G Hopf - Sanctuary

Sebastian, startled by Luke’s shot, turned toward him. He then trained the pistol on Luke, not sure if he too was going to go renegade.

Luke dropped the pistol and said, “He was going to kill Annaliese. I couldn’t have him do that. I couldn’t!”

Annaliese ran up to Luke and hugged him. Sebastian ran his hands through his hair. He couldn’t believe the way that this day was going.

“Wake up,” Pablo said softly to Isabelle as he stroked her arm.

She opened her eyes to see Pablo’s face hovering over hers. “What time is it?”

“It’s early. I wanted to say I was sorry for yelling at you last night. I have to leave today for a while. I’ll be back for dinner tonight. If you need anything, just call—”

“I know, call General Pasqual.”

“No. Don’t call him, contact Major Alejandro.”

“What’s wrong? You seem tense,” she asked, sitting up in the bed.

“I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Is there something wrong with General Pasqual?”

Pablo really disliked her constant prying into his official affairs but this time he wanted to tell her, only because her intuition seemed to be correct about him.

“You might have been right about him. I think I found some information that might prove he’s doing something behind my back.”

His comment piqued her interest; she sat up and leaned in.

“He’s been meeting with what looks like some insurgents.”

“What? Why?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“I hope to find out soon.”

“Oh, I wish I could be there to see the look on his face. Where are you doing it?”

“In the basement of the capitol building,” Pablo answered. “It’s secure and private.”

“You rarely venture out, so please be careful out there,” she said, then planted a kiss on his lips. “When are you leaving?”

“Now. Have a good day. I’ll see you later.”

The old Victorian mansion hadn’t been lived in for years but Pablo chose to take up residence there because of its rich legacy. As a student of history, he couldn’t resist living in such a storied place. As he left for the state capitol building, he admired his new living space. It was exactly the type of residence a world leader would have.

The few times Pablo had left the premises, he had never walked, but today would be different. His army had created a safe zone around the capitol that covered twenty city blocks wide and fourteen blocks long. All access points were heavily guarded and any residential homes and apartments were vacated, with the residents relocated.

Pablo exited the back door of the mansion and walked up to several men standing next to his convoy.

“You three come with me, we’re walking over,” Pablo ordered.

The men obeyed and took up positions around him.

“Have the convoy head there now, so it can be available if I want to use it when I’m done. I have a feeling I’ll be very tired after today.”

An officer came out of the mansion and called out, “Emperor!”

Pablo stopped. “Yes, captain.”

“General Pasqual called to inform you he’s just arrived at the capitol. I told him you were walking over but he insisted you drive.”

“I don’t take orders from him,” Pablo stated, and walked out the gate with his men.

The convoy pulled out just behind them and accelerated past them; it turned left on Fifteenth Street and sped off toward the capitol.

The empty streets seemed surreal. The only sounds that could be heard were from his convoy a few blocks away. So when the whoosh of a rocket hit his ears Pablo was more than surprised. Before he could even see where it came from, another whoosh and explosion followed. Soon rockets slammed into his convoy and exploded.

Pablo crouched down when the first explosion rocked the city, and ran for cover when the second one exploded. His men followed as he ran for cover behind the wall of a building.

A third rocket hit the last vehicle and exploded into a fireball.

Pablo watched the flames bounce and dance off the vehicles. He couldn’t believe what had just happened, but most of all he couldn’t believe that he was alive. A feeling of divine fate came over him. He stepped out into the street with a feeling of invincibility and saw the burning vehicles as yet another sign that he was on the right path.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Haley cried out.

Samantha ran as fast as her legs would take her down the hall and into Haley’s bedroom.

“I’m here, honey, Momma’s here,” she softly said as she embraced Haley and began to rock her.

“I had a nightmare. I saw Nelson and he was dead,” she whimpered.

“It was just a bad dream, honey, it was only a dream.”

“But it seemed real!”

“It was just a dream,” Samantha said in a whisper.

“Is he ever coming back?”

Haley had been asking Samantha that every day since Nelson was taken away. Telling your children the truth about sensitive topics was a tough decision for parents. She and Gordon believed that it was okay to fudge the truth so as to keep the children’s innocence intact for as long as possible.

“He’ll come back one day. He’s just doing something with that man, then he’ll come back.”

“That man was mean, Mommy.”

“I know.”

“He said mean things to me and told me he wanted to kill me and kill you.”

Hearing Haley say this broke Samantha’s heart. The innocence she was attempting to protect was very difficult to maintain in this new world.

They both talked until Haley fell back to sleep in her arms.

Samantha tried to sleep too, but she couldn’t. She quietly snuck out her room and went downstairs to make some tea. At the bottom of the stairs the dark stain stood as a grim reminder of everything that had recently happened.

She walked into the kitchen, then went to the window and looked outside. The sun was coming up and a new day had begun. She looked for anything unusual and made sure the door was locked. She pledged that she’d never again be caught unaware. Without Gordon or Nelson to help, she was on her own.

The kerosene heaters that helped keep the house warm from the frigid air outdoors were a temporary luxury. Soon they’d run out of fuel and when that happened, they’d have to go to using wood exclusively to heat the house. Their food stores were good and medicines weren’t a problem. Gordon’s quick thinking months ago really had kept them alive.

A loud banging at the front door made her jump. She rushed out of the kitchen, pistol in hand.

She looked through the peephole to see Eric standing there.

“What’s wrong?” she asked after she opened the door.

“They’re back!” Eric said urgently.

Cruz’s condition had greatly improved, so much so that he requested they leave earlier than planned.

Taking advantage of the situation, Gordon got everyone on the road as quickly as possible and headed east. When they crossed into Idaho, he couldn’t help but think about turning the vehicle north and driving straight to McCall. That desire grew tougher to resist when he started to see familiar signage for roads that he knew.

When he saw the sign for Eagle Road, his heart skipped a beat. He was only two hours away from McCall. All he had to do was make a left from the off-ramp and drive directly north and in two hours he’d be at his cabin and in Samantha’s arms.