Bishop's Orphans

Aidan

Aidan wandered mindlessly through hundreds of dead troops. He thought of Suzanna and his child, waiting for his return home, yet he knew there would be no return. This battle, this war, he was in was already lost. The one hope he had left was that when he died his soul would be accepted into heaven.

He thought about Benjamin, the wound on his arm was only small but infection was a threat. He smiled as he recalled his words to get something warm for them to eat that night. Benjamin was his best of friends, they had known each other years before the war and were more like family. To lose him would be like losing his own right arm.

As he thought about the people he loved, Aidan came across a rather large pile of bodies. He stopped for a minute, sending a prayer for each up into heaven, and looked at the emotionless faces left behind. Had Aidan pulled away at that moment his fate might have been different, he may have died at war, an honourable death, but instead he lingered for that second longer. His eyes widened as he got closer to the body slumped on top, the dead man’s head hung down towards the earth, his neck stretched.

Reaching out a dirtied, bloodied hand, he grabbed the head and tilted it sideways. Two puncture wounds sat comfortably in the artery of the man’s neck, blood oozing out and running downwards. He dropped the head and stepped backwards with shock, his eyes darted around looking for an explanation until he came to one.

A man crouched over another pile of bodies, his fingers tracing the necks of the dead in a playful manner. His blonde hair was tied behind him and ran down his back, yet some strands covered his face. His ears pricked as Aidan stepped on a branch, snapping it in two. Turning his head, he looked at the hopeless soldier. At first he just looked interested in Aidan, then his eyes shot black and he bared his fangs, hissing as he did.

There was nothing much for Aidan to do but stand and gape, his voice was lost as he tried to call for the sergeant. The man grinned and in that split second he was gone, moved up onto the hill. Aidan blinked, glancing around until he caught sight of the man again, and blinked again losing the man for good as he moved on elsewhere.

For what seemed a long time, but was in fact a minute, he stood where he was, in a daze about what he saw. His head told him to go and find the sergeant immediately and tell him of his findings yet his heart lead his feet up and over the hill to go and find the curious man.