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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
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In Our Darkness - 10. Chapter 10: Pietà

“Breathtaking.”

For a moment Celia thought the brown-haired boy was talking about her and she felt her cheeks heat up.

“Isn’t it?” he added, looking away from her and back to the photograph of the statue. They were inside of the school library studying religious sculptures as part of their philosophy course, and she just happened to be looking at a picture of Michaelangelo’s “Pietà.”

It wasn’t particularly breathtaking to her, especially not compared to the boy who—with his square jaw, full lips, and sparkling blue eyes—would have made for quite a handsome statue himself. The old marble was boring in comparison. But he seemed quite taken with it, so she followed her gut and gave an affirmative response for a chance to bond with him.

“Yes, although I’m not too religious,” she added, thinking it would give her a sense of edginess. He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you don’t need to be religious to appreciate the Pietà. You only need to believe in love,” he said and her heart sped up. The way he pronounced “love” was exquisite and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She drank in his words like wine. “The broken heart of a mother cradling her full-grown son in her lap; his body youthful, athletic and perfect, yet deceased. The promise of a great life, suddenly extinguished. The product of her very own body, dead. Blood of her blood and flesh of her flesh, gone before her. One can’t imagine a greater tragedy. It’s unnatural for a child to die before their parent, that’s why there is no term for it.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, more curious now.

“Well, a man with a deceased wife is a widower. A wife with a deceased husband is a widow. A child without parents is an orphan. But there is no term in the English language for a parent who loses a child, there’s no word that could accurately describe it,” he stated. Celia wasn’t much for romantic utterances, but he spoke so beautifully that even she felt something stir within her.

“I never realized that,” she replied. She wanted to reach out and touch him, run a finger along the edge of his sharp jaw.

“Alright guys, don’t forget there’s a paper due next class. Enjoy the weekend,” their professor announced and the spell between her and the boy was broken.

“Catch you later,” he announced without so much as giving her a second glance, and walked away with a lively step that had a bounce to it. She noted how tall he was, and how he walked with purpose. He high-fived two guys at the exit of the building and the trio left together. Meanwhile a stunned Celia stood glued to her spot, gazing after the boy longingly. She could have listened to him go on about the statue forever. His deep voice, the passion behind his words, they were deliciously attractive. She couldn’t wait for next class. She began to feverishly plan her outfit and hairstyle. And what causal conversation she could strike up with him. But when she got to class, the seats next to him were already taken. She frowned and took the seat in the row behind, which still gave her a nice enough view of the back of his head and his long neck.

She didn’t take her eyes off him the entire lecture and felt a pang of jealously when he laughed at something the girl next to him said. Even his laugh was perfect, booming and carefree but not prolonged or obnoxious.

That’s why the night Elisabeth introduced him as her latest boyfriend was like being stabbed with a knife.

“Celia, meet my latest and greatest squeeze, David,” Elisabeth stated, and both her and David laughed.

“Don’t I feel special,” he joked, then turned his eyes to Celia, “Hello, pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,” he stated, and she could tell that he didn’t remember meeting her before. Their conversation about the Pietà didn’t even register in his brain. She meant nothing to him.

She half smiled then made an excuse to leave immediately. Elisabeth followed.

“CeeCee, what’s wrong?” she asked, running up behind her. Celia hated the childish nickname.

“Did it have to be him?”

“What do you mean?” a worried Elisabeth asked? “Oh gosh, have you two…? Do you have history together?” Now Celia was embarrassed. How was she supposed to explain that she was upset her friend started dating a boy she only spoke to once, and briefly at that.

“Wait…he’s not…he’s not the boy from your class is he?” Elizabeth asked and Celia could tell she almost laughed at the absurdity of it all but then caught herself. She just nodded a yes. “CeeCee, oh God I’m so sorry! I didn’t know. I had no idea. If I’d known, I never would have! I’ll end things right now if you want me to, just say the word. It’s girl code all the way. I mean it.” This was even more insulting. The fact that Elizabeth would give him up without a fight. Like he meant nothing to her. Like he wasn’t the most amazing man.

“No, don’t be silly. It was just a dumb crush. I’ll get over it. He’s probably a bore anyway,” she added.

“Aren’t they all?” Elisabeth said and laughed.

Celia had been jealous of her friend before that moment, but that night was the first night she first became acquainted with true hate.

Copyright © 2022 C. Henderson; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

scrubber6620

True hate--OMG, now we have a serious motive for the killing. This chapter is chilling and well-written and appears to be the answer to "why."

I can see two possible killers: Celia or Frank, her husband.

I will start with Celia but many of the conjectures fit either one.

Celia must be deranged to hold that intense, very powerful emotional pull which had to have festered for so long.  She rejected the compassion symbolized by the statute. She skillfully and maliciously kept this instant, intense and deep hate from college hidden from both David and Elisabeth. She kept a friendship going.  Celia married and found her mate, but that , if she is the lead killer, did not stop her hatred.

She thought after the fateful dinner party

They were…" so unlike her and Frank. And it’s not that Celia was upset that her marriage didn’t resemble that of her best friend. She knew Frank could never be David. No man could ever be David. It was just that envious longing at the pit of her stomach at night, long after Frank had gone to sleep, that kept gnawing at her insides. Yes, her life was fine, but when confronted with Elisabeth’s life, how could she be content? How could anyone? That’s why, when she got that fateful call later on that evening, the good part of her thought “what a tragedy!”, while the other secret part of her mused, “About time something went wrong in their perfect life."

Note: She doesn't acknowledge any connection to or responsibility for the killing

The perfect couple were going to have a child. Celia and Frank could not. Frank wanted to try IVF and Celia she no. She was pained as we are told.

So far Frank's thoughts are not disclosed. What if he realized at some point in the 7 years of marriage that he never measured up in Celia's eyes  to David and that Elizabeth and David set the standard and he and Celia could never be as good or as satisfied and happy. He wanted a child and Celia said no. He could read her mixed feelings and longing for David and develop his own hatred for the oh so perfect and always glamorous couple with a child they would not have. He could want to crush them.

She (and he) apparently pretended to be their friend and found a way to destroy them. So far, she or he is succeeding

BTW, a man like Frank, who might have an intermittent or unhappy sex life in marriage could turn to use prostitutes--like the one the detective intervened

Three questions:

How will she or he be found out ? Will she or he eventually break from the pressure or say something joyfully unguardedly to the wrong person like the Captain in the Canine Mutiny"-It was the strawberries!" She or he could reveal their true feelings at the wrong point now that the perfect couple has been destroyed

Even if the motive is revealed, can guilt be proven?

And then, what impact will this revelation have on David and Elisabeth? Their friend had their child killed.

Edited by scrubber6620
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drsawzall

@scrubber6620, @Ivor Slipper, interesting theories all but I think the money trail is a better pursuit. Obviously someone wanted one/both of them dead and out of the way. 

To put this effort into killing a couple and their unborn child, reeks of stronger motivation. As far as David and Elizabeth are concerned and to paraphrase here, Something is rotten in Denmark!

There is a connection to the killer(s) that remains to be discovered, trace the serial numbers of the Honda and find the second working girl!!

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drpaladin
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Quote

But there is no term in the English language for a parent who loses a child, there’s no word that could accurately describe it...

How could David's impassioned statement have been more ironic and prophetic?

The one simple and chance encounter Celia had with David starkly illustrates how far out of her depth Celia was with David from the beginning. She is incredibly shallow in comparison and later he didn't even remember her.

As significant as this flashback might seem, I do think this is a red herring. People we know may secretly hate and be envious of us, but is it really enough to personally plot and engineer our doom?  Celia may harbor hate, but come on.

It is interesting a mere photograph of Michelangelo's Pieta could stir such passion in a young man. It is a fascinating work when viewed in person. It is the only work Michelangelo ever signed and it was originally commissioned and placed in a cemetery as a funerary piece before it was moved to be the only statuary in St. Peter's Basilica.

 

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J.El

J.El 7,684

Posted (edited)

Celia would appear to be the likely culprit, but to attempt to kill your friend and her husband because of a college crush of whom was not ever interested in you seems like a stretch. However, if mental illness is involved, the implausible can be plausible. 

It is likely a business connection, but you never know with the author as with other stories, they can be quite clever.

Well done!

Edited by J.El
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Anton_Cloche

A game of CLUE gone awry?🔎

Do we now 'apparently' know WHO and WHY? BTW, we need another 'emoticon' for this chapter. Somewhere between Sad and Hate, but not Pity.

Celia's hatred of Elisabeth is a result of her girlfriend taking David as her boyfriend, but then offering to give him up if that's what CeeCee wanted, resulting in Celia feeling pitied. Hence the hatred.

There's also Celia's (misplaced) hatred for David for not recognizing & remembering her as being part of the group he guided at the museum? Making her feel unimportant.

Back to the future (sorry), Celia's hatred of Elisabeth and David has festered for years, and now they are about to become the perfect successful couple with a baby, when Celia wasn't able to conceive. And at the dinner party, something inside Celia snapped, But wait, they left and she was doing dishes. 

David was taking a scenic route home versus the faster, more direct route. If that came up during dinner, Celia could take the faster shorter route, get ahead of David in his vintage Mercedes (another symbol of success), and crash into them. Did she intend to kill David, Elisabeth and Andrew on the cusp of his own birth? In her mind she only thinks of how much she's taken away from the perfect couple / family. So IF Celia did crash into them, a good lawyer could get her off on a temporary insanity plea.

Or it was Col. Mustard.

 

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