never told you about her flying. I should have before. Really.”

She looked at the horizon and said while Sun kissed her face:

“It’s ok, Smith, it’s ok. I’m happy you at least told me.”

Atlas jumped on the foundation before the guardrail, where they stood and looked too at the blue horizon, wiggling his tail happily.

“Of course, you know, I really care about you, and you helped me through all of this. I don’t know if I could do this without you.” – Smith said.

The clouds hid the Sun behind them, covering it in their arms.

“Stop it, we’re not even done yet. We’ll find her.”

He smiled slightly.

“Yeah, we will.” – he said and after taking a pause for a minute, continued. – “Do you ever think about your Mom? You miss her?”

“Yes, of course. There isn’t a day I don’t.”

“Do you really think there’s something else that took her away? Like, supernatural powers?” – he asked.

She sighed and said, coming over to his left where Atlas was sitting, looking at the sky. Sitting almost like he was also in the conversation:

“Yes, I do. I do think something happened, just don’t know what though.”

Smith took out some pills from his pocket in his jeans and swallowed two of them as Josephine watched him, not saying anything.

“You want to go for a walk?” – she asked, standing away from the guardrail, behind Atlas. He looked in the distance once more, turned his head to look at Atlas who was doing the same thing and petted him behind his ears as he was getting closer to Smith, so he continued and started licking his hands, putting a smile on his face.

“Why not.” – he answered.

…

Feline was standing in the place near the forest. It was empty, empty for a long time as she looked around the building and it grew all sorts of plants.

“No neighbors, no gardeners, not one soul living in this place – interesting.” – she said to herself.

“Let’s walk in, guys.” – she said to two helping investigators behind her – Alex and Isaac.

The breeze from the sea in the distance wiggled her hair around and not only that, also her coat – beige coat over the dark blue polo-shirt. As they walked in, they saw a small place. Feline’s attention took the small corridor which called for the person walking in to take the stairs and not the left turn into the other room. As Feline investigated the room on the left that attracted her just because it was unassuming and kind of made to seem uninteresting, she thought like, she saw an empty white room, with no furniture, only the couch on the far left – a brown, kind-of moderately new couch and that’s it. She heard both guys walk upstairs to search for other rooms as she walked up to the couch and gently breezed her hand across it looking for some clues – clues from her surroundings or intuition. She stood there for a moment, eventually looking from the glass balcony door outside, into the garden as she didn’t hear anything inside. But nothing stood out, only a singular shoe outside of the balcony door. Feline opened the door after putting some pressure on it. She squatted down and looked at the shoe – a darker shade of green with untied shoelaces with a ripped tongue. She took a picture and left a yellow evidence marker as a place of evidence. She walked back inside and walked across the room as she heard a sound from her right side and looked at the couch – it was a short whistling sound, but it went away quickly, and she couldn’t hold on to it long enough, so she didn’t pay much attention and kept walking to the staircase leading upstairs. The staircase was very old and dusty as were the walls that looked fragile.

“Hey, detective, you got to see this immediately.” – Isaac shouted from one of the rooms on the right where a long corridor opened as soon as you walked in. As she made a turn, Feline realized that the noise came from the balcony, so she rushed through the kitchen which opened a view of the sky and was quite space, also on the way to the balcony she realized orange shelves on top before stepping in the balcony. As she walked in, Isaac was squinting his eyes looking at something very small almost facing the door back to the kitchen. He saw her walking in and immediately reached, showing it. As she came closer, she saw that it was a coin. After looking at it for 20 seconds, she stated:

“That’s… that’s the exact same coin we found in the forest, on those birds.” – Feline said and looked back at them.

“Detective, that’s not a coin. That’s an auspice.” – Alex said, standing on the side with his arms crossed. They all stood silent.

“Where did you find it?” – she murmured, breaking the moment of silence. He turned around and walked to the edge; an amber colored sky stood in the distance, but the clouds started turning violet while the sky was slowly changing into a darker shade of blue – an afternoon was coming in the following couple of minutes. She looked away from the sky at him pointing to the hidden place behind the guardrail.

“Interesting, very interesting.” – she said to herself and put it in a plastic bag as evidence.

…

Margaret was standing near the road looking at the distance and the road to the forest. The car was ready as they both sat in it with him sitting in the passenger seat. She turned her head standing behind the car and looked at the sea on her right far away then looked back forward with her hair disturbed by the wind, but not even disturbed – just carefully played with. “Come on, Margo. Whenever you’re ready.” – she said sitting in a car looking at her from the rear-view mirror.

“I need to call my Mom and tell her that I’m on my way.” – she thought to herself and continued. – “Fuck it, I’ll do it after I arrive, I’ll call Mom and Dad at the same time, also Smith.”

She went forward and put her bags in the open trunk and closed it after placing two bags carefully. She went and sat in the backseat, quite an uncomfortable backseat and as she sat down something stung her on her ass, it was a sharp feeling, but she brushed it off as an accident because it disappeared quickly.

“Alright, let’s go.” – Margo said. Gilbert looked at the lady with a worried face slightly turning his head and she nodded her head which meant:

‘Yes, drive.’

He turned his head forward and took a big gulp simultaneously, starting the car and driving forward looking up nervously for a second.

…

“Did you find any other clues? Or something suspicious?”

“No, we went in here first, let’s see what’s in other rooms.”

They went out started checking and going through all the other rooms – nothing suspicious was found in the kitchen and they went to the 2^nd room.

“It looks like someone lived here not a long time ago.” – Isaac said as he looked at all the things in the room, that would be in a normal adult’s apartment – books, a guitar, bed, and weirdly a brick – and orange brick with cement on it in the middle of the room.

“What is this doing here? Everything is so ideally put, but only this brick is out of place.” – one of them said.

“Hold on a second.” – she said while squinting her eyes, totally focused on the room.

“Hey, guys, can you help me pick this up?” – she asked, standing by the bed.

“Oh, yeah,” – they both said, and went for it quickly. – “Don’t worry, we’ll do it ourselves.”

“No, I need one of you two. Let me at least try.”

“Okay, okay.” – Isaac said and backed up.

Feline and Alex grabbed the bed from both sides and even though she struggled a bit at the start, she got the hang of it. They dropped it about a meter to the side and were shocked at what they found. They were all looking at bricks sticking out from the ground that were hidden under the bed.

“What’s this about?”

“Okay, take a photo of this, we’ll come back here. Let’s go into the other room.” – she stated.

Isaac and Feline walked out and entered the third room and as soon as they entered, the scene opened – blood stains were on the ground, in the middle of the room. She kneeled and looked at it, saying:

“I’ll take a probe to compare with the sample we found in the pit but I’m sure it’s Margo’s blood. I’m guessing it’s the killers hiding here who left this stain thinking no one will check this house.” – she said and stood up, looking serious.

“Got you” – Isaac answered – “By the way, I wanted to ask you, what’s wrong with that guy, Smith, her partner? I saw you talking to him and Josephine.” – Isaac asked.

She looked at him without changing her facial expressions, unfazed.

“Don’t worry about them, you know good and well why we’re here.” – Feline said and went over in the direction of the door to leave, but before doing that she stood beside him and uttered: “Just say what we were asked to say – we found nothing in this house.”

…

Smith was sitting in his apartment when suddenly the walls started to close in on him. He grabbed his head and put it down.

“I need to take my meds.” – he said to himself squeezing his eyes, that were already closed.

He stood up and walked over to the cupboard. Smith opened it, grabbing pills while protests were still going on outside. But now they’ve changed their chants:

‘SHOW US HER BODY!

SHOW US HER BODY!

WE WANT TO SEE HER!

WE WANT TO SEE HER!’

Smith looked out of the window confused, not understanding what they were saying:

“Hold on, they haven’t found her yet, what is all that talk about the body?” – he said to himself, and then opened his eyes widely, proceeding. – “Or did they?”

He dropped the pills on the ground and ran for the phone in a rush, searching everywhere for it then seeing that it’s been on the cupboard near the bed all this time. He grabs it and rings someone. After waiting for 30 seconds and looking outside with his heart beating out of his chest someone picked up the phone, it’s Josephine.

“Josey, they found her body?!” – he said as soon as he picked up the phone.

“What? You saw…”

“Yes, they’re screaming right by my house – her fans. Where is she?” – he asked, distraught.

“Smith, listen, you took your pills, right?”

“FUCK THOSE PILLS, WHERE IS SHE?!”

“Listen, okay,” – she said and took a breath before she continued. – “Smith, listen… she was in that hole – the one we saw yesterday. She was in it.”

“What?!…But those were birds. Stop playing games with me Josey, where is she?”

“Smith, listen,” – she said as she started sobbing with her voice trembling and continued. – “She was found in that hole, and you need to take your pills, please. There were never any birds, there was never any homeless man in that forest.” – she stopped even though it seemed like she wanted to say more.

“What?!” – he said and held his head. – “So, I’m losing… my mind?” – he took a big gulp.

“Listen, you’re taking your medication, everything is going to be…” – her voice got quieter and quieter as he put the phone away from his ear and went to the window of his house, where the supporters kept screaming and chanting, demanding something with her pictures all over the crowd. He looked at her big picture in front with pink frame – it was her in a black turtleneck looking right at him with her luscious brown hair dropping down from both her shoulders. Smith stared at it for a moment as the crowd started to get broken up by security and people of the camp who were fed up, but the picture stayed put without an inch of movement.

“They killed me, Smith. They didn’t let me fly, they never let me fly away. Why didn’t you help me?” – Margo said to him as he was looking at it. He put his head down and dropped on his knees. – “Don’t… don’t cry, you treated me well. Because of you I even got a chance to fly, now I’m free.” He now lay on the ground in the fetal position, sobbing.

“I’m sorry, Margo! I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you! You needed to tell me! WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?! – he screamed on the floor, but only silence followed.

“Answer me, Margo, I BEG YOU!”

But she wasn’t there anymore. He stood up and looked out of the window searching for that poster, but it was no longer there. The crowd got pushed back and most of them were leaving, still chanting in the distance. Looking out of the window, maniacally searching for her photo, he left the house immediately and as he did Atlas woke up, wondering what happened, and got up running immediately after him, but he wasn’t able to get out of the house as Smith closed it just before he got to it and ran to the crowd in the distance – he saw her and the person holding her, who was was leaving with the group weirdly never turning around and chanting with others. He ran towards her, as Josephine appeared close to him as he was running through the field, towards the picture that got closer and closer. Josephine ran after him and as he got to the poster, smashed into it, and fell onto the ground, crying. But the crowd didn’t stop and kept moving away, still chanting as the person holding it didn’t even budge. As Josephine came closer, there he was – sitting on the dirty field, looking at the poster and just bawling. She slowly touches his shoulder thinking that he’ll calm down, but he jumped up very quick and ran as fast as he could towards the forest, totally dismissing her.

Chapter 10

The last hope

“Why did we stop here?” – Margo asked, looking at them, turning her head away from the window.

The Sun softly shines in the forest as the woman in front signals with her head. Gilbert turned around and looked at Margo with a sad expression.

“What’s going on?!” – she asked, slightly disturbed but at the same time feeling a strong wave of exhaustion.

…

“Check all the rooms, find any clues you can. There should be an opening where they hid.” – Feline screamed throughout the house.

“Yes, already on it.” – Alex shouted back roaming other rooms.

After 15 minutes of roaming the house, they all stood downstairs by the stairs.

“I don’t know, I can’t really find anything. This house is just empty without any clues.” – Isaac stated, coming downstairs just a few seconds ago.

“There’s always something to be found, Isaac. Too many clues for nothing to be in this house, do you not remember those bricks upstairs?” – she said looking around the hallway and through the balcony of the white room with a determined look.

“Maybe it’s not in the house. What is they made a place somewhere under the house from the outside?” – Alex said.

“Might be. Let’s go check the premises.” – Feline said and they went outside. As they went outside, a police car came near fast and stopped at the house. They all stood there and looked at the officer get out of the car. He was overweight, somewhere about 50-55 years of age, with long grey hair which was carefully put back. Feline noticed he had a notebook in his hands and looked quite exhausted but hid it well. He walked in their direction with the other officer sitting in the car – he was younger, somewhere 30 years of age with black hair.

“He’s shady.” – Isaac thought to himself.

Officer walked through the gate and shouted:

“What are you three doing here?” – he asked quite aggressively, all of a sudden.

“I’m detective Feline Marcel, hired by this region’s police to investigate the murder of Margaret, the hero-pilot who saved the lives of a lot of people. And these gentlemen are…” – she didn’t finish her sentence as he interrupted.

“Nothing is to be found here, lady. You all can leave.”

She stood shocked at his callous approach.

“Wait, what?” – she questioned.

“Yes, please, leave the premises immediately. Order of the city’s police.”

He had a calm demeanor, sure of the fact that they two have an advantage. Feline looked at his partner who now was standing outside, leaning on the car with his hand on the belt.

“No, we’re not leaving. Region’s police …”

“Please, we don’t need to make this difficult.” – he interrupted again and opened his jacket’s front where a gun’s handle showed. Feline looked at him and said:

“Fine, let’s go guys.”

They slowly left the premises and walking by the guy leaning on the car Alex spat on the ground before him.

“Fucking sellout!” – he said in fury.

The guy drew his gun out and kept looking at him.

“What are you going to do, shoot me?!” – he exclaimed.

She grabbed his arm to calm him down.

“Relax, we’ll figure this out.” – Isaac said.

They got in the car and drove away.

…

“Leave me! Stop it, where are you carrying me? Stop, please.”

Margaret was crying, beating him on his back but he didn’t feel anything and just kept moving forward.

“Gilbert, please! Please…”

“I’m sorry, Margo.” – he said, with a tear running down his face and continued. – “I follow the orders.”

They kept moving into the depths of the forest as Margaret slowly stopped beating on his back and fell asleep, not being able to resist the exhaustion that came out of nowhere. Gilbert started quivering seeing that she stopped resisting.

…

“You’re ready for whatever comes, sis?”

“Yes.” – a strong statement sounded – “No matter what happens to me, by that point I’ll already finish what I needed to do.”

…

Smith emerged by the east side of the forest, near the site. He came closer and lay down near the hole and stared at the sky in silence. The birds could be heard in the distance, and they came closer and closer.

“Is that you, Margo?” – he whispered. He didn’t get an answer and continued. – “I know, I know… I’m sorry.”

He closed his eyes and lay in the complete silence of the forest.

“Hey, Smith.”

“Yeah…” – he answered calmly.

“Look to your right.” – Margo said.

His face turned wry while he turned his head to the right, towards the hole. She was lying next to him, staring at him. He jumped up as he didn’t expect it but his foot tripped and he fell into the hole. Panicking, he started climbing from different sides of the hole, but without any success.

“What I’m going to do?” – he thought to himself.

He stood in the middle of the hole as he saw people above throwing down mud with shovels, slowly burying him.

“WOW, WOW, STOP IT! STOP, I’M HERE!” – Smith shouted repeatedly.

They looked at him but none of them had a face. The mud kept falling in the hole with even more intensity.

“STOP IT, I’M NOT DEAD! PLEASE!”

Stopping after Smith was shouting for a while, one of them replied:

“It would’ve been better if you died with her… You think you deserve to live now that she’s gone?”

They resumed, but this time Smith backed up, standing still and lay down in the middle. He closed his eyes as mud kept landing on his face, almost burying him under. After a minute only his lips showed from under the mud.

“Smith! What are you doing?!” – Josephine shouted from above. He opened his eyes as Atlas jumped in the hole and started dragging him, trying to get him out of the hole.

“How did you get here, buddy?” – Smith asked looking at Atlas, still in shock.

“You locked him in the house, and I needed to get him out, he’s your best friend after all!” – she exclaimed looking down.

Smith looked around and saw that there was no dirt on him and people above as he looked up had disappeared. He petted Atlas so that he stops dragging him and sits down.

“Yes, he’s my best friend.”

The dog was sadly howling and sat down, looking at Smith.

“Smith, I got to tell you…”

“Yes, I know, I know, there’s no need… I’m losing my mind.”

After a moment of silence, she said:

“Did you take your medicine today?”

“No, I will.”

“OK, come on.” – she said and put her hand forward. – “We need to go. Let’s go drink some tea or have a beer outside.”

Smith glanced at her and slightly smiled.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Josey smiled back. The forest fell silent, everyone went back to the city, packing to leave for once and for all.

…

“How do we even get in that house now?” – Alex asked, driving the car, glancing at the mirror above.

“Come one, think about it.” – Isaac answered. – “We go there at night. We don’t need to search the inside, only near the house.”

Feline shook her head in agreement.

“Oh, yeah? You think they’re so dumb to leave us alone and think that we won’t find a way to get back in?” – he queried.

“Yeah, I think they thought that we’re some frail weak detectives who came from rich areas and that we’ll be scared shitless seeing that they had guns! So, maybe they will leave us alone.”

“I don’t want to depend on theories, I need something stable!”

“Okay, okay.” – Feline intervened. – “We’ll go at night. We need to try that out. If we can’t do that, we’ll figure something out.”

The ride back was silent.

…

“Get out, it’s dark.” – Isaac said and they all got out of the car. Slowly crouching to the garden through the back, they looked around.

“I told no one was here, they don’t give a damn. Probably at home sleeping or something.” – Alex said.

“Okay, stop it!”

After searching the garden and surroundings, Feline said frustrated:

“There’s nothing here. What even is this house?!”

“Where are they?” – Alex asked.

“Guys, I think we tried our best. There is enough evidence for police to believe us and search for them on their own.” – Isaac said, turning back towards the car.

Feline was standing near the glass door separating the balcony and the white room and was looking around, lost. Alex turned with Isaac. Feline kept looking at the couch with a vacant expression.

“It would be easier if it was like in a game, if someone gave us some clues, a whistle or something.” – Alex commented.

Her eyes widened and glared as she murmured:

“A whistle! Guys, open this door. Fast!”

“Are you sure?” – Isaac asked.

“Yes! Yes! I’m sure! Faster!”

He jumped and opened the glass door with force, nearly breaking it as Feline slowly went inside behind Isaac who walked in first to check the room.

“It’s clear.”

She strolled to the couch.

“Hey, help me with this.” – she said, grabbing one end of the couch. Picking it up and putting it aside slowly, with dust flying all over the place, they saw a door on the ground – a box-shaped small door which was closed with a key.

…

“…Today, at 2 a.m. detective Feline Marcel from the regional department of police with help of gentlemen from the search group found bodies of two people who were in an unrecognizable state, but as it was stated by a pathologist – it’s a male and a female and the murder happened at the start of June. We’ll continue to monitor this developing story and bring you updates as they become available. Be sure to tune in next time. I’m Karen Matthews, and this has been a special report from News Now. Stay safe and informed.”

The news reporter stopped as the lights turned off slightly – the live report was over, and she grabbed her cup of coffee. She stood up and started walking backstage.

“Good job today, Karen! As always.”

“Thank you, dear.” – she answered and smiled caringly.

Sitting down on the chair, she started talking to her partner on the right.

“This case is insane, Clare, were you invested in what’s going to happen too?”

“Yes, was watching every day, of course between giving food to kids and all the other things at home.”

“Doesn’t that seem weird, though?” – Karen murmured and stopped.

“What does?”

“I mean, why would two people taking part in the search get killed in that house?”

“Interesting. What are you implying? You think there’s something that we don’t see?”

“There’s always something that we don’t know, don’t you think?”

They sat in silence for a moment; Karen was still in thought.

“I get you. Don’t think too much of it, you had a long day, go home, and relax.”

Karen sighed.

“Yeah… you’re right. Have a good night.” – she said and stood up.

“Have a good one.”

…

Would you ever dare to be your own biggest supporter?

I guess when people depend on you, you need to make sacrifices.

Even sacrifice lives of those who you love…

And of those who work against you.

“Are you happy, Margo?”

“I’m content.”

“How do you feel that your beloved Smith and Josephine are dead?”

A moment of silence arose.

…

The weather over the bay was rainy. The Sun was hidden somewhere under the clouds as two people walked up to the edge. They stood there in silence, looking at the water absorbing the drops relentlessly falling on its surface. Sometimes one of them would grab a rock and chuck it in the sea as the dog kept running laps around them. Even though the rain was quite heavy, the bay was busy, people kept passing them by, all going their ways – some with kids, some with their partners, some of them alone. The man, standing at the edge felt alone this day, even though he had a woman and a dog around him. That man was Smith, wearing a dark green coat while she wore a smooth violet one.

“What are you thinking?” – Josephine broke the silence. But he decided not to and remained silent gazing at the sea and the rocks splashing on its surface which were thrown by the kid standing on the left. The rain got heavier, and people started slowly leaving the bay.

“What was she thinking?” – he uttered looking at the sea.

She kept looking at the horizon.

“Did you know her very well, Smith?”

He suddenly glowered, looking at her with outrage.

“Yes, of course I knew her very well! More than I knew anyone ever.”

“What if we’re missing something?” – she asked.

“What are you saying?! We’ve been together for two years!”

She stood silent for a moment then proceeded:

“Forget about it, I guess I’m just tired. Didn’t get a good rest for a long time.”

The rain intensified and as Smith looked at the sky, there were no birds flying around. But, as he gazed to the left, there was one bird – a black one just looking at him.

“Margo?” – he said to himself. The bird remained there.

“Come on, I’m losing it again. Thinking that a bird is her reincarnation. She’s gone. Long-long gone.”

…

“I don’t know… I didn’t want that to happen. Smith was my husband and I loved him, and I still do.”

“Interesting.”

“But now I’m content – Charlie finished the job. He helped me fully fly.”

…

The last message

The artificial light surrounded the studio, everyone was getting ready for a big thing. A loud voice sounded behind the camera towards Karen, sitting in her chair confidently:

“Get ready, we’re starting in 30 seconds. Good luck, Karen.”

The biggest case in the last decade had a new detail to be presented to the public. The countdown out loud had started.

“Welcome to News Now, I’m Karen Matthews…” She was rehearsing while also doing articulation exercises.

“Three!

Two!

One!”

Cameras started recording and she spoke:

“Welcome to News Now, I’m Karen Matthews, bringing you the latest news. Starting off with the hottest news about the ongoing case of Margaret Harper’s mysterious death. New details appear to be released to the public through Web Leaks.”

5 million people were watching the news globally.

“It is a poem, which is said to be, by an anonymous source, Margaret’s last poem that she wanted to reach the public. It goes.” – she said and paused. The room was silent with millions of people watching it unfold live as Karen calmly grabbed the paper and started reading:

‘My cell with waves crashing on its walls.

Finally, they can fly with me,

Those who were not able to fly,

Waiting for me to finish what I had to do.

Now they are free.

And those who I love,

Just know that I never wanted this to happen.

Sometimes life happens on its own, and we have no choice but

To fulfill our calling,

To fulfill our calling so that souls of those with God

Can finally look under and see:

Your faced with an ineluctable fate,

The fate of revenge of those who cried on both sides:

Those who obey you,

And those whom your obeyed had killed.

Deep-rooted evil

Evil with no face and emotion,

Evil which emerged only for the sake of killing.

You all will fall on your knees and answer for your sins.

Amen.’

The studio fell into deep silence, even Karen would not dare to break it for some time.

“A very… mysterious and poignant poem. The case of Margaret Harper’s death is still being investigated and we’ll keep you updated with the latest news. Now, let’s go to other news…”

…

She got what she wanted. She’s a free soul, which fulfilled its purpose. Opening her wings, she flew after her death – into an eternal flight.

“Fly Away, Margo. Fly Away.” – Charlie said.