Gray Skies

Chapter Thirty-Three: Seeking Guidance

Chapter Thirty-Three: Seeking Guidance

                Deniah sat at the table in the tiny kitchen with her brother, his wife and her father. She could sense Gray Skies’ tension and feel the heat of anger coming off his skin as he stood behind her with his arms crossed tightly over his bare, broad chest.  

                Deniah of course felt torn. On one hand this was her brother back! Her brother, not the monster he had become before the accident. He looked like Matthew, he spoke like Matthew and he had a horrible guilt and shame in his brown eyes that made Deniah immensely sad for him.

                But on the other hand she had sworn her life to Gray Skies and he was her world. He had every reason to hate Matthew after what the man had done to his brother and Deniah would not blame him and would not be able to stand in his way should he decide that Matthew deserved to pay for what he had done. She only hoped that payment would not be death because she was not at all sure she could stand by and simply watch that.

                 “Jessica, Mr Bailey—“ Deniah began.

                Fred held up his hand, “Please call me Fred.”

                “Fred,” Deniah amended, forcing a polite smile despite her own nerves and uneasiness over what the near future could hold. “I want to thank you both from the bottom of my heart for rescuing my brother and seeing to my father’s burial.”

                “Of course,” Fred replied politely. “We would not have passed something like that by without doing what we could to help. And truthfully it was my pleasure to help your brother. He seems a good man and my daughter lost her heart to him quite quickly.”

                Gray Skies growled again and Deniah winced. She had never seen Gray Skies seem so precariously on the edge of rage. He had warned her several times that the souls of beasts lived inside of him and that his people were taught from an early age to control those baser instincts that came along with them. Clearly being near to Matthew now was causing Gray Skies to forget those teachings.

                Matthew seemed to find his voice then after having fallen silent the last ten minutes or so and he looked at Gray Skies, “Gray Skies, I do not know what to say about our history other than I am sorry; deeply sorry. I know that that is a small offering after I murdered one of your people—“

                “My brother,” Gray Skies snapped, his voice angry and sharp enough to cut just as deeply as a steel blade. “My younger brother who had yet to truly experience anything in this life. You took his life and you laughed because of it. You deserve death in return.”

                It was hard to tell who gasped louder, Jessica or Deniah. Matthew’s skin took on a green hue as he continued to stare at Gray Skies and Fred glanced worriedly at his daughter.

 Deniah knew not what to say and before she could think of something to ease the tension, Matthew spoke, “You’re right. I do. I don’t sleep and on the rare occasion that I do drift off I am awakened by the horrible nightmares that remind me of what I let whiskey and my father turn me into, what that monster I became was capable of. If you feel that death is the payment I must pay then so be it. Anything to atone for my sins and the wrongs I committed against not only you and your brother but my sister as well. I will only ask that you see that Jessica is taken care of…..”