Rosepot Reapers

“The whirlwind saga of Rosepot Reapers comes to an end!

The infamous gang terrorizing Bellemonte since May has been successfully captured and awaits a trial. The story garnered public’s attention last May when three of the gang’s members attacked the Mayor’s son. Criminals left him with a broken arm and a concussion in a stranded property south of the city, having the previous day kidnapped him from his father’s garden as the man was tending to roses. This occurrence brought the group’s antics to the forefront of police as well as the Mayor’s attention.

As we previously informed in the pages of this very paper, it has been long suspected that the Rosepot Reapers were behind eleven different attacks on aristocracy that occurred between last May and last night. Alas those suspicions have been confirmed. Their latest - and thankfully last - venture has been especially audacious as they targeted young Mr Thornton, nephew of the Chief of police and a widely respected young man known for his charitable actions in the past. He has been taken against his will from Hillside Street as he was leaving his committee's meeting last night around 11:20 PM. It’s been confirmed by the police that the boy’s life is not threatened and besides a few scrapes and bruises he has escaped unscathed from the gang’s clutches.

The identities of the gang members have not been yet revealed but considering their modus operandi one can only suspect we are dealing with a group of criminal masterminds and hardened degenerates. The series of appalling acts and audacity that characterize the abductions of young and innocent members of our society is a testament to the vile nature of Rosepot Reapers.

The trial is set to begin in the shortest possible time considering the notorious way of the gang, testimonies of the victims and incriminating evidence gathered during the investigation.”

***

“Shocking twist in the trial of the century! Rosepot Reapers revealed to be women!

This morning at 9AM the trial of Rosepot Reapers began with the police escorting the gang members to the Municipal Court and their identities being finally revealed. In the shocking twist of events it’s been officially confirmed that all seven of the Rosepot Reapers gang members are women aged 18-25, all living in the Bellemonte municipal area. So far none of the members have been identified as connected to any of the victims.

The news comes as a shock both considering the nature of the acts themselves as well as the fact that all of the victims were young, able men. The group’s members are accused of kidnapping, abusing, threatening and blackmailing twelve victims among other horrendous acts.

During the first hearing all seven of the gang members were present in the courtroom. As I can personally attest their demeanor during the prosecution opening statement has been nothing short of vulgar, uncouth and off putting. The gang’s leader Miss Amelia K. has been seen loudly chewing gum and blowing bubbles, with her legs outstretched and propped on the stand, while other members were preoccupied with tending to their manicures and giggling among themselves. Miss Joanna L. - the youngest of the gang members - cut off the prosecutor during the speech claiming she needed to use the toilet to tend to female indisposition, using much less delicate wording.

The trial started with the hearing from all of the members. Rosepot Reapers claim to be innocent based however not on alibis or any other form of known ways to prove one’s innocence but rather belief that they have not done anything wrong. Their callous answer was met with utter shock and outrage from all those who gathered in the courtroom, most of all the Judge and the victims and their families.

The Mayor of Bellemonte has been seen loudly discussing the happenings with the victim’s lawyers and ripping papers during the trial. Fathers and mothers of other victims have also been present and visibly shaken by the actions and lack of remorse. The victims faced their oppressors with courage worthy of admiration. The next session has been set for tomorrow.”

***

“EXCLUSIVE: Fragment of the Rosepot Reapers gang member’s statement!

Judge: Miss Keeling, tell us what prompted you to commit the crimes and organize the gang?

Miss Elizabeth Mole: Gang is truly a rather gruesome word. In fact, Andrew, we’ve been thinking about…

Judge: It’s ‘Your Honor’ Miss.

EM: I am not sure yet if you do possess any honor so to be quite honest it sounds silly to call you that.

Judge: Miss Mole, you do realize you’re accused of kidnapping twelve boys and could serve a sentence for it, don’t you? This is a trial, young lady. And I hold the power to either convict or acquit you.

EM: How could I forget when so like to remind us of it, sweetie? Well, Andrew, I’ve been thinking about starting a group of sorts for a while now, but it’s very hard to find something we all like to do. At first we were baking but seven cakes is quite a lot to eat during an evening. And then we were discussing philosophers but everyone reads at a different pace and it feels just wrong to make them read faster or slower because of others. Next we tried going to the movies but we didn’t feel safe coming back at night. And that’s when I proposed kidnapping and torturing men and everyone was very enthusiastic about the proposition…

Judge: It’s outrageous, Miss!

EM: Yes, I know! For young girls like us to be unable to watch a movie in the evening in fear of our safety… Anyways the kidnapping idea really grew on us the more we talked about it and…

Judge: What I meant is the fact that a group of young women decided to terrorize this city’s gentleman out of boredom, Miss Mole!

EM: You know, Andrew, I was not going to say it but I think you just must hear it. It really does not become a man in your position to cut others off when they’re speaking. I expected more from you.

Judge: Miss Mole!

EM: Yes, dearie?

Judge: Answer the questions.

EM: I am trying to. Now… Ah yes, the idea really grew on us - Amelia and Josephine and Zahara and myself - and so we decided to recruit other girls to make it even more fun. We bought out an advertisement slot in a newspaper and invited other girls to join us.

Judge: You advertised your gang’s…

EM: Really, Andrew…

Judge: Your group’s criminal activities in a newspaper and nobody noticed?

EM: Oh, quite a lot of people noticed! We had a ton of applications and so we needed to make very strict criteria for the members. That’s why we only chose three. The best ones. Though we appreciate everyone who wrote to us and in case this is written down or broadcasted anywhere I would like to take this opportunity to send my kind regards to all those we had to exclude.

Judge: Miss Mole, are you trying to say more women were interested in joining your group? And that they were aware of what you wanted to do?

EM: We advertised as a debate club that aimed to debate with men’s teams in tournaments and at championships and we specifically wrote that we aimed to squash them. Any girl reading it knew we mostly cared about the squashing part. And they did too. So to answer your other question, yes, more - a lot more! - women were interested in joining.

Judge: It sounds very unrealistic, Miss Mole.

EM: The part about women wanting to join a group that aims to squash men?

Judge: Yes.

EM: It really is much easier to find women who would love to punch a guy’s face than you think, Andrew. If I may address women in this room alone and ask them to raise their hands if they would like to punch a man if they knew there would be no consequences. Would you do it, girls?

All of the women in the room raise their hands, including the protocolant

Amelia Keeling (group’s leader): That’s my girls!

Women from the audience: Rosepot Reapers! Rosepot Reapers! Rosepot Reapers!

EM: Did you hear that, Andie? They love us.”

***

“Exclusive interview with Amelia Keeling aka The Rosepot Reapers Leader!”

Milson Hilson: Miss Keeling, your case amassed a lot of public attention, with the arrest where you’re awaiting the rest of the trial flooded with fanmail from male and female fans alike. Is there anything you would like to tell them?

Amelia Keeling: Well, first of all, I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting us ever since we were taken into custody. We are all alright and are waiting for the trial with high hopes and high spirits. After the Girls’ Worldwide Committee’s intervention we’ve been granted a bigger cell to do pilates together - something we advocated for - and for that we are all very thankful. Besides that I hope we will see all of you on our trial this Thursday. Get your girlfriends and meet us outside the Court.

Milson Hilson: You’ve started a tradition of setting a dress code, a theme for your supporters throughout the trial. Any guidelines for this week’s final session?

Amelia Keeling: It’s actually my group member’s idea - Zahara’s - and she proposed a “dress to kill” theme.

[...]

Milson Hilson: The name of your group originates from the first kidnapping you committed. Do you think it suits you?

Amelia Keeling: I can’t speak for everyone but personally I like it very much. It fits us and has a nice feeling to it. I’ve even seen stationery sets with the name and roses design on it and I loved them. Really. I’d love to have one myself. *laughs*

Milson Hilson: It came from kidnapping Mayor’s son - James Norshire from the hothouse on their estate. Did that event shape who you are as a group today?

Amelia Keeling: Great question, Milson. I must say it did, yeah. As we spoke out about it during the trial - James was one of the guys who accosted us that night we were going home from the movies and when our idea was born. He was very vulgar and plain awful and we kept thinking about it for a few days and how fun it would be to give him a taste of his own medicine. We posted that advert, recruited new members and came up with a plan within a week. A hectic one at that but James was in our basement by Saturday. We were not sure what we were going to do now that we actually caught him. He was locked down there as we drank cocoa in our kitchen, panicking a little because Maggie had her pottery down there and we were afraid he’s going to smash it in a fit. He didn’t, thankfully.

Milson Hilson: During the trial he recalled the experience as one that completely altered his future. Would you like to comment on that statement?

Amelia Keeling: I agree with him. Totally. That was the idea behind our actions - to really make him think. And obviously the fact that he confessed his deepest secrets to us probably helped. That first night we had no idea what we were gonna do, if you believe that. We just had a guy we all hated in our mercy and we brainstormed for a better part of the evening. By the time he came around and realized what’s going on we were ready to act. We gave him a stack of paper and a pen and told him to write down every reason he thinks he may be here. The list was unfortunately much, much longer than we would have expected.

Milson Hilson: The list is a big part of his case.

Amelia Keeling: Yes, it is. When we saw it, we knew that we - colloquially - had him. He was so terrified by the time he passed it to us underneath the door, we thought about letting him go for a second. But then we read it and it was out of the question. Throughout the  night we had him write a two-page self-condemning essay on each and every act he committed as we tried to think of what we’re gonna do next. He got so frustrated when he got to reflecting on getting his girlfriend’s younger sister pregnant he got aggressive. Started to try to bolt the door and so on. It was noisy and dangerous and we all know how it ended.

Milson Hilson: A broken arm and a concussion.

Amelia Keeling: Yes. When he suddenly got silent we were terrified. Digging a grave is a lot more work than people realize, let alone doing it in the darkness with our nails freshly done. Thankfully he just tumbled down the stairs and was unconscious but breathing. We got him into our car and dumped him on the porch of an abandoned house next to ours and by 4 AM we were all sleeping soundly in our own beds. Not a bad start for a group of amateurs if you ask me!

[...]

Milson Hilson: It’s highly probable that you will be sentenced this Thursday. Is there anything you anticipate or - on the contrary - dread?

Amelia Keeling: I would say I expect this last court session to be filled with good, positive energy from the audience, the spectators. We will do our best to deliver, too. And as for what I dread… I hate being away from our fans for so long but I am sure they’re going to be just fine. We anticipate they’re going to go rogue, if I may say so. From fans they will become copycats and we will try to provide guidance for them from behind the bars. I think when you’re building something so big you have to learn to let it live on its own, you know? This may turn out to be a perfect opportunity for our growing numbers of members to create a web of connections and resources and organize themselves. And we will monitor from afar for a while.

***

“The final statement delivered on behalf of Rosepot Reapers by a member Miss Maude Greesham”

[...] Throughout this trial we all have been subjected to countless stupid questions and cringe encounters.

Most of the aforementioned questions came from Andrew but the Prosecutor himself asked a fair share of those as well. For the fact that you all had to listen to them, we are very sorry. It may not be our place to apologize but we doubt they will find it in themselves to say what should be said and so we do it in their stead.

As for the cringe encounters we all know we are talking about the victims. To think over half of them dropped the charges upon finding out we are all women and changed their initial testimonies stating they were not actually hurt nor scared and that the experiences did not in fact bother them in the slightest… Again, we are sorry you had to witness this spectacle.

Apart from those parts we believe we did our best in this trial. We spoke the truth and never faltered from our actions. We stood - and still stand - proudly as we face the reality. Perhaps not one of the current world but of the one we are trying to create. Where our fight against evil is only a part of who we are and what we want doesn’t define us as individuals. 

In this story we created ourselves there is nothing we would change and those men we encountered are only secondary characters. We want you to focus on us as we hunger after attention and recognition and true understanding. They were a pretext, a last straw but if you think it would not have eventually happened if James and his friends didn’t cross us that night - you are mistaken. 

Reasoning for our actions could be found everyday and everywhere and we could be anyone. In a world where we suffer so often at the hands of men, a group of young, resourceful women trying to bring justice is far less fictitious and inconceivable than you may think. You must only look around and look behind and truly take a hard look in the mirror and you may realize we’re already there. Do not fear us though. If you hadn’t done anything wrong - why would we ever come after you?