Title – In This Bright Darkness
Summary - Truth. He was not believed, therefore he will not believe. Justice. The wrongs were not accounted for, therefore he will hold himself accountable. Between movies, set in Ireland.
Rating – starting off T and we will become M right around chapter 6 or 7
Comments/Disclaimers – Those of you who have been following Fire Domain knew that this would be coming soon. So first off, I have a fuck-tone of disclaimers to start off with. Primarily is that I do not own anything you recognize from Boondock Saints, nor do I own the song lyrics identified as Muse, IAMX, or Deante. I do however own all OC's: Brandon, Kevin, Sean, Craig, and Cara. Also, a historical tidbit that will explain a lot in later chapters: The name MacManus is from Manus, one of the sons of Cooey "Na Gall" O'Cahan, the last chieften of the O'Cahan Clan (Anglicized as O'Kane) This was the most powerful clan in the area that is now the county of Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The town of Dungiven (not too far south-east of the county capital city of Derry) is home to the tomb of aforementioned chieften. Many parks and monuments in the area are named for this once-mighty clan. This story takes place entirely in and around Dungiven and the Roe (the river that often floods the N/W parts of the town) More disclaimers and relevent historical/folkloric information will come in further chapters. For now, let's enjoy my new WIP.
Oh, I actually tried to write the accents this time. Did you know that Mark Twain was the first author to actually write accents?
1999: Returning to Dungiven
Do you pay for your crimes
Does the punishment fit or drag your style to zero
...
If you think that you're the thrill
Take a look at your life, you kneel before your heroes
IAMX – Kiss and Swallow
The three sat in silence, save the noise of the squeaky, smelly old buss that served as their transportation from the port in Belfast to Dungiven, Londondary, Northern Ireland. This town, or more accurately, this village, was small and homely, but it was where two Irish-Catholic vigilante killers had been raised.
Conner and Murphy MacManus sat together at the very back of the buss, their new-found father sat by himself in the seat directly in front of them.
Conner broke the silence. "How long ya' figure it's been sense we last saw 'er?"
Murphy shrugged. "Not sure. We went over for Christmas three or four years ago."
"Long while then," Conner replied, nodding thoughtfully.
"Aye."
"Twenty five years," the gray-hared old man in front of them piped in. "Yer Da's got ya both beat."
The twins looked at each other, speechless. Neither of them had thought about how much turmoil their father must be in; he was on his way to see the woman he had once loved and had taken away twenty five years ago. Their mother.
"Da, are ya sure ya want ta do this, I mean, what'll ya even say ta each other after all this time?" Murphy searched for reassurance that his father would be alright.
Noah MacManus repeated wistfully, "Twenty five years. Fuck yes I'm sure I want to do this."
Conner sighed heavily. "Well that's that then."
"Ya know, I hate to break yer 'mood' here, but I think we're forgetin' somethin'," Murphy said, "Were all wanted fuckin' felons. Vigilante killers. Is Ma gonna even want us anywhere fuckin' near 'er?"
Conner smirked, "What did I tell ya when we were kids, Murph? Ma doesn't haveta know."
Noah turned around in his seat and glared at his sons. "She won't find out, ya say? I remember her well enough, and ya had better believe me. The woman raised ya, so ya ought ta know, too. She'll know, boys."
As much as they hated to admit it, their father was right. The moment she answered the door for them, she would take one look at them, know what they had done and why they were there, and slam the door right in their faces. Hadn't she told them no fighting? Let alone gunfighting.
Forget mobsters, this woman was going to kill them.
Their fate was sealed when the buss turned onto the main street in the small town of Dungiven and pulled over at the buss stop in front of O'Cahan Park.
"This yer stop?" the driver called back.
None of them replied, they only rose from their seats and made their way to the front, Noah leading the way, followed closely by Conner, then Murphy.
"Thank ya, sir," Murphy said politely as he stepped off the buss and onto the ground of his hometown behind his father and brother.
As the buss speed away, they all took a deep breath.
"Before we go I need ta call Smecker before we all forget," Conner reminded.
"Shit, yer right," Murphy replied, "I would'a forgot, too. We said we'd call 'im as soon as we got here."
"Strange man, that one," Noah said. "Kind hearted but...strange."
Murphy laughed. "I think what yer tryin' ta say is he's queer as a three dollar bill."
Conner laughed along with Murphy and their father rolled his eyes.
As Conner made his way to the payphone, Noah and Murphy lit a couple of much needed cigarettes. It was silent between them for quite some time before Murphy asked Noah, "So did ya actually get divorced or are ya technically..."
"Only mail I ever got," Noah answered simply.
"Ah."
That was the only conversation between them until Conner returned.
"What'd 'e say?" Murphy questioned.
"Said he'd have it set up in a few days. Till then," Conner sighed nervously, "We just gotta hope Ma takes us in."
The town had not changed one bit from what the brothers remembered, and the memories that they thought were long gone led them down the streets of the town they once called home.
As they passed a dirt road just a few blocks from their mother's house, they noticed the one thing that had changed. The lot at the end of the road was empty.
Conner stopped for a moment and looked down the road as if still seeing what used to be there. "They tore the old mansion down, it seems."
"Aye, good riddance," Murphy replied. "The place was fallin' apart. Now c'mon, lets go."
Conner nodded almost like he was distracted by something, then shook his head to clear it and followed Murphy down the road.
The sun was just starting to disappear behind the distant hills when the twins reached the house of their childhood. A mix of excitement and dread pooled in all three of their stomachs.
"What the fuck are we gonna say?" Murphy was obviously starting to panic slightly. "'Hay Ma, were home and we brought Da, what's for dinner?'"
"Maybe we should have called first," Conner thought out loud.
"Look at the two o' ya," their father shot in, "Yer faced with death at the hands of violent criminals, ye'v been shot for fuck's sake-"
"By you," Murphy interrupted.
"That's beside the point! After all o' that, yer afraid o' facin' one woman?"
"Aye," his sons replied in unison.
Noah sighed. "Aye, myself as well, a suppose."
Even from the street in front of the house, laughter and music could be heard coming from inside.
"Aw, that's just fuckin' great!" Murphy exclaimed. "We're crashin' a fuckin' party."
"Look on the bright side," Conner tried to encourage his brother, "Maybe she'll be so drunk she'll treat us like party guests and just hand us a beer."
Through the window whose curtains were pulled back, they caught sight of the woman of whom they were so terrified. A wide smile spread across her face, her red hair was curled neatly, and she held a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
"See," Conner said, "She's drunker than a fish."
"She's happy," Murphy said with a half smile.
"She's as beautiful as the day I first met 'er," Noah said with an awe struck expression.
All three simultaneously took a deep breath. "Alright," Conner said, "Let's go crash a fuckin' party."