Chapter 11 : The boy

Her eyes, empty and void, stared straight down at him. Chills ran straight through his spine. He stood there, unable to move, shocked and confused. Her lifeless body hung there, blood dried up from her arms, parts of her clothes cut and ripped. There was no movement. Instantly, memories from Kieran ran through Edward’s mind. Every single moment. Moments where his mother cared for him, the first time his mother had let him try sweets, when his mother gave him a necklace from what little remained of her jewelry, chest, everything. It all rushed his mind in an instant. Though Edward had no connection to this woman, Kieran’s emotion was bursting.

Edward instantly started tearing up, and wailed. He called for his mother, cried and cried as she stared at him from above. The tall man grabbed him instantly, and covered his eyes. He hugged him and carried him in his arms. Though Edward couldn’t see anything, he knew he was outside because of the sounds. Murmurs and whispers, people shouting and yelling. He was outside, and there was some sort of crowd. He still cried and wailed, tears drenching the watchman’s clothes.

“Kieran, listen to me, don’t cry”.

The tall watchman put him down on a bench, a little farther away from the crowd, but could still see them and the house. Kieran couldn’t stop crying. Though he was a 17 year old that had gone through a lot as well, he didn’t know how to process this. Though he had memories of his past life, the memories of Kieran came to be his own. It was his own memories now, not Kieran’s. He was Kieran Morrison, child of Elizabeth Morrison and the younger brother of Johann Morrison. And he couldn’t stop crying.

“Hey, Kieran, here”

The tall watchman had pulled out something from his pouch. It was candy. Wrapped in a small leather cloth, in multiple, broken pieces, he had candy. Though it was small, and honestly not that sweet, it hit Kieran hard. It was the candy his mother had bought for him, the first candy he ever had, and the last candy his mother would ever buy for him. Kieran, though not wailing, cried as he savored the sweet. It was a bright yellow candy that had a sour taste, something like a lemon. 

A while after, the 3 other watchmen came out, 2 of them supporting a stretcher with his mother’s lifeless corpse. They escorted her body through the crowds, and into the distance. When the 3rd watchman appeared, he yelled:

“ON THIS DAY, APRIL 29TH, 1359, MS. MORRISON WAS FOUND DEAD IN HER HOUSE. THE WATCHMEN’S INFORMATIONS TEAM WILL CARRY OUT AN INVESTIGATION REGARDING THIS MATTER. NO ONE IS TO STEP FOOT ON THIS PROPERTY WHILST SAID INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING.”

Murmurs and whispers were heard from the crowd. Even though he was far, they were so loud that even Kieran could hear them clearly.

“What a poor soul. It seems like she was murdered. She was still so young…”

“I was just planning to go to her store the other day when she disappeared. How unfortunate”

“What will become of her child? I believe his name was.. Kieran, right?”

Everyone was taken aback from this. She was a woman who was loved by many. Many came for her fortune telling's, since they were quite accurate. Her customers, pained, walked away. The rest gossiped in front of the house, and were all talking about it and making theories. Some even laughed and were smiling. Although she was loved by many, she was also hated by many. Business owners often came short on money because they would lose customers to her. Because of this, they would scare her into giving them "protection fees" so that they could keep her and her son down. So that she couldn't make any investments or buy anything nice. They didn't want her to succeed at all. Someone even yelled 

"HEY, LET'S DRINK TILL THE MORNING" 

in which a few other men and women replied with cheers and agreement. Kieran couldn't understand how some people could be so terrible in their hearts, how could they be happy about someone's death? A woman who was innocent who happened to have a better business. She had no one to protect her, but protected her son. Emotions swelled up inside of Kieran.  

Suddenly, it started raining. One by one, the crowd dispersed, people left and nobody cared to give a second glance. The watchmen had all gone, including the tall one, though he had left all the candy to Kieran. Everyone was gone, except for Kieran. He sat there on that wooden bench, still crying silently, with the last piece of candy in his mouth. The same candy his mother bought him. And he savored it until it was no more. And even after the candy was gone, he sat there, staring at the house. He cried and cried until there were no more tears. Even then, he never returned home. He just sat there, watching from afar.

He was the boy in the rain, the boy who had no home to return to, and the only one who cried that day.