Three days later
Connor and Murphy sat on the couch in the family room while they watched a movie on the television and Ebony was sleeping on top of the couch near Murphy's right shoulder. The cat's tail lightly tapped the right side of his head every now and then and Murphy lightly brushed the tail away.
"Hey guys," Diego said, walking into the room and he went to sit on the recliner. Devil went to settle next to the recliner and Diego reached down to pat the top of the gray wolf's head. "What are you watching?"
"One of my favorite action movies," Connor said.
"Which we have seen over a hundred times," Murphy grumbled and Connor glared at him.
"Did you need us fer somethin'?" Connor asked as he looked at Diego.
"Lisa's been on my ass about getting a new bull," Diego said with a sigh.
"Still haven't found one?" Murphy asked.
"Nope. Though I do have a friend who trains people to ride bulls for rodeos. He said he might have a bull. Wanna go check it out?"
The twins looked at each other as they had a silent conversation then nodded their heads.
"Let's go!" Connor said, getting up.
Startled, Ebony fell off the top of the couch after Murphy stood up and Murphy picked the cat off the floor.
"Sorry," Murphy said, holding the cat in his arms and Ebony growled. "Yeah. Yeah."
Placing the cat on the back of the couch, he scratched Ebony's ears then he, Connor and Diego left the room.
Houston
The white truck stopped near a red Ford as the door opened and Diego got out of the truck. Devil followed him while Connor and Murphy got out of the back of the truck and they went to catch up with Diego. They headed for the gate and Diego walked to a man with blonde hair and green eyes.
"Hey, Pat," Diego said.
"Hey," Patrick Archer said as he glanced at Connor and Murphy. "Who are they?"
"This is Connor and Murphy MacManus. They're Annie's brothers."
"Hey," he said with a nod. "You here about the bull?"
"Yeah."
"Follow me."
They walked by the gate as they headed down the path and the sound of cheering, snorting and clapping filled the air. They headed for the bleachers as they walked up the stairs and they sat down. They watched some of the trainers as Connor smiled and Murphy slightly flinched when one of the trainers fell off the bull.
"How long does it take to learn to do that?" Connor asked with the surfer accent.
"For some? It takes a few months. Other? It might take a few years," Pat explained.
"Did you ever do it?"
"Yeah. Started when I was fourteen. Won a few junior rodeos then went full time."
"Why did you stop?" Murphy asked, dropping his accent.
"Got really badly hurt a few years ago. Broke both legs and wrecked my right shoulder."
They watched a few more trainers as one of the trainers nearly got slammed into the wall and Connor and Murphy flinched.
"Let's go," Pat said
They walked away as Connor and Murphy looked at their surrounding and a man with red hair walked to Pat.
"Hey, Archie," Pat said.
"Hey," Archie Gray said then he looked at Diego, Connor and Murphy. "What's going on?"
"They're here to see Angus."
"You sure you want him?" Archie asked and a sense of dread moved through Diego.
"Is there something wrong with him?" Diego asked as he looked at Pat.
"He won't let anyone ride him for some reason," Pat explained.
"Can we see him?" Connor asked with the surfer accent.
"Sure."
They followed Pat as they walked by the buildings then they headed for the barn. They walked by the stalls when they arrived at the stall at the back of the barn and they looked at the bull with a black hide and tail and the bull had tan hide around its nose, mouth and around its eyes. The horns were black and curvy and soulful, dark eyes looked at them.
"How old is he?" Diego asked as he looked at Pat.
"He's just two years old," Pat said.
"How long has he been here?"
"It's been two months."
"And he doesn't let people near him?"
"No. He's fine around people. Just doesn't want anyone riding him."
"Has the vet looked at him? He might have back or legs problems."
"Yeah. We had the vet look at him. His back and legs are fine."
Diego watched as the bull moved around the stall then Diego removed the cellphone from the pocket of his jean. He looked at the screen when he pushed the buttons then held the cellphone to his right ear.
"Lisa? Yeah. It's me. What? Yeah. Connor and Murphy are with me. I took them to check out this bull I was thinking of buying. Yeah. It looks friendly. No. It's healthy, but… Hold on. It seems it doesn't like people riding it. What? Ok. I'll ask," Diego said then looked at Pat.
"What's up?" Pat asked.
"She wants to know it's bloodline."
"I've got its paperwork back at the office. So…. Are you interested in buying it?"
They looked at the bull as Diego titled his head to one side and Angus made a low mooing sound.
the Golden Cactus Ranch
The white truck came to a stop as the larger truck stopped behind the white truck and the doors opened. Diego and Devil got out of the white truck as he closed the door and Connor and Murphy got out of the back of the white truck. They walked to the larger truck as Pat and Archie got out of the truck and closed the doors. They walked to the back of the large truck when Pat opened the doors to the back of the large truck and they looked at Angus.
"Hey!" made Diego turn while Annie, Lisa, Darcy and the kids walked closer and Lisa walked to Pat.
"Are you sure the bull is tame?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah," Pat said with a nod.
Lisa walked up the ramp as she looked at the bull and Angus lowered its head. Something told her Angus was harmless as she smiled and moved her right hand for Angus to sniff. The bull sniffed her hand then nuzzled her hand with its nose and she lightly stroked her fingers over the soft hide.
"Let's get him into his new pen," Lisa said, walking down the ramp.
Archie and Pat headed up the ramp as Pat opened the gate, but the bull didn't move.
"Come on, Angus. It's ok," Pat said.
"Yeah. This is your new home," Archie said.
Angus stood still and was slightly shaking.
"What's wrong?" Annie asked.
"I don't know," Lisa said.
Connor looked at the bull when he walked up the ramp and he headed for the bull. Angus had a rope lead around its neck as Connor locked eyes with the bull then Connor slowly knelt down to pick up the rope lead.
"Easy now," Connor said in a soft voice and gently pulled on the rope lead. "No one's going to hurt you."
Angus inched closer while Connor slowly walked backwards, headed for the ramp and he led the bull down the ramp. Angus looked around as the bull sniffed the air and its ears perked up at the sound of the cows mooing.
"See?" Connor said as he lightly patted the bull's nose. "Everything is fine. You are going to have room to roam around and you'll have the other cows to hang out with."
He barely pulled on the rope lead as the bull moved and he led Angus toward Lisa and the others. He stopped as Annie walked closer and she barely patted the bull's neck.
"He looks like a real sweetie," Darcy said, lifting Nichole off the ground and Darcy walked to the bull.
"It won't bite?" Nichole asked.
"Nah!" Connor said.
She carefully moved her left hand toward the bull's head as she quickly patted its right ear and Angus made a soft mooing sound.
"See? He said hi."
"What's his name?" Peter asked.
"Angus."
"Cool," Chandler said.
"Thanks for letting us have him," Lisa said and Pat nodded. She watched Pat and Archie get into the large truck after putting the ramp back up and closing the doors to the back of the large truck. Pat started the engine then put the large truck in gear and the large truck headed down the path.
"Where are we going to put him?" Darcy asked, looking at Angus.
"I think Paddock Thirteen," Diego said.
"We demolished that after Brutus died, remember?" Lisa asked.
"Then I guess we'll put him in Paddock Eleven."
"Let's get him to his new home," Connor said, lightly pulling on the rope lead and Angus started walking. They headed down the path until they came to an empty paddock with a small barn and Diego opened the gate. Connor led Angus into the paddock while the bull looked around and Connor removed the rope lead. The bull walked away from him as the bull sniffed the grass then the bull started grazing.
"Seems like he likes his new home," Lisa said.
"Looks like," Connor said, watching Angus' tail swinging happily back and forth.
"You do know you and Murphy are going to have to get its stable ready, right?"
"Aye, aye, Captain!" he said as he gave her a small salute. "Murphy!? Come on! We gotta get th'stable ready fer Angus!"
Nodding, Murphy followed Connor as they walked to the barn and Annie noticed the amused look on Lisa's face.
"He is something, isn't he?" Lisa asked after Annie walked over to stand next to her.
"Are you talking about the bull or my brother?" Annie teased and Lisa laughed.
"I'm talking about Connor."
"Yeah. He is," she said while watching Connor hop over the top of the fence and she softly laughed.
In the barn, Connor used a long handle broom to sweep the floor and Murphy was filling the water trough. Connor placed the broom handle against the wall when he went to place some feed into the feed trough and he frowned. The dream he had back at the motel moved through his head when he realized something and he looked at Murphy.
"Do you remember me tellin' you I had that strange back at th'motel?" Connor asked.
"You never told me what it was about," Murphy said.
"Like with yers, I was somewhere I've never seen before. Now I know I was here. Th'buildings… What I was wearin'…. All of it."
"Was I there?"
"Nope."
"What were you doin'?"
"I was jus' walkin' around. Th'next thing I know? I was standin' in front of Paddock Thirteen. Th'gate opened an' I walk inside. I had no idea why I was in there. That's when I heard this snortin' sound. When I turned around, there was this bull standin' behind me."
"You dreamt about Brutus?"
"I thought it was at first. But, now that I think about it, the hide was all wrong. Brutus had a brown hide. The bull in my dream had a black hide."
"Like Angus?"
"Jus' like Angus."
"Were you scared when you saw th'bull?"
"More like surprised. That's why I woke up."
"Hmmm…"
They finished cleaning and setting up the barn when they heard something entering the stable and they saw Angus heading toward them. They stood still while the bull explored the stable and the stall and its tail moved slowly back and forth.
"Looks like he likes it," Murphy said.
Nodding, Connor walked to the bull as Angus looked at him and Connor slowly held up his hands. He stopped in front of the bull when Connor lightly patted the side of the bull's neck and Angus barely nudged him in the chest.
"Glad you like it," Connor said in a soft voice. He nodded his head toward the door as they left the stable and Angus went to nibble on some of the feed in the trough.
Later that night
The first thing Connor noticed was the soft, double beeping sound.
The second thing he noticed was someone was holding tightly onto his right hand. He looked down to see Murphy's left hand and their knuckles were white.
The last thing he noticed was they were standing in what appeared to be a hospital hallway and they were wearing hospital gowns. Their feet were bare and he could feel the chill of the white tile they were standing on.
"What th'hell's goin' on?" Murphy asked with a sound of fear in his voice.
"I dunno," Connor said and he felt fear, worry and apprehension coming from his twin.
The air was ice cold and the lights in the ceiling started flickering on and off. A thin mist moved over the floor and around their bare feet. The mist soaked into their skin as they glanced at each other and a soft sound of angelic music started playing.
"No," Murphy whispered.
"Easy," Connor whispered.
They started walking down the hallway as the music grew louder and Murphy held on tighter to Connor's right hand. They moved by the doorways to the empty rooms when Connor saw the bright light coming from the doorway at the end of the hallway and the soft, double beeping sound grew louder.
"Connor…," Murphy moaned.
"It's alright. Keep walkin'," Connor said.
The bright light flared as they covered their eyes with their hands then Annie, Diego, Lisa, Darcy and the kids appeared and the bright light shimmered around them. Connor and Murphy watched images of Annie and Diego getting married, of Annie having children, of Lisa interacting with Peter and Chandler and of Darcy interacting with Mark and Nichole and they saw themselves in the images.
"What is this?" Murphy asked.
"What could be," startled them as they spun around, but they didn't let go of each other's hands.
"What could be," Connor repeated, blinking his eyes a few times.
The soft, double beeping grew louder as they stood in the hallway and the mist started to grow thicker around them.
"Conner…!" Murphy moaned
Connor felt the fear and worrying coming from his twin as Connor squeezed Murphy's fingers and they started walking back up the hallway. They stopped when a pair of metal doors appeared at the end of the hallway and they glanced at each other.
"No!" Murphy growled.
"Easy," Connor said, pushing on the door to his left.
Murphy pushed the door on his right as they walked in the room and they looked at the white tile walls and metal doors were bolted to the wall in front of them.
"No," Murphy repeated over and over and Connor pulled him closer. They held onto each other while two of the doors in the wall slowly opened and two metal slabs move toward them. Two of the metal doors opened as the metal slabs slowly slid out of the holes in the walls and white sheets covered the bodies lying on the metal slabs.
The soft, double beeping sound grew louder as the white sheets covering the bodies lying on the metal slabs started moving and Murphy buried his face in Connor's neck. Connor held onto the back of his brother's head as he felt Murphy shaking and he could just see dark brown hair and light brown hair appearing from under the sheets.
"What might be," filled their ears as the bright light flared and the soft, double beeping sound stopped.
Connor and Murphy gasped as they sat up in their beds and they breathed hard and fast. Getting out of bed, they headed for the doors when they opened the doors, went into the hallway and nearly crashed into each other. Connor held onto the sides of Murphy's head as they breathed hard through their noses and Murphy held onto Connor's shoulders. Both of them were drenched in sweat as their hearts slammed in their chests and they embraced each other.
In the other room, Annie's eyes snapped open as she felt something was wrong and she got out of bed.
"Where're you goin'?" Diego asked in a sleepy voice.
"I need to check on something," she said, kissing the side of his head. She headed for the door as she opened the door and she walked down the hallway. She could just see Connor and Murphy standing in the hallway when she carefully walked closer and she heard Murphy's sobbing. She stopped near them when she carefully touched Connor left forearm and Connor gasped.
"Annie?" Connor whispered.
"Yeah. It's me. What's wrong?" Annie asked as she touched Murphy's hair.
"No," Murphy whimpered.
"It's ok. It's Annie," Connor whispered.
"What's going on?" Annie asked.
"We… We had a bad dream."
"About what?"
"We were in a hospital. Don't know why."
"There was this… This beepin' sound," Murphy said.
"Like from that thing they had Romeo hooked up to."
"The beepin' kept gettin' louder an' we were bein' covered with this mist."
"Th'lights kept flickerin' on an' off."
"Sounds like something out of a horror movie," Annie teased, but her face became serious from the fearful look in their eyes.
"We headed down th'hallway t'this doorway," Connor said.
"Inside the doorway was this bright light," Murphy said.
"We saw…"
"What did you see?" Angie asked.
"We saw you, Diego, Lisa, Darcy an' th'kids."
"Were you there?"
"Aye."
"That's when we heard this voice sayin' what we were seein' is what could be," Murphy said.
"What could be?"
They nodded and Murphy wiped his eyes on the back of his right hand.
"We turned around an' went back down th'hallway," Murphy said.
"That's when we came t'these other doors," Connor said.
"Where did they lead to?" Annie asked.
"We think it was th'morgue," Murphy said.
"The morgue?!"
"We went in th'room…."
"There were these doors in th'wall an' th'room was ice cold," Connor explained.
"Two of th'doors opened an' these metal slabs came outta th'wall."
"An' there were two bodies covered with sheets on th'metal slabs."
"Th'sheets started movin'. That's when a voice said this is what might be."
"That's when we woke up."
Annie sighed when she moved closer and she hugged her brothers. She rubbed their backs while their heads touched and she felt their bodies shaking.
"Do you have any idea why you had that dream?" she asked and they moved back. She watched them have a silent conversation then they nodded their heads.
"We wanna tell you," Connor said, softly.
"But we don't wanna scare you," Murphy said, softly.
"I'm already scared," Annie said."
"This is really scary," Connor said.
"Does this have to do with Smecker?"
"No," they said at the same time.
"Does it have to do with the mob?"
"No," Connor said and Murphy shook his head.
"Then what…?"
"It has t'do with our callin'."
"Your calling? You mean it has to do with you being Saints?"
"Aye," Murphy said with a nod.
Annie felt a cold ball of ice forming in her chest as she sighed and Connor pointed to his bedroom. They walked in the bedroom as he closed the door and he flicked the switch to turn on the lamp sitting on the night table. Annie went to sit on the edge of the bed as she looked at her brothers and she saw the worry and apprehension in their eyes.
"Well?" she asked as she placed her hands in her lap.
"When we were called, Murphy an' I thought we would change th'world. That we were finally able t'take down all those scumbags we saw on th'news. What we didn't know is there was a price fer not doin' our job," Connor explained.
"Which isn't our fault. If Da…," Murphy said then paused as he pressed his lips together.
"Hold on. What does Da have to do with this?" Annie asked.
"He took us into hidin'."
"I know that."
"Which means we were not able t'do what we were called t'do," Connor said.
"He didn't want you to."
"That wasn't his decision t'make."
"It was ours," Murphy said.
"Well… It wasn't really ours either."
"True."
"Will one of you please tell me what's going on?!" she asked and they heard the fear in her voice. Connor walked to sit to her left while Murphy walked to sit on her right and they took hold of her hands. She noticed the look in their eyes as she squeezed their fingers and they slightly leaned into her.
"We forgot to tell you summat when we told you about breakin' outta prison," Connor said.
"See… We were at this motal an' we had these odd dreams," Murphy said and she smiled.
"Like the one about you being here before you came here," Annie reminded him and he nodded.
"Mine was about Angus," Connor said then told her about his dream.
"Damn."
"What we didn't tell you was what happened after we woke up."
"What happened?"
"We were talkin' then what happened t'us when we were called happened again. Only this time things were different."
"Different?"
"We heard th'same music an' singin', but what we were told…."
"It scared th'shit outta us," Murphy said.
"Why?" Annie asked.
"Th'voice told us our day of judgement was at hand."
"Judgement? As in you were going on trial for not doing what you were called to do?"
"Aye," Connor said and Murphy nodded.
"An' once we are judged, a decision was gonna be made," Murphy said.
"What kind of decision?" Annie asked.
"We have no clue," Connor said.
"Maybe that's what that nightmare was about," Murphy said.
"That voice did say th'part with Annie an' th'others is what could be."
"But th'part in th'morgue was what might be."
"Right."
Annie looked from one brother to the other as she thought about what they said then a cold chill moved through her.
"Uh… Just how are you going to be judged? I mean… Do you get surrounded by this white light? Does someone dressed all in black show up and you talk? Or do you….? Do you have to….?"
"Die?" Connor said and she nodded. "Dunno."
"And there is nothing you can do to stop it?"
"Not that we know of," Murphy said. They could see the tears in her eyes as they let go of her hands and Annie stood. They stood as well when they held her and she felt a calming peace coming from them.
"I don't want to lose you," she whispered.
"That's why we should leave," Murphy said and she glared at him.
"I told you before you're not goin' anywhere," she said with a growl and her accent grew thicker.
"Annie…."
"No. She had a point. We're not leavin'," Connor said and Murphy gave him a puzzled look.
"Does this have t'do with Lisa?"
"Lisa?" Connor asked with a shocked look and Murphy arched an eyebrow.
"You like her. An' you're startin' t'care about those boys."
"What about you? You like Darcy. An' you're like bein' a daddy t'her kids."
"Do we have to talk about this now?" Annie said in a small voice and they held her a little tighter. They stood in silence when she looked from one to the other and she sighed. "Do you…? Do you know when it's gonna happen?"
"No," Connor said with a shake of his head.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Don't tell anyone."
"They deserve to know."
"Aye. You're right. But we don't want t'be treated like… Like…," Murphy said then sighed.
"Like you're dying?!" she asked as she arched an eyebrow.
"Aye," Connor said as he ducked his head. She reached over to touch his hair as he sighed then he looked at her. "Shit. I feel like Da. He didn't wanna tell us about him dyin' from cancer."
"He was just trying to protect you."
"An' we're tryin' t'protect all of you," Murphy said.
Annie nodded as she moved away and she watched them go in their bedrooms. She heard the soft click as the doors closed and she walked back down the hallway. She walked in the bedroom as she looked at Diego sleeping under the bedding and she headed for the bathroom. She closed the door after going inside and carefully headed for the toilet. She sat down on the toilet when she placed her face in her hands and softly sobbed.