Abraham taught me to fight, taught me that I didn’t feel pain, that I did not know the meaning of fear. He explained that guns were not our way. He said guns were barbaric and impersonal. Blades were the way we killed. He assured me that he loved me, that I was his son and nothing could change that, but he struck me almost every day—every time he ordered something of me that I denied or refused. Alex just stood by, almost afraid of his father. The day with Vivian was the first time I remembered Abraham had hit me. If I did as he said, maybe he would love me, maybe he would love me as I loved him. Maybe he would need me as I needed him.
Chapter Six
Abraham taught us that there were people out there who were made for us. He talked to us about how he would choose them.
There were others who helped instruct me, others who Abraham felt were a better fit than Luna. David was one of them. He was older than me but still very young. I didn’t like the way he treated me. He never struck me, Abraham wouldn’t allow that, but he was harsh with me. Every time I asked a question, he would yell at me to shut up and listen. He told me that any question I had was irrelevant. I hated him. I avoided him when I was able to and spoke to Jason and Arthur. They were calm and supportive. Jason even helped continue my fighting lessons. We quickly became friends, and it felt encouraging to have people to look to for answers and guidance.
Abraham called together a meeting. Jason and Arthur stood beside me as he spoke.
“If they are beautiful and if you want them, take them,” he said. “It is our right.”
He explained that the beautiful and the innocent were the ones the world had made for us.
“You must kill him, James,” Abraham said to me the first time, handing me a knife. “He is pure.”
“Pure?”
“Do you hear his pleas?”
I listened to the boy’s pathetic whimpers of innocence and nodded. “I do.”
“He is pure. Do you not wish to take that beauty into you?”
“Oh, I do,” I answered.
It all sounded gripping to me as it always had. To take in beauty and innocence, to steal purity and, at the same time, make Abraham love me and become like him—strong and powerful. Oh, it was heroic. The boy strapped to that stone, slowly began to take form into a monster, into a foe. He transformed in my mind as someone I needed to kill. He made me almost…thirsty for his blood as if I were some nocturnal, undead predator risen from my grave to feed off the blood of the innocent. And that was what I was going to do, wasn’t it? Feed off the blood of the innocent.
I looked to my father, and he nodded his head. The boy looked into my eyes, and suddenly, I felt myself returning to the day my parents were murdered. I saw in his eyes love and fear. I was violently ripped from the visions of the fiend I was going to destroy, and all I saw…was a boy. What was I doing? How could I destroy a child? How could I inflict the same pain that almost destroyed me? What was happening to me?
I did not feel pain, and I did not know the meaning of fear. That is what Father had told me, so why now was I feeling so weak and powerless?
“We don’t have all day, James,” Abraham hissed.
“I…I don’t think—”
“That’s right, James,” he growled. “You don’t think. You obey!”
“Father, I mean…I do not think I should kill him.”
“What?” my father spat back. “There is never a time it is okay for you to question me, James. Never!”
“Then you do it!” I snapped.
I instantly covered my mouth and braced myself to get hit. I felt his hand harshly crash against my face. I cried out, and he tore the knife from my hands.
“You don’t want me to do it, James,” he said. “I promise you.”
I didn’t respond, just glared at him. His eyes appeared darker than usual, and I could see something vile behind them. He smoothed back his long hair and sighed as if he were trying to calm his irritation.
“Listen to him,” I heard Luna whisper. “Spare the boy, James. Please.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He’ll suffer if Abraham does it. Spare him his wrath.”
So now my killing of him was suddenly turned into an act of mercy? Abraham had always been brutal as I had noticed from the beginning. I knew Luna was right. I knew this boy wouldn’t die well if he became Abraham’s.
I grabbed the knife from my father. He looked to me, and his expression changed from confused and incensed to pleased. He smiled at me.
“Good,” he said. “Good.”
“What must I do?”
“Into the heart, son. That’s our way.”
It wasn’t over after him. It was like it would never be over, and I didn’t have a choice. I obeyed my father as if it were just the way things were, as if I had never lived any other way. There were others I killed. Others whom I regretfully could not remember—save for one.
Luna woke me very early one morning.
“Get up,” she demanded.
“What?” I groaned. “Luna, go away. It’s still dark outside.”
“Come on, love,” she sang. “It’s morning, and we have things to do. Get up.”
“What kind of things?”
She laughed. “You don’t want to be late for your own party, James, do you? Come on.”
I got up slowly, irritated as usual by Luna’s constant mothering of me. I walked into the kitchen where I was sure she would be.
“Hmm…no breakfast today?” I teased.
She turned around, smiling. “Don’t worry about that yet. You’ll feel fine once we get there.”
“So what kind of event is this?”
“It’s sort of your right of passage. Like an initiation.”
“Initiation? I was welcomed into Abraham’s group ages ago.”
“Yes, but if you ever want to be chosen for a mission, you need to prove yourself.”
“What are you talking about?” I yelled. “Nobody ever said anything about missions.”
“That’s what it’s all about. To help spread the beauty of the peace The Sevren brings. Come now.”
“I am to do things for Abraham?”
“If you wish.”
“Of course I do,” I said. “I never thought I could free myself from grief as easily as I have. Abraham's words make me realize things I never knew.”
“That is what I promised you, James.”
“And these missions, is this a way to make him love me?”
“James, he loves you already.”
“He struck me,” I said sadly. “The day with Vivian was only the first time.”
She put her hand on my shoulder. “I know, love, but it’s all right. He’s your father, remember? He just needs time to realize that you are loyal to him, that you will repay him for all he has given you. That is what today is for.”
I was willing to do anything for Abraham. After what he had done for me, I felt I owed him something. I didn’t know what it was I had to do, but it didn’t seem like it would be something I couldn’t handle. After all, he had taught me to be strong. I did not feel pain, and I did not know the meaning of fear.
“Today is for you,” he began slowly. His expression remained blank. “Today is the day you swear to do my bidding.”
I nodded in obedience.
“Come,” Luna whispered.
Abraham led the way to the clearing with the circle of stones. Luna held tightly to my hand the entire way.
Abraham halted and turned to me. “This,” he said, “is for you.”
He moved aside to reveal something almost as horrific as Vivian strapped to that stone. This time, it was somebody I did not know.
Abraham smiled at me. “He is connected to the enemy, James, a group of people who seek to destroy everything we have created and died to protect. Do you want to let that happen?”
“Of course not!” I retorted. “Of course I want to protect us.”
The boy began muttering something; all I was able to mak
e out was his denial.
“I don’t know anything about you,” he said. “I don’t know anything about what you have said.”
Alex leaned toward the boy. “Do not speak. You will make it worse.”
He wasn’t whimpering or crying. All he said was he was innocent. I could see he truly was. He had dark, shaggy hair and lovely blue eyes. He was young—younger than me. I didn’t know what I was doing anymore. He was so young and so small. I was torn back into the memories of my parents. Once again, I was feeling weak and powerless against this guilt gnawing away at me.
“Daniel Callahan,” Abraham announced. “This is his last day.”
“Spare him his wrath,” Luna whispered.
I looked to her, trying to hide the pain it was causing me, trying to disguise the way Daniel’s eyes were burning through my skin.
“What’s the matter with you?” she hissed, still trying to keep quiet. “Do it.”
Without memory of what happened, I stood stone-cold paralyzed with a bloody knife in my hand, staring down at the innocent boy I had killed. Abraham praised me, and that’s when I realized—I couldn’t remember killing anyone before him. I couldn’t remember a single other victim. They were all Daniel.
Strangely enough, his blood was sweet—thick and powerful, the way Abraham said it would be. I didn’t know why I did it, why I agreed to drink from the goblet my father gave me. Fear, I believe—fear of not believing in him, fear of him not loving me, fear of being…wrong.
“I love you, son,” he said as I took the cup. “You know that, don’t you?”
“I do,” I answered, “and I love you as well.”
He smiled and kissed the top of my head. It was all I wanted from him—his love. It was all I had asked myself for. Just make him love you, James. And now he did. I sat beside Luna in a circle around the stones.
“Alex,” my father called. “Alex, I want you to do something for me now.”
He nodded obediently.
“I want you to take the boy back to California.”
“Sir?”
“Do it, Alex.”
I looked to Luna, almost baffled.
“Abraham believes they belong where they came from,” she said. “It’s his…way.”
“Luna,” Abraham jeered, “do you feel a need to speak?”
“I was informing James, Sir,” she said. “As you instructed.”
He didn’t respond.
This wasn’t right. Something was very wrong. I never believed in killing people, did I? But I did. I killed before, didn’t I? I killed others before Daniel. Birds were one thing, but people? A young boy? That couldn’t be right. I couldn’t tell this to Abraham, of course. I couldn’t even tell Luna. I knew without a doubt that something was wrong.
“Daniel Callahan,” Abraham announced, “was only one of the family members. The rest as well need to be stopped.”
I didn’t respond.
Stopped? He was going to kill the entire family? The pain was real, the guilt and the grief, but it didn’t matter anymore—it couldn’t. I killed for him; I did it every time he asked me to. Every single person he forced me to hurt was Daniel. It was maddening. He told me it was my job now to find the rest of his family and bring them.
“Bring them here?” I stuttered in response.
“They reside in California.”
“The boy wasn’t enough?”
“Of course not!” he spat. I winced, thinking he was going to hit me again, but he placed his hand on my shoulder instead.
“You’re still learning,” he told me. “He was the enemy, James. That is why he had to die. The rest of his family are just as much the enemy as he. Jane, Ethan, and Carol Callahan all must be put to an end.
I hated myself for what I must do. What was I turning into?
For the following months, Luna was like a spirit guide. Every time the pain felt like it was going to destroy me, she was there to once again explain that this was the way things were meant to happen. We serve fate, a higher authority than the law. These people were meant for us. I knew she was right; that’s what Father had taught us.
Alex was the one I sometimes felt didn’t understand. He was good at obeying Abraham—most of the time. Alex was never struck, not like I was. Father once hit me so hard my eye was swollen shut for days. I didn’t let that happen anymore. I took care of Alex a lot, saved him from Father’s wrath. There was one time I found him in the clearing, examining and studying something.
“Alex?”
He spun around, startled, and stared at me, unmoving. I took a step toward him, pointing to the pistol in his hand.
“Where the hell did you get a gun?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes!” I shouted back. “It does, Alex.”
“I just—”
“Stole it.”
“No!” he retorted. “Okay…okay, yes, but I was going to return it.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.” He turned around like a child, clutching it to his chest.
“Alex, give me the gun. You know it isn’t our way.”
He sighed, dropping it in my outstretched hand. “Maybe it should be,” he grumbled as he walked away.
I thought seriously about turning him over to Father. I was sure he would talk to Alex—reason with him. I was also sure he would hit him. I didn’t want that for Alex. I gave the gun to Luna when I returned home.
“How was your walk?” she asked as I stepped inside.
“Fine. I’m guessing this is yours,” I said, handing her the pistol.
She sighed. “Who?”
“Alex. Of course.”
“Did you tell Abraham?”
I shook my head.
“You can’t keep covering for him, James.”
“I know.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“No!” I yelled. I almost grabbed hold of her as she headed toward the door.
“James, relax. It’s Father we’re talking about. It’s okay.”
“Luna, please don’t. This one time, let it go.”
“If Father finds out, we will both be in trouble—in a lot more trouble than Alex.”
“I’ll take full blame, Luna. I swear! He will be furious if he finds out you have a gun for any reason.”
She sighed. “This is a bad idea. But fine. This once.”
“Thank you.”
She gave me a flaccid smile.
“What?” I questioned. “What are you thinking?”
She turned away from me. “It hurts you,” she murmured.
I took a step closer to her. “Luna, look at me,” I pleaded softly.
She turned back around, and I could see she was crying. Her face was so innocent when she was sad. It hurt to look at her.
“It hurts you—when you kill.”
I couldn’t respond. It was like the air was stolen from my lungs.
Her voice fell to a whisper. “It hurts me too.”
Chapter Seven
“I am going to tell you something you may find confusing,” she started. “The Sevren is threatened by a very strong enemy. It’s an organization of people who are against our beliefs. They have been around since the 20s, and we have been fighting them for our rights to do what we do.”
“Who are they?”
“They call themselves The Silver Wing.”
“The Silver Wing,” I echoed quietly. “Led by whom?”
“That’s the thing I was truly terrified of telling you.”
“Luna, what are you talking about?”
“James, we have to get out.”
“What?”
“We have to leave.” Her voice had fallen to a whisper.
“We can’t…” I broke off. “Luna, we can’t…leave.”
“Yes,” she spat. “Yes—we can, James, and we must. We just can’t let Abraham know.”
“How can we keep something like that a secret?”
“You know it’s wrong,” she said. “I can se
e it in your face, James. I can see the way it haunts you.”
“I’m being sent away to find Daniel’s family.”
“I know. I’ll help you, but we need to find the leader of The Silver Wing, and hopefully, he can help us.”
“Who is he?”
“You have met him before, James.”
“Have I?” My voice swelled with sarcasm.
“You have. Be ready to talk to him, James. Prepare to tell him of your mistakes.”
“My mi… What?”
“Your mistakes,” she repeated.
My head spun, and everything started piecing itself together.
I was forced to leave him to protect him.
“Luna…”
She wouldn’t say anything more.
“My God,” I whispered. “Walter!”
“I know about The Sevren,” I said to him.
“How?”
“It’s a long story. Tell me why they are here, why you haven’t stopped them.”
“Oh, we tried,” he grumbled, turning away from me and staring at a painting on the wall of a horse running through grass.
“What do you mean?”
“We established a treaty. It was a long time ago. Apparently, it meant nothing to them.”
“Did you actually expect them to agree to a treaty, Walter?”
“Oh, well, they did”—he chuckled—“for a while anyway.”
Summers' Shadow (Hunters Trilogy Book 2) Page 5
