Chapter 21

The Luminary watched the town move about during its daily business. He watched as women carried pails of milk, men carried wood from the woods and even watched one man as he walked with a herd of sheep to the other side of the woods from where he stood. It was wrong, how they were living. Did they not realize how unnatural their lives were? The Luminary shuddered slightly as he saw the man he was looking for walking with a man that looked ancient.

“It is unnatural how old and feeble they allow their citizens to get.” He muttered to himself but he heard those with him murmuring their agreements.

“How can they give anything to society,” Peter spoke up from behind the Luminary. The Luminary turned his eyes towards the other man glaring at him. His words had not been an open invitation for others to speak.

“Go and get that man,” he said pointing to Kevin, “Tell him to expect my arrival in the morning.” When Peter headed into the town he turned back to the others that traveled with him. “Prepare my tent,” he ordered annoyed that no one had thought to do it already. He would never admit it, but he missed Howie who always anticipated his needs.

*~*

“Shit,” Kevin muttered when he saw the man walking towards him from the woods. He knew that The Luminary was near and this man was his messenger. “Where’s Howie?” Kevin asked snidely as the other man stopped in front of him.

“I have a message from The Luminary,” the man spoke ignoring Kevin’s request about Howie.

“He’s in the woods and will be coming to visit at first light to make sure that I have not raised an army to attack him…” Kevin spoke with spite in his voice. Leave it to The Luminary not to trust him that he would not raise arms against him but to check up on him.

“He is looking for three… lost souls,” the man worded carefully. “They wandered outside and The Luminary has felt it is his duty to bring them back to Endwise to ensure they are healthy and so they can take their places back in our society where they belong.”

“And if I tell you that I haven’t seen anyone who looks like they could be from Endwise save yourself in the last few weeks?”

The other man shrugged and smirked at Kevin. “The Luminary will want to check things out for himself, you understand right?”

Kevin continued to glare at the man as he turned and walked back towards the woods from which he came. Tomorrow he would have to stand face to face with The Luminary again and hopefully he could convince him he’d never seen Nick, Emma and AJ. The town’s welfare and the lives of the three who escaped depended on it.

*~*

It was the middle of the night when Kevin came into their rooms to wake them. “Come with me,” he whispered to Nick as he shook AJ still attempting to rouse him.

“What’s going on,” Nick asked as Emma wandered into their room. She was fully dressed and had a bag slung over her arm. “Are you kicking us out?” Nick feared that they might do this. They had all been so nice, it couldn’t last.

“Only for a day or so,” Kevin said as he finally managed to wake AJ. When he looked up and noticed Nick giving him a confused face he continued. “Well, you are all here and awake so I might as well tell you. The Luminary is coming into town tomorrow to speak with me. He is checking up on me to make sure we are not raising arms and that I’m not hiding you.”

Emma moved closer and put her hand on Nick’s shoulder. “What will he do?”

“If he finds you here he will drag you back to your deaths and obliterate the town.” Kevin replied grimly.

Emma and Kevin left the room to give Nick and AJ time to get dressed and get their things together. “This is bullshit,” AJ muttered. “Are we going to go into hiding anytime The Luminary decides to have a visit? What if he just shows up before we have a chance to hide, what then?” What little clothing they had they were backing into their bags Kevin had given them. Despite the rush, AJ took his time to fold his clothes neatly and place them into his bag. He didn’t want to deal with wrinkled clothing.

Nick was packed and standing at the door way waiting for AJ to finish. “Done yet?” he asked as AJ zipped his backpack closed. Of course he was done or he wouldn’t be closing the bag. He pulled a knitted cap he had bartered for the day before over his thinning hair and did his best to smile at the man he still felt anger over Emma towards.

“Let’s go,” He muttered and pushed passed Nick and out the door.

The group walked quietly through the town. They took paths they had not seen before, alleyways and streets that had obscured views of the woods. Emma knew it was because at any moment The Luminary could be watching the town for this exact thing to happen.

When they were inside the woods and walking deeper in Emma risked talking. “How can you still hide us knowing that our presence could be the end of the town?”

“The Luminary is looking for any reason to take down this town. It is a constant reminder that he does not have control over everything. He also believes that we live unnaturally letting everyone age and die of old age. “

It was dark but Emma thought she could see heartache on Kevin’s face. “What happens if he does attack?”

Several minutes of silence passed before Kevin spoke again. “He will get more than he bargained for.” Kevin muttered in response.

They reached a building that looked to be built into the ground. “Here,” Kevin motioned as he found the opening and pushed aside the vines so the three could enter. “Here is a bag of food. Use your blankets and each other to keep warm. No fires.” Kevin warned. The three crawled in and nodded in response though they were all sure Kevin could not see them nodding. Their eyes had adjusted to the low level of light but it was still hard to see anything.

The sun was beginning to rise in the sky by the time Kevin made it back to the town. He hoped that he was able to get the three hidden well enough away from The Luminary. He returned to his house where Kristin had breakfast waiting for him.

Neither one of them spoke as they ate. It wasn’t long before Kevin could hear The Luminary bellowing for him to come out. He stood solemnly and made his way outside kissing his wife and rubbing her belly that held their unborn child before making his way outside.

“There you are brother,” The Luminary shouted when he saw Kevin approaching.

Kevin’s dark brows furrowed as he noticed there were two armed guards with Brian. He did not anticipate this ending well.

“We made a deal, why have you come?” Kevin asked.

“You know very well that random checks would be made to ensure you were keeping your end of the bargain.” The Luminary smiled at him.

“Yet, I cannot check to make sure you are living by the same agreement.”

“You and your little town are still here aren’t you?” The Luminary’s voice was curt.

Kevin was silent, he didn’t want to respond. They stood staring at each other for a few moments before Kevin spoke to the shorter man.

“Tell me why you are here then.”

“Simple. There are three fugitives from Endwise. They need to be returned so they can serve their sentence.”

“Their crime?” Kevin asked knowing full well their only crime was leaving the city to begin with but he wanted to know what Brian was telling himself in order to sleep at night.

“It’s Endwise business.” Brian’s grin was wide and looked friendly, but Kevin knew the darkness inside. When he first became free of Endwise he often wondered what had turned him into such a cold man. Growing up, Brian had always been friendly. He liked to goof around. He even helped some of the people of Endwise. Kevin had hopes that maybe Brian would change the way of the city, but then something happened and his friendliness turned into darkness that he could never understand.

“Of course, but I have not seen anyone come this way. Our town grows only in numbers from births.” Kevin lied hoping he could convince the younger, yet powerful man.

“I hope you don’t mind if we take a stroll around your town and find out for ourselves? Maybe ask around.”

Kevin knew this would be coming. The town knew not to say anything, but Brian could appear friendly and children did not know any better. He hoped that their parents would be able to watch them all carefully. “Of course not.” Kevin smiled warmly at his half brother and motioned for Brian to enter into the village further.

Brian moved through the town with his guard and looked where he wanted. He opened doors to private homes and strolled through; he questioned people he saw in the town. Sampled the food and avoided the elderly. When night started to fall Brian politely knocked, the first time he’d knocked all day, on the door to Kevin’s home.

“Well brother, you spoke the truth. I have not found, or heard of the outlaws here. I will leave you in peace.” He put his hand out and waited for Kevin to take it.

Kevin clasped his hand in Brian’s and shook it. “Always good to see you,” He said through his teeth with a fake smile plastered on his face.

“Likewise.” Brian left the house and motioned for his guards to follow him back to their camp. “We will watch from the outside for a few days to make sure,” He told the two men who nodded in agreement. Brian knew something was going on in that town and he wanted to find out.

*~*

Emma, Nick and AJ sat huddled in the hut. Nick and Emma held each other tightly. AJ tried not to let it bother him. The girl he’d met the other night was willing enough and she pleased him, but he couldn’t help but wonder what Emma would be like in bed. AJ was starting to get hungry and his bones were aching. He dug around for the food in his bag to find out that it had been crushed under Nick’s foot.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He screamed as he held up the bag of food.

“Shh,” Emma hissed.

“I’m sorry man,” Nick apologized.

AJ shook his head and crammed the broken food into his mouth. Dark was falling and the cold was seeping into the house. Nick pulled Emma closer leaving AJ across the hut alone and cold. He did not want to ‘cuddle’ with Nick for warmth.

When the two kissed he had had enough. He stood quickly and stormed out of the hut. He couldn’t stand seeing Nick with her. It was driving him crazy. He wanted to take care of it once and for all. He racked his brain as he stormed away from the hut, the others did not follow, figured. A plan dawned on him and he smiled wickedly. “That’ll teach them.” He muttered as he headed around the town to the other side of the woods.