Ian kept to the shadows, watching for the cause of his agony. The rival who touched what he loved, as his late father so eloquently put it. The rival who dared touch his Love, his Sara, his Moon. He again shook his head in anguish and frustration at the image inside Sara's apartment moments earlier, of Sara making love to him.
As he waited, his thoughts wandered to earlier, to the previous conversation he had with father at the mansion.
Once again, he had found himself dressed in one of father's suits, as if he knew father would appreciate seeing his son in something other than black. As he sat in the great chair in front of the grand fireplace, Ian gazed to the glass which held father's severed hand as he angrily thought of the poor choice Sara made in becoming involved with, as father had put it, an angel's nightmare. Nature's contradiction.
As expected, the spirit of his father appeared. Ian saw him out of the corner of his eye, standing in the middle of the steps that led up to the library.
"Do you know who he is, this…rival who touches what you love?" the spirit asked Ian.
Ian bitterly replied, "He is my enemy." That was all Ian was concerned about. No matter how father described him, that…rival managed to win Sara over.
His father continued, "It seems that, despite himself, he is falling in love."
Kenneth Irons appeared to instantly move about the grand living room as he theorized where this may lead.
"She may change him, she may redeem him, and theirs could prove to be an eternal love."
Kenneth was on the stairs again and motioned to the painting behind him, of Venus and Adonis, painted eons ago by Vecellio Tiziano, as if any emphasis on the subject was necessary. Ian had been educated all too well, when his father was alive, on history and mythology. He knew of the myth of Venus and Adonis. That Venus had seen Adonis from afar, loved him, and decided he should be hers.
Ian's love for Sara was eternal as well. Why could Sara not see that? Why did she so easily succumb to this abomination's charms?
His father continued, "You must prevent it. Their attraction is intense, authentic, contrary to our purposes."
Ian gazed at his father's severed hand in the glass as his father's spirit explained all. Although a part of him already knew, Ian asked, "What do I do, father?"
His father suggested, "Something spectacular. Something violent. Something that will shame and reveal him. Something final."
Before long, that which Ian sought emerged. That which took Ian's love from him, even if only temporarily. That which believed Sara was meant to be with, Daniel Germaine. Ian had only to wait for the right moment.
That moment arrived when Daniel turned around to gaze back up to Sara in the window. Quickly, Ian came from behind, sword drawn. Swiftly, it went across Daniel's throat. Daniel clutched his neck and dropped to the ground.
Ian glanced up to Sara with one thought on his mind, 'Forgive me, Sara.' All his past training from his father helped him to hide his emotions from Sara in that instant. He knew what he had done would not put him in a good light in Sara's eyes, but it had to be. Because it was violent, as his father ordered, and final. And, although Sara did not realize it, yet, it would reveal Daniel for what he truly was. Hopefully, in a few hours, when Sara discovered the truth, that this man could, would derail death, she would come to realize she was better off without him.
END