The Soldier Next Door

It did not take very long, and Ana was back home. Now to say that she is not raging mad would be a lie, but right now, I have never seen any that is more afraid. At least all the Police Officers and Forensics have left. That is one sight that I do not wish for her to see, but there is the very grim reminder where a bullet did penetrate a wall in the kitchen.

But she has not seen that yet, for we are sitting in the lounge trying to figure out where do we go from here. I honestly am in two minds, I want her with me, but I know it is far too dangerous. Right now, our lives are all about unpredictability; I don’t know what is going to happen next, but at the lengths whoever is behind this has gone, I can certainly say that the next hit will be far more serious than this one.

That is not even I thought I wish to think of, to think that somewhere out there somebody wants me dead. God, I must have fucked somebody seriously off, but that is beside the point.

So here I am, looking into brown eyes that do not fully understand what has happened. Yet, I know that she does; she does not want to face reality. It is hard and terrifying to have to come to face that death came knocking on my door in a place where it should be nothing but safe.

I hope she understands now why I did what I had done before; I had my reason to send her away as I did.

The thing is, Ana is my life.

And if I could, rather if I would want to, which I do not, I would have done things differently. I shall never, and I shall rather die, but it shall never hurt the woman that I love with all my heart and soul. But there is one thing that she needs to understand.

“Boo, I know that right now you are scared, and I stand a great chance that you would really leave me. Should you leave, then you would break my heart beyond compare.”

“Soldier, you need to understand that this is complete madness.”

“I am so sorry.”

I pull her that fraction tighter in my arms, closer to a chest from which a heart can burst out any minute. Her voice hitch and I listen as those tears come stronger than a raging river down her cheeks. She is hurting, and so am I. I cannot bear to think that I shall lose her…not again.

We seem to be losing each other more than we are locked into each other’s arms. Guess this world is ruthless; it takes and does not ask any questions. It will take her if it wants to, and it will kill me in return.

But I am a very stubborn man. I did not, and taught I was well by my father, but I did not become who I am if I did not live with pain if I was not killed inside every day.

Love made that little bit of a difference in my life; it gave that softness to an edge that was far too rough. It taught me to think of someone else before I even considered my needs. Ana has made me soft; only she can look into these brown eyes and make my heart crumble, but she can kill this heart as well.

And this heart, the real heart, is beating at such a drum that I can feel it been ripped from my chest. Now is that truly not also the real heart that has a feeling?

Ana is the only one that holds the key to this beating pound of flesh in its real or another form.

And she knows that.

I cup her face between my hands and seek that sparkle in her eyes.

“Boo, every time that you leave through that door, you slice open and take my heart with you. You have sliced me so many times that there is nothing left to take. Every time you come back, you light a flame in my soul. You heal those pieces that you take. I have learned to love you with my soul, for my heart is too fragile and too easy to take.”

I watch as the tears tickle the corner of her eyes and burn black crevices into her soft skin. She starts to stutter as she tries to answer me, but the moment is too much to bear. I gently lay my lips on her eyes and kiss her tears away.

“Boo, my soul, will miss you, my heart will break, but it will be my essence that you take.”

“Soldier, you, this man with nothing but inches of perfection, yet a heart that is as delicate as the space that from where it is beating, you deserve the best that only the greatest woman can give. You need that woman by your side that will let you rise through this. That woman that shall hold your hand as you take and do what it is that you feel that you need to do. The question is, am I that woman?”

“You are not just any woman; you are a gift from the hands of an angel. You have been filled with all those things that the mind can only dream up in moments of total ecstasy. You and me, we were built for each other, not by the hands of our parents, but our destiny has always been written in the stars.”

And I don’t think there is really much more, for words don’t need to tell, but there is nothing more I can or want to say to make her understand how important this is for me.

“Boo, I only want you to understand one thing. I am a Marine, and I will always be. Now I can sit here and wait for them to come after me again, or I can get to the bottom of this. I know right now I am a danger to be around, and I understand if you want to go back home again.”

“God, soldier, I am starting to think that you are a lawyer, for you are stating your case so confidently.”

I only but chuckle at her as I pull her back into the tightness of my chest. Her body is still trembling, and that heart of hers is pounding with purpose against mine. I will not make this any harder on her than it is already.

“Boo, if you need to think of this, then you must.”

“You want me to leave and slice your heart open?”

“Well, preferably not.”

“Somehow, when I leave this time, I think that I will be taking your soul.”

“I think you might even be right, for it does take a soulless man that wishes to rage a war. But the war in my heart is far greater than the one that is waiting outside.”

“This war, this thing that you must do will this bring the peace that you need? Will it bring the justice that your father deserves?”

“Do you want me to be honest with you?”

“Yes, always.”

“Yes, boo.”

“Then let me ask you this. Is it worth going to go look for revenge? Why do you need to do this yourself?”

“I think we both know the answer to that.”NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.

She drops her head down and stares at the glass in her hand, it is slightly trembling, and I know that she knows that what I say is the truth.

“I love you, boo. And love, those four letters that are supposed to define a feeling in one word, is not enough on its own to tell you what I feel deep in my soul for you. There are so many other words that shall define our relationship in the months to come, but please let regret not be one of them.”

“Soldier, you are right. I love you too, and I feel it just as deep. But you need to remember that it is not just me; I am carrying our child that is due in little less than two months. Can you protect both of us?”

“Boo, I am sorry.” I drop my head as the pain of what I have dragged my wife and child into is consuming every part of my thoughts. I have not once stopped thinking of that man with the deep dark eyes; I think that this shall be a memory that will haunt me for a while. But, “This is a whole other war on its own.”

“Soldier, I have no idea; I cannot even begin to understand the danger that I am letting into my life. But, this danger, which is you. I am willing to, and I will do it over and over, but I will walk into this danger. I want to be by your side until the day that your side is not there anymore, and beyond that, you will still be the danger in my life.”

“Does this mean?”

“I chose you; I will always choose you.”