Oblivions Doorstep

Chapter 26

Hunter pushed past Marine One towards the canopy of the trees. Every part of him was on full alert as he entered the dark hole. His feet crunched under the sandy soil. There was a terrible loneliness that surrounded him; it was like he had ventured into the lair of a fearsome predator. Somehow, he could feel his brother's anguish. The years had been long for him too, never getting close to anyone else. His wife Irina had been fiction, but he did not remember it that way. He could see her face as clearly as any other memory. Hunter stopped the waves lapping at the shore and made a repetitive noise. He stood there, transfixed. Then, as if going into some state of hypnosis, the clouds in his mind dissipated. His own subconscious conjured up pleasant thoughts of a middle American home, shattering them. His own dreaming combined with the drug had created a mental delusion to fall back on. Now what Comrade had told him became clear about what happened. He had left Irina because of his mission. She had tried to tell him something before he left, but the work had to come first. There was a look about her face in that darkened apartment. Then Hunter remembered that she had held her hand over her stomach. Somehow, he had put that out of his mind. Shit, he thought she was pregnant and didn't tell him. It was like a lightning bolt had struck him; he had repressed that in the heat of the moment. The loneliness he felt just moments ago was now magnified tenfold since he had left behind a happier life, one away from all this. Hunter breathed deep, and a lump swelled up in his throat. The sensation was like nothing he had experienced before. His whole life, all that he remembered, was a lie. The wife he never had and the grief at her loss was all fiction. He felt disgusted with himself and tried to repress the guilt, but Irina's face remained there, plastered in front of his mind's eye. Hunter shook his head. Hunter had to make up for past mistakes now. He was being led to this dreadful conclusion; he realized that now. Something else tugged at him, another memory forcing its way to the surface Something analytical, technical...it was just out of reach. A screech owl bellowed and brought him back to the present. It was important, whatever it was, but he had to keep going.

He moved on as the light faded, creating unfamiliar shadows and dark patches around him. Squirrel eyes glimmered from tree hollows. The wind wailed between distorted trunks, carrying the sickly stink of wood rot. He moved faster, ignoring the briars that caught at his jeans, the damp leaves that grimed his skin. Ahead, there were lights that appeared as intermittent spots through the foliage. The sea breeze had a fresh saltiness that stirred his wakefulness. It sounded like a dancing cavalcade of long dead old ghosts roused from the spirit world to join him. A slow procession that kept their distance. Watching to see if he would fall prey to the legacy of doom on Cumberland island.

With each step, anxiety grew inside him, part fear, the other regret. The will of his brother held a magnetism all its own; he recalled that from growing up. He had always had to be the best and first in everything. The only thing Hunter could outdo him in was in strategic thought. Armstrong always resented him for that. Theirs was an impending showdown that had been in the making for a long time. Now that he recalled their relationship, more pieces fell into place. The night before, the last conversation around the fireplace played in his head.

"You are looking old," said Armstrong as he sipped his brandy. Hunter averted his gaze to the fireplace and watched the flames twirl around the logs.

"You have nothing to say to me after all these years?" said Armstrong

"And what do you want to hear? I'm sorry you know I am and have repeated that many times. It has been a long time for both of us. I did as you asked and stayed away," said Hunter. Armstrong studied him, holding his drink up close to his face, peering over the rim of the glass. Hunter shifted in his seat.

"Why am I here?" asked Hunter

"I want to know your position."

"On what?"