Legion of Loch Ness

Chapter Thirteen

               Penelope Winstrom woke up with a start. She thought she heard something crashing in the house. She was relieved to see her husband Michael was still asleep. She decided to see for herself what had caused the loud crash. As she was putting on her robe, she laughed at the irony. Never in her former life would she have thought she would be in this position. Living in the suburbs of Chicago, raising two precious children, and sharing this life with the most noble man she had met.

           She paused at her bedroom door to look at Michael one more time. For someone so young, Michael had accomplished an unimaginable amount of success. He had graduated at the top of his class from his business school in California. Every company he had backed and supported had reached unprecedented heights. At the beginning of their relationship, when she had realized she liked him, she had thought that she would need to help him out. However, his own brilliant mind had been enough for him to become one of the biggest, most successful entrepreneurs in the country. They had married only a few weeks after their first date.

         That had been Penelope's plan. She had wasted no time after their marriage in going to the orphanage and adopting Jason. Michael had had reservations at first. He didn't know if he was ready to be a father so soon. There was also the fact that they were a young black couple, and Jason was blonde and blue-eyed. As soon as he had met young Jason he had taken to him. Before they knew it, the three of them had become the closest, happiest family in town. A few years later they had been overjoyed when they had become pregnant and had Marissa to add to their family. Now Jason was almost graduating from High School, and Michael had handed over the day-to-day management of his corporation to Jason. Michael had started taking a more active interest in social issues, mainly trying to create a more equal world for everyone.

        Penelope had believed she was content with life for the first time in her existence. The anger fits and fury had sometimes managed to override her joy. She had been careful to slake that fury. Unfortunately, as time had passed, she had steadily been losing control over the anger. She knew she was in a precarious position now because of that loss of control that night. She walked out to the corridor and briefly paused in front of the enormous gilded gold-framed mirror.

         She stepped back and admired her reflection. She smiled at her reflection. Of all the forms she had taken, this was her favorite. She was tall, measuring up to almost six feet. Her dark skin glowed with a natural healthy glow. People could never guess her age and often mistook her to be Jason's friend instead of his mother. Her hair was so long it brushed against her hips as she walked. Her eyes were huge, light caramel.

          Marissa was going to look exactly like her when she grew up. Penelope giggled at the thought. No matter which form she was in at the time, her children were always born identical to her looks. The thought of her children made her sad. Two had suffered such tragic fates. She would make sure nothing happened to Jason and Marissa. She walked into Marissa's room and saw that she was asleep. Penelope blew a kiss at her from the door. Next, she went to Jason's room. Jason's light was on, and he was hunched over his desk. As she got closer, she saw he had fallen asleep while working. She walked up to him and moved his hair away from his face gently. My precious boy, she thought as she took a moment to study his face. Of all her children, he was the most precious to her, but also the one she worried about the most. She had watched him his whole life. She had fallen apart when she had witnessed some of the abuse her son had suffered in his initial years in foster care. He was five by the time she had married Michael and adopted him. She hoped she hadn't been too late by then. She had found him the best therapists and had done everything in her power to give him stability and love. Nothing was more precious to her than his happiness. Everything had gone well until that fateful night a few months ago. Her precious Jason had been in an accident. She would never forgive the people responsible for it.