The Selfless Gene

Chapter 33

The thud of the tarmac shakes Thame awake. The last few days activity had sucked the life out of him and he'd passed out almost the minute he sat down on the flight. Jet lag was imminent with it being 8pm and him feeling refreshed. Seven days in Florida and Thame's itching to get to the next on the list. He picks up his luggage and heads to the trains back into the city. Turning on his phone, a text makes him pause.

HAVE TRANSFERRED YOU SOME CASH FOR YOUR TRIP. I KNOW I SHOULDN'T HAVE. HERE IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, MY LORD. ANNA.

Thame sighs and accepts that he'll have to bring the full force of Ormr out at The Order's next get together as they'll be hard to shake off. Still, the pause allows him to think. It's Isabella's wedding weekend. Thame toys with the idea of giving one last shot to stopping the wedding. After all, the facility wasn't going anywhere. Emptying his head of conscious thought, he takes a deep breath and waits for his body to move either way. Ormr takes charge and guides him to the car hire desk; to Norfolk and the wedding.

He knew the location from Andrea's Instagram and set his course there. Not in a rush, Thame stops off for dinner at a service station and books his hotel online. Three nights seemed excessive but he didn't know what he needed to do. He takes a Premier Inn a reasonable distance from the venue near a service station so that he could have a quiet approach. The last thing he wants is for another party guest to spot him. Ramping up the radio volume in the car, Thame's singing keeps his mind on the road and the music, and away from the overriding knowledge that was anchoring his actions: she's going to hate it but she must know the truth.

After checking in, Thame goes to his room and meditates. He'd been so non-stop, this was the first time he'd really stopped and allowed his mind to wander. He tries to focus on Isabella, on their relationship when they were good, but he can't stay on it for long. He connects with Ormr and tries to explore a memory, but it's as if a door has closed and he can't access it. In each of the places he goes, he's aware of the smashed mask of Mbozi looking out at him, pinned together by the knife. But try as he might, he can't see it head on, only feel its presence.

It wasn't murder, I had no choice.

You turned up with no other plan, stop pretending.

It was me or him. They'd already tried once.

There's always another way. That's the difference between you and Lohikaarme.

Thame wanted Ormr to talk back at him, to take some of the responsibility off of him. But he was silent: this was Thame's battle to fight. The mask was waiting for Thame to admit his guilt. It danced in his mind, wanting truth. It was a mental audience of a million, all baying for blood, locking him to one thought. The adrenalin made him shake, the shock made him sick. But when he came to it, Thame felt no remorse.

Enough!

He spins wildly and catches the mask in his grasp. Thame pins it against an invisible wall, to darkness.

I'm not sorry. I'm not going to pretend to be meek and lost because I took a human life. You made your choice to fight me to the death without so much as a thought. I had no way out of the situation. Those that choose to fight, choose the consequences.

Get out of my head!

Thame screams at the mask and crushes it with his hand. It turns to dust, floating away, fading into the black.

Waking from his meditation, Thame realises he's been fully asleep for five hours. It's still early and the sun hadn't yet risen, but he feels refreshed, his body correcting itself for the timezone. He showers, and as the sun peeps out of the moon's grandeur, he begins to research the locations online. Andrea's Instagram Stories were most useful, tagging the venue. It was a big grainery conversion with an old tall mill tower attached and a set of cottages down a lane for guests. The complex was made famous by the larger than average mill tower which stood freely from the rest.