Requiem IV: Death's Door the Final Hour
by Bonnie Eagan & Alisa Joaquin
Part 3: To Leave or To Stay
"I'm going to get blamed for this. If anyone is left alive, we've got to make them understand that I didn't do this."
"Peter, you must explain what you saw. Why do you believe you will get blamed?"
"I saw the village in flames and the monks in the temple were all dead. Then I saw the man responsible. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He removed his mask. It was my face that I saw."
"Peter, we know you did not do this." Matthew stated. "You saw only a vision. Visions can be like dreams. They are often filled with hidden meanings. And Visions are usually about future events."
"No, Grandfather. I was there. This happened to me before, but this time it was different."
"This has happened before?" Matthew asked.
"Yes, a couple of years ago. I somehow became connected to a killer. A cop. His name was Eagleton. He became obsessed with not receiving the Detective's position at the 101st. He said that Blaisdell played favorites because I was his foster son. He went out into the parking lot and shot a bunch of people. He was sent to a mental institution, but later escaped and started killing, again. It was then that he and I were connected because he was killing people that I had contact with. And now it's happening all over, again."
"Peter, are you in contact with the killer?" Kwai Chang asked his son.
"No, it doesn't quite feel the same. I sensed the death of the monks, not the mind of the killer. I don't know what's going to happen next."
Peter began pacing the room, his mind in turmoil. The death of the monks brought out all the old feelings of anger and fear, but at the same time it was different. This had been a different temple, not his home. And yet, the temple in the north had been no different than his home. For nearly a year it had been home as he retrained in the Shaolin ways. So many memories, good and bad were brought to the surface. If he hadn't been such a brat when he was nearly a teenager, trying his father's patience, and if his temple home had not been destroyed his life would have been totally different.
"Peter, are you certain that this has happened?" Matthew approached his grandson.
"Haven't you ever had visions, Grandfather?"
Matthew thought on Peter's words but did not say anything further. How could he explain to his grandson that when he had visions, everything that happened in them he could not act fast enough and always got there too late. It was like watching a death sentence. The visions were too painful, and that was partially why he sought solace in searching for . . . as his son put it . . . mere things. Searching for those mere things had become a means for him to try to understand what made them what they were. And it became a means to escape his own visions, visions often so terrible they became unbearable. Matthew remained silent for a few more moments. How could he tell his grandson that he did have a vision, a vision of Peter dying if he did not go. "What do you wish to do next, my grandson?"
"Go north, find out what happened then go from there. Someone did this and I need to know why."
Matthew nodded his head in response. "Then you must go."
Matthew left Peter and his son and moved to the meditation kwoon. He was relieved that Kwai Chang did not question his son's decision. Events were being put into motion that neither of them would be able to stop, even if they could. It was time to allow the Tao to unfold as it should. Peter must be the one to stop whoever was responsible. 'And I must be the one to meet the sword. It will break Kwai Chang's heart, but it must be done. I must become part of these events and allow my grandson to leave, or he will die, they will both die.'
Continues with Part 4