The Centerpoint Trilogy (9 page)

He also worried for Genesis. Like Anna, he had his denials, but there was no denying that their daughter was special. Something in her blood made her special. She was relevant not just to the dying cult, but to the world. It was not the self-important ideals of a father that made him believe that either. He knew, deep within his soul, that his daughter was important to the whole world. He knew that whatever she was was very important. Whatever she was… It was a hard thing for a father to admit, but Ethan did not know what she was.

              Ethan got up slowly. He went to the bathroom and started a pot of coffee. He dressed himself as the coffee poured, glad that he’d already showered the night before. Anna loved showering in the morning, but it honestly was something he hated. It sprung him to life way too fast and he felt irritable the whole way to work. Pouring a cup of coffee, he sighed and took a deep breath. He really needed to relax. Yes, things were strange, but he had to worry about the mundane life of a father with a five year old daughter. By the time he truly woke up, it was time to get Genesis out of bed.

              Genesis slept very much like he did. She was a deep sleeper. He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head as well. “Rise and shine, boo,” he said with a singsong tone that he swore he only picked up when he became a parent. It was goofy, cutesy and unlike him, but his daughter was the cutest little angel in the world, so who could blame him? She was perfect. Slowly, through his gentle coaxing, he saw Gen open her eyes. Gen, like her father, needed to be coaxed gently awake or she was a very, very irritable child.

              “Morning Princess,” he said softly.

              Her eyes fluttered a little and she let out a sweet yawn. “Mornin’ daddy,” she said with another yawn that made her stretch her whole body. “It’s too early.” Her lips pouted outward and Ethan had to sigh. That daughter of his was going to be a heartbreaker in no time yet. She was very persuasive and had a master set of puppy dog eyes. Anna had taught her very, very well.

              “It sure is,” Ethan responded.

              Ethan was able to get Gen dressed with some persuasion. She woke up slowly, but surely and was enthusiastic by the time they finished. With her bubbly five-year-old enthusiasm, the child ran over to the living room. While Ethan prepared some oatmeal for them to eat for breakfast, she watched her favorite cartoon. It was called
Magical Princess E
and was about a very powerful female protagonist. Ethna had to admit that he was starting to fall to the charm of the cartoon. It was also eerie, considering he had his own Magical Princess G and she was definitely more powerful than the cartoon character.

              He was worried about his family. In the first few years of Gen’s life, he and Anna had been on guard for any supernatural threat. They had been completely focused on their daughter and whatever might threaten her. As she started to grow older, the thought of supernatural threats slowly abated. They truly believed that the evil had passed and Gen was safe, at least for the time being. Or, maybe they didn’t believe, exactly, but the fear had faded away. They had grown safe and secure in their lives.

              He called Gen to breakfast and the two of them ate oatmeal together, while Gen slowly picked up energy. As she began to get a little more energetic, the five year old rambled on and on about her plan for the day. Ethan had to admit that he was only partially listening to the five year old, so many things lost in his head. He also had a giant day himself. Teaching high school English was no easy task, especially when your head was far from in the game. It was going to be a rough, hard day.

After they finished breakfast, it was time to leave. He drove Gen to school, the five year old still chattering away and swinging her legs against the seat of the car. They pulled up shortly at Glendale Elementary School. He leaned over and kissed his daughter goodbye, looking at the building. It was a typical little elementary school, with blue brick and white trimmings. It was very adorable. “Have a good day at school Genesis,” he said, kissing the top of her forehead.

The little girl started to wave. She waved enthusiastically.  “Bye daddy! I love you!” she yelled before skipping off to Miss Kramer’s class door. He was glad that his daughter was so enthusiastic about school. She was also very smart, according to her teachers. He knew that after kindergarten she would become even brighter and smarter. That was the best thing for a daddy to hear. He took off for work, a bit calmer. He had to take it easy and get his day done. Calmness was a necessity at this point.

His own workplace was the local high school. Miller High was a large high school in the middle of a small suburb. It had a student population of one thousand and an excitable staff and faculty. He was really blessed to work there. It was the second school that he had ever worked at as a teacher and he was pretty sure that he would stay there for good. It was the one for him. It just fit his persona as a teacher and he hoped that he never had to leave it.

He taught tenth and twelfth grade English Language Arts. He really enjoyed his classes. They were good kids, even the ones who were a pain. He entered his room with a yawn and looked around. The room was undisturbed from the night before. He had posters of literary greats all over the wall. The walls were, like most walls in the school, painted a pale color of off-white. He made a point of keeping his walls highly decorated.  He wanted his students to feel as though they were in a safe, comfortable place. There was less learning in an uncomfortable environment. . He set down his briefcase and then got to preparing.

              British Literature with his seniors was a lot of fun. They had just finished up with
Beowulf
and the kids were generally pretty good. He bustled around to make sure that the desks were well arranged for group work and then got all of his materials out. By the time he was finished, the bell was on the verge of ringing. Ethan continued bustling until that sound burst through his concentration, grating and forever irritating.

The students all came in in a crowd. Ethan sat down behind his desk and waited for the chaos to ebb off and all of the children to take a seat. The bell rang. “Alright,” he called out loud. “You all need to be in your seats, now.” He quickly took attendance and looked over the students. That was when he got on with his day.

The day was a very long one. Ethan was a good teacher, who really cared about his children, but at the moment was very distracted. He was worried about Anna and Genesis, and was glad that he was good enough at his job to fake it. He kept going, waiting for lunch time when he would be able to call his wife and check on her. She had been sleeping when he left, but there was no secret that she was very shaken by everything. He was worried about her, about his daughter and honestly about his own ability to cope with whatever came next. Could he handle it?

At lunch time he ducked out of his classroom and walked over to his car. He leaned on the side of the car. He closed his eyes and then dialed Anna on his cell phone. He listened to the steady ring, waiting for his wife to pick up. He was really worried about her. It kept going over and over through his head. She had been so upset when he left the house.

              “Hi babe,” Anna said and he could practically hear the grin in her voice. That made him feel considerably relieved. He had been worried about her and if she was at least in good spirits at the moment, then that was a start. He took a breath of relief.  “How’s your day going?”

              “It’s alright,” Ethan said awkwardly. Anna could always tell when he was telling less than the truth. He amended himself quickly, being a little bit more honest about things. “I had a rough night last night and I haven’t really been myself. My focus has been off. I just wanted to know how you were mostly. Are you okay?”

              “I’m okay,” Anna said and he could tell that she was mostly telling telling the truth. “I’m sorry for my little freakout. Today’s been a good day so far. I spent a lot of time writing.” That made Ethan feel better. Anna was a journalist, but she was also working on some independent writing of her own. It was her ultimate goal to become a published author and he was pretty certain that she would, given some good time. He had high hopes for her future.

              “That’s great,” he told his wife.

              “Listen, Ethan,” Anna began, her voice a little bit hesitant. “I’m sorry about the fight we had earlier. I was scared and tense and I took it out on you. I didn’t mean to. I know that the nightmares are strong and that nightmares really do mean something. I just didn’t want to. I’m … I’m scared, but I know that we’ll figure it out.”

              He knew that her apologies were very much genuine. Anna was strong willed and focused. She stuck to her convictions. “We’ll figure it out,” he reassured her, knowing that they would. They were strong as possible. “I love you Anna.” He really loved this woman with all of his heart.

              “I love you too Ethan,” Anna responded brightly.

              “I should probably go,” Ethan said hesitantly. It was exhausting and he wanted to be finished. His lunch break was far too short.

              “Don’t forget to pick Genesis up from Alicia’s house,” Anna told him brightly. “I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

              “I will,” he said.

              They hung up their phone and reluctantly, he went back to his day.

Chapter Three

Anna spent many hours working on her novel. It was a supernaturally infused work that was inspired by everything that she had been through in her life, as well as her worries and hopes for her daughters future. Now, she had no delusions of grandeur. She was not the world’s greatest writer and she knew that, but she was a woman with a story to tell and a passion for writing. She hoped that she could just get that one great story out there. It meant a lot to her. After nightmares like the ones she had, it seemed that the whole craft came a little bit easier. When she’d woken up that morning, to find that Genesis and Ethan had already left for school, the words had come flowing freely from her fingertips.

She really hoped that she could publish one book some day. That was all that she asked. Anna really did not need a career from writing novels, no. She had a budding journalism career and she loved that. Writing about the here and now was a great passion that she would never lose, even as she was drawn into her own fantasy worlds.  Still, she just wanted to put one book of the fantastical ideas that she had out into the open. Whatever happened from there would be up to fate. She was already living such an enchanted life. It was merely one ambition in a seat of millions. She was happy to have dreamt it and she wanted it very much.

After some time, Anna had to finish with her writing. It was time for her to go into her day job. Anna worked for a small publication called
The Local Times.
It was a very small local newspaper and nothing of great acclaim, but still Anna made a good living there and she enjoyed every minute of it. She saved and backed up her files and then got dressed. Her family did not live far from the offices and she was always able to get there there quickly.

              The offices of
The Local Times
were very small. They were located in a suite of an office complex. There were desks packed into the small space. At times, it could seem stuffy, but Anna generally liked the fast-paced, bustling atmosphere of the office. It was a fun group to be a part of and she felt productive and at-home with them. She walked in and smiled, waving at her colleagues as she headed over to her desk. “You look tired Anna,” a staff writer named Jeanine commented.

              “Just a rough night,” Anna said, casually brushing off what had been a generally harrowing experience for her. “It’s all good though.”

No sooner did Anna sit down then did her boss Greg come into the room. The editor-in-chief at
The Local Times
was a short, squat man by the name of Greg Saunders. He walked up to her desk with an eager smile on his face. Trailing Greg was a petite woman with fiery, obviously dyed red hair. She looked young and spunky, just the type of person that usually got hired at the paper. Greg’s hand was on the small of her back and he led her up to Anna eagerly.

              “Hey Greg,” she said.

              “Hey Anna,” Greg responded. He stepped over to her and leaned his hand on her desk. When she’d first met him, Anna had been a little bit put off by his lack of regard for a person’s personal space. “I would like to introduce you to our new intern. Rose, this Anna. She’s been with us for four years now and is one of our best writers and one of two editors of our Commentary section.”

Anna looked up at the girl and stood up, shaking her hand. That was when she noticed that Rose was not quite as young as she’d initially thought. She had many plastic surgeries, that much was obvious. Her skin was stretched taut and there were too many sharp lines in her features. Yes, it was obvious that she’d had endured many cuts of the knife. It seemed strange to Anna, but she was not one to judge. “Hi Rose,” she said with a bright smile. She knew how intimdating it could be to work at a new place and she wanted Rose to be as comfortable as was possible. She hoped that she could alleviate some of the tension that came with being new.

“Hi,” Rose said with the same enthusiasm as Anna. “I bet you’re really good. I know the standards here are really high. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two. I really need to improve my writing skills.”