Chapter One
"Bloody hell!"
Adam slammed his foot on the brakes and the car jerked to a shuddering stop. Head banging back and forth, the male eyed his tight grip over the steering wheel. It was so tight he feared his fingers might break off. Peeking over to the passenger side, Ahnger clutched both the dashboard and the door. The male's eyes were wide from fear and probably regret for ever getting in the same vehicle.
In a large public parking lot with no cars around, one of the Brothers decided to lend Adam their car for his driving lessons. Turned out the male was way better at driving an automatic than a stick. Three pedals and the shifting was too much for him. He had trouble starting the car alone. After spending fifteen minutes hitting both the gas and brake pedal, Adam just about had it when he nearly crashed into a light pole.
In the rearview mirror Adam could see the Brothers standing safely in the distance by their vehicles. Some of them were gawking at the car and the others were hunched over from laughing. No one was laughing inside the car since they nearly crashed. Even Ahnger's eyes were dilated from signs of the darkness. Apparently it didn't like the idea of dying in a car crash.
"You know what? I give."
Turning off the car and undoing his seatbelt, Adam was more than ready to get out of that monster of a ride. Ahnger was right behind him. He practically bolted out of the car and skidded to a halt a few feet away. Taking some large breaths for air, his friend turned around and gave him a flimsy thumbs up.
"Not bad," he wheezed. "Just a little more practice and you'll get it."
"Nay! From this day forward, I reject public transportation."
"Aw, you don't mean that Adam?"
Striding up in front of the group of Brothers was Rhage. After three months of joining the Brotherhood, the male was the only one who took the pleasure in teasing Adam. Everyone noticed how the male lacked in the use of modern technology. He showed his discomfort towards cell phones. Why busy yourself with numbers and apps when you could just talk to a person? What the bloody hell was an app?
It took him two days to get over the annoyance of using a cell phone and an extra two to learn how to use the one he had been given. Using the internet had been just as hard but easier to enjoy. However, there were some websites the male would never look at. Ever. He had Ahnger showing him how to use the computer and when they left, someone thought it would be funny to put up a porn website. Adam found out it was Rhage. Let's just say it took more than just Ahnger from him killing the male.
There was also the gun issue. All the Brothers had been on his case to at least know how to shoot a gun. Along with his denial for vehicles, Adam refused with all this might to use a gun. They were tricky creations. Load. Aim. Clock. Fire. Reload. Too much work when all Adam had to do was fire an arrow and reload his bow. When no one besides his friend gave him a break on using a gun, Adam made a deal with the Brothers.
If they could shoot five straight shots from two thousand yards with an arrow, he would give shooting a chance.
None of them had completed the challenge.
So here he was, learning and failing how to drive a stick. And after so many near death experiences, Adam was done. He had gotten lucky three months ago driving Ahnger's truck only because it was an automatic. A vehicle but a simple vehicle. Going ten miles under the speed limit and cautious of every ongoing car, Adam would've made the trip a success if he hadn't hit the ice. Even after hitting a ditch and avoiding Ahnger for damaging his truck, Adam had been willing to learn how to drive. Now those hopes crashed just like every time he nearly did.
"I can walk to wherever it is you need me," he stated to the Brother.
"And what if we're taking fire?" teased Vishous.
"Then I will run."
"What I've were ten miles away from you?"
"I will run fast and attempt to dematerialize!"
Over the months, Adam had tried to get his way of transportation down. It didn't turn out so well. He still had his good days and bad days. It made it slightly difficult for him to travel now that he was working with the Brothers. Thinking about fighting and not being the males played heavily on his mind.
It was late and the sun would be up in a few hours. The Brothers had finished their patrols so that was why they were laughing at Adam's sad driving lessons. V and Rhage were still teasing the male while Phury made sure his ride was okay. As for Ahnger, he rested against the care and grinned when Sohrrow joined him.
The two were completely identical. Besides the different haircuts and the seals on their bodies, the twins could pull off a magic trick if they wanted to. And by the way how they were smiling and laughing when Adam went on the defense showed how the months had helped their bond. It was only those three months ago when Ahnger had been the enemy and his family didn't know how to trust him. It was because of the curse that everyone found out Ahnger had switched places for his twin by taking on the dark and the roll of being the enemy. After a death experience and intervention of the Scribe Virgin, Ahnger was now the official host for the darkness as Sohrrow was for the light.
Because of the deal Ahnger had made with the goddess, the twins were now the last set to obtain the curse. No other twin of their line would ever receive the curse for it was theirs and theirs alone.
Now with Ahnger and Adam working alongside the Brotherhood, the males had proved themselves to the others. The tension that had existed between the two vanished after the first week. Both of the males were exceptional fighters to say the least. Ahnger proved how lethal he was with his twin blades and Adam showed off his expertise with his bow. However, there were times where Ahnger didn't use his blades and instead used the darkness itself. Seeing the male use his curse with such control helped add in the trust for the two.
The trust was so deep that it came to the point where Adam felt like he was being ganged up on for not wanting to drive anymore.
"Enough!" the male shouted. "These contraptions is death waiting to happen. I am fine with walking or running. Bloody hell, I would be better off riding a horse if I must."
Adam also grew accustomed to saying hell even though everyone at the mansion didn't count the word as a curse word. Hell was the only thing the male was going to say. Anything else and he feared his grandfather's ghost would come from him. He remembered the first day he cursed. Something he didn't want to experience ever again.
When it seemed the Brothers were about to continue with their teasing, Ahnger finally stepped in for the others to stop. While his friend got the others to lay off, Adam broke off from the group to collect his bow and quiver which he placed inside one of the other vehicles. The male looped the quiver over his chest along with his bow and hid the two with his long jacket. He then pushed up his shades since they slid down his nose a tiny bit. When he turned around to face the group, it looked like everyone was getting ready to head out back the mansion. As for Ahnger and Sohrrow, they would head back to the estate their family lived at. While his twin headed over for their ride, Ahnger joined Adam who stepped aside from the Escalade as V turned it on.
"You do know you can always come with us."
Adam quirked his eyebrow.
"Believe me when there are more room to do with," said Ahnger with his hands up.
"Nay. I prefer to stay at the cabin."
"Even if it's a ten mile walk just to the city?"
"You know what? I am just going to leave before something happens."
"Come on, Adam. You know I'm—"
Today was one of Adam's good days because he dematerialized before the male could finish his sentence. Well, a half good day. He did dematerialize. He just didn't make it all the way back to the cabin.
When Adam materialized, he found himself close to the outskirts of Caldwell. There were some buildings bright from the lights while the others were closed for the night. Adam tried to dematerialize again only to find himself still standing in the same spot. Releasing a heavy sigh, the male started walking back to the cabin.
There were people still on the streets and cars blazing by. No one paid attention to Adam other than moving around him. As he walked in silence, Adam couldn't help but shift his eyes around at his settings. He found it strange how far civilization had grown to what it was today. There were times when he missed the simplicity of things. When he felt like that, the male would find himself in the greenhouse tending to his plants or keeping his bow in tiptop shape. The very bow across his back had been the same bow he made when he was a boy. Made from a tree and created to perfection, this bow was the only thing Adam had that reminded him of home.
It also reminded him how he lived his life with his mother and grandfather.
Remembering the hated gazes of the villagers, Adam shook his head in an attempt to forget. He even stopped on the side so people wouldn't be walking into him. The building behind his back had all its lights on so the window casted a bright shadow over the male. Once Adam was ready to continue his long journey, a hint of curiosity touched him since he saw faint shadows loom over him. He figured people were working in the building behind him so he turned around to see what they were doing.
On the other side of the window looked like a gala. The room was spacious with walls that seemed to stand in the middle. People in black were placing paintings on the walls or bringing in more. There were a few men or women carrying tools such as ladders or cleaning items. In the far back looked like a bar which a couple of women were stocking with fresh drinks. On the walls were tiny amps with some people underneath checking the sound to make sure they were ready.
As Adam watched the humans set up the gala, one woman pushed open the door to set out a little stand. She must've seen Adam looking at their progress because she approached him with a brochure. Taking the brochure and thanking the woman, Adam unfolded it to see pictures of the paintings. There were some which didn't catch his fancy and some where he shrugged at. Flipping the brochure around, the male stared at the pictures. He then looked inside to see the paintings weren't displayed in the front. Looking back at the brochure, he immediately found the opening day was tomorrow and it was a free showing.
Quickly folding the brochure and reaching in his pocket, Adam felt around to find his pocket empty. It took him four tries and a full three sixty until he found his cell phone. Now trying to remember how to work it, he pushed the left arrow next to the center and accidently brought up tools. Adam fumbled with his phone like an idiot that he was close to throwing it in the street and rejecting it as well as vehicle transportation when he finally found his contracts. Going through his contacts wasn't as hard because he just had two numbers. One was labeled Vishous since he was in charge of anything having to do with technology for the Brotherhood and the other was labeled Ahnger. Adam figured once he got comfortable with these two contacts, he would add in more. He just had to remember how to do that.
It didn't take the male long to get his friend to take his shift tomorrow night. This was the first time Adam was calling for a day off so it didn't seem to bother Ahnger. In fact, the male almost sounded delighted. With them no longer moving around, Ahnger had been trying to get Adam to loosen up. And by the male's definition of loosening up, trying to get him to go out with a female.
Adam got his answer and hanged up before Ahnger could so much as suggest his plan.
Now that he had tomorrow night off, the male reopened the brochure and flipped it over to the pictures of the paintings that had caught his attention. They were slightly similar but the setting looked different. Either way, the painting had been based off of the same time period so it was doable. A smirk found its way on Adam. The other pictures held no meaning to the male except for the one on the brochure. It said there was a section of the gala dedicated to the time period. The dress code said it would be casual so Adam wouldn't have to worry about getting a suit.
The male chuckled to himself. The gods must've been smiling down on him because the time period for the paintings said sixteen hundreds.
The same time period Adam grew up in.
Folding the brochure and placing it in his pocket, the male continued his long journey back to the cabin. Those feelings he felt not long ago ceased to where it as like he never felt them. He hadn't forgotten those memories but didn't allow them to dictate his life. He had seen how society had changed over the centuries to where they now accepted his family's religion for they had been pagans. Adam would always remembered the love his mother showed him and how his grandfather acted as if he had been his real father.
Even though the picture in the brochure wasn't exactly like the place where Adam had been raised, it would be good to at least see something that resembled the place the male once called home.
