Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Murder of Innocence

As Emil briskly walked alongside the river, he saw that a crowd had gathered up ahead. He picked up the pace even further. As Emil got nearer, he could see that they had formed a circle around something. Approaching them, he tried to find space to move closer in and maneuvered his way past a couple of people.

And there in the middle, was a woman clutching the still body of a little girl. Next to her was Ben, the man Emil had just met in the tavern. They were both crying as the rest of the people there kept a respectful distance. But standing above them, visible only to him, was the dead girl's ghost. She looked down at those two, quietly sobbing. Through the crowd’s grim silence, he could hear what she was saying in between her sobs.

“Why can’t they see me? Mommy, Ben, I’m here!” Sarah’s spirit said to herself. As she floated around, Emil continued to look up at her. And after a few moments, their eyes eventually met. She looked away, before looking back to reestablish eye contact. Sarah wiped her eyes as she descended down, her form phasing through the people in front of him.

“You… can you really see me?” She asked. Emil glanced around, he wouldn't be able to talk to her out loud. Instead, he crossed his arms together, and pointed with the index finger of the hand on top. He attempted to be subtle about it, and shifted his gaze between her and his finger a few times. The message was received, as Sarah reached to grab it. When she did, Emil then began to communicate to her with his mind. He knew that he would need to be gentle about this.

‘Hello there, I’m Emil. You’re Sarah, right?’ Emil asked. Now that she was right in front of him, he looked at her and couldn’t help but grimace as he did. She couldn’t have been more than ten years old. He couldn’t help but begin to clench his teeth. Emil tried to keep it out of his surface thoughts, but deep down, his inner soul trembled with fury. What could compel someone to end the life of someone so young? No person could do such a terrible thing, nobody that could dare call themselves a human.

“Yes… I’m Sarah. Mr. Emil, why can’t my mommy and brother see me? I feel weird, my body doesn’t feel normal. Nobody else has even looked at me, only you. What’s happening, can you fix it?” Sarah asked aloud. In both her mind and voice, he could feel her confusion and fear. She didn’t understand what was going on.

‘I’m sorry Sarah, it’s…’ Emil paused, sharply inhaling with his nose. ‘You’re probably still in shock, but you died. Your family can’t see you because you’re a ghost now.’

“I… no…” She tried to speak, but couldn’t find the words. But as she processed what he told her, Emil could feel something shift within her spirit. The look in her eyes changed as the gears of her memory clicked into place.

‘I remember now.’ And as they continued to maintain contact, her memories began to flood back. Emil watched as they went back to earlier that day, when she went out to the woods with her friends. As they played, Sarah eventually became separated from her group. She wandered around for some time, lost and afraid. Eventually, she could hear the sound of the river. She then remembered the advice her mother had told her before. That if she simply followed it, the river would eventually bring her back to the town.

However, she had grown thirsty during her time outside. So she walked directly up the water, cupping her hands into it for a drink. As she did so, Sarah heard something quickly move from behind her. But before she could turn around, something shoved her back and pushed her into the river.

Taken by surprise, she couldn’t help but inhale some water through her nostrils. Where Sarah currently was, the water was fairly shallow. It would only have gone up to just above her knees if she was standing. She tried to push herself up, coughing as she did. But just as she lifted her head out of the river, Sarah barely had a second to breathe. For something then grabbed her by both the back of the neck and head, forcing her face into the water again. She was pressed directly into the mud below.

Sarah tried to reach back and grab the arm of her assailant. She attempted to pull their hand off with one hand while swinging back to hit them with the other. However, her floundering proved futile, as she could feel the little strength she had begin to dwindle. But past her panic, her mind worked to figure out a way to survive.

Inside her clothing, there was a small knife. She had it for when she helped her mother with a project that morning, and forgot to put it back in its place. Her intention had been to bring it home after she finished playing with her friends. At the very least, that’s what she told her mother before running off.

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Sarah reached for the blade, desperately trying to grab and pull it out. When she finally did, she swung it back. She felt the knife stab into her attacker’s body. Their grip loosened, and Sarah quickly got up. Her grip still tight around the weapon, she pulled it out as she moved. Forcing her legs to work, she managed to stand up and immediately began to ran. She tried to scream for help, but her voice couldn’t let out anything more than a squeak between the coughs.

Sarah glanced back, and her eyes widened as she saw the face of the person who was trying to kill her. Her vision was blurry, but she could still make out his features. His silver teeth flashed in the light. The man’s soaked grey hair and beard dripped with water. And as he sprinted after her, his eyes filled with rage, Sarah could only form one thought.

She recognized this man, and watching through her eyes, so did Emil. It was one of the older people he had just recently met at the tavern, Hadwin the cleric. A man who Ben had referred to as being a family friend for years, from even before Sarah had been born.

Shocked by seeing the face of someone she had known her entire life, someone Sarah had always considered as an uncle, she froze up. And in that hesitation, her killer caught up. As she weakly struggled underwater, the last of her strength was used up. She felt the knife slip out of her hand, and the world went dark.

The connection between them broke, pulling Emil back into reality. Sarah let go of his finger, collapsing onto the ground. Spectral tears rolled off her face, though they disappeared before they could even touch the dirt. Emil clenched his fists, the cleric’s face was now burned into his mind. But now that she could no longer read his mind, he allowed his deeper emotions to explode out.

Emil’s heart beat furiously inside his chest as his muscles tensed. He could hear his blood rushing in his ear, louder than it had ever been since receiving his powers. If that man appeared in front of him right now, Emil would unleash whatever it took to rip his body apart. Even if everyone there witnessed it, he didn’t care.

But killing him quickly would be a mercy, one that monster didn’t deserve. If he could, Emil wanted him to suffer for as long as possible. To feel the pain he inflicted upon his victims twice over. For that scumbag’s very soul to suffer for every moment these innocent children were forced to spend as ghosts. Emil’s eyes darted around, silently daring that piece of garbage to show his face. But as far as he could see, the cleric wasn’t there among the crowd.

Without an outlet to enact his fury, he had no choice but to slowly calm back down. Once Emil regained his composure, he let out a deep breath and began to think. He was the only one who knew what really happened. If he went after the cleric now, he could easily kill him, yes. However, then he would be considered as a murderer, and the truth about the killings would likely never come to the light.

Right now, Sarah’s family was in grief. The last murders were believed to be accidents, so chances were that this would be the same. He needed a way to push them in the right direction, to the get ball rolling for a proper investigation. Emil’s mind went to the knife, the mother knew that Sarah had it on her.

If she had just slipped in by accident, then the weapon would still be tucked inside her clothes, right? He needed to think of a way to broach the subject, to point their attention to the fact that it was gone. Once that was done, Emil could try to guide their thoughts to the possibility of murder. But how could he do so in a way that made sense to them, and didn’t come off badly while they were still currently mourning the death of a family member?

Right now, he could get the crowd’s full attention. If he waited until the family was alone, then he would need to convince them personally. However, if he could get just one or two people here to think along the same lines, then that could trigger a domino effect in his favor. Emil needed to pick his words carefully, for every single one could be what makes the difference.

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