"And then I saw it. I saw a mom who would die for her son. A man who would kill for his wife. A boy angry and alone. Laid out in front of him the bad path, I saw it. And the path was a circle. So I changed it."
Sara laid in bed that night crying to herself. Here she was forty years old, and looked twice that age from all the years of regret and worrying. She had tried so hard to raise hr boys right. To teach them that there was good in the world. She had tried so hard to show Cid how to control his power, and keep him away from that horrible path Joe truly believed he would go down. It had been lonely and rough for her, but she did everything to prove to herself that she could do this. That she was stronger than anyone else thought. That Joe hadn't died for nothing...
She wished so badly he hadn't of killed himself. All these lonely years raising the boys made her always think back on those few days back on the farm when all of this had started.
She could still see him, standing there in the distance of the field. His eyes locking with hers as his older self pointed the gun, ready to shoot and kill her. Without so much as speaking, both seemed to understand. Joe stared at her before flipping the blunderbuss around, pointing it right against his heart and staring at her before he pulled the trigger...
"No!"
Sara woke with a start, fresh tears rolling down her face.
It was just a dream, just like all the others.
Reaching against her, she felt the cold metal of the pocket watch rest against her clammy skin. Sniffling she took a moment before fully waking up.
She was alone in her bedroom on the farm. Tonight had been awful. Cid and Joe had begun to fight before Cid screamed, shattering a few of the windows and stormed out, jumping on his bike and speeding away. Sara waited until Joe calmed down, when everything seemed to have stopped she slowly crept in and found Joe with the broom and dust pan sweeping all the shattered glasses and plates that had fallen across the floor. Looking up, his big green eyes seemed guilty.
"Sorry mom."
Sighing Sara came over and helped him clean up before hugging him, holding him close and smelling his clean thick dark hair. She knew he hated having the same TK power Cid did, and the only time he really did seem to loose control was in defending her.
"It's okay baby..."
Cid didn't come back home and Sara wasn't the least bit surprised. Instead Joe and herself went to bed early that night and Sara used her pillow to muffle her cries so Joe wouldn't hear her down the hall.
She had two sons with this terrifying power, and slowly she felt as though she was loosing Cid. The older he seemed to get, the more and more distant he was becoming. She wished so badly she had Joe here to talk to. She was trying her hardest to raise him good, but he just kept pulling away.
That's when she heard a noise, a faint creaking down downstairs. She had lived in this farm house for a very long time and had gotten used to every noise it made, even as it settled at night with the wind. This was a new noise, this was coming down below...
Raising an eyebrow she slowly swung her feet out and grabbed for her robe. She hoped that maybe it was Cid stumbling in. Tomorrow if he would listen she would sit down and try to talk to him. He was a bright boy she she hated to see him waste his life like this.
Closing her robe she slowly walked out and down the hall. Pausing she glanced at Joe's bedroom before slowly opening the door a crack.
Inside her boy was laying on his stomach on his twin bed. A few comic books were scattered across him, and he looked as though he was deeply asleep. Staring at him, Sara felt the most overwhelming feeling of love for him.
He was getting older, in just a few years he would be graduating high school, than hopefully college...the same dream she had for Cid. He was getting tall and still seemed slender, but with each passing day he looked more and more like his father.
She had shown him the only photo she had of him. She explained he died before Joe was born and that he loved him very much. Joe seemed interested but never asked questions and as far as she knew Cid didn't say anything. Leaning against the door frame she sighed. For the short time Cid did know Joe, he had looked up to him. Maybe if he had lived...things might have been different.
That's when the noise came again.
Freezing Sara looked behind her towards the stairs. The noise was faint but she could still hear it.
Somebody was in the house.
Turning, she began down the stairs, being careful. Once she reached the living room she glanced out the window into the darkness of the front yard and saw Cid's bike parked against the barn.
A small feeling of relief settled on her knowing that nobody was breaking in at three in the morning. Sighing she looked towards the kitchen and saw that it was dark.
"Cid?"
She softly called out.
The noise came again, from below.
Glancing, she saw the door that went to the basement was half open and a small glow was coming from it. Standing there puzzled, Sara slowly began down the stairs, trying her hardest not to make any noise. Right away the temperature seemed to drop as she went further and further down the stairs and past the cement stone walls.
She stood in the doorway where the furnace and her grandfather's old workshop was.
One of the overhead lights were on casting a dim glow. Squatting there was Cid, he was holding Joe's old blunderbuss which she had stored away along with the other pistol behind some of boxes back when she was pregnant with Joe. She remembered how she hated handing that gun, knowing that it was the same one that killed Joe. She had thrown it behind where it wouldn't be found simply because she had no idea what else to do with it. She remembered tossing it in there and thinking she had seen small flecks of dried blood on the metal.
Now her son was there holding it, tossing something into a duffel bag.
Her money.
All of their money.
Sara didn't believe in banks. Ever since she had all of Joe's silver traded in, she had kept all of the cash in a safe down in the basement. She was very good with saving and investing and she had more than enough. She planned on paying for all of Cid and Joe's education and whatever was left over she would split between the two.
She knew that the boys knew about the money, but she honestly didn't think they knew the combo for the safe, even though it was Cid's birthday.
Now here he was, like a thief in the night taking all of the money. She knew he was probably high, maybe even in trouble. Whatever the reason was she knew by the looks of it he was planning on leaving for good. If he needed money why didn't he just ask? Feeling her heart break she stepped forward. Maybe, just maybe she could talk to him like before...
"Cid?"
Spinning around with wide eyes, Cid pointed the blunderbuss at Sara and pulled the trigger. Sara stared at him and in the split second before it hit her she saw the old scared little boy she had always deeply loved.
Then she was knocked backwards by the hit.
She had been shot right in the stomach, and she knew it had blown her back nearly apart. Strangely enough though she didn't feel any pain from her breasts down. She was numb and she felt as if she had fallen into something wet. Laying on the dusty floor, staring up at the ceiling, she laid there feeling her life drain out of her.
Cid slowly stood up, his eyes scared and wide, blinking as he stared down at his mother.
His mother...he had just shot his mother.
Just then a noise on the stairs made him look up in utter panic. It was Joe, in sweat pants and a T-shirt, his hair still messy from bed. He stood there staring down at his mother. A large bloody hole now where her midsection had once had been. Cid stared at Joe before slowly his faint green eyes lifted and stared at him.
"You...killed her."
Before Cid could do anything Joe's face crumpled in utter rage as he screamed, causing the walls to vibrate as he jumped over Sara and charged towards his brother.
Laying there, unable to see, Sara faintly heard the sound of her sons fighting. She knew it was bad as pipes exploded and wood began to splinter. Unable to move, she laid there staring up as her vision began to blur.
"Sara?"
Her eyes weakly fluttered but she couldn't see anything. She knew who was calling her and she decided it might be better to go to it. Feeling a comforting warmth take her over, she shut her eyes and died.
Joe had finally finished burying Sara.
It was nearly dusk and his hands were blistered and bleeding. His sleeves rolled up, he wiped some sweat away that was dripping from his hair and sighed before he leaned against the shovel. Staring down at the freshly made grave his heart gave a dull ache.
It was two days since Sara had died. He had spoken with Dr. Anderson and he was given permission to take Sara's body back to the farm. Now he had finished burying her underneath the tree outside the barn. It was the same place they had first really met nearly ten months ago when he thought he was dying from withdraws. It wasn't exactly romantic, but he felt this was what Sara would have wanted.
Glancing over at the house he saw Cid, sitting there with his chin in his hands. He hadn't been sleeping well ever since they got back and was spending a lot of time alone in his room playing. This evening Joe explained that he was going to bury Sara and Cid simply came out on the porch to watch. Sitting beside him in the car-seat was the baby. Joe had bundled him up good and knew he better take him in soon before the bugs started to come out.
Ever since he left the hospital he felt terrified.
Just less than a year ago he was a bachelor, a junkie, a killer. His days consisted of killing, collecting, and partying. Now here he was, stuck on a farm alone with a little boy who may or may not be a bomb waiting to explode, and a newborn baby. He had no idea how to care for kids, just the idea of Sara dying made him angry. This wasn't supposed to happen like this...
She was supposed to do this with him. Those last ten months had been wonderful. In fact it was the first time he felt somewhat normal, like he really belonged. Now just because he had to go and get her pregnant she was dead. Glancing at Cid and the baby he honestly had no idea what to do.
Carrying the shovel he walked over to the porch. Looking up with his wide brown eyes, Cid's face seemed to crumple.
"Do...you hate me?"
Joe's brow wrinkled.
"No...of course not."
Dropping the shovel, Joe knelt down in front of Cid and gathered him in his arms.
"Come here..."
Cid sniffled as fat tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Did I kill mamma?"
Joe hugged Cid, trying his hardest to sooth him.
"No..."
Pulling away he made Cid look him in the eye.
"Do you hear me Cid? You didn't kill your mother. She's in Heaven now."
Staring at Joe, Cid snapped his eyes shut and softly cried as Joe held him tight, stroking his hair. Beside him the baby began to thinly cry. Glancing at him, Joe felt helpless.
That night Cid went to sleep out of pure exhaustion. Joe tucked him in and stayed with him for a while before taking the baby back to the master bedroom. Laying in the dark, he curled up beside the newborn, his nerves on edge knowing he would wake up in an hour or so to have his bottle. Joe still was second guessing everything he did and was scared to death he might do something wrong. Laying there in the darkness, he gently stroked the baby's soft cheek and couldn't believe such a fuck up like himself could have helped in making something so perfect.
Thinking of Sara, Joe roughly wiped a tear away before gently kissing his baby's head and laying there in the darkness.
It wasn't just a fight.
It was a battle.
Most of the pipes in the basement were now shattered with water and oil dripping out of them. Chunks of the walls were breaking apart and flying around like bullets.
Sara's body laid in the doorway, ignored for the time being as both brothers scared at each other from opposite sides of the room.
Cid had tried to use the blunderbuss again but it had jammed. Joe's entire face had gone flush and he scared causing the weapon that had killed both of his parents to go flying across the room. Both boys screamed, making an inside wind start to scream around them.
Cid glared at his brother, before lifting his hand and using his TK to raise him high into the air.
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"
"YOU KILLED MOM!
"YOU WERE ALWAYS HER FAVORITE! SHE NEVER LOVED ME!"
With that Cid threw his brother into the wall head first. For a second he thought he had killed him. Instead Joe stumbled backwards holding his face. The jagged rocks in the wall had cut open the side of his face, right below his jaw. Holding onto his bleeding face, Joe stared at Cid as if he was a wild animal.
Screaming, Joe fixed his eyes on Cid and he saw fear.
Slowly Cid began to rise, not knowing what was happening, Staring at his brother his eyes began to go bloodshot before it fully hit him with what was happening. This was his little brother, the baby he had looked so forward to his mother having. The same little brother he had helped learn how to walk. Who he played played with and rode his bike with. The same little brother he used to love so much before he got so fucked up.
This was the little brother he was supposed to protect...
Instead he floated in the air before Joe screamed again and a silence filled the air.
Cid blew to pieces.
Blood sprayed everywhere, going all over the walls, floor, and ceiling. Chunks of flesh, bone, and guts splattered everywhere.
Joe stood there drenched in his own brother's blood.
Staring at the mess, a coldness settled onto him before he turned and looked down at his mother.
Kneeling down, he gently stroked her cheek before looking down at her chest.
The pocket watch...
Slowly he took it off her and slipped it into his pocket. Silently, still covered in his own brother's blood he grabbed the duffel bag of money and finished filling it, making sure none of the blood got on any of the money. Searching he was able to find another pistol before dragging the bag outside into the cold. Running upstairs he grabbed his jacket before going back downstairs to the basement. Kneeling down once more, he gently kissed his mother's cheek before walking back out leaving his home for the final time.
His cheek was burning but he ignored it. Instead he grabbed the three gas cans from the barn and began to pour gas all around the house. It took less than twenty minutes to finish and once he was done he dug into his pocket and found his mother's silver lighter which he had taken when he grabbed his jacket and threw it down.
The flames started at once and began to climb up the house and it's peeling paint.
Watching the flames climb in the dark night air he turned, putting the bag over one shoulder before staring down the road.
Joe was spending his afternoon chopping away at the stump in the side yard. The same stump he had watched Sara work on when they first met. He knew he could dig it out using maybe a tractor, but that wasn't how Sara had been doing it so for the last year or so he spent a little time each week to chop away.
It was a warm summer day and he was sweating.
A safe distance away sitting on a blanket was Joe. He had just turned one and was currently crawling around playing with some plastic rings.
Joe had been taking things one day at a time since Sara died. At first he really didn't think he was going to be able to do it. A few times he even felt as though he was coming close to a complete mental breakdown. More than once he had ran off into the cane fields just to scream and cry to himself before settling down and being able to go back.
The baby had been tough, he knew nothing about them. Slowly he had started to get the hang of things. For the first few months he barley slept, staying awake feeding or walking with the baby. Slowly he started to understand what the baby meant by a cry and became less and less worried.
Now a year later he was watching all the things Sara should have seen with him.
Resting with the ax, he put it on his shoulder and took a deep breath before turning to look at the baby. What he saw nearly made him drop the ax.
Joe was standing on two very chubby and unsteady legs, but he was standing just the same and slowly taking wide steps towards him.
Joe stared in utter amazement.
The baby stared up at him and giggled.
Dropping the ax, Joe hurried over before the baby lost his footing and fell backwards. Going down, he wrapped his arms around the baby and stood up holding him tight.
"Good boy! That's a good boy!"
The baby giggled grabbing handfuls of Joe's hair before Joe stood there, holding the baby and laughing in utter and pure amazement. His baby had just taken his first steps...
That night Cid came home from school beyond excited. He had started school a few months after Sara's death and so far everything seemed to be going fine. Right before he left for his first day Joe had taken him aside and talked to him like an adult for the first time ever, looking straight into his eyes.
"Listen Cid, you need to remember what you have is special...but if you loose control or get scared you can hurt a lot of people."
"Like mamma?"
Joe shook his head.
"No, not like your mother. But if you loose control and can't calm down alone...than something bad could happen. You could hurt somebody or even kill them. Then I wouldn't be able to stay with you or your brother."
Cid seemed to understand and right before the big yellow school bus picked him up down the road, Joe gave him his silver pocket watch.
"If you ever feel scared, or angry, or upset...just open this up and count...count until you feel better okay?"
Nodding, Cid tucked the watch in his lunch box and left. Watching him go gave a flutter of nervousness in Joe's stomach but he knew it was perfectly normal. This was Cid's first time going away to school and he knew how kids could be. Anything could happen...
But then again he tried to tell himself this was what every parent felt when their child went away to school.
In the last year there hadn't been any accidents. Night after night Joe would spend time with Cid, talking to him, not treating him like a child and leveling with him of how important it was to control this power. There were slips of course, but Joe never lost his temper. Instead he would talk with Cid, and show him little tips on how to control himself.
Once just a few months ago when Cid was in the living room with the baby, he had lost his temper when the baby had smacked him by accident. Cid had stood up screaming down at the baby that he was stupid and a few of their wooden blocks had blown apart. Joe came running in just in time and shouted for Cid to stop. That night Joe told him he could have killed his brother and the second he lost control that far he would be a killer. Cid seemed scared as he sniffled saying he was sorry but Joe decided this was the only way to get through to him. He explained that things were going to happen that he wasn't going to like. That there were times he would be upset, or scared, or so angry he wouldn't be able to see straight...but that was part of time. If he used his power this way than he was no better than the people who had come after him when Joe first arrived at the farm.
Cid seemed to understand this and ever since he was nothing but gentle with his brother.
Joe knew it was going to take years of coaching, patience, and understanding, but he had the time. Cid was Sara's son, which meant he loved him as if he was his own. He would take all the time he had to make sure Sara's final wishes came true and that his son wasn't looked at as a monster.
Cid came home that night grinning and smiling. He told Joe over dinner as he fed the baby that a few kids in his class had been picking on him when he knew all the answers in the spelling test. He explained to Joe how he felt that same feeling come over him and how he had simply asked to go to the bathroom and took out the watch and counted. When he came back he had calmed down and wasn't even angry anymore.
Joe was so proud of Cid he couldn't stop smiling.
He knew he was doing what Sara wanted. He was making sure he was raised right, and that he would only use this power for good.
The farm was now nothing but ash.
The fire had spread for nearly three miles and all of the fields had burnt down as well. There was barley anything left besides a few crumbling remains of what used to be the house. The police later would find the charred remains of Sara and what appeared to be one of the boys. The pieces that were left weren't enough to see.
The land stayed that way, burnt and unusable for years to come. Over time slowly it began to grow back but the farm was never rebuilt. Unknown to many people, a man was buried on that property. A man who had risked his life for something he had no idea he had part in of all ready putting into motion.
Cid and Joe were arguing. He didn't exactly know why. Maybe he had come past his curfew, maybe he had been teasing his brother, whatever the reason was both were standing in the kitchen shouting.
Cid glared at the man who had caused all of this to happen. Over the years despite the fact this stranger had raised him, he was also the reason his mother had died. The guilt of him loosing control that day his brother was born was now faded and old. Instead he looked at Joe as the man who had to get his mother pregnant. The man who had to be the reason who his mother died...
Joe was trying to tell him that he had too much going for him. That he was a smart boy and shouldn't go down the same path he had years ago. That it was reckless and stupid.
Cid felt himself getting worked up more and more. His hands went into fists, his eyes glared at him and then...
He screamed.
Joe lifted up into the air, his eyes widening before...
He made him blow apart. Bloody pieces flew in every direction...
Standing there as everything blew backwards shattering in the kitchen, Cid stared at the aftermath of his stepfather and then suddenly the horrible thought came to him...
If he had killed Joe than what about his brother.
"Joe!"
He turned, drenched in blood, calling out to him.
But he wasn't there. He was all alone...
"NO!"
Cid woke with a start.
It was just another nightmare. The same one he had been having for nearly thirteen years. Sitting up in his bed, he looked around at the early morning light that was drifting in through the window. It was late August and tomorrow he would be going away to college. Sitting up, he reached out blindly and took his glasses from the nightstand before slipping them on. Running his hands through his hair he sighed before checking his alarm clock. It was still early, but he wanted to get up and get his day started.
Most of his things were packed away in boxes. He would be taking his car down to Westpoint where he planned on studying for the next four years. His entire senior year of high school he had carefully looked at several different colleges until Westpoint finally offered him a very impressive scholarship. He was in between deciding which major to choose but after talking to Joe he decided Westpoint was the best place to go.
Just a few days before Joe had drove him in his pickup truck and helped him move into his dorm. Cid was more than a little nervous but knew that once he settled in everything would be okay.
His girlfriend Nancy who he had been going out with for the last year or so was going to the state college which was about an hour away. Even though Cid didn't think it would last she insisted that the distance wouldn't change anything.
Shuffling to the bathroom to shower, he grabbed a towel from the closet before hearing the faint sounds of Joe and his brother downstairs.
He knew he owed everything to Joe.
It was been tough over the years controlling his TK. For a while Cid was actually scared that he wasn't going to be able to control it. There were sometimes he just wanted to scream and blow everything apart. Instead he did exactly as Joe taught him. He would take a deep breath and just count...
He missed his mother a lot and as much as Joe tried to tell him it wasn't his fault that she died, he still couldn't help but blame himself deep in his heart.
Still, Joe was always there, supporting him, showing him how to be strong. He admitted early on that he was worried he was going to screw up but Cid loved him like a father and with each day they slowly learned how to deal with what faced them. Joe was there for everything for Cid. Every awards show, every graduation, every dance or prom. He was always there smiling like a proud father.
He taught him how to shoot guns, how to drive, and most of all how to talk to girls.
Joe was good with him and made him feel safe. Even though there were some close calls, Joe was always there to help him focus and control himself.
He knew Joe missed his mother a lot. Even though he was always strong for him and his brother he sometimes caught him looking out where he buried her with a sad look on his face.
Now he was about to go to college and live life like every other normal person.
He owed this all to Joe.
Smiling he walked into the bathroom before slipping he silver pocket watch off from his head and placing it on the sink.
Afterwards he spent the rest of the morning out in the field with his brother. The two were playing soccer which was the newest sport Joe was crazy about. His brother was nuts about sports and played touch football, hockey, and baseball at school.
He was a slender kid with shaggy dark hair and green eyes.
He wasn't as book smart as Cid but always very polite and understanding. Joe always remarked that he was a happy go lucky kid that somehow never saw the bad in life.
Cid adored his younger brother and felt honored he got to help raise him.
He knew Joe worried about him. Once when he was just five he was riding his bike into the road when the delivery truck came and nearly ran him down. Cid remembered how Joe had ran out with panic in his eyes and scooped him up holding him looking scared to death.
Cid knew that Joe was scared that someday something might happen to him.
But Joe was a careful young kid and even though he never remembered or knew his mother he was a sweet young kid who looked up to Joe like he was his hero.
Just a few months ago they discovered he had TK. It was an accident and after a few windows breaking, Joe was able to calm him down. Cid helped as much as he could and for the time being it seemed okay.
Both stood together laughing kicking the ball back and forth as the sun shinned down on them.
On the porch sat Joe, drinking a beer and watching his sons. His hair pushed back behind his ears.
He couldn't believe this was where life had taken him.
He watched his two sons play ball before glancing at Sara's grave. Tomorrow Cid would be going to college. Sara's wished had come true, he had been raised right and for the moment he was using what he had for good.
Soon it would just be him and little Joe. In just a few years he would be seeing him off. Then...he would be alone.
Watching the boys play he faintly smiled and tipped his bottle towards Sara's grave.
"I miss you baby...more than you'll ever know."
With that he sat back and for the first time in a very long time...felt at peace.
Joe walked down the road, his cheek still bleeding, the bag thrown over his shoulder and his eyes fixed.
He was heading towards a path that only a father could stop. A path that everyone feared...
Slowly the clouds began to darker and rain started to softly come down. Joe lifted his eyes and looked up as the drops hit his bloody face.
His destiny was written.
He was the rainmaker.
When Sara opened her eyes she was standing in a field. She was holding Cid, back when he was just five and innocent. She stood there with her eyes wet and raw from crying.
She looked over and her heart fluttered.
Joe was walking towards her, his blunderbuss by his side.
"Sara?"
Sara froze.
"Joe!"
She cried out, clutching onto her son. Quickly Joe began to hurry over before stopping. Both locked eyes before Joe walked over and gently ran his fingers through her hair.
"Are you okay?"
Sara stared at him before her face crumpled, tears rolling down her face.
"Joe..."
Slowly she wrapped her arm around him and held him close. Squeezing him tight she cried into his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her and Cid.
"Shhh...it's all right. I'm here now...it's okay."
Holding him, Sara knew this was her Heaven. They were together, and nothing in the past, present, or future could hurt them.
Gently she stroked his hair as he kissed the side of her face. They held each other listening to the gentle sound of the wind.
The End.