Dark

~Brandon James Scott Scholl

Devlin Sparks drove as fast as he could through the storm. It was only moments ago that he had gotten a call from his beautiful wife that men were inside of his house. His wife, Nicole, had said she was hiding with the kids in a closet far in the back hallway of the second story. He knew why they were there. The agency he had worked for told him this would happen in time. He had made too many enemies while working for Project Prometheus. Safe wasn’t a word that would ever be allowed in his vocabulary.

Yet, he had slipped in keeping the whereabouts of himself and his family from prowling danger. As he sped down the narrow streets of the country side, the monstrous storm around him raged on. Lightning flashed brilliantly and thunder shook him to his very core. Devlin had put the windshield wipers on full and it was still hard to keep the windshield of his little Ford clear.

As nature once again boomed in defiance of ceasing, his cell phone rang.
“Hello,” he said into the phone.

“Devlin, where are you? They’re still here.” He could hear the silent whimpering through the phone as her fear was more and more obvious with each passing second. He heart was pounding in his chest and he wanted to scream from the strain he felt from being so defenseless.

“Honey, you and the kids just hang in there and keep quiet. I’m just around the corner.”

“Wait, I think they’re leaving now. They’re all walking out the door.”

“Nicole, I want you to get yourself and the kids out of the house, right now. Get in the car and drive down the road and meet me.”

“No, honey, they’re gone. We’re safe now. They just pulled out some papers and things from your study and that’s it.” He came around the last turn and he was within a mile of his house. That’s when he could hear the voice of his 5 year old daughter through the phone.

“Mommy, what’s this big box? There’s little numbers.” Devlin’s heart was in his throat and he could breath. He had just pulled into his driveway. Then, it happened.

The explosion was so intense, it threw Devlin onto the roof of his car and everything went silent to him. His house had just been completely blown away. He was stunned and in shock of what had just happened. His wife, his children, were no more.

“No…,” was the only word that came out of Devlin’s mouth as he watched in horror as the remains of his house burned in front of him. Rain poured down from the sky and drenched his face as he laid there, in the mud, whimpering silently like a child. How could this have happened? Why did this happen? Who was responsible?

As everything fully registered, his jaw tightened and his soft, wet hands became solid fists. He screamed as loud as he could and for a second, he was above the thunder. He stood up and continued to watch the flames destroy the last piece of sanity he had left.

Whoever was responsible for this, their days were numbered. It was one thing to threaten him, it was another to slaughter his own wife and two innocent children. His son, Marcus, was only a year old and his daughter had just had her 5th birthday party.

He shed one more tear before he became dead inside. The numbness overtook him. He was no longer Devlin Sparks. No, that man had just died in the explosion that took the lives of his family. He was a man without a name, without a reason to live or be cautious. He was a man with a mission, a vendetta, and had nothing left to lose.