Chapter three
For the better part of an hour, there was a silence in the air that was deafening. I couldn’t get over the fact that he still held a torch for Gemini. He might’ve not believed it himself, but his inability to kill her was very telling in my book. I’m sure that he knew that I wasn’t happy, but we had bigger things to worry about than my hurt feelings.
“I hope you know that that was an anomaly back there. If it came down to saving your life or letting another die, then I would allow that other person to perish. I need you to know that Gemini has always had that effect on me. I can’t help it and I’ve tried to get that Acton off my back.” An Acton was a monkey like creature with eight legs. “It continues to hang on and I don’t know what to do about it. I thought that I was over it, but seeing her brought back all of those memories. You might think that it was all bad, but for the most part we had the love of the ages.” I had read about what the love of the ages was and apparently it’s when two souls meld together from the moment that they see each other from a distance.
To me, it was love at first sight, but apparently they had another name for it. It was that emotional and physical connection that every person was looking for, but rarely ever found.
“I know what you mean, Braden. It still doesn’t make me feel good about any of this. I thought we had something special, so you can imagine my surprise when I see you hesitating. It makes me think that we’re not, as connected as I thought we were.” It kinda gave my heart a tug, but I still felt these insane feelings that wouldn’t go away. It didn’t matter what he did or what he didn’t do. I may not like what he did, but I was going to have to let it go. It wasn’t going to be easy and the one thing I have in common with most women is a long memory.
“I just don’t know what you want me to do to prove to you that I have no interest in going back to Gemini. Did you know that that’s not even her real name? When she got involved with Lord Vadam, he decided to call her that, because she was his rising star. I don’t know how she doesn’t see the writing on the castle. It’s not like he has been trying to hide his true intentions. If anything, he has been nothing but honest with her from the very beginning. I’ve seen it firsthand and he has this weird way of pulling a woman’s eyes into his own. Once he does that, he singles them out and makes them his new pet project. This is not the first time that he has used others and it won’t be the last.”
“That might very well be, Braden, but that still doesn’t explain your reaction. You claim to be over her, but everything that I have seen is to the contrary. You say one thing and you do another. I’m just not sure what I can believe in anymore. I still love you and I don’t think that will ever change, but you’re going to have to do something about your feelings for her. The best way for you to deal with it is to confront it head on. You need to admit to yourself that you still love her, or you don’t. I know that I probably shouldn’t be pulling at that thread, but I feel it’s my obligation to at least make you see what you haven’t been able to.” If he really did love Gemini, I would let him go. It wasn’t because I wanted to, but it was because I would feel like a second thought. I would be the consolation prize, where I wanted to be first place.
“Shana, I’ll take your words of wisdom under advisement. I really don’t see anything being there. She burned that out of me a long time ago. I might still think of her fondly, but it’s only the memories of the woman that I lost that I still think about. It’s not this conniving piece of work. I thought there was a chance for me to save her. I believe now that his claws are dug in, so deep that there’s no way for me to extract them. I don’t want to admit it, but I’ve never had the chance to grieve my relationship. I went straight to denial and I’ve lived there ever since. This is the first time that I’ve seen that final nail drive into the coffin.”
I knew all about the ritual of death and the coffin was the only thing that we had in common. They apparently set their dead on some kind of wooden raft. They would then send it out into the ocean never to be seen from again. There was no fiery end and wherever the coffin would end up, it would be up to the person that found it to do something about it. They really did believe that the east and the west were the only colonies. I was not under the same sentiment. To me, there was a big possibility that others had surveyed the north and the south. It would only stand to reason that somebody occupied that space. What would they think when they saw dead bodies floating towards their shore. Would they really bury them, or would they sink them in the ocean, so that they would not bother anybody else? I suppose it was all a matter of perception.
“Braden, it’s nice to see you finally taking off the blinders. Had I known that she was not dead, I might’ve been able to save you all of this heartache. I would’ve sat you down and made you look at the relationship. I think that we could’ve gotten here a lot sooner, had you not decided that it was better off that I didn’t know.” I’m not sure that he would’ve killed her, but at least he would be over the biggest hurdle that was in his way to move on. I always thought each time that we were together that something was a little off and I thought that he was still harboring old ghosts, not having any an idea that his wife was amongst the living.
“I guess it took an unbiased person to make me see what I didn’t want to see” I saw his eyes well up with emotion and this was the first time that he had ever let those feelings go. He had never grieved for the relationship and it was time for him to finally close that chapter in his life.
“I have no idea how we’re going to find this Offus. As the day progresses, it will be easier. It was bad enough for the first one and I think that I got lucky.” To me, there is no such thing as luck. There is fate and destiny and each one holds your future in the palm of their hand. There is no foolishness of deciding your own fate. It has already been written. It was just a matter of what your decisions were. If you strayed and went on to a different path, it would always bring you back to the one that you were supposed to be on. You had to know how to follow your heart.
“Braden, all we can do is use our instincts and hope for the best. Between the two of us, I’m sure that we can catch one. It’s just a matter of how long it’s going to take. As day becomes night, the Offus will come out more readily. That’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good that we’ll be able to catch one quicker, but it’s bad that everybody else will be able to do the same thing. It would be in our best interest to finish this.” I knew that Gemini was still out there. Would she continually try to kill me and if so, then I was going to have to have eyes in the back of my head.
“Shana, I don’t think you have to worry about Gemini. Now that she knows that you are a part of my life, I doubt that she’ll be able to act upon Lord Vadam’s request. That in itself is going to cost her dearly. I don’t exactly know what her punishment will be, but I believe that it has something do with branding.” I’d heard of such practices in my own time and my own world, but it was barbaric. It made you feel like you were a possession. I soon found out that branding was not exactly the same thing here, as it was on my world. Branding here was a tattoo artist that could use his own fingernails to burn an infinite symbol into your skin. It is said that he only acts on the behalf of Lord Vadam. Others may request his services, but they are left shaking their head in disbelief that he would want to have any part of the Black castle. I guess he was more into who was winning than what was right.
“If she does go through with the branding, does that not make her part of his stable?”
“You’d think so, but for the most part it’s his way of letting the person know, whether it be man or woman that she has or he has done themselves a disservice. This is his way of making an example, so that others that follow will not make the same mistake.” I felt sort of bad that she was going to have to go through with something like that. Underneath, I was also secretly pleased that she was going to feel immeasurable pain for quite some time.
“I wouldn’t want to wish that on my worst enemy, Braden.” It was then that I saw something quick and this time it was in the blink of an eye. I only had one arrow and if I fired it now, it would probably be a useless endeavor. I needed to make sure that this was going to find its target. I’m not sure how many Braden had, but since he had already killed his Offus, it meant that he could not use whatever arrows he had left to help me. He could stay with me and there were no rules to state that he had to return to Lord Vadam upon vanquishing the Offus. It was a good thing that most of the rules were subject to interpretation and could be taken in so many ways.
“I think I just saw one, Braden. Do you think that you could flush him this way? I want to get my arrow in the crosshairs of his eyes.” I wasn’t even sure that I could kill any living creature, but if it was necessary to stand strong with the love of my life, then I would surely do it.