Past Truths

by Em Pitts

"Isaake wanted to apologize. He told us what happened earlier today." He cracked his knuckles and looked over my shoulder. "Ollie does what he thinks is best regardless of feelings. He doesn't mean anything by it though." He looked back into my eyes. "Isaake didn't want to lie to Bridget either. Ollie needed him to make a scene so that Judge would back off."

  I remembered seeing the judge in the street as I was leaving. "I don't understand," I replied truthfully. "How was making a scene going to help us?"

  "The judge has some power and a lot of say with the village and some of the parliament members in Salem Town too." He shrugged. "Ollie, well all of us really, are hoping that if it seems like something the both of you want and are happy about, then it doesn't give the judge a chance to try and change it. He seems fixed on you."

  "So, you guys were trying to make it seem real, so no one can question the marriage."

  "Exactly." He nodded. I sighed and dragged myself over to sit on a stool next to him. He had a glass of water in front of him still half full.

  "It's not real, though," I replied wearily.

  "We know that, but -"

  "Do you?" I cut him off. "Because I don't think any of you are thinking about what happens when I leave. I am leaving." I told him sternly.

  He had his hands resting on the counter with his fingers interlocked. "Then we kill you." He said completely calm.

  I jumped off my stool and faced his wide surprised look as I backed away slowly. Understanding dawned on his face and he started laughing. I continued backing away keeping him in my sights.

  "Not really kill you." He barely got out through the chuckles. "I mean," he wiped his eyes and tried to catch his breath before speaking again. "I mean, we pretend something happened to you and that's why you are missing. We PRETEND you died. Or something." He shrugged. "Isaake or Ollie are better with the planning stuff."

  "Thank fuck," I stated. "Because death seems a bit drastic for a first plan." I slowly made my way back towards him and he watched me with humor the whole time. I sat two stools down from him this time and that made him laugh again. "Glad my sense of morality amuses you," I muttered. He shook his head at me and took a drink of the water.

  The laughter died off naturally and the sounds of the night filtered in. I was watching the flame on the candle flicker and debating going on to bed when Raynor's deep voice broke the quiet. "We still haven't heard from John. Isaake has been trying to research and Ollie has been asking around. We haven't forgotten." I warmed inside that he was keeping me in the loop and that the men were still trying to help me.

  "Thanks, Raynor," I told him sincerely. "I’m sorry you got put on apology duty," I added.

  "I don't mind."

  "Why did you come instead of Ollie or Isaake?" I asked curiously.

  He shifted looking a bit uncomfortable and went to cracking his knuckles again. I was surprised some of them were able to be popped again. "The others had something to take care of tonight." He tried for nonchalance and was failing.

  "And you didn't have to help them?" I pushed.

  He released a breath that had me thinking maybe I was pushing too far on something he clearly didn't want to talk about. He watched the flame for a moment longer then looked at me. "Want to get out of here?"

  That sounded like a terrible pickup line, but his eyes said he needed something. I didn't know what it was, but if he needed company and I was the only one here, then who was I to deny him? I grabbed his cup and took a big drank before setting it back down. "Lead the way." I stood up and waited on whatever happened next.

  The air was cool on my face when we stepped back outside. I talked Raynor into using the backdoor so we could have it unlocked for me when I got back. I felt less exposed not having to use the door on the street. It always felt like people were watching and judging everyone's actions here. The moon was full and bright tonight too, so the fewer chances of being watched, the better.

  "So, where too?" I asked. "Secret tunnel shenanigans?" I rubbed my hands together and let loose an evil laugh. It felt good to have someone to let go with and whether he knew it or not, I was making him that person right now.

  Raynor shot me a look like I was crazy. I thought I was funny and that's all that matters. In my defense, it’s not like they told me why they have a secret room with beds and not much else. I could guess it was a zombie apocalypse bunker, but come on! These people don't even have T.V. to know what zombies are.

  "Not tonight," Raynor said as he took off to the left and towards the hill I appeared on days ago. He seemed dismissive of the idea and it had me curious. Were we avoiding the bunker instead? Only one way to find it, I followed.

  "Is that where the guys are busy doing something tonight?" He grunted at my question and glanced back.

  "You know, I can't figure out if it is attractive or annoying that you are curious enough to notice things." He mentioned. I blushed at the weird compliment. Was it a compliment? Stop it, Tessa. It doesn't matter anyway.

  "Where too?" I chirped. Clearing my throat to sound normal I tried again. "Not to your house I presume, that would be such a scandal." I teased.

  Oh my god, I'm flirting. Stop flirting Tessa! He's a 300-year-old dude who doesn't exist anymore. And there was that twinge in my chest. Hello, painful thoughts.

  "Heaven forbid we give the nosey people something else to talk about." He snorted and slowed down to walk beside me. "You know you can't be with someone else now, right?" I raised my brows in disbelief at him and he quickly continued. "Even if it was Nick who said he was going to marry you, he would not so much as flirt with other women. Adultery is a sin that people are not very forgiving for." He cringed as if lost in bad memories.

  "You know someone who was hurt before." I took a guess.

  "I knew a lot of people who were hurt." He shook his head dismissively. "Whippings are public, and a favorite of the current judge's punishments. Before him, I've seen people branded, and with him..." He trailed off. "There's pain for some and death for others. Persecution is not something to be taken lightly."

  I was appalled. I had been warned multiple times of whippings and hangings. There's a popular book about scarlet letters that I was supposed to read in school that went along with what Raynor was saying. I may have skipped the book for the spark notes, but I got the basic gist.

  It had been a week since I arrived here and I had not seen any of these punishments yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time. I feared that I would be the one getting punished because I couldn't conform to the way of thinking around me.

  I was not okay with whipping, hanging, or any other form of penalty based on a person's actions if it did not harm others. I never would be okay with that way of thinking. I knew there were good and bad people based on their actions, but it is their choice on how to be. If they harm someone due to their actions, then I agree to punishment. But that really depended on their actions.

  Crime and punishment are very grey topics in the world and right and wrong shouldn't be left judged by the few and sentenced to the many. But what could I say when I was living in a time when I shouldn't exist, and fear was the main motivator for silence and acceptance?

  "My home," Raynor said randomly after ten minutes or so of silence.

  "What?" I asked rightfully confused.

  "That's where we are going."

  "You just said..." I trailed off unsure how to respond.

  "Behind my house, there's an area where I can train and let off some steam. It's also surrounded so people can't be nosey." He winked at me.

  "Raynor?" I questioned.

  "Yeah?" He asked giving me his attention.

  "You weren't serious about the death thing, right? I'm not being taken to some remote location away from people so you can get rid of the problem? The problem being me." The fucker had the audacity to bust up laughing at my question. "It's a legitimate question!" I spoke loud enough to be heard over him. That made him laugh harder.

  I did not know if his laughter was comfo
rting or worrying. Like an idiot in a horror movie, I followed him anyway.

  Raynor's house was closer than Ollie's. We traveled over a different hill and found his home surrounded by trees. I was surprised to find his house was a large two-story home. I was expecting something smaller like Ollie's, because the larger homes normally had more people. Then I realized I was being presumptuous by thinking all the guys were single. I knew Ollie and Isaake were, but that's it.

  "Are you married?" I blurted out as Raynor walked around the left side of his home towards the back. He stopped and turned towards me.

  "No." He looked confused and was walking back towards me since I had not followed him around the house. He started searching around the front door then continued looking around.

  "Are you looking for someone?" I asked.

  "Who did you see?" He questioned still looking. When I didn't answer him, he looked at me. "Did you ask because you saw someone? Inside or outside?"

  "What? No." I waved my hands as if starting over. "I was asking because of how large your home is." I clarified. "I didn't see anyone."

  He relaxed and went around the house again. This time I followed. "I like the room." He said about the larger home. I left it at that and didn't question him anymore.

  When we got to the back of Raynor's house I was shocked at his training grounds. The space was open, and the moonlight shined bright enough to see clearly the giant playground area. Unlike the one we passed outside of the town square; this training area was full.

  There were six standing slabs of rock that towered over us at about eight feet with holes of varying sizes in random patterns in front of us. I looked further right and saw large boulders further away and a brook running towards the right side of his home about fifty feet away and curving out of sight. There was a large area of flat ground in between the slabs, the boulders, and the brook. Something was visible above the slabs, but I couldn't see it from where we were standing.

  I whistled my appreciation before my brain caught up to ask how the training was going to take place. "What are those for?" I pointed to the slabs in front of us as I went to step further right and see around them to what was hiding behind.

  Raynor chuckled at my awe before answering me. "Ollie made them for me to practice precision." He answered and focused on the slabs. I was curious about what he meant and stopped my observing to give him my attention.

  I was expecting him to try and climb the slabs like a rock wall. Raynor confused me by staying still and staring at the slabs instead. A noise whistled through the air before I could question what he was doing. It was melodic like an instrument I’ve heard before. At first, it was the sound of a single note playing that switched pitch, then more notes joined one after the other as if a band had taken up residence within the slab. He was making music!

  I stood there with my jaw hanging open as I listened to him vary between high fast notes, and low slow notes. He would drag them out or speed them up and it sounded beautiful. Then the notes formed a song that sounded like a long-lost melody, repeating sequences in an even cadence and lulling me closer to the sound. When the notes faltered then stopped, I realized I was grabbing onto Raynor's forearm.

  "Sorry." I dropped my hand. "That was so amazing!" I exclaimed. "I could listen to you play all day," I added with a wide smile. Oh, how I wish he knew some of the songs from my time so he could try them out as well. It would be relaxing to listen to.

  Raynor went to grabbing at his hands as he walked around the slabs. "Ollie likes music." He shrugged his shoulders. "He made me practice until the sound was actually pleasant. You don't want to hear how it sounded when I started." He chuckled.

  I followed him and finally got to see the rest of the training area that was hidden. My eyes lit up on the forms that looked like a military training ground. Dirt was formed and hardened into a diagonal tall ladder held with posts that a person could climb up. There was a solid dirt wall that stood about ten feet tall that was positioned away from the ladder. There were even some logs that were spaced at different intervals placed into the ground so a person could step on them. The brook ran through the stepping log area and continued out of sight again.

  "Holy shit." I breathed. I didn't know if I wanted to try to play on the giant playground of possible injury and death, or run away. There was something about it that was mesmerizing and called to my inner child to try it.

  "Want to play?" Raynor's hand was held out in invitation and I only thought about refusing for two seconds. Once my hand was in his I was excited.

  "If I fall, you'll catch me, right?" I asked as I eyed the giant leaning ladder that I walked towards.

  "Of course. What is Air good for, if not to catch the falling?" He chuckled and turned me towards the logs sticking out of the ground. "But just to be safe, let's start closer to the ground."

  I caught myself pouting as I looked longingly back at the ladder. He was right, I knew it, but that didn't mean I wasn't disappointed. He caught my look and laughed as he helped me onto the first log.

  "You like the dangerous things it seems."

  "I wouldn't know," I replied looking down at the ground between the logs. "I haven't really gotten to try many things. It's always been surviving and trying to fit in and be normal. Once I figured out I wouldn't ever be normal, it was just surviving." I looked up to see Raynor peering at me in understanding. I cleared my throat. "But I'd like to try," I admitted.

  "How about you try to beat me across for now." He stepped over to another log and hopped on. "Then maybe we can work up to the climb."

  "That hardly seems fair. It's my first time and you've been on this thing who knows how many times." I gestured towards the waiting logs.

  "I'll give you a head start." He smiled then started counting at loud.

  I took off. I was able to hop across some of the logs placed close together fairly easily, it was the ones farther apart that tripped me up. I had to go backward when I couldn't figure out a way to make it, then try going forward again. When Raynor got to twenty, he stopped counting and I knew he took off too. I was so close to the finish line I just had to figure out how to get to the next log. If I jumped, I might make it, but I wasn't sure.

  Raynor was right behind me and made a jump that should have been impossible. I widened my eyes then shouted at him for cheating. The bastard laughed. When he made the jump beside me, I didn't bring my arm close to my body quick enough and he caught it, tilting him in the air and hitting the next log wrong. He fell to the ground and right into the brook that flowed through the logs.

  "Shit!" I hopped down. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were jumping so close and..." I trailed off at his laughter. He was soaked but laughing like he was alright. "Are you hurt?" I managed to ask to be sure he was okay. I got a head shake in response.

  "Now," He broke up in laughter and tried again. "Now, who's the cheater?" I kicked at the water and splashed him again.

  "That's for scaring my ass." I huffed. He reached out and grabbed my ankle and pulled me into the brook soaking me as well. "You ass!"

  "That makes us even." He replied and got up giving me a hand.

  "Not even close!" I growled out. "You can go inside and change. I have to wear this all the way back to the tavern. And it's cold." I replied crossing my arms only just realizing I might be showing off more than I want to.

  Raynor's face fell when he understood what I meant. He shook his head. "I'll give you some clothes. It's just to the tavern."

  "I'll be fine," I responded automatically.

  "You're not getting sick because I was being an idiot." He growled out. "You can wear my clothes." I nodded at him grateful and ready to change into something warmer.

  "Think I can go ahead and get those clothes?" I asked as I shivered from a breeze.

  Raynor’s clothes fit better than I expected. With my curvier hips, the waistband of the pants fit fine, and the legs ended at my ankles. However, even with my generous chest, the shirt billowed down to my thig
hs and covered my hands. After rolling the cuffs a few times, I had the closest thing to normal clothes since I had gotten here. It may have only been a week, but that was a week too long without pants.

  I came out of the bedroom upstairs just before Raynor came out of another door to my left. He was dressed in clean breeches without a shirt on. The first thing I noticed was the black burnt swirls on him. His left arm looked like a tattoo, just as Ollie’s did. The glove from his right hand was missing and his hand had red glowing veins, the harshness traveling just past his wrist. The black marks that were like spider cracks interwove throughout the veins as if crawling toward his arm, some darker and thicker than others.

  His hand started flexing and it brought my attention to his face. He caught me gawking and was watching my reaction. Was he uncomfortable from my staring?

  “It’s where we are judged before receiving the gifts. Everyone keeps it covered. They say the marks show your truths. A man doesn’t want his truths displayed. The effort and pain that you go through are what is hidden.” His voice was void of emotion, just stating facts.

  He then lifted his left arm and I admired the two symbols that were surrounded by the spidery black veins that coalesced into a mass on the outer side of his forearm.

  “It’s the results that others care about. The power that you hold.” He sounded dazed for a moment as his brow furrowed looking deeply at his symbols.

  There was more to the story. I didn’t know what I was missing, but there was definitely more. Raynor looked as if he was in a different time as shadows ran through his eyes. Then he blinked and came out of it noticing me.

  “It’s why men are so encouraged to take many wives, to produce much stronger gifted. Everyone wants the strong to be on their side.” He was back to stating facts.

  There were so many questions I had at that moment. What truths could be shown by his burnt hand? Where did he go a moment ago? I didn’t know how to ask though. We seemed like we were getting along just earlier, and I selfishly didn’t want to ruin that by speaking about a sensitive subject.