She was a week early because of winter but she was excited to see Abel and Ray again. She had brought them gifts that she was sure they would love. It will be the holidays soon too. Pushing all of her worries aside, she let a skip sneak its way into her step as she made her way to Ray's medical tent where she was sure he would be.
She moved through her neighbourhood, passing by her house and not caring about the hostile stares she was receiving. They had gotten worse since Ray had proposed. Most of them were from the other girls in the village and of course their mothers. They would never forgive her for taking what they believed she did not deserve. In her heart, she knew that with Ray by her side, she would get over it. Some people greeted her, most being the men chopping wood or ones just resting outside as the kids played.
"Welcome back, Naomi," Hilda greeted, dropping the bundle of firewood she had on her head.
Naomi turned to her with a pleasant smile. "Thanks." It was nice that some people were choosing to be civil and at least pretend to be happy for her.
"How was the market?" She inquired walking towards her. She clapped her hands to get the wood shavings off her palms.
"It was okay and sales were good." She supplied eagerly.
"That is good to hear," She said. "The weather must have worked in your favour."
"True," She agreed. The sales had gotten better since people would want gloves for the winter. The sales of bags and purses had declined.
There was awkward silence afterwards, Naomi could have just walked on but it seemed like Hilda had something to say.
"Um, I am happy for you." She finally said, looking down at the snow.
"Thanks," Naomi beamed. It meant a lot to her.
"I also want to apologise for those years," She said. "I am glad that you have someone willing to see what we all chose to ignore."
"It is fine, Hilda," She replied. "really."
"And for that time at the ice ring," She continued. "Just know that I hate myself for it."
Naomi could not help but cringe at the memory. It was one of the moments that made her realise just how much she was spotted. She remembered that it was a cold afternoon far colder than this one and all the kids had been at the lake for some fun on the ice. When it began to crack, everyone made their escape but Hilda who had been nine at the time had not been so lucky and fell through the broken ice.
Naomi instead of following everyone else chose to help her out.
It was a tricky rescue but when Hilda was out, she did the unforgivable and pushed Naomi in. Hilda ran towards the rest of the children as a crowd of adults started to gather. They rescued Naomi. When Hilda's mother had run to her daughter, little Hilda put all of the blame on Naomi. Naomi could not believe her ears and through shivering and tears, she denied the allegations but all the other children followed through with the story except for a few who remained mute.
Naomi was humiliated and punished for a crime she did not commit. That had been more than a decade ago.
"Children make mistakes," Naomi dismissed. "It was a long time ago."
"That does not excuse everyone else's behaviour and mine," she insisted fiercely.
"I had even forgotten about the whole thing," She lied.
"Thank you," Hilda said, her hickory eyes twinkling with gratefulness "If you need anything, know that I am here for you."
"I will be sure to let you know." She assured her, placing her hand on her shoulder.
They parted and Naomi continued towards Ray's tent. Besides, it was his house as well.
The tent was fairly large and white. Ray had told her that it was white instead of black because a black tent would absorb the sun's heat and make the interior unbearably hot. She liked his intelligence, which was one of the things that made him so attractive.
She suddenly had an idea, what if they made a black tent for the winter season so that it would absorb more heat and make the cold bearable for his patients? She smiled at the thought and knew that Ray would love the idea as well. She ran the rest of the way. She entered to find an empty tent.
Naomi frowned. That was strange. He would be here at this time tending to a patient or two. She dropped her bags, got out and went to his house instead to search for him and Abel.
She reached the entrance of the place she had grown to see as home over the last couple of months. She was no visitor so she did not knock but when she turned the knob it turned out to be locked.
It was no worry since she knew where the extra key was. She reached up her hand to the top pavement of the door and retrieved the key. She was able to enter the house.
It was dark, as in not a single source of light. Naomi felt her skin crawl with dread and discomfort. She forged on in the dark house.
"Abel!" She called out. "Ray!"
There was no answer. Her frown deepened, she sensed danger. She went to the window only to find what was blocking all the light. It was a light-proof cloth-like material. "Leather," She murmured to herself. Why would he do that? she wondered. She tried pulling it off but it was nailed securely.
"Ray, Abel!" She yelled again, but still, nothing came of it. She went to another window to find that it was in the same condition. After which she did not bother with the rest and retrieved a handy knife from the knife draw.
Just then she heard a loud noise. Below her. She held her breath and was on high alert. She could hear the loud thumping of her heart and distorted voices again from below her.
The noise was coming from the basement. She readjusted her grip on her weapon and walked towards the door to the basement. She was apprehensive to go there not just because of a probable intruder but also because Ray told her that he did not want to go there for her safety. He talked a lot about the unstable chemicals that were kept down there.
She turned and touched the knob and tried to make out what the people down there could be saying.
"He is… one… them…" She heard and recognized the voice of Ray's assistant, Curtis.
"Naomi… the jewels… eyes… kill… " Her eyes widened. Kill? He was always very mousy and quiet, so to hear him speak like that was odd. He never did more than greet her, now he was talking about her and murder. She had to be circumspect since if he had to be talking to someone, it was. She feared for Abel and Ray. She took a deep but quiet breath and listened again.
Curtis and imposture were quiet now, she could only hear muffled words
She put a hand on the nub and it turned a bit under the pressure. It was not locked. It gave her an open to ambush. She thought for a moment if it would just be better to go back to her own home to check but she had already passed by it. There had been no sign of anyone there. She looked out the open door and felt it would be better to call for help but she did not want to alert Curtis that someone was in the house. It was a miracle that he had not heard her calling out. It only meant that what they were discussing had distracted them from detecting her.
She opened the door, making sure to lift it so it would not creak. It was a trick she had learnt when she was sneaking out of the house while her uncle slept.
She made a space enough for her to slip in. Without warning, she is hit with the putrid smell of what one could only describe as the odour of rotting flesh and that was just at the top of the stairs. How could someone stand to breathe down there not talk of talking? It did not deter her though she walked down the stairs as she listened to their conversation.
"The boy is useless!" Curtis yelled, spooking her to a halt.
Apart from her beating heart, Naomi could hear alarm bells. Boy? Was he talking about Abel?
"And you are just figuring that out?" Came a cynical remark.
Naomi felt her heart stop. That was Ray's voice.
"They are probably not related," Ray went on in a disinterested tone. "She must have lied about him being her cousin."
He promised not to tell anyone. This was definitely about Abel
"Shit! That fucking bitch played us." Curtis scowled.
"That's my Naomi," There was a sneer in his voice.
"So what do we do with him?"
"Nothing," Ray replied plainly.
"Nothing?!" He asked in disbelief. "By the time she is back, he will be dead anyway," He said confidently. "She'll just have to accept that he died of some illness."
"She can't hold it against you anyway, you already did her favour by asking her to marry you."
"Exactly," Ray said coolly. "But she won't have to mourn for too long, she'll be dead too before the little shit hits the grave."
"It will be a win for us and this ass of a place,"
"My thoughts precisely,"
"They won't miss her and get those eyes of hers."
"Uncle Ray…" A little voice said. "I am cold."
Abel's weak voice made her heart broken. She walked towards it and finally made it to the last stair. Her fiancé and his assistant had their backs turned to her. She saw Abel laying on a metal table, sores on every inch of his skin. She gasped silently.
"Call me Papa," Ray told Abel. She could tell that he was smiling.
"Papa," The boy innocently obliged.
He still did not know evil even though it was looking him in the eye.
Abel caught sight of her "Big sister." He greeted me with a smile.
The men turned abruptly to see Naomi standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Curtis looked panicked while Ray smiled in contentment.
He walked toward her slowly and Naomi found herself looking from him to Abel and unable to move. As the distance between them lessened and lessened.
"Nice of you to join our little party." He smiled menacingly. "My lovely oddball."