Chapter 2: Nothing Lasts

There is one thing all Wisemen are bound to know, NOTHING LASTS.

And so did came the quietus of Laurelwen's merry life. The news swept through the town like forest fire. The news of their doom. Upon the red alert, the government was informed that the land upon which the town had been built, due to some tectonic imbalances, is departing from the mainland. Faster than their comprehension.

The mere evacuation for those few hundreds took 15 days. The scientist surmised the blessing of only 10 days and then soon the town will be off in the seas.

No place is perfect, we all know. So was Laurelwen. Being a secluded town, it had a lot of vacant blazing desert land between it and its nearest settlement. A place couldn't be denied by executors of evil deeds and bearers of corrupted minds.

A mafia can efficiently work in such a place. But now even they are too leave. Upon their ears devouring the news that there are still around 10 people in the town, it was no less of a heaven sent gift for them to rob the moribund town of all they could muster to reestablish themselves elsewhere.

They breeched the almost abandoned town with its remaining 11 citizens. It was the unpleasant choice of fate that Eddie and Anna were amongst them.

Even in her eighth month, Anna refused to leave alongside the firsts and stayed behind to help to whatever extent she can. It was the day she was to leave, but it all fell down.

Eddie took her into hiding. There was no way they could escape now. They were surrounded and Anna wasn't in the plight to run. They have to wait.

She sat there, quiet and still. In a pit oblivious to her, till now. Eddie had never told of it, a small hiding pit underneath their house. But that wasn't what bothered her in the moment.

Her eyes never leaving Eddie's face, carefully studying every movement in it. His body never ceasing from the work of loading supplies around Anna until it almost fairly cocooned her. His eyes never meeting her gaze. But it couldn't hide from Anna's observation.

She contemplated all there was to see, the deep emptyness o'er his face, all the lines and freckles felt like an eternal cease. But his eyes, they were flooding a thousand emotions. They were cold and dry, yes, but she saw the storm whirling in it. And she saw ... Grief.

Grief not of everything ending, not of losing her and his daughter who wasn't even born. It was Grief of Knowing... Something that he must do. Painful and necessary.

When there was nothing else to do, at last, Eddie drew his sight to finally meet Anna's patient ones. For a long moment neither of them moved. Eddie looked with such adoration in his eyes as if there is no world, no disaster, no mafia, nothing else... Only Her. And for a split second, he wished nothing more, just to stay with her, die with her. As in their holy vows.

But he pulled back the very moment realization struck his nerves. Their Daughter.

And for her... He can't stay. It made his heart constrict at the imagination of never being able to see her, never to hear her first cry, never to watch her crawl and then walk on her tiny feet which may one day tread beyond the seas.

Slowly he raised his right hand to reach for Anna's cheek and delicately cupping it, he lightly brushed her cheekbone with his thumb.

The warmth he proffered, overwhelmed Anna's soul and the rivulets of salty tears broke free, coursing through her cheekbones and creases of her nose, laving o'er his slender fingers. She leaned into his hand, her fingers aching to grab hold of it, never to let him go. The attempt of stifling her cries only made her facial muscles clench painfully.

But it was nothing in front of the torment her heart was enduring. And that was nothing in front of the sacrifice he was making.

"Shhh.... Stay strong, stay strong. You'll be safe, both of you." Eddie made all his efforts to calm her down.

" And you not." Anna almost retorted. Melancholy still laced in her voice.

Enough. Eddie knew it was enough. He can't stay any longer. He has to leave. Now.

With the thought draped o'er his mind, he moved to plant a kiss on her forehead. And as the touch disconnected, he whispered, "Call her Annie".

His hands retreated,

feet carrying him away.

Still humble his head high,

like a soldier to war in the wake of Day.

And like a swift breeze, he crossed the range of her vision. She strained her eyes through the hot tears streaming down her hearthless cheeks, trying to capture every glimpse of her man, the last of her home, her family, fade into oblivion.

It was clear as crystal, Eddie was not going to survive. The mafia wouldn't leave him alive and they were powerful just fine enough to shoot the life out of ten men.

The ugliness of the haunting thoughts made Anna shiver so severely that she couldn't bear the weight of the chaos anymore.

She left the pit.

The pit which who knows, would be her safety or captivity. Following the faint threads of light through the dark curtain, she slowly padded barefooted, approaching towards the balcony, cracked but still standing by the corner of the house.

She made her way further on all fours. Her back heaving with weight and effort. She pressed her fingertips to the wall of the balcony as she balanced herself while sitting on her feet. Her eyes slowly rising from the balcony as the sun rises from the horizon. What her vision welcomed was not welcomed in her heart.

Eddie was on his knees, leaning on one knee while the other seemed limped from some strike. Countless gashes danced across whatever visible part of his body, with a few matching his freckles. What terrified her more was a rifle and where it aimed. To his heart. He was soon to join his other fallen brothers who seemed nothing more than tiny sand dunes from the distance and the blaze of noon. She could hear her pounding heartbeats in her ears and feel its thrumming up to her chin.