A Memory of Edward.
Caesar sat upon his throne, the Courier stood before him. Caesar was pleased with the woman's efforts so far, she had destroyed whatever weapon House was hiding under the hill in his secret bunker, and had brought the Boomers to fight at his side.
Now it was time for her next task, he was about to order her to take an offer of alliance to the White Glove Society when his headache returned with such ferocity that the light of the day became far too strong for him to bear.
"Fuck this, I'm going to lie down." He had said, the Courier asked him some questions about his health, she had observed him limping, he warned her not to disturb him again, and she wisely took his advice and departed to return to him tomorrow.
He entered his tent and lay upon his bed; he closed his eyes and drifted off to the pain free bliss of sleep.
"Edward!" a woman's voice called, she was familiar and had a strange accent,
Australian… Grace. He thought my Wife vision returned to him, he was amongst an array of people dressed up in costumes, he was at a party. He looked down at himself, he was dressed in the garb of the original Caesar, from what he remembered of his books from the Followers… no not the Followers, from the history books at the School he taught at, form his University days.
Grace came up beside him,
"Come on, Love, Joshua is going to announce the winners of the costume comp." she grinned, he looked at the beauty before him, she was dressed as Cleopatra, she was ravishing, he remembered a few things about her as his mind cleared, a Music Teacher at the same High School that he taught at, they had met when she was on a Student exchange program at the same University and had fallen deeply in love.
"Are you all right, Darl?" she asked with her heavy Australian accent as she slipped her arm into his and held his hand. He smiled at her.
"Yes, dear, I'm fine," he replied, "Just a bit tired." Grace placed her head against his arm, "You were up pretty late last night, were you having those headaches again? Maybe your neck is out again." She wondered aloud.
"I'm sure it's nothing, probably just stress from work." He reassured her. The party noise was quieting down around them as their dear friend, Joshua stood on a chair, and he was clad in bandages, and dressed as an Egyptian Mummy.
"Aaaagghhh!" he mumbled, attempting and failing to sound like the un-dead Pharaoh he was dressed up as, Edwards looked around at the smiling faces, Zombies held beers in their hands, while a Joan of Arc held a martini in hers as she chatted to Napoleon. There were others, dressed as cowboys, spacemen, and fluffy bunnies, dogs and even Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. He'd even spotted the tall hat of Lincoln swanning about with Lucius beneath it quoting "Four Score!" as if it were going out of fashion. He was surrounded by good friends and co-workers at Joshua Graham's annual Halloween party.
"And now to announce the winner of the best dressed… we have a winning couple this year… The Sallows, as Caesar and Cleopatra!" he announced, applauding Edward and Grace. Joshua jumped down from the chair and handed the husband and wife team a small trophy, Joshua always went all out at these things. Joshua gestured for Edward to stand on the chair and make the customary speech.
Edwards stepped up on the chair and looked at the crowd,
"Well, this is an honour… I'd like to thank my beautiful wife…" he faltered, he knew her name, but couldn't remember it, he looked at her and then to Graham. Suddenly he was very angry with Joshua, but he couldn't figure out why,
Traitor. An unwelcome and foreign memory burned in his mind, visions of Joshua being covered in pitch and being set alight before he was pushed into the grand canyon for losing a battle as he watched… it made no sense to Edward,
'Makes sense to me' another thought intruded into his mind.
"Who are you?" Edward asked shocked.
"I am Caesar!" the voice offered
"I… I… yes…that…" he stammered before he blacked out.
"Edward!" he heard the voice of a woman he knew so well, but part of him had no idea who she was and why she would be calling him by that name, a name that had no meaning to him anymore.
Caesar awoke, disoriented, the night had drawn in close and he was not refreshed. He was troubled by the memory of what he had just seen. But it was a dream, surely it was a dream. He sat up on his bed and pressed his hand to the bridge of his nose. The pain had gone. He arose and took a small meal before he moved out to his throne room and spoke with some of his men who were on watch.
He would not return to his bed to sleep that night, he sat upon his throne and thought of the dream, what a strange dream it was, it was as if the bombs had never happened, he was drinking alcohol, he had a wife, and a family, it must have something to do with his condition, the headaches had been getting worse and he was starting to black out more, but this was the first time that he had actually experienced a hallucination so vivid that he remembered it. It disturbed him, it frightened him, and that he would never admit to his men.
The Courier stood before him, he lost track of what was being said, other voices intruded into his thoughts as the edges of his vision blurred.
"Ok, there's a T-Rex with a broken leg in Bed three, two Vikings with their beards caught up in each other's armour in Bed seven and Caesar who's suffered a Seizure in Bed four, who wants what?" The voice was distant but strong.
"Doctor Gannon, I'll take the T-Rex." A woman said,
"I'll fix up the Vikings." A man volunteered.
"Ok, I'll take Caesar then." The first speaker confirmed.
"Ok, let's have a look at what we got here." The voice was clearer now.
Caesar's vision flashed and he was lying upon a bed in a hospital.
A blonde haired man was checking over him, flashing a blinding light into his eyes.
"Pupils are responsive, that's good, welcome back, Mr Sallow. You gave your wife and family quite a scare." Dr Gannon turned aside so that Edward could see his wife, two young women stood beside her, one strikingly familiar, a teenaged boy stood beside the familiar girl… The Courier… the voice of Caesar intruded,
Who is the Courier? No, these are my children, three of my four children. Go away! Leave me alone!" Edward shouted at Caesar within his mind, he felt the presence move to the darkness in the back of his mind.
Grace and their children moved to his bedside, "Love, you gave me such a scare, me and the kids." She gently caressed the face of her husband; the others beside her came up beside him.
"Hey Dad," the elder daughter smiled, "How are you feeling?" she asked placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Head hurts, but I'll be fine, honey." Edward replied, trying to comfort his daughter.
His son came up next, he was quiet, and his eyes were just like his mothers'. Edward smiled at him, "Its ok, Jerry, I'm fine." He soothed.
"Mrs Sallow, there's some forms we need to fill out, we need to get some tests done and then we can release your husband" Dr Gannon said from behind the family group.
"Yes. No worries." Grace said, turning back to Edward. "I'll be back in a minute love." She said to him.
Edward walked out of the hospital hours later, after having blood taken and several other tests done. Grace drove the family home. Halloween decorations still lined many of the houses, while toilet paper and eggs were littering some houses.
"What is this?" Caesar's voice intruded into Edward's thoughts and worries.
"It is our street, decorated for Halloween." Edward replied.
"A game for children to play, you are not a child, you are a man." Caesar prodded.
"It is a part of our lives that we enjoy, mostly with friends and family." Edward offered.
"I'm bloody glad you're ok darl," Grace was speaking to him as she drove, eyes darting between the mirrors and the streets, looking for errant teens still out trick-or treating, or up to mischief after hours.
The car pulled up at a large house, jack-o-lanterns and other decorations adorned their house.
Home. Edward thought.
"Not mine, yours." Caesar intruded. Edward pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose.
"Fuck off!" Edward shouted at the unwanted voice.
Grace helped him out of the car and into the house. She settled him in an armchair in the nicely appointed living room and went to boil the kettle for a cup of tea.
Molly, his eldest came in, bringing his cup of tea, while Grace got the other two teens off to bed, despite their protesting, it was getting late and they had school in the morning.
"You're going to have tomorrow off, Darling." She said, as she picked up a folder of music off the coffee table and placed her cup of tea on it. "I've called Bill and let him know." She sat next to him and snuggled up. She was warm against him. he placed an arm around her shoulder, comforting his wife. He was worried; he had a feeling that things were only going to get worse.