Hearts of the Ocean - Chapter 2: A year ago..... (Rhonda's Point of view)

Rhonda loved everything about Yorkshire market. The smell, the colours and the people. The market had everything in one place. Yorkshire faced seas of unruly crowds every morning from sunrise to noon. But still no matter how busy, she loved Yorkshire market. No place for a lady, Mother would always snap and nag at her when she found out about her outings. Rhonda thought back about her mother. No palce for a lady? What was a place for a lady? Dressing rooms? Parlours? Drawing rooms? Were those the only places a lady is supposed to be? Rhonda often wondered what it would be like if ladies wore trousers, went horse-riding without having to fuss which leg was where and get scrapes and cuts on their body.... Oh, how Mother would shriek and cry, fuss and worry over the slightest things that Rhonda did what a lady wasn't "supposed to do". It seems as if she couldn't get away from the vice grips of Mother and the rich symphony of screeches and moans of her over-bearing voice. Everytime Mother disapproved of something she wanted, Rhonda would sit and smile stifly for the rest of the day while she screaming silently on the inside.

But now that she was away from Mother, she could do anything she pleased. She could walk on the dirt road with her bare feet, sing at the top of her lungs and wear ragged clothes, which, ironically turned out to be what she was doing all at one at that very moment.  Rhonda looked at the frail sun which rose ever so slowly with a feeling of warmth and happiness wash over her. She smiled and kept on walking. 

She stopped before the entrance sign  of Yorkshire market and smiled. She went in and started wandering off in the little adventure but she didn't really know what to do. Peddlers, storekeepers and grocers were beseeching the crowd to but their goods. Rhonda walked and breathed in the different aromas when all of a sudden, she felt terribly uncomfortable all of a sudden. Perhaps it was the awful stench of decaying meat of fish, game and other poultry or the cries of all the peddlers, storekeepers and grocers that echoed in her ear or the haunting sounds of clogged feet on wet puddles or the distasteful combination of all of them that made her feel so. She felt as if she were lost in the violent crowd. Rhonda became desperate and searched for an exit. She started to feel dizzy and weak. The wayward crowd was uncontrollable. Rhonda stared at the crowd and tried to regain her posture but she felt suffocated then, tried to tear away from the crowd but she couldn't. Panting heavily, she tried to breathe but air was too thin. With her eyes closed, she knocked onto someone then, all turned black. 

'Everybody make way. Step aside!' Rhonda heard someone say. Rhonda regained consciousness but she closed her eyes still. There was a thick quality of that voice that made her distrust it immediately. "A rouge, this man must be" she thought to herself. "Make way. She needs some fresh air!" that Voice boomed. Rhonda heard the clatter of shoes that stepped backwards. Then, she opened her eyes slowly and looked at the speaker of the Voice. The man bent down onto the ground and looked her in the eyes with a smile of relief. "This young lady is alright, good people. Go about with your business!" the Rouge called out at the dispersing crowd. 

Rhonda was lying on the brick road. She sat up and blinked slowly then rubbed her eyes. She felt as if she was in a dream. The Rogue was a totally different person than she imagined. She pictured a balding man in his 30's and definitely more appalling but she was wrong. Right in front of her knelt a statuesque man. His eyes were glittered and were as blue as the ocean. He had hair the colour of honey and sand which was the length of his shoulder. He had fine crimson lips and pearly white teeth that sparkled in the bright morning sun. She fell in love instantly. But she couldn't avoid his eyes. They were so alluring. "Hello there! My name is James." the man started with a cheery voice. 

Rhonda was nervous and stiff. She wanted to say what her name was but she couldn't find the courage to do so. Finally, she managed to find her voice and  started mumbling. "Thank you, kind sir. I have nothing to thank you with. I do apologize and I must be on my way before my mistress throws a fit" she managed to stutter. She got up from sitting on the brick road that was terribly hot and uncomfortable. Rhonda bobbed a quick curtsey and scurried away homeward, abruptly. James, who was now standing up, watched as the most beautiful maiden he ever met just got up and left without even telling him her name. 

*****

Rhonda was blushing furiously on her way out of the market. Her gaze was averted to the ground as she scurried out onto the dirt road. When she a good distance away from Yorkshire market, she stopped at her tracks and looked back, Yorkshire market was a giant blot in the distance.  She glanced at it and heaved a sigh of happiness and smiled before heading back home.   

I love you... Do you and will you love me? - Chapter 3

Detective Bram stretched and yawned. He glimpsed at the wall clock. It was 8 p.m. He looked out his office window. Lecrimno City was right at the bottom of him. He could see the tasteless flat where he lived, slept and slaved away in. Just a short distance away, he could see City Park, Lecrimno City's largest and most crime infested place. Murder, rape, kidnapping, drug dealings, you name it, the crime has been committed there. He stared at the bright city lights and wondered. Then, he grabbed his keys, coat and hat and left the building. 

He got into his black Sedan and started the engine. He drove out of Lecrimno City's Police Department's parking lot and into to main road. Detective Bram was thinking as hard as he could. "Who the could she be? Insane coworker? Mental ex girlfriend? Deranged secret lover? What? Who? Why?". Bram was so lost in thought till he missed the right turn back home. "Shit!!" he cursed angrily. Then he drove on and found himself in a familiar street. "Wait.... This is where the Steels live!!" he thought in surprise. "Humm, I might as well do some investigating while I'm here" he thought to himself. He drove through the busy street in search of the Richmond Condo. The pavements were wet and lights were shining brightly from the lamp posts. He drove slowly in the busy street and found Richmond condo. He found a nearby parking spot and turned off the engine of his car. The engine of his Sedan shuddered into a stop and he got out of it.

 The shoes on his feet made soft splashing sounds as he squeezed his way through to get to the building, the night was alive with the sounds of loud footsteps and the up beat sounds of music and talking. He walked right into Richmond Condo and explained to valet who was on the front door of the building, of the purpose of his visit. The valet smiled and let him in. Detective Bram took the elevator up to the remains of what was the Steels house. 

The elevator signaled to a stop and Detective Bram walked out and stood in front of the Steels front door. He took a hairpin from his pocket and jammed it into the keyhole. He turned it, twisted it and shook it but nothing worked. Out of anger and frustration, he kicked the door. After howling in pain and yelling out curses at the top of his lungs, he then thought of something he should have done a long time ago. He twist the doorknob. The door opened, noiselessly. After hollering yet another string of curses, he went in the suite with a a dark crimson face and a deep frown. There weren't any lights on. Detective Bram felt the walls blindly until he found the switches. The lights flashed on and Detective Bram found himself still in the Steel's spacious living hall. The hard tile floor was slightly wet but it was the least of his problems. He flicked every light switch on and looked around. He blew a low whistle. The vicinity of the place was magnificent. They furniture  seem terribly expensive and without any doubt, exquisite. 

He admired the atmosphere for a while and then got back to work. Detective Bram walked to the bedroom of Dennis and Brenda Steele. Once again he felt for the light switch in the darkness and turned it on. He stared at the bare bed. The blue sheets that were once on the bed had been removed and the entire room was clean of flies, maggots, water and traces of blood that had been in there earlier that day. All was still. He looked through the cupboards and drawers and strangely, everything was still there. Clothes, jewelry, make-up and other personal belongings were still intact in their places. He wandered to the bathroom. Everything was clean and the floor, too, was just slightly damp. The air, however, had an eerily dank smell and droplets of water dripped from one of the two sinks in the enormous bathroom. 

Everything was clean and sorted. Detective Bram stood in the bathroom feeling painfully uneasy. He switched off the lights as he got out of the room and roamed the entire house. It was strange that two people who were married without kids or family living with them had such an expensively spacious abode. He then progressed to every room in the suite. 

There were ten doors in the entire suite. Four of the ten were bathrooms and the remaining six were bedrooms. It wasn't surprising that all six rooms in the house were empty except for some of them which had pieces of furniture and beds in them. "Guest rooms, perhaps." Detective Bram thought to himself. He inspected every room throughly in search of some sort of clue that would help him but there was nothing that would help him. Of course, unless if you count dead pieces of wood and seemingly unused mattresses. The house had nothing. That would help him and just as he was about to call it quits after searching all the rooms, his stomach growled in a frightful fashion. Detective Bram had an idea. He trudged into the kitchen to sneak a bite. Before he did, he felt a wave of guilt overpower him then he thought, "Well, the owners of this place are dead and we don't want good food go to waste now, do we?". With that, he snorted a chuckle of delight and raided the kitchen of its edibles. 

He searched every inch of the kitchen and finally gathered his supper of meat pies, aged bananas, beef jerky, orange juice and finally, a candy bar to satisfy his bonbon craving. He ate everything without hesitation and didn't bother with cutlery, plate nor glasses. "Pfttt, like I'd want to wash dishes after eating at a place where no one would even come near." Detective Bram scorned aloud as he pulled open the refrigerator door. He brushed the last of the meat pie crumbs off himself and grabbed the last and only carton of orange juice then, drained the contents into his mouth before tossing it into the waste bin. As he was about to leave, he noticed a dark narrow hallway in the far end of the kitchen that led to some other place. The hallway was so narrow till he could touch the walls with his arms outstretched. He felt the walls aimlessly yet once more in search of a light switch. He walked and walked but still, he felt nothing but he carried on walking. Then, his face crashed onto something hard. He bellowed in agony and felt his face blindly to check for any facial damage. There was none and Detective Bram felt his invisible enemy. It was a door! He searched for the knob and twisted it and then touched the walls in search of a switch. He flicked the light switch and found himself in tiny storage room. There's nothing horrifically horrifying about narrow and somewhat frighteningly dark hallways that leads to storage rooms but this one was an epic exception.  

Normally when someone says storage room, you'd think of brooms, mops, detergents and other household objects but this storage room doesn't only have that. The room was filled with clothes, jewelry, boxes of perfume and unopened packages. Each and every single one of those things had the initials, D.S and E.G Forever........