martyr

The solemn

Loneliness is a funny thing. Even surrounded by people who love and care about you, you can still feel lonely. People spend their lives walking around feeling like a phantom. Constantly overlooked and mistreated. How is that fair? What did they do to deserve being treated like they are invisible? Loneliness mixed with anger is a very dangerous pill to swallow. People crave connection and sometimes that still isn't enough. Feeling isolated is one of the worst experiences. People go through that on a daily basis. Why? They don't deserve it. Nobody deserves it.

Years of isolation will always have lasting effects. In this case those effects will take a very sinister turn. The killer is motivated by a cocktail of negative emotions and experiences. They wouldn't wish their life on their worst enemy. Nobody deserves this. Even now that things have improved, the mental scars of the years of tourment enforced on them will always have an effect on their daily life.

They didn't deserve this life. All of them deserve to pay.

Over the next few days, everyone did their best to support Charlotte. She needed it. Charlotte went to stay with Marjorie for the time being. She needed a safe space with someone who could comfort her at any given moment. The loss of her beautiful girlfriend Mia destroyed her. Charlotte couldn't leave bed anymore. She didn't know what to do with herself. Marjorie tried her best to support her. Every night she laid with Charlotte for hours trying to soothe her to sleep. Nothing worked. She would just end up crying into Marjorie's chest. “She would be so disappointed in me.” Charlotte mumbled.

“Mia would not be disappointed in you, my love. It's completely normal to grieve, she would be so proud of you for being open. Imagine if you were keeping this all inside. She wouldn't want you to do that and self-destruct.” Marjorie tried to comfort her. It only made Charlotte sob even more.

“Marjorie… promise you won't leave me too. Please. Please don't leave me.” Charlotte sobbed, clinging onto Marjorie.

“Char, I will never leave you.” Marjorie rubbed the other woman's back. She hated seeing her friend destroyed like this. Whoever did this to her must be completely heartless.

Sara did end up spending an evening with Autumn and Winter. It had been a few days since then by now but she had expressed the importance of being there for Charlotte. The pair both agreed to this and promised Sara that they would do their best to support Charlotte especially once she returned back to work. This is an incredibly difficult time for Charlotte and until the culprit is in custody she will be wary of everyone. It is important that they are all patient and understanding with her. Her life has been changed forever.

Pathologists had now completed their autopsy. They found that Mia was alive right up until the explosion. The thing that actually killed her was a large piece of glass that pierced her jugular during the explosion. Her body immediately set on fire but thankfully she was dead before she could feel any pain.

They couldn't salvage much evidence from the scene. Since the car had literally exploded, everything was destroyed. There were remnants of Mia's belongings but they were just scraps. They would have a very hard time trying to find any trace evidence. Some of the only things that were able to withstand the flames were Mia's various pieces of jewellery. They were destroyed but they were still intact. Unfortunately, one was missing.

Charlotte had told Vivian about Mia's ruby ring. It was a small piece of jewellery, gifted to Mia by her father. It was one of the last things she still had that connected her to him. Charlotte asked Vivian if she would try and retrieve it for her.

Rubies are highly heat resistant so it was very unlikely that it was destroyed without a trace in the explosion. Mia usually put it into her glove box on the days she would work in the nursery rooms. She didn't want it to be accidentally lost or destroyed by the children.

They searched desperately for this ring. It wasn't on Mia's finger. It wasn't anywhere in the car. It had vanished without a trace. Vivian knew that this was a very bad sign. The killer had taken it as a trophy. This meant that they were likely to become a repeat offender. If they didn't find the culprit soon, they would claim more lives.

Nobody could have prepared them for how soon the killer would strike again. It had been a matter of days since the murder of Mia and already they had a new target. It was way too late to save them now. Any police effort wouldn't make a difference.

Unfortunately, their fate had already been decided.