The Monroe Legacy - G.1. Chapter 19 - Goodbye Norma-Jeane

DISCLAIMER - This chapter includes references to violence which some readers may find upsetting.

Marlie stood frozen. What would await her on the other side of that door. Where there had before been noise there was now only silence.

Two shots. Hank? Ralph? Norma? If Hank was standing there could well be a bullet waiting for Marlie. She crept to the window and peeked through. A movement caught her eye and she jerked back. Prepared to run.

'Marlie, it's Ralph' came a voice. 'I need your help'.

Cautiously Marlie approached the door, afraid of what was through it but also of the spectre of death which had entered. The scene that greeted her was a relief. Ralph stood, gun still raised and Hank was curled on the floor, unmoving in a pool of blood.

'But I heard two shots', Marlie questioned, 'Tell me it's not Norma-'

'Norma-Jeane's downstairs. I think she's okay. I fired a warning shot and the idiot grabbed his gun and tried to shoot me. It backfired and hit him instead. If he dies then his blood is only on his own hands.'

Marlie hurried to roll back the rug as the Reaper returned with Hank's soul.

Even in death Hank was a bully, cursing Marlie and Ralph before turning to beg for his life. But even Death recognises that there are those who do not deserve another chance, no matter how unfortunate their death and it left with Hank in its grasp. All that was left of the man and the monster that Hank had become was a box of ashes which nobody claimed.

Downstairs Norma had lain listening with tears streaming down her face. Sh had heard the shots and the muffled voices but without hearing the words she had no idea whether the next feet on the stairway would bring her salvation or death.When the light filtering down the stairs revealed a blonde woman, Norma-Jeane convinced herself it was her mother as an angel, come to take her away from this horror.

Marlie rushed down and gathered her shaking sister in to her arms, Norma-Jeane barely seemed to register she was there. Calling for Ralph they hurried her into the light and Ralph quickly surmised that she was in shock from the psychological trauma of the situation. There didn't seem to be any major physical harm done.

 Marlie drove Norma-Jeane home with instructions to get her straight to bed, warm her up and keep a  close watch until he returned. Ralph looked around the shack before grabbing a large bottle of bleach, shuddering at the thought of its intended purpose, and descended to the basement.

Looking around and knowing what his wife had undergone he wished he'd fired the killing shot. But with Hank's misfortune came an opportunity. Ralph bleached everything Norma-Jeane may have touched, he bleached every surface. When he was convinced there was nothing that would tie his wife to that place he returned upstairs and repeated the process before leaving the cabin as abandoned as it looked,with nothing to tie Hank's death to any of his family.

The police found the crime-scene several weeks later and put out a request for information. Nobody came forward. The deceased was soon identified as the felon Hank Monoe and when the post-mortem came back with cause of death being a misfired weapon the case was left to go cold with an unofficial ruling of accidental death.

The family of Hank Monroe never came forward with any questions.

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Marlie and her family tried to go back to normal life but everybody was shaken by the danger which had come from nowhere and come so close to destroying them. Norma-Jeane recovered fast physically but the psychological scars were deeper. 

Where before she had been wary of exposure she was now completely paranoid. Added to this was the increasing presence of her biological father in the media as he ramped up his presidential campaign, the threat Hank had passed on from him fresh in everybody's minds. Norma-Jeane wouldn't even go to the mailbox on her own.

Ralph knew that they needed a change if they were going to heal and, with heavy hearts, Norma-Jeane, Carson and Ralph packed up to leave town. Ralph said they were going to go overseas, that he couldn't say where but that once they were secure they would make contact under an assumed name and the two families could at least exchange news in safety. Maybe one day they would meet again.

They left at dawn, less than a month after the incident. After saying their good-byes the Monroes retreated to the house to process. All except Lola, who watched Carson pull away with a heavy heart, hoping that now it was hopeless her stubborn heart would admit what her head knew, Carson would never be hers.

Inside Marlie cried at the loss of her newly discovered family and Brody held her, grateful for what they had to hold on to.

As the Monroes began to heal around the hole left by Norma-Jeane and her family, Marlie began to think of their future. Each of her children was so different, they each had such wonderful characters and they each had their own flaws. She hoped that they would all be able to find a way in life free from the tragedies she had gone through and began to think of a plan to safeguard her legacy.

She decided to wait to share this plan until all of the children were old enough to understand it, a time which was becoming frighteningly short. Before she felt she'd had time to enjoy the baby years of her little twins they were growing into children. It was a special occasion as Brody was sharing their birthday so they threw a small party for their close friends.

Brody blew out his candles before the guests arrived, not wanting a big fuss about him entering his twilight years. Although he was beginning to tire more quickly he was determined to keep advancing in his career and marching up the chess ranks until his hair was snow white!

Once all the guests were having a great time the twins were ready to blow out their candles. Oscar was older by 40 minutes to he went first. Having spent so much time playing with Belle's phone as a toddler it was no wonder that grew up into a handsome little computer whiz!

Georgia was next and as she blew out her candles she wished very hard to be just like her brother, they were firm friends. The birthday gods were obviously listening as she developed the Disciplined trait, just like her brother already had!

Marlie had been back at work bringing in a second income so as a special treat the twins were allowed to pick their own outfits to be delivered from the local salon. They both looked absolutely adorable.

Marlie couldn't believe how fast her family was growing up. That night she sat at the dining room table with a blank notebook and began writing. 

Under the title, The Monroe Legacy she wrote a list of rules she had lived by, a list of rules she hoped her children might agree to live by, rules she believed in.  

Then she turned to the next page and began her  story.

Generation One - Marlie Dee Monroe.

Marlie Monroe was a mess.....

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Click here to read The Monroe Legacy Chapter 20 - As Time Goes By  and then cast your vote as to who should be the heir to Generation 2!