Drabble #195: Blind

[redwolf]

...we had a nice response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 194, with entries by apachefirecat and redwolf, and comments by apachefirecat and redwolf

For this prompt, we continue with our one-word/phrase drabble roots:

Blind

Tell us all about it. Labyfic-style, of course.

Given our entries from recent months, let's continue with the suggested limit of 500 words. Though remember that shorter pieces are most definitely welcome!

Your entry should take the following format, posted as a comment on this entry:

Word count: # of words
$your_beautiful_drabble

I'll be running weekly challenges in the space around jalenstrix's monthly challenges.

You can see our current collected suggestions here.

Remember: Feedback is LOVE. So do reply to your fellow labyficcers' drabbles if so inclined. (Though be careful of concrit unless specifically okayed by the author beforehand. Authors generally write for love.)

Comments

Exhibit

[redwolf]

Word count: 500

Sarah was working her murder board, adding information provided by the healers. Jareth had been amused at the term and with the number of girls who had wished themselves away, Sarah had long since lost her squeamishness over her work being potentially used to commit rather than solve a murder.

Statistically, the types of sexual assault they were seeing tended to be committed by someone close to the victim, and with so many unrelated girls involved, it was unlikely to a family member. Well, the same family member, the chance of collusion was unlikely, but Sarah wouldn’t rule it completely.

None of the girls had any memory of their assaults, which was making finding a perpetrator slow work. Sarah had suggested that a date rape drug would account for the memory loss and they were metabolised fast enough to leave no trace unless tested for immediately.

What did work in their favour was the limited circles the girls moved in. They were all home schooled and hadn’t been permitted to partake of any sporting or other extracurricular activities, which ruled out teachers and coaches. Sarah ground her teeth in frustration that none of the girls had received any sex education and all they knew was that they were missing a chunk of their memory, had bruises they couldn’t explain, pain in a part of their body that they didn’t understand and an overwhelming sense of fear and dread.

The only overlap of activity Sarah had documented was church related. The girls shared a strictly monitored life that kept them sequestered from the outside world and that still hadn’t protected them from a predator, one that their parents had no qualms about being alone with their daughters.

Several of the fox guardians were rotating through the community investigating on site. Both Sarah and Jareth had been surprised to learn that the Labyrinth had not erased the existence of the wished away girls. The foxes were reporting back on distraught parents missing their children and pressing the police to treat it as kidnapping. The exception to the chorus was the church leader who was insisting they were runaways who would return on their own.

The anomaly of his belief flagged him as suspicious. When the healers transferred the pregnant girls’ embryos to suitable adults it was determined that they shared the same father. That allowed the foxes to match that signature to an Above target, whose connection was a surprise to no one.

“For all the good it does us,” Sarah folded her arms as she glared at the board. “He’s a leader of the community who will blame the victims for his behaviour and the families will swallow his lies about contrition. The best we could hope for would be his expulsion, but he’ll just continue elsewhere.”

Jareth pulled Sarah into his arms. “We can follow the lead of the Labyrinth and adjust reality to allow Above justice to play out or we could always let the goblins play with him.”

Re: Exhibit

[apachefirecat]

I am certain Jareth will take care of this. Although I certainly hope to read more in this vein from you! Love the two of them working together to wrought justice, solve mysteries, and take care of the destruction of innocence! <3

Re: Exhibit

[redwolf]

Thanks! There's one more chunk of this to come, so we'll see how it plays out 🦊🧡