The Brother

Chapter Twelve

“This is your room.” said Jonathan pointing to the door right next to the one which had his name on it.

“Is this some kind of a hotel?” asked Jace. “We’re standing in a corridor that is a bit deserted and you’re saying that the room right next to your office is mine.”

”This whole floor belongs to me. I’m letting you stay in my guest room. The room opposite to it has a swimming pool. And that.” said Jonathan pointing to the door at the end of the corridor, “is where you will be training.”

“And who will be training me?” said Jace.

Jonathan smiled from ear to ear when he said, “Me.”

“You know, your versatility is beginning to scare me.” he said.

“I know. I’m just messing around. I have appointed Sameer as your trainer. He’s the best at what he does. He knows how to get the best out of people.”

“Well, that’s a breather. You should get some rest too.” said Jace.

“Later. Got some stuff to take care of.” said Jonathan. “Have your dinner. Good night.”

“Good night.” said Jace as he entered his room.

The room was based on the color violet. There were alternating white and violet curtains drawn over the window. The bed had a violet cover with pink pillows. The carpet underneath his feet, which covered the entire room was a slightly lighter version of the colour.

There was a bookshelf to the right. It was taller than Jace and had eight rows. Each of it was filled with books whose language he could not understand. I may have to start learning this language - he thought. He did not feel hungry and chose to sleep.

He went to the wardrobe which was placed exactly opposite to the bookshelf on the other side of the room. He was glad that there were clothes that he usually preferred to wear. Solid colored T-shirts, shorts and jeans. He opened the drawer in it and found underwears. Everything was the right size.

He decided to empty his pockets before changing. He took out the bow, in its compressed form, from the left pocket of his shorts and placed it on the small table next to the bed. He dug into the right pocket and found the device that made him travel through time.

Holding the piece of the dismantled bow, he thought - When did I put this thing in my pocket? And with a shrug, he tossed it over to the bedside table. He laid down on the oversized circular bed and closed his eyes. He was asleep in an instant.

Jace woke up the next morning and realized that he hadn’t had any nightmares of his father’s death. He felt pleased about this new development and searched for a clock. Unable to find one, he swore under his breath as he went to the bathroom to freshen up.

“Come in.” said his brother’s voice as he knocked on the door just under the sign that read his brother’s name.

Jace pushed the door open and saw his brother sitting behind his desk and busy doing some paperwork. “You’re busy?”

“Well, just a little bit. You’re up early. Excited to try out the bow?”

“What time is it? I couldn’t find the clock.” said Jace.

“Its seven now. Next time, try asking the bed. I made sure that there won’t be too many devices in your room. Didn’t want to bother you with it.” said Jonathan. “Are you hungry?”

“Well, not yet.” said Jace. “Can I check out the training room?”

“Sure. I’ll have Sameer be there in ten minutes.” said Jonathan. “It’s a good thing he’s a morning person”

“Guess it is.” said Jace and went back to his room. He went straight for the bow he had placed on the bedside table and out of curiosity, turned to the bed and said, “Hey, bed. What’s the time?”

“Out of the hundreds of names you could have called me, you chose bed.” came a bitter voice of a woman from the bed. “Anyway, the time is five past seven.”

“Sorry bed… I mean.” said Jace.”Screw you.”

With the compressed bow in his pocket, he took one final glance at himself in the mirror. He was wearing a maroon T-shirt with a light brown shorts. He headed out to the training room at the end of the corridor.

As soon as he entered, Jace noticed that there wasn’t anyone in the room. The floor gave out a faint gold light and Jace realized that remembered that this was his brother’s personal training room. He looked around and noticed a couple of punching bags hanging from the the ceiling. There were three boxing rings.

At the far end of the room , he noticed five quivers full of arrows hanging on the wall. Jace moved towards them and plucked the one on the extreme left. It was slightly heavier than what he had expected it to be.He placed it on his back carefully and adjusted the strap.

He heard a creek and noticed the wall that held the quiver, part open and reveal a shooting range. The shooting range seemed to be around fifteen yards long. It had been more than a year since he had last shot an arrow.

He took out the compressed bow from his pocket and squeezed it in his right hand. The tips elongated quicker than they previously had. Jace, pressed the button as the writings on the bow glowed in gold.

He noticed that the bowstring tightened itself much quicker than before.

Maybe this thing has a memory.

He took out an arrow from the quiver and aimed for the red circle at the center of the target board. It was surrounded by yellow and blue concentric rings. He took a deep breathe in and focused on his target and shot the arrow. He felt the familiar graze of the fletching against his cheek and watched calmly as the arrow hit the edge of the red circle he had been aiming for.

Jace was a bit disappointed. Let’s do that again - he thought and took out another arrow from the quiver and aimed at the red circle and fired. This time he hit the center of the circle and a smile crept up his face.

“Are you sure you haven’t shot an arrow in over a year?” said a voice which Jace identified as male