I wake up and see it’s bright outside. It’s morning now and the fire I made is out. I got out of the tree, and I see I am surrounded by a field full of sunflowers. As tall as they were, I am still able to see how far away I was from the town, and it was a fairly long distance.

…

…

Something isn’t smelling right; I find out it’s me. Sampson’s blood and his men’s blood, I’m covered in it, and I really need a wash. I look around and find a brook of freshwater with a small waterfall. I walk through the field to get to it. I decided to take off my dress and my stockings since no one was around.

I put my dress under the waterfall and started to wring out the blood along with my stockings. I got done with my clothes and started cleaning myself as best as I could. When I was done, I walked back to the tree and saw inside that a couple of items were added, a new set of clothes and some more cloth for my cycle. I’m sure Seth had come by and dropped them off while I was near the stream. It’s nice to know that even though he’s “incarcerated”, he comes by to bring me things while I’m out here… Thinking about him again, besides me thinking he's “karma incarnate”, who is he, or what is he, really? Is he an… angel? Or… a demon?

Which one of the two created him? What he showed me last night… was Sampson and Solomon really in Hell? Or was that the Hell he made as a part of my revenge? I won’t be able to know until I see him again.

.   .   .

I was starting to get hungry, so I went outside to pick the seeds from the sunflowers. I was able to grab two handfuls of them and went back inside the tree to place them on a tray. I start the fire and put the tray atop it on a steel stand. I waited for a few minutes for them to roast, and when they were done, I put out the fire. Once the tray cooled off along with the seeds, I grabbed a handful of them, went outside to sit near the stream, and started to eat the seeds. I looked at the scenery. The water, the trees, the sunflowers. It’s so… peaceful. Even beautiful. And it’s so quiet. I’ve never heard this kind of silence in my life. I feel that I don’t need to think of all the bullshit anymore. My heaven is here…

I finished eating and I laid down in a patch of grass that was near the brook, and I looked to the sky. It was so calm; I rested my eyes.

.   .   .

I woke up to see the sun was now overhead, it’s now afternoon. Hearing the birds while I woke up has never sounded so beautiful before. I slowly looked to my right, and I saw Seth sitting next to me which shocked me to sit up.

“Seth! What are you doing here?! Are you alright?! What happened?!”

I asked those questions in quick succession which made him smile in amusement. Obviously, I’m surprised he was here. He looks to the brook.

“I broke out of the jailhouse which scared Gino.” He answers. “He shot me multiple times. Also, that reminds me…”

Seth extends his left hand. I see several parts moving through his skin to his hand, and what came out was several bullets falling in the grass. He continued.

“Morris motioned Gino to fire Scottley and the townspeople are now in an uproar.”

“What did you do to Sampson and his gang?” I ask.

“I cleaned up the pieces along with the blood and burned them farther out from the town.” He replies.

Understandable he would clean up the blood and body parts which makes me shudder, I thank him for that, but I’m wondering where in the outskirts of town did, he burn them at?

“You do not need to know where.” He speaks firmly. “I do not want any of the townspeople to think you were part of their disappearance.”

Hearing this, I decided not to think about it anymore and look to the brook. Also, they would still accuse me even if I wasn’t around.  Should that even matter anymore? If so, why should I care now? I’m sure Seth read my mind and he didn’t think to question the intelligence of Tinton’s majority.

“Well, I am sure the people have reached mass hysteria. I am going back to see the events unfold. Also, keep your wits about you out here, Talia. Even if you are not in Tinton, I am afraid they will try to find you regardless.”

Seth then disappeared after he spoke. I decided to stay near the water and look back up to the sky. Again, the silence is blissful and the sound of the birds and water… I might not ever have this moment again, so I’m going to enjoy it.   

.   .   .

Aww, dammit. I went to sleep again and now it’s dark. I didn’t even think I was that tired, but then again, I didn’t have a proper sleep the other night because of Sampson. Getting up from where I slept, I started to hear yelling in the distance which was getting closer. It sounds like dozens of people coming into the fields. Even though Seth said this is a place where they couldn’t find me, but he did say they would try to find me regardless of if I killed Sampson or not. Also, I realized they would search far and wide. Why didn’t I think of that earlier? Oh well. It doesn’t matter now. I need to keep low and go back to the tree. As I did, I saw a few people walk past me and I heard a few familiar voices, too.

I crawled and was able to reach the tree from its rear, but I saw people inside it already with flashlights and ransacking it like Sampson and his men did to my house. Seeing that the tree isn’t an option anymore, I decided to go back to my house since Seth wasn’t around and I’m sure he would help me once I get there. So, I crawled through the sunflower field, and I made sure not to make too much noise. Flashlights passed by me along with the footsteps, I had to lay still on the ground when they did. I continued to crawl until I was far enough from the flashlights and the people, I started to run through the sunflowers which felt like forever and finally made it to the clearing. It took me several minutes to find something in the distance, and I’m sure I would be able to find my house from here, but I can’t see it anywhere. What I could see in the distance was smoke and what looked like smoldering remains of a building… no…

It's… my home. Those fucking bastards burned my house down! Everything I had… a piece of security I once had… something I called mine… was gone. Why? Why? WHY!! Before I could think of anything else, I get tackled by something… or someone to my left; it felt like a giant boulder hit me and knocked me to the ground on my back. As I faced the sky, in the corner to my right, Ramondo was charging at me, he was the one who rushed me. I felt a kick to my ribs which made me shout in pain and hold on to my side. God… it hurts so bad…

“You… little… BITCH!” he yells at me. “That fucking bastard of yours made me lose my job, and that damn idiot Morris believed him! All of this is because of you! This is your fault!”

He grabs me by my shirt, pushes me against a tree, and pulls out a gun, putting it under my chin.

“I will do everyone a favor in this town and fucking end you right here!”

Before he could do anything with the gun, I kicked him in between the legs which made him let me go and drop the gun. I quickly moved away from him and was able to find a rock on the ground. I picked it up and turned to see if he recovered from the kick and tried to get his gun off the ground. I ran towards him and quickly struck him on the back of his head with the rock. The gun flew out of his hand and was between us. He tried to reach for it until I kicked it away and smashed his hand with the rock.

“Damn you, you goddamn devil bitch!” He shouted at me as held his hand.

That word made something within me snap. I hate getting called out of my name.

“Stop. CALLING! ME! THAT!”

I started striking him with the rock, over and over again. I couldn’t contain my anger anymore, I just snapped. My rage showed its true colors, and it wasn’t going to stop. Not at all. Suddenly, a hand stopped mine, a familiar touch. I looked to my right and saw I was face to face with Seth. The way he looked at me was stern but empathetic.

“His blood should not be on your hands.” He calmly tells me.

He grasps the rock still in my hand.

“Give it to me, Talia.”

I give him the rock to where he puts it on the ground and extends his hand to me once more.

“Give it… to me.” His eyes glow crimson as he said it.