Ethan Eternal
Episode 1
“
It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The entire world seemed to dissolve into a fine mist of luminescent haze and then condensed with the ease of an autumn breeze into a single white line of liquid fire. The sounds of electronic monitors and muttering geniuses blurred with this change until Ethan could only detect a faint pulse of an unknown origin.
The thread of light stretched from right to left across his vision… gently throbbing with the odd mechanical pulse… and both slowly began to grow… as though blossoming into something beyond any possible explanation… into something divine. Later, Ethan would call this experience “bathing in a river of light” or more succinctly “bathing”. No matter what the circumstances around him or the reason for his recollection, this would always be accompanied with the most brilliant smile a boy of 9 could manage.
…but Ethan was no boy.
The river soothed Ethan like nothing else ever had… or could… and brought him an unknown calm… a serenity that he never would have believed possible. Despite his disbelief, it was so… and it was magical. For 12 hours, the river captivated him. For 12 hours, Ethan’s mind embraced a power that had no other witness. He alone would know this majesty.
Perhaps it was the river that changed him… and not the technological glory of men. That would have made a great story… a tale worthy of mention in texts far greater than this… it might even be granted a status of Holy Canon… but alas… only Ethan would know this miracle as anything more than science.
Even now… as the engine of the Mercedes hums a gently lullaby… through the darkness of the night sky and his shut eyes… Ethan can feel that warm memory saturating him from the distance of the recent past. The song of new tires against cooling pavement below him only aides him in the recollection of his sweet dream… a dream still fresh within him.
“Mr. Dorian?” a low gravely voice begins but then quickly breaks as tension overcomes it.
“Uh… I mean… Ethan?”
The boy opens his eyes… beautiful blue eyes… and casually glances to the large man turning awkwardly around from the front seat of the automobile. Ethan smiles. He yawns carelessly and stretches his arms like a house cat. He brushes his dark brown hair to one side and then marvels for a moment at his own small hands. He knows that staring so intently at his hands would seem very strange to anyone watching him… and he fully intends to stop doing this so often… but it has been a hard habit to break… and here… among these hired thugs… well… who cares what they think?
“Ethan?” the man in the passenger seat asks again patiently.
“Yes Lucas?” the boy answers calmly.
The large man shifts in his seat awkwardly… he is awkward much of the time lately… and then continues.
“We’re back
in
Immediately realizing his mistake, Lucas begins to speak but the single raised finger of the boy stops his words before they are formed.
“For the last time Lucas… never… call…me…sir.”
The man pauses and then nods obediently. He turns around to face the highway ahead and remains silent once more. In the rear view mirror, Ethan catches the eyes of the driver on him. This man too seems awkward and upon notice he looks away instantly. Ethan’s brown tightens for a second and then he smiles again… showing a perfect white smile.
“It’s good to be home.”
Both men nod in unison as though tethered to the same strings.
Ethan chuckles. He is about to continue analyzing his hands again when the roar of a speeding Chevy Blazer steals his attention. A white and blue streak fires past the 3 car caravan… passing them on their left and then continues on for about 50 feet before slamming its brakes down hard… provoking a cloud of white smoke.
All 3 Mercedes’ repeat the abrupt halt of motion… each swerving in and out of the right hand lane… barely missing the stopped Chevy resting on the road. Ethan is jolted hard but his seat belt keeps him from any severe movement. Lucas is not so lucky. The massive man smashes his jaw hard against the dash board… screaming obscenities and spilling a wad of bloody spit in the process.
Ethan winces at the sight of his blood. He has always hated the sight of it. Blood is such a disgusting thing… wet… warm… full of so many smaller things… squirming… slippery…
Ethan notices his hands again… his tiny youthful hands… red from their tight grip on one another. Seeing them calms him down enough to loose his grip and also see the Chevy speeding along side the car again.
Ethan’s driver floored the gas. All 3 cars peeled away their tread as they shot forward once more. In the blink of an eye, all had stopped and were now rushing forward faster than before. Ethan swallowed a lump that was catching in his throat and turned his full attention to grasping the seat on either side of him.
“What the hell?!!” Lucas shouted in his thundering voice as the white and blue SUV pulled along side the car. An automatic window lowered on the passenger side of the Chevy revealing an enraged woman staring back with hate filled eyes.
Ethan met
those eyes. The two glared deeply into one another’s bright blue stares for a
prolonged moment until at last the equality of their tie was broken by the
woman’s shattered composure and
inescapable tears. As she began to cry…
she pulled her steering wheel sharply towards the Mercedes. Ethan gasped in
shock as her vehicle met his. The concussion of the impact knocked both cars
away from one another. The Mercedes spun to the right and then flipped 3 times…
immersing it completely in fine
The Chevy wasted no time spinning. Instead, it immediately barreled end over end as it struck a guard rail. For a moment, it was airborne and flew into the sky like a spinning rocket before coming to a final rest upside down in a drainage ditch. The other cars skidded to a screeching stop. Armed men rushed free of their seatbelts. The night fell strangely silent… and then… the fire started.
Ethan saw the river of light again… but this time… not as a memory. It lasted only seconds… but it was there. He was astonished that he would see this. There was no reason for it. All the machines had long since finished their work. There should be no reason for such a vision… yet it was there… and with the same warm feeling as before… yet it did not last.
The boy opened his eyes as a heavy set man in a trench coat pulled him free from a cloud of churning smoke. George was driving the car directly ahead of his. Ethan didn’t have to ask to know what that meant. A glance down proved final on the question of his driver and of Lucas. Pity. They deserved better. The two men were tangled together amongst a variety of glass and steel. Ethan winced and frowned.
George lowered Ethan to the ground once they had reached a safe distance from the fire. He took several minutes to look over the boy; checking him for injuries or signs of them.
“How do you feel Ethan?” George asked with a sincere rumble.
Ethan glanced into George’s drooping stare and nodded. No words were needed. Ethan always liked George. He was probably the closest thing to a friend Ethan had ever known. They often played Blackjack and Texas Hold ‘Em while waiting for late night phone calls… passing time together… like some sadistic ritual before the deaths of kings. Once might call them friends… if any man can ever truly befriend his servant.
“Where is she?” Ethan asked with a low hiss. He could not conceal his anger even if he had tried. George knew this and simply nodded. The two arose carefully and slowly began walking in the direction of the overturned Chevy. No smoke or fire poured from it… only muffled sobs escaped. She was alive.
Despite his throbbing skull, Ethan managed to shout into the broken window of the blazer. With an unexpected sentiment, his words stung the sky.
“Get her out of there! Now!”
George moved like an oiled machine. He glided to the driver’s side of the Chevy and bent down behind it. A woman screamed and cried as iron clanked and grinded. Seconds later, the massive man lifted up a blood soaked lady that Ethan knew all too well. George threw her onto the side of the ditch. She clutched the dry earth with her quivering hands struggling to breathe. Ethan took a step toward her as she gathered enough strength to lift her head. Blue eyes met once more… knowing eyes… the same eyes…
“Danny…” She whispered through broken teeth.
Even the sight of her mangled face was not enough to break the spell between them. Captivated; Ethan answered with the voice of her son.
“I am not Danny. I am not your son.”
Like a wave, her face contorted… the expression changing from longing and despair into bitter rage.
“You killed him!”
Ethan stared back at her coldly. He met her watch until her stare began to fade. As anger left her, the tears returned and she seemed to look upon the boy before her as though he were still the one she had raised for nine years.
“Danny… I’m… I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes shut for the last time as her broken body slumped and then slid down the side of the canal. Ethan watched her with an odd fixation. This woman had almost killed him… and yet he owed so much to her… to the blood once within her veins and now cast fruitlessly upon this empty road. He would honor her one day. She deserved that… after all… in a way… this was his mother too.
“Ethan. We should go.” George murmured reluctantly.
The boy broke his stare… looked to the man before him… and nodded once more but before the night would end, there was one task left for his brutish friend. Perhaps she too would see the river of light. The thought amused Ethan.
“Burn her.”
(To Be Continued)