Happy Friday! So is everyone prepared for Halloween? I have no idea what to expect this year. I sort of figured there won’t be many trick or treaters this year because no one wants to go house to house right now. But at the same time, everyone is already wearing masks so maybe there will be people? Either way we bought candy and are putting it in a bowl on the front porch. we live in an older neighborhood that is just beginning to transition into younger families as many of our neighbors begin to downsize so we have a couple of houses with baby strollers and maybe one or two houses with small children who might go out in the early evening. So the trick or treaters never really amount to much. Last year I think we had three people stop by. So it’s never a major rush. But we are prepared regardless of what this year’s halloween entails. But that is for tomorrow. Today it is the morning writing prompt. So lets get started. Timer set for 15 minutes? Good. Then let’s get to it.
I’ll admit. I had fun with this one.
Friday, October 30th: They never saw it coming.
They never saw it coming. It was the best part of his plan. They destroyed his family, crushed his hopes and dreams and never once acknowledged the damage they did. Worse, in his mind they never noticed. He and his family were so far beneath their notice that the destruction they caused didn’t even register a blip on their radars. They didn’t see it.
At times the rage of that blindness roared through him causing him to tremble, to clamp his teeth together so tightly that the roots began to ache. His world was gone, everything he loved destroyed because they didn’t see. No, he corrected, didn’t bother to see. But now, he would use that blindness to his advantage.
They didn’t see him then, they would not see him now. He would be the ultimate vengeance. He would strike them in their blindness, taking from them everything, just as they took it from him. And they would never see it coming. Would not know why.
He toyed with the idea of telling them at the end, in the final moments when his victory was assured, but he decided against it. Let them meet their destruction wailing at the injustice of it. Let them scream for mercy to an uncaring god. Harold knew firsthand, those sorts of prayers weren’t answered, at least not for the likes of him. He doubted they would fare any better.
Knowing he needed a cool head, he purged his rage in the gym; weights, boxing, running, he used all of it to burn off his anger and leave him clean, calm and empty. The fact that it made his body strong was a bonus. He would need to be strong, mind and body to accomplish his goals.
He worked on his plan, meticulously planning each detail. He thought about working little clues in, little additives, puzzle pieces to see if they managed to piece it together before the end, to see if they could finally be taught to see, but he decided against it. It was an indulgence on his part and one that could end his destruction early, leaving the task incomplete.
They might not be able to figure out the details, but they were rich enough, well connected enough that they could, would, hire someone to ‘fix things’ once the tremors started. Whoever that was, might be smart enough to piece together any clues he left behind. They might not be blind. He couldn’t control who they hired, so he had to be smart.
He would go in for the kill calm and clean, leaving no trace of himself, no breadcrumbs for anyone to follow. His first target was obvious. Of the lot there was only one who held the reins of the family.
Tanya.
With her gone, the others would lose their center. She was the only one strong enough and with enough knowledge to hold everything together. Part of that was by her design. She knew the others dreamed of a day when they would be in charge, when her rules could be discarded and they could implement rules of their own and force others to follow their lead.
So she made them weak, dependent. She fed their ambitions, but made certain there were gaps in their education, their understanding. Not a single one of them could replace her, so she felt secure in her power. Even though they all wanted her place at the top, at the moment they all realized they couldn’t hold it.
With Tanya gone, the fight for dominance would begin. Death would be easier. A simple accident to take her out. It would be easy, but that wasn’t what he wanted. Easy death wasn’t the point.
He wanted them all to watch their world fall apart the way he watched his. And so death wasn’t an option. He had to turn Tanya’s focus inward. Have her more concerned about her own holdings, her own finances rather than worry over the others and their shared ventures.
And so as he trained his body, he trained his mind, learning every detail, every facet of her business until he knew where each and every body was buried. Every tax cheat, every shady deal, every unlawful detail. Once he knew that, he mapped out where the pressure points were, identified the weak links, and arranged his plans to take advantage of them.
As soon as the first link snapped and she moved to cover, he would shift to the next, never giving her time to stop to adjust to plan. When he was confident, he began.
It proved to be far easier than he could ever imagine.
Ten til Midnight 