“I don’t want him to take care of me!”
“Promise me…”
“No!”
“Promise me! Promise me you will call him.”
For a moment Billy didn’t say anything. He only looked at his mother. I looked over at him, hoping beyond hope he would agree to his mother’s dying wish. Billy wiped the tears from his eyes and finally spoke, “I promise.”
I felt a wave of relief course through Salli and I saw her smile again under the mask.
“I love you, Billy.” Salli said.
“I love you, mom.”
With that said, she turned to me. “Thank you, Darrius. I’ll miss you.”
“Godspeed to you, Salli Carnham,” I said, with tears falling from my face. “We’ll see each other again at the edge of the clearing.”
In my thoughts I saw her flash that radiant smile. The smile that I would always remember. The smile that would cheer me up during the darkest of days. The smile that would give me hope when there was none. The smile that I would hold somewhere close to me for all time.
I saw her turn to Billy and mouthed the words, “I love you.”
And then, she left us. With that, I shut off the connection with Billy as he wept. Still holding her other hand I raised my tearing face to the sky and closed my eyes…
********
A week later in my hotel...
“Where the hell have you been, Darrius?” said EJ’s scowling visage floating above the PDA. She was alight with fury.
“I’m sorry, Emily Jane. I’ve been having a hard go of it here.” I was speaking with my face buried in my hands, not looking at her.
I tried to hide the emotions I felt over the last few days from my voice but I wasn’t successful. I was expecting her scowl to deepen and for her to berate me for not doing my job but that didn’t happen. Instead, she looked at me for a few moments and asked, “What’s wrong, Darrius?”
The genuine concern in her voice, one of which I’ve heard only one other time before this, brought my face up to look at her. She was worried about me and I was touched by that. Instead of answering her I asked, “What was your home like, Emily Jane? What was it like living in a world where King Arthur’s justice and mercy still lives on in western civilization?”
She looked confused but she gave it some thought before answering. EJ smiled then, a sweet but sad smile. “It was lovely, Darrius. And glorious. In your New York people would never leave their doors unlocked or they’d have to look over their shoulders while walking through a darkened alley. Not so, on my Earth.”
I nodded.
“People from all over the kingdom would visit Camelot just to see the original Round Table. It sits in the center of Parliament and tourists are allowed to view and touch it when there are no sessions happening. The new throne sits in the northern part of the room so the Pendragus Rex may view the proceedings.” Her smiled brightened. “And Excalibur is sheathed in the center of the table for all to see, protected by a clear glass case, waiting for King Arthur to reclaim it.”
“Do you think he’ll ever come back?” I asked.
She thought about it and then nodded. “Yes, I do.”
A million and one thoughts coursed its way through my mind and I discounted all of them. All of them, but one. The one thing that couldn’t be left unfinished.
“Darrius, please tell me what’s wrong.” Her concern was palpable. It was unlike her.
I steeled myself, resolve having rooted itself deep into my heart. “I will finish what I need to finish and I will be home shortly.”
She looked at me for a moment and said, “The assignment?”
“Yes. And one other thing…”
There was a hint of suspicion in her voice. “What ‘other thing’?”
“Never mind that, I will be finished here soon.”
She was about to say something else but she just nodded a firm confirmation. With nothing more to be said we both signed off.
********
I watched Salli’s funeral procession and burial from several yards off. The gentle snowfall couldn’t keep away the dozens of people who gathered to pay their respects to a friend, a special person in their lives. Billy was there of course, always at the forefront and always receiving the kind words of the people gathered there. Standing beside Billy, also receiving each person’s condolences was a somewhat elderly gentleman in a fine black suit. He looked very dignified, composed, and cut an imposing figure. As the last visitors departed only Billy and the older gentleman were left, looking over the burial mound. I walked over to where they were standing.
Hearing my footfalls on the soft snow, the older man turned to me and smiled politely. I responded in kind. Billy didn’t turn around. He only stared at his mother’s resting place.
“I didn’t see you with the rest of the procession.” He had a deep, controlled and commanding voice. There was the South in his accent.
“Yes,” I replied. “I was caught up in traffic on the way here. My apologies sir…”
“Oh, please.” He reached out his hand to shake and I took it. “I’m Senator Derrick Miller, from South Carolina.”
“It’s an honor and a pleasure, sir. My name is Richard.”
“Please, the honor and pleasure are mine, Richard. And Billy’s too. Thank you for attending.”
I smiled and we both stood there, staring at the headstone in silence. Some time passed before the Senator asked, “How did you know Salli?”
Still looking at the grave I said, “We were old friends, once upon a time. We still are.”
The senator smiled. “She was my niece. We were close once, especially when her parents passed away. But during the last fifteen years or so I wasn’t good to her. I broke off all contact with her when she married Tyler.” He paused. “I didn’t approve of him, you see? I thought she could’ve done better, someone more respectable, someone in a more stable profession. But he was a good man. A better man than me because he never let her down. Not like I did, when I refused to speak to her. I regret what I did very much. I wish I could’ve told her I was proud of her and loved her and that she married a good, decent man.” He lowered his head.
“You still can. It is never too late to do that.”
He picked his head up and looked at me. “Thank you, sir.” Again, a moment of silence.
I asked, “What will happen to Billy?”
“I will square things away here and bring him to South Carolina with me. A boy his age shouldn’t be alone, you understand?”
I nodded in agreement and when I did, it suddenly dawned on me that this was what I’ve been looking for. Derrick Miller was a man in power. A senator, a good man by all measure. This was someone Billy should aspire to be. I gave a nod to the senator and moved in closer to Billy until he looked at me. When he did, I dived deep into his mind and implanted a command meme to follow in his uncle’s footsteps. Billy would be a great man; he would be a leader one day. He would inspire loyalty, truth, and justice amongst those who would call him friend as well as those who would see him elevated to a position of power. This was his destiny. In a span of a second the meme was seeded and would grow as time passed. With the task finished I erased every trace of the time I interacted with him from his mind up to this point.
Billy blinked twice and asked, “Who are you?”
“My name’s Richard. I’m an old friend of your mother’s. She was a lovely woman and I will miss her dearly. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Billy nodded slowly. “Thank you, sir.”
I smiled and nodded in reply. I turned to the senator and he flashed a grateful smile of his own.
“I think we will be going now,” said the senator as he put his arm around Billy’s shoulder to lead him to a waiting car. “What about you, sir? I would gladly give you a ride wherever you need to go.”
“Thank you, but I’ll stay here a little longer and pay
my respects,” I said.
The senator bowed his head and said, “You have my thanks, sir. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
“The pleasure is mine, senator,” I said. Tipping his head one last time, he escorted Billy to the car. I watched both men enter the vehicle, and in a few moments the car drove off.
When they were gone I turned toward Salli’s tombstone and pulled out the bouquet that was hidden in my coat. It held thirteen genuine purple orchids. I knelt and placed it atop the fresh mound of earth. Taking a moment, I slowly ran my fingers across her name - Salli Carnham - etched onto the smooth marble stone.
I said, “Be at peace, Salli. Billy will live a long and happy life, I promise.” I bowed my head. “One day we will meet again, somewhere in time, with the warm sun hitting our faces.”
I was about to get up but I stopped and stared at the bouquet of purple roses for a time. I then reached for one orchid and placed it inside my coat and at last, I walked away. There was one final thing that needed to be done.
********
The door flung open hard enough to startle Anthony Gionnini from the paperwork on his desk. I stood in the hall facing his big office with my hands hidden in my coat pockets. My eyes centered on Gionnini.
He stood up. “Who the fuck…? You. You’re that guy from the supermarket.”
I said nothing.
“What do you want? You come about the Carnham bitch?”
Without a word I began walking toward his desk. As I did so, Gionnini’s eyes grew as he sensed the danger approaching him. At that moment he knew what I was: a lion loosed upon the world that had angered it so. He opened his desk drawer and tried to reach for the gun he kept there. He only got as far as opening the drawer because as he reached in to pick up the gun the drawer slammed shut. Gionnini pulled back his hand and looked at the compartment, then looked at me. I was still walking toward him, taking my time.
He kept trying to open the drawer but there was an invisible force keeping it shut. The next time he looked up I was already on the opposite side of the desk.
“Stop,” I said. My voice resonated within the confines of the room and Gionnini’s mind. His hands suddenly went slack and he stopped at once. When he did as commanded I continued, “Sit down.” His body complied at once. I could feel his mind panicking, trying to fight back my hold on him. His mind was nothing to me.
“Wha, what are you doing to me? Who are you?” asked Gionnini.
I stared down at him. This was the man who had murdered Tyler Carnham. He had murdered many more, most likely. And he had gotten away with it. But worst of all, he had murdered Salli.
“Put your hands on the desk,” I commanded. His hands did so without his permission.
Don’t do this, Darrius. Remember what I told you.
I ignored Bol’s voice. Bol was gone now.
“Please…” Gionnini said. “I’m sorry. Please…” He knew that he was helpless now. Like many of his victims were.
I pulled my hands from out of my pockets. Wearing black gloves I was clenching a gun in my right hand.
“God, don’t!” Beads of sweat were forming and dripping down the sides of his grotesque face. “I only meant to scare the Carnham woman. I…”
“Her name was Salli,” I said. The barest sliver of emotion existed in my voice.
“Yes! Salli, Salli Carnham! It wasn’t my idea. Anthony got out of control and did it on his own…”
“You’re lying.” I brought up the gun and leveled it at his face.
“No, please! Please don’t kill me!”
My breathing was steady. My hand wasn’t shaking and the gun didn’t waver.
Remember what I told you…
I sighted down the gun and aimed it at his forehead.
“Please don’t kill me!” There were tears rolling down his cheeks. I wasn’t listening to him now.
Don't get too close. Don't ever get too close. You'll always fall too far.
“That didn’t stop you,” I replied, and squeezed the trigger.
“No!”
The gun’s sound reverberated throughout the room. I felt the connection break and his mind disappeared in an instant. Anthony “Tony” Gionnini was dead.
I lowered the weapon and looked at Gionnini, but I wasn’t really seeing him.
“That didn’t stop you,” I said again.
I let a couple seconds pass and reached into my coat with my free hand; my other hand was still holding the gun. I pulled out the purple orchid I had taken from Salli’s bouquet, brought it to my nose and smelled it. Taking one last moment I then brought it down to my lips, kissed it once, and placed it on Gionnini’s desk before walking away.
Outside in the hallway was Big Anthony, right where I had left him. I looked up at his ramrod stiff figure frozen in place. My mental hold on him was keeping him there. I looked at the gun in my hand for a moment until I put it back into the holster on his right hip. “I’m returning this to you,” I said. I could see his mouth struggling to move as if to say something but unlike Gionnini I didn’t allow this thug to speak.
“I know he was the one who ordered you to kill Salli. And he has answered for it.”
Big Anthony’s eyes were darting around like a once mighty predator sensing his own end was near.
I continued, “Five minutes after I leave you will drive back to your apartment and have yourself a little party. You will drink a lot, snort the coke you’ve hidden in your room, and enjoy it.” His heart was racing now.
“After that, you will lock yourself inside your bathroom, fill your tub with water, and step in. While inside you will take one of your razor blades and cut both your wrists deep into the arteries and bones. You will allow yourself to bleed out until you die.” And with that, the command meme was implanted into his mind where it would be followed without question and without hesitation.
I saw his body slacken and his eyes take on a glazed over look. I asked, “Do you understand?” The mindless, empty shell of a man nodded. I looked at him once more and then walked out of the hall and out of the building. I was finished here.
********
I stood in front of the portal, its pale blue light reflecting from the alley walls. It was the same alley that I had entered when I stepped into this world.
“Did you leave anyone you cared about behind when you were brought to Central? Someone important?” I asked EJ, her face suspended in the space above the floating PDA.
The scowl returned and I was expecting her to tell me to mind my own business but it softened and her eyes looked past my face and into a memory beyond time and all the worlds. “Remember what you told me, what your old mentor Bol once said?”
Understanding, I nodded. “Yeah.”
She quoted Bol Piles: “We all leave someone behind. That one person you regret leaving and never seeing again. More than your old life, more than your old possessions, more than the comforts of home; it is they whom you love and miss most. And if you could, you would leave all this to spend just one more day with them.”
I flashed a small smile, remembering the day Ol’ Bol said this to me. We were at Azure Field in Central, I was sitting on a boulder on top of a grassy hill while he was skipping stones over the nearby lake. With his back to me he said those words and I was sure he spoke with tears in his eyes. I understood his feelings. Once you take your vows to be a Shifter, you’re never allowed to see or visit your old world again. It is the greatest price I have ever paid. And worst of all, I never got the chance to say goodbye to her.
I nodded and smiled at EJ’s image.
“Is everything all right, Darrius?” she asked.
“Yeah. Thanks, EJ,” I said.
“Of course.”
“You got my report?”
“Yes and I sent it over to the Conclave to review. I think they’ll be pleased with the results.
I nodded. “Good.”
I saw Emily Jane quirk her lips, as if holding back a question. I asked a question of my own. “What is it, EJ?”
“Darrius, what happened over there? Is there anything you haven’t told me? Something that isn’t in the report?”
I looked at her for a moment and then said, “No, EJ.”
She stared at me, her face unreadable. “I understand.”
“Thank you, Emily Jane.” And we both smiled at each other.
“Come home, Darrius.”
I nodded, shut off the PDA and placed it into my coat pocket. Before I stepped into the gateway, I looked back at this place, at this world. It was a world in snow. I said one final goodbye and then stepped into the portal.
THE END
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