Dark as the Night

45

A/N: Prepare to feel the feels, guys.  This chapter gets a little intense.

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"Very good," James's dad said and patted his son's head with a proud smile. "You'll have this song down in no time."

Frank McKenna had begun teaching James to play guitar a year before, and James was starting to get good at it. He couldn't decide which he liked more: his almost-daily guitar lessons with Dad or his twice-weekly martial arts lessons with Sensei.

James pushed his glasses up from the tip of his nose, where they had a habit of falling while he concentrated, and grinned up at his dad adoringly before turning back toward the guitar in his arms.

Just as he was about to start the song over, there was a loud pounding on the door downstairs. Frank abruptly stood, his jaw set and his eyebrows lowered in severity.

"Stay here, I'll be right back," he told his son and stepped urgently out the door. "Marianne," he called, "did you hear that?" James looked out his window. He could see the front lawn of the town hall below, but not whoever was standing on the front steps.

James's mother's voice answered from downstairs. "Coming!" she called as she rushed to the door. The visitor was still banging, demanding to be admitted. The door opened and Marianne gasped. Curious about all the noise and urgency, James forgot all about his guitar. He crept down the hall and to the stairs that led down to the front entrance of the building.

Frank had joined his wife, and he spoke now, his deep voice cool, displeasure obvious in his tone. "What business do you have here?" A man's voice replied, so low that James could not make out what was said. He kept quiet and strained to hear what the man was saying. It seemed to be... demands of some sort.

"You have the wrong camp," Frank responded curtly. "There is no one here by that name."

The other man finally spoke up, with an air of disbelief and a condescending authority that made anxious tingles slip down James's spine. His parents were the mayors; no one spoke down to them like that. "Maybe he's using a different name? We have a very good reason to believe that he has been living here, possibly for a number of years."

There was a pause and then James heard his mother murmur. "I've never seen this person," she replied calmly and firmly. "And I know everyone in our camp."

"Is that so?" the man replied. "This man is wanted for treason and crimes against the federal government. I have a warrant to arrest not only him, but to apprehend anyone who stands in the way of the law. If you know anything, it would be in your best interest to share that information now and protect yourselves," his voice lowered menacingly but James heard it anyway, "and your son."

Frank used his Angry Voice to reply and James imagined him standing taller, straighter. "Our sons have nothing to do with this. My wife and I are the mayors of this camp, and we are telling you that we do not know this man, and that he is not here. If we receive any information, we will report it immediately. Now please leave our property."

There was another pause, and some whispering between the man and another person. James realized he was holding his breath.

"Then... thank you. If you find anything out, please call me immediately. Here is my card," the voice had suddenly become much softer, and James exhaled in relief.

Suddenly his mother shouted, and there was a struggle. He tried to see what was going on, but it wasn't possible without leaving his hiding spot at the top of the stairs.

The commotion grew, and then Marianne was screaming. "James! Lock your door! Do not come out, do you hear me?? Lock your door and close the curtain. Call Graham-sensei! NOW!" At the same time, his father was yelling at the men to let them go, that they didn't know anything, and that what they were doing was illegal. His parents were dragged outside, and the front door slammed, its sound ringing through the building and in James's ears.

His heart pounded a deafening staccato through his head as he ran to his room. He slammed and locked his door, then looked out the window at the scene below. Some people had been walking by and stopped to see what was going on. When they saw what was happening, they ran over and tried to pull the men, who James now saw were wearing uniforms, off the McKennas. On his side of the glass, James screamed and pleaded for the men to let his parents go.

He pushed his glasses up on his running nose and grabbed the phone from the wall next to his desk to dial the number for the Graham household above the training center. A young girl answered the phone. "Hello?"

James was sobbing and his glasses were getting foggy. He wiped his nose with his sleeve and yelled into the phone. "Mina! Get your dad! Mom and Dad... some people came... they're in trouble... TELL SENSEI TO COME RIGHT NOW!" A thunderous, cracking 'POP!' outside made him drop the phone to run back to the window. One of the men who had stopped to help was on the ground, unmoving, blood pooling around his chest. James slammed his hands over his ears and sobbed when another loud 'POP!' sounded and the second man fell to his knees, holding his bleeding arm. He recognized the two men from the farm. The one laying on the ground had been in charge of keeping the barns clean, and the other worked with the animals, assisting the veterinarian.

James screamed again as his parents were shoved to the ground on their knees, his mother crying, his father still yelling at the bad men. One of them punched Frank in the jaw and spit on him. He lurched over on all fours and the man kicked him a couple times, once to the stomach, then to the side as Frank crumpled. Marianne cried out and tried to crawl to her husband, when the second man raised a gun and shot her in the head.

James's ears rang with the sound of the gunshot. He'd never seen a real gun before, and the resounding bang seemed to meld with his racing, panicked heartbeat, repeating over and over in his head. His forehead throbbed and his chest hurt. His eyes stung and his throat was raw as he screamed and cried, shaking uncontrollably.

But he couldn't turn away.

Through all the noise in James's head, he heard his father wailing his mother's name as he struggled to stand. Another gun shot rang out and blood sprayed from his face. He slumped forward onto the ground. Everything went black as James fell onto his bed, covering his ears with his hands and sobbing.

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A/N: Did your heart break a  little for James in this scene? Let me know in the comments and click the little star to vote if your eyes got a little misty!

-Evie