Chapter one
John
The tilted coffee table was flipped across the room as John let out a shout. He felt a tornado of rage whirl inside him like nothing he had ever felt before. Each thought of Marie pained him. He saw her blood on the bed and floor and felt physical at the thought of her in distress. Like the winds whipping inside him were filled with shards of glass, every thought of his sister screaming in pain cut a hole deeper inside him.
He stormed out of the room after swiping up every handful of dollars and change he could see and stuffed it in his pocket. In the pitch black of night, he stomped towards home. Towards the community. To the only place he knew. He didn't know how he would get there. He did not know what would happen once there. The community was miles upon miles away. John didn't care. He would walk day and night for weeks if need be to reach Marie.
The only thing he knew was he would get to Marie.
I will save Marie.
John had walked for hours before a yellow car pulled to the side of the road beside him. 'Taxi-Cab', the vehicle read. The driver was a heavyset man leaning out of his window.
"Hey man, you need a ride? This is the interstate. You don't want to be walking out here."
"You'd give me a ride anywhere?" John asked, exhaling several deep pants.
The driver snickered and shook his head. "I wouldn't say anywhere, but as long as the price is right."
"Price..." John dug in his pocket and pulled out the crumpled 5, 10, and 20 dollar bills he had wadded together. "How far west can you take me for this?"
"West?" The driver mauled over the amount of money with his eyes before saying. "Maybe an hour or so."
John dumped the money into the driver's hand and got into the back seat. The drive seemed like it paused time even though his mind raced. He wondered if she was alive or if she was alive, how had he hurt her? He could not have killed her. His father would be upset because of their defiance, but he was more upset about losing Marie after having already sold her in marriage. If he lost her and the sale fell through, he would be shamed in the community. That was the biggest insult he feared.
What tortures is she suffering for her betrayal? What fate have I subjected my stepsister to?
It was halfway through the night when the driver turned down his radio and spoke to John again.
"Hey, man. This is it. I drove an extra twenty minutes more because you seem like a good dude, but this is as far as I can take you."
John got out of the car and looked about. He recognized the farms and open fields, even at night. They were about fifteen miles from his community.
"Very well, thank you," John said.
"Good luck to you, man," the driver said before turning around on the country road.
John started at a brisk jog. A pace he could sustain for some time. He was not a man built for running long distances. Though his tall long limbs were good for runs, his bulky muscles built over years of tossing bales of hay and working the fields made him slow. His pace quickened the more his mind thought of Marie and the closer he got to her.
He would sprint for a half and mile then march for the other half, over and over until finally he neared home. The smells, the sounds, the sights... they were the same as he had felt his entire life. Birds chirped as darkness faded to morning, the sun rose. John's shirt was soaked through with sweat, but still he jogged. He jogged down the dirt path all the way to the front of his father's house. The house where his mother had died. The house he wished he never saw again.
Exhausted and near collapsing, John wheezed several deep breaths before shouting, "Father!" Staring at the quiet house as the morning light rose. "Father!!!"
There was motion inside the house, and the door opened. Only it wasn't father who came out, nor was it Marie. The man who stepped outside was Tom, Marie's betrothed. Followed by Tom's father, Gary. Then five other men from the community.
They walked down the stoop forming a wall in front of John.
"Where is... my father?" John gasped.
It was only then his father exited the house and from the front porch looked down on his disobedient son.
Chapter two
John
John stared at the men, who glared down at him. Their eyes were set and full of judgment. It did not matter to John. He was not here to placate these men nor their ways of life. He was here to get his sister back.
"Where is she?" John panted, his exhausted body struggling to recover from his all-night journey. His eyes darted from each man's face before him, but none replied. "Where is she? Where is Marie?"
When he looked up at his father, who stood on the porch, he saw the jagged look of the man's snarl. A man full of hatred and malice that had built up and consumed him after a lifetime. It was then in that moment that John questioned why he called this man father over so many years. His mind searched for a moment to call upon in his memories. Examples of love, affection, or warmth that he could cling to as reasons he should still call the man father but none came to him. The man was no more a father than a manager was at a factory.
Taking a step forward, he walked towards the house. If they would not produce her, John would find his sister and take her from here. It was Tom, Marie's betrothed, who shoved John backwards a step. Measuring the scowl in Tom's eye, John could tell they knew of their relationship. They knew his step sister was more than that to him now. And Tom didn't want the competition.
