Chapter 24

Troy

I sat in the window, watching the rain pour down. It started around the early morning hours. The storm was so violent that it rattled the windows and woke me from a dead sleep. I hadn't been able to go back to bed since, and I had no energy or desire to do anything other than sit here and watch the rain.

Thunder exploded right next to me, shaking the very foundations of the mansion, and two seconds later multiple bolts of lightning lit up the dark skies.

It had been a long time since thunderstorms reminded me of that day. It was so long ago now, and over the years, I learned to love the rain again, learned to take joy in nature’s symphony, but today I was that frightened five-year-old pup again, dragged from his bed in the middle of the night to be sacrificed for my father’s war.

I had no idea what brought the memory on or why. I didn’t care to examine the why or how. I just wanted to forget again, but the memories kept flooding in, unbidden and unwanted.

**

Water poured fro