My Body Was Left Unclaimed for Five Years

Chapter 5 The Abyss Takes Over

"A faint smile flickered on my lips. It struck me just how clouded my mind had become from neglecting my antidepressants for so long. Each house I passed shimmered with bright lights, children gleefully setting off fireworks in the streets. I ambled along, taking it all in, when out of nowhere, darkness enveloped me!

"In a heartbeat, several figures grabbed me, hauling me into an unwatched alley. They held me down and ripped away my clothes. That night, my cries were lost amid the bangs and sparkles. Not until dawn did the nightmare end, leaving me sprawled on the cold ground, vacant and stunned.

"One man stood, spat in my face, and sneered, "Mess with Stella, and this is your fate!" I watched, detached, as they left. Trembling, I managed to dress and return to Wendy's. My thoughts raced wildly. There was no way to put it all into coherent words. My hands shook so fiercely. The pen felt foreign. I scribbled a note for Wendy. More than anything, I wished to be laid to rest with my parents in the family tomb.

"Since Caleb had turned away from me, I would find solace with them. My only hope was that Wendy wouldn't grieve too deeply and that perhaps Caleb would find forgiveness in my lifelessness, sparing me from endless apologies."

Jane's voice had turned into a rasp.

When she finished reading, the silence in the room was palpable, as if the air itself was holding its breath.

Caleb hesitated a moment before managing a forced chuckle, "They really pulled out all the stops to siphon some cash off me, didn't they?"

He said this while fishing his phone out of his pocket and dialing Wendy's number.

She picked up almost immediately. Caleb didn't waste a second and his voice was like ice, "Tell Sarah if she wants money, she has got to show her face. An apology is all it takes for her to come back home. Those dramatic journal entries won't sway me!"

There was a brief silence before Wendy exhaled audibly.

"Caleb, I've sold the house. I'm ready to leave. Don't approach me about Sarah again."

Wendy's words mirrored her weariness.

Years of Stella's manipulations using her influence had worn Wendy down.

Caleb knew this yet allowed Stella's ploys in his pursuit of an apology from me.

Wendy had jumped from job to job, shouldering the burden of my funeral expenses.

She poured all her resources into it.

Countless times, she stood beside my lifeless form, in despair. "Why did you have to leave so inexplicably? Did you see death as your way out?"

Yet, after each outburst, she would quickly apologize through tears.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. None of it was your doing. I'm just so drained, so very drained!"

Guilt gnawed at me. Had I foreseen all of this, I would have begged Stella for mercy five years ago.

But hindsight wasn't an option.

After ending the call, Caleb sat in silence for a lengthy pause.

Jane, eyeing him cautiously, ventured to ask, "Mr. Sullivan, should we look into this further?"

"No need."

Caleb, his face a stone mask, rose, heading toward the exit.

"If Wendy claims Sarah is gone, I'll grant her one last belief. Aren't the remains at the funeral home on Glory Road? I'll see the truth myself."

His final words were laced with a biting coldness, "If they've dared to trick me, there will be consequences!"