Honey Whiskey

Remembrance

He pulled the freshly cleaned clothes from the banged-up dryer and threw them into the white laundry basket. Jonah took it back to the kitchen, where Miss Elliot was waiting. He placed it on the floor next to the dining table. She took care of the laundry, folding each item very carefully on the table. As he made his way to the living room, Jonah looked at the television that had been left on. A man was surrounded by microphones from multiple television stations. He took the remote and turned the volume higher as the man appeared ready to speak in front of a crowd. Time stood still as the news fell.

"As of today, the main suspect of the numerous murders committed recently in the surrounding areas, related to the 'Urban Street Butcher' has been taken into custody. We apprehended the suspect at his home earlier today after we got a hold of a warrant for his arrest. We do now have evidence that links the suspect to the murders. Our community can now sleep peacefully. If anybody has any further information regarding the case or any of the victims, you can call our non-emergency phone lines."

As the screen faded to black, pictures and names of the victims began appearing one after the other.

Each had families, friends, and people who loved them. Now, they are gone forever. Their lives were taken by this monster, Jonah thought to himself. The last victim's picture suddenly popped up in a flash on the screen. Maybelle. As he was reminded of his loss, he was completely overwhelmed by anguish. Breathless, Jonah fell to his knees. Sobbing, his cries for help echoed through the house back to Miss Elliot. His body was engulfed by the pain, the grief, and the rage he had bottled up inside. He was shaking in between each breath of air as tears rolled down his cheeks. Her killer was finally going to rot in jail. Jonah wished him every terrible thing that he could think of. He wished him an even worse ending than the one he had given to his victims. Unknowingly, his mind wandered to each way he could kill him. Miss Elliot stumbled rapidly to the living room. Lowering herself to the floor with difficulty, her arms held him as tight as possible.

"Jonah! Oh baby..."

"I'll kill him!", Jonah was enraged.

"Dear..., don't say that.", she rubbed her hand onto his back to soothe him.

"I will...!", his voice crumbled in between his sobs.

Miss Elliot held onto him, caressing his hair. She shushed Jonah as he clung to her with his trembling hand.

"She's gone...", he managed to mumble.

"I know. I know..."

As Miss Elliot held onto him, she kept rubbing his back tenderly. He remained unable to stop crying. An hour later, his body finally gave up. After the emotional and physical exhaustion had eaten him up, Jonah lightly fell asleep in the older woman's arms.

~

Awoken by the birds chirping outside his attic window, Jonah was lying in his bed. He was slightly confused about how he had made it here. He remembered pretty quickly, Miss Elliot had held him as he slept for a few hours before he had woken up after feeling her hand brush against his face. He had helped her get back to her room before he went back to sleep in his bed. As his eyes began to trail around the room, he became focused on the wooden boards covering his bedroom walls. He counted them over and over again before his mind became numb. Slowly, he took a few deep breaths before closing his eyes, he reopened them with great difficulty. He knew, now, who had killed his May'. Glancing around, his eyes caught each small detail and flaw in the room. His lungs expanded and slowly crashed down into his chest after each breath. He had no will to move, not even an inch. Later, Miss Elliot came up the old creaking stairs and approached him before smiling.

"Good morning Jonah."

"Mornin'.", he was still feeling tired from the events of the day before.

"Are you hungry or thirsty maybe? I could cook you something."

"I'm not hungry,...or thirsty."

"Well, if you want anything, let me know. If you need to talk. I'm always here for you dear."

"I think I'm just going to rest today."

"It is a good idea. I'll be downstairs, if...", she pulled up his bedspread and tucked him in so that he would be comfortable. "You need me."

"Alright. Thank you."

"Anything for you, dear."

She patted his curly hair before leaving the room and making her way back down the stairs. Jonah slowly rolled to his side, picking up his phone from his nightstand. He unlocked it before scrolling through the old message conversation he had with Maybelle. He read each of them, over and over again. Jonah wanted to engrave them in his mind so he could never forget. After what he had learned yesterday, in another world or another universe, he might have been able to keep living his life like normal. They had found her killer and he was going to spend the rest of his miserable life in jail. But no amount of consequences was going to fix this. No amount of jail time, and no death penalty was going to bring peace to Jonah. He was irrevocably going to need to take care of this himself. Jonah was ready to bring this man straight to Hell even if he had to drag him there himself. This was his end goal. He would find a way to him and he would kill him in the most torturous and most painful way possible.