Chapter One
Sweat ran down between Aaron’s shoulder blades as he crept forward. His field of vision was practically nil, the darkness surrounding them was strangely complete and unlike normal darkness. It was the first clue Aaron had that told him he was dreaming and he clung to it like a drowning man.
The last place Aaron ever wanted to find himself again was back in the field surrounded by the other men of his group. Men that he would have trusted with his life…
Hank darted out ahead, the tactical rifle he held in his hands armed and ready for use. Aaron glanced down at his own assault rifle willing his body to lift it and fire off the rounds into Hank’s back but his body refused to comply. He was dreaming and although he knew what was going on he wasn’t in charge of what happened. Hank disappeared around the side of one of the dilapidated warehouses and was gone from sight.
Aaron shuffled forward, his body moving automatically as they were given the all clear to advance. He wanted to shut his eyes, to hide from what was coming next but it was impossible. Aaron remembered this night, every little detail painfully etched into the inside of his head like a tattoo.
Why was it always this dream? Why was it always the memory of this night that plagued him?
He knew the answers to the questions but it didn’t make it any easier. It was this night that had made his choice to leave easy. His doubts had suddenly become very solid reasons and he had handed in his resignation.
Gunfire ripped through the too black night and inside Aaron found himself cringing. He ran across the uneven ground his feet barely making noise as he positioned himself behind the door.
Screaming from inside the stone building gave Aaron all the encouragement he needed and without thinking he breached the door. The moment he was inside his training kicked in and carried him through the building.
There was a man sitting behind a table, his head slumped over onto his chest, dark liquid dripping slowly down onto the floor from the hole in the back of his head. Aaron swore silently under his breath and continued forward.
They had been given very strict instructions, the people inside were to be taken alive, whoever had beaten him into the building hadn’t paid any heed to their orders.
There was blood smeared along the walls in the hall as though someone had been pressed up against the wall and dragged along its length. Aaron found the second body, the dead man’s face still a mask of surprise as he lay in a dark puddle.
A gurgling sound caught Aaron’s ear and he stepped over the body, his gun held ready. More sounds were carried to his ears and Aaron found himself unable to make out what the sounds were or what they meant. Or at least the Aaron who held the gun felt that way. Dream Aaron knew exactly what he was hearing. It had taken him a long time to figure it out.
Each time he had the dream it always cut off but the memories were still there. Perhaps it was his brain’s way of trying to protect him, an attempt to seal him off from the responsibility he felt. A responsibility he should have felt more.
So many regrets…
Aaron froze with his hand on the door. There was no more noise, it had all dropped away into silence and he couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.
He paused waiting for Paul to come in behind him, waiting for Paul to call to him and ask him what the hell had happened. Aaron would turn and shrug and then the door Aaron had just walked away from would swing open, Hank framed in the doorway, his dark clothes covered in black wet patches.
Paul didn’t come and Aaron suddenly realised that he was back in control of the dream. It was no longer simply a recollection of a memory.
His body was suddenly overwhelmed with the smells in the room and Aaron fought the urge to gag. Gripping the door knob he twisted it hard, letting the door swing inwards.
The yellow swinging over head light cast an odd glow on the gruesome scene unfolding before him. Vomit fought its way up Aaron’s throat as he saw Hank in the centre of the room, the blade held high in his hand.
***
Aaron sprang upright in the bed, sweat causing the sheets to stick to him as he fought for air. The smells from the dream followed him and Aaron stumbled from the bed in an attempt to reach the bathroom.
He reached the toilet seconds before he spilled his guts into the bowl. His entire body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and the cool air from the bathroom made him shiver.
Dropping back onto the floor, Aaron pressed his back against the wide bath. He closed his eyes and fought to calm his breathing, to bring it back down to a more manageable pace, or at least one where he didn’t feel as though he might pass out.
The dream was different and new and Aaron knew exactly why he was having it now. He was responsible. He knew what Hank was, he knew he was a monster and yet he had invited him back into his life. It was Aaron’s fault that Hank had chosen Kirsty, his fault that he had even met her.
Aaron pressed his hands hard against his face almost as though he could force the feelings of guilt and regret back inside. Push them so far down in his body that he wouldn’t be forced to suffer with them every moment of the day.
Part of him wanted to argue that he didn’t have a choice. That he had known what Hank was and had allowed him access to Kirsty. If it was a choice between his secretary or the woman he adored then there really couldn’t be a choice.
Of course Aaron knew Heather wouldn’t see it that way and that was one of the reasons she could never know the truth. If she found out that he knew what Hank was…
It just wasn’t a risk he could take. Curling his hands into fists, Aaron beat them against the front of his head but it didn’t do anything to help him shift the images from his dream. They had joined the other images he had seared in there and it was becoming harder and harder to decide which were memories and which he had created himself.
He shuddered violently and then paused.
He’d almost missed it, the sound of his own thoughts too loud as they stole his concentration. Aaron pushed his body upright, pressing his body up onto the balls of his feet as he crept from the bathroom and out into the bedroom.
The sound caught his attention again and this time there really was no mistaking it.
Aaron picked up speed, moving from the bedroom and out into the hall.
The sound of a door clicking open almost silently had him on guard but David appeared in the hall, his hair standing on end and Aaron knew he had come straight from bed.
David caught his eye, the look on his face told Aaron that he had heard the noise too. Admiration for his brother rose in Aaron’s chest. David didn’t have the training he did, for all intents and purposes David was a civilian and yet he was creeping down the hall.
They met at the top of the stairs and Aaron took the lead, his body moving soundlessly as he took the steps two at a time. He reached the entry hall and moved straight for the door, David moved behind him and Aaron trusted his brother enough to know that no matter what happened, David would defend the girls.
Keeping his body low, Aaron peered out through the bottom of the window near the front door. As far as he could tell there was no one on the porch but as he dropped his gaze he spotted the package sitting on the doorstep and his heart dropped.
Movement across the other end of the porch had Aaron springing into action. Dragging the door open soundlessly he was out and across the porch before David even had the opportunity to react.
The figure was dressed head to toe in black and the moment he saw Aaron coming he started to run.
Leveraging his body against the railing on the wrap around porch Aaron boosted himself over the top, dropping down into the grass easily before he started to run.
The other man wasn’t disciplined and Aaron didn’t have to even push himself to catch up to him. He tackled him to the ground, their bodies colliding as he pushed the other man beneath him.
The masked figure grunted as he thrust his elbow upwards sharply in an attempt to catch Aaron in the face but it was pointless. Aaron moved swiftly, wrapping his hands around the other man’s arms as he pressed them high up his back.
The man on the ground whimpered his body going rigid as Aaron pushed hard enough on the other man’s joints to feel them teeter on the verge of snapping.
“What are you doing here?”
Aaron demanded, his voice hoarse with emotion.
“I was just dropping something off, man, I swear that was it! Please!”
His voice sounded young to Aaron’s ears, immature and he released his arms suddenly and ripped the mask from his head. The boy couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen and Aaron felt his heart sink in his chest.
If Hank was using teens as his messengers then it meant the kid on the ground wouldn’t know anything.
Aaron rolled up onto his feet and reached down, grabbing the boy by the back of his neck as he tugged him to his feet.
There were tears in the teens eyes and Aaron could see the tracks of them down his face as he fought to keep his balance.
“Why were you dropping something off in the middle of the night?”
Aaron shook the boy a little more gently as he turned him back towards the house.
There were other lights on now and two of the security guards were making their way across the lawn towards Aaron and the boy.
Anger rose in Aaron chest and he had the sudden urge to fire the guards on the spot. He hired them to protect his family and they’d let him down.
“Sir?”
The bolder of the guards stepped forward as though he planned on taking the boy into his custody. Aaron shook his head sharply, his eyes narrowed.
“Get the hell out of my house and take all of your crap with you.”
The guards stared at him, their faces stunned as they struggled to take in his words.”
“Mr Ashcroft, I…”
“Where the hell were you? Where were you while he was creeping around on the porch leaving boxes from Hank?”
“Something knocked out the security cameras at the back of the house and we went to check on it…”
Aaron shook his head.
“Not good enough. You have one job and that’s to guard the house and the occupants. You screwed up and I want you gone and don’t think you’ll be getting any references from me either…”
The silent guard didn’t say anything, biting his tongue as he turned and headed back in the direction of the house once more. The other guard who had spoken to begin with opened his mouth to pipe up once more.
Aaron glared at him, his stare withering and yet the other man held his ground. The boy in Aaron’s grip struggled suddenly forcing Aaron’s attention back to him as he whined.
“You’re hurting me, you don’t need to hurt me, I won’t do nothin’.”
Aaron started forward when the guard grabbed his arm forcing him to come to a halt.
“You’re making a huge mistake, I think you need a minute to reconsider.”
Aaron sucked in a deep breath drawing the air in through his nose before releasing it. He levelled his gaze on the other man, giving him the full weight of his hard eyes.
“I don’t need any time to think about it. I can’t trust you to protect the people I love, if I can’t trust you to do that, then you’re pointless and I want you gone. Now if I were you, I’d get your hand off my arm and I’d follow your buddy back to the house to get your stuff.”
The guard’s face shifted suddenly, his already angry eyes snapping with rage as he lashed out. But his body gave him away and Aaron saw the blow coming. He released the boy long enough to dodge the punch.
Aaron’s hand came back up automatically, his punch sharp and forceful as it landed squarely on the other man’s face. There was a distinct crunch and Aaron couldn’t help but feel a small modicum of satisfaction as he watched the other man crumple to the ground.
Blood gushed from his nose as he pressed his hands to his face, or at least Aaron assumed it was blood but it was too dark to be fully sure. The boy stood and watched, his mouth hanging open. The moment he saw Aaron turning back to him he lifted his hands as though in surrender.
“I swear I won’t run, you don’t need to do that to me!”
If it had been over anything else Aaron might have found the panicked look the boy was giving him funny. But this was related to Hank and Aaron couldn’t see the humour in any part of it. Hank was attempting to rip his life apart and whether the boy liked it or not he was now apart of it.
“Move, to the house, now.”
Aaron kept his commands short and concise as he raised his arm and pointed in the direction of the house. The teen didn’t need to be told twice and he scuttled in the direction of the house as fast as his legs would carry him.
Aaron strode after him, leaving the guard on the ground to moan into his hands.
Aaron reached the edge of the porch, the boy stood waiting on the steps for him, his hands twisting nervously in the black jumper he wore. David stood out on the porch, his arms folded across his chest and the expression he wore was anything but friendly.
“You fired the guards?”
They were the first words out of David’s mouth as Aaron stepped onto the porch. It made him pause and he stared up at the defiant look on his brother’s face. Aaron simply nodded, he didn’t need to explain himself to David, not in his own house.
David stared at him for a moment before he nodded, his expression lightening.
“Good, because I wasn’t sure how you’d take to me firing your guards in your own home.”
“If they deserved to be fired then I wouldn’t have a problem.”
“And the beating?”
David jerked his head in the direction of the man still hunched over in the lawn.
Aaron shrugged as he moved up the steps pushing the boy ahead of him.
“He started it and I finished it, what was I supposed to do?”
David laughed and Aaron fought to keep his own smile under wraps. The last thing he needed was to find pleasure in beating down on someone else.
The sight of the package quickly killed all joy Aaron might have felt. It sank down inside him, crushed beneath the weight of whatever he would find in the parcel. The last two had been bad enough and each one seemed to only get worse. Whatever this one contained, Aaron knew it would be brutal and he dreaded the moment when he would have to open it.
He swallowed hard in an attempt to push his emotions down inside. He would need to be as cold as possible if he was going to look at whatever perverse gift Hank had sent him.
“Aaron, what’s going on?”
The sound of Heather’s voice from the top of the stairs froze the blood in Aaron’s veins. She couldn’t see the package. Whatever else she learned, the contents of Hank’s gift was not on the list.
