Rainfall

Chapter 1/4: Disaster

It had all happened too quickly for the so-called former Blackwell son to learn about what had occurred to his own sister and his brother-in-law; her very own spouse.

The two of them got into a car crash, a rare occurrence for today's traffic regulations. But not rare enough that the police saw anything more than some incident.

According to the autopsy, all parties had died instantly upon the collision. Whether this was a relief or a concern to the younger sibling of the victim was the deciding factor in this conclusion.

Regardless, he was forced to come pick up the pieces at the house the couple lived in.

The residence that they had owned was almost empty in terms of people, other than the police car that sat out front. Investigations had ended hours ago along with the questioning of the only two had been home at the time.

After all, his sister didn't just leave behind her possessions, she left behind her son, too.

A friend of theirs in the police force offered to stay with the 8-year-old at the house until he arrived, as the babysitter had their own obligations to attend to. He had the decision to take care of her son, but was hesitant. After all, he worked countless hours at the lab.

But, his other concern was where he'd go if he didn't take up the decision. And it wasn't like he couldn't get hours off, he just chose to work late and arrive early...

He shook his head. He couldn't think about it now, he had to see his nephew and find something important that he knew the cops had overlooked.

As soon as he stepped into the living room, two pairs of eyes snapped to meet his from the one ones at the house.

"Uncle Will!" His nephew, familiar from family dinners and other events his sister had humbly invited him to, rushed off the couch to hug him. The child's head tilted up to meet the older's, a look of fear in his nephew's green eyes made him feel nervous. "I-Is it really true?"

"I'm afraid so, Beck." Will gently ruffled his nephew's brown hair as his head tilted down to look at the ground. "I wish there was something I could've done."

"Do I get to go home with you?" His voice quiet all of a sudden. Those thoughts returned.

He decided to say nothing, and looked over at his friend, who only nodded solemnly. The officer knew of his indecisive nature on the situation.

"Come along, Beck. I'll take you up to the station and you can wait there, okay?"

Beck had always been obedient to his parents, and in no way did this change to other members of authority. The two left quietly only with waves of goodbye exchanged amongst them.

Now with that out of the way, he trudged up the stairs to the second floor, taking no glances at the pictures on the walls as he headed to her spouse's home office. It was too soon for that.

In that room, he found exactly what he knew would be waiting for him there in the secret hiding spot that she knew would go unturned by any robber, investigator, or others of interest in snooping around.

Her keepsake box.

On the top that had been covered by the lid of the wooden box was two journals. The title read of her name with her own name: Bridget Blackwell. Her husband decided to take up the Blackwell name when marrying her. A pretty painful process, but it was worth it to the both of them.

One was dated from the beginning of her freshman year in high school to sometime after her graduation from college. He remembered clearly her writing in that one. The second picked right up after the first stopped to… well, it would never be as finished as she had intended.

He flipped to one of the more recent entries and read.

September 3rd, 20XX

My fears have worsened since my previous entries. I once kept this journal for the sake of logging my daily life for the future, to be shared with the future, such for my son and any ancestors I may have, but now I believe this journal has become my proof in case of my possible early demise. I've decided to finally sum it all up, as I would like to focus more on what's happening our daily lives, not on what could happen.

The demands for my only son from this group who have no regard for others' safety has increased, so much that I worry these threats will be taken in the most extreme case.

They have concluded from their tests that most only know as a "trusted third-party clinical test" that my child would be perfect for their "harmless project".

When I politely refused, they lashed back with dirty tactics. I've buried those letters deep in my keepsake for evidence.

I know the government is not to blame, but they should become aware of these inhumane tactics pulled the some who are trusted by such a high power in today's society.

Even if they try to take me and my husband out of the picture, however much they try, my son cannot be erased from every record, every picture, and every person he has touched.

Maybe I'm just paranoid. But I'd rather be safe than sorry. I cannot let anyone go blind to this.

Will, I expect you to find this journal before anyone else does. I know you'll do what's right, whether leaving this up to the police or taking this up on your own terms, as I know I can't convince you. You must admit, you and Father are both so stubborn in your beliefs. I guess that's why you don't get along… I expect the police will write this off as accidental, as planned. Just promise me, for me and my husband's sake...

Keep Beck safe.

Bridget was intelligent, and he had almost underestimated that she would be aware of the situation. As always, she continued to surprise him, especially with the use of his name, as she had bothered not to use the name they had both grown up with. Will only wished that her life hadn't ended so suddenly.

His eyes hovered over the last line of the entry. If this scheme had reached the extremes of death, as it seemed, this group had obviously wanted the child more than they cared about legal means. The letters that laid beneath the journals, disappointedly, went into no further detail than the journal did, but were evident proof of her concerns.

Will put all the contents back in the wooden keepsake box, put the box into the back of his car, and headed over to the police station.

After he arrived, he went straight to work on legally adopting Beck.

He knew the dangers unlike anyone else did. He knew Bridget, one of the only people he remained to care about in his family, depended on him to take care of her son, and at the same time, take care of this group's misdoings.

Bridget knew him well, he wasn't willing to just hand it over to the police. He had ways to find the information he needed in a legal fashion with his position, not to mention ways to take care of this himself.

Within a few business days, the process was approved, and Beck came home with him with no remaining issues, although concerns about the group's next action bothered Will regardless of the case.

Even in a time of so-called "everlasting peace", human nature couldn't manage under it.

Days passed, and the funeral came and went. Many people, many of which Will didn't know but had mentioned they knew either Bridget or her husband, came to said funeral. Will kept Beck at arms length at said event, knowing that many would be giving their regards to the child, as losing two parents was rough. Beck didn't need the constant concern to bring him down anymore than this event did already.

He also avoided hardly any contact with his own father at the funeral, as per usual.

After all of that had passed, things finally started to become normal again. A couple's story had ended, but a new chapter in another's was just beginning.