by Ammar Habib
Ethan was paralyzed with horror as he looked upon the beast.
“There’s only me and you, Ethan…for all of eternity.”
“No!” Ethan suddenly lunged at the beast.
In an instant, Ethan was sitting up in his bed. His naked torso was completely covered in sweat and his sheets were drenched. His eyes darted around the dark bedroom. His heavy breathing quickly went in and out of his lungs as he tried to gain control of it. He could still see Daken’s true face freshly painted in his mind. His cruel smile, his sadistic laughter, his malicious features.
Getting his breathing under control, he looked at his bedside clock. It was nearly two in the morning. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat with his face buried in his hands. That nightmare had seemed too real. Had it really been just his imagination, or had Daken found a way to haunt his dreams?
It could be not possible. Nobody could take a person’s soul and put it in a different body, no matter what technology they had. It was unheard of. The soul could not simply be pulled out. And if by some demonic way Daken had done something like that, Ethan would have known if it had happened to him. He would have been able to sense that something was off.
Shaking his head, Ethan looked back up at the clock. There was no a chance of going back to sleep right now. He could go take a shower to wash off the sweat and freshen up, but he was in no mood to go through that right now. Not after the vision.
Looking back at his bedside table, he saw a green diary sitting next to the lamp. Over the course of the last few months, he had filled the pages up with his past. The things he had done, the places he had gone to, and the people he had met. Every single detail imaginable was locked away in that notebook. From the very beginning to that fateful, stormy night he kissed Katrina on that rooftop. One day, he would give it to Katrina and she could tear down some of the unspoken walls that stood between them.
He took a few more deep breaths to calm himself as he stared at the journal. After thinking about if for a few seconds, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.
***
After several rings, Katrina answered her cell phone, letting out a long yawn. “…Ethan?”
“Hey.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry to wake you.”
Katrina looked over at her clock. It was barely past two in the morning. But she knew if Ethan was calling her at this hour, then something was wrong whether or not he would admit it. “It’s okay…are you having trouble sleeping again?”
“A little bit.”
“Bad dreams?”
“Really bad dreams.”
Rolling back onto her backside, she looked up at the ceiling as she rubbed her eyes. “About your travels again?”
“…Yes.”
“Do you want me to keep you company?”
“If you’re not too sleepy.”
With her free hand, Katrina slowly twirled around the end of one of the long strands of her hair. “No, I’m up now.”
“Thanks.”
“Well what do you want to talk about?”
“Something nice.” There was another quick silence. “You want to hear a story?”
Her eyes widened upon hearing this. “A new one?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it good?”
“The best one yet. It’s a love story.”
Her sweet smile came upon her face and showed in her words. “You can’t go wrong with that. What’s it called?”
He thought for a quick second. “Dreams.”
“Sounds perfect. Tell it to me.”
Hours passed. Sleep left both of them as they talked throughout the last hours of the night. For this night, nothing else existed in the world except them. They only returned to the world when the sun’s soft light spilled in through the windows.
But if Ethan knew what would happen this day, he would have never hung up the phone.
***
Sitting at his desk in the central police station, Victor heard Anthony’s voice come out of the phone. “Is everything set?”
Victor looked over to make sure that his door was shut. “The police will be bringing William in tonight. I’ll question him to see what he knows and who else he’s told. Then I’ll let some of the cops he’s ticked off have some time alone with him. Accidents do happen…even in the police station.”
“And Ethan?”
“We have our men tailing him.”
“And they know the plan?”
“To follow him until he’s alone with the girl. Kill her. Leave him alive.”
“But barely.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How good are these men?”
“The best trackers I know. They’re good at staying hidden.”
“Do they understand who they’re up against?”
“I told them that Ethan is a highly skilled fighter. They believe that we’re tracking him because he has valuable information against us. They don’t know anything else.” Victor paused for a second. “Sir, don’t you think it would be a good idea if we alerted the entire police force and city as to who Ethan really is? We could turn him into the most wanted fugitive in the nation.”
“No. It would be self-defeating. Ethan Daniels and his family have done so much for the city, that if the people realized that he was the masked vigilante, he would become only more popular.”
“I understand, sir. But I don’t think my men will be able to take him down.”
“The girl being there with him will be a distraction, giving your men the advantage.” Anthony waited a bit before going on. “It’s a shame, really, to kill such a pretty girl. But sometimes these things have to be done. Let me know when you bring in the reporter.”
“Yes, sir. Do you think Ethan will come for him?”
“No. He’ll be too busy weeping over Katrina’s corpse.”
***
“Ethan, tell us another story.”
Sitting on the light brown carpeted floor of the children’s playroom, he glanced over at the young faces surrounding him. Along the walls of the massive square room were numerous baskets full of toys. From cars, to dolls, to board games, to actions figures, to balls, every toy imaginable was in the room.
All of the young girls surrounding Ethan were under the age of twelve. They were of different races, religions, and backgrounds, but they had something in common—one thing that united them together in an everlasting sisterhood: they had no one left in the world to look after them. If it wasn’t for the orphanage, they would out on the street.
But today, that was not the case. Today was a bright day. Each child had clothes that fit, full bellies, and smiling faces. As Ethan sat with his legs outstretched in front of him, a few of the smaller children sat on his lap. Another little girl sat right next to him with her head leaning against his shoulder.
“Alright, let me think. How about the story about the boy waking up in a castle?”
One of the girls quickly replied. “You told us that one last time! We want a new one!”
He lightly laughed, “Alright, alright.”
He looked down at the four-year-old girl who was leaning on his shoulder. She anxiously looked up at him with her beautiful, blue eyes. Her blonde hair was tied back into two pigtails as she sucked the thumb in her mouth. She wore a pretty blue and white dress. Smiling down at her for a few seconds, he finally looked back up at the other children.
“Have I told you all the story about the five friends who are superheroes?”
The children shouted in unison. “Yes!”
Ethan slightly chuckled. “Okay, one sec.” He looked up at the ceiling as he continued to act like he forgot which stories he had told the girls. After several seconds, his gaze came back onto the group of anxious girls. “How about the story called Star Galaxy?”
The children exchanged glances as they shook their heads. They quieted, except for a few murmurs. After several seconds of exchanging glances, they looked back
at Ethan.
Ethan hesitated when he saw the woman standing silently in the doorway. Marion looked at him for several seconds and then gave him a genuine smile. She sent a reaffirming nod his way before leaving the room. He glanced back at the children. “So do you all want to hear that one?”
There were cheers from the children.
***
The sun was at its peak when the freshly washed, red Ferrari car pulled up in front of Katrina’s manor. Turning off the ignition, Ethan stayed seated with his hand on the wheel for a long time. The whole way here, he had kept thinking of the nightmare from last night.
Was there any truth to it? That question had haunted Ethan all day, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it or push it away from his mind. Was Daken really from another world? Was he really coming back into Ethan’s life when things were finally looking so good? Just when Ethan had finally learned how to live. Was he nothing more than a clone of the real Ethan, nothing more than a genetic copy of the person he had believed himself to be?
As he stepped out of his vehicle, he pulled out his cell phone which had begun to ring. Seeing who was calling, he quickly answered it. He made sure that none of his worries were in his voice. “Hey, dad.”
“Hi, Ethan. Are you nervous?”
He closed the door, but stayed next to it. “A little.”
“You didn’t forget the ring, did you?”
Ethan felt the pocket of his tight, brown leather jacket. “It’s here. I just checked.”
“Good. The day I took your mother out to propose to her I forgot it.”
Ethan lightly chuckled. “I know. That’s why I double-checked before leaving.”
Brett laughed. “Call me after she says ‘yes’. I want to give you two my blessings.”
Slowly, Ethan began to head up the walkway towards the front door. “Of course. Grandpa Boris actually just called me this morning and told me to do the same thing.”
“You can never have too many blessings.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
He was halfway to her door now. “Yeah. Anyways, dad, we’re still on for tomorrow night, right?”
“Should be.”
“I can’t wait.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
Ethan stopped right outside the front door. “Well, here we go.”
***
It was truly a day to remember.
Ethan and Katrina explored as much of downtown as possible. They stopped at nearly every single vendor they walked by, attracted by the mouthwatering aromas. They had gone into more stores than they cared to count.
It was the first time in years that either of them took a tour of downtown Crown City on the top of a Double Decker bus. Ethan had completely forgotten how much fun he used to have on them with David. The one-hour tour was always too short. The whole time, the two of them were pointing out every single thing that caught their attention and using their cameras to try and capture the scene. Everyone else on the bus must have thought they were acting like little kids.
Every so often, Ethan would feel the pocket of his brown leather jacket just to make sure the jewelry box was still there. The whole day, in the back of his mind he could feel the suspense building. Just the thought of having to fall on one knee and pull out the ring caused his heart to tremble.
Now the two of them carelessly walked through the park. It was dark, and the moon had replaced the sun. At the park’s entrance, Ivan was waiting in the black BMW for them. Ethan had assured Katrina that he had a secret spot from which to view the fireworks. After their walk, the bodyguard was going to drive them there under Ethan’s direction.
While Ethan’s attire more or less blended in with the night, Katrina’s long red coat stood out. Wearing an orange scarf, she let her long hair hang freely today. Ethan gloved hands were buried in the pockets of his leather jacket, while Katrina was wearing mittens.
The two of them silently walked through the park, keeping their eyes out in front of them. To every side of the park enormous skyscrapers stood watchful over the city. Many of their windows were still fully illuminated as people went on with their lives. The park itself was hardly occupied, except for the ancient trees that were everywhere. The sidewalks had been cleared off of any snow, but the grass was covered in it.
Numerous benches rested on the side of the walkways. Most of them were free, except for a few that had one or two people on it. There were a few officers on horseback that could be seen slowly making their nightly patrols of the park. The two continued to meander across the pathway as Ethan finally turned to Katrina. “You sure you’re not hungry?”
“Trust me, I won’t be hungry for a week.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
There were a few moments of silence. “Were you visiting one of the orphanages today?”
“The one near the northwest district.”
“Oh, that’s the one where Christy lives, right? The little blonde girl who always gives me hugs.”
“That’s the one.”
“She’s so adorable.”
“She was wearing the dress you bought for her.”
“Really? How’d she look in it?”
“Like an angel. I took a picture. She’s started talking a lot more too. She asked about you.”
As she replied, Katrina gently pushed his shoulder. “No way!? Are you serious?”
He affirmatively nodded and she let out a joyful laugh.
Still smiling, he looked down at his wristwatch. “Well we’d better hurry or we’ll miss the fireworks.”
She slightly tilted her head to the side. “Are you going to tell me where this secret spot of yours is?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I did. But trust me, Katrina, it’ll be the show of your life.”
“I have no doubt.”
She wrapped her arm around his as they turned to make their way back to the sidewalk. As they started their journey, Ethan saw two men about 200 feet behind them moving towards them. Three more stood where him and Katrina was headed, the same distance away as their other two partners. Ethan had seen these men already twice today. They had tried to stay back in the distance, but he had seen their faces and immediately recognized them. It wasn’t a coincidence that they were here now.
He thought they had lost them a few hours ago, but obviously he was wrong. He had figured that they were street thugs following what they presumed were easy targets, but he was mistaken about that too. These people were trained.
There were two officers on horseback not too far from them. They were intently looking back at the scene and saw the gang approaching the couple. Seeing Ethan look their way, they turned around and galloped away.
He pulled on Katrina’s arm, causing her to stop alongside him. Her eyes widened with terror as she saw the approaching men and the way they were looking at the duo. With the eyes of hunters they slowly approached their target. As fear gripped her heart, she looked over at Ethan as he stared at the oncoming gangsters. Her grip around his arm tightened, just like Naira’s had.
Without looking her way, he softly spoke. “Get Ivan.”
She discreetly pulled the phone out of her pocket and dialed the number while holding it at her side. Once she heard Ivan answer on the other end, she immediately hung up, knowing that he would understand what to do.
“Katrina, stay close to me.”
He unwrapped her arm from his as he continued to stare at the oncoming men. He could see their sinister smiles. Ethan knew why they were here. He knew who they were here to hurt.
And he was not going to let them even lay a finger on her.
The five men stopped about twenty yards from the couple and formed a complete circle around them. One of them, a bald man, spoke in a confident voice as he looked at Katrina. “Hey pretty girl. I’ve been watching you all day.”
Katrina stared at the man not knowing what to say. He could see the horror in her eyes and it only made him more motivated to do what he was here t
o do. But Ethan fearlessly replied, “You’re making a terrible mistake.”
The leader looked at him. “Not as big as the mistake you made to come here tonight. Especially with a girl like that. I didn’t realize she would be this pretty.”
Anger flooded Ethan’s soul.
The thug let out a snicker and his men followed suit. However, their taunting didn’t waver Ethan in the slightest. He had failed once to protect somebody he loved from a brutal gang. He was not about to let that happen again. His hand curled into a tight fist. “Laugh now, but in a minute you’ll be bleeding out in the snow like a dog.”
The leader’s smile immediately disappeared. He looked over his men for a moment before stopping his gaze on the largest thug, a man twice the size of any of the others. “Kick his ass.”
With a roar, the thug was the first one to charge Ethan. Right before he struck, Ethan swung around and smashed his elbow into the thug’s cheekbone. As the man spit out blood, Ethan immediately again struck him in the jaw and followed that by grabbing the thug by his shoulders and slamming his knee into the thug’s stomach. Ethan kicked both of his kneecaps, causing him to bend down as he fell to his knees. With a quick move, Ethan put his hands on either side of the bloody man’s face and snapped his neck with a fluid move.
As the body fell, Ethan snatched the gun out of the dead man’s holster. It a split second, he twirled around and shot dead the remaining three men before they even had a chance to realize what had happened. As each of the deafening rounds was released, Katrina let out a quick shriek as she covered her ears. Right as all of his men’s body’s hit the ground, the leader stared at the barrel of the gun pointed his way now. His hand touched the handgun that hung on his belt, but he knew better than to pull it out. Slowly, he raised his hands above his head and took a small step backwards. “Please, don’t shoot.”
Ethan took a step forward.
“I’ll—I’ll tell you who I work for.”
A slight smile came to Ethan’s face. “I already know that.”