13th of February (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter VIII

14th Feb: headlines: Fire at foster house, 2 dead, many injured.

At around 7:00PM yesterday, the 13th of February, a blazing fire caught the attention of people in and around *** Street at the time. The foster house / orphanage was well known for how well it was run, and had about 103 children and teenagers, aged from around 4 to 17. Witnesses say that the fire began in one room on the second floor. Workers immediately noticed and rang up the fire department, but by the time they reached the site 15 minutes later, there was barely anything of the building left. The fire had spread unnaturally fast, burning down 3/4th of the building before help could arrive. Staff and passers-by worked efficiently and evacuated the building as soon as they were alerted of the situation.

The remains of the two victims were soon retrieved. One of them was recognised as one of the helpers, who was unfortunately trapped before she could escape after helping most people on the floor evacuate. The second body was burnt beyond recognition; it could only be identified as a male. Seven children and three teenagers reportedly went missing in the hustle and chaos. The injured are admitted in 7 different hospitals across the city. Police are conducting searches. For more details on those missing, please wait for the end of the report.

Investigations show traces of kerosene in majority of the remains found at the site. The police believe that it's no accident. It is suspected that this is the doing of the notorious murderer Liam Stark. Liam was arrested approximately nine years ago, and released two weeks ago, on the morning of 1st of February, after serving his jail term.

"We are not entirely sure of how he managed to escape a death sentence despite being such an infamous criminal charged with so much more along with murder, but we're looking into it. Liam is our number one suspect because the day he was released, he had caused a scene at XXX in xxx street, and managed to get away with two more lives yet again before the police were alerted. It doesn't seem like much of a coincidence that the very foster house where the two children of the victims were staying was burned down in a fashion similar to one of Liam's previous works." a police officer investigating the site stated.

He further said "We request everyone in this area to stay vigilant while we do our best to trace down Liam. Please dial 456 if you see the man in this photo, Lia-".

Turning of the TV, James got up, deciding to take a stroll through the hospital corridors yet again to see if he could find Sherin anywhere in the building. Despite the hospital staff repeatedly telling him that there was no Sherin in the hospital, he still tried looking for her.

"James? There you are. The doctor wants to see you." said a nurse who looked slightly annoyed, probably at having to look around for him. "I'll be there, thanks" said James, giving her a lifeless smile. He immediately turned and retraced his steps, going towards the doctor's office. He ignored her sympathetic look. He hated being pitied, he hated feeling weak, he hated feeling helpless. That was exactly what he felt when....those things happened.

A short talk later, James found out that the way he behaved in the hospital had caused the doctor to think he needed serious mental help. James figured he actually needed it, because otherwise, he wasn't going to make it out of this.

So, despite hating it, he accepted the kind doctor's offer to pay his fees. He was discharged from the hospital and temporarily lodged at a rehabilitation centre. His therapist said that he wouldn't have to stay longer than six months as he was willing to cooperate and had already accepted the fact that he would need help to overcome his trauma.

Amidst all of this, there was not one day he didn't cry for his family. Family. It felt like such a foreign word to him now. The hardest part of the therapy was having to hear every day and accept that Sherin was dead. Deep down, he didn't believe it, but he knew that he had to eventually accept it.

He didn't know if the psychiatrist would ever be able to bring him out of this black hole that was swallowing him, out of this swamp of quicksand that he was rapidly sinking in. There wasn't a day he spent without torturing himself by replaying the three most ghastly scenes he had to witness, blaming himself for it all, and telling himself that he deserved it, that he deserved to be tortured more than this.

He doubted that he would ever see light again. He felt genuinely lost. There were too many things he regretted, too many people he'd failed, too many things he thought he could have - should have - done, too many times in a day he thought if only . . .

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Unedited

As usual, thanks for reading.

-Tristophobic