Into the Looking Glass – Prelude, Part III – A Hero Alone
Posted on 06. Sep, 2006 by Barry Hurd in Coffee - Volume Two, Creative Writing, The Looking Glass
I had told her with every word I knew that I loved her. It wasn’t the kind of love I would forget, how could I? It wasn’t even the kind of love I could imagine. My father always laughed at me for having a heart that was courageous enough to brave a minefield of lost trust, shallow promises, and endless nights alone. I didn’t think tonight would have been any different, but it was. The rain was coming down, I was soaked, and the cold steel of the pistol in my pocket was a stark reminder that I probably wouldn’t be seeing the sunrise.
I tried shifting my thoughts over to something more important as I took her faded photograph and slid it back into my wallet. Its moments like this when you fall back a few years into your history and pray that the people you’ve loved have somewhere safe to call home, that they made something else of their life, and that when you fall face first into the gutter of some city alley they don’t even have a memory of who you were. I don’t know how long I’d be waiting for the inevitable outcome of this evening to take place, but I was ready to charge headfirst into chaos to keep people like her safe from knowing the horrors I had found.
I folded my wallet away into my overcoat and found a dry spot underneath an old elm tree. Just then my phone rang and it startled me as it pierced the quiet of the shadows I was standing in.
‘Samuel?’ A soft woman’s voice inquired.
‘Is that you Kate? I didn’t expect to hear your voice at one in the morning.’
She paused, I could hear she knew something was wrong.
‘Yeah Sam, it’s me. The pastor at the church told me what happened to you last night. Are you okay?’
‘Kate, I’m sorry. I don’t know. I am…’ My voice stopped. It felt like I was trying to breathe while someone strangled me. I couldn’t put the events I had seen to words.
‘Sam?’ her voice sounded a little more tense.
‘Devin is dead, Teresa is in the hospital, and Kyle… I don’t know about Kyle. I left him in a tavern this morning and he looked frantic and now I know why.’
‘Oh god. What the hell is happening with you? I didn’t mean to… to fade away.’ I could hear the tone in her voice, she was really worried. I didn’t mean to have her find out about this and I hated that my only choice had already been made.
‘Kate, just listen. A lot of things have happened. There is a lot I want to say. I know you want to hear an explanation, I know you have things you want to say, but I don’t have time. Tonight I’m finishing what Devin had spent the last ten years of his life trying to complete and I’m sorry. There’s only one thing I can tell you that makes any sense of what’s happening… I love you. I always have. You won’t be hearing from me again and I hope that you forgive me for this. Just be happy, and wherever I end up know that I did my best. Take care Kate.’
‘Sam….’, she tried to say something as I tapped the off button on the phone. I couldn’t pull her into this chaos. She deserved more than that, and if what Devin told me was true about the church hiding something from him was true, then my life was already forfeit and no one else needed to go down with me.
Totally intrigued …