THE RETURN OF GENERAL KAI

Chapter 4

Kai had a nightmare that night, same as all the nights before and for as long as he could remember. He was screaming on top of his voice, “put your lives on the line!”, “show no mercy!”, “bring me their heads!”, “stake his head for his subordinates to see.” And other cruel and gruesome commands he could hardly imagine himself voicing out.

“What sort of life did I lead before now?” He asked himself as he startled back to reality, shocking his wife, Sarah, as well.

“The nightmares again?” She asked as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

“Yes. I’m sorry.” Kai apologized, sitting up as well. “It’s okay. Should I get you some water? Advil?” She asked as she rubbed his shoulders. “No, thanks. I’ll just get ready for work.” He replied as he pulled himself out of bed, heading for the bathroom.

In the bathroom, he splashed ice cold water on his face and he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had sunken eyes from his sleep constantly being cut short by ridiculous, otherworldly nightmares. He had no idea but for as long as he could remember, he never had a good night’s rest and it bothered him that he was now waking Sarah up as well.

As he turned on the shower, he made up his mind to propose sleeping in separate rooms, an idea he was very sure her family would love. He stood in front of Sarah’s full body mirror and buttoned up his shirt.

He stared at the scars scattered around his torso. He was never fully committed at a gym and yet he had ripped muscles on his arms, back and abdomen. One of his coworkers jokes once, saying he had the body of a seasoned warrior.

The truth was, Kai had no idea how his body came to be the way it was. All he remembers was that he met Sarah one day while he sat waiting for the bus. He had no recollection of where he was coming from, nor where he was going or why he was even at the station. 

All Sarah said to him was, “you look lost.” With the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. 

“Where are you headed? The next bus won’t be for another thirty minutes and the forecast predicts rain in five.” She said again with a bright smile.

“Oh, sorry.” Kai heard himself say as he scratched the back of his head. Watching him, Sarah thought he looked cute. She was initially dared by her friends to approach him but on taking a closer look, he was really good looking. He had the perfect face and jawline and long eyelashes that framed his dark brown eyes beautifully. Him looking at her made her bite her tongue.

She turned to look at her friends who stood in the corner and she shrugged, “well? Are you lost, stranger?”

His head felt foggy, “I..I’m not sure.” Sarah took a long look at the handsome stranger and felt compelled to help him. She rushed back to her friends.

“That was one long dare.” Lily chuckled, “yeah you win. I’ll pay you a hundred. Let’s go.” 

“I’m actually gonna stay. He doesn’t look well.” Sarah said to both her friends.

“Yeah, he looks like a handsome psychopath. Let’s leave please, this is a deserted bus stop.”

“You two go ahead, I’ll call you when I have some information.”

“Sarah freaking Pierce. Are you serious right now?” Her friend yelled as Sarah ran across the street again to Kai.

The rest was history. Two years later and their wedding anniversary was around the corner but Kai feared that his nightmares amongst other things were ruining his marriage. He was used to not sleeping at night but something about seeing Sarah with dark circles broke him.

“Here.” Thinking about the devil, Sarah entered with a glass of milk and advil. She truly was an angel. “I took the liberty of using the guest bathroom. Wouldn’t want grandpa nagging our ears off for being late to breakfast again.” She giggled.

“I fear he would nag us no matter what we did, babe.” Kai said as he swallowed the pill. It did nothing for his chronic migraines but he did not want to bother Sarah with that. She had a lot on her plate because of him already.

“That’s right.” She agreed, “Here, let me help you.” She said as she adjusted his collar and the two headed out for breakfast. 

They moved in with Sarah’s family a couple of months prior due to his inability to keep up with their rent. Her mother came to ‘rescue’ her from her ‘pauper’ of a husband and Sarah refused to leave unless Kai went with her and here they were.

Kai hated it though. He was only recently laid off because his migraines were affecting his quality of work but he was working really hard at landing a new job but Sarah’s mother, Stephanie was always neck in his marriage to her daughter and so before he could get back on his feet, they were wheeled into the Pierce’s family mansion. It was a decent house but with way too many rooms in Kai’s opinion.

They all sat at the breakfast table. The family head and Sarah’s grandfather, Orion, her parents, Sarah and Kai himself. As usual, the air felt too heavy to rest his back against the back of the chair and so he ate stiffly, quietly, hoping they each had events that would excuse them from the table as quickly as possible.

Stephanie broke the silence, “I have so many errands to run today. Kai, you will drive me.” She announced as she took a bite off her toast.

“Mom? Is Gerald ill? Kai is job hunting today, you know this.” Sarah cautioned her mom.

“I just want a change in drivers and besides, how long has Kai been job hunting now? Clearly that isn’t working out. You want me to pay him, fine, I’ll throw in ten.” Stephanie taunted, a slap to Kai and Sarah’s face. Ten was only worth a bottle of water. 

“Mom!” Sarah yelled.