Chapter 2: A threat from the past
"Everyone´s fine, dad, boys are upstairs… pretending to do homework, I guess".
Jessica Douglas took a sip of her coffee while he talked to his father, Mori Tanaka, on the phone. She had a cell phone but she preferred the one she had used since she got married with Sam, an FBI agent. She could hear music from the boys´room, surely from Tum Tum´s videogame.
"Dad… is there a problem or something?" she had to ask. His father called everyday but not thrice a day. Specially not when the boys were at home. When they trained with him, during summer, he called twice to keep Sam, his son-in-law, calmed. But now, he suddenly seemed impatient to hear from them every three hours or so.
"Nothing, nothing. I´m just getting old, honey. And an old man misses his descendants".
"You… you wanna talk to them?"
"No, thanks, it´s too late".
Jessica laughed. "Dad, they´re teenagers, they sleep really late, trust me".
"Right. Anyway I´ll better call tomorrow. Nice dreams, sweetheart". He hung up.
Jessica stayed with the phone still in her ear, listening to the tone without paying attention. She knew his father lied, something did happen. He knew him too well. She decided to ask the boys. Maybe they´d gotten in trouble again and his father wouldn´t want to tell her. He loved his grandsons, not only because of their family bond but also as his pupils. Jessica had never felt attracted to martial arts but she respected and admired his father for what he was. A true ninja was a humble, strong-willed, honorable man. It was more than just a couple of punches and kicks, it was a life philosophy. His father tried to teach her but she never wanted to learn, however, she still remembered the ninja´s principles. If only Sam could understand. He hadn´t spoken his thoughts out loud since ninjitsu had helped his sons to take care of themselves when the kidnap, five years ago, but he didn´t agree with what he thought was a dangerous obsession.
"You knew Snyder", he said once. "He was a good man, Jess, at least that´s what your father used to say. But he got power lusted and chose the wrong path. And was a hard opponent to beat. I wouldn´t be able to fight him, one on one, you know? He´s just so dangerous".
But her kids weren´t like that. They were brave and kind. After all, they always helped people in trouble, without hesitation. Well, maybe Colt should hesitate a little more but Rocky was a great leader, just like her dad. She smiled while listening to the rumble inside the boys´ room. She knew that red lamp very well, a movement sensor. Then, she knocked a couple of times.
"Come in", she recognized Tum Tum´s muffled voice. He must had some candy within his mouth.
"Hi, boys", she stepped into their room.
They found the three of them on the floor. Tum Tum sitting in front of his Xbox, Rocky and Colt suspiciously quiet. By the way they were breathing, they must had been wrestling.
"What´s up, Mom?", Rocky asked.
"Grandpa just called me, he wanted to say hi". She looked for any gesture that showed guilt on their faces. She didn´t find any.
"Oh, that´s nice. How is he doing?" Rocky replied.
"Well… he´s doing fine, a little nostalgic, I guess. He´s called thrice today".
"Maybe Grandpa needs a new girlfriend", Colt smiled.
"Don't be disrespectful, Colt". Jessica reprimanded him.
"What did I say?" Colt talked back.
"Anyway, I was wondering… is there something you wanna tell me?" Jessica showed them her best mom-look.
"Yes"
"No"
The three boys answered at the same time, and looked each other in surprise. Jessica raised an eyebrow.
"Well?"
"Nothing" Colt looked at Rocky, challenging him to talk about today´s almost-fight. He didn´t.
"Tum Tum?" She glanced at her younger son.
Tum Tum moved uncomfortable.
"Well… I was the one who took Grandpa´s cookies. I´m sorry, mom".
"Wait, what?" Colt asked.
"The ones that he hid under his bed… I wasn´t spying, I just discovered them by accident! And I thought a man of his age… I just took a couple of them…"
"Tum" Rocky rolled his eyes.
"They were chocolate, Rocky!"
"Nobody cares about those bloody cookies, mor…!"
"Say that word and you´ll be grounded for months, Colt", Jessica snapped.
Colt shut his mouth, climbed to his bunk bed and turned around, offended. Jessica wished them good night and went to her room. Maybe she was been paranoid. Perhaps her father just missed them, like he said. Besides, she was nervous because of the fact her husband hadn´t returned from that journey. He called her everyday so he was alright, but his job was so dangerous she often feared he wouldn´t call her back. No, she wouldn´t follow those thoughts, she wouldn´t go that way. She wouldn´t feel unsafe and unsecure inside her own house. A home that was once broken, his kids taken away… she turned the lights on. She wouldn´t sleep in the dark, not tonight.
Mori Tanaka stayed awake, cleaning the dust from his old sword. Shaped by the hand of old masters, it kept its blade sharp and shiny. He thought he might be seeing ghosts from his past but he was sure he wouldn´t be able to sleep unless he practiced his moves with this old katana. Although training kept him healthy and agile, he didn´t deny his strength and his reflexes were not the same. Not like his boys, who became better every summer. He felt suddenly uneasy: he had focused so much in their strengths, he had forgotten to focus on their weaknesses too. In their name ceremony, he had not mentioned any of that. A ninja should be aware about his own limitations. Lately, the boys seemed to be invincible, they had even managed to beat a lot of adults´butts. For God´s sake! He couldn´t have thought in those words. He shook his head, embarrassed, he was becoming too American.
He looked at the letter he had received that morning. Or, to be more specific, he had found inside his cabin; someone had slid it through his doorframe. It was written on a piece of parchment, with black brushed-strokes, in Japanese. "Time to pay back", it´s what the kanjis meant. And it ended with the drawing of a death dragon. Mori felt he grew older every minute of that day. It couldn´t be true. He was supposed to be death. It had to be some sort of follower, an amateur ninja searching for a chance to be recognized… because if it turned out to be the one he thought he was, no one in his family would be safe.
Jessica Douglas woke up startled. She grabbed the alarm, wondering if it was time to get up. It wasn´t. It was 3 a.m., according to the green neon numbers of the clock. It took her a few seconds to realize she was hearing her cell phone. Fighting to blink the fog away, she tried to identify the number on the screen. She answered with a hoarse voice before she missed that call.
"Yes?"
"Mrs. Douglas?" Said a female voice.
"Yes. Who is this?" She felt her heart throbbing inside her chest. No one called that early unless it was urgent. And urgent used to mean bad news.
"This is Dr. Sanders from Regis General Hospital".
Jessica sat on the bed, her hands shaked so bad she tought she wouldn´t be able to hold the phone anymore.
"Mrs. Douglas, are you still there?"
"What happened?" She asked louder than she intended.
"I´m sorry to tell you this, Mrs. Douglas, but your husband has been admitted a few hours ago. He… he was hurt".
"Oh, my god, no please, no". Jessica covered her mouth, trying to suffocate her moaning. "Is he…?"
"He´s been stabilized, Mrs., we´ll just keep him in observation".
Jessica breathed in relief. So he was not in danger, he was ok, he was coming back.
"Mrs. Douglas…"
"Yes?"
"I´m aware of his… occupation. Police officers are already investigating this case but it´s important that someone from the family comes to the hospital as soon as possible and stay with him. He´s still delicate, lost a lot of blood".
"I´ll take the first flight".
"Thank you, Madam".
"Was he… was he shot?"
The doctor didn´t answer quite fast.
"Doctor…?"
"Sanders. No, he wasn´t shot, Madam".
"What happened then?"
"He was hurt by a… a weapon that looks like a star. I´m sorry, I don´t know how to name it".
But Jessica did. She knew those weapons like the palm of her hand. She froze. It was a ninja star.