The Ranger (Book 1) by E.A. Whitehead

Author:E.A. Whitehead
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Ethan Whitehead
Published: 2014-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13: Shadows of the Past

The heavy metal door slammed shut with an ominous thud, plunging the small hole into darkness.

It took Vincent’s eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim blue light coming from across the room. He was once again with his child self. It was cold, and the child was scared. The boy started shivering, then shaking, and couldn’t stop.

A muffled sob drew Vincent’s attention to the light. The light was coming from a small stone that was hanging around the neck of one of the little girls from the neighboring farms. She was huddled on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands.

Suddenly, Vincent was seeing though the child’s eyes. He slowly edged toward her. She didn’t react. “Are you alright?” he asked cautiously. At this, she cried harder. Vincent shifted uncomfortably before sitting next to her. “Everything will be ok,” he said, trying to reassure himself more than her. “You’ll see. Pappy is up there. He’ll take care of everything.”

A thunderous boom shook the little chamber, shaking some dirt loose from the rough cut ceiling and sending it raining down on the cowering children. The little girl grabbed hold of Vincent and was holding him close. To Vincent’s surprise, he was holding her too.

They sat holding each other as more and more booms shook the ground. The girl was still crying, while Vincent repeated to himself, “Pappy will protect us, everything will be fine,” over and over.

Time seemed to creep by as the noise got steadily closer. They could faintly hear the shouts of men now through the ceiling. One final boom shook the chamber, much louder than any of the others, and it lasted much longer. And then there was silence.

It was deafening. None of the children dared to move. What had happened up there?

Vincent’s imagination was awhirl with the possibilities. Each imagined scenario finished with his father standing triumphant over the armies of the monsters from his stories. Any second now, Pappy would fling open the door to the chamber.

Time continued to drag on, and still the chamber door remained closed. Slowly, Vincent’s mind turned to less savory thoughts. What if something had happened to his parents? He pushed those away. Nothing could hurt his parents, especially his father.

The door at the top of the ladder creaked open and light flooded the little chamber. They must have been down there much longer than Vincent had thought, as the sun had risen and now shone down on them.

A head appeared, silhouetted by the blinding light.

“They’re down here,” a voice called, sounding relieved. It was not a voice that Vincent recognized, but it apparently came from the head at the top of the ladder. “It’s alright,” the voice said comfortingly, “you’re safe now.”

Vincent started climbing the ladder. As he got higher the man came into view. He wore a silver mask that hid the features of his face. A large chunk was missing from the left side, not quite reaching his eye, and he was bleeding heavily, but Vincent hardly noticed that.

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