His dad turned on the coffee, his movements
methodical. The darkness outside the small kitchen window was
absolute. Rourk sat at the table, resting his head in his
hands.
“The first kill is always the hardest, but it
gets easier,” he said quietly, turning to face his son.
Rourk met his father’s troubled eyes across
the distance between them. “Father, the only thing that bothers me
is that I felt nothing. No remorse. I always thought it’d be hard
to take a life, that it would haunt me. I snapped his neck and
walked away as if nothing happened. I felt calm. How could I feel
calm about taking a life?”
As if he were trying to compose his thoughts
before he spoke, his father, turned away to pour coffee in the
mugs. “We know life’s sacred probably better than most because of
the loss of your mother. However, since birth you’ve been trained
to be a warrior. It’s who you are. It’s in your blood. Taking life
is part of it. You have been so conditioned to accept your role
that it’s desensitized you. There’s no shame in that. If anything,
you are lucky. Nothing would make me happier than knowing you’re
able to escape the nightmares that haunt some soldiers.”
They lapsed back into silence as his father
placed Rourk’s coffee in front of him and sat across the table. It
was the longest conversation they’d had in a very long time.
***
Thaddeus was relieved when his sister walked
through the door. He looked at her closely; she seemed to be
alright.
Noticing how he was observing her, she said,
“You could have warned me.”
“Keegan, you know I couldn’t. Believe me,
it’s much harder for me than you can imagine.”
She surprised him by saying, “Rourk saved
me.”
“How do you know it was him?”
She had a stupid, dreamy look on her face and
replied, “I just know.”
He was curious. “Did he talk to you?”
Thaddeus was aware Rourk was assigned to
Keegan, so he knew it was him. He was surprised Keegan had
recognized him. Would his father allow them to meet now? If they
knew each other, it would make it much easier for Rourk to protect
her.
“Only to tell me to leave,” Keegan responded,
shaking off her reverie. “I’m really tired and need to get some
sleep.”
Keegan took a long hot shower and then got in
bed. She pictured his grey eyes and felt her pulse quicken. It had
to have been Rourk. Sure she had found guys attractive, but never
in her life had anyone else had that kind of effect on her. She
would have followed him to the end of the world if he asked. One
year and five months and she would be with him for the rest of her
life. She hoped she didn’t have to wait that long to see him again.
Eventually, she drifted off to sleep hoping she would see him in
her dreams.
***
Thaddeus loved going to bed. It was the only
time the visions didn’t haunt him. He always had vision-free,
dreamless nights. It was like a reset switch for his brain and kept
him from going crazy. He closed his eyes and let sleep take
over.
Looking frantically around, he tried to figure out where he
was. His body felt strange as if he were watching through someone
else’s eyes. Fear raced through his veins. Never had he felt this
scared. Lots of blood everywhere, body parts, screams, dear God
where was he? Green, the land was so green, even though stained
with blood. He looked up and saw a beautiful orange moon. It looked
out of place with all the destruction
.
Thaddeus woke, drenched in sweat. He looked
at his clock; it felt as if the dream only lasted a few seconds,
but two hours had passed. He removed the blanket with trembling
fingers and got out of the bed, his feet unsteady. He didn’t know
what to do, but he had to talk to his father. Thaddeus knew he
would be sleeping, but it couldn’t wait.
He knocked on the door lightly. Richard heard
the knock and slowly got out of bed, trying not to wake his wife.
He glanced over at her and his heart felt full. Even after all
these years she still had the same effect on him as she did the
first day they met. Richard opened the door to see his son standing
there and the fear that was etched on his face. He knew now was not
the time to coddle him.
He strode out in front of his son knowing he
would follow. Richard led him down the steps and, opening the front
door, they went out on the porch.
“Have a seat, son.”
Taking a deep shaky breath, Thaddeus sat on
the porch swing and said, “I had a dream. Well since I don’t dream
it had to have been a vision.” Waiting patiently, his father
slightly nodded his head to continue. “Father, it was
horrible.”
Richard leaned forward, “Tell me exactly what
you saw and don’t leave anything out. Close your eyes and picture
the scene.”
Closing his eyes, Thaddeus saw the scene just
like he had the first time. “There’s so much blood, body parts
everywhere, and the noise.” Unconsciously, he covered his ears.
“Thaddeus, I need the details not your
feelings. Use your breathing exercises.” As usual, his father was
right. After a few deep breaths he felt better and could
concentrate more.
“The land is green with rolling hills. So
many dead bodies, even women and children.”
Richard gripped the arm of his chair. “I need
more. What else do you see?”
Thaddeus glanced left then right, scanning
over the bodies. The light from the moon somehow he knew that was
important. “The moon is large and orange.” Opening his eyes he
said, “That is all I see, I’m sorry.”
His father looked up at the sky and said,
“Thank you Gods for this gift.” He reached over and grasped his son
by the shoulders, “I could kiss you.”
Thaddeus said nothing.
His father got up and paced the porch. “This
is brilliant. We know the time and place of the battle; we have the
upper hand.”
Thaddeus raised an eyebrow, “Care to fill me
in?”
He noticed his breathing had returned to
normal, and he was no longer afraid.
“I believe this is a good omen. Fate always
has its way. The battle will take place in Ireland during the
harvest moon. Your mother and I got engaged on the night of a
harvest moon. This year it falls on Keegan’s birthday. Your mother
was named after Ireland, where her parents met, also known as the
Emerald Isle. We have five months to prepare. Thaddeus, tomorrow
we’ll hold a meeting, and you will have to speak. You are the most
respected seer of our time. I need you to think like a warrior and
only give out as much information as necessary. There’s no need to
tell anything other than the time and place. Do you
understand?”
Thaddeus grinned. “Law4 from
The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert
Green. Always say less than necessary.”
T
here were many preparations that needed to be made.
Richard looked down at his watch. It was 0300. He picked up his
iPhone and texted his brother-in-laws a simple message: CAMP NOW.
He then hesitated before sending a text to Rourk: CAMP NOW, BRING
YOUR FATHER.
Groggy from sleep, Rourk heard his phone go
off. He flipped it open and saw the text, and was instantly awake.
He threw on the clothes he wore the day before, unworried whether
they were clean or not. Fully alert, he walked to his father’s room
and didn’t bother to knock. “Richard needs us,” he called into the
dark.
His father bolted out of bed. With haste, he
got ready, and the two men left to make the drive to camp. They
arrived just as the other men did.
Richard looked at Rourk, and told him,
“You’ve been relieved of your duty.”
Rourk’s face did not change. His mind raced.
Did he find out I
killed that guy?
He could think of nothing else he’d done
that would cause his dismissal. He felt a dull ache in his heart at
the thought of not seeing Keegan again.
“Thaddeus has had a vision,” Richard said.
All eyes turned to Thaddeus where he sat with his hands clasped in
his lap and his face serene.
“I have seen the place and date of the Great
Battle,” Thaddeus said, his voice strong and sure. The men all
looked slightly surprised, glancing around at each other in shock,
and eager to learn more. “We have five months to prepare. September
twelfth during the harvest moon, our battle will be raging.”
They all had questions, but knew it was
pointless to ask.
Richard stepped forward, commanding the room.
“This obviously gives us the upper hand. We must prepare our men.
With this knowledge, I feel we will prevail.”
Drew, smiling, replied, “Save your pep talks
for the soldiers.”
Richard grinned, “You’re right, force of
habit.”
They all relaxed and sat down as equals to
discuss the preparations. They were all powerful men, but the one
who held the most power was the youngest—Thaddeus. Rourk was glad
he was on their side.
Rourk was relieved to know Richard wasn’t
angry with him and he was honored to be among the small group
making preparations for the battle. Rourk also knew he had to push
Keegan out of his thoughts for now. He needed to be 100% focused on
what lay ahead. Of course, keeping Keegan off his mind was going to
be extremely difficult. She’d been thinking about him almost
constantly since the concert. Rourk knew if they didn’t win this
battle he would never have the pleasure of getting to know her.
They had to win.
***
Keegan woke up knowing she’d had no dreams
the night before. Usually she looked forward to it, but she didn’t
want to go to school. Everyone paled in comparison to Rourk. She
had to figure out a way to find him. He obviously didn’t live too
far away if he was at the concert. She was still puzzled by the
fact that he was there. Her mother would say that it was fate.
Keegan thought it was a bit too much of a coincidence.
Keegan and her mother were still not talking
after the jean incident. They both were so stubborn that sometimes
they would stay angry for days. Keegan was anxious to tell her
about Rourk. She came down the stairs to find her mother sitting at
the kitchen table reading the newspaper over a mug of tea.
“Mom, I’m sorry.” She really didn’t know what
she was apologizing for, but she knew it was the quickest way to
get back in her good graces.
Her mother was silent a moment. “Perhaps I
overreacted. I just don’t want you to take things for granted.”
Keegan smiled and gave her a hug, then slid
into the seat next to her. “You won’t believe what happened at the
concert.”
“What happened?” Looking at her daughter,
Emerald felt a rush of warmth mixed with relief. Of course, Katrina
had already filled her in on what happened. She was just grateful
that her daughter was unharmed. Katrina did not believe the boy was
Rourk so when Keegan got to that part of the story, Emerald was
surprised to hear her describe Rourk in detail.
“Mother, I know it was him, it had to
be.”
Her mom looked thoughtful and answered
slowly. “I hope it was him. Then you’ll have a wonderful story to
tell your children at bedtime.”
Emerald dropped Keegan off at school and then
called her husband. Richard was sitting over some paperwork at his
desk with an intense headache when heard his phone ring. He was
surprised to see it was his wife. She never called.
“Will you be coming home for lunch?”
He sighed, “You know I would love to, but I
am very busy today.”
In a calm tone she said, “I think it would be
a good idea if you made time to see me. If you would like I can
come to your camp or we can meet somewhere.”
He knew he was in trouble. His wife had the
quickest temper of anyone he had ever met, so he knew to be worried
when she was eerily calm. “On second thought, of course I have time
to come home and have lunch with my beautiful wife. I will be there
before noon.”
She hung up the phone without saying
goodbye.
Richard didn’t have time to dissect what his
wife was angry about. He would deal with it when he got there. He
knew he would never understand the way her mind worked. She had
always been a mystery to him. He thought of a quote from one of his
favorite books:
Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are
facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one
of them is wrong
. ~Francisco d’Anconia.
Smiling Richard thought, Francisco, you have
not met my wife.
***
At school, Keegan could not stop thinking of
Rourk. Usually she was loud and bubbly. Today, she didn’t even have
the patience for Donald and his crew. They seemed so childish. She
knew Rourk would never act like them. They were running around the
halls, trying to catch and attack one another. Normally, she would
join them, but now it just seemed lame. She felt like yelling at
them to grow up.
Keegan sent a text to her mom that said:
Can I come home
early?
Of course her mom wanted to know why. How
could she explain she just suddenly felt like she didn’t belong
there anymore?
I have a headache
, Keegan wrote.
The quick response:
Motrin
. Ugh!
Please mom, I just don’t want to be here. Everyone’s
getting on my nerves, they seem so childish
.
There was a long break before Keegan received
a response:
No, I
will pick you up at the normal time.
***
Emerald slammed her phone on the counter.
What was Richard thinking? She decided to go to the gym. She needed
to burn off some of her frustration. It was going to be hard enough
to control herself when she talked to her husband. He once told her
if he could change one thing about her it would be her temper. She
tried to control it, but it didn’t always work. She had her father
to thank for passing down the trait.