The Eye of the Knife

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Unexpected Changes

 

I left Christian to rest shortly after he decided to drop his hidden bombshell on me. I had no idea that he was of Hunter blood. Then again the signs were right in front of my face, I just didn't connect the dots. I knew that he wanted me to stay, but I just couldn't look him in the eye after my guilt trip, only to find out that it was unnecessary.

Instead I went to find Tim. And find him I did, in the only room men his age went to after a long stress filled day; the bar. The facility I had brought Christian to had everything you could imagine. From a hospital wing, where he is now, to an indoor/outdoor swimming pool. You name it, this place probably has it. The Community Center as we all call it, was built as a place for us of the Hunter community to come and just hang out with friends after a long day of work. Its basically a gathering place that is only for my people.

Tim sat on a leather bar-stool with a drink of Scotch in his hands. I could tell from the way his expression sat on his face that he had already had a few before the one he was currently holding. He was looking at the brown liquid as if he was debating to take the whole thing at once, or to just let it sit on the wooden table longer. After a second of hesitation, he put the rim of the glass to his lips and threw it back, grimacing as the alcohol burned his throat.

"Tim." I said as I sat next to him. He placed the glass back on the table and signaled for another one. I heard the breath leave his lips as he sighed, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. He nodded as a sign that he heard me and knew I was next to him.

"Tim, you don't need any more of those things." I stated as the bartender sat yet another glass half filled with the brown poison. Tim wrapped one hand around it protectively, as if I was going to take it away from him the moment he left it unattended. He knew me better than that, that I would do nothing of the sort.

He shrugged off my comment and wiped off the forming condensation on the bottom of the glass with his thumb. I sighed and ordered my own poison, I did deserve it after all. While I waited, and watched the bartender mix up the drink I though about the conversation with Christian that I had earlier.

The blond bartender handed be a drink and flashed me a flirty smile, one that I didn't return. He walked away, looking a little frazzled at the fact that I didn't return his smile. I looked down at the light blue cocktail and grimaced. I don't know why I bought it, let alone what made me want to try to drink it. I'm not a big drinker, and if I do drink then it is usually the strong stuff that gets your buzzed on the first round. If I was drinking, you better believe it was to forget about the world around me.

 "What are you doing Tim?" I asked as he sipped his drink. He let the liquid slide down his throat with ease, after having some already in his system.

"Sitting at the bar Mon, can't you see that? I was trying to be alone, but your never one to let that happen."

I glanced over at the fifty some old man, the man that had been my Dad's best friend, and the man that I looked up to for most of my childhood. Back then he used to be just as strong as my father was, taking down tens of thousands of demons a week.

But now as I look at him, I can see how years of wear and tear had done to his body. He looked older than he really was, and more broken than I had ever seen him. Wrinkles shown everywhere on his pale leathery skin, and the sagging of the rest of him was just a saddening sight.

I shook my head at his comment. "I meant what are you doing here? This is a complete 180 of how you acted in the room."

His gruff laughter filled the small space. "I acted that way so maybe you wouldn't see what I have become. That and your little friend was listening the whole time."

His word hit where it counted. "What do you mean 'what you have become'? I asked choosing to ignore the part about Christian listening in on our conversation. I didn't want to think about the possibility that he heard me confess my love for him. I wasn't ready to face it myself, let alone someone else to make me face it.

 He looked at me a second my question had been asked, just when I was starting to think that it had fallen on dead ears. "The man I was when you were little, that's not who I am now. Of course people change, but not as drastically as I have. Not usually anyways.

"After your father died, you weren't the only on who was affected. I know you never viewed it that way." He said after I started to protest. "I knew that you knew it affected me just as much as you. But what neither of us expected was for me to become an alcoholic, who lost his family, house, honor, respect, and dignity all because he couldn't learn to put the bottle down."

He huffed and took yet another swig, leaving only half of what was poured in the glass. I stayed silent, mainly because I didn't know what to say. The second hero in my life just confessed that he was a drunk, and had no plans of stopping soon. It felt like everything I had ever known was upturned with in a few hours.

I wanted to cry, but at the same time it would be a fruitless reaction. Crying doesn't solve anything, only makes you feel a bit better for the time being. So instead I was going to suck it up and deal with what was happening in my so called life. First things first, talking to Tim.

I faced him at the moment of my decision and spoke what was on my mind. "You know what? I don't  care what you turned out to be. That was your decision, and yes it was a shitty one, but nonetheless its something you have to live with. But who your are now doesn't change who you are at heart. You are still the hero I know you to be when I was four years old.

"You may be old and reek like stale beer, but you are still that same person and I believe in you. I know you could change, if you really wanted to, you just have to want to change. But also you have to realize that this." I motioned at his whole being. "This is a part of you that you half to live with for the rest of your life."

I couldn't look at him any longer, watching him sit and dwell on his own sadness. I couldn't watch him drink his life away and not wanting to change a thing, to be perfectly happy after loosing everything that meant something to him. I needed to get away and just think about what my next decision and step should be.

With what I had to say being said, I got up, tossed a few dollar bills on the table, then left the room. I need to talk to Christian, and find out who his father was. Maybe then it could help me piece together which demon was the one who took my father's life.

I could feel the hatred and wanting of revenge fill the blood that pumped through my veins. It was something that could go horribly wrong, and a mix of emotions you should not let fuel you, but at this moment I didn't care.

Being back within the community walls made everything I saw remind me of my father. The grief came back, also with the need for revenge. Seeing his pictures up on the Wall of Fame as I walked back to Christian's room made my heart sink with sadness. His smile was one of the things that I missed most about him; it always seemed to light up the room.

 I walked the rest of the way to Christian's room thinking about my father and reminiscing about old memories. Like the way he used to hold me when I was having a bad day, or how he would make me smiley face pancakes on the first day of school. Or how I got the news when I was ten, the news that changed my life. From then on till I was eighteen, Tim took care of me, and he's right, he isn't who he used to be.

I made it to Christian's room and found him fast asleep, a nurse buzzing around him checking all the machines he was hooked up to. I didn't notice all that he was hooked up to before, and how I didn't notice that is beyond me.

 I looked at his sleeping form, and knew that I had it bad for him. Just seeing him laying there looking so peaceful made my heart skip a beat. I listened to the heart monitor as it beeped in sync with his heart. It was the only indication that he was still alive, which made me happier than anything at that moment. Just knowing he was alive and well made a smile spread across my face.

I loved him.

I truly loved him.