Closure

A solemn gray mist hovered about him, yet Matt could care less. It was becoming bitterly chilly in the cemetery as was much of everything on the northern side of the city. Every breath he would take would add to the fog until it would just blend in with its blank dimness.

Matt looked at the aging sun, his eyes glowing in synch with its brightness. Since birth Matt had always been synchronized with the earth--the physical earth that he would dwell consciously in and then the spiritual earth, only binding itself to those at rest. Some could call his gifts a blessing, and others, as ever he did at times, a curse.

His father never had the gift of "seeing" and in the end that would result in his death. A single tear fell from Matt's eye and onto the fresh dirt as if it were hanging on a cut string. If only he could "see" as Matt could now, if he could smell a rose before its bloom…if only he could greet the sunrise and salute the sunset before their fate as he could…maybe…just maybe…he could be alive right now. Matt shook away the dreadful thought.

His gift most definitely was from his grandfather. His power was even stronger than his own, yet much too feeble to harness it as he once had. Still chained the church as Matt saw it. He was and has been a priest since the death of his grandmother which was before he was even born. Matt found it useless to spend so much time in that cathedral, wasting his life away day by day for fulfillment when fulfillment, to Matt, could thrive in the heart of the pure--a church is just a symbol for that, a symbolic waste of stone and wood. Nothing more nothing less.

But this was different. Matt dropped a single scarlet rose in front of the headstone. He had to. Matt read the round stone once again…to make his heart feel at rest again and maybe to set this particular spirit free.

Matthew Frederick Holloman

Farewell to a

Loving father and Husband.

~*~Love shall set thy free~*~

His father was buried next to Matt's mother, just as he had always wanted. Buried next to each other just as they both wanted. Two lovers torn apart by dieses when Matt was just a child. He could hardly remember her but it would be impossible for his father to forget her for the remainder of his life. She was his only true love, Matt hoped dearly that they could spend eternity together.

"Father, I--", Matt had to stop himself from bursting into tears. Taking a deep breath he continued. "I miss you so much…I know you would have wanted me to go to your service and all…but…", Matt impulsively emptied his tear filled eyes. "But…you know."

Matt looked to his sides and behind him cautiously. He shouldn't even be at the cemetery…it could give people suspicion of his identity. He promised himself he would not stay long.

"I love you. I just wish I could just hold on to you long enough to say goodbye.", he sniffled queasily, "Say hi t--to mom for me. I will see you one day.", he added grimly. "But I have to go now. I swear I will avenge you father.", Matt turned red. "I will fight until the death for you…I-I swear."

Matt bent over to place the rose closer to the tombstone and ran walked off quickly, struggling to never look back.

~*~*~*~*

Upon the nearness to its destination, a round transparent sphere hovered weakly until its surface made its way onto the ground. With a final glare the sphere burst into grains of sand and from its center walked out Cole in a mid-aged civilian guise.

Words could not describe the horror on his face. Expecting to be greeted by the warm oak trees and cozy homes of his neighborhood, Cole instead saw a cratered revulsion of the aftermath.

Frantically he ran to his home, not his apartment which he lived in, but his beautiful home that held his kindly mother and the rest of his family. Cole could still not believe his eyes, his heart told him to stop looking…but he had to know…he had to know if his family was killed the explosions that he had conceived in his own palms. Did he kill them? Was all of this destruction his unintentional doing?

He wished could go back…before the rubble that lay dormant around him. He wished he could just go back to the days before the attacks…so he could just hold on to the hours and never let them go.

He was in the neighborhood…but he wasn't quite sure where he was. Nothing looked familiar, every house and, as far as he could tell, form of life was gone, just black rubble.

The sun was pretty intense in the direction he was heading. His best bet was to find the tower where this horror began. If he could spot the tower he would be fine…but he searched to no avail. With no houses or trees to block his few, he was very sure that the tower, like everything else was gone.

But he just couldn't believe that his home was gone…that just couldn't be true…but he could see no house anywhere in the distance.

He squinted his eyes almost to the point of shutting them, a slender object could be viewed slightly, at the bottom of an approaching hill…the hill that lead to his house!

Cole sprinted carelessly through the wreckage…the object became larger as he reached the top of the hill. But it wasn't a house…it was a billboard.

Curious to the contents of the billboard, Cole began to run, but then found himself sliding roughly down the hill. Having nothing stable to hold on to, Cole just went along with it, shielding his face with his hands until the small hill came to an end.

Cole brushed the dirt off of his clothes and ignored the minor cuts on his skin, continuing to run towards the billboard.

Oh no. Cole thought fearfully to himself. This was the exact street his house was on. He could tell from the distant view of what led into downtown. They didn't…he assured himself. They did not do that…he thought again reassuringly.

But they did. As Cole reached the billboard, he fear was confirmed. It stood on the grounds his former house had once stood on. Cole threw himself into the wreckage in tears.

Lunging his fists into the ground angrily, he searched through the dirt around the legs of the tall billboard crazily…maybe this wasn't his house…maybe it was somebody else's home…not his.

But his nails dug into something unbreakable. He cleaned away the dirt that covered the metal object…it was a long piece of gold plated metal that read 2319...Cole's address.

Cole threw the metal as far as he could hurl it, which was far enough for him never to able to find it again. He roared in anger as tears ran down his tender cheeks. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Exhaling he stood up slowly and stepped back far enough to read the billboard.

His mouth gapped open.

On the billboard was an enlarged picture of himself that stretched across more than half of the already enlarged advertisement.

It tore his heart to shreds to read it more than once.

In oversized black letters it read:

Mother Killer.

Sister Killer.

American Killer.

Need we say more?

Be American and beware.

Clenching his fists tightly, Cole slowly loosened his grip.

Taking another deep breath, Cole headed toward the city.