The Source: Observer Chronicles, Book 3

Chapter 16: Never a Failure, Always a Lesson

"Thank goodness, I thought the worse for a while. Iʼve put Eve to bed, you had us both worried." The five entered as if the world had already ended. Pressure seemed to have gotten to the warriors' now more than ever.

Their energy sucked from each and every one. No one answered Brenda as she made them a hot cup of tea, something they were a stranger to until now. She placed all the mugs on the table, the teenagers' drooping on their chairs in the kitchen.

"It can't be all that bad, can it?" Yet there was still nothing other than a deep sigh from Lauret. Brenda looked at each of their faces and saw a cold emptiness.

"We failed . . ." whispered Darryl with a croaky voice, "we failed them. Every single soldier that stood and slept in your barn, we failed."

"You know, our world doesnʼt ask so much from children like you, at least in the better parts. And itʼs our Barn. I've told you before, it's your home now too." She replied putting her hand on Darryl's shoulder. "Dear me, youʼre as cold as ice. All of you get along to the sitting room. I have a good fire going on in there, that should warm you all up in no time." They all looked at her as if the cold was the least of their worries.

The teenagers' all walked to the sitting room as Brenda spoke something:

"Never a failure, always a lesson." They all heard but didn't care for what she had to say.

The ticking of the clock in the room with the fire seemed almost as loud as the flames crackling in front of them. They sat moping for most of the day, and when it came to sleep, they didn't manage to get much of that either, including Brenda and Eve.

* * *

Lauret had slept for some time that night, more than all the others. But what she dreamt of was something that had already happened:

"You remind me of her, my wife I mean. She too had black hair as sharp as yours." Bruce looked into Lauret's eyes when he stopped speaking.

"I should go." Lauret got up and walked to the barn door.

"No, please stay," asked Bruce, "I'm not tired."

"I shouldn't, but for a while, it can't do any harm," replied Lauret.

"Thank you. I can't tell you how grateful I am," said the soldier.

She smiled back, "what's on your mind?"

"There are some things in this world people are meant to do. I have no doubt about that, but for a man to be good at killing is questionable, don't you think?" Lauret nodded as he carried on, "I feel dead inside. Numb. And do you know why?"

"Because you lost your family?"

"No, that's just it. It has nothing to do with them. It's because I like killing those bastards out there. I'm not so sure I could stop now even if I tried. It's like I'm turning into one."

"You are not like them, Bruce," yelled Lauret, "you are the farthest thing from it. You have something worth fighting for, unlike the Shadows. They are so much like machines. No thought, obeying their only commands. I can tell you now, you are much more."

"I saw man after man die in my battalion, dropping like the very rain they usually died under. I'm not so sure we can win this, Lauret. They don't stop, and we don't know where they are even coming from."

"We will win this. I promise you that. Even if it costs my life," said Lauret with a confident tone, even though she had no right to know or assume such a thing.

"Don't say such things," replied Bruce feeling one of his bulging arm muscles that he so dwelt on, fearing this was not the strength that would save him, "listen to me, I must be scaring you something silly."