Finding Tristan ✓

21: Resentful Discovery

"Free of memory and hope, unlimited, abstract, almost future, the dead body is not somebody: It is death."

Kylie

It's been almost nearly half of a year since Tristan had been kidnapped. I remembered coming back home that day, especially after my friends and I fleeted for Marshal Creek. People in my neighborhood were mostly middle-class working people, and some were richer than the normal. Those people had been out of town for a while at the time, and no one knew of Tristan's disappearance. I came to see shattered glass from a fallen vase and one of our large family photos.

There were several bloody handprints on the creme colored walls of the kitchen and living room. I took precaution and had my golf club in hand, and I searched the entire house. I had also found out that my mother had a stroke during her sleep and my father had immediately came straight home. He quickly took her to the hospital; pain was evident in his eyes. My mother had gone through a transient ischemic attack; a stroke that resolved on it's own.

A TIA happens when a blood clot blocks an artery leading to your brain for just a few minutes, or even several hours, but no more than twenty-four. TIA causes stroke symptoms such as weakness, vision or speech problems, dizziness, or headache. The doctor said that I was lucky to have checked on my mother, otherwise there would have been other serious problems. Medical attention was always required as well when it came to strokes of any of the sort. I was relieved that my mother was able to fully recover from that mini-stroke within two months.

I can say that, while she attended her physical therapy and speech sessions, there had been a lot of cleaning and cooking done by me at home. I was glad to have Linda as my mother because without her, I wouldn't have been able to cook independently. All of the foods that I would have tried to make effortlessly would have turned to shit. I honestly wouldn't have been able to live without her. I also took the time to keep in touch with the police department on a daily basis.

Mr. Fletcher, head chief of the police department, was currently doing an investigation on Tristan's whereabouts. He was doing it in secret in order to prevent any panic from breaking out in town. Mr. Fletcher was hoping that Tristan would be able to simply make an escape like how Luke did. I downright disagreed with his statement in the interrogation room. And I couldn't help to feel that Mr. Fletcher wasn't placing in enough effort in order to find my boyfriend.

I numbly stared down at my wrist as the classroom buzzed in anticipation. There was going to be a speaker in Biology class today, and he was going to bring in real live animals. My intent gaze softened and I lazily grazed my fingers over the black inked birds that were etched onto my skin. As a man named Mr. Hamilton walked in, I immediately jerked my head up in slight alarm. My breath caught in my throat, Mrs. Welter stood up from her desk and initiated conversation with him.

"Hello Marcus! It's good that we're having you today! How have you been?" I noticed that Marcus would tend to glance back at me during every minute that he spoke. His stare was ultimately fearful and it made me nervous to the core. Something about him reminded me of the dream I had recently. I remembered what Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton looked like, and I remembered that they had a son who had been in college at the time.

I used to play in the backyard all the time, and he would always accompany me in the garden. His delicate hands would play with my hair, and I knew that he loved to make flower crowns for me to wear each day. The Hamilton's son was fond of nature, and he was supposedly fond of my presence like no other; a bit too much for my liking. When I was younger, I liked having him around because he was like the brother I never had. And to think that the older man who was currently standing in front of me, exchanging words with my Biology teacher, was that the Hamilton's son?

The only unique attribute that I could remember about him was that he had this long, jagged scar along the back of his arm that reminded me of someone taking a blade and completely slicing his skin open. He had told me a story about the time he got robbed in a fast food restaurant that he was working at down town in Brooklyn. He had a gentle, but a bold personality that would make anyone look at him twice. He was all too mysterious, and often times, I wasn't able to understand him myself. He kept his negative emotions at bay, and he continued to smile in front of me even though he was going through so much alongside with his family.

Today, he was wearing a light blue dress shirt and khakis. It didn't seem like an ideal way for a zoologist and a wildlife rehabilitator to dress. But to me, all the pieces were slowly coming together. The Hamilton's son was very interest and fond of nature and its animals. Marcus was exactly like that, and he explained that he really enjoyed what he was doing for a living. During his presentation, he had rolled up his sleeves and turned his back to us for a brief moment to bring out the Common Barn Owl, and I was the only one who had noticed the faint scar that he had along his forearm.

On the inside, I had so many mixed emotions about him. I wanted to stand up and beat him senseless with my bare hands until he goes unconscious. I wanted to lock my hands around his throat and strangle the life out of him. I still feared him because of what he was capable of, but at the same time, I was extremely infuriated and I was currently boiling with pure rage. I was in a natural school setting, so obviously there was no way that I could have done anything to inflict physical pain on this mad man.

"The Common Barn Owl is a moderately-sized owl with a haunting look. This animal has a heart-shaped facial disc (mask) that is outlined by a rich shade of golden brown. Sheila's face is adorned with a pair of big beady black eyes and a pale beak. She has white underparts with golden-brown upper parts. Notice how there are small, black and gray spots present throughout most of the body and wings. The legs and talons are large and lightly feathered," Marcus rambled on.

The owl flew out of its metal cage and landed on the top of Marcus's thick leather glove. He clenched his fist and remained standing still for everyone to see. His icy blue orbs were trained directly on me, since my assigned seat was at the very front of the classroom. Chills racked my spine and I clenched my jaw. He was the man who fell in love with me during my childhood. He was the man who slaughtered my cat. He was the man who mercilessly killed Luke and kidnapped Tristan.

Marcus Hamilton was my stalker.