by Ammar Habib
“We finally did it…we’re finally out of the tunnel.” He said those words as if he was expecting an answer, but none came. Instead, he felt a warmth.
Ethan pulled out a circular locket from his pocket, revealing a picture of Katrina inside. Wearing a white sleeveless dress with her hair perfectly done, her pretty face beamed with joy as she looked into the camera’s direction.
“You’ll be glad to know where I’m going tomorrow morning William.” Ethan kept his eyes on Katrina’s photograph. “Now that his soldiers have failed, he might come for her. She’s the closest thing to me…and he knows it.”
An alarm on Ethan’s watch sounded. It was time to go back to the warehouse. The meeting would start in a few minutes.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you…”
***
Pushing open the heavy doors to The Guardian’s lair, Adam’s heart raced with excitement over being here for the first time. The doors screeched against the concrete floor as they moved, slowly revealing the inside of the building.
It was just like he always imagined it would be.
The entire building was fully illuminated. In one area of the warehouse, numerous ten-foot tall poles were set up. Aiming at the tops of the poles were automated guns that were mounted on the closest wall. In another area was an assortment of closed boxes, chest-of-drawers, showcases, and cabinets. And close to that was a board that had dozens of crossed off faces. Some medical equipment was in another corner of the building. Across from that was countless training equipment. Practice targets, dummies, punching bags, automated guns. Everything imaginable was there.
Hovering over a table were Ethan and Jonathan. The two of them were looking at some papers, but stopped when they saw Adam.
“I feel like a kid in the candy store,” Adam’s voice echoed in the massive space.
Jonathan smiled.
Adam came to the two of them and looked at Ethan. “And to what do I owe this honor?”
“The honor is that soon, you two will be the only ones coming here.”
Adam’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
“I’m leaving.”
“Leaving? For good?” Adam asked.
“For a little while at least.”
“Why?”
“Because somebody I love needs to be protected.” Ethan glanced over the entire warehouse. “I’m leaving everything in your hands.”
“My hands?” Adam’s voice was full of surprise.
“Until I return you’ll be the one watching over everything. With William gone, there’s nobody I can trust with this except you.”
“I—I feel honored, Ethan. But…you hardly even know me. Jonathan—”
“Jonathan has other responsibilities. He’s managing the shelters and orphanages. His attention can’t be diverted from that. It’s too important.”
“But I’m not you. I can’t take on an army single-handedly.”
“And you won’t have too. That’s why I’m giving this to you. This city and country don’t need somebody to fight and protect them anymore. The people are now doing that for themselves. What they need now is a symbol. They need to know that the one that they looked up to is not gone, but is still there. They need to know that The Guardian is still guiding them and watching over them.”
Adam remained silent.
“As The Guardian, you’ll have direct access to Villanueva and the high diplomats of Crown City. You’ll need to keep an eye on them. Make sure that they’re still following the right course.”
“The course of the people.”
Ethan nodded. “Jonathan will be financially backing up your mission. He’ll make sure that nobody suspects your activities. And…he’ll also be training you.”
“Training me?” Adam asked.
“At least for a little while. He has some experience in the military. Served a one-year tour. You have heart, but he’ll teach you the basics of defending yourself. It might come in handy if you find yourself in a bad situation.”
“Should I expect myself to get into a lot of bad situations?”
“No.”
Adam was silent for a long moment. “I’m still trying to take this all in. Why are you trusting me?”
“Because you possess the most powerful weapon anybody could. One that can never be beaten.” Ethan laid his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “A good heart. A good heart that puts the good of others before your own.”
“Is a good heart enough?”
“It’s more than enough.”
***
“Hard at work I see.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Villanueva slowly looked up from the newspaper he was reading and at the figure that stood on the other side of the desk. The hooded and cloaked Guardian looked down at the businessman with his arms crossed.
“Anything interesting in there?”
Villanueva shook his head. “Just a report about new evidence on the plane crash that killed Gonzalez.”
“Do you really need a report to tell you what caused it?”
“I guess I really don’t.” Villanueva folded the newspaper and set it aside. “What about Tony?”
“What about him?”
“He’s fallen off the grid. Nobody knows where he is.”
“You want him to get what’s coming for him?”
“I just want to know what happened to him.” Villanueva was silent for a brief moment. “This entire country is in your debt.”
“No. It’s in the debt of all the good people that never stop fighting.”
“And that’s a number that’s always growing.”
“We can only hope. We’re out of the tunnel.”
“At no small cost.” Villanueva glanced down at his desk. “My greatest regret is that William will not be here to see everything he did pay off.”
“There is always a price for victory. It was a price he was willing to pay.” The Guardian paused. “The hardest part of your journey is over.”
“My journey?” Villanueva asked.
“I’m leaving. I’ll be gone for a little while”
“Thought you might say that.”
“There will be someone else in my place to keep an eye on things.”
“He’ll get the same respect that you do. And he’ll have direct access to me. I can assure you of that.”
Ethan nodded and looked down at Villanueva’s notes. “Have you figured it out yet?”
Villanueva looked at the notes that sat to the side of his desk. “Maybe.”
“Let me hear it.”
He reached for his notes, but stopped when his hand was right above them. It stayed there for a few moments before he pulled it back and looked at The Guardian.
“Who is she?” Villanueva asked.
“Who?”
“The one who is waiting for you.”
“What makes you think there’s anybody waiting for me?”
“Call it…knowing you long enough.”
Ethan did not reply.
“Has she been waiting for you this whole time?”
“…yes.”
“And how much longer do you expect her to wait.”
“Not long now.”
“That’s where you’re going after the election is over, isn’t it? To be with her.”
“For a little while. But then there’s one last thing I have to do.”
“Is it more important than her?”
“Nothing is. But she will understand.”
“She’s lucky…to have somebody like you who loves her, and would go to the edges of the earth for her. Somebody who’d—”
“No. I’m the lucky one. Lucky that no matter how lost I was in the tunnel, her beacon would show me the way out. Lucky that no matter how much I was beat down, no matter how much I’ve been knocked down, she’s always helped me up. She was willing to put the good of millions before her own happiness. She was willing to face her own darkness alone.”
Villanueva slightly smiled. “I’m glad then…you need to be wi
th her.”
“And we will…soon.”
Chapter 25
New Beginnings
Dark clouds stretched as far as the eye could see. Cold and fast falling rain fell from the gloomy heavens and swiftly splattered onto the graveyard. Roars of deafening thunder and lightning were heard, momentarily lighting up the sky, only for it to be shrouded in darkness the next second.
The procession slowly moved across the cemetery. Every person in this river of people was clad in black. Their eyes were full of sadness, remorse, and tears because of whom they had lost.
Six men carried the wooden casket, while the crowd followed closely behind. The sealed coffer was soaked by the rain and its weight increased with every passing moment, but it did not deter the men carrying it. The man they carried had done so much for them when he was alive. This was the least they could do in his death.
In the sea of black, everyone’s eyes were looking at the wet ground. They were all drenched as the endless storm rained down on them. However, the ones at the front of the procession did not care about the weather. This deluge was nothing compared to the storm in their hearts.
And none wept more than Katrina.
Knowing that her grandfather was in a better place did nothing to ease Katrina’s suffering, nor did the knowledge that they would meet again one day. All she knew was that she was alone. Her face was covered in more tears than rain. She shivered more because of sadness than the cold. The howling wind and raging storm was nothing compared to the storm that her soul was trapped in.
Hordes of reporters and photographers could be seen outside the metal gate of the graveyard. They all loudly and raucously recorded the somber scene, their cameras obnoxiously and continuously flashing in its direction. The reporters spoke into video recorders as they tried to speak above their colleagues, the rain, and the thunder without any respect for the mourners. They hungered to capture the best coverage of Boris’ funeral.
The procession stopped a few yards from the open grave. Katrina stared into the dirty and murky pool of mud where her grandfather would be laid to rest. Her gaze went onto the headstone. She read the name that was inscribed on it over and over again, praying that she would wake up from this nightmare.
The men waited for her to give them the signal to lower the casket. Everyone’s eyes—the procession’s and the reporters’—were on her.
Katrina closed her eyes, mustering her courage. It was time for her to let go. She slowly nodded.
The men lowered the casket down into the grave as Katrina tearfully watched. The men hid any emotion they might have been feeling as they picked up their shovels and began to throw dirt into the grave.
With each round of dirt that was thrown onto the casket, more tears began to stream down Katrina’s face. Her heart and soul seemed like it was being buried right alongside her grandfather’s…
Katrina suddenly sensed a presence alongside her.
A man stood, clad in a black trench coat and a black fedora hat with a large brim. His eyes were on the grave. There was a comforting aura he emitted that Katrina had not physically felt for years, except in her best dreams. Slowly, Katrina turned her head to look, already knowing who it was: Ethan.
After all this time, he finally came in her darkest hour. For a long moment, she thought that she was caught up in a hallucination brought up by her grief. But after a few long moments, she realized that it truly was Ethan standing by her side.
Holding a black umbrella in one hand, he shielded the two of them from the endless downpour. Without looking at her, Ethan put his arm around Katrina. No words needed to be spoken. Feeling the warmth of his love, she did the same as she looked back at her grandfather’s grave. But this time it was different—she was no longer afraid.
Together, they watched Boris finally be laid to rest. Together, they witnessed the last symbol of their old life leave them.
***
The body was finally sealed away. One-by-one people came to pay their respects to Boris’ headstone. Some were friends. Others were associates. Some were young. Others were old. Some had many fond memories. Others had but a handful. But none were family.
Ethan and Katrina watched every single one of them say what they needed to say to before turning and leaving the cemetery. With each person who said their final goodbye, the ocean of people began to lessen.
Little by little, the ocean of black became a river. Then that river became a stream. Then the stream became a line. And then that line became two lone people.
Two lone people who were safe from the storm.
The storm lessened only a few minutes after the last guest had left the funeral. The thunder and lightning had disappeared. The howling gust turned into a moderate wind. The only soul that was in sight was the lone bodyguard at the gate.
Still standing under the umbrella, Ethan and Katrina kept their eyes on the headstone. Not a word had been spoken. Neither of them knew where to begin. And neither wanted to break the moment.
Ethan finally turned his head to look at her face. “I’m so sorry, Katrina.”
Hearing his words, her gaze finally left the grave and fell upon her beloved. At the moment their eyes finally met, she knew he was the same man who her heart belonged to.
“…for not being here at your side. For making you face your fears and demons alone.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “We both did what we needed to, Ethan. We both had things we needed to face. You…you had the world on your shoulders. And I was never alone. I always had your heart with me.”
“I never stopped loving you…even in my darkest hour.”
A slight smile came to her face. “I never doubted it, Ethan.”
“Every day, there was nothing I wanted more than to be with you, Katrina. Nothing I wanted more than to look at you and have you at my side. No matter what happened, no matter what dark corner I was in, you were always the light that kept me going.”
With each word Ethan spoke, Katrina’s smile became more beautiful.
“You were always the one rock for me. When death came for me from every corner, you were the light that kept me fighting. You were the one thing I would hold onto when everything else went to hell. It’s only because of your love that I am standing here.”
After his words ended, she gazed into his eyes for what seemed like a long time. Katrina glanced down at the wet ground, thinking of what to say—trying to figure out how she could put her countless feelings and emotions into words. “Ethan, all this time…having to…again live without you for so long, I—I nearly lost myself. Everything I loved was being taken from me. Grandpa was dying…and you were at risk of dying every second of every day.”
Ethan watched her look back at him.
“I had endless nightmares about you dying. Visions of your death at the hands of unspeakable monsters haunted me almost every night.” Katrina took a deep breath, trying to hold back more tears from coming. “Watching life slowly leave grandpa was…I could feel the ocean of pain he was in, but could do nothing to take it away.”
Ethan put his hand gently on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
“And the longer we were apart, the nightmares of your death became worse and worse. I saw you dead so many times that I began to believe that you would never come back. I thought I would be cursed to live a life without you.” Katrina grabbed the edges of her glove and slowly peeled it back, revealing the diamond ring Ethan had given her on the bridge so long ago—a promise of what would happen when they would finally be reunited again. “But every time I looked at this, I was reminded of how our story would end. I remembered the happy ending we would have.”
Her gaze came back onto him, but his eyes were still set on the ring. Ethan reached down and took her hand in his. A smile slowly came to his face; it was one that only she could bring. He looked at her pretty face. She was beautifully smiling at him with a smile that reassured his decision. He was where he needed to be. He was where he was supposed to be. Ever
ything was going to be okay. His worries and fears faded with each passing second. Without thinking, he spoke the words that his heart had so desperately wanted to say for so long. “Marry me, Katrina.”
Katrina stood gazing at Ethan stunned. “M—marry you?”
“Yes, Katrina, tonight.”
“T—tonight?”
“From the day I first met you, I have loved you. Not a moment since then has gone by where I have not thought about you. There is nobody in the world that I feel stronger for. Nobody who can light up my darkest corners like you. Nobody who brings the color to my world like you.”
Katrina’s heart beat faster and faster with every word her beloved spoke. “Ethan…I—”
“We don’t know how much time we have, Katrina. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But I do know one thing: my heart belongs to you and it always will.”
The more he spoke, the more her eyes sparkled. The more she knew what the future held.
“We have wasted enough time. We’ve been apart long enough. Sacrificed more than our fair share.” He paused for a long moment as he looked into her eyes. “Will you marry me, Katrina?”
Her beautiful smile grew prettier than it ever been before. Without thinking, she threw her arms around him as they tightly embraced. “I love you, Ethan.”
The umbrella fell from his hand and the wind stole his hat as she gave him her answer.
Under the dark heavens they held tightly onto one another, as if letting go would mean never seeing each other again. All they felt as they stood in the rain was their love. Their uncertainties disappeared as if they had never existed. Their fears fled to the horizon and beyond. The darkness that they had both faced seemed as if it had existed in another lifetime. Their hearts were filled with nothing but love and light.
And in that graveyard, a new phase of their life began.
***
The ceremony began when evening came.
Here, they were safe from everything. In this church, nothing could touch them, not the rain, wind, or endless storm. They were protected from it all. Even their deepest fears.
