2. And Tyler Remembered

Tyler remembered when Reid used to bully him. They were both younger then, relishing an innocent boyhood devoid of the Power. The days of their childhood when the Covenant was a delicious family secret, and they were too young to be privy to it. The days when Tyler sat on the swings, wrapped in every known winter article of clothing, watching Caleb and Pogue frolicking about in the snow, and all of their parents had smiled knowingly to one another, knowing that the filial bonds formed between the boys now would be crucial for the Covenant itself when they each grew up. And Reid Garwin had been his sole tormentor.

Reid pushing a frightened Tyler off the swings, Reid telling Tyler he was a 'mummy's boy' who was too weak to climb trees with Caleb and Pogue, Reid who 'accidentally' pushed a surprised Tyler into the swimming pool on a regular basis, Reid who nastily assaulted Tyler with snowballs each winter, Reid who spitefully drenched Tyler's homework with orange juice, leaving a sodden mush of running ink and paper which had once been Tyler's highly commended English essay. Reid glaring at Tyler with his icy blue eyes when Tyler tearfully ran to seek solace in his mother, Reid who filled Tyler's school bag with fresh soil from the Danvers farm, Reid who cruelly announced to the world that Tyler would never ever be his friend.

Reid had been a delinquent then, his mischief and infamy had known no boundaries. Reid had been the worry and consternation of the Garwin family. No ounce of corporal punishment, no mother's stinging slap, no beating or scolding could have stopped Reid. Reid, though young, had already familiarised himself with the lure of alcohol (cheap store-bought Guiness beer), and had been distancing himself from the company of Caleb and Pogue, and had been spending much time with Ipswich's notorious teenage gang, a troublemaking group of louts who stopped at nothing in their passion for vandalism. Reid pulled at the ponytails of little girls, snickering when they screamed in a mixture of anger, embarrassment and pain. But the girls had blushed too, for all the girls were childishly in love with Reid then. And Reid saved all his capacity to hurt for Tyler alone.

Caleb and Pogue were not blind to Tyler's misfortune. After all, Reid's bullying was blatant. But nothing much could have been done. Pogue, always the fun and amiable one, had resolved to turn a blind eye to Tyler and Reid's mutual dislike, as he found it awkward to take sides. Caleb, ever the noble and well-meaning person, had taken it upon himself to gently chide Reid for treating Tyler "a little badder than you treat other people." Reid derived an inexplicable joy from bullying Tyler, and if Tyler suffered from it then . . . that was his problem.

Perhaps the villain deserved some credit, as Tyler, despite his constant sufferings at Reid's hands, learnt to steel himself to Reid's biting words and insults. Tyler learnt to pick himself up, ignore Reid's threats, to defend himself with his fists when Reid hit him, and most importantly, to cleverly avoid his tormentor when Reid was out and looking for trouble. But cultivating this emotional armour to protect himself from Reid wrought a change in Tyler's once care-free and rambunctious character. Tyler withdrew into himself, burying his emotional wounds in a sea of quiet solitude. Tyler drew away from others, speaking less but listening and watching more. Caleb and Pogue became a far-away memory, as Tyler's bleak moods distanced himself from his friends. Tyler suffered alone, in his eternal winter of loneliness and despair and solitude, and Reid would never again touch him in this shell which he had created.

All Reid knew was that Tyler had become dulled to his bullying; Tyler was ever unresponsive to his nasty pranks. This disconcerted Reid slightly but did not stop him. And Tyler's mother would tell other adults what a shy boy he had become, always with that angst-stricken which marred his cute face, and the other adults would provide meaningless words of reassurance, saying that it was probably teenage hormones, not to worry, my son has it too.

Caleb's father, who looked unusually old for his age (and indeed seemed more like Caleb's grandfather) had retired to the dark depths of the Danvers farm, living there as a strange recluse. During that time, the four boys, future heirs of the Covenant, had only begun to be aware of the Power which had dwelled dormant in them during the childhood years. The Power was strange and otherworldly, but it could not be denied that the Power was intoxicating, and all the boys were guilty of using the Power at every whim, Reid the most. Caleb had decided to pay a secret visit to his father, and all the boys had joined him out of sheer curiosity. For truly the whole of Ipswich harboured a desire to know what dark things went on in the defunct Danvers farmhouse. Certainly no one had seen Caleb's intriguing father for years now. And the boys made a clandestine decision to go to the Danvers farmhouse during the darkest hour of the night. They would not get caught, Caleb had said reassuringly, and even if they did, well, their Powers would see them out of it. Reid and Tyler had set aside their differences for this one occasion, for the curiosity which burnt in the boys' minds was overwhelming.

And the boys made their way through the night, each feeling the biting guilt children feel when they are disobedient, when they know that they are doing something wrong. And the farmhouse loomed up ahead, and they could see it bathed in the faintest of moonlights, and each felt his heart thundering away. Tyler, in becoming a withdrawn person, had become more cautious, more observant, more afraid, and perhaps this was why Tyler sensed it first. Danger, yes, but someone was waiting. Waiting. And Tyler's eyes blackened with the Power, though he did not know it, and using his Power, he sought out the person, the sprit, the thing, he knew not what, only that someone was waiting, waiting. And Reid had scoffed at the frightened expressions of the others, and pretended that he was not afraid, and ran towards the farmhouse, blinded with the need to prove that he was brave, that he was strong. At that moment, Tyler saw, with his Power, the person who awaited them, and what that person was going to do to them, and Tyler ran like never before after Reid. Tyler's eyes were blacker than the night itself, and so great was the premonition of death which had been etched in his mind with the Power that he overtook Reid, grabbed and pulled the angry blond boy, and shielded Reid from the gunshot with his very own body.

Tyler only felt pain, only knew pain, and the last remnants of his consciousness told him that he had been shot, he had been shot, he had been shot. Reid, trapped in Tyler arms, was pulled to the ground by Tyler's body weight as Tyler collapsed. Caleb and Pogue were frozen by pure shock, and stayed where they were. And the Danvers farmhouse was bathed in blinding light from the house lamps which had been turned on, and Caleb's old and feeble father had staggered desperately out of the Danvers farmhouse. And then it was over. A mulling confusion of events had occurred, Tyler in his dull haze of pain had dimly perceived many adults round him, Reid's father, Pogue's father, his own daddy, Caleb's tear-stained face had a guilty look on it, Tyler had been shot, shot in the dark by a man named Gorman, Tyler could see Reid with his blurry vision, and wait, was Reid crying? Bright, bright light, not electric light but light which only the Power could generate. And then Tyler surrendered his last shred of consciousness, and launched into an oblivion of painless sleep. And when Tyler awoke to daylight, his gunshot wound had mysteriously disappeared, and his mother was smiling proudly at him.

And Reid had smiled weakly at Tyler the next time they met, and asked Tyler if he would like to race him at tree climbing. And the next day, the both of them played with gambling cards, and the day after that they swam in the local river (which was muddy), and they watched the big guys play pool at Nicky's from the back window, and the day after that they caught a stray mongrel and tried to tame it, and the day after that . . .

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Hope you found that a nice read. I know it's not really a sequel to my first chapter, but I'll try to get that sorted out. It takes some time for the inspiration to kick in, you know. I really hope they make a sequel to 'The Covenant' even though it's not a very good show to begin with. Thanks to my reviewers, by the way.