by Night, H. T.
“Seriously?” I asked. I remembered what happened between Cyrus and me. That didn’t end well for Cyrus and I had never quite been the same after that. I didn’t trust too many people.
Jason nodded. “Seriously, Dad. If I healed Pierce, he would have gone down in the history books as one of the most evil human beings in a hundred years.” He looked at Lena. “I don’t know if we would have gotten out of there except that Uncle Tommy was with us, riding shotgun. Brock Houston wanted to keep us there.”
Lena’s hand rose to her throat. “So now what? Brock wants revenge on us for not healing his boy?”
“Something like that,” I replied.
“I would have kicked ass and taken names with Uncle Tommy and Dad,” Joshua said. “I should have been there for you, bro,” he said to Jason.
The boys bumped fists in solidarity.
Jason turned his eyes onto me. “Also, Dad, you should know something else that is real important,” Jason said.
I nodded for him to go on.
“Brock is not a good man, either. He is nothing close to what his son would have become, in terms of evilness, but he also walks a line that isn’t exactly straight.”
I had had my suspicions about Brock ever since Atticai left him in charge.
“I still own that island. Brock Houston is governing at the mercy of my will. So, if I have to, I will remove him from his post. He was appointed by Atticai, but he can just as well be...deposed.”
Lena pressed her lips together and her eyes were intent on me. “Josiah, I have a sick feeling that none of this will be easy.”
“Nobody said any of this would be easy. And, it’s not just that Jason refused to heal his son, Pierce, but the fact remains that Brock knows that Jason can heal.”
“Not only does Brock know that I can heal, but there was this undercurrent that I felt that if I healed Pierce, that he would have somehow tried to suck out more than just healing from me. He was after my power, Mom and Dad. I don’t know how else to say it.”
“Could he have done that?” I asked, incredulous.
“If I had healed him, he might have used some dark powers to reap further strength from me in order to rise up into this horrible, future oppressor of the meek and the good.”
On the verge of tears, Lena breathlessly blurted out, “I’m scared! I think it might be time to get the boys outta here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “This is where we live, and if there is trouble, we will make a stand.”
“There is a great private high school down the street from Tommy’s new house in Anaheim Hills,” Jason offered. “I saw it from the road the last time that we went to visit and go to his housewarming. They had a really nice football stadium.”
I knew that, sooner or later, it would come to this, that my boys would crave life in the States, instead of our isolated life in a castle on an island in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.
“America?” Lena asked. “We would all move?”
I shook my head. “We can’t, Lena. At least, I can’t. I have a responsibility to the people on these two islands. And, further, we don’t exactly have a private school on the island,” I said.
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I feel so torn.”
I put my arm around her. She was about to bust out in sobs.
“How long, Josiah? How long would we be apart from the boys?”
“It would likely be for two years.”
“Two years?” Her voice raised an octave, the prelude to tears.
“I like the idea, Mom,” Joshua said. “I would love to play some real sports for a real high school.”
Joshua had begged me to go to school off the island for years, and he had been waiting for me to come around and allow him to go to a real school.
“I don’t like the idea of the family being separated,” Lena said.
“Why not?” I asked. “And it was your idea to get the boys out of here.”
“I know, but I was just...panicked. At least here, we can protect the boys. I’m not going to let Brock intimidate me to the point that I move my children away.”
“It wouldn’t be permanent, sweetie. It would be just for school. I’ll take the jet to go pick them up every Friday.”
“And take them ten hours away every weekend?”
“We will probably have to work on that, later. Maybe half the time they could stay with Tommy.”
“With Tommy?” Lena was beside herself. “Tommy can barely take care of himself! He takes being a bachelor to a whole other level.”
“You know he is a grown man and quite protective. He’d be wonderful taking care of the boys.”
“Joshua is too much like him,” Lena pleaded. “There has got to be another way.”
“I can’t see any other way.”
“Please, Mom,” Joshua said. “Let us at least try it. I’m dying to know what it’s like to go to a real school.”
“You just want to see all the California girls,” Lena said to Joshua.
“Exactly.” Joshua stated. “And, I’d like to surf without great white sharks chasing me, like they do here.”
Lena looked like she would faint. She paused and then looked at Jason and said, “Let’s be honest, the most sensible one out of all of us is Jason. Jason, what do you think?”
Jason said very quietly, “I think we should try the new school in Anaheim Hills. And when you can come to get us with the island jet for the weekends, that would be great. Other times, I am sure Uncle Tommy cannot only house us on the weekends, but he’s a good protector. He can smell the bad guys coming.”
Lena looked at her two boys and said, “I guess starting in September, you will start your new school.”
“That’s only a month away. And this is pending the results of entrance exams, I’m sure,” I added.
“We’ll study together,” Joshua said.
Lena shook her head and said, “How will I ever win any discussion when I’m outnumbered, three boys to one?”
I said, “It’s not about winning a discussion. It’s about the boys spreading their wings. This island has held them back, sheltered them, and become their prison, disguised as a paradise.”
The boys both nodded.
“It’s true,” Jason said.
I looked at my wife and continued, “If our boys are to become fine men, we have to let them grow. And if letting them grow means letting them go, we need to do that, Lena. It’s time.”
Lena finally let go with the waterworks that I knew were coming. The three of us who loved her gathered around her and hugged her while she wept.
Chapter Nineteen
The next two years weren’t as easy as I had hoped they would be. There were no quick fixes in trying to solve problems for two sons who were half a world apart from Lena and me.
All I knew was, I wanted as little control of the situation as possible—I was trying to let our boys test their wings and see how they flew without my constant guidance. But I missed them. In our empty nest, there was no wrestling, no guy stuff to share, no male bonding time, no boys at home. I was secretly bereft without their company, but I would never admit it to Lena, that sometimes, she was just not enough.
After sixteen years of family life, I was left alone with Lena, and everything was different with the boys at school in California. The family dynamic was absent and it was like having a girlfriend again, one who wanted all of my attention and who had nobody but me to divert her own.
It should have been the best time of our lives, mine and Lena’s, but things on the island came to the forefront and now, in a household without the boys, I had no stress release. Even joy seemed to evade me, no matter how hard Lena tried to be entertaining and engage me in “couple” activities.
But, as best as I could, I pushed that stress to the back burner and began to focus on my duties and difficulties of governing Helena Island. What had been my new reality and what was staring at me in my face every single day and what was loomi
ng, was waiting for Pierce to die. I was just hoping that he kept holding on, so peace would prevail between our two islands.
I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of evil Jason had seen in Pierce. Jason didn’t push the panic button ever. But once he put his hands on Pierce, he knew something wasn’t going to be right.
I’m not sure why it happened the way it did. All I knew was that Brock was becoming very powerful among the Mani. The Mani were a fickle group. I had learned the hard way, this was true. It was disheartening that some Mani felt that I wasn’t enough and they were still searching to find someone to follow—maybe I’d been selfish in all this, not looking out for my fellow man and being more concerned about my family and myself than worried about the greater good.
Brock Houston was rich and had a lot of resources; that was usually an easy way to make friends. I had had so many years of protecting others that my instincts were to send Jason and Joshua as far away from Brock as possible. I wasn’t afraid of the man. I was afraid of the kind of cause he could stir up and there’s no greater cause than your son’s life.
We got the boys settled in quickly to their new school in California and I began to feel relief, especially knowing that Tommy was like their guardian angel. Joshua loved the ladies and the ladies loved Joshua. Apparently, he had a new girlfriend every month that he went to St. Michael’s.
Jason, on the other hand, had no interest in the ladies, other than pure politeness. The obvious response was that the kid was gay, but not in his case. I’d love him regardless of what he was, but I thought his sexuality was truly and firmly asexual. He did not flirt or show any interest in anything sexual, in either the opposite sex, or his own. He was the best-behaved teenage boy I had ever known.
I could tell right off the bat that this school was going to be a great experience for both of them. They had both wanted to play sports for so long, and now they would get their chance. To my surprise, I couldn’t believe how skilled they were at the sports they chose to play. Joshua chose to play football, wrestling and baseball, and Jason chose to play basketball, baseball and football. They were both three-sports lettermen—baseball and football games were especially exciting for the school with both Reign boys playing for the team.
My dad would have had a great time seeing them play if he would have been alive. It was hard not to think about my father when I thought of my sons. The idea that my sons would never know my father was what saddened me. He would’ve thought that Joshua was a hoot and I could only imagine the kind of conversations he and Jason would’ve had, the two philosophers butting heads.
But Dad wasn’t here—I was.
I had to be the most supportive father I could be. I personally didn’t anticipate how much fun it would be to watch their games. It was as if, for the first time, I truly got away from the worries of the world and was just able to enjoy the peace of being a normal father. But by trying to be the best father, I wasn’t being the best husband. Somewhere along the line, I had lost my way, but not with the boys...with Lena.
Unfortunately, no matter how strong a love is, it needs to be nurtured. I’d been really good at nurturing my marriage for seasons at a time. I’d been really bad at nurturing for years on end. This I knew deep down. Hence, the big fight that erupted between Lena and me was not completely unexpected.
Most fights that Lena and I had usually began in the bedroom, for the sake of privacy. Tonight’s disagreement, however, took place thirty-five hundred feet in the air in the helicopter, among friends. We’d never before fought out in the open about anything. We took pride in keeping things private. We never allowed anyone to judge us. In a way, the fact that it had come to this should have been my first eye opener.
Lena and I were never the type who allowed other people in on our private life. It was ours and ours alone. And yet, there we were, arguing in the chopper in front of others, to their surprise, if facial expressions were any indication.
So, I was shocked that we risked our feelings over common sense. Something was definitely the matter. And I was man enough to say we both needed help. When we were in the helicopter, I sternly whispered to her that we would finish the discussion at home. She didn’t want to back down, but calmer heads prevailed when I said, “This is no one’s business but ours.”
Back at home, she threw her evening purse on the couch and put her hands on her hips, in the confrontational stance that I both loathed and admired. As well, she kicked off her high heels and let them fall where they may. Oh, Lena was pissed, royally pissed.
“Don’t you ever tell me to be quiet again when we are having a discussion.”
“You were subjecting other people to our private business. It had to be said.” I looked at Lena and asked, “Do you have any idea what that argument was even about? Because I don’t.”
“That’s because you don’t listen to me,” she answered.
“What’s there to listen to?”
“Exactly. There you go again. You don’t care. You didn’t care how important it was for me tonight.”
“Tonight? Tonight was important to you? We went out with friends to a jazz club. We were just chilling, right?” I exclaimed.
“It was more than that. I watched you all night. Your mind wasn’t on me at any point. I mean, when it came to sitting me down and feeding me, you thought about me, but other than the basics of polite dinner conversation, you might as well have been a robot on the date.”
That stung, but I held my temper, because I am a gentleman, always, with Lena. “Can I ask you a question?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“What is this really about?” I asked.
She calmly said, “I was trying to improve our marriage. I’m starting to think it’s an impossible task.”
I stared at Lena and I hated letting her down. But I was dealing with a lot of feelings. If she only knew how much I loved her...how much I cared about her. Lena knew how to make it sting. She knew how to go straight for the jugular. With words.
“Is it that bad?” I asked.
“If you have to ask, that should answer your question. Right there. You nailed it.”
I was speechless. I had no idea things were this bad. I tried to assure her that everything was okay. She looked at me with loving eyes and a sadness that shattered my inner being. Somewhere along the way, a rift had formed between us. We were no longer One. We were married, but we were out of synch, parted by some invisible Marianas Trench in the roiling sea of emotion that separated us.
“I wish I knew how to be a better man to you,” I said sincerely. “I feel I have most everything else down. But when it comes to making you happy, I’m at a loss right now. I’m so sorry for that, Lena, because you are precious to me. A happy marriage seemed to be a lot easier when we were younger and our lives were simpler.”
“Does it have to be harder, now that we’re older?”
“It’s not harder, just different.”
“Don’t let the world harden your soul, because your soul is what I fell in love with.” She turned away from me, walked into the bedroom and closed the door. I heard the lock click with a finality. When that lock clicked when we were both in the bedroom, that was our security device to keep the boys out when we made love. When the lock clicked when I was on this side of the door, it was couch night for me. I sighed heavily.
That was her way of saying she would be sleeping alone for at least for the next several hours. I needed to get some air. The kind of air that I was accustomed to. The cold, dark, lonely air. That cut like a knife.
Chapter Twenty
I opened up a trap door and exited my castle and went for what I called, ‘a fly.’ I flew around both islands in my eagle form. Helena was the bigger of the two islands. We had a reasonable-sized mountain that was rumored to be a dormant volcano. There was no seismic activity at the present time in the old, huge caldera formation with evidence of rich ore deposits that had not been explored, though there could possibly be volcanic activity in the fu
ture. We called the mountain: M1. It meant Mani One.
The peak of M1 had been a great perch for me when I transitioned to the Great White Eagle and to just get away. Tonight would be no different. Whenever I needed some alone time, I would I leave my castle in the middle of the night. If I needed to clear my head, M1 was my place to go so I could hear my thoughts and relax, maybe meditate and talk to the Triat. If I was daring, I’d even try to talk to God.
On this night, however, I was to expect the unexpected. I was sitting back in my Eagle form on top of the mountain, just taking in all this night had to offer: Mainly, it was black thick nothingness, splattered in stars of the Southern Hemisphere.
No one had ever dared to come to my island to challenge me. So, I never had anything to worry about. Especially since I had retired from my superhero days, everyone just left me alone.
I might have lived in a castle, but it was as if the entire island was my castle, my turf. I was pretty sure anyone important enough knew since I had never been attacked on my islands since I had been here. There were many people who would dearly have loved to attack me on this island, but hadn’t. I started to think maybe my island had a special shield protecting us. Was it the Triat? Was it God?
On this night, there were going to be a couple of firsts. I inhaled and looked toward the east, where Atticai was once located on Attica, though now, he was gone and I felt alone without him near.
I started to get a weird feeling while up on M1. It was a premonition that seemed to only happen when I knew something dangerous was about to go down. It was a sixth sense that I had fine-tuned over the years of being a Mani and a professional MMA fighter.
Sure enough, ten ravens made their way toward my direction. My internal red flags went up. The ten ravens landed about ten feet away from me. I knew that they were Mani men. I wasn’t sure if they were just trying to mess with me by not turning or if they just feared me.
Then, like popcorn, one by one, they turned to their vampire forms, bursting from bird to Mani. They stretched and shook their arms and legs, as if hyped up on some mission that required ass-kicking.
