Enigma of the Soul - Book 1 - Pieces (2 page)

Dimitri kicks Marnina’s legs out from under her making her lie on her stomach facing her husband as he starts to slit her throat.

“I’m so sorry,” Marnina, cries her heart out for the deed that has now come full circle. “I never knew!”

“I’m really sorry, too. Because of your husband’s actions you have to pay for his sins as well.” Dimitri slits her throat side-to-side then slams the butcher knife into her the back of her neck cutting the spinal column in half. With that, Zebedeo starts to wake up from being knotted out. He smells smoke but feels no heat. He opens his eyes slightly to realize only one can open due to all the dry blood matting it shut.

“Perfect, just the man that I want to talk to,” Dimitri drops Marnina’s head, and it bounces against the floor as he stands up to pounce on Zebedeo. Zebedeo positions his head to see where the voice is coming from and sees Dimitri standing over his dead wife’s body.

“Dear God, what have you done?” Zebedeo beings to cry, making the blood in one eye come loosen. “Who are you?”

“I am a ghost of your past that needs to punish you for your crimes against the innocent.” Dimitri puts the hood up over his head concealing half of his face. “Don’t you remember? That day long ago, you and your dirty police friends tried to kill a child and his stepmother while they were grieving over their dead father and husband. You might not remember me, but I remember you and your friends. I’m going to start with you first then hunt down all of your friends later. Each one receiving my judgment.”

“Dear God! That was so long ago! So long that I thought that everyone had forgotten all about what had happened on that dreadful day.” Zebedeo wipes some of the blood away from his eyes. Dimitri jumps on top of Zebedeo then thrusts the butcher knife into his stomach. Dimitri twists the knife to make the pain severe.

“I knew that I was going to run into you one day. But, I had until that day to decide what I was going to do to you,” Dimitri puts the knife out and then repeatedly stabs Zebedeo in the stomach. Blood spatters with each stab.

Meanwhile, David, Markus, and Wendi are coming up to the house in the wagon, laughing because they forgot David’s birthday money, and arrive to find it engulfed in flames. They realized that it is only burning on the opposite ends of the house the closer they get. Markus and Wendi leap off the wagon and run in the front door. David pulls the wagon to a stop as the porch’s roof collapses. There was only one way into the house now and that was through the back door. He drives the wagon around to the back. Leaping off the wagon, he races through the back door stopping at the stairway located in the middle of the house. He hears people yelling upstairs. David makes a mad dash up the stairs to find Dimitri still stabbing his uncle to death while screaming at him. David reacts by shoving Dimitri off his uncle and grabbing something to defend himself.

Wendi is in the dining room searching for her aunt or uncle, while trying to avoid the fire that is raging all around her. Gasping for air, her lungs fill with smoke as the fire consumes everything in its path. Wendi starts to feel faint crawling around on the kitchen floor. She bumps into a familiar welcoming hand.

“Take my hand, I’m going to get you out of here, somewhere better with less smoke,” the familiar voice says to Wendi. They are gone in a flash.

“Now you wait here for a man and woman to come around to rescue you. Do not worry about a thing. You may not know them right now, but everything will illuminate itself in the near future.” The stranger tells Wendi, setting her down on the back docks of a window and door less building.

“How will I know who these people will be?” Wendi asks the stranger.

“Their names are Alexander and Sari. They are college sweethearts that will be the only two coming this way. Do not worry,” The stranger replies. “Adieu little sunshine.”

With that, the stranger disappears leaving Wendi to sit and wait for Alexander and Sari to rescue her.

Markus has a hard time hearing what is going on in the middle of a burning house. The heat is burning the hairs off his arms. He screams out their names as he looks for them. He has crawled through the living room feeling for a body. Making it to the living room, Markus feels around as he cries out their names. Markus stops moving as he crosses a foot that is wearing a boot of some sort.

“Stay low to the ground. I’m going to get you out of here,” the stranger says to Markus. Markus grabs a hold of this stranger and craws out the back door to safety.

“I’m going to take you to a safer place that has less smoke and something to eat and drink. Just hold my hand and off we go,” Markus takes the stranger’s hand and they disappear from the back of the house.

David grabs a candlestick holder and backs up to take a fighting position; he is ready for anything that Dimitri could throw at him. Dimitri rolls across the now smoking floor hitting the four-post bed with a thud. The bloody knife slams into the floorboards as Dimitri tries to regain his balance after getting the wind whacked out of him.

“Is that the best that you can do?” Dimitri’s legs are shaking a little bit as he makes it to his feet. The room feels as if it is moving side to side in Dimitri’s head. Running his hand through his hair, he feels something wet; something that he has felt before but not for a long time now. Dimitri looks down at his hand, covered in blood, and says. “If I’m destined to die here then so be it. But I am not going out alone.”

David’s world as he knows it begins to slow down as he jumps out of his own body to watch the fight of his life. Dimitri leaps at David with the knife pointed square at David’s chest. David begins to counter with the candlestick holder blocking the knife from piercing his chest followed by cross punch to Dimitri’s face. As Dimitri falls to the floor, he grabs onto David’s shirt and pulls him down. David lands on top of Dimitri. They both hear a cracking noise beneath them. More smoke is coming up through the floorboards as the fire below them is burning hotter and faster as it consumes the house quicker every minute that passes. David realizes where he is and knows that he has the upper hand. Dimitri goes berserk and swings the knife cutting anything in sight. He cuts David multiple times across his chest and lower body making him scream in pain. David knows that he needs to end this and fast. He swings the candlestick holder at Dimitri’s wrist, breaking it and making the knife fall to the floor. Dimitri shrieks in pain as it flows down his arm and his brain registers that his wrist is now broken. David stands up and puts both hands on the candlestick holder for the final blow to the head to end this fight. Dimitri sees the opening that he has been waiting for and takes it. Dimitri slips both feet between David’s legs and tucks his knees close to his chest. David begins to deliver the final blow swing the candlestick holder at Dimitri’s bloody head. Dimitri swings his free hand at the candlestick holder, clenching it, then thrusting his feet into David’s stomach, pushing him over, and into the window located in front of him. David shatters the window with his head and drops onto the flamed engulfed porch’s roof getting burnt.

“I will not die this way. Not here, not like this…” David says in his head.

Three and a half years after Wendi's fifth birthday, spring is in the air and cruelty is too. Cruelty is hunting the Turner family.

Two shadowy figures crouch down outside in the brushes 20 feet away from the family’s home. Studying the family, they wait for the perfect time to invade the house. The larger man is dressed in his old work clothes that he once wore working on the Turner’s farm. The other man is dressed in raggedy clothes.

“John, do you think that we should be here? After what happened, I think...” Jeff takes a sip of rum. John reaches for the bottle to take a sip of rum too.

“Of course we should be here. You’re just the damn town drunk that doesn’t know anything about injustice.” Jeff takes a sip of rum. “After what ol’ Mr. Turner did to me… in front of everyone working that day…. He and his rich family are going to get what's coming to them. It's time to even the score for everyone, including me.”

As John takes another drink of liquor, some spills out his mouth running down his neck getting all over his collar and the front of his shirt. Jeff yanks the bottle of rum from John and scolds him for spilling any of it.

“Don't waste it. It’s all that I have left.”

“That is what you told me just a couple of days ago. Look what you’re still drinking, the same damn bottle of rum,” John shakes his head at Jeff.

“No, it is not! You bought this bottle last night and then gave it to me as a welcome home gift.”

“I was welcoming myself home, you damn drunk. Remember you live with me, not the other way around. If Mom and Dad didn't die in that accident, you would be still living with them.”

John then rips the bottle of rum way from Jeff and engulfs the liquid down. Jeff stares at John with his mouth-watering for more of that sweet tasting nectar of goodness. John finishes the bottle of rum, throws it to the ground, and turns his head to the left to face the house.

“We are going to wait until nightfall. So we can watch the flames soar in to the night sky as if the Phoenix came down from the heavens and kissed their home sweet home with its wings of fire,” John hears a twig breaking behind him. He finds Mr. Tuner and a couple of his workers signaling no with a gesture. John and his brother knew that they were caught; they are not going to get out of this one anytime soon.

“Boys, I think that we need to pay these two a little lesson for wanting to hurt my family and my workers that I consider my family too.” Pointing at the Jeff Nicklaus says, “You two, take that one! The others and me will take John. Don't worry boys, neither one will be much of trouble now will yah?”

The Jeff shakes his head and puts out his hand for help, but John has other intentions. He takes a swing at Nicklaus and misses by a mile, falling flat on his face in a patty of deer dung. Everyone busts out in laughter at the sight. Smiling and laughing at John, Nicklaus puts out his hand to help the humiliated ex-employee to his feet. John accepts Nicklaus' hand and climbs to his feet staggering this way and that.

“Let’s take both of them to the barn to sober them up before we do anything to them,” Nicklaus says smiling to his workers.

“Yah, we could torture them until they pass out and then wake them up with hot coals on their feet,” One of the men says to another.

“There will be no such thing done to these two men. Do I make myself clear or do I have to find some new help again?”

“No, sir, that is not necessary.” A couple of men say at the same time.

They lead John and his brother into the barn. Nicklaus tells his men to tie up the two to a post in the middle of the barn. They lay out bales of hay one row wide by three rows high around the two men. Nicklaus places two candles on top of one of the dried out hay bales and lights them.

“Now, you two have until these two candles burn down and extinguish before we teach you two your lessons. But until then you two will remain here, like it or not,” Nicklaus points his right finger at the two men as he speaks in a commanding tone.

“Fred and George, you two stay here, and guard these two. We'll see you in the morning. Come on, boys, lets go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us.”

Fred and George exchange glimpses that signal that these two will be up to no good. As Nicklaus leaves from view, Fred, George, John, and his drunken brother can no longer hear the sounds of the men talking or footsteps. Fred and George start to antagonize the two drunken men.

Fred walks over to stand in front of John, and George stands in front of the town drunk.

Fred starts to shake his head back and forth, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, you thought that you could come in here and ruin everything that Mr. Turner has built up?”

George adds “And you two thought that you could get away with it? How drunk are you two?”

John replies, “I am not drunk. I am not even tipsy.”

“Oh I'm dr-ink, I'm just with him because he knows the way home, and I can't remember now,” John's drunken brother slurs.

“Well at lease one of you two can admit the truth,” John laughs then puts his right hand to his head. “What should we do with you two? Should we torture you until you scream to make it stop? I know; we could just light you on fire and say that you were kicking at us and one of the candles fell on you.”

With that, John had enough of these two jokers. He was going to get out of there one way or another. John realized that Fred was right. He could kick over the bale of dried-out hay, which would knock over the candle and start a fire then the two men that are watching them would have to untie them. From there, he could play a game of cat and mouse with him and his brother as the mice. As George picked on his brother, John knew that he had gotten them into this situation and only he could get them out. John looks around the barn and sees many lanterns hanging on hooks screwed into the beams that support the roof. He could use those to start a couple of smaller fires that could distract these two idiots. Keeping them busy for just enough time to grab his brother and get him out of there.

John looks at Fred, smiles, and then says, “You know, you’re right, I can kick over this bale of hay.”

With that, John thrust his left foot into the bottom bale knocking it over and candle on to him. The top bale of hay drops on to John with the two candles on it. They ignite the bales and him. What would have been a small fire became a roaring flame of death due to the dryness of hay and alcohol in John's clothing. The fire quickly transfers to John's brother and ignites him, too. The old rope that is holding the two brothers together breaks free due to the unnatural violent flame that has erupted. Fred and George are frantically trying to find some buckets of water. John and his brother are running about waving their arms in the air and spreading the fire throughout the barn. Now Fred and George are not concerned with the two men anymore. The barn is now becoming a towering inferno burning up bales of hay. Dark smoke clouds the sky as John and his brother come running out of the barn screaming. Then fall to the ground burning to death.

“George, go get help!” Fred shouts at the top of his lungs. Fred tries to concentrate the fire by pushing the burning bales of hay into the middle of the barn. Then he starts to throw water on the outer bales trying to save half of the stockpile. Nicklaus, his men, and Nicklaus’ wife Halie and all of the family show up quickly because they were all eating dinner inside of the house. Nicklaus commands half of his men to get buckets water and the other half to help Fred to contain the fire.

“Dear God, what happened? I was going to let them go once the candles burned themselves down and they had sobered up. I was just saying that stuff so that they would stay there and not hurt anybody else. Dear God, what have I done.” Nicklaus stands in horror looking down at the two burnt cadavers.

A loud bang comes from the wood of the barn. The beams are starting to give away and several of the men that were trying to contain the fire are standing right in the middle of the barn.

Nicklaus says to Halie, “We are not going to lose any more people tonight.”

Halie exactly knew what Nicklaus was saying. They both grabbed a bucket of water and drenched themselves with it to help protect them from the ever-growing fire. Both of them raced into the barn, screaming at the top of their lungs telling the men to get out while they still can. A near-deafening explosion from the fire rips through the roof beams as it consumes everything in sight.

Nicklaus and Halie's kids are outside watching everything as it   happens. The seven kids yell into the barn waving their hands.

The roof of the barn collapses in an inferno, burning up everyone inside. The flames burn so hot that the children tears dry before they can get an inch down their cheeks. The day that started as a celebration has now become a tragedy. The poor kids are in shock as they just witnessed the deaths of their mother and father, including all their hired hands. That night the children all cried themselves to sleep.

It is almost noon when the last child rouses and realizes the devastation of the night before was not a nightmare. Burnt wood and hay filled the air throughout the farm. A strange smell lingered in the air. It was a smell that none of the kids has ever smelled before that day. Sara and Gale the two oldest kids set out to uncover the bodies of the dead to give them a proper burial. Dave, the third child, and Joanne, the fourth child, walks up to Sara and Gale.

“Hey, Gale; Hey Sara, what are you two doing?” Dave asks.

“Why are you trying to disturb …” Joanne says trying to hold back the tears.

“Because Mom, Dad, and the men need a proper burial. I'm not going to leave this place until this happens,” Gale says as he lifts up a burnt wooden beam that crumbles in his hands.

Sara, Dave, and Joanne are all helping Gale when the three youngest children come walking up. David is standing in the middle of Markus and Wendi when he sees the hand of one of the men. He grabs the two and starts to head towards the house knowing that they do not need to see what is going to happen next. David tells the two that they need to start packing because they are going to be moving.

Gale is the first to find their father's charred body. He turns away from it, trying not to throw up. He takes a couple of deep breaths to help get past the stench of burnt flesh to pick up the remains of their father's body.

Shorty after Gale finds the body, Sara unearths the crushed, disfigured body of their mother. Dave watches her as she is doing this. He turns to look away as a tear rolls down his cheek. Sara asks Dave to help her with the moving of their mother's body. He just nods his head and helps.

A couple of hours later they have pulled out all the bodies from the burnt down barn. Gale and Sara cover up the bodies of the dead with some old sheets that they had boxed up to give to the local towns people that did not have anything. David, Markus, and Wendi come walking up to the burial site and see the covered bodies lying on the ground.

The youngest, Wendi, walks over to Sara and asks, “Who is Dad and Mom?”

Sara points to the first two bodies. Wendi collapses to her knees and begins to cry. Markus and David come to her aid. They hug her with all their might as they all start balling.

As the kid’s aunt and uncle come riding up, each has their own horse and wagon, they see the children holding each other and crying. Following the aunt and uncle are some of the townspeople with hand tools to support the Tuner family. A loud ruckus gets Joanne and Dave to look up and see all the people that came to help the family. Then Gale and Sara see their aunt and uncle coming with more people behind them. David, Markus, and Wendi are the last to see this magnificent sight.

Marnina, their aunt, and Frederick, their uncle, run to the kids with their arms open. Marnina kisses all the kids foreheads. Frederick hugs all of them to let them know that everything is going to be okay for now on.

Marnina speaks first, “We came as fast as we found out.”

Looking puzzled Joanne asks, “How did you find out?”

“One man escaped, Mr. Conwell, one of your father’s most trusted men, was badly burnt by the collapse, but he made it to town in the middle of the day to tell everybody what happened. A half an hour later, he pasted away.” Frederick tells the kids.

“We are sorry for your lost. We are here to help. It is the least that we townsfolk can do for a family that helps more than a third of us,” a town’s person interrupts.

“All that matters now is that we are here to help. Taking you away from this now painful place to help you to start over and get on with your lives.” Marnina adds.

“Marnina and I have talked this over. We have come to an agreement for what to do with all you kids,” Frederick comments as he takes a couple of steps back. “I… my wife and me… we can take you four,” Frederick puts his arm around his wife Vartouhi. “Gale, Sara, Dave, and Joanne will live with us at our house. Vartouhi and I will have to make a couple of additions onto the house, but we have a large yard to accommodate that.”

Vartouhi adds, “You four are always welcome to come and work at our bakery. Frederick can teach the business, or you could get a job in town and just live at our house as long as you wish.”

“David, Markus, and Wendi, you three can come live with me and my fiancé, Zebedeo. We are going to be getting married in a month. The wedding was going to be a surprise, but the current events has changed everything. So we are opening up our new home to you to stay as long as you wish.” Marnina tells the three kids while holding them in her arms.