New Beginnings

Fox Forest

Hermione stood by the side of the sink, trying her hardest to draw her focus away from the dead body that lay on the ground of her living room as she briskly scrubbed the blood off of the trophy she had just bludgeoned her ex with.

She was scrubbing away so hard she hadn't realised that the cloth had tomorrow right through, but given the current situation, it was no wonder why she was completely absentminded. Along with the panic and surrealism of what had just just occurred, her attention to detail was also compromised, and with the next steps in the job they had to do together to conceal the body, im there was no telling how she would cope.

"W-what about these?" Alice stuttered, coming down the stairs holding a bunch of old sheets in her hands to tie him up in that she gestured to the two men. They were pulling him across the rug by each leg, letting go when he was off the fabric completely.

"Those will do." FP answered confidently as he took ahold of them. He handed one to a reserved Fred and they prepared to roll Hiram inside of it.

"And the rug?" Fred pointed out as he glanced at the now half burgundy beige carpet rug Hermione had purchased specifically for the living room decor. There was no question they had to dispose of it, as no amount of baking soda, vinegar or specialist upholstery cleaning could remove the stain and restore it back to its former glory.

"We can burn it in my fireplace." Alice suggested firmly, strolling over to where the blood covered rug and quickly but carefully rolling it up, the sight of Hiram's almost fresh blood close up making her feel queasy.

Taking her trembling legs, she rambled over to the front door, exiting brashly before checking for neighbours drifting around, and made a beeline next door.

As soon as she unlocked her door and traipsed through, anxiously shutting with slight strength, she finally released a deep exhale of breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, her sapphire blue eyes stinging with tears that fell down her cheek as she recoiled herself back into the door, before gathering herself together with a sharp breath, running her shaking fingers through her messy dark locks and storming over to her fireplace, struggling to light the present coals at first until the bright Orange heat filled flames shot up, and she carefully discarded the rug, calmly watching close as it burned to crisp and ashes.

In the comfort of her current loneliness, she found it easier to unleash the pent up emotional strain that had been building since she received that blood chilling phone call. It was rare she allowed herself to tap into her feeling or expose them, she had always been hyper aware of how emotions were seen as a weakness, and based on that alone, she had strayed away from allowing just anybody to see that side of her, because she had been used and abused enough.

A soft tap on her shoulder, disturbed her from her thoughts, prompting her to turn around immediately.

"Hey, hey!" FP settled softly, raising his hands in defence before lowering himself onto the ground beside her, his focus not leaving her glistening Diamond like eyes and parted lips. "It's just me. It's okay." He softly assured her, resting his hand tenderly on her shoulder before reaching up and stroking her dark hair back.

"Sorry, I'm just- I'm just a little shaken up." Alice confessed in a hoarse tone, before averting her eyes back to the blaze.

He knew she was trying to hold it together and keep herself from falling apart.

"Alice, you can talk to me you know. It's okay." He whispered, before his fingers carefully lowered down to the reddened marks along her neck. It made his blood boil knowing Hiram had gotten physical with her in the worst way and he wasn't there to stop it.

"He did this?" He quietly questioned more furiously than usual.

"Yeah." Alice croaked, bowing her head as a tear fell from her eye. "But I don't wanna talk about it, okay?" She said sternly through tears as she gently moved her shoulder from out of his grasp and quickly stood up. She didn't want to tap into her emotions right now, she wanted to dispose of Hiram's body and remove that psycho out of her life for good.

"We just need to hurry up, and bury him or dump him in the lake or whatever you and Fred had planned, we just need to do it." She uttered out, exhaling a sharp breath afterwards and watching FP's soft expression switch to concern as she did.

The two then made a swift exit from the house, returning to the Andrews to face the harsh reality of their situation once more.

They waltzed through the Andrews doorway to find Hiram's lifeless body now wrapped and tightly concealed in a bundle of sheets.

"So? Where are we taking him?" Alice asked in a hoarse but reserved tone, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Fox Forest." FP firmly stated, walking over to body and preparing to move it. "Sweetwater isn't a wise choice in the Summer. It will float back up. Burial it is." He explained with a hint of disgust in his voice, finding it a little horrifying that he was so callously orchestrating a murder cover up.

With all four of them grabbing one side of the body, some struggling to do so, they carefully carried him out into the Fred's truck before driving the four miles away to the towns infamous woods, but that wasn't even the hardest part. They had truly underestimated how strenuous it would be to carry out the body, walk through mud and dirt and physically dig a hole deep enough, followed by ditching it and filling the hole once more.

But after what seemed like hours, with their sweat drenched fore heads, aching muscles, dirt covered clothing and limbs and Alice and Hermione's abandoned heels that applied far too much pressure needed, reluctantly letting their bare feet touch the soil beneath them instead, the final load of dirt was added, and they tiredly came together full circle, the exhaustion masking the concealed fear they had already had.

"Right, this is the last we ever, speak about this." FP sternly instructed as he wrapped his arms around Alice cold and trembling waist. "We don't tell anyone, not even the kids, and we take this to our grave, alright?" He desperately spoke, watching and waiting for a response.

"Agreed." Fred repeated with a look of uncertainty.

"Agreed." Hermione followed.

Alice darted her eyes up towards her boyfriend one last time, wanting to make sure they were on the same page here, but the touching and innocent stare he gave her was enough to know for sure. "Yeah, agreed."