“You can see the wolf?” Jimmy’s eyes grew wider. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. How could he see anything at all still felt like a wonder to his sense of reality? “How can you see anything at all?”
Kenny chuckled some under his breath. “It’s my gift. It’s my special ability. I have the eyes of a wolf. I see everything as you do. It‘s not all that hard to explain really. With people, I see nothing but their halos. Everything else, inanimate objects such as they are, are as black as anyone else would see them who lacks the gift of sight.”
Jimmy blinked. He could understand seeing the halos, after all, he could see them himself, but as for the wolf part that was harder to grasp onto. In a way, he shouldn’t wonder at all. It wasn’t all that long ago that he would have believed in nothing that happened with him such as it is. He would have thought of all of this as being nothing but craziness wrapped with a very large bow, but now, well this still felt crazy, but he had no choice to believe everything he heard. So, why not believe what this old Native American said. Why doubt it? Why try to, so he stopped doing it?
“You should know? I know that Sasha has told you enough, so that you can understand some of what I‘m telling you.” Kenny looked from Jimmy and back to Sasha. All he saw standing there were two wolves standing by the door with tan hues surrounding them. The larger wolf, the one with the overwhelmingly bright color, sparkled almost like he was the sun shining back on a clear blue-skied day. He stood out like no other wolf did. He looked so marvelous, seeing him again. He felt like he was in total awe. He felt so filled with joy in seeing his friend again that he could barely conform himself to think clearly. He waited years to see him again. As far as he knew about it, he waited too damned long.
“You assume she told me everything?” Jimmy turned back to Sasha.
“No. I know.”
Sasha smiled. “Some wanderers can read thoughts. Kenny is one of them, and he’s very good at it too.” She didn’t have the chance to explain that part of what Kenny could do, so it felt like the best time to let Jimmy in on everything he was. Besides, until he saw it for himself, he wouldn’t have believed her anyway if she told him.
Jimmy blinked again. “You can read my thoughts?” He looked back to Kenny.
Kenny’s smile turned wider. “I can read you, yes.” He bowed his head and his smile faded some. “Does that bother you?”
Jimmy looked at him, almost like he studied him intently. What he looked for, he didn’t truly know, so he caught himself doing it and stopped. The idea of this man reading his mind, suddenly gave him a chill down his spine. It scared him some. He felt exposed all too fast. It also explained him laughing when he thought about the mess.
Kenny brought his head up, feeling everything. “We can’t stop ourselves from seeing. We can’t stop ourselves from hearing. We surely can’t stop ourselves from feeling. I couldn’t stop hearing your thoughts even if I wanted to. You don‘t have to be afraid my friend. I still try to keep your thoughts private. I never pry.” He smiled.
Jimmy nodded, understanding that. Kenny couldn’t stop himself from doing what he did; any more than he, himself, could stop him from seeing him standing there now. “Then you know how I feel. You know about what happened?”
“You are afraid of this. You’re afraid of what you’ll do to her.” The smile came again, but this time it came subtly.
Jimmy saw it, and after hearing what he did, he knew exactly whom he was referring. “I don’t want to hurt her.” He nodded with the idea. Rachel was always on his thoughts. She was never that far away from his soul. In knowing that, he knew that Kenny now knew that as well.
Kenny’s smile widened again. “You won’t. You could never harm her. She‘s much stronger than you think. She’s stronger than you will ever know.”
Jimmy sighed with relief. He didn’t know why, but he did feel it. He could also feel that they trusted each other, him and Kenny. Kalima trusted him. In fact, he trusted him with his life. Again, he didn’t know why, but all he could do was just accept everything he felt.
Kenny left the stove behind him, made several steps back into the living room, and stopped. “I can help you understand what you feel. I can help you understand the animal within you. I can help you with everything that you need to know.” He put both of his hands to the waistband of his blue jeans. “I’m here to help you with everything, if you need it.”
Standing there, watching his gray long hair wave over the red of his flannel shirt, Jimmy blinked. Relief once again passed over his soul. It felt like a cool breeze overflowing him. It felt calming. It felt right. “How?” He took everything in.
Kenny’s smile vanished along the lines of his face. “First, by letting you see him.” He felt intrigued by feeling this new friend of Kalima. He felt different from Collins. He felt different from him almost completely. He could feel him relax. He could feel the wolf smile, and that meant that Kalima felt content. He felt like he was right where he wanted to be. It all told him that Kalima had finally found what he was looking for. He had finally found his soul mate. He had finally found the one that he had always wanted to be with from the very beginning. In a way, the two of them blended. They felt the same, and with the feeling, it felt hard to tell them apart. “But first, you have questions for me. It’s time you start asking them.”
Jimmy looked back to Sasha.
She passed him a smile.
He had no idea where to begin. He had to start somewhere, so he turned back to Kenny. “I have no memory of you.” He looked down to the stuff that was closest to his sneakers, and could see a wood colored plaque lying there that had what looked like a baseball player on it in a gold color and a golden nameplate beneath it that read Joshua Davis. Just beneath the name was First Place in black letters. Seeing it, he lost his train of thought, so he left his statement for what it was worth.
Kenny laughed some. Joshua’s my nephew. I should hang that up someday. He smiled and turned his mind back to the question. “The memories that you have when you’re a wolf are harder to gather sometimes. They’re more random, more jumbled. The wolf relies more on his instincts than thoughts. It makes them rather difficult to gather. When you are the wolf, the wolf is in control and you are asleep. The same is in reverse when you are awake and he is asleep.”
Jimmy nodded. Somehow, he understood that. He did have trouble remembering the times when he was the wolf. The thoughts always seemed more ragged than they were when he could remember his life as Collins. With him, he could remember every detail. He could remember every smell. He could even remember how things tasted. With the wolf, he saw just images. He saw feelings as nothing more than black and white. It felt odd, and with that oddness, everything made sense.
“What do you remember about me?” Kenny nodded, listening, and understanding.
Jimmy blinked, thinking back to the trees and the night he saw the boy. “I remember moving through the trees. I remember that it was cool that night. The air felt stirring. It felt calm. I see something out through the trees. I can hear a child’s voice on the wind.” He saw everything as he said it. It all looked so clear to him right then, and there. “I’m moving towards the sound of a boy calling for help. I can see a bright orange colored essence in the night. It looks magnificent. It looks so bright. I feel scared, but only at first. I’m curious too, so I keep on, moving towards it, making my way around a tree, until I then see the boy.” He blinked as the memory faded to nothing. “That’s it. I don’t remember anything after that.” He looked back to Kenny.
Kenny nodded, listening, feeling that time again. He could still remember it like it was yesterday. He could still smell the air. He could still feel the cold on his damp jacket. He could still see him come to him from around the tree. With it all, he nodded. He could do nothing else. “It was very cold that night, not cool, but cold.” Kenny could feel a slight buildup of tears in his eyes. “My father took me hunting, like he always did, because he knew I could see the animals through th
e trees in the dark. They knew of my gifts, of course. They knew that I was blind, but for some reason, I could still see the deer. One noticed such things. No one could have missed it.” He laughed some. “We went out, trying to find this one large buck that my father came across the night before. We were out for hours when I saw a rabbit bouncing along the ground near me. I was only seven, so going after it didn’t take a second thought. I chased it for some time, until I lost it in the underbrush. That’s when I realized that my father was nowhere near me. I called out, but he didn’t answer me. I shouted with everything I had.” He turned and walked back to the counter and leaned back up against the door to the oven, just near the stove. “I roamed around, trying to find my way back to him. Without something or someone to follow, the darkness is blinding. It feels all consuming. It wasn’t long before I gave up and slid down next to a tree. I continued to shout out— I continued to scream, but it was so cold. It was so damp. I felt so helpless. I felt so afraid.”
Jimmy bowed his head, seeing the memory moving again in his mind.
“That’s when I saw this magnificent, almost blinding light moving through the trees. I saw it and for some reason, I felt completely at ease, even though I knew that it wasn’t my father. It came closer and that’s when I saw what it was. He looked so beautiful. He looked so powerful. He came up to me and kneeled down to me, and even with what he was, I wasn’t afraid.” He paused and breathed so deeply that the sound of it seemed to bounce off the narrowness of the house. When he finished, he began again. “He took my hand. He wrapped his huge arms around me, holding me to his fur and keeping me warm. He lifted me up and carried me off through the trees. He felt so warm. He felt so strong—so protecting. I felt so right within his arms as he led me back to where my father was nearby. I could see him off in the trees, and hear him calling my name. The wolf set me down by a large tree, and turned and left. I screamed for him not to go. I didn’t want him to leave me. My father heard me calling for him, so he came to me just as I watched the wolf vanish back into the woods. That’s when I cried for the first time that night. I wanted him back. I needed him to be with me.”
Sasha’s eyes watered up. She never heard this story before in such detail that she couldn’t help but cry from the imagery she could feel with hearing it. She sniffled some, trying to control the tears and wash them back down her throat.
Jimmy heard her and turned slightly, listening to the sniffle, before looking back to Kenny. Seeing his face, he could see the glistening in his eyes.
“After that night, I would head out into the forest almost every day, looking for him again. It was several days before I did find him. We spent almost every night together after that. He would spend time with me. He would listen to all of my stories. He would listen to all of my dreams. I grew up with him. I grew up with what he was.”
Jimmy could hear his voice crack some from the weight the memory gave him. He could feel his heart almost ache from the thoughts and the story he told. In some way, he could feel his own heart ache some as well. “Did you ever find out what he was? What he really was?”
Kenny smiled again and laughed as well. “Oh yes.” His face warmed. “One day he came to me and showed me himself. He said that his name was Collins. He told me that he moved here from Ireland some time before. He told me his stories. He told me what I was.”
“What you were?” Jimmy asked.
“Yes. I was a wanderer, and I became his friend.”
Jimmy felt his own face turn heated. He remembered what Sasha told him about the wanderers. “Did you know about what happened between your people and his?”
Kenny audibly sighed deeply—he couldn‘t help himself. “Of course I do. I was there.” He looked over to Jimmy and their eyes met.
Jimmy felt amazed, not only by what he just heard, but also for the fact that he was able to look directly into the eyes.
“I’ve lived twenty-two lives. I’ve been reincarnated twenty-one times.”
Jimmy swallowed as his mind flew into blankness within itself. He didn’t know what to say, so he just swallowed.
Kenny, of course, felt his mind go blank. “We wanderers pass on as well. We are reborn to a different person every time we move on. I was there when the world turned to the light.” He bowed his eyes.
Jimmy could feel his heart skip some.
“I was one of those that turned against the walkers. I was one of the ones that turned to humankind.”
Now, Jimmy new why he felt what he just did. He understood the skipping of his heart, but what he didn’t understand was why this man, the one that helped to switch the balance of power in the world, was helping them now. “Then why?” He looked from Sasha and back to Kenny again.
Sasha couldn’t believe what she just heard herself. She had never heard this part of the story before. It all sounded beyond bad—in fact—it sounded dreadful. He helped all of them one time or another, so why would he do that when he was one of them that turned against her kind? How could he do it? What was the meaning for all of it?
“Why do I help you?” Kenny shrugged some, before bringing his face back up. Two streaks of tears rolled down the sides of his face. The streaks glistened in the little light of the home. “I was young when I made that choice, all of those many years ago. I was a boy, unknown to myself, when I met Kalima. When I learned what I did, in that third life, I hated myself for it. With Kalima, I learned the beautiful truth.”
Jimmy interrupted him. “What truth?”
Kenny crossed his arms over his chest again. “The truth that all of us—walkers and humans alike—are a part of this world. We are all children of the great mother. We are all deserving of life. We all deserve for a chance to live it.” He shuffled his feet some on the floor. The squeaking sound of rubber on the tiles echoed around the small area. “Kalima taught me that. His saving me—a young boy needing his father, taught me what I already knew. You are not animals. You are no different from humans, and with that, all of us can live together in peace.”
Jimmy winced, breaking the soft silence that enveloped the home. When he finished, he walked away from the front door and crossed the short distance between Kenny and him. He stopped directly in front of him. “You’re helping us now as a repayment? You’re helping us out of guilt?”
Kenny shook his head. “We all grow. We all learn. We all become what we’re meant to be. You should know this. We all make mistakes. We are all given the chance to redeem ourselves from those mistakes, and when we do, we must take it.”
“Me? What should I know?”
Kenny chuckled some under his breaths. “Yes you do know the truth of what I’m saying. Kalima made mistakes. Collins made them, and so have you. Kalima has searched for centuries to find the one to be with him. He has also grown. He has also become what he now is, because of it.”
“The dream? The attack in the park?”
Sasha did the same thing behind him.
Kenny followed the two of them with one of his own. “We all—each and every one of us does.”
Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. “Can you help me find out what that truth is?” He smiled and brought his right hand up and took Kenny by the left forearm.
His warmth spread through his flannel shirt and warmed his arm almost like he had just stuck it out into the heat of the sun. Feeling it, he now knew that he missed his touch more than ever. It made him feel like he was that little boy again, stranded in the woods, needing that warmth. It made him feel like he came home, to a warm house, from a snowstorm in the dead of winter. It made him feel like he was no longer lost in a cold and unforgiving world. “I will. I would die for who you are. I would do anything for him.” Another tear strolled down his right cheek.
Jimmy watched it fall, and smiled. “When do we start?”
“Right now.”
9
Gary made it back to Redford Forge just as darkness now surrounded him. He drove out to Ravenswood first, or whatever the place was called now, and pulle
d into the parking lot. He tried hard not to be noticed while doing it. He no longer worked at the facility so the new security team there may not know who he was. Besides that, if Rachel still worked there, he didn’t want her to see him there as well. So, he crept along, keeping to the very end of the parking lot away from the building, and from there, he looked around the front of it without drawing too much attention. It took him only a brief look around to see that there were no other cars in the lot. The building also looked quit. The area seemed overly still, and with that, it told him that she wasn’t there.
Damn it! He stopped the car. He turned, looking deep into the parking lot, and from way back, he could see the front of the office part of the building, and could see through the glass front doors. He looked there and could barely make out someone moving around inside the lobby. The hint of a uniform told him that it had to be one of the new security guards that worked there. Seeing him, and seeing nothing else, he saw enough.
He released the break and pulled off. He turned the car around, headed back to the main entrance road, and headed back into town. He could think of only one other place that he needed to look to find her. He had to go to her house in town. He had to find if she was even there. His hunt had grown cold, and now he had to heat it up again.
He drove off, and headed back to the highway. With the lack of traffic at this time of night, he made the trip over to her neighborhood in only moments. It only took minutes in fact.
When he pulled onto her street, he found the area looked likewise quiet and still. He continued on, creeping down the street until he could see her house up on the left. The front porch light was on. In the driveway, just behind the porch, he could see her car there, parked and still. She was home. She was there. Now all he had to do was watch and wait.
He looked on for only a minute or two when he noticed another car coming down the street just behind him. Its headlights glared through his rearview mirror as it passed by him. He watched the old blue colored car then park in front of her house along the street by the curb.
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