Full Circle

                  

Thunder rolled overhead, the downpour relentless. Lucy stumbled, her boots slipping in the mud as she crawled towards the dancing flames. Her knuckles bruised and bloody, the rain washing the gore from her clothes, the damning evidence mixing with the mud. The wind tore at her dark hair, silencing her noises of struggle as she slipped closer to the taunting inferno. The small cottage was no match to the holocaust of gasoline and a spark. Wood cracked and popped as memories floated away on embers and ash.

Lucy pushed past the front gate, the splintered wood hanging half off its hinges. The heat from the engulfed ruins of the cottage was almost too much to bear. But still she stepped forward, falling to her knees beside a small bundle that lay in the middle of the yard. The shrouding, thin cloth was covered in the print of smiling animals, he always loved the lions at the zoo. With shaking hands, Lucy gently pushed the bundle over, praying to a god she didn't believe in for a miracle.

His skin was so pale, but his face was serene. Even in death. He could've been sleeping if it wasn't for the burns that stretched across his body. She took him into her lap, cradling him to her breast as if he was an infant again as she hummed softly. She did not weep, her eyes dry and wild as she watched the flames.     

Slowly the fire died and the rain subsided, the sun daring to rise over the solemn scene. Lucy had not moved, she still sat hunched over her child, her eyes still trained on the ruin of their home. She stirred as the sun warmed her skin, seeming to rouse her from her disbelieving stupor. She looked down at her son, the dried blood and gore on his chest, his pale skin and unseeing eyes. The world stilled for a moment until Lucy threw back her head and howled in horror. The wail of a mother's grief shook the birds from their trees and echoed through the forest.

The coffee they had given him tasted cheap and was lukewarm. But Briar still sipped from it, having no idea what else to do. The waiting room they had put him was empty, the white lights too bright. They had told him nothing when they had brought him in, only to wait. So Briar sipped his coffee, grimacing at the bitterness. It at least washed the taste of soot from his tongue, though he was sure that the smoky smell still clung to his skin.

He looked up as the door swung open, a petite women in a prim uniform stood on the other side, flanked by two armed guards.

"Get up." the woman ordered, her hair pulled back tightly into a bun, making her skin looked pinched. Briar stood up obediently, his coffee still cupped in his hands as he shuffled forward. The two guards fell in behind them, their eyes as cold as the metal weapons they carried. The woman turned on her heel and led the small group down the hallway, her shoes clicking smartly on the white linoleum floor.

Briar watched the small women's bun as they walked, wondering how she got it pulled back so tightly. It looked like it could snap open at any moment. He sipped the coffee again superstitiously, eyeing the woman's hair.

Walking confidently through the twisting halls, the women stopped before a metal door. Looking back at Briar, she pressed her finger into the panel set in the door. The small lights on the machine blinked green before the soft clicks of a lock unlocking could be heard and the door swung inward. The two armed guards pushed Briar forward, the woman plucking the coffee from his hands as he stumbled past her. The door swung close behind him with a final bang.

"Briar Jones, aged 32, left the Lord's Service 7 years ago with dishonorable credits... And then you disappeared." a voice said behind him. Briar turned around quickly to face a man with graying hair who sat at the single table in the sterile room. "Please, sit down." The man gestured to the empty chair across from his own. Briar walked over and sat slowly, all instincts telling him to go, to find some way out and keep running.  "Your record is quite impressive, I must admit Mr. Jones." The man read the file in front of him, his eyes flicking from the text and Briar. "Extensive training in special ops, seems to be you made a quite the name for yourself." He flipped a page. "And then of course.., well I'm sure you're aware of what you did." Briar shifted uncomfortable.