DEVIL

1.8 | Wrath

Wrath; noun: "strong vengeful anger or indignation."

Poetry Rain Collins lived a normal, stable life. She had a mother and father who were happily married, and loved their children more than they valued their next breaths. Poetry was blessed with two wonderful brothers; one, who would risk his life for his little sister, with no hesitation; and another, who idolized her more than any superhero. She was a brilliant girl with a promising future, friends who cherished her, and she was fortunate to have the life that she lived; until one morning, when death omens began plaguing her existence.

During the hours of the night, Poetry slept, but it wasn't peaceful. In her dream, she was treading through muddy water. Poetry stood with another woman in the water, although she could never see her face. On one end, Rafe stood, unmoving with his hands in his pockets. On the other end, her father beckoned her to tread back over to him. That was the first omen of death.

Poetry was awoken that morning, due to a commotion by her window. Upon inspection, it was discovered that her curtains had suddenly fallen to the floor, all on their own accord; it was another death omen, unbeknownst to Poetry. Before she could even roll out of bed, three knocks rapped against her bedroom door, despite no one else being home – the third death omen of the day; they were called "the death knocks," after all.

There were two ways to see this: on one hand, it was unfortunate for Poetry to walk around, experiencing such strange occurrences, with no knowledge as to what it was. On the other hand, however, ignorance is bliss. The remaining question: were the omens specifically for her, or would death seem to surround her? That was the tricky part about omens; sometimes, they provided no clear answer.

Alyssa and Anthony had left a note on the kitchen island;

"We'll be gone all day – out on an adventure!
Love,

Anthony & Alyssa"

Poetry already knew Eridanus would be attending school, and Adela had work, as usual. She tossed the note into the trash can and began her usual morning routine. Poetry made her way down to the docks to retrieve her grocery delivery, expecting to see JJ and Pope, just as she always did. However, that wasn't the case; Heyward, Pope's father, was the one unloading the groceries on that particular morning.

On the way back to her house, a black butterfly passed her; yet another death omen. "Excuse me," caught Poetry's ears as she walked down the street to her house with her groceries in hand. She turned around, urging them to continue. "Do you happen to know where I might find Ward Cameron?" Poetry shook her head. "No, ma'am. Why? Has something happened?"

"Nothing to worry about, I'm sure. Have a good day." With that, Poetry continued walking, soon entering her house to unload the groceries. The day went by, just as it usually did; at least, it was only normal for Poetry, due to her lack of knowledge on the omens that had been presenting themselves loud and clear.

Eridanus arrived home from school around 3:30 PM, Poetry helped him with his homework, and cleaned while he played up in his room; nothing was out of the ordinary. Well, except for when Eridanus asked "can we get a dog?" Poetry expected that he'd only continue asking everyday, considering how persistent he was.

Evening arrived, and by the time the sun had set, Poetry and Adela sat in the living room together – one of the stranger occurrences of the day, in all actuality. Adela checked a message on her phone, leaping to change the channel on the TV, as the text read: "check the news."

"Sherriff Peterkin has been pronounced dead, due to a fatal gunshot wound. Her suspected murderer is John B. Routledge; his whereabouts are unknown," the news reporter's voice seemed to slowly fade into white noise, as Poetry stared at the image of the sheriff they'd displayed on the television. It was the woman who'd asked if she knew of Ward's whereabouts, just earlier in the day.