“There’s nothin’ anyone can do, not til Rachel gets back with the ingredients for the Coven’s spell,” Midnight explained, pulling the damp cloth from Sophia’s head and dipping it in a bowl of water near his feet. He twisted out the excess before re-applying it to her forehead. “We have to hope she gets back in time before…” His voice wavered and he turned away, muttering about dust in his eye.
Gabriella walked over and rested a hand on his shoulder. He patted it with his giant paw. “You’re exhausted” she said. “I know there’s no chance of convincing you to get some rest. So how about a coffee instead?”
He nodded.
“Alex?” she asked, heading for the door.
“I’m fine thanks.” She headed out of the door and said something to Delagio. I heard two sets of footsteps make their way down the corridor. I was left alone with Midnight.
I tried a few times to spark a conversation, but every time the words snagged in my throat. I couldn’t think of the right thing to say. In the end it was him who broke the silence. “I won’t let her die.” His words were thick, his voice threatening to break at any moment. “I know you won’t. You really care about her don’t you?” Midnight nodded. A solitary tear sloped its way down his mountainous face. “She’s the only reason I have to live.”
He fell silent and stared down at the floor, fiddling with the locket that hung around his neck. The constant clicks of the latch opening and closing accompanied the whirrs and beeps of the machines. When he finally spoke again, his words seemed like they were coming from somewhere deep inside. The place where secrets and memories are buried. “I haven’t spoken about them for a long time.” “Who?” “My wife and daughter.”
He needed to confide in somebody. I could tell by the expression of conflicted anguish on his face. I knew because I’d felt the same way so many times before, but always managed to force it away — until the day Gabriella had pulled it out of me. I knew I needed to choose my next words carefully.
“I’d love to hear about them.”
Midnight raised his head and looked at me. A deep sadness stared out from behind his eyes. The brutal tough guy was well and truly gone. In his place sat a broken man, whose walls of protection had come tumbling down. “You don’t mind?” he asked, sounding unsure of himself. “I’d be honoured.” Midnight told me his story.
24
The Dawn of Midnight
I was always a bit of a fighter. Constantly got into scraps at school. I dunno, maybe it was cos my dad was a drunken bastard — always hitting my mum — I guess I found violence natural. At first I always got beat up. I’d come home in tears, with a broken nose or a split lip, but over time I grew stronger. Their punches didn’t hurt much anymore; my punches hurt them a lot.
At home, I’d wind my dad up so he’d hit me instead of mum. She was so small and frail. Course, she tried to stop him, but I made her promise not to. Rather me than her. So he’d beat me and in turn I’d take out my anger on the kids at school. I guess I became a bully. By the time I turned fifteen, I’d already been expelled from three schools. The son of a bitch finally died from alcohol poisonin’ when I was sixteen. It felt strange, after so much physical and mental abuse, to suddenly be…free.
Me and Mum built a new life together. I dropped out of school and worked a few dead end jobs over the years to help pay the rent. I thought things would be okay — but I was wrong. There was a darkness growin’ inside of me. I could feel it bubbling away below the surface. I found it almost impossible to control my anger. It meant I couldn’t hold a job down for long — the smallest thing would set me off. Once, at a pub I worked at, I launched my manager over the bar, all because he had a go at me for being late.
Lucky for me, my mum could see that I was headin’ the same route as him. So as much as it killed her to see me go, she convinced me to join the army. Best decision I ever made. It gave me a channel to focus my anger into. The structure kept me in line and I learned to respect authority. Plus, cos digs and food was free, I could afford to send most of my wages home. I progressed fast, made Sergeant in less than three years. The hardest part was that I only got to see Mum four or five times a year. The Gulf war was in full swing and I was constantly bein’ dispatched out to that hell hole.
But Mum was doing good, had a nice little two bedroom place just outside Brighton. She never dated again — she was too scarred for that — but she made quite a few good friends and even set up a book club. I was happy for her. But I wasn’t happy for me. Somethin was missing. I had no clue what it was until I was on summer leave and saw her walking along the beachfront. I don’t know if you believe in love at first sight Alex, I never did until I laid eyes on her. Petit and perfect. Wavy golden hair and the most beautiful hazel eyes ever saw. Incredible.
She was singing to herself as she walked. She had the most beautiful voice, like an angel. For a moment all the darkness trapped inside me vanished — like her voice chased it away. It was replaced by a feeling so intense and wonderful I can’t even begin to explain it. As she passed by, she stopped singing for a moment and gave the sweetest little smile. I literally went weak at the knees. I knew right then and there that this was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. She was way out of my league and I knew it. But I had to do something. There was no way I could go back to my normal life- not now I’d seen her. It would have killed me.
I ran after her, panting and red as a friggin’ beetroot. Somehow amongst my babblin’, I managed to ask her out for a coffee. I’d been through all kinds of nightmares in Kuwait; shot at by rebels, driven through a field of landmines, had a gun to my head — you name it. But I’d never experienced fear like I did in that moment, waiting for her answer. But she just smiled and linked arms with me.
We were inseparable after that. Her name was Maria Quinn — an artist from Ireland. I called her Cass on account that she was always singing songbird, you know that one by Eva Cassidy? She called me… sorry you don’t need to know this, it’s only when I start talking about her… Anyway, I’d found my soul mate. When I was around her, the world seemed to take on a special glow. I couldn’t get angry if I wanted to. All of the bad crap had been washed away. Cass made me feel special, like I was actually worth somethin’. She didn’t care that I wasn’t clever — that I was rough around the edges — she loved me for who I was.
I moved into her little studio apartment by the beach. I used to watch her paint — it was mesmerising. She seemed to be able to capture the beauty of things on the canvas.
The time came for her to meet my mum. I was so nervous I actually puked before we left the house. The only two women I’d ever loved were gonna meet for the first time. If they hated each other, my world would have fallen apart. They couldn’t have got on any better. Mum loved Cass to pieces. I remember, I was making everyone a cup of tea when she came in to the kitchen and said, ‘she’s the one,’ and walked back out. I started crying. I don’t know why really, it think it’s because at that moment, life couldn’t have been more perfect.
But it couldn’t last forever. I got orders that I had to leave for Kuwait the following week. It ripped me apart inside. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t bear to leave Cass behind. I told her I’d go AWOL, but she refused to let me. Said it didn’t matter, that she would love me no matter where I was and that she’d be waiting whenever I came back.