It’s now evening. Seth and I aren’t talking yet, because I was still recovering from my rant at the people. The names they called me were still playing in my head in a constant loop. They’re gnawing at me so much; I feel like I’m going back into that dark place. But this time, I don’t want to kill myself, I just want to make them suffer like they made me suffer. I want them all to feel the same torment I feel… and I want them all to drown in it. As I thought about this, I saw Seth staring at me intensely with amusement as he held an apple in his hand.

“Your anger… is overflowing, it’s about to turn into pure rage…” He comments with a smirk.

 My rage fascinates him, and it looks like he’s craving it. He had the type of look on his face that haunts me still because of Solomon, I wish he could stop looking at me like that. Seth must’ve read my mind because he calmed himself. Now, I’m ready to talk. I’m curious about what he knows and what he’s going to show me.

“Did you know…” He starts. “…that Tori Lorne did a favor for Dominic Santine and Morris Daniels before he became mayor?”

 Elder Santine and Mayor Daniels used to be close from what I’ve seen. The mayor is middle aged and Elder Santine’s in his 60’s. I’ve never seen them talk to Sister Tori, though. She’s the same age as Santine and is the person who doesn’t speak much and keeps to herself. To me, she’s a sweet woman and never said anything about me. She and Deloris never got along and that’s a plus. But what did Tori do to them?

“Back then, she used to deal with… illegal substances.” Seth adds. “Those two were her high paying customers. Unfortunately, they suffer from side effects to this day. Dominic suffers from a warped mind, mostly seeming catatonic. Morris overdosed on the substance and survived, of course. He used to suffer from manic hallucinations, but now he has a speech impediment. Tori gave them a botched mix. She knew, but she never told them.”

Wow… as sweet as Sister Tori looks, she must’ve had a type of greed that could hurt others. Shocking that nobody ever shunned her, or nobody knew besides the three of them. I was curious, I wanted to hear more.

“What else can you tell me?” I asked Seth.

He looks out the window seeing the sky darken then looks at me. “There are so many other stories, but only so little time. As of now, I need to show you something.”

“What is it?”

“I will show you when we get there. Also…”

Seth puts the apple down on the table and walks toward me with the palm of his right hand facing me. “…I am going to need that rage of yours.”

Even though Seth has given me confidence, I’m still hesitant towards him. It feels like he wants to make a deal…

“This is nothing about a deal.” He states sternly. “I just want your rage for what you will witness. You do not need it and I need you to trust me, Talia. I am pleading with you… to trust me. That is all I ask.”

 That has always been my issue. Trusting people, and he knows why. But with him, I might as well take a leap of faith. I placed my right hand to his; I felt an odd sensation from my whole right arm, then his hand just felt hot all of a sudden. His eyes glow their crimson hue, his pupils turn to slits, his mouth opens showing his fangs, and his nails turn into claws. He looks as if he felt euphoria from what he was taking from me. He stops the connection, and my arm becomes numb for a few seconds. I see Seth look at his hands as he growls in satisfaction.

 All the words and names that gnawed at me feels far away now; it wasn’t bothering me anymore. Seth took that from me, he’s feeding off of it. He looks at me and smirks.

“Let us go, gifted one. I am going to show you what type of gift you have.”

 Without hesitation, he touches my shoulder, and we’re now outside of the town’s cornerstone in an instant. At the cornerstone, there’s the church where Seth and I were near which is next to the town hall, next is the police station, and then is the courthouse. It’s nighttime and the skies are cloudy. I look at Seth confused.

“What are we doing here?” I ask.

 His answer, he points to the town hall where all the townspeople gathered inside. It looks like they’re going to have a meeting tonight. I’m never invited to the meetings. Not because of my age, children have been at the meetings. It’s just that no one ever tells me about upcoming meetings. I always miss updates on what’s going on in the town. There was a time I was about to lose my home because I didn’t know there was an increase on what I was supposed to pay. Then I tried joining, but I was shunned to do so, or never listened to.

 Seth and I saw everyone go inside the town hall. He takes my hand and leads me to a window showing the inside where we saw everyone sitting in the pews. Elders Levi Denby, Dominic Santine, Levine Randall, Trevor Bara, and Diana Benson. Chief Gino Surran, Officer Ramondo Scottley, and Mayor Morris Daniels were all on the stage where there was a stand for each person with the mayor being in the middle. With the gavel in the mayor’s hand, he bangs it on his stand getting everyone’s attention.

“I call this meeting to… order!” I heard Mayor Daniels say. “Now, we have a… couple of issues that need to… be addressed, Tinton. As you’ve all heard, Talia Diamond has addressed a few… matters about our brethren. Matters that were either lies, or… or the truth. Another issue on the floor pertains to the… death of… Solomon Richt… who was found by Lana Marington. Who wishes to hear which matter first? Show of hands. Talia Diamond?”

No one raised their hand.

“Okay… Solomon Richt?” He asks.

Everyone raises their hand. Not surprising.

“Okay. This topic will be explained first… and the other second. Questions can now be asked. What say you, Tinton?”

The people didn’t say anything for a moment, until Linsey Gordon stood up.

“Who was the first to find Solomon? Where was he found?” She asks.

Lana Marington stands up to answer her.

“I was the one who found Solomon hanging from a tree in the fields and he was bleeding from his chest. I screamed. Moments later, Officer Dantley came, then the rest of the police came to get my statement and cut Solomon down.”

As Linsey and Lana sat down, the people were talking amongst themselves, then someone else stood up. Patricia Lonzo is her name.

“Officer Dantley.” She calls.

Officer Brendon Dantley stands.

“What time of the night was he found? How long do you think he was up there?” She asks.

“When I heard Lana scream, it was close to 11 o’clock. When we took him down, he was lukewarm to the touch, and he had a bloody chest wound with his heart missing. So, we suspected he was up there for a few hours, approximately, 3 hours, and the chest wound happened afterwards. We couldn’t find his heart anywhere.”

With his answer, Patricia sat down, then Deloris stood up. Knowing her, she’s going to ask a couple of outlandish questions.

“Are there any suspects?” She asks.

“No, Ms. Reed. We have no suspects at this time.” Brendon answers in a dry tone.

“Do you know anybody who would do such a thing to Solomon?” Deloris continues. “I mean there is somebody who isn’t present and showed her disdain about Solomon earlier today.”

Mayor Daniels bangs the gavel to quiet Deloris.

“Ms. Reed! We are not here to point blame at who might have killed… Solomon Richt! We are here to share information on what is known so far. So please, keep your… accusations to yourself.”

 Well… the mayor is actually defending me, even though it’s indirect. Someone else stands up next to Deloris. It was Laney Prichard. She’s as insulting as Deloris and self-centered as hell.

“Oh, come on, Morris. All of us think the little rat did it! None of us had an issue with Solomon. We all thought of him as a good man. So, it would be best to have the police go to her house, send her down here, and take her to jail!”

I swear, she is so full of herself, she and Deloris are high on my list. I hear the gavel bang again.

“Ms. Prichard!” Mayor Morris shouts. “Like I told Ms. Reed… keep your damn accusations to yourself! If… you don’t have any questions, sit down!”

 Whoa… Mayor Morris. I never knew he could get upset. I’ve always seen him calm. He and I never had much of a chance to talk because he was always busy or having a conversation with one of the elders. So, seeing him this way was new. So, Laney sits down like she was told, but what she said, other people agreeing with her suggestion… I swear the majority of these people are pricks.

“Now, I know you all have your… suspicions, but accusing and harassing a young woman is not going to help!” The mayor tells the people.

“My dear son…” Elder Denby starts to speak. “You truly do not understand the nature of this child. There is an evil inside of her that can’t be reasoned with. Have you noticed what she has become?”

“A hermit.”

Everyone in the town hall turned to the back of the building, and so did I. It was Tori Lorne. I never thought she would speak up. Besides me, the others were also surprised.

“She became a hermit.” She repeats. “Not because of how, what, or who she is. It’s because of comments like that! That’s why she doesn’t want to be near anyone of us!”

“Oh! So, you’re taking the liar’s side, Tori?!” Deloris asks angrily. “You’re taking her side over Reverend Denby’s?!”

“It’s better than taking the side of one of the town’s gossipers that don’t know how to keep their mouth shut nor keep their man, because of their “hobbies”!”

“Why… you bitch!”

The mayor bangs the gavel multiple times to quiet Tori and Deloris.

“I will have order!” He shouts. “Well… since the subject about Solomon Richt has ceased and there’s nothing to say about it for now, we… might as well talk about Talia Diamond. For there are people who have… issues with the girl and… people who are defending her. Since much of what she said was… questionable, according to a few people who told me. What happened earlier today?”