The Boy She Illegally Brought To The Lavender Field (bwwm)

Page 47

Annie paced nervously throughout her room.

They'd all eaten dinner and gotten ready for bed, Annie did so in hopes that it would put her mind on something else but she couldn't help but worry about Marshall.

She began packing a bag.

A knock on her window interrupted her.

She saw Daniel and hurried over to lift the pane.
"Hey, gorgeous." he smiled.
He noticed the pout on her face as she got up and continued fixing a bag.
"What's the matter?" he asked and climbed inside.
"I'm goin' to find Marshall." she stated.
"To find Marshall? What happened to Marshall?"
"He went out yesterday and he hasn't come back. But he does this all the time and my mama and daddy ain't worried. But they don't know where he went. If they did, they'd be lookin' for him. I know where he went. And..."

"You're scared somethin' happened to him?" Daniel finished.
She wiped her tears that she hadn't meant to cry.
"Come on. I'm goin' with you." he stated.
"Really?" She looked at him.
"I can't have you out there by yourself. I go where you go. Especially at night. Come on."
Annie put her flashlight back inside and threw her bag over her shoulder.

The two climbed out of her window and she used a book to prop it open before they took one another's hand and went off.

Annie led the way.

"I spoke to my mama today." Annie began.
"She gave you your stuff back." Daniel noticed when she grabbed her book.
"Mhm."
"Good. I missed hearin' you read to me."
"It's only been a day or two." Annie smiled.
"A day or two is too long."
She snickered.

"She told me that you two spoke to one another."
Daniel stared at the ground as they walked. "Is that...all...she told you?"
"Do you want it to be all she told me?" Annie asked and looked at him.
"Yea."
"Well it isn't."
Daniel groaned towards the sky and Annie laughed.

"Why would she embarrass me?" he asked.
"I was just kiddin'. She didn't say much."
"Good."
"Only that you talk about me real happy like." Annie smiled as she looked up at him.
He snickered with eyes on the ground. "Maybe a little."
"Yea, yea, little my behind." Annie scoffed.
"Your behind ain't little." Daniel stated.
"That's not what I meant!" Annie argued and he laughed.

"Do you think she still hates me?" Daniel asked and lifted their hands to spin Annie around like a proper dancer.
"Well...you made her smile." She walked backwards while Daniel walked forwards. Both with eyes on each other.
"Did I?"
"Mhm. And me." she smiled again.
"That's all that matters." He smiled as well.
Daniel would always pride himself on being able to make Annie smile that perfect smile. It became one of his favorite hobbies after seeing her be afraid of him for so long.

Annie faced back forward and they continued on their walk with Daniel's arm draped over her shoulder. Talking about whatever came to mind. About their days, about what Annie did to keep herself occupied since she didn't have her notebook and novels, and about how Daniel's day at work went.

They finally arrived at the woods.

"The oak tree that Mr. Robert and that boy hung from is in the center of these woods." Annie explained as she got out her flashlight.
"And you tried comin' here alone once?"
"Well...I was curious."
"Don't do that again."
"I know." She clicked on the flashlight and he snatched it.
"Look at me."
She looked in his eyes.
"I mean it. Don't do that again. Ever."
Annie held the side of his face in one hand while the other gently took back her flashlight. "I know. I won't. Promise."

The two started their walk into the woods and Daniel grabbed onto Annie's free hand.

"You don't leave from by me." he commanded.
Annie smiled. "I won't. Don't you worry."

The two heard scurrying and Daniel was quick to pull Annie into his chest and wrap her in his arms as he looked around.

Annie looked at him. "Daniel."
"What?" he asked with his head still on a swivel.
"It was a mouse, my love. I'm okay."
He looked at her. "My love?"
"That's what you are."
She turned around and took his hand to continue walking.
Daniel was trying to hide the smile he had from ear to ear.

Annie pointed her flashlight at the ground, looking for anymore small creatures that would walk across them and any uneven parts in the ground that might make one of them roll an ankle.

"How do they even get any of that nonsense done out here? I can't see fuckin' shit." Daniel complained.
Annie sighed. "Where there's a will, there's a way, I suppose."

The two continued walking.

"Should I yell for him? Is that dangerous?" Annie asked.
"I'm here if anything happens."
"MARSHALL!" she began shouting as they walked.

"MARSHALL, ARE YOU OUT HERE?! IT'S LATE, AND WE AIN'T SEEN YOU ALL DAY! COME ON HOME, NA!" she yelled.

She stopped when she ran into something.
"Goodness." she said and moved it out of the way.
"What happened?" asked Daniel.
"I hit somethin'."
"Are you alright? Was it a branch?"
"I don't kn-..." Annie brought her flashlight up and began shivering in horror.

A deafening scream escaped her throat and she almost fell to the ground before Daniel caught her and looked up.
His breath hitched at the sight he saw.

Marshall and Samuel. Hanging from separate trees. Marshall swung limply through the wind with a swollen face, missing eye, and limbs like he was battered. Samuel had a bruise or two but he didn't look nearly as bad as Marshall did.

Annie screamed through her tears as she continued staring up at her brother whose head hung limply by the help of rope around his broken neck.

She shook in Daniel's arms and he didn't know what to do next.

Annie couldn't gather herself enough for words. She just kept screaming and crying in Daniel's arms.

Their hearts raced miles per hour.

The sight was enough to scar her but she'd be better off not knowing the full story of Marshall's torture.

How he was hit by the truck and run over. Cracked ribs and other broken bones.
Samuel saw in horror and didn't know what to do. The passengers in the truck of men got out and grabbed onto Marshall's limp body who was crying quietly in immense pain. They tossed him into the bed of the truck without remorse.
They slapped the bed wall and the truck pulled off.
Towards Samuel.
Who began running as fast as his legs could carry him when he noticed.

When both men were grabbed, they were thrown on the center of the forest floor and beaten with large sticks until their enemies grew tired. They cried and whimpered. Screamed as best they could but struggled with punctured lungs by their own ribs. They could hardly move but they were conscious for their abuse. Unable to put a stop to it.
Marshall was spat on, kicked in the face, stripped of a few teeth, and blinded. He called for his mother and father as if they were somewhere close. The men in robes toyed with his broken limbs for fun and forced their movement. They used fallen branches as bats to swing into his head until the thick branches broke and Marshall suffered too much brain damage to scream. Swing after swing until he'd lost an eye by a mistake that the enemies thought was humorous.
They knew by his size that he'd been the one to kill their friend. What they didn't know was that it was by mistake. An accident.
But they wouldn't have cared much either.

Annie felt like sinking into the dirt. Her heels dug into it as she bawled and screamed.
Daniel began pulling her away from the sight.

"MARSHALL...!" she whined. "My brother...They took my brother..." she cried exhaustedly. Her cries only grew louder as minutes passed.
Daniel's eyes watered as he listened to Annie's screams of anguish.

"Come on..." he encouraged sweetly.
Annie was practically dead weight.
"Let's get you out of here." He bent down and scooped her up in his arms while she cried into his chest and shoulder.