Child of Recklessness (Trials of Strength Book 2) (34 page)

‘
Forget it,’ I whispered. ‘Just shut the door, and
leave.’

But I
couldn’t. I couldn’t tear my gaze away. I reached in and prised the
plank of wood off, revealing a hidden hollow in the wall. There,
nestled in the dark was the small vial I’d taken after my fight
with Hazel. The liquid drug my own father had created; the drug
that altered DNA, and sent you crazy. Or, if you were me, an
experiment, a guinea pig, it was a vial that gave you
impossibilities.

I picked
it out and stared at the translucent liquid it contained. I hadn’t
really mourned my loss of abilities. They’d been helpful, miracles,
but I’d lived most of my life without them that it was easy to fall
back into normality. I was even a little relieved. But I still
feared. I was still terrified of the future, of the doubt that
itched away in my skull. What if the fight wasn’t over? What if I
needed to be the way I was, would the liquid I held return what I’d
lost?

You’ve been betrayed! Athena! Find Athena!

My
father’s desperate ranting flowed through my head and brought with
it the burning headache it always did. Betrayed? Athena? Nothing
made any sense, then again, nothing my father said had. But what if
he was warning me? What if he’d been telling the truth?

‘
Hey,’ Anna chuckled from outside the bathroom, ‘you better be
doing a number one in there.’

I
jumped, as if I’d been doing something guilty. I slipped the vial
back in its hole and covered it in a rush. I swung the mirror shut,
and breathed deeply to quell my thrashing heart. Once I felt
comfortable, I opened the door and smiled, kissed Anna on the
cheek, and let her slip past.

She
didn’t know about the vial, a lie by omission. I didn’t want to
worry her over it. Her sweet perfume hung in the air, and it filled
me with warmth. The dark thoughts that clouded my mind receded, and
I focused on Anna. She was my tether, my link of sanity that kept
paranoia from descending like a hungry vulture. Anna had been right
when she said Richard Bishop was nothing but a liar, a liar who had
used his own son to further his ambitions, even if it cost me my
life. He had obviously cracked at the end, broken over his
impending defeat, and did his best to sow the seeds of fear forever
in my mind.

I
wouldn’t let him affect me, wouldn’t let his influence carry on
even after his death to plague my new life.

I had no
idea how long I’d spent in the bathroom, staring at the vial, but I
was surprised to see the sun setting. I opened the cabin’s front
door, and stepped onto its porch. Leaning against the wooden
railing, I cast my eyes up to the sky. It had started to darken, a
deep blue that was almost black. But the horizon was alight with
fiery colours. I took a deep breath, and stretched my
neck.

This is my life now. Anna, Alex, beautiful skies and a
peaceful, normal life.

I heard
the door behind me open, and Anna slipped her arms around me from
behind. I leant back into her.

‘
Alex asleep?’ I asked.

‘
Out like a light,’ Anna replied against my back.

We stood
there, no longer needing to speak. The two of us together was
perfect; the sky was perfect, the wedding tomorrow would be
perfect. Anna and I were meant to be, had come through so much and
still were stronger than anything.

I
slipped round and faced her. She smiled up at me, and I stooped to
place my lips against hers.

‘
Big day tomorrow,’ I sighed, excitement worming its way around
my stomach, like angry butterflies on crack.

‘
Biggest,’ Anna replied, still staring into my eyes.

‘
The day you become Mrs Bishop,’ I teased.

Anna
laughed and said, ‘I think I might keep my name. I don’t want to
lose it.’

‘
Maybe I’ll take your name?’ I replied.

Anna
started to pull me towards the door.

‘
How about we hyphenate them?’ she said. ‘Anna
Gordon-Bishop.’

‘
Lucas Gordon-Bishop,’ I smiled.

Anna
laughed, and it was decided. I tugged her back into my arms and
kissed her again, more fiercely. Our body’s clasped together like
magnets, and our arms roamed each other hungrily. I broke off to
open the door, and then surprised Anna. I lifted her into my arms
and turned sideways to get through the entry to our
home.

‘
Let’s get to bed, Mrs Gordon-Bishop.’

*

‘
Rise and shine!’ Chris called as he grabbed my shoulders and
shook.

I came
up out of the contented and deep sleep I’d been having and looked
around with squinted eyes. The sun’s rays lit up the room like it
was on fire and my eyes snapped open.

‘
Shit,’ I cursed and flailed as I tried to jump out of bed only
to fall.

Chris’s
face was wrinkled in a wide smile, and I righted myself
quickly.

I have not just slept in on my wedding day. I have not just
slept in on my wedding day.

Anna was
noticeably gone from our room, our simple, uncluttered square
space. The child monitor was on the nightstand, but it had been
turned off.

‘
Did I just sleep in on my wedding day?’ I cried.

‘
No,’ Chris chuckled. ‘It’s only eight in the
morning.’

I
exhaled a long sigh of air and fell back on the bed.

Thank God.

Brian and Chris had spent most of their time back at the
hotel. They’d been monitoring everything: The internet, police,
government officials when they could, all to make sure our lives
had finally, undoubtedly, returned to us. A few days earlier Chris
had informed us that all the crimes we’d been linked with had been
transferred to
New Dawn,
and that Digilock had been seized and cordoned
off. No one seemed to be doing anything there, but my father’s
group had, as far as we could tell, definitely been
dismantled.

The media had run with it for a while.
New Dawn
the anarchist group that had
tried to cause instability. But there were no words on experiments,
no insinuation of anything the group had truly done. It had been
over a month now, and the story was practically dead.

‘
What are you doing running in here like a crazy man!?’ I
gasped.

‘
It’s the big day!’ Chris cheered and grabbed my arms. He tried
to pull me back to my feet, but I resisted by becoming dead
weight.

‘
I won’t make it if you give me a heart attack,’ I
grumbled.

But
butterflies were already taking hold on my stomach, and a wide grin
had taken residence on my face. I pounced onto my feet, surprising
Chris, and grabbed the large, scarred man into a hug.

‘
I’m getting married!’ I cried and let go.

‘
Well you better shower first, bedhead,’ Chris grimaced.
‘Anna’s done and in Alex’s room getting ready. Alex and Brian are
with her, and if you even think about going in there….’

I was
already heading for the bathroom, almost skipping. I couldn’t help
but glance down at the door to Alex’s bedroom along the wall from
ours. The door was closed though and I entered the bathroom. I
twisted the tap and the water blasted from the shower. I waited as
it heat up, but couldn’t seem to keep still. The only word that
could describe the swirl of emotions waging war inside my body
would be euphoria. It didn’t even cross my mind that the vial of
doubt was mere feet away.

The
water warmed, and I showered. Once out, I wrapped a towel around my
waist, and joined Chris outside in the kitchen. He handed me a mug
of coffee, and I gulped it as I ran back to my room.

Alright, take a breath.

I closed
the door, and sat my mug beside the child monitor. My suit lay
sprawled on the bed. It was simple, but elegant. Black everything
apart from the white shirt. We had contemplated me wearing a kilt,
something traditional, but eventually I’d just chosen the trousers.
I hadn’t seen Anna’s dress, but I bristled with
anticipation.

It was
going to be the best day of my life. Completing the formation of
our family, reciting our vows, each imbued with the promise of a
future, a future of them all being together.

‘
You ready?’ Chris’s muffled voice came from behind the
door.

I
checked my dressed self over in the nightstand’s attached mirror. I
nodded, smiled at my reflection, and almost hysterically, I fought
the lump in my throat and happy tears in my eyes.

Come on.

I
checked once more, headed to the door and opened it.

‘
I’m ready,’ I said.

The Future

I stood
in the small clearing behind the cabin. Trees surrounded the area,
shadowing us from the sun, but there was enough brilliant light
that I could almost see every detail. Not in the way I used to,
with heightened senses, but enough to focus my dancing thoughts. We
had kept everything simple. A trail of flattened earth led up to
three white wooden stairs. Once ascended, you stood on a small
white platform, an archway of intricately weaved wood and flowers
towered over your head.

Okay, remember to breath. In, out. In, out. Crap. Give me a
crazy, super strong monster and I’m fine. Standing here, and
I’m-I’m….. In, out. In, out.

I
focused on filling my lungs, but when Brian moved with Alex in his
arms over to the table down from the platform, everything I’d
gathered rushed from my throat. On top of the table was an old CD
player. Brian inserted a disk, and closed the lid before he hit
play.

The
music hit me like a punch to the stomach.

It was soft, melodic and filled the air; The Bridal Chorus
from Wagner’s
Lohengrin.

The
cabin’s back door opened, and Anna and Chris stepped out. I could
feel my mouth collapse as Anna linked her arm through Chris’s, and
they descended the backdoor stairs. Anna glowed in the sunlight.
Her hair was tied up into cascading locks that managed to stay away
from her eyes. Her dress…

Wow…

Her
dress looked like flowing silk, like a milky white sea that rippled
with each step. The dress was adorned with various floral designs
up the side, and when my eyes reached her neck, the area just below
was translucent.

Anna was
a Goddess.

They
reached the bottom of the path and a massive smile clung to Anna’s
face. She hadn’t worn a vail, preferring just to keep it simple.
Chris guided her up the platform, and when they reached the top,
Anna turned and kissed Chris on the cheek. She then moved to face
me.

‘
You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,’ I whispered,
unable to blink.

Instead
of a witty remark, Anna blushed, something I’d never seen her do.
After all our troubles, it was easy to forget that she was a girl,
and I was a boy, a boy who loved the girl.

Chris
took his place below and in the centre of the archway. Instead of
getting a stranger to marry us, Brian had jumped online and
ordained Chris. I hadn’t even thought that possible, but apparently
it was. All the better for us, to be married by someone who meant
the world to us. Someone, who in hindsight, had been more of a
father to me than my real one had been. He nodded to Brian, still
down a ways from the platform and the music stopped.

‘
You guys have come a long way,’ Chis spoke into the silence.
‘The five of us are here today to help join two people who cannot
be broken. Whose bond has only ever strengthened, and who could
both kick my arse.’

We all
laughed. Chris’s speech managed to be both formal and
personal.

‘
But it’s no joke when I say that, you guys are meant to be
together,’ he continued. ‘You both deserve peace and normality to
live your lives and raise your son. I hope you all fill the cabin
with as much warmth and love as my wife and I did.’

Chris’s
eyes misted, and tears gathered. It was a rare occasion that broke
Chris’s tough exterior, and I reached out and squeezed his
arm.

‘
Did we finish writing our vows?’ Chris asked, and we both
nodded.

Anna and
I faced one another, and she smiled encouragingly. My heart
thumped, I licked my lips and begged my mind to remember the words.
I started, and staring into Anna’s eyes, the words flowed
easily.

‘
When I first met you I thought you were an angel,’ I said.
‘You were the angel that protected me in the darkness, the angel
that put up with my whiny, terrified little boy act.’

Anna
chuckled.

‘
But you are. You are an angel, the person who’s had my back no
matter what the situation was; someone compassionate, caring and
strong.

‘
Here, right now, I promise to return those things to you, to
protect you, to be with you, and to care for you through thick and
thin.

‘
Forever.’

Anna
swallowed and lightly brushed her eyes. She steeled herself, and
spoke.