NaNoWriMo Day 28: 39, 253 of 50,000
I am going to make it. I am going to make it.
To read the previous chapters head HERE!
Chapter Thirty-Six
Theo wasn’t sure how much time had passed really, but the sound of more voices gave him relief for the first time in days.
“Get down! Hands on your head!” an authoritative voice was shouting and he knew, deep within his bones, that it was the police. The wait for that door to open was arduous, but when it did relief unlike any other poured out of Theo. His sister’s arms were around him first followed by Alice as the trio hugged, cried, and clung to one another on the floor of the shed.
“We need to get the bindings off of him ladies,” a female voice said from behind them.
“Oh, right. Of course,” Alice said standing up and pulling Chloe into a hug as they watched the female officers cut through the rope. Theo couldn’t help but rub his wrists before being helped up. The two women were getting their ropes cut and duck tape slowly pulled off their mouths. They both hugged each other and followed the officers out.
Theo took Chloe and Alice’s hands and walked out of the shed with them. The sun seeped through to the forest floor as the scene before him sharpened. Ophelia and Tyler were being taken away in handcuffs. Johanna and Diane were getting covered in thick blankets. A paramedic was heading for Theo with a blanket and ushering him to the end of a short trail where an ambulance waited.
“Theo, what happened? How did you get here? Why is it Ophelia and Tyler?” Chloe was relentless with her questions and Theo didn’t have the energy to interrupt her, so he just waited until she faded out.
“Chloe I don’t know. I have the same amount of information you do right now.”
“They didn’t say anything?” Alice asked looking at him like he was a wounded puppy.
Theo shook his head before a small lab puppy appeared out of the corner of his eye. Theo didn’t care that the paramedic was attempting to take his blood pressure because his Bella was in front of him straining against the leash that Saul was holding before he gave up and let go. The small puppy bounded in to Theo open arms and all the blankets and food in the world could not compare to the comfort he felt from holding his dog in his arms.
“Bells,” he cooed as she licked his face. Theo still had plenty of questions and needed food and water immediately, but having his dog next to him made him feel like everything was going to be alright.
A few hours later Theo was back in Saul’s cabin with a blanket on him, Bella cuddled in his lap, and a fire roaring. Upon returning, Theo was questioned by police at which point he learned that he had been gone for a day. It wasn’t until nightfall that Alice, Chloe, and Saul began to worry. Alice had told him she stood in the back window and watched him go to the edge of the property before he took the trail so she was able to trace that part of his journey, but the shed where Theo and the women were moved was further down the path. To add more of a kick to the whole crumbling event, the sheds belonged to Saul. Ophelia and Tyler had taken them over because Saul never used them and never needed a reason to go back there which gave them the isolated place they were looking for.
Unfortunately the police were unwilling to provide any answers at the time presumably to get the pair back to Seattle and into the hands of Detective Moody. Both Diane and Johanna were taken to a nearby hospital both suffering from malnourishment and sleep deprivation among other things. Theo was okay to not go to the hospital, but he had to take in food slowly to not overwhelm his body. Once all had settled a little Saul announced they would make their journey back to Seattle the following day. Without electricity they really didn’t know what they would be driving into. So, that next morning as they all climbed into Saul’s van the tension and stress was palpable. The first sign of what was to come hit when they entered Arlington. It looked like a tornado had whipped through the area and the group could only imagine what lied ahead.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
It felt like a dystopian movie. As I-5 stretched out before them their car was the only one in sight. Many cars were on the highway, but they weren’t moving. Their doors were opened and an eerie abandoned vibe hovered around them. Items were strewn about on the road in front of them as Saul skillfully maneuvered around them. The first pain hit the group as they approached Seattle and the iconic Space Needle was not in the sky.
“Oh my gosh,” Chloe whispered speaking for everyone in the van.
It was hard to put into words the destruction they were seeing all around them. The water had subsided, but the damage was all around them. Buildings were rocks with piles of materials fallen into the streets. Power lines were snapped in half with their wires dangerously laying over fallen trees. As the van turned onto 20th Avenue everything inside Theo deflated. Every single building on his street was gone. The police and volunteers had cleared the street pointing out any crack of significant size that should not be driven on.
“This is like something out a movie,” Theo shared out loud.
“Where are we going to live now?” Alice asked.
“I wonder if my house is okay,” Chloe said aloud as Saul pulled off and parked in front of what used to be the Spiritual Center.
“Well, we must rebuild right? That’s the only natural next step.” With that Saul pulled his keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the van.
Theo took Bella’s leash in his hands and opened the back door stepping out first. The air around them was thick with moisture and somehow the sun had found its way out of the clouds. The rubble all around him seemed to be telling a story. A terrifying one. Theo felt a light tap on his arm making him turned toward Alice who was pointing in the general direction of where their townhomes used to be.
“Oh my,” Theo said walking behind Alice as they made their way to the rubble. Bella approached the pile tentatively as Theo noticed something familiar peeking out from the material of the townhome. “It can’t be.” He reached forward stepping carefully on the blocks beneath him. Out of the pile came a worn out, torn, and slightly burnt journal. Inside he saw his hurried scribble and couldn’t help but see the metaphor laying in front of him. The jarring, chaotic thoughts inside the journal looked much like the scene before him.
“Are you here to help?” a voice startled the trio. Theo turned to see a police officer standing with his hands on his hips a thick layer of dirt covering every inch of his skin.
“Yes,” Theo said without hesitation, “yes we are here to help.”
“Great, come with me.”
The trio followed the officer to the end of the street where a tent had been put up and several people were coming in and out of it. They were asked to sign in and provide their address before being given a section of the neighborhood to go to. The clean-up effort was in full force and Theo couldn’t help but feel like the journey ahead of them was lengthy, but none of them had a choice.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
A few months had gone by and there was still a lot of clean-up to be done. Construction companies had swooped in as soon as streets had been cleaned up. Theo and Alice had been staying with Chloe since the day they arrived back to the city. The trial for Ophelia and Tyler had been put on hold until the City Hall could be moved to an operational building in Bellevue. Theo had, of course, been called by the prosecution as a witness and despite the utter exhaustion of the last few months he had agreed to take the stand.
“I have to admit,” Theo began as Alice stood in front of him straightening his tie, “I said yes more because I want answers than I want to see them both go to prison.” It had been difficult, as the day after coming back all of it hit me, to rationalize how two of his closest friends had decided to not only hide their relation to one another from Theo, but somehow had used him as an albi to carry out their kidnapping revenge spree. What had helped, truthfully, was meeting with the district attorney who took on the case. Adeline, a powerhouse of an attorney Theo learned, had helped not only to rationalize what was going on, but also steer him toward a therapist who could help him work through the utter manipulation Theo had endured since he met Tyler and Ophelia.
Alice finished with his tie and took his hand as they walked into the temporary courthouse being used for the trial. Neither Theo or Alice had discussed their relationship since they returned to Seattle, but as with any victim of a natural disaster and kidnapping they grew closer. Theo knew he had to tell her, verbally, what was clearly going on between them, but right now his brain could only handle so much. He was still trying to recover from the kidnapping which had left behind a string of nightmares. Bella was always close by to provide him with the much needed comfort he required.
As Alice and Theo entered the building a dressed up Chloe and Saul stood nervously outside the courtroom but relaxed when they saw the pair coming toward them.
“How are you feeling?” Chloe asked as her hands went to his tie. Theo couldn’t help but laugh at the stereotype going through is head.
“What is it with women and messing about with a man’s tie?” he asked pushing her hands off the fabric.
Chloe clasped her hands and turned away from him. “Sorry, I just am so nervous. Aren’t you?” she asked looking at him.
“I am,” Theo said truthfully looking at Saul.
Of all the strange twists and turns this past year had brought Theo the unlikely friendship that formed between Saul and Theo was the strangest of all. The two had gotten to the point where they would laugh over Theo’s obsessiveness. Yet, as Theo’s therapist had pointed out a few weeks prior, there was no better way to heal from all of this than to have him as a friend.
The door opened and a tall, slender female appeared with a tight smile on her face. Adeline rushed the group into the courtroom and had them sit behind her desk as the jury was brought in.
“Please rise,” the courtroom officer said as a tall man with a cloak approached the bench, “the Honorable Judge Reece presiding.”
“You may be seated,” the judge said as everyone sat. “Adeline please begin.” The judge seemed bored, but to Theo he just looked tired. What this entire region had just endured would make anyone tired, but life still went on and someone had to truly pay for what the three women had to endure for the past year.
“Good morning Jude Reece, jury,” she said standing up and approaching the jury, “around August of 2017 young Tiffany Lee was leaving her school ready to come home and relax with her parents. As she left the front door of Ballard High she noticed a knife lay in the path in front of her. As she bent to pick it up, intent on returning it to the office inside, she was struck from behind,” Adeline paused presumably for dramatic effect, “and to this day still cannot remember everything she endured while in captivity.” The jury was stoic as she walked up toward the foreman. “Where we begin today is a journey that is likely to take us down a confusing turn of events. For many, both media and others alike, we all believe this story begins with Tiffany, but from my vantage point it begins even further back. It begins with a young man, Theodore Henderson. His relationship with the accused is what allowed them both to feel comfortable to carry out their revenge scheme and ultimately lead to his own capture a year later. My hope is not only that justice is served, but that the voices of those who have been affected are heard loud and clear. Thank you.”
Adeline took her seat yielding to the defense attorney who stood up and buttoned his suit looking at Ophelia and Tyler as he approached the jury. It seemed like everyone in the courtroom took a collective breath knowing that there was no way anyone could keep Ophelia and Tyler from going to prison. The defense attorney seemed to feel the tension as he took a moment to clear his throat before preceding.
Follow along with me this month at Jenna Pratt!
