Back at the hotel, Aaron hopped in the shower and just stood there allowing the warm water to pour on his head, steaming up the bathroom so much that the only reason he finally turned off the shower was because he was starting to have trouble keeping his eyes open, it was making him so sleepy he was on the verge of falling asleep right then and there, that and he was beginning to suffocate with all the steam.
After drying off and changing into a clean pair of shorts, he left the bathroom and lay down on his bed. He was exhausted, but wasn't ready to sleep. Instead he lay on his back staring up at the ceiling.
"Everything ok?" Duncan asked sitting on the bed next to Aaron's.
"Yea I guess so,"
"I wish there was something I could tell you to make it better, but you and I both know there's no such thing." Aaron nodded
"Yea I know," he paused and looked at Duncan for a second "Dad can I ask you something?"
"Yea of course," Aaron took a deep breath
"Remember when I was little, you used to tell me stories you know 'bout mother, and 'bout the clan?"
"They were the only thing that got you to sleep, especially those nights when you were sick. You loved hearing the stories about the Clan, but hearing about your mother, those calmed you down when you were upset," He looked at Aaron "why?"
"Cause I don't remember anything you told me,"
"Well that was a few years ago," Aaron laughed a little "anything you want to know about her I'll be happy to tell you." Aaron closed his eyes for a second and bit his lip. Then looked at his father and nodded slowly
"I do," Duncan smiled and nodded
"Well what do you want to hear?"
"Everything,"
"Everything?" Aaron nodded
"Yea,"
"She was beautiful, Aaron, with reddish brown hair, very light skin and the bluest eyes I had ever seen." He grinned and ruffled Aaron's hair "until I saw yours that is,"
"What else?"
"She was very soft spoken, I don't think I ever heard her raise her voice about anything, when she spoke to me it was like I was speaking to an angel. Her older brother had been killed in a clan war a few years before I met her; and she was still very much grieving for him, it was from him you get your name;"
"Really?" Aaron had been told by Duncan that his mother had wanted to name him herself, but he had never known why she had chosen Aaron; a part of him felt better knowing after so many years where his name came from.
"That was one of the only things your mother begged of me before she…" his voice trailed off,
"So my uncle, his name was Aaron as well?" Duncan nodded "were they close, is that why she wanted to name me after him?"
"I never really pressed the subject, I think she just wanted to honor him, a way to keep his memory alive."
"What else?"
"Well lets see her mother, your grandmother Ann, didn't like me at all; something about a wander would never marry her only daughter."
"What about her father?" Duncan grinned a little and tried not to laugh
"He wouldn't have known the difference; he was a drunk to put it in simple terms." Aaron chuckled a little. "Either that or he was just mad." Duncan leaned forward "between you and me I think he was less insane drunk. At least when he was drunk he didn't refer to his wife as Mary queen of Scots." Aaron chuckled at that then stared at Duncan wondering if he was just joking,
"He didn't!"
"You better believe he did, anyways when your mother found out she was pregnant she was so happy. Of course your grandmother wasn't she wouldn't even look at Rebecca when she told her." He paused and looked at Aaron seriously "of course that all changed after Rebecca was gone, suddenly Ann wanted to be maternal she didn't want me to take you." Aaron stared at his father; he didn't remember this part of the story maybe Duncan had felt he was too young to hear the details and now was finally old enough to hear the exact truth "to be honest Aaron, I didn't trust her, one minute she had been telling the midwives to take you into the woods and leave you there, then the next thing I knew she wanted to raise you." Aaron took a deep breath and brought his knees up close to his chest.
"Maybe she had a change of heart," Duncan shrugged
"Maybe, after all she did start all this raising you herself stuff right after Rebecca had passed, maybe losing her only daughter had finally sunk in; I guess we'll never know." He paused and put a hand on Aaron's shoulder "and to be honest I hope we never know." Aaron put his head down and nodded then he looked back up at Duncan.
"Dad?"
"Hm?"
"What was the other thing?"
"Other thing?"
"You said that naming me Aaron was one of the things she asked of you, what was the other thing," Duncan took a deep breath and sighed for a minute rubbing his chin, he didn't answer for a minute. Then he looked at Aaron
"She begged for me to make sure you were raised as a Macleod, and to make sure whatever happened, never to allow her mother to take you, she wanted you to be a Macleod not a McDonaldson, and she wanted me to be the one who raised you. I don't know why, maybe she didn't trust her mother." Aaron nodded
"Was her mother really that bad? That even her own daughter didn't trust her?" Duncan shrugged
"As loopy as your grandfather was, he was the most sane person I'd ever seen compared to his wife, not to be disrespectful of the dead Aaron, but she definitely was a little if not more mad." He looked at Aaron "everything ok?" Aaron nodded slowly, he was still trying to process all this, images of his grandmother flashed in his mind, he had never seen her, yet he could picture her in his mind, he shuddered a little as chills ran up his back raising the hairs on his arms.
"Yea just tired I guess,"
"Well how about we call it a night, we've got an early flight tomorrow."
"Flight?"
"Yea,"
"Where are we going?"
"Paris," Aaron nodded "that ok?"
"That sounds great." He said climbing under the covers with the blanket over his head. He heard Duncan switch off the light and climb into his own bed. Aaron waited until he was sure Duncan was asleep, listening he could hear his father's breathing become deep and he knew that Duncan was totally asleep.
As quietly as he could, Aaron slipped out of bed and pulled his jeans and the shirt Tony had given him on. He slipped his sneakers on, tied them, and grabbed his new hat. As tired as he said he was, Aaron really wasn't tired at all. He needed to take a walk, a long walk, a nice long walk to clear his head.
As he dug in his backpack for his room-key, Aaron stopped suddenly when his finger tips brushed his sword's blade, inflicting a small slice on them; he winced and closed his eyes for a moment as the paper cut like wound healed. The cloth wrapping the sword must have come untied at some point.
Slowly Aaron lifted his sword out of his backpack and held the blade tight in his hands, ignoring the pain as the blood bit into his palms and the warm blood that trickled down his wrists. He rested his head against the rounded edge of the base of the sword for a few moments; his eyes closed thinking about all he had been through since Connor had given him the sword. It had only been a day after Connor had saved him from his near beheading at the tower; Connor had given him the sword and re-taught him everything Duncan had taught him and more.
After only a few weeks of training Connor had sent Aaron to the American colonies; Aaron remembered Connor's excuse for sending him away, but Aaron knew it had nothing to really do with his father; Connor had wanted him out of Europe all together because of Robert, Robert wanted Aaron's head and was determined to get it at all cost. That was why; Connor had been trying to protect Aaron, sure maybe Connor had wanted to be certain Aaron wouldn't try and fight Robert, but that had only been a small part of his reasoning, he was going to make sure Robert didn't get anywhere near Aaron.
Aaron remembered the tower, he remembered it very well. It was like a nightmare that kept replaying over and over in his mind. Out of all the things Aaron had experienced in his life, being a prisoner in the Tower of London had been the one experience that Aaron wouldn't have wished on even his greatest enemy, it was a nightmare he would carry with him for as long as he lived.
He remembered the pain, the screams, the feeling of knowing that at any moment you would be joining the screams as you begged for death over the pain. He had never really thanked Connor, for getting him out of London, and away from the tower, and for saving his life.
*Flashy back*
The screams of pain, all too familiar woke Aaron up from his deep slumber and instantly he knew where he was…The Tower of London; things had not changed since his last visit to the tower if they had they had only gotten worse. What he couldn't understand is how or why he was there in the first place. The last thing he remembered was being chased through the streets of early 18th century London, then everything else was a blur.
Aaron put his hands to his head and quickly discovered they were weighed down with shackles, shackles so heavy that he could barely lift his own hands. His feet he discovered wore the same heavy cuffs, this was different then last time; Aaron looked around, he was alone in a single cell. Now he was very confused this wasn't what had happened last time, he had been put in a group cell, which had been where he had met Michael his friend who had taught him the escape routes out of the tower. But now there was no one to help Aaron, he would have to figure out how to escape on his own.
That night all Aaron could hear was the screams from the others around the prison. He leaned against the stone wall, his knees up to his chest trying to block them out concentrating more on escaping. To Aaron, the screams could be blocked out only a bit. But if he slept his dreams would be filled with nightmares of the terrors he knew awaited all in the tower himself included.
So he stayed awake, picturing the Scottish Highlands in his mind, keeping it fresh in his mind as the night dragged on and the screams continued. Suddenly the door to his cell was thrown open, two guards stood there
"Come on boy, lets go!" one of them said grabbing Aaron's arm and lifting him up. They took out a key and undid the shackles on his wrists, this freedom lasted a second as they forced his hands behind his back and shackled them back up. They walked out of the cell and down the stone halls. Aaron wasn't sure where they were taking him, if he had his bearings right, he wasn't going to the room where they kept the rack and things like that, and he wasn't heading outside where the gallows stood. What was going on?
Suddenly Aaron felt the presence of another immortal, not very old, definitely younger then him, but with a lot of quickenings. They stepped inside a large room, in the center stood a man in his late 30s with a sword; in front of him lay a beheading block. Suddenly Aaron knew what was happening, the guards pushed him forward and weighted down by the heavy shackles Aaron fell forward that the immortals feet. He tried to stand, but was hit on the back of the head forcing him to stay down.
"Leave us," the immortal said in a thick English accent. The guards bowed and left the way they had come shutting the door with a slam. Aaron closed his eyes and swallowed trying to mask the fear that he knew lay on his face. "Well, well, well, a child immortal. I have not had the pleasure of company this young." Aaron struggled "how old are you boy?"
"Old enough," Aaron said the anger in his voice masking the fear the man walked over and grabbed Aaron by the throat and held him up a little Aaron struggled but it did little.
"I'll ask again, your age?"
"63," Aaron said muttering through his partially crushed windpipe the man looked at him in shock for a moment, Aaron could see it in his eyes, this immortal may have a lot of Quickenings but he had been correct, he hadn't been at the game that long, 10 years at the most.
Instead a look of a young inexperienced immortal still new to the game, his eyes were that of an immortal who carried a hatred and a soul of a pure evil immortal who had faced hundreds of years of pain and torment. It was a look of pure evil. Like the very first immortal Aaron had fought in 1654 William Formier, that man had also had a look of pure evil in his eyes as he had attacked Aaron without warning, the sword Aaron had carried was hard to handle because of its size, the entire length of the sword was nearly as tall as Aaron himself, it was really only good for blocking, and Aaron still didn't know how he had managed to take Formier's head, it had happened so fast. But he'd never forget his first quickening and the pain that accompanied it for as long as he lived, even if he didn't remember the beheading itself.
"How have you managed to stay alive so long? I was told children get picked off easily and that is why there are not that many of them." He said dropping Aaron, who landed hard on his knees.
"I know how to take care of myself." The man looked at Aaron then walked around him.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Robert McLain. Many have faced me and all have met their end" he laughed as Aaron struggled a little "and the enjoyable part is not once have I needed to fight." Aaron felt his heart skip a beat; he looked to where Robert had stopped. He stood in front of the beheading block once again tapping his sword against it. Aaron couldn't believe this was happening, he was breaking the rules. He was going to behead him without fighting him! "Now it is your turn boy, but first out of formalities what is your name?" Aaron took a deep breath and straightened up as best he could if he was going to die he was going to die like a MacLeod.
"I am Aaron MacLeod…. of the clan MacLeod."
"Ah a MacLeod, I've heard much about your clan. Never had the pleasure of meeting one of you however; until now of course." He smiled a bit "however did you manage to get yourself into this mess young MacLeod?" he grabbed Aaron by his arm and forced him to kneel in front of the block. "Well no matter, it shall soon be over, there after all can be only one!"
Aaron felt the sword rise above his bare neck, closing his eyes he began praying as he had learned living in the Monastery in Latin and waited for the breeze of the sword coming down at him. He was really going to die now, he was about to lose his head. His time in the game was about to be over though it had hardly begun. He felt his wooden cross tap rapidly against his chest as his heart raced with fear, his entire body shaking with fear as he tried to keep his voice steady as he continued to pray.
There was a whooshing sound, then the sound of the sword clattering to the stone floor. Aaron opened one eye then the other, Robert was laying on the ground a sword sticking out of his chest. Aaron felt another immortal enter the room and walk over to him. He heard and felt both sets of shackles unlock and fall off hitting the floor hard.
"Easy son," a man with a deep voice and the hint of a Scottish accent said helping Aaron to his feet "I'm here to help," the man made sure Aaron was steady on his feet and walked over to retrieve his sword. He returned to Aaron "Can you walk?" he asked,
Aaron nodded still trying to piece together the situation; seconds before he had nearly lost his head now was he going to really lose it? He didn't have a sword; his first and only sword had been taken from him when he was arrested. No way to defend himself.
The man took hold of Aaron's shoulders and guided the boy to a passage and both climbed in. Aaron struggled to keep up with the man's long strides as they moved down the passage, it seemed like forever until they reached the end and with one push Aaron breathed fresh air. The bright sun blinded him for a second and he rubbed his eyes with one hand and quickly reached for his cross and pulled it out from under his thin raggedy shirt, he held it tight in his hand and bowed his head quickly to mutter a quick prayer of thanks.
Once they where outside on the street heading away from the tower that loomed over them like death casting his shadow, scythe in hand ready to bring death to those who stood in his way, Aaron looked back at the tower only once, before turning to the man.
"Why did you help me?" he asked
"I have been watching Robert a very long time I knew what he was up too. Then I heard from a close friend that an immortal had been taken to the tower under Robert's orders. I had no idea it was a child."
"I owe you my life," Aaron said softly "how can I ever repay you."
"By staying away from Robert, he is mine to deal with that is all I ask." Aaron nodded. "What is your name?"
"Aaron, Sir" he said "Aaron MacLeod" the man stopped short and stared at him
"You are Aaron MacLeod?"
"Yes," the man smiled
"Do you know who I am?" Aaron shook his head "my name is Connor MacLeod" Aaron's mouth dropped open, the man he had heard stories about from his father was standing in front of him.
"I've heard tales about you, from my father. I never thought I would meet you,"
"Then you truly are Duncan's son? I had heard Duncan had a son, to be perfectly honest Aaron I didn't believe it possible."
"Aye, da' told me," Connor nodded
"Do you know where your father is?"
"We became separated; I came here…hoping maybe he was here as well." Conner put his arm around Aaron's shoulders
"Would you like something to eat Aaron?" he asked, Aaron nodded quickly. "Then come with me and we'll take care of that."
*End flashback*
Aaron reached back into his bag and extracted his cross, given to him by Darius 307 years early. In those years he'd had to replace the twine that kept it around his neck three times and it was going to have to be four soon. But the cross itself hadn't really changed it was still the same as it had been when Darius had given it to him. It had survived 307 years filled with hundreds of events, that people nowadays could only read in books and maybe see acted out on TV, and was still pretty much in its original condition, Aaron had done his best to take good care of it. Carefully, he slipped the cross around his neck and let it lay against his shirt for a moment before slipping it under his shirt and out of sight.
Duncan's bed creaked and groaned a little as he changed positions, causing Aaron to jump a little. Carefully he slipped his sword back in his bag and stood up. He wasn't going to take it with him, something in his heart was telling him to leave it there, so as quietly as he could, Aaron slipped through the door, down the hall, and out of the hotel and into the warm, moist air and into the fog that covered Boston like a blanket. The sky threatened to continue its raging weather attack on Boston at any time.
At first Aaron was just slowly walking down the street, hands shoved deep in his pockets ignoring the people gathered on the sidewalk, some who yelled their voices slurring and mostly unintelligible to him asking what a little boy like him was doing out in the city alone. Or others that tried to scare him away. But the further Aaron got from the hotel, the faster his pace became, until it was a full flat out run. He ran and ran until his heart felt like it would beat out of his chest and his body was drenched in sweat. A clap of thunder echoed from the passing storm and the sounds of yet another well on its way made its presence known.
Walking around Boston at night now was so very different then it had been in the 1700s, back then folks who passed one another on the street would bow their heads at one another and courteously bid each other a good evening. Now people walked passed you as if you were either not there or were diseased. Homeless littered the street, taking shelter in whatever they could find. It made Aaron sick, he couldn't understand how mortals couldn't see what they were doing to such a beautiful city, or what they were doing to their fellow man.
Down an alley, Aaron saw a man being mugged, held at knife point the man obviously a businessman returning home from a very late night at the office handed over his briefcase and his wallet without question. Aaron knew from past experience getting involved was a bad idea, but this was wrong and he had to do something to help. He bent down and picked up a small liquor bottle that added to the disgusting sidewalk, hoping his aim wasn't going to be totally out of it, he threw the bottle and nailed the mugger in the head. The mugger dropped the briefcase and the wallet as he rubbed his head, taking this opportunity the businessman grabbed his belongings and ran out of the alley, he pushed Aaron out of the way, knocking him to the ground. The mugger had regained his composure and saw only Aaron, who was slowly standing up after getting knocked on his butt.
"You!" the mugger shouted, uh oh, Aaron thought and took off running down the street, the mugger followed close behind him. He darted into the Common; inside he looked around quickly and as fast as he could, climbed the nearest tree. The mugger ran under the tree and looked around; Aaron held his breath and didn't breathe again until the mugger had run off towards the T.
Aaron waited a few minutes before carefully lowering himself down to a low branch and allowing himself to drop the remaining few feet. He landed on his feet and sighed with relief. Suddenly a bright flash of lightening followed by a ground shaking clap of thunder came, announcing the arrival of another storm. Seconds later the sky opened up and down-poured.
In a matter of minutes Aaron was soaked to the bone, the baggy shirt now weighed him down and the left side was so heavy that it hung down over his shoulder. He shook some of the rain off and began his long trek back to the hotel, hoping he would get there before Duncan woke up. It was only a few minutes before his old sneakers were completely soaked through, even though he tried to avoid the pond size puddles that formed on the sidewalk from the overfilling drains it didn't do much good whenever he managed to hop around one puddle another one would be waiting for his feet right where he landed.
Despite the loud thunder, the further from the Common he got the more distinctly Aaron began to hear footsteps following him. At first he brushed it off as his imagination overreacting. But when he made a turn down another block and the steps followed him, he started to pick up his pace, the footsteps did the same. Twice Aaron turned around to confront his follower, but was met with only sheets of pouring rain and the faint image of streetlamps illuminated every now and then by the blinding flashes of lightening.
A car sped by and drenched Aaron completely when it drove through a large pond size puddle near the sewer. Grumbling Aaron shook his head sending water spraying, he rubbed his arms trying to warm himself as his body began to shake with chills. He now looked and felt like he had gone swimming in his clothes.
"Jerk!" he said out loud then paused making a face "I swear they aim for me…what am I a magnet for trouble?" he paused again "and puddles?" He muttered then stopped when he heard the footsteps again; this time he began to walk slowly acting normal, then he quickly turned around. The person who had been following him was quick enough to get out of his sight before he could get a real good look at them, but their timing sucked because at the same moment they ducked out of his sight the sky let loose another flash of lightening and he caught a glimpse of a tall woman "hey wait!" he said loudly running towards the woman "hey come on wait a sec!" he ran around the corner, but when he got there, there was no one in sight, just a couple of cars driving.
Very confused, Aaron began to walk towards the hotel, its lights in the distance. A police car turned on its lights and drove over to Aaron, this isn't good, he thought as the car parked on the curb. The window was rolled down and a man in his late 20s looked at Aaron sternly.
"Everything ok kid?"
"'Course officer,"
"How old are you kid?"
"12,"
"What the heck are you doin' out here this late at night kid?"
"Just went for a jog, I'm er…practicing for my schools marathon and I gotta get in shape."
"12:30 at night?"
"Uh yea,"
"Look kid it aint safe to be out here by yourself, especially this part of the city."
"Yes sir,"
"Why don't you hope in we'll give you a ride home, maybe talk to your folks about letting you out here alone at night."
"That's not necessary Officer, I'm almost home, I swear I won't do it again. It's scary out here, I've learned my lesson." Neither officer looked convinced, but thankfully for Aaron, a call about a robbery in progress on the green line came over the radio. Aaron shook his head; it was probably that same mugger he had met up with.
"Watch yourself kid, I don't want to see you out here this late alone again, and if I do guarantee we're gonna have a talk with your folks."
"Thanks officer," he said turning to leave, as the car drove off Aaron sighed with relief "don't worry you wont." He mumbled and headed off towards the hotel.
Aaron returned to the hotel. He had made it seconds before the doorman was going to lock the doors for the night. The man wasn't too happy about Aaron darting inside soaking wet and dripping all over the carpets. Aaron grinned sheepishly
"Out for a late night walk sir?" the doorman said in a peeved kind of tone
"Heh, yea just a quick one, sorry 'bout the water," the man nodded still looking at Aaron angrily.
"Have a good night sir," the man said locking the doors and watching Aaron leave, his arms held across his chest.
Aaron nodded and darted over to the elevator. He went to his floor and as quietly as he could turned the key in the lock. He felt two immortal presences, one was his father. Aaron looked around cautiously and looked down the hall trying to find the other, in the dim light that flickered as another bolt of lightening erupted; he saw the outline of a man. Aaron felt his stomach drop; it was Robert, his sword flashing in the light. Another bolt of lightening ripped through the sky, lighting the hall and just as quickly as the figure had been there, that was as quick as it disappeared. Aaron rubbed his eyes staring down the hall. It was empty, Robert was no where to be seen, like he had never been there.
"What the bloody hell?" he muttered, had that just been his imagination, or had Robert really been there? Or was he finally losing his mind. Not really wanted to stick a round and find out, he quickly threw open the door and darted inside.
Duncan work up immediately he sat up and turned on the bedside light. There stood Aaron, dripping wet and breathing heavy.
"Aaron? What's wrong?" Aaron took a deep breath trying to remain calm so Duncan wouldn't suspect anything, that didn't do any good; Duncan could see something was wrong.
"Nothin' Dad,"
"You went outside?"
"Yea, just stepped out for a breath of fresh air, got caught in the sudden monsoon like downpour."
"Aaron, your pale, you look like you just saw a ghost."
"More like Frankenstein's monster," Aaron muttered under his breath "but really who could tell the difference,"
"What?"
"I said, er naw it's just I'm…er cold, it's cold out there." Duncan looked at Aaron like he didn't believe him at all, but decided Aaron looked too tired to really interrogate him, he just hoped that Aaron would start to confide in him again.
Aaron let out a wide yawn and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Duncan got out of bed, and peeked out into hall, it was empty of life. He looked back at Aaron, who was shaking not with cold, but with fear, he could see it in Aaron's eyes, something had terrified his son, the look in Aaron's eyes was that of someone who had just seen Death himself. Duncan sighed, shut the door, and walked over to Aaron holding his arms out wide.
"Come on son," Aaron hesitated for a moment, but he was too tired, to scared, and too confused to really protest, he fell into his father's arms, exhausted and on the verge of passing out, apart of him told him not to fall asleep it wasn't safe, but his body protested this and he couldn't help it, his body was winning. Duncan picked him up and carried him over to his bed; he untied Aaron's sneakers, slipped them off, and covered him with the blankets. Aaron moaned a little and curled up under the blanket. Duncan put his hand on Aaron's head, he was now completely asleep, something that Duncan knew he was in desperate need of. "Sleep tight Aaron, I love you my son," he whispered before shutting the light between the two beds off and sat in his own bed, book in hand and sword next to him, he was going to remain awake all night if he had to, anything to keep watch over Aaron, he smiled a little, just like he had done so many times when Aaron was small.