The ultimate betrayal
Chapter one
Have I been here before?
She searched her muddled memory bank to try and put the feeling of déjà vu to rest, the sheriff behind her remained silent but stood eagerly waiting for her to speak. Her eyes searched the vast landscapes the view obstructed by the bare carcases of shrubbery, as she bent and twisted to try and get a clearer view peeking through the gaps of the thirsty branches she was completely lost as to what she was looking for, she couldn’t remember or at least she didn’t want to, but she knew that something would jog her memory back to that dark dark period but she once lived.
she had to remember, just something that would trigger her memory, even though the thought of that happening made her feel physically sick she would just have to be strong, she repeated in her head over and over “you can do this, your stronger now” the wise words from the sheriff before they headed out into the bush, the words did bring her some comfort for the inevitable pain she was destined to relive, if he thought she could do it maybe she could, no one had ever really encouraged her before or offered support in her abilities, it brought a sense of safety in her mind if only temporary. The sun was beaming down on them through the twigged clearing, beads of sweat began to drip down her neck, she couldn’t decide if it was due to the scorching mid-afternoon sun or the fact she was an emotional wreck inside full of anxiety with each look and step, still repeating the sacred words that she could do this, she had to do this, there was no going back now, nowhere to hide, the secret was out, too late to have last minute jitters, or cold feet as one would say, although her feet were far from cold, even though her body was covered head to toe in goose bumps there wasn’t even a gentle breeze in the air, it was dry hot heat with nowhere to escape the sun. The sheriff stepped forward still keeping a good 6 foot distance between him and her, he took off his hat and whispered “anything Mam” trying as best he could to not interfere with a potential thought process, to avoid sounding to impatient and pushy but most of all to not scare her, he could see the fright fleeting past through her body even though she had her back to him, her skeleton became ridged and froze in position for what felt like a lifetime. She felt his every whispered word caress her tiny bony neck even though he was a distance away it felt like he was right behind her and it wasn’t an interaction she had managed to escape yet, her body stiff and motionless as the shivers travelled down her spin following the curve of each cord, her mouth filled with saliva as the pit of her stomach crunched. Once the realisation of where and who she was with sunk in she jumped ever so slightly as she began to compose herself from the fright, as well as feeling incredibly embarrassed, she smoothed her paisley cream dress out, it still didn’t hang quite right despite all the food Josie had been consuming her skeleton was still that of a malnourished child. Josie began to fuss pulling her beautiful lace gloves up slightly, catching an escapee piece of fierce red hair she curled back around her ear, her sun hat was just big enough to protect her pasty complexion from the lava-like rays of the sun. Her washed out complexion was most certainly complimented well by her magnificent bold emerald eyes, naturally contoured cheekbones and lushes rose red lips, Josie was most certainly a natural beauty a real-life snow white. Josie wasn’t used to being in such attire and still felt uncomfortable in the 1950s fashion get up. But her Mama insisted outside the walls of the house Josie would dress accordingly, So to keep the peace with her mother and to see her smile again she obliged to the full dress up she was going to be in the company of a gentleman after all, so it seemed only right that Josie looked acceptable and like a proper lady. It wasn’t Josie’s home yet she still wasn’t comfortable in the Dettol spotless living conditions, it was certainly not what she was used to, even though she should have been raised in such luxuries of the house, she wasn’t and it was taking her time to adjust, which hurt her mama after all Josie wasn’t like any normal young lady from the close nit town, who dressed accordingly in order to attract a fine wealthy husband, in fact it had only been 4 weeks that she had returned home, where she received 15 years of training in a month of what was expected of her in ladies etiquette. Josie was still unconfident in company on her own for fear of embarrassing her mother by not following the extensive rules and expectations of a lady.
After finally composing herself appropriately she turned to the sheriff and spoke in a soft broken voice “I’m sorry sheriff but I cannot recall anything here maybe its further on up” This was the first time since it happened that Josie had been in male company and it made her nervous and jumpy. The sheriff nodded and replied as gently as he possibly could with his strong deep voice “very well mam shall we continue” he gestured with his arm for Josie to continue ahead, Josie hesitated momentarily before offering her acceptance with a single jolty nod of her head. Sheriff Thomas was the perfect picture of a man, many girls in the town would coo over him, praying he would take one of them as his wife, he towered over Josie’s petite frame at 6ft 4 full of lean muscle a perfectly chiselled jaw, which was clean shaven his tanned complexion allowed his eyes to stand out even more a piercing blue pool of blue which glistened in the noon sunlight, his sheriffs uniform fitted in all the right places showing of his manly physic fitting tightly over his large biceps and curving around each muscle a perfect fit, his sun kissed complexion complimented the beige shirt and cowboy hat. He chewed tobacco and occasionally Josie would get a slight hint of the smell, it gave Josie a little sense of home and comfort as he remembered as a child sitting on her grandfather’s knee as he chewed tobacco and told her magnificent tales of far of places, princess, dragons and valiant knights protecting their kingdoms and castles. He would be able to capture her attention instantly as she perched on his knee in suspense of what would happen next, she would always beg for him to continue the story as he acted out each character changing his voice and persona for each different character, which made Josie chuckle. Josie had a very normal happy childhood, Papa worked at the local bank where his father had worked and his father before that, Mama was the perfect mother and wife Josie remembered how she was always impeccably dressed with not a hair out of place, but also how beautiful she was not a wrinkle in sight, her hair fiery red just like Josie’s and a perfectly pale complexion as pure as snow and lips as red as fire, she always smelt of sweet lavender and the smell would radiate throughout the house, a perfect memory of before it all happened, now Josie’s mama had a face full of wrinkles and worry lines, her red lips were cracked and her pale complexion more ill looking than pure, the smell of lavender was still there, but the home smelt more like a hospital with Dettol lingering in the air. Before Josie’s mama would stand by her father’s side, have dinner ready on the table by 5:30pm and Sundays her grandparents would visit grandpa Jim would say the prayers and everyone would be in their Sunday best from church. Josie loved Sundays her and Mama would bake before church the most delicious apple pie for afters, the smell would fill the house for hours, the house was nothing magnificent a three bedroomed country bungalow, but it was Josie’s mamas pride and joy she was extremely house proud, she would spend hours sweeping, dusting plumping cushions making the beds just so, and her washing well her whites where the whitest in town, she would scrub and scrub until the gleamed, women in the town would stare when Florence would hang her whites on the line, gossiping how does she get them so white? Josie adored the back garden as a child Florence would call it their secret garden, it was filled with wildflowers from foxgloves to bluebells, it caused a magnificent scene of clashing colour and a sweet fragrance in the air. Josie would often help her mother with tend to the garden, but it was always end up in games and laughter, as they danced, sang and tickled one another causing roars of giggles. They would lie amidst the lushes grass and watch the clouds go by. Josie recalls the memories and remembers how she hadn’t a care in the world as a child, nothing to fear, soon after that all changed and she lived a life full of fear and despair a far cry from the life she once knew. The memories brought a quaint small smile in the corner of her lips it had been a long time since Josie had smiled, she had spent years keeping her memories at the very back of her thoughts chained away and safe not be opened or relived, as not all of them were happy times. But she had opened the box now and flashes started to appear unable to hide the emotion on her face she quickly relocked the chains and pushed the thoughts back to where the belonged in the deepest part of her brain she could mentally see. Her heart still pounding and her breathing turned into panting as-as she took a huge sigh it was over the flashbacks had seized. Josie remembered why she did not look back over the past years now why she refused to think back and kept those thoughts under lock and key never to be opened, she knew she would have to face them eventually, but not like that not all of ten years flashing before your eye.
Josie had stopped walking without even realising and the sheriff had walked up next to her, the sheriff turned to her as she glared ahead “Mam are you ok? You look like you’ve seen Jesus himself”
Josie gulped back the saliva that had collected in her mouth, closing her eyes and exhaling in relief as if the pain had stopped, she rubbed her hands together and uncurled her toes, pulling her head back looking to the sky she hesitated for a moment not wanting to explain what had just happened to the sheriff because of the shame she felt and embarrassment that he had just seen her in that state. She knew that the Sheriff had read about the case so he knew what had happened to her but to explain in detail was not on Josie’s list of things to do, knowing it would only open the door for conversation and questions of the past, she also knew that if he knew how she felt and the flashbacks she was experiencing the Sheriff would insist on cutting the trip short to avoid Josie’s upset, but Josie needed to do this she had to complete the trip for her sanity, her eyes began to dart around as she bit the side of her lip looking for anything she could use as a realists excuse for her sudden erratic behaviour. “Mam are you ok, does this area look familiar Josie” the sheriff blushed as he realised he had just stepped over the line and the thoughts flashed through his mind, he was completely out of line, completely inappropriate, totally unprofessional, bombarding her with questions and being so insensitive, but this natural beauty he saw in front of him, made his knees weak, his cheeks blush, his heart beat at 100mph, his hands became sweaty and a shyness took over his persona, he just couldn’t resist stealing a glance into those eyes deep enough for her to take over his soul. What had happened to this perfect petite princess, no she was a queen, in his eyes. The lines of the case started running through his mind and he began to recall what cruel torturous actions she had been subjected to the more the sheriff recalled the angrier he became how on earth could anyone want to hurt a single strand of silk smooth hair on this goddesses head. He had to discard these thoughts, they burned his own heart, he had a job to do, and that was to catch the monster that had done this to her! “miss do you recall anything?” the sheriff hoped he had not caused offence by calling Josie by her forename but he came to the conclusion it best to not mention the slip up and attempt to ignore it ever happened. Josie noticed how reserved he had become, and decided he was embarrassed by his slight slip up, not that she minded at all, in fact she rather preferred Josie, to miss and mam, but she decided to use it to his slight slip on the tongue as a welcomed distraction from her erratic behaviour previously, she looked into the sheriffs eyes, the pools of blue that she could get lost in “ppplease sheriff Josie is just fine” she stuttered as she dropped her eyes to the floor hiding her shy blushed cheeks she was still nervous in the sheriffs company , the sheriff was in total awe of Josie’s ore her total being took his breath away, he was fixated of her as she glanced up occasionally catching his stare, he realised he’d not responded, he cleared his throat and composed himself from a giddy school boy to a manly sheriff with a gruff voice “ as you wish Mam, um Josie, please call me Thomas” Josie looked up to catch Thomas’s glance when she suddenly noticed the clearing directly behind Thomas, she leaned to the side to get a better view, Thomas was confused, he turned around to face the clearing, Josie push passed him to get a closer look, Thomas still in the dark asked “Josie what is it”.
Josie continued to stare intentaly at the clearing, her mind flashing back to that dark night, fear struck her, every hair on the back of her neck stuck up and ice cold sweat began to drip down her neck, her eyes glaring wide as she slowly stepped towards the small clearing at the side of the golden dirt road. She slowly pushed the brush further aside, suddenly a small path way became visible through the thick brush the path had been made by the grass being trodden down from being walked up and down time and time again, creating a treacherous but walkable track, either side the weeds and brambles were as tall as Josie and so thick you could hardly peer through, but this thin path had been cut down and made right through the foliage leading up the hillside, the track stuck out like a sore thump it was out of place in the scenic view out in front of josie and the sheriff, it was hidden behind branches that had been strategically left to cover its entrance from the road, leaving a very inconspicuous small entrance that would have been unnoticeable to people coming down the quiet road, unless you knew its location, and josie knew about its location her memory flashed back to the pitch black night, she had crawled out of that concealed entrance or in her case the exit, her head shot to the left as she glared at the small scar remaining on her arm, her right hand gently stroking the fragile skin on her cheek feeling the small scabbed lump protruding from the skin, a reminder of the once gaping gash and painful bruises that had distorted her face. Josies muddled mind began to regain some clarity, the mental image of herself crouched in the small opening, staring back up the track, the darkness made it feel like she was staring into the abyss was torturing her heart began to race and the feeling of panic and dread from that faithful night began to flood back and overwhelm her, she grabbed a thick branch to steady herself as she allowed her mind to explore the memory, she took some deep breaths, and closed her eyes in an attempt to concentrate, it was like she was watching a film where she was playing the star role
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