| Chapter 9 "Where?" Kevin asked. "Think about it," Nick said, "Back to where everything started. He's going back to that damn trail where he first met Tara." Howie looked at Kevin, "I think he's right. It makes sense now." Kira came back from in the kitchen holding a glass. She held it in front of Nick, "Here, drink this. It'll make you feel better." Nick tried to sit up, but got dizzy and laid back down. Kevin and Howie slowly helped him up, letting him lean on them until his head stopped spinning. Nick took the glass and smelled of the liquid inside, "God, that smells awful. What's in it?" Kira smiled, "It's best that you don't know." Nick looked at her for a second, then took a drink. It didn't taste as bad as it smelled, it was close though. He managed to drink about half the glass before handing it back to her. "I can't drink anymore," Nick said, holding his head in his hands. "Come on Nicky, we'll take you upstairs so you can sleep the rest of it off," Kevin said. Howie and Kevin each took an arm over their shoulder and helped Nick up the stairs and into the bedroom. "Never again Kev," Nick said, "I'm never drinking again." Kevin laughed as he helped Nick into the bed. "I'll remind you of that the next time I see you with a beer," he said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian was back in the wheat field. It was night and he had a torch in his hand. He started walking, not knowing why he kept coming back here. There was nothing left for him here, so why did his dreams keep pulling him back? "I know you're here," he said, looking around, "So why don't you just come out and tell me what you brought me here for." Tracy and Gideon appeared next to Brian, Jade was standing in front of him. Brian looked from one to the other, "OK, tell me what it is you brought me here for." "Brian, we didn't bring you here," Tracy said. "Yeah right, how else am I suppose to get here if you guys didn't do it?" Brian said. "Brian, we know that you're angry, and it's fine to feel that, but we have to warn you. If you keep going the way you are, people you love will get hurt," Jade said. Brian stared at her for a long time, "What do you mean?" "Brian, don't shut God out of your life," Gideon said. Brian turned, swinging the torch close to the other man's face, "That wasn't an answer." Tracy put her hand on Brian's shoulder, "Brian, the choices you make right now will not only affect you, they will affect the others too." "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Brian asked. "Brian please, we're trying to help you," Jade said. "Did it ever occur to you that I don't want your help?!" Brian yelled, backing away from them. "Brian, don't do this. You don't know what you're facing," Tracy said. Brian glared at her, "Well it can't be any worse than what I'm looking at now. A life alone, when I should be spending it with her!" "Brian, wait," Jade said. Brian turned and walked away from them. He knew they wouldn't follow him. When he reached the edge of the field he turned around and stared out over the wheat. Then he dropped the torch and watched as the flames spread. It wasn't until the entire field was engulfed in flames, did he turn and leave, knowing he would never come back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne rushed to answer the phone before it woke the baby. "Hello," she said, out of breath. "Lee, it's Kev. Did I catch you at a bad time?" Kevin asked. "No, but Tara's asleep so I was trying to get the phone before it woke her up," Leighanne answered. "Oh, how is she?" Kevin asked. Leighanne smiled, "She's the angel she's named for." Kevin smiled to himself. "Kev, is something wrong. I know you didn't just call to see how we're doing," Leighanne said, knowing that worried sound in Kevin's voice. "I wish I had, but yeah something happened," he said. Leighanne started to get panicked, "What?" "Lee, Brian left. We think he went back to the place that he and Tara first met," Kevin said. "Why would he do that?" Leighanne asked. "That's not all, it's how he did it. Lee, he deliberately got Nick drunk, then gave him sleeping pills, and left him in the house passed out. He called me from the car to tell me to go check on him," Kevin said. Leighanne was in total shock. "Is Nick OK?" she asked. "Yeah. He was out for almost an entire day. He woke up a few hours ago, but he was still pretty hung over," Kevin replied. "What are you doing to find Brian?" Leighanne asked. "Howie's on the phone trying to find the right number for the game service out there. Brian never told us exactly what happened, so we aren't sure what trail he actually was on when he met her," Kevin said, "That's why I'm calling. Did he ever tell you anything about it?" Leighanne thought back, "All I can remember is that he was in a cave." "Well, that helps. How many caves can there be on those trails anyway?" Kevin said. The baby started crying. "Kev, I've gotta go," Leighanne said. "Yeah, I hear," he said. "Let me know what you guys find out," Leighanne said. "I will, give Tara a kiss for us," Kevin said. "OK, bye," Leighanne said and hung up the phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian woke with a start. He looked around, seeing the sun just coming over the horizon. He sat up and rubbed his face, forcing the image of the burning field from his mind. He opened the car door and stepped out. It was a cool morning and his breath danced on the air for a moment before disappearing. Brian reached in the car and pulled his coat out, putting it on. He then went about the task of packing all of the supplies into the pack. When he was sure he'd gotten everything, he shut the car doors and locked it, placing the keys inside one of the pockets on his pack. He swung the pack over his shoulders and started down the trail. He had his map out looking it over. Tara had marked exactly where he should make camp, and he knew how far he needed to walk that day. As he walked his mind went back, replaying his life with Tara. Every memory was like a knife in his heart. He hadn't realized that he was crying until he could no longer see the trail in front of him for the tears. He stopped and wiped his face, looking around. There in the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something white in the woods. He stood still and focused, seeing the wolf from the night before. It was looking at him. Brian wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know if the thing was stalking him, or had buddies that were ready to pounce on him at any moment. He knew better than to run, there was no way he could out run something with four legs. He decided to confront it. Brian stepped away from the tree he was standing next to and walked towards the animal. "I know you're following me," he said. The wolfs ears perked up when Brian spoke, and it looked nervous. Brian stopped and stared at it, it almost looked like it was embarrassed that it had been caught. He took one more step towards the wolf, and it turned and ran into the woods. Brian tried to track it with his eyes, but lost it. He stood there for a few minutes, looking. When he was satisfied that the wolf was gone, he turned and headed down the trial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin, Howie, Kristin and Kira were sitting in the kitchen, eating lunch when Nick walked in. "Hey, how you feeling?" Kristin asked. "Better, is there any aspirin?" Nick asked. Howie got up as Nick sat down at the table, he walked over to the counter searching for the aspirin. Brian's anti-depressants were sitting next to the bottle of aspirin. "Guys, Bri left his medicine," Howie said. Kevin and Nick looked at each other, worry in both their faces. Howie came back to the table handing Nick the pills he asked for. Kira got up and got Nick a glass of water. "Thanks," Nick said, taking the pills. "Did you guys have any luck finding where he went?" Nick asked. "I got in touch with the game warden, he said that the trails are closed for the winter, so if Brian's out there, they'll find him," Howie said. "How are they gonna do that?" Nick asked. "They'll find his car at the trail head, then hike out until they catch up with him," Kevin said. "And there's nothing else we can do?" Nick asked. "No, except wait to hear something," Kristin said. "Nick do you want something to eat?" Kira asked. "No, God no," Nick said, shaking his head. The others laughed at him. Nick looked up, hurt in his eyes, "Guys, how could he do that to me?" Kevin looked at him, "I don't know. He's not himself right now, that's all I can figure." "Yeah Nick, don't take it to heart. The Brian that did that to you, isn't the Brian we know," Howie said. Nick looked down at the table, his head in his hands, "Then who is he?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian walked the rest of the day, with no more sightings of the wolf. He made camp just before sunset and was sitting in front of the fire, eating. He looked around, the forest looked different than he remembered. It seemed empty, void of life. He finished eating and set his plate down on the ground. He then pulled a picture out of his pocket, staring at it. It was a photo of Tara sitting on the couch at his house. She looked so happy, her green eyes piercing through his soul. "I hope this was the right thing to do. Tara, I'm so lost without you. Please help me find my way," Brian whispered. He looked at the picture for several minutes, then put it away. He then added more wood to the fire, and settled into his sleeping bag. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he thought he heard the cry of a lone wolf howling. Brian listened for a few minutes, hearing nothing. Guess my mind is playing tricks with me, he thought, as sleep overtook him. Chapter 10 |