Before the Storm

Beast laid in bed listening to the rain that beat against the window, it had a rhythmic beat to it. He loved the rain, it was the only thing that was able to calm his mind at the end of the day with the Enforcers. The pitter patter of the rain drops was enough to lull him to sleep, but what was on his mind now was something that not even the rain could drown out. The light from the street light sent shadows over everything in his room making it seem like the lamp on his nightstand was some sort of tree with wicked branches stretching in different directions making a feeble attempt to attack him.

The thought was enough to make him laugh despite himself. His gaze flicked to his laptop that always remained open, especially when he had a sudden urge to look something up. He had a terrible case of insomnia which worked well with him being an Enforcer. He could sleep for 10 to 20 minutes, and have the energy to last him the whole day, or week if need be. Since he knew he wouldn’t be going to sleep anytime soon he decided to put his time to better use.

Beast pulled himself to a sitting position, his limbs wanted to protest the action, but he was determined to do something to get his mind off things. If it was one thing he hated it was too much silence. Now that he was sitting up, he cracked his neck, and anything else that would allow his circulation to move freely. He took this time to look at his barren apartment, something he had promised Madison.

Madison, crossed his mind more than once since he had been re-assigned to the Omicron squad. If it hadn’t been for his mistake, she would still be alive. The guilt alone was killing him, but he promised her that he would live for the both of them. He promised her that if he found her again, it would be him that killed her for what she had been turned into against her will.

Just thinking about her sent his mind back to that time. It was only supposed to be a routine recon mission that turned all too real. Before he was drawn into the past too much he stood feeling the bare pine floor under his naked feet. It was cold, but that was good because it forced him to move.

Beast took in the sight of his apartment, and how he had decorated. He went to the walled and flicked the switch which lit the apartment up revealing every nick and cranny. The walls were adorned with a variety of guns. One of his favorite places was the gun range. Although he liked guns he had a growing appreciation for swords. The swords were on the opposite wall. Madison had given him an obsidian handled full tang stainless steel katana. On the blade she had ‘Beast’ engraved. The blade itself was custom designed with jagged edges that were some how melded with mercury which made it look like a beast of a blade. The blade opposite of that had an ivory handle with a slender stainless steel blade that is replaced with a wooden blade by the push of a button both had ‘Beauty’ engraved on them.

He always made a point of taking his blade out of its sheath to admire the workmanship, not to mention reminisce about when he first received it. It was the same day he told Madison he loved her. He decided to forgo the unofficial ritual, and made his way to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror he saw how different he looked now. His once light skinned complexion now had a haunted look. He turned the water on in the sink realizing that the handle needed to have a new washer because now a stream of water shot into the air wetting the grey t-shirt he had on along with his now nearly bald head. He missed his shoulder length straight brown hair.

He switched off the faucet as best he could then looked into the mirror as he rubbed water that had just rolled into his eyes, he almost didn’t recognize the amber brown eyes that stared back at him. He had had enough of looking at the himself in the mirror, and just wanted to get a change of clothing. On his way out of the bathroom he slipped on the water that had shot out of the faucet banging his knee on the way down to meet the floor. The pain of the impact pulsed through his leg, and brought a tear to his eye that he wiped away quickly with his calloused hand.

A memory of his former commander sprang out of nowhere. Beast was always taught to use his pain as motivation, and never to give in to it.

“Don’t be a bitch! If I were to shoot you in the arm, what would you do?” Would you scream, or would you try to disarm me before I shot you again?”

That involuntary memory made him rub the place he had been shot to prove a point.

“Crazy old bastard.” Beast grunted, pulling his 5'11 frame up from the floor. He balanced tentatively on his left leg while stretching his right out trying to shake off the tingling sensation that was quickly fading away.

Beast walked back to his bedroom taking his shirt off while he went deftly missing a chair he had pulled out earlier in the night when he was taking his gear off. Beast grabbed his jeans, his favorite comfort clothing when out fell his wallet, opening to the section with his name. Caleb Stone stared back at him. Sometimes he almost forgot his real name, not that Caleb Stone was his real name, but one he had chosen for himself. It was close enough to the truth.

He sat on his bed telling himself that he would be there for only a moment. Then felt that familiar burning sensation behind his eyes, so he closed his eyes for a mere second. When he awoke the sun was shining through the window illuminating everything in a warm glow. Something was strange and different.

“Oh shit, no, not again.”

Caleb was having the dream again.

The smell of eggs cooking filled his nostrils making his stomach growl loud enough for him to think that if it were a animal of some kind it would be right there in bed with him. It was this thought that drew him back to the reason he dreaded this dream more than others. He knew what was going to happen, but he was powerless to stop it. First, it began with singing, and as if on cue he heard singing coming from the kitchen. He may know what was going to happen, but for the sake of seeing her again he decided to just go with it for a while at least.

He pulled himself from the bed noticing that he was missing the clothing he had on. In fact he had no clothing on at all, but he didn’t care he just wanted to see her one more time. So he walked out naked for anyone to see who may be looking through the window from the opposite building. He was no longer in a studio apartment in Seattle, but back in California, living at the center. His dreams had a cruel way of structuring things. At the center the apartments were set up as dual conduits which if you wanted you could see into another apartment with little to no effort at all. Madison usually had the blinds open so the sun could flood the apartment with its brilliance. This was something Caleb had gotten used to since they began living together.

She had an affinity for yellow roses, so the front room was filled with them, and when the sun hit them it looked as if they were small individual light bulbs. On the walls were pictures of art she loved to stare at for hours trying to contemplate just what the artist was thinking when they painted them. All of them were fakes of course but close enough to the real thing to make her happy. The floor was covered in cream colored carpet. She made a priority to change the blue Caleb had in there previously, saying that it looked like old 70's stuff that just didn’t go well with what she had in mind. He didn’t argue just smiled, and kissed her full pouty lips then watched her work as she laid out all of her plans for the room. That was all six months ago.

He stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching her as she sang, and danced her way around cooking breakfast. Her skin was a light brown with a hint of red, she had a round face with slanting eyes which showed traces of her Asian lineage. Her dark raven hair flowed down her back nearly touching her ass, and it didn’t go unnoticed that she was wearing his t-shirt which was way too big for her being only 5'2, but made it perfect for her to wear around the house like a dress. From what he could tell she was in the process of making his favorites; Pancakes, eggs--over easy, bacon, and brown rice. At the moment she was in the middle of pouring more pancake batter in the skillet while singing a lyric from the Mariah Carey song ‘We belong together.’ She had just hit the high note when she happened to glance over and saw Caleb standing there in all of his naked glory, she dropped the batter on the floor which splattered everywhere including on Caleb.

He couldn’t help but laugh, but she was livid.

“Good morning baby.” He greeted as he bent to pick up the mixing bowl that skittered over to where he was standing.

“You do realize the window blinds are open, so everyone can see your cock and balls.” She snatched the bowl from him, taking it to the sink to be washed.

“I’m sorry, is it wrong for me to want to come see what my beautiful fiancé is doing in the kitchen?” He laughed, grabbing the mop from beside the refrigerator.

The scene changed.

Madison was surrounded by a group of vampires screaming for Caleb’s help, but the strange thing was that this time whenever she opened her mouth to scream it was as if her voice was a phone ringing.

Beast was jolted awake grabbing for his cell that was going off somewhere in the confines of his blanket. Finally finding the damn thing he flipped it open to reveal the touch pad. When he pressed the green button to answer the phone he put it to his ear.

“Beast.”

“Wraith, what’s up?” Sleep made his normal gruff voice deeper.

“I have a job for you.”

“Great, all this silence is driving me nuts.”