Chaos (Havoc Series Book Two)

Havoc Series Book Two

©Xavier Neal 2014

All rights reserved

Published by Entertwine Publishing

Cover design by Entertwine Publishing

Photo by Mark Sands

Cover model Lee Gibber

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All character, places, and descriptions come
from the imagination of the author. All are fictional and any
resemblance to real life persons or places is purely
coincidental

13
years ago...

“You're never too old for a bed time story,
Slugger.” My mom's hand pushes my brown hair that's getting too
long out of my eyes.

True. But I know other kid's my age are
probably over the whole have your parents tuck you in and read to
you thing. After all, I'm eight! Even if that's true and I'm too
old, I can't help admit that I like when she crawls into my bed
beside me to read. It's our own little corner of heaven.

I look around at the boxes stacked around my
very empty room. No plaques. No trophies. No posters. No pictures.
Nothing but memories tucked neatly into ugly brown U-Haul boxes
pushed against the wall, waiting to follow us to the new house, in
a new city, in a new life. Far, far, away from here. I hate it.

“Here it is!” my mother hums victorious,
lifting up a hard back copy of one of my favorite fairy tales from
the box closest to my nightstand.

She crawls into my bed beside me, her gray
skinny jean covered legs brushing against mine. Settling in, she
wraps her arm around the back of me, resting on my pillow, her
tattoos looking like pieces of art work under my light.

“Once upon a time...” the words roll out of
her mouth the way they always do. Flowing. Perfect. How many kids
can say their mother's perfect? “There was a young prince who lived
in a beautiful castle. Like him, it was glorious and strong.
Captivating and magical.”

Her eyes look down at me, their blue shimmery
color reminding me of the pages painted in the book in front of us.
I smile at the fact they are the same shade.

“And one day this young prince met a
beautiful princess who glowed with a beautiful golden light and
poise that could only be taught by the fairest in all the land.”
The page shows the prince meeting a girl with long yellow hair and
a faint matching light around her. “The two of them fell deeply in
love and were destined to be married by the great king himself. One
night, just days before the two were to be wed, the most horrible
thing happened! An evil sorcerer slipped into her bedroom and
kidnapped her!” My mom's voice raises in excitement like I didn't
known it was coming.

Of course I knew it was coming. She's only
read this book a million times. Well that and whenever a prince and
princess are happy, something has to come to stop it, so the prince
has a reason to save the day. Cinderella- she's locked in a room.
Sleeping Beauty- she's got that creepy devil-looking lady
protecting her. Snow White eats the apple poisoned by the witch.
I'm not saying I exclusively watch fairy tales or anything...but a
good movie is a good movie. I like the good guy winning in the
movies. That's all.

“The evil sorcerer took her back to his
castle where he placed a magical spell on himself. He turned into a
giant snake the covered the entire stone home to keep the princess
trapped inside.” What a jerk! What kind of person keeps someone
against their will! “When the prince realized his beloved was
missing he searched night and day.
Across oceans and
mountains. Through sand storm and rain storms alike. He would find
his princess!” I like the prince. He's not a quitter. “Finally the
prince arrived where the princess was being held, drew his sword,
and told her...he would rescue her with his last dying breath! The
prince raced towards the unpleasant monster, ready to tear the
beast limb from limb. He stabbed the creature, sliced it, hoping to
reach the heart yet every wound he made hoping to be fatal, only
caused the monster to grow another tail. Each tail with its own
fatal fate.”

My eyes bulge at the spiked tail. The tail
wrapped with barbed wire. The one with electricity sparks flying
from it.

“What should he do, Slugger?”

“Cut the head off!” I cheer on the book,
anxious for her turn the page.

She smirks, her wedding ring flashing me
in the face as she turns the page. “It was then that the brave
prince decided the only way to save his princess was to get to the
root of the evil. The head! The head must be cut off! And as
swiftly as his body would carry him, the bold prince rushed the
snake, ducking and dodging the viscous tails presenting him
with one chance. One opportunity to save what he had come to
love most in the world. With one clean sweep, the prince cut the
snake at the throat, beheading the awful creature.”

That's right! Boom! He wins!

“Feeling triumphant, the prince climbed off
the beast right as one of the creature's massive tails landed on
him with a giant thud! Trapping him. Imprisoning him. Marching him
to his death.”

I shake my head slowly. Poor guy just wanted
to save that girl. Is it just me or do princes always get the bad
end of these deals?

“The princess ran down the stairs and threw
herself at the man who had saved her from an eternity of sadness.
She flung herself at him, cradled his face, and cried her tears
falling onto his face of a golden rain. It was then through a
miracle from the stars that the tail slid off of her dearest
freeing him. She placed her lips upon his giving him the breath she
had in her body in hopes of saving him.”

It's the least she could do.

“With a heavy gasp, the prince was awakened
staring into the eyes of his princess once more. It was then that
he knew all the longing, searching, and fighting had been worth
every moment. Together they would live a long and happy life
together. The End.”

This book is by far my favorite. I like the
prince. I like the snake. The pictures are pretty cool. And I even
like that the princess saves the prince for saving her. But it
never fails to raise questions.

“Mom,” I sigh looking up at her as she
fiddles with my dad's dog tags around her neck.

“Hm?”

“Would you say dad is your prince?”

She nods with a wide smile, “Of course.”

After a pause I ask, “You think I'll ever
find a princess some day?”

Giggling she kisses the side of my forehead,
“Oh Slugger, of course! Of course you will. And you will live
happily ever after. Just like me and your dad.”

I hope not just like her and my dad. He's
never home. I would want to be home with my princess or at least
take her with me. I see the way my mom looks lonely without him
sometimes. No one should ever have to go through that.

“Will I have to fight a snake to save
her?”

She lifts her body off my bed, still smiling;
she pulls up my blanket so it covers my lower chest. With a gentle
flick of the wrist, she pushes my hair out of my eyes again. I need
a haircut. “Every prince fights for his princess, Slugger.”

I nod and she kisses my forehead, “Night,
mom. I love you.”

“I love you too. Night...”

My eyes follow her to my bedroom door that
she closes behind her. When she's gone, I look up at the ceiling
knowing this is the last night this will be my ceiling. Some day
when I have a princess and I have to fight to save her, I hope it's
from something cool like a dragon! Or Godzilla! I know how to
defeat those! Hey, even if it's a wicked snake at least I know how
to defeat it too. Cut the head off.

During any mission it is best to stay calm.
Focused. Level headed. Remember the objective. Know the outcome.
Protecting Haven has always been that mission. And right now, as I
see her balled up fist pounding like my own heart in my chest I
realize, some missions are never over.

“Banks.”

The sound of his name stops him from yanking
at his driver side door. My fingers grip tighter around my K-BAR
that's waiting to do damage in my pocket. “You talkin' to me,
boy?”

Slowly, I nod. I need away from that car.
Away from her. And then I will drop him like the worthless piece of
scum he is.

Dumbly, he walks back around the path he came
with a gleam in his eye I recognize. I know that look. I know it
because I have it. The old bastard has fight in him. He's willing
to kill for her. Well, so am I.

“You stole what's mine, boy...” the heavy
Texan accent feels like a phony movie. But this isn't a movie. And
there's nothing fake about what's about to happen next.

“And you think you got a right to speak to
me?”

“She's. Not. Yours.”

“Darlin's always been mine” another two steps
and he's right where I want him, dead in front of me, perfect
position to strike. One strike, one kill. “Til I die, boy.”

The corner of my mouth cocks upward as I pull
the knife from my pocket and launch for his body. In a move I've
practiced in training missions before, I pull a simple weight
transfer move, grip his hairy forearm, twist it with a hard crack
receiving a sharp yelp from him as he thrusts his back against my
front. While he tries to weasel his way around in my grip, I manage
to capture his other arm, holding both hostages with one of my
hands. With complete flawless operation, I focus on the worthless
thing in my grips that's inhaling his final breaths.

“You know junior, I always find my way back
to what's mine. Jail can't stop that.”

My eyes glance up for a moment to see Haven
looking back at me through the glass. Her mouth slightly open, hair
all over the place, desperation in her eyes so strong. If I weren't
busy holding this sack of shit, it would force me to my knees. She
needs this. She needs me to slit this bastard's throat. She needs
me to free her from the fear that he could come back any other day
of the week. She needs me. And whatever Haven needs...I'll always
give her.

My knife twirls around in my hands before
cutting a very precise slash across his neck making for a clean
execution. He flops to the grass; a very thin dribble of blood
landing where he did. Pushing through the air that seems too thick
to move through, I drop my knife; walk around the body, and
straight for the dented car door.

Yanking the thing open, I offer my hand to
Haven hoping she sees a savior instead of a killer. I need her to
see me as her protector. I need that in this moment. She flings
herself into me, arms wrapped tightly around my chest, eyes leaking
tears onto my t-shirt, the wetness soaking straight through to my
skin. One of my hands strokes her head as I try to hush the sorrow
leaking out of her.

“Is..is...is he--” the words hiccup
themselves into disappearance.

“Alpha...” I whisper and hold her tighter,
not worried about the consequences of the situation. My chin rests
on top of her head as I glance over to a sight I wasn't aware was
around. I wasn't aware that I had an audience. That there would be
any additional witnesses to my crime. And that's exactly what it
is. A crime.

Sir's eyes look at me and then at the
lifeless body behind me. I wait for the horror of what I've done or
the horror that what he always feared would come true to crawl on
his face. Instead, I see him shove his hands in his jean pockets,
press his lips tightly together, and lower his head clearly making
a decision, a firm one at that, what to do with his son. I don't
care. I don't care if this ruins my career. I don't care if this is
years in jail. As long as I know Haven is safe, that's all that
matters.

He clears his throat and approaches us
cautiously from the sidewalk. In a very low tone he says, “Clint,
get her to Mindy's now.” My mouth flinches open and he follows
with, “That's an order.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Meet me back in the house immediately.
Understood?”

“Yes Sir.” I lift Haven's face so our eyes
meet, hers still sparkling from the liquid fear that congregated in
them. Angels weren't meant to cry like this. Brushing away the
fallen tears, I gently lean my forehead against hers. “Angel...I
have to get you to Mindy's.”

Still choking on fright she tries to say,
“But-but--”

“I promise, everything will be alright.”

She nods slowly, and I let a kiss land where
my head was just resting. With my arms still wrapped around her,
encompassing her like an impenetrable force-field, I guide her
across the road to Mindy's house.