An Innocent Affair

XL

"Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny." Steve Maraboli

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XL.

Jem saw the events unfold in complete and utter disbelief. As he rounded the corner and came onto Cressie's street at great speed, he immediately saw a crowd of people gathered. The subsequent ranting her heard seconds later told him all he needed to. Their fears were realised, and Jem pushed his legs to move even faster. He would bowl over these people if he needed to.

But before he reached the crowd, before he could use his elbows to push them all out of the way, Jem saw Everett Delaney's horse rear to his almighty height, and he brought his hooves down upon his master's skull. Such a sight stopped Jem dead in his tracks, albeit briefly.

The crowd gasped and swooned as the servant struggled to control the panicked horse. The stallion's uncontrolled thrashing dispersed the crowd just enough for Jem to see that Everett was not alone on the pavement. Cressie was also there, and by the looks of her, she was nearing unconsciousness herself.

Jem nearly brought up his stomach as he sprinted towards her, bypassing Everett without a care. He fell to the ground beside Cressie and immediately lifted her head to support it on his lap. Cressie's golden curls cascaded over his thighs as her groggy brown eyes found his. She had a cut over her right eyebrow and swelling forming on that side of her face. He noticed several other welts across her exposed skin. What had that bastard done to her?

"Cressie, can you hear me?"

Jem barely registered the sounds of the people around him, the ones tending to Everett. How could they render service to such a man?

Cressie's eyes slowly blinked. "He ... knows," she croaked weakly. "You ... need ... to ... hide."

Jem shook his head vehemently. "No. I've had enough. I'm never leaving you again. Hang the law. Hang it all." He tore his eyes away from Cressie when he heard a sudden scream from a woman in the crowd.

Everett had roused, and had pushed himself up using his arms, glaring at Jem with red eyes, as though they were filled with blood. Blood poured from his mouth and his nose, and he began to drag himself along the ground with a clumsy yet mad strength.

"Get ... AWAY!" he gurgled, blood splattering on the pavement.

Jem instinctively seized Cressie. He supported her head as he got to his feet, and he lifted her up into his arms effortlessly. From this height, Jem could see a gushing, gaping wound on the back of Everett's head, and it was as though only his sheer hatred was keeping him alive.

Cressie lifted her head groggily, and she stiffened when she saw Everett pulling desperately at the distance between them. "Help me ... to stand," she asked Jem, and he gently set her feet on the ground so that Cressie was standing a few feet from where Everett lay crawling.

"You whore!" Everett screeched. "You'll get nothing from me. Nothing!" His words were slurred with blood, his teeth now stained crimson.

"I want nothing from you," Cressie said, looking down upon him with pitiful disdain, her voice steadying. "In fact, from the moment you die, I will never think of you again. I will forget you, and you will forever be insignificant." Cressie's knees bent, and she became unsteady.

Jem supported her as she went to kneel down beside Everett. Whatever she was summoning from within her, it was powerful enough to help her remain strong even when she had suffered so plainly.

"You failed, Everett. You didn't break me. I am stronger than you ever could be," Cressie murmured. "But dear Dabney broke you."

Everett attempted to spit at Cressie, but quickly began to choke on the amount of blood that had collected in his mouth. Jem put a protective arm around Cressie as Everett's arms collapsed beneath him and his face hit the stone pavement. His limbs twitched briefly, before they ceased completely, and he was most certainly dead.