Owen Blackbourne sat at the edge of the pier, staring at the lake. The water gently rippling as a gentle breeze blew.
The wind changed direction, and Owen breathed in a scent that brought with it vibrant, happy memories that belonged in another time, but not another place.
"Carina," Owen whispered, yet he did not stir from his position.
"Owen." His name caressed Carina's lips. "It's been a while, old friend," she spoke softly.
Owen sat perfectly still. To the untrained eye, he never moved.
Carina, however, noticed how his nostrils slightly flared as he inhaled her scent.
"You still wear your mother's perfume, Anais Anais," Owen stated.
"How could I not, Owen? It makes me feel close to her. If I close my eyes, she is still here with me," Carina's voice faltered, ever so slightly. Owen heard it though.
"Come sit beside me," Owen requested. He still looked out across the beautiful lake.
Carina obeyed and sat beside Owen.
Silently, they looked out across the lake; the waters calm. Both were deep in thought.
Carina broke the silence, "I know why you're here, Owen."
Carina turned and looked at his profile. He was dressed casually today. Something that she knew he didn't always feel comfortable doing. In a suit, Owen felt more in control.
In a suit or casually, she could read Owen Blackbourne like a book. Time might have physically changed both of them. As she anticipated, she felt that pull and she prayed that he still did as well.
"Your running, Owen, you need sanctuary. That is why your here, home, at my parent's home," Carina said categorically.
Owen remained still and didn't answer her statement. However, Carina, noticed the pulse in his neck increase ever so slightly. They barely had said more than a few sentences, yet their physical presence, to each other, spoke more than words ever could. That in itself, Carina contemplated was yet another demonstration as to just how close their relationship had been. They had been soul mates; children who grew into adulthood together. Their lives had been intertwined by their mothers, who were best friends and encouraged their friendship. Summers here by the lake at her parent's house, swimming in this very lake. Christmas at his father's skiing lodge in the Alps. The seasons changed, they'd changed with the seasons. They'd blossomed from childhood to youth, the future full of colour and promise.
Memories flooded Carina in a rush. She exhaled, and placed her hands in her lap. She placed her right hand over her left. Then she repeated the action, only placing the left hand over the right. So it continued, until Owen finally turned to face Carina and gently placed his hand on top of hers to stop her actions.
"I'm sorry, Carina," Owen said. His voice was thick with emotion and he swallowed before he tried to speak again.
Carina stopped him though, "No, Owen, don't say it! I can't bear it! I can't....I won't listen to you saying it," her voice filled with pain and desperation.
"That time has gone, Owen, it's over, there is nothing to be done, nothing to be said, nothing, that will bring them back." A tear betrayed Carina's courage and slipped down her cheek.
"I'm the reason that they are gone, Carina, I can never, I won't ever forget that."
Owen lifted his hand and pointed to his heart. "This is where it stays, Carina, here. It will never leave me, until the day I die."
"You used to say that about your love for me," Carina struggled to speak.
"You used to tell me that here" —she briefly touched the place over his heart—"is where I lived."
"That was another time, Carina, so much has happened. A part of me died that day, with your mamma. Another part of me died when your papa killed himself afterwards. Another part of me died when I watched you bury both of them. I cannot, I will not forgive myself for what happened, Carina. No matter how much you want me to. I will not."
"Owen, you were just a boy. A boy trying to do a man's job. I was there, don't forget. I saw and heard everything. The night is etched into my memory, every bit as it's etched into yours." Tears formed in Carina's eyes, then found their way down her cheeks and splashed onto her hands.
"Carina," Owen whispered, "I loved them. I loved them, so much, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't take the shot. I couldn't..." Owen didn't even try to stop the tears that now matched Carina's.
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4 years earlier
Carina ran through the halls of her home. Owen was chasing her, laughter echoing throughout the residence as they ran.
"I won, and you can't stand a girl beating you, Owen Blackbourne!" Carina tossed the words over her shoulder as she increased her pace. She began weaving in and out of rooms in her attempt to lose Owen. She was failing.
"You know what I'm going to do to you once I catch you Carina? I'm going to throw you in the lake, because you cheated!" Owen was laughing so hard he had difficulty shouting the words.
Carina ran towards her mother's private study. Looking over her shoulder she shouted to Owen, "Keep up!"
As she burst through the door of the study, Carina's next words to Owen failed her however as she tried to comprehend the scene before her.
Her mother, Sophia, was standing at the safe in her office and a man, a stranger was with her.
Sophia had her hand on the safe, however Carina noticed that her hand was trembling.
He wore a ski mask with white edging around the eyes.
Carina noticed that he was of slim build and about the height of Owen.
Something about him though was different.
His poise; he was too confident.
She knew that he had training; possibly Academy training?
No,she shook that idea from her mind.
"Mamma?" Carina said. "What's going on?"
Sophia turned towards Carina, and that is when the gun pressed into Sophia's side became visible.
"Mamma!" Carina cried.
"Stay where you are, or I'll shoot!" the stranger demanded.
"Caught you!" Owen burst into the room but stopped in his tracks when he noticed Carina's face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Carina gestured towards her mother and the stranger.
Taking in the scene, Owen cautiously moved towards the desk.
"Stay where you are! Don't move!" the stranger pressed the gun into Sophia's side further, and she winced.
"I'll kill her, I swear!" he continued.
"What do you want?" Carina, looked the stranger directly in the eye.
"I want the contents of that safe. Then I'll go," he said.
Owen did not believe for one moment that the stranger was sincere.
He remembered that Sophia kept a gun in the top drawer of the desk, which if he could reach it, was lying open.
"The safe! Open it now!" the stranger pushed the gun even further into Sophia's side.
"Let her go!" Owen pointed the gun at the stranger.
"Let her go, or I'll shoot."
The stranger pulled Sophia flush to him, and raised his gun to her temple.
"Try it," he sneered.
"I will shoot," Owen countered.
"No you won't; you're just a kid, you don't have the balls," the stranger sneered.
Owen straightened his arm and steadied his aim.
A cry left Sophia's lips. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she looked at Carina.
Carina watched her mother, terrified and frightened, and then she spoke to Owen.
"Take the shot Owen. Kill him."
Silence.
"Owen, take the shot. Kill him," Carina ordered.
Owen hesitated, and the next sequence of events were a blur to all concerned.
Carina tried to grab the gun off Owen, but a sharp noise diverted her attention.
Sophia slumped to the floor, a pool of blood gathered around her.
The stranger ran past Owen and fled through the door.
"Mamma! Mamma!" Carina cried.
Carina ran to her mother and cradled her in her arms.
Blood encompassing mother and child; the flow from Sophia's chest was steady.
"Carina," Sophia struggled to speak.
Suddenly, Sophia went limp, her eyes vacant.
"Mamma wake up! Mamma wake up! No! No! No! Mamma don't leave me! Mamma please don't leave me!"
Carina's cries echoed throughout the halls that had been filled with laughter minutes earlier.
Owen still stood with the gun in his hand, unmoving.
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Many thanks to B for Beta reading and trying to decipher my ideas!