Chương 111: Chapter 110 – Corn or Consequences

Roxie went into the living room of the cottage and grabbed an afghan off the back of the sofa. She looked down at the beautifully crafted blanket, realizing that Rosie must have spent hours stitching it together. She ran a hand over it, feeling the softness, admiring the vibrancy of colors, the intricacy of the pattern. She was sure that while Rosie sat with yarn in hand, she envisioned it keeping someone warm on a cool night. She never could have anticipated that one day it would become her shroud.

She felt sudden tears behind her eyes and began slowly walking to the kitchen. Roxie couldn't just bring Illianna in here with Rosie lying there exposed. Her face was bloated and distorted from bruising and decomposition. Roxie had found the scene disturbing, even with her years of experience and no personal connection to the victim. She could only imagine the impact it would have on Illianna, seeing her friend like that. It was only right to cover her.

Roxie laid the afghan carefully over Rosie's still form, steeling herself against what she knew would be a horror show for Illianna when she entered the house. She carefully navigated her way back to the door through the chaos of the attack. Once out the door, she took a deep breath. The clean fresh air rushing in her lungs was more than welcome; it was desperately needed. The smell of death that permeated the house was something one never got used to.

She waved Illianna over, trying to figure out what she was going to tell her. She stood on the porch scanning the cornfield for Illianna or any hidden unwanted guests. Seeing nothing but corn stalks, she gave Illianna the all-clear signal. She watched Illianna make her way out of the cornfield and down the path to the house. She could tell by the way Illianna was carrying herself that she was reading her… looking for some kind of tell or hint as to the fate of her friend.

Based upon the look on the older woman's face, Roxie knew beyond a doubt she was doing a lousy job of concealing what she had discovered inside.

"How bad is it?" Illianna asked, slowly approaching, her back stiffening.

"I can't lie to you, Ill, it's bad. Normally, I would tell you not to go in, but I need you to tell me if anything stands out or doesn't belong." She sighed.

"Not that it will be an easy task…" She turned away.

"Those monsters essentially destroyed the place."

"I'll do my best," Illianna said, stepping up onto the porch.

"What about Joe and Rosie? The damage to the house can be fixed. Are they in there too?"

"I found Rosie, but not Joe," she said.

"I'm sorry, Ill, but..." she shook her head sadly.

"She's gone." Illianna looked around the yard.

"What is it?" Roxie asked, knowing there was more to it than learning of her friend's demise.

"It's too quiet. Normally once you step foot on the porch, Braxton and Brayton are barking up a storm. Thankfully, those two are a pair of overgrown pups that would sooner lick you than take a chunk, but I haven't heard so much as a yip since we got here." Great, now the dogs have names, Roxie thought, her face revealing their fate.

"No!" Illianna said with disbelief.

"Them too?" she asked sadly.

"I'm afraid so, Ill. I found them upstairs."

"I don't understand. Those two wouldn't so much as hurt a flea climbing up their back," she said softly, visibly fighting back tears.

"I know that none of this makes much sense. I know this is going to be hard to hear, Ill, but I have to prepare you for what's inside. This looks like whoever did it… took their time and enjoyed every minute of it. The attack on your friend and the dogs… was above and beyond coercive violence. This was a careful, deliberate act designed to inflict as much physical and psychological damage as possible. I am really afraid for Joe. Not finding him inside likely means they took him with them."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Illianna looked across the field at the barn.

"Unless he's in there," she said, motioning to the hulking structure on the other side of the property. Roxie cast a wary glance in that direction.

"We will check there before we go… but right now… I need to know if I missed anything inside that may lead us to where they took Joe," she said, dread making her stomach clench.

"The smell is enough to gag a maggot, so if you have anything in your pocket you can use to shield yourself from the smell, I'd recommend you use it." Illianna dug through her pockets and pulled out a handkerchief.

"All I've got is this," she said, waving it at Roxie.

"It's better than nothing I suppose. Do yourself a favor, take a few really deep breaths out here, and whatever you do… once we get inside, don't breathe through your nose," Roxie said, preparing herself to go back in. Roxie watched as Illianna took some breaths, then covered her nose with the handkerchief.

"Ready?" she asked, reaching for the door. Illianna nodded her head, but did not say a word. The handkerchief did little to stop the smell. Illianna's eyes began to water while her gag reflex kicked into gear.

"You okay?" Roxie asked, wondering if Illianna was going to vomit. Illianna nodded silently in reply while the pair continued further into the house. Illianna saw the afghan carefully draped over Rosie.

"I need to get out of here," she said, suddenly bursting into tears, rushing for the door. Roxie quickly followed her out. She understood how overwhelming this must be for Illianna, for anyone, really. It had been a long shot that they would discover something inside to lead them to Joe anyway. She knew in her heart that even a trained team of crime scene investigators wouldn't find anything for days in the aftermath. There was just too much chaos, too much destruction to expect anything else.

Illianna ran off the porch into the back yard, gulping in fresh air. The tears were falling freely now.

"You alright?" Roxie said, rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry I made you go in there Ill," she said solemnly.

"I was hoping for something, anything that would tell us where to go from here." Illianna cast her a hardened glance.

"I know, Roxie, but I think it was something I needed to see. For the first time, I am finally seeing what we are up against." She paused for a moment, then continued.

"I think I had deluded myself into believing this was a game of sorts, cat and mouse if you will. No one had been hurt and we have successfully outmaneuvered everything they have thrown at us." She sighed.

"This just opened my eyes to not only the danger to Thai, but to all of us. These monsters don't play by the rules, for them there are no rules. They have no qualms about murdering women and children; they actually seem to take some sick pleasure in it," Illianna said, her jaw tightening.

"It's a hard pill to swallow, I know. Yes, Blackwood is the living personification of evil. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants and will obliterate anyone or anything that stands in his way," she said firmly.

"I'm just thankful that Sheera and her family are nestled safely away out of reach," she sighed.

"And we are doing all we can to keep them that way, Ill. You know that, right?" Roxie asked.

"I have a whole new appreciation for what it is you and everyone else has been doing to protect not only Thai, but the rest of us as well," she said, giving Roxie a small smile.

"Let's check the barn. I doubt we will find anything… but Joe could be there needing help." The pair made their way across the field to the barn, neither of them speaking. Roxie suddenly motioned for Illianna to stop and pulled her down into the cover of the towering corn stalks. She motioned to her eyes with two fingers, then pointed to the side of the barn.

"Come on, we need to get these in the barn before sundown," a large goblin said to another, who was sitting on top of a crate, idly tossing an object in the air and catching it.

"Relax, Steppan, take a break, will ya, geez." He huffed.

"If Jimmick gets back and these things are not safely tucked away, we'll end up looking like the old lady in the house." Steppan sighed.

"Or worse, the dogs."

"He won't do nuttin' to us, besides we only got one more crate to move," the other goblin agent replied.

"Drakkan, do you really want to find out what Jimmick will or won't do if we don't do it?" Steppan asked coldly.

"No, I guess you're right," Drakkan said, hopping off the crate.

"Let's get it in there." He sighed. Roxie and Illianna cast one another a worried glance. Roxie reached in her pocket for the emergency teleport device, then remembered she gave it to Illianna. She mimicked pressing a button, but Illianna could not decipher what Roxie was trying to say. She tugged on Illianna's sleeve and pulled her into the corn, then whispered.

"The device, give it to me, we need to get out of here." Illianna checked her pockets, but the device was not there. Panic filled her eyes as she looked at Roxie.

"It's gone," she whispered.

"I must have dropped it." Roxie rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Well, this is a problem," she whispered.

"Keep your eyes peeled and hope we find it. We will go back the way we came. If those two guys find us…" she paused.

"I don't even want to think about it. Come on," she said, slowly moving back toward the house.