Chapter 2-The Strange Stranger
As Idus emerged into the street adjacent to the school he looked into the depressingly cloudy night sky and took a deep gasp of the refreshingly cold air. He was finally able to calm down and reflect upon the recent events.
He realized he had left quickly because he was frustrated with his brother’s inability to take advice from anyone, including himself. Irgen hadn’t even bothered to let him in on when or where the fight was to take place. It was only by chance, that he had found him.......CHANCE…His thoughts trailed off, wait, Idus thought to himself. It was not by chance he had felt a strong feeling he needed make an unprecedented trip to the school. It was not by chance that he had felt a sudden desire to stride to the front gates of the school, which were always kept locked after school hours, and push them open, only to find that they were not locked. And it was definitely not chance as to why he felt his brother was in danger as he sprinted along the corridors of the school, but…If it wasn’t chance…Then what was it?
He had known for years he and his brother had a strange connection with each other. He had also come to realize that this wasn’t something which normally occurred between brothers, even twins. In fact he had come to realize this connection wasn’t just abnormal it was downright strange.
But as interesting as thinking about this connection was, his thoughts remained aloof and elsewhere. He had thought much on this subject before, and now he remembered something else which he needed to think about. Why had the door been unlocked? And why did everyone scatter when had come down the hall? It was only him and as disconcerting as his surprise appearance might have been, surely it couldn’t have been enough to make twelve of the group scatter at once.
These many thoughts enveloped his mind as he stood there alone or at least… so he thought.
He started walking down his street Bohemian Boulevard to his home when suddenly he heard a rustling of the brush near him. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked in apprehension at the side of the road where the sound had come from, and he saw a shabbily dressed man disentangling his foot from the underbrush; he fell with a thud as the foot came loose, but not seeming at all embarrassed, the man jumped up and briskly strode towards him carrying what looked like a cane of some sort.
Idus took the stranger’s ragged clothes in with one glance. He looked with a somewhat pitiful expression as he saw the pieces of cloth; from what looked like was once a robe, dangle off the stranger like a thin spider. Under the robe he wore what appeared to be a very old and well-worn sweater. His pants too were in a state of disarray. They looked as though he had just had to walk through an acre long field of saw grass. Idus did not know what to do. One side of him said to run but the other side of him was curious to see just who this stranger was. It appeared to Idus as he looked at him that this man was in a hurry, indeed he seemed as though he were frantically searching for something and in this sense of urgency he almost walked right past Idus, but just as he passed him he stopped and turned around quickly, and with relief in his face he asked,
“You’re Idus are you not?” And then, as though not expecting an answer from Idus, he continued, “Where is your brother? It is imperative that I speak to both of you without any delay. It is a matter of life and death for all of us.”
Idus was once again taken aback at the bold manner of this man. He was quite uncertain what he should do with himself as he tried to pull the fragments of his thoughts back together to create an intelligible response. He paused for a second and then managed to stammer out “W...Why do you need to talk to us?”
“That is a question, my friend, which will have to go unanswered for the time being. There are too many ears about us. Quickly we need to get to your mother’s house and most importantly we need to find your brother.”
“b…b…b…but Sir why….”
“There’s a time for talking and now is not it!” Was his rigid response “Now let’s-move!”
The stranger grabbed Idus by the collar of his shirt and started dragging him towards his mother’s house. Idus felt a strange solace bringing strength in this stranger, and absentmindedly resolved to go with him. So resigning himself to whatever fate lay in store for him with the stranger; Idus began to walk alongside the shabbily dressed man. Curiosity had prevailed.