Burning Ember

Chapter 4-Hale

From the moment I met Ember, I was enchanted. Her long black hair gleamed, and her hazel eyes brought my heart to life. Despite the fear on her face, her gaze exposed deeper emotions—perhaps sadness or resolve. As we shook hands, I discretely checked for a wedding ring. It seemed impossible that someone like her would be unattached. Yet, the faint mark on her finger suggested she once wore a ring but had chosen to remove it. This detail hinted that she might be divorced or separated, as she would have kept it on if she were married or widowed.

Expecting to meet an older lady, my mother's only description being a woman, Ember's presence was an unexpected delight. Right away, it was apparent she was different from the other women in town. I was tempted to linger and learn more about her, but I sensed the need for patience, especially with her evident wariness of me.

Back at home, I booted up my laptop and looked up her name using the delivery form she'd completed. She had all but vanished from social media, as if she'd wiped away her entire online presence. Her last known address was in California, sparking my curiosity about her reasons for relocating to all the way to Maine. My research also lent credence to my suspicions about her husband, Gabriel Harding, a risk management analyst based out of Los Angeles. His social media profiles hinted at turmoil in their relationship. Anyone who looked hard enough at his profile picture would see it; his tight grip on her arm as he wrapped himself around her possessively and the way her smile was strained prompted me to delve into any possible criminal records. This wasn't a happy blissful couple, and I just had a feeling.

Bingo. He had previous assault charges from his teenage years, a few others here and there in the subsequent years, and more recently, a domestic violence charge involving assault and battery with a weapon from the previous year. It appears he avoided jail time, as there was no record of him serving any sentence. The thought of what he might have done to her simmered my blood with fury. Men like Gabriel were precisely the kind I aimed to eliminate: those monsters who delight in the suffering and manipulation of innocent women.

Much like my last victim, though I wouldn't consider him much of a victim, Marshal Stewart was the perpetrator of unspeakable acts against children. I often found myself skimming through the local databases in search of these fiends so that I can eradicate them. They have no place here, and Maine is better because of it. My father, rest his soul, was a firm believer in justice, and he knew just as I do, that sometimes the law doesn't always enact it the way they should. Now, I don't consider myself a violent man in the typical sense, but when I hear these reports on the news, the missing children, families and wives slaughtered by men that were supposed to protect and care for them, I almost can't help myself. The urge that rises within me is almost uncontrollable.

After an afternoon at Embers spent splitting wood, I tested her to see if she would open up about anything. Her fear was palpable, and I suspected it was linked to Gabriel, more than likely a fear of him looking for her. It was the flicker of suspicion in her eyes that gave it away. That was something I wouldn't stand for. She was right here, my neighbor. It was like God himself, if he existed, was sending her to me as a test. One to make up for the things I've done, and failed to do, and I knew then that I would never let him hurt her.

I returned under the cover of night, ensuring all the lights were extinguished before I discreetly installed several cameras around the property. I was confident that the light snowfall would melt and erase my tracks by dawn, leaving her unaware of my presence. Should he dare to approach her, I will be alerted immediately and will deliver the justice that the law did not. Though I hoped it wouldn't come to that, I had known plenty of men like Gabriel. They thought of women as their property, and his had escaped. I doubted that he was the kind of man to let her go so easily.