Keepers of Time

9. Buried Truth

9. Buried Truth

“What were you thinking?  What was going on inside your mind to have caused you to act in that way, Cal?  Are you mentally incapable of refraining from attacking someone?”  Gabriel roared.  He was pissed and when he was angry he ranted, while pacing back and forth the vicinity of the room.

Nole was sitting on his bed, casually lying down as he stared up at the ceiling.  A quick read of his mind voiced the same questions and allegations that Gabriel was saying.  He wondered what could have set me off to have fought with Lucas almost beating the living crap out of him.  If it wasn’t for Gabe and me…I don’t think he would have stopped.

Nole was right.  I don’t believe I would have stopped if they hadn’t showed up.

“Oh!  And not just anyone,” Gabriel continued, flinging his hands up in exasperation.  “No…Calder Montgomery had to fight with a fellow Keeper, a fellow brother!  For what?  Why did that fight occur ‘cause I sure as hell don’t have the slightest idea other than the obvious.  But the Calder I know would never in his right mind fight for something that trivial.”

 “I know!”  I snapped.  “I lost control.  Sorry.”

“That’s it?!”  He whirled around facing me, his eyes a torturous stormy gray.  Damn.  He was really pissed.  “That’s all you have to say for yourself.  It’s not me you should be apologizing too, it’s Lucas.”

“What?”  I stood up clenching my jaw.  “He’s the one who started the fight anyway.  I was only acting in self-defense and if you were there you would know that instead of jumping to conclusions!”

He sighed in frustration, grabbing his hair and pulling at it.  “You shouldn’t have been involved in an altercation with him.  You could have held him off just as easily without beating the crap out of him.  That’s my point.”

He was right. I could have restrained him, but that was the easy way.  Gabe should know that I didn’t take the easy route when it came to solving a problem.  The solution to solving Lucas’ interference was to teach him a lesson my way.

“What am I going to do about this now?”  Gabriel muttered, slumping down onto his bed.  He sighed, flopping on his back crossly.   

“Nothing.”  I said.

He scoffed.  “Easy for you to say.  You’ll have to get a mark on your record for this.  You know fighting with another is against our code.  We aren’t supposed to waste our time fighting with one another over mundane things, but-”

“But fighting against the evils of the world.”  I finished.  It was one of our mantras that were engraved in my head.  I sighed knowing that Gabriel was right.  “Fine.  Report it to our fathers.  It’s my first time and I’ll probably just get off with a warning.”

There was no response from him and I let the quietness come as a comfort that this discussion was over.  I hadn’t even been inside our room for five minutes before he came storming in and accusing me for what happened at the restaurant to be my fault.  Sure, it had been my fault but not entirely.  If Lucas hadn’t shown up to stick his nose into places where it did not belong then we never would have had a problem.  But things were never easy.  Life was never easy.  Someone always ruined a perfectly good moment.

I took of my shoes and began to undress when suddenly an alarm started to sound, ringing in my ears.  Immediately, I was alert and so were Gabriel and Nole as they leaped out of their beds and headed towards the door.  I quickly put my shows back on followed suit, buttoning my shirt in the process.  I found the hallway filled with our novices, confusion and alarm written all over their faces.  They were preparing for bed as some were dressed in their pj’s while others were still wearing their casual wear.  Looking around, I saw that the other Keepers in our council were running towards the foyer and I was the last of us left.