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“Mommy!” he heard the little child call, he searched frantically for her in the barn, he raised the hays and checked under an overturned wheelbarrow, but she was nowhere to be found.
“Mommy!” she called louder behind him, he turned on the spot but still he couldn’t find her, the sweat on his forehead threatened to drip into his eyes as he worked himself to find the calling child.
“Mommy!” she called for the third time, he turned again, this time she was there, standing at the entrance of the barn with her back to him, she held a teddy in her arms, her hair was braided in a ponytail, her white dress had seen better days.
“Its okay child, its okay” he calmly approached the little girl. He closed the distance steadily and slowly and touched her by the shoulder, the girl turned with superhuman speed, her guts spilled on the barn floor; her dressed was suddenly soaked in bright red blood, her eyes had no black in them. He backed away quickly.
“No” he muttered.
“Are you my mummy?” the girl asked as she walked towards him, more of her guts splattered the barn floor at each step she took.
He continued backing away till his back met the solid wall of the barn, she continued closing the distance between them, and his heart hammered in his chest.
“Are you my mummy?” she asked again.
“Stay away from me!” he shouted.
“Are you my mummy!” she shrieked before closing the distance with superhuman speed.
Hogan woke up abruptly with a gasp for air; he quickly sat up on the bed and looked around the dimly lit bedroom, it had been same dream that had haunted him for five nights since the mission at Crofton, his heart hammered in his chest, his breath was ragged and fast, he instantly got off the bed. It has been five sleepless nights and five troubled days since his mission, his thoughts were askew as the memory of the slaughtered remained fresh in his mind. He made his way to the bathroom and leaned on the sink opposite the mirror, he looked unfamiliar to himself, this isn’t the man he was, the man he was didn’t slaughter children and women, he did not slaughter men whose biggest threat was carved woods, was he even right in killing the so called ‘defaulters’ all his life? What if The Brotherhood is the sinners and the rebels and religious were the saints? For so long he had taken lives under the command of the counsel, in service of Lucifer, what if he was really the monster that the non-cifers called him? The questions came in waves as he perused his face in the mirror.
He rinsed his face with the running cold water and sighed as he ran his hand through his wavy dark hair, he walked back to bed to make an attempt to sleep again.
***
It was cool morning when Hogan walked into the training chambers of Groth Spazier, who was on a floor mat in a meditating stance. Hogan turned to leave the man undisturbed but Groth called on him.
“Hogan”.
“That isn’t a very good meditation if you are easily distracted” Hogan said.
“You will be surprised, it is in fact the opposite, in meditation you are acutely aware of your surroundings, I heard you coming from quite a distance” Groth said whilst remaining in his stance. “You are quite troubled” he continued.
“How can you tell?” Hogan was amazed at how the man could sniff up such information without even looking at him.
“Your breathing pattern” Groth replied.
“You can hear me breath from over there and yet you say my gift is unique”.
“I can only sharpen my senses while I meditate but you on the other hand can remain in a state of heightened awareness for a long period” Groth said before finally freeing his stance and turning to face Hogan, his white training robe looked overly sized. “What is it Hogan, what troubles you this much?”
Hogan considered the man who was very much like a father to him, considering whether to entrust him with his burdens, it didn’t take much thinking for him to decide he could be trusted.
“How do we know Lucifer’s will and man’s own will, how can you tell the two apart?” Hogan asked.
Groth blinked at the question, but his usual calm demeanor returned in an instant.
“Everyone individual in service of The Brotherhood, we all do Lucifer’s bidding, every single act is by his making, man’s will does not exist in the service of Lucifer. The infidels and the religious who must be cleansed off the face of the earth, they are the ones operating on man’s will. Man’s will is filth and does not deserve to exist with the will of Lucifer, hence the reason it must be purged.” Groth replied.
“Is killing innocent women and children Lucifer’s will?” Hogan asked pointedly.
Groth’s calm features twisted a bit at the latest question.
“Innocent? You call those who operate of their own will innocent? Any being who does not worship our lord Lucifer is guilty.” Groth said.
The words from a trusted man as Groth brought even more ambiguity for Hogan; he began to question the very tenets he had lived by since he was born.
“This has something to do with your last mission, if I am correct?” Groth asked, his question pulled Hogan out of his thoughts.
“Yes it does” he replied.
“Do not question the biddings of the supreme, he works solely of Lucifer’s will” Groth said in a serious tone.
Hogan nodded, “I will leave you to you meditations, old man” he said on a lighter note.
“This old man has still got it” Groth joked.
A subtle smile played on Hogan’s lips before he exited the training chambers. He walked along the streets of the base, the roads are tarred with residential buildings on both sides, and several young, inspiring Brotherhood soldiers sparred at the front of most residence, many of whom tended to showboat when they notice the gaze of Hogan. Hogan walked on solemnly, he had purposefully left his motorcycle at his residence to allow him recollect his thoughts as he walked.
The sound of an approaching motorcycle soon grew louder behind him, Charles Binnins soon rode up to Hogan and shut off his engines, he dropped both feet on the ground and smiled enthusiastically.
“How is it going, Hogan?” he asked.
“Very good Charles” Hogan replied, trying as much as possible to match Charles’ mood.
“I have served our lord Lucifer by your side for several years Hogan, and I know you like the back of my hand, since the mission at Crofton, you seem worried” Charles said with a clear inquisitive look on his face.
Charles like Groth, is one of Hogan’s most trusted of companions but he decided to take the side of caution this time around and keep his thoughts to himself. “All will be well Charles”, he replied.
Thankfully, Charles Binnins dropped his inquisition, and his face lit up once more.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it cannot withstand you Hogan, you are strong, see you around commander” Charles said before igniting the motorcycle engines again.
“See you Charles” Hogan replied before Charles zoomed away and out of sight.
***
Two more sleepless nights followed, for Hogan before the sun rose on the seventh day since the mission at Crofton, his eyes were heavy due to the lack of sleep, and he had not even recited the ‘solemn prayer of the Cifers’ for days, his thoughts remained troubled by day and his sleep remained haunted by night.
“Master Hogan!” he heard someone call at the front door. He sluggishly put on a morning robe and headed for the door; he opened the door and met with a bird.
“Master Hogan, good morning sir” a particularly cheerful bird greeted him, probably on his first ever errand.
“Speak” a less than enthusiastic Hogan prompted.
The smile drained from the boy’s face on noticing the seriousness in Hogan’s features. “The Supreme requires your presence at the hell house” the bird said, before bowing and letting Hogan be.
Another mission was the last thing Hogan needed at the moment but no one disobeys a summoning from the supreme. He donned a blue cape over comfortable clothing and headed for the hell house. At the hell house stood Robert Murray in front of the podium at which The Supreme and high council sat waiting. Robert Murray is another decorated soldier of The Brotherhood, almost as decorated as Hogan, he had his own regiment of about twenty soldiers and he and Hogan never saw eye to eye, he had never hidden his spite for Hogan and on various occasions had made his opinion known on who should be the most respected soldier of The Brotherhood, and that of course it should be him.
Hogan walked towards the podium then took the knee and greeted, he rose to his feet beside a brooding Robert who was a dark bearded man with a prominent nose. The two evaluated themselves in a few seconds of silent hostility before focusing their attentions on The Supreme.
“A new mission for you” the supreme addressed Hogan, “we have word of an encampment of Christians in Santa Fe, their precise location is unknown but it will be your duty to find this encampment and cleanse their filth.” The Supreme said.
“It will be done, your grace.” Hogan replied.
“One more thing, you shall go alone, leave your comrades behind, you can take a tracker bird if you wish” The Supreme added.
“I will prefer to go alone, your grace”.
“Your grace” a clearly irritated Robert cut in.
“What is it servant of Lucifer?”
“You know why I am here, this mission requires devote focus and will be better done by a competent soldier as myself, it will be much more successful if I were to go instead.”
The words of Robert were aggravating to say the least, but at this very moment, Hogan found himself silently agreeing with the loathful Robert, he was not focused at the moment and he certainly will do with a pass right now.
“Lucifer has chosen his servant for this important task and your companion has been clearly favored, return to your place and servant?” he referred to Hogan.
“Yes your grace?”
“You leave in the morrow, put everything in order”.
“Thank you your grace”.
The two men walked out of the hell house, visible anger played on Robert’s features.
“You must think so high of yourself” he said to Hogan.
“Why do I think high of myself? What gives you that notion?” Hogan asked impassively.
Robert moved closer to Hogan, having to look a few inches upwards due to his height. “This was supposed to be my mission” he said, a hair breadth from Hogan’s face.
“Yet you weren’t chosen”
More rage played on Robert’s face, his mouth twitched severally, he reached for his dagger and held it to Hogan’s throat in a split second.
“You want to kill a soldier of The Brotherhood right here at base, one that has been chosen to carry out a very important mission?” Hogan replied, unfazed by the feel of the blade on his neck. The enraged Robert soon retreated his knife.
“When you fail this mission, I will be here to pick up your slacks” he said.
“You know damn too well that I can never fail a mission” Hogan replied.
“Time will tell” Robert said before turning and briskly walking away from the scene.
***
“You will have to take a train; the route will be through Richmond, then on to Charleston, Frankfort, Kansas City, to Denver. At Denver you will have to take another train to Santa Fe” Charles explained the travelling route on a map spread on a table.
Trains and ships were the only means of long distance transportation still functional, while cars still exist, they only route within cities and are banned from private ownership with the exception of government officials. The journey from Annapolis to Santa Fe is long and in land, necessitating Hogan to take the railroad.
“It will take about five days to get to your destination” Charles continued.
Hogan’s comrades had gathered at his residence to give him a fond farewell for his lone mission, they were less than happy that he had to do it alone but respected the decision of the supreme.
“Sure you don’t need a tracker bird?” Steve asked.
“No, I will do just fine by myself” Hogan insisted, the idea of having a shadow he had to keep an eye on worried him. He folded the map and added it to the load of supplies in his backpack, he adjusted his black, make shift handkerchief mask over the bridge of his nose making only his eye visible. He was famous and would not want to attract attention on his voyage, his sword was in its scabbard wrapped with a rag, which he hung over his back and atop which he rested his back pack, he donned a grey-brown camouflage jacket and trousers, making him look much like the old military.
“Cleanse all filths” Stella said before wrapping him in a hug.
“May Lucifer be with you” Charles said.
He went on to exchange parting notes with the rest of his comrades before stepping out, straddling his motorcycle and riding off towards his mission.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
