The Unwanted Guest Part II

Rena shut the door to the house behind her and made sure it was locked. The warmth of the house was a relief, but one she had no time to bask in. She looked at the child, still laying asleep near the fireplace. Good, if he begins to cry, I don’t know how I could explain it.

As quietly as she could, Rena gathered some food from the kitchen and bundled it together. Crack! Wood in the fireplace snapped and the baby began to stir. “No, don’t wake up,” Rena whispered. She abandoned the food bundle and picked up the child. She had seen Odo do it dozens of times, holding the child against her shoulder she rubbed his back gently and comforted him in a soft voice. It worked. Rena was amazed, the baby had drifted back asleep.

Rena took the child back to his crib and left the house with the bundle of food. Across the lawn, Rena made her way back into the barn. “Ezra,” she said in a hushed voice.

The barn was dark and empty. Both the lantern and Ezra were gone. Stumbling around in the moonlight, Rena saw the broken cuffs sitting on the workbench and one of Odo’s handmade toys next to it.

He can’t know. Not off that alone. Rena rushed back out to the field. She looked around for any flicker of lantern light, but there was nothing. She tried to retrace her steps back to where she had left the rungu stick. All the dirt in the moonlight and the dark wood of the stick would only help the weapon blend in with the ground. Rena tripped on the uneven ground. I can’t stay out here.

Rena gave up on her search and rushed back to the house. No matter where Ezra had gone, Rena knew there was one place she couldn’t allow him to be. As she opened the door, Rena could see Ezra warming his hands by the fireplace. On the ground next to him lay the lantern and rungu stick.

“What are you doing in here?” Rena asked. Her eyes darted to the guest bedroom door to see that it was still closed.

“I thought I’d bring this in for you,” Ezra said, tapping the rungu stick. “There were no horses in the stables. Your husband is out,” Ezra said.

Rena could think of no other answer, “Yes, but he may be back soon. He doesn’t mind traveling the roads at night, even against my warnings.”

“Then I’ll get out of here in a moment, I needed the fire. Is that the food?” Ezra gestured to the bundle in Rena’s hand. There was no ill intent or manipulation behind Ezra’s words. However, years in prison did seem to do murder on his manners.

“Yes,” Rena replied. She set the bundle down beside him. Ezra immediately dug into the bag and began scarfing down. It had been days since he had a proper meal.

Rena picked up the rungu stick and placed it back on the mantle over the fireplace. Crack! Another log popped, putting Rena on edge. Her eyes drifted again towards the guest bedroom. Please don’t wake up.

“Are these yours?” Ezra asked between bites.

Rena followed his eyes to the altar of urns. “Some of them. Most are my husbands.”

“Do you see anyone else from back in the day?”

“No, this place is far from everything. How did you know you would find me here?”

“This man,” Ezra said. He pointed to the military coat’s nametag which read, Echo Agari. “Her files have all sorts of info on old prisoners. They keep track even when they let us go, afraid we’ll start trouble again.”

Makes sense, Rena thought. But if they figure out Ezra has come here, then there will be no end to the trouble.

As Rena looked across the room for anything else that might be out of place, she noticed the baby clothes she was working on laid out on the couch. She tucked the clothes between the cushions as she took a seat. Rena felt something poke her side. The screwdriver from when she had fixed the window was still in her coat pocket.

“Security in the prison only really cares about the necromancer. They don’t care if us loyalists escape. We’re bound to be caught in the next census anyway. There were tons of security gaps. From there I managed to hop a train that passed close enough by,” Ezra said as he finished off the last bit of bread.

“Are the others in there okay?” Rena asked.

“They still toil in the fields, I’ve been lucky working inside. I wanted to tell the others about the Necromancer but could never get to them. Funny, it’s easier to get out of prison than to get around it.”

“No one else knows you’re here?”

“No, I wouldn’t betray you like that. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve gotten too hot,” Ezra said. He took off his jacket and rolled it up beside him. “You’re not warm?” Ezra asked, noticing that Rena was still wrapped in her coat.

“Still a little cold,” Rena replied.

Ezra scooted over to make space for Rena by the fire. Rena hesitated, but as Ezra grabbed a poker to push around the logs, she knew she couldn’t sit back. If another log cracks or drops the baby could wake up. Reluctantly she took a seat beside Ezra and politely took over tending the fire by grabbing the poker.

“Why did they let you go?” Ezra asked.

The question caught Rena off guard, she nearly turned a log over herself in shock. “What do you mean?”

“You finished serving your time sooner than the rest of us. What was the difference?”

“I guess the committee must have misunderstood my role. Odo was the instructor for the prisoners who worked in the fields. He promised to keep an eye on me while I worked here. Soon after we got married.”

“He rescued you.”

“Yes.”

“You think you owe him a millenia for that?”

“No, we enjoyed our time together. We’re a family.”

“It takes more than two people to make a family,” Ezra said sourly. “It’s been two thousand years since my children spoke to me. I am thankful for this immortality, but it sometimes feels like everyone else in the world has forgotten the essentials for living. That’s what needs to change. Thankfully we have time.”

Rena looked on at the fire. Despite a millennium passing, and both of them looking nothing like they did when last they saw each other, Ezra seemed to easily return to that old state of friendship. Of all the men that once served under Rena’s command, Ezra was among the most personable.

“You’re still cold?” Ezra said, noticing Rena’s gaze into the fire. “Here,” Ezra grabbed a log and placed it in the fireplace.

“Wait,” Rena tried to stop him, but it was too late. The added log caused the others to collapse and roll over with a thump and a series of cracks.

WAHHHHHH! The child began to cry. Ezra stood up in shock. “What is that?” Ezra asked. He moved before Rena could answer.

“Ezra-” Rena tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Ezra entered the guest bedroom and saw the crying child thrashing in its crib. “Who is this?” Ezra asked. The other person in the house was a surprise enough, but the crib was something Ezra had never seen before. “Is this some kind of cell?”

“Ezra, step back,” Rena pleaded.

“Is this Odo? Has he just been reborn?”

“No, it’s a guest that’s stayed with us longer than expected.”

The crying of the baby continued. Ezra looked at the thoughtless creature and noticed his size. “How many months are they?” Ezra leaned in and Rena plucked the child up and backed out into the living room.

Ezra followed after them, “Is that what I think it is?”

Rena tried desperately to hush the child, hopelessly patting him on the back, “It’s nothing. They were born deaf and have asked us to smother them. You know how some people get when they’re reborn in bodies that don’t work to their fullest. Odo and I refused, so this is how they get back at us.” The lie came rolling out, and although believable, Rena’s panic revealed the truth.

“This is a baby. A child!” Ezra said. “How is this possible?”

“Ezra, I’m telling you, this is just a guest with poor manners. Perhaps-” Rena was cut off by a sudden smash. Ezra swiped several of the urns off the altar, shattering them on the floor. Ash scattered across the carpet.

“Do you know what this means? Reincarnation, the necromancer’s death, and the birth of this child. Don’t you understand, the fools must have done it!” Ezra’s rage could not be contained. Rena kept quiet and tried to put distance between them.

“They’ve found a way to end immortality and they made the necromancer their first victim. That’s why news of his death wasn’t reported. They know they don’t have to look for him. The years of hunting people down, the endless resources us prisoners take up, now they must have found a way to bring permanent death back into the world. That child is the result of those fools,” Ezra’s raving was terrifying.

Rena could hardly keep up with his words as the child was still crying in her ear. She knew what it looked like when someone had worked themselves up into a rage. Gravity always felt heavier when murderous intent entered a room, and now the baby in her arms felt heavier than it ever had before.

Ezra turned his back to Rena and leaned on the fireplace mantle. His head tilted back to look at the rungu stick. Rena knew she had to do something, but with the child both her hands were full.

“Maybe we can fix it,” Ezra said. “Maybe there’s a way to bring the necromancer back. His power was based on sacrifice. That’s why there was a plague before the revival. Life requires death.” Ezra’s hands began to shift. Another moment and they would surely be around the weapon.

“Hold him,” Rena said. The demand caught Ezra off guard. He turned around to find Rena approaching holding out the child. “When was the last time you held a child? The necromancer is great and powerful, how could he possibly succumb to death?”

Ezra was stunned, but before he could form any argument, Rena had passed off the child to him. “Use both hands,” she said, “Look in his eyes. We’re guilty of a lot, Ezra, but this child is innocent. It…He has to have a chance.”

Ezra stared at the child, looking for something deep or profound within himself, some instinct of fatherhood that once existed, but there was nothing there. In his eyes the baby was nothing more than a loud whining animal. Nothing would be lost if the child were to die. It’s hardly even a person, Ezra thought.

Ezra looked past the baby and noticed that one of Rena’s hands was hovering just below, as if worried that Ezra would drop the child. As Ezra lifted his head to look Rena in the eyes, he felt the sudden jolt against the side of his head. Rena had used all her might to drive the screwdriver from her coat pocket into Ezra’s skull.

In an instant, Ezra collapsed to the ground, the screwdriver impaled in his head. On the way down, Rena’s other hand snatched the child from Ezra’s arms. There was a brief spasm, and shortly after Ezra went still. The blood slowly spilled out onto the rug, mostly stopped by the screwdriver still plugged in his head.

“I’m sorry, Ezra. I hope it was painless,” Rena said.

After comforting the child back into his crib, Rena got to work rolling up the body in the rug. It was a gift from Odo from their previous lifetime together. Rena had taken good care to keep it in quality condition, but now that didn’t matter. Unfortunate, she thought. It was one of the nicest pieces they owned. She had hoped it would last at least two hundred years.

Rena began digging a grave deep in the middle of an empty field, that way the disturbed dirt wouldn’t stand out amongst the rest of the field. It was nearly dawn, and Rena thought the hole was not nearly deep enough. A good bit of rain would surely make the body surface. Her hands were blistered and red from the cold and the wooden handle of the shovel.

As Rena dug, she looked at Ezra’s corpse. Murder wasn’t uncommon for her, and the connotation of the crime had long since changed. With Ezra gone, Rena had delayed him from acting, but she knew that in several decades Ezra would be alive again. When he’s reborn he could tell the accountants, or worse the other necromancer loyalists. Rena and her family would surely face danger, but they had time.

“Do you need help,” Odo said. He stood above the grave looking down at the body. He unrolled the rug to get a better look at the victim. The prison uniform told him most of the story. “What happened?” Odo sat on the ground bringing him close to Rena’s level. Rena explained the whole night to Odo and when she was done Odo simply said, “I see.”

Rena wasn’t sure if she would tell Odo, but now he was made an accomplice. He slid off the side to stand in the shallow grave with Rena. “You’ve been up all night. Go rest, I’ve got it from here,” Odo said as he grabbed the shovel from her.

“You’ve been up too. You must have taken the roads in the dead of night to be here this early,” Rena said as she pulled the shovel back. Odo smiled at how right she was.

“I’ll grab another one from the barn,” he said.

“Grab the cuffs as well.”

Odo climbed out of the grave. As he started off for the barn, he looked back at Rena, “It’s a good thing what you did. I would’ve made the same choice.”

“All I did was buy us some time. It was foolish,” Rena replied.

“No,” said Odo, “It was instinct.”