Stepbrother’s Crime, War Hero’s Tortured Hell Chapter 08

Stepbrother’s Crime, War Hero’s Tortured Hell Chapter 08 Silent Farewell on All Souls’ Day

I appeared in court as a witness.

Clad in a crisp military uniform, the colonel insignia on my epaulets glinted brightly under the courtroom lights.

When Lucas was escorted into the chamber, he had wasted away noticeably: half his hair had turned gray and deep dark purple shadows hung beneath his eyes.

His lips twitched upon catching sight of me, yet no sound escaped him.

The presiding judge spoke:

“Mr. Lucas, do you have anything you would like to say in your defense?”

Lucas kept his head bowed. After a long stretch of silence, he lifted his face toward the ceiling and wept aloud.

“Mother… I’m so sorry…”

He sank to his knees in the defendant’s dock, sobbing like a helpless young child.

The courtroom fell utterly quiet.

The judge struck the gavel sharply,

“Lucas, you have been found guilty of murder. This court hereby sentences you to death. You are also stripped of all civil rights for life.

“Found guilty of false accusation and persecution, sentenced to life imprisonment.

“Sentences consolidated. Final judgment: execution by death penalty, to be carried out forthwith.”

Lucas collapsed limply to the floor, shaking uncontrollably.

Court officers stepped forward and dragged him away

As he passed beside me, he suddenly clutched the hem of my jacket

“Silas, please save me I don’t want to die.”

I looked down at him.

This face had once been brimming with glory, arrogance and domineering pride

Now nothing remained but raw terror and hopeless despair.

“Lucas, did you foresee this day when you took another’s life?

“Did you imagine this moment when you framed me for your crimes?

“Did you ever think it would end like this when you sent me to the prisoner-of-war camp”

Hefroze completely, then slowly loosened his grip.

The officers hauled him away.

The sound of footsteps faded little by little, vanishing entirely down the corridor.

I turned and walked out of the courthouse.

The sunlight was harsh and blinding.

Serena stood waiting by the entrance.

She had grown gaunt, her belly heavily rounded beneath a loose maternity dress, her cheeks streaked with dried tears.

I did not spare her a single glance and walked straight past her.

All Souls’ Day came the following year.

I visited the Maddox ancestral graveyard alone.

Three figures stood amid the tombstones: my father, grandfather, and Serena.

Time had worn them all down.

Father’s hair was completely white, his back permanently hunched.

Grandfather sat confined to a wheelchair, his eyes dull and clouded, saliva dribbling constantly from the corner of his mouth.

Serena held her infant in her arms, lingering far off, too timid to draw near

I paid them no heed.

I walked to my stepmother’s grave and laid down a bouquet of white lilies

Next I approached Lucas’ cenotaph.

His body had been cremated long before, his ashes interred in an unmarked public cemetery on the city

youtskirts.

No one from the Maddox clan dared erect a headstone for him, only a few of his old garments were buried here in lieu of remains.

I stood there for a brief moment, then turned to leave

Grandfather’s hoarse, aged voice drifted after me,

“Silas… do you still hate us?”

I did not glance back.

To longer harbor hatred.

“But love has long since faded away, never to return.”

The breeze carried my words off into the fine drizzle of the memorial day.

I stepped out of the graveyard and boarded a black sedan.

The vehicle pulled away gradually. The Maddox ancestral burial ground shrank smaller and smaller in the

rearview mirror, dwindling to a faint gray speck before vanishing entirely behind the curtain of rain.