Excerpt: An Agent of Change (a biography in chaos)

The storm was gone by the morning, leaving the air outside of the cabin heavy with moisture and the ground muddy and soft. Xander wandered downstairs from the loft, still dressed for sleep, which in his case was a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. His bare feet padded almost soundless on the floor of the cabin. Etienne was already awake, and he had been for at least an hour or two. Showered, dressed and sitting cross legged in a chair at the table. A large mug cupped in both hands as he eyed the half finished puzzle thoughtfully.

“Have you seen Malachi?”

“He got up a little after I did, said he was going for a short walk, wanted to clear his head.”

“How long ago was that?”

Etienne looked at the clock on the wall over the fireplace, and furrowed his brow. Setting his mug on the table he uncurled his legs.

“I’ll put on my shoes”

There was not foot prints until they got a few yards away from the cabin, where the gravel stopped and the dirt began. Or in his case the mud, and sure enough in the mud was the start of a trail of footsteps. Etienne was fiddling with something in his pocket as they walked in silence and after a moment or two brought out a small joint, lighting in and taking in a long pull. He stopped walking, and exhaled the smoke, his eyes scanned back and forth over the trail and then he froze. Dropping the joint into the mud, he took off at a run, and Xander started to follow quickly behind him. They were running in the direction of more footsteps, and then almost abruptly they stopped. Instead of footsteps on the side of the trail there was a long skid of mud. Etienne swore under his breath as he looked over the side of a somewhat steep embankent. Laying, very still at the bottom of the slope was Malachi. His clothes were covered in mud, and there was a very thick branch, protruding from his chest.

“He is still breathing” Etienne whispered and the two men didn’t hesitate to launch themselves down the embankment towards Malachi. He saw them coming and struggled to open his mouth. He was bleeding out pretty fast, the color already drained from his face. Each man stood on either side, grabbing Malachi’s arm. His eyes lit up in worry, because he was sure it was dangerous and stupid to pull him up off the branch. Both of them however looked like they knew what they were doing.
The pain was beyond anything Malachi had ever felt before, as they slowly pulled him off the branch he felt it burn like the heat of a wildfire. The burning pain washed over him entirely and he started to scream. Stepping a few feet away from the branch, Xander kneeled and took Malachi in his arms. The heat was being replaced by cold, and now he couldn’t stop shaking. He was confused, because neiher of them seemed to be trying to help him. They were just sitting there watching him. Watching him die.

“Malachi you have to trust me.”

Xander’s voice pushed through the fog of his brain. He was trying to act brave but he knew he was dying and he was so afraid.

“You have to trust me. You have to let go.”

The voice in Malachi’s head was louder than Xander’s.

“Malachi, you have to wake up. Now”