Destiny

Liam turned back to Maya; Raph had already gone ahead to the car.

“Babies?” he asked. “As in, more than one?”

Maya chuckled, “Aye, twins... I take it ye did not know?”

Liam’s head reeled, “no.”

Maya chuckled and patted his shoulder. “That’s alright lad. Now ye go with the young one and leave his training to me.” And as Liam turned once again to leave, Maya called out, “and stop worrying; it’ll give you ulcers.”

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They pulled into the driveway of an old house. It was worn and overgrown with weeds. To the right of the entrance, there were two convex windows, which looked as if there was a tower embedded in the wall. The house looked like it had been frozen in time.

“Where are we?” asked Raph.

“My house.” Replied Liam as he got out of the car.

“Oh.” Raph muttered, “But I thought you lived in an apartment. That’s where Talison teleported to scare you today.”

“That’s where I lived,” said Liam as he unlocked the door and went inside. “My grandmother left me this house when she died. I’ve never lived here though; too many memories, and it’s a bit of a drive to work.” He turned on the lights. They illuminated a hallway with three doors on the left and two on the right. There was a staircase at the end of the hall. Liam put his jacket inside the first door on the left, effectively dubbing it a closet. As they passed the other doors, which were open, Raph was able to see: a bathroom, a living room, what appeared to be a sewing room of some sort, and a kitchen. All the rooms were overflowing with frills and lace.

Liam went up the stairs and opened the second door on the right. Here there were no frills or lace.

“This is where you’ll sleep.” Liam turned and was about to leave when Raph called out.

“Wait! Where will you sleep? And why is this place all frilly?” Raph wrinkled his nose at this and continued. “And what did that lady Maya have to say? What was with that strange accent of hers anyway? I couldn’t tell if it was British or Irish or Australian. And what are we going to do…” Raph trailed off at Liam’s chuckle.

“You talk too much kid.” He chuckled, “but to answer your questions in order.” He thought a second before continuing,“ I’ll sleep in my grandma’s room. The place is frilly because I haven’t changed anything since my grandmother died. Maya…” Liam cleared his throat, “ she wanted to tell me I was having twins.”

“What?” Raph was surprised, “ but there isn’t anything about that in the prophecy.”

Liam sat down on the bed, “I know. As for what we’re going to do…I’m not sure, but I think we should just live with it, I guess. Maya’s pendants keep us safe from this Talison guy. I’m not exactly in the best condition to hunt down a demon. We should at least wait till we’ve dealt with this whole pregnancy thing before we go looking for trouble.” Liam got up to leave once again, “Try and get some sleep, we’ll discuss this more in the morning.”

“Okay, but…”

“Can it and sleep!” commanded Liam.

Liam left the room. And as Raph slipped beneath the covers he wondered.

*I hope I can get some clothes, or at least a shirt? *

The next day, after discussing what to do, Liam decided to notify the police that he had found Raph, so that they could contact his parents. In the meantime, Raph was to find some clothes. After experimenting, they found one of Liam’s shirts that was only a little too big, and Raph was off to shop.

Liam walked into Captain Malcolm’s office, wondering how much of the story he should tell the captain, if anything.

*Too much and he won’t believe me. Not enough and it will look like bull. *

The captain swiveled around in his chair as Liam sat down. “So. What brings you to see me today? You’re not sick again, are you?”

“No sir, I’m feeling fine.” Replied Liam, thankful that the herbal tea seemed to be doing its job. “However, I came across a kid yesterday. His name is Raphael Johnson. He was being chased by some thugs.” The captain’s interest was attained and he leaned in closer. “I led him to my car and we lost them. He told me that he had been kidnapped three years ago. I was wondering if we could notify his parents that he has been found?”

Captain Malcolm leaned back in his chair. “You’re obviously oversimplifying the story. I’ll see what I can do, but I expect a full report on my desk tomorrow.”

Liam sighed, relieved. “Yes sir, of course.” He got up to leave.

“Oh, and Liam.” The captain called. “Where is the boy now?”

“He’s at my house.” Liam replied smoothly. “Those thugs chasing him were members of some cult. They believe Raphael to have some mystic powers of some sort. They may try to find him. I believed he would be safest there.”

“You’re right.” Said the captain. “I’m assigning you to him as his bodyguard, as soon as you wrap up the rest of your cases here. You will stay with him until his parents come.”

If Liam could be Raph’s bodyguard long enough, he could use that as an excuse to stay at home and hide his pregnancy.
“Of course, sir. You realize that it may not be safe for him to return with his parents?”

The captain nodded. “Of course. You’re right. Until there is no longer a threat to his person. Better?"

Liam nodded. “Better.” Then he left the room.

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Raph sighed as he paced his room. He had bought quite a few clothes, but had gotten bored after a while and so here he was, back at the house with some jeans and t-shirts and some pajamas. He had also gotten some running shoes.

*I know! Maybe I can explore a bit. Liam’s probably gonna want new décor, so I can see, for him of course, what’s still good and what’s gotta go. *

With this thought Raph jumped up and wandered through the rooms. For the most part everything was okay. The sofas and chairs needed re-upholstering, and the sewing-type room could use a TV or some high-tech stuff, but overall it wasn’t too bad, everything was in good condition. After looking through the cupboards and deciding that all the tablecloths and place mats were just way to frilly, Raph decided to see what the basement looked like.

He went down the stairs and looked around. There were mostly piles of boxes and odds and ends.

*Well, all this stuff will have to be sorted through; but I think this place could be an awesome games-room. Lets see. We could put a pool table here... *

Raph walked through the piles of boxes, imagining how things could be. He came to an old armchair with a book sitting on it. He picked it up, opened it to the first page and began to read.

May 3rd 1997,
Hey, my grandma just gave me this diary for my 10th birthday, which is today. I was so happy. My sister tried to eat it, but I saved it. I’m not mad at her though she’s only 1 years old. I’m prolly not gonna write in here everyday, that’d get boring. Just whenever something happens that I wanna remember. Or when something sad happens that I need to get off my chest. For my birthday I got a plastic bow and arrow a cop car that has lots of flashy lights; and a new computer game; and this diary of course. Well, I’ll write in you later bye.

*This must be Liam’s diary. *

Although the author had not named himself Raph was certain it was Liam.

The door opened and closed upstairs and Raph hid the book under his shirt.

*I’ll read this later. *

Then he went upstairs to greet Liam.