Dare to Love

    Jade Song, a bright-eyed girl by the age of twelve, was especially happy when nighttime came in her sleepy Boston town. Her mother, with a silky voice, would bring life to the bedtime stories she told her children. Often, she would be snuggled between her three brothers as wondrous pictures of princes and princesses alike, slaying horrid beasts, such as dragons and ogres passed across her weary eyes. The stories had become increasingly more detailed as they discussed her mother’s family folklore, back to the beginning of the Zhou dynasty in ancient China. Jade’s breath would catch in the back of her throat as she listened intently to her mother’s voice fall to extend the intensity of the next scene, where her voice would suddenly rise.     Jade looked forward to every night’s storytelling, but tonight she was looked forward to it with anticipation, as the clouds bunched together creating dark ambience in their four-story townhouse home, threatening shadows stretched across the gloomy sky and the dark oaken floors. The earth-y, wet smell of rain came through the open windows as the pitter patter of fat drops landed on the tin roof. She leaned out of a lower floor window, looking out towards the southern side of downtown Boston, as she bounced on her tippy toes while her eyes darted from one flash of headlights to another. She waited for her eldest brother, Sean, to return home from a friend’s house, so the nightly tradition of storytelling could commence.     Jade turned when she heard footsteps on the spiral staircase. Her mother marched her way upstairs, porcelain features showed through a cascade of dark locks. She could tell that her mother was bothered that Sean hadn’t returned home yet. “Jameson! Have you heard from Sean?” Her mother’s voice rasped and echoed up the staircase. Jameson, her father, immediately responded in the negative. A sigh flew from the staircase to the window where Jade was perched. “Jade, James, Eric! C’mon! Time for bed,” Her mother’s footsteps creaked the wooden steps as she made her way the rest of the way up the steps. Jade tiptoed after her, leaving the window open to the night sky with the increased presence of dark clouds and wind that whipped the curtains.     It hadn’t taken long at all for Jade to be nestled into her own bed next to her mother and two brothers. The rain tapped and rattled her door onto her balcony that overlooked the townhouses' inner courtyard. Her mother had pursed and wetted her lips several times, getting comfortable. “Who remembers last night’s story?” Her mother asked, her voice playful and light hearted. Jade seemed to remember every word of last night’s story but her brothers had beat her to the answer.     “Ooh, a long time ago, our family member had trained in the deadly arts and…” Eric had begun, animatedly. He had just turned fourteen and started high school, his deep, voice replacing his juvenile squeaky one. His longish, dark hair fell over his equally dark eyes.     “Following in the traditions of our family, he became so well trained that he had served the last emperor of the Shang dynasty. Since the last emperor of the Shang dynasty had no sons, he named our forefather as the next emperor, which created the Zhou dynasty,” James, Jade’s youngest brother of ten years followed his squeaky voice bouncing off the four walls of the bedroom. Jade watched her mother touch her pointer finger to the tip of his nose.     “That’s right,” Her mother cooed, as she wrapped an arm on both sides of their cozy group. “Tonight’s story is going to be about the Zhou dynasty and again, our family history,” Her mother’s voice started low and soft, bringing all of them closer as their ears perked up to every word that spilled from her lips. Jade listened to her mother’s voice, pictures of a valiant emperor and his queen, passed through her vision, almost tangible. The emperor would be tall, strong and he would always stand for what was right. The queen would stay by his side and she would help him accomplish even the hardest of tasks. There was no doubt that she had based these pictures in her head around her own mother and father whom she felt so safe and secure when she was around. She could feel the rush of air as men and women alike used their training of the killer arts to attack each other, swift limbs stirring the air, protecting their emperor and queen as well as the kingdom they had sworn to protect. A woman with an aura of evil that surrounded her, her eyes yellow with rage, standing on the side of the enemy line made a shiver run up her spine. The hollow sound of flesh on flesh except the sound wasn’t quite right. Jade’s eyes opened wide, the darkness suddenly enveloped her, shaking her out of her stimulating dreams. She looked around, and found herself in her room, alone this time. Her balcony door banged against the wall repeatedly, her curtain flew through the howling wind, as rain still pattered noisily onto the wooden floor of her bedroom. She looked away; another shiver ran up her spine when that same noise reached her ears from the floor above her.     Noiselessly, she slipped out of bed, her long black hair fell to the middle of her back as she moved to her bedroom door. Loud thuds threatened to break through the floor above her head, interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. She gasped as the sounds intensified. She bit her lip as another image crossed her mind. Could it be a vampire that flew into the attic? Maybe an animal had come inside to escape the storm? It was her chance to be brave. She opened her door, winced once when the hinges squeaked. The stairwell was dark, quiet except for the strange noises coming from upstairs. Jade stepped out onto the landing, twisted her neck to look up the spiral stairwell. A yellow glow emanated from her parent’s bedroom. She sighed, shook her head as she turned to take cover back under her covers but curiosity had taken over. She turned back to the steps, mounting them cautiously one at a time. As she climbed, she found her brothers cloaked in shadow, huddled in a corner in front of their parent’s bedroom.     Jade tried to move but the sounds were now atrociously loud and brutal to her. Her mother’s rage filled screams echoed out into the hallway where they died. Her brother’s faces glistened with fresh tears. She wasn’t one to hold back on anything so it only took a few moments before she gained her confidence again, walking to the bedroom door and pushing it open.     “You killed him!” Her mother’s voice was the first thing that had registered. It took a moment for her to understand the scene in front of her. Pillow feathers littered the floor and air, some marked with bright red stains of blood. Old Chinese porcelain vases that had once stood tall and domineering in the bedroom were now shattered, scattered into little pieces over the floor. Curtains were ripped, hanging limp in front of their respected windows. Finally, her eyes landed on two shadows in the far corner of the room. Her parents moved in unrestrained swipes, sometimes forward while others retreated, beads of sweat dropped down their faces as they fought to attack and defend simultaneously.     Jade observed her mother, an abundance of strength showed through her small figure, a strength that she had never seen or noticed before. Yet there was a beauty to the show she enacted, a glow of dominance surrounded her while she stroked relentlessly at her father.     “Cyprus! I beg you to be reasonable!” Jade’s turned to take in her father, his voice deep and echoing against the walls of the derelict bedroom. His face was full of emotion while he himself seemed drained. A deep gash on his inner thigh oozed thick red droplets, coating the floor where he retreated and advanced. Her mother’s eyes flashed a yellow, shocking her back to the safety of her brothers.     “Mommy,” James’s squeaky voice flowed past her into the room which momentarily paused the scene in front of them. Their mother and father turned, noticing them for the first time. James wasted no time in running to his mother, wrapping his small arms around her as much as he could. Jade and Eric remained in the hallway, both of them too scared to follow in their brother’s footsteps. The house seemed eerily quiet for the first time that night. “Mommy, why are you and daddy fighting?” James’s question broke the silence. Jade observed her mother tighten her grip on her younger brother before stepping forward into the hall, noting the tears on her cheeks for the first time.      “All of us are leaving! Your father… No… Jameson… he’s a murderer,” Their mother’s voice spat like fire or rather a venomous snake, leaving almost no room for doubt in the seriousness of her words. Jade spiraled back to her brother, and as she did, she took in the features of her father again. His body slumped against the wall, his entire attitude that of a defeated general. “Let’s go!” Her mother once again interrupted the silence but Jade couldn’t move her feet. Her eyes swiveled back to her mother, her head shaking. She felt the foundation she had stood on her entire life crumble as she saw another flash of yellow anger in her mother’s eyes, followed by a slap that stung the side of her face. “You want to live with a murderer?! Fine! You will suffer too,” Her mother’s voice rose in anger, looking on to Eric instead. Jade felt her brother wrap a protective arm around her, standing his ground.     “Brother, sister… don’t stay here with him,” James whimpered in their mother’s arms, pleading with them as she walked down the steps, further into the darkness and eventually into nothingness. Jade and Eric turned to their father, slowly walking over to him in the well-lit bedroom, their eyes squinting against the harsh light. Their father had his own tears streaming down his face, his back hunched over and heaving heavy fits of grief. Together they wrapped their father in a hug, remaining by his side until his fits died down.     “You should have gone with your mother,” Their father’s deep, booming voice rang.     “Tell us what happened,” Eric demanded. Their father sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the four-poster bed, ripping his pants open to expose the extent of his wound.  Another tear dropped onto his face as he leaned over to open a drawer. He took out a first aid kit, straightening up.     “Your b-brother…” Their father paused, his hands shaking too much. “He was in a car accident tonight…” He bent his head lower, sobs escaped from his lips. Jade felt that her own world had begun to shake and turn upside down. She lost the vision of her brother and father in front of her. She could now only see her eldest brother, Sean. He was the smartest, always helping them with their homework. He was the sweetest, always on Jade’s side when she got picked on by her other brothers. Sean was always there to play with her or makeup stories and act out anything she wanted. Where was he now? He’d be ok, right? Her thoughts began in hopeful notes until her mother’s voice came crashing back to her… he’s a murderer. I-It couldn’t mean that her brother was dead, she thought. If that was the reason her mother wouldn’t accuse their father of being the murderer, right? “Your brother is gone… He’s not coming back,” Her father’s agonized voice tore down her defense. “Your mother is just full of grief right now… she… she…” Another stifled cry. Jade held her father tighter in her arms, unable to stop the words that continued to flow out. “She blames me for letting him go out tonight. She will come back… Don’t worry,” Their father’s attempt at optimism met another sob. The silence grew on as Jade’s dad worked on disinfecting the open wound on his thigh.     The next days were listlessly idle, except for the few hours that Jade, Eric, and their father visited the morgue to see their son and brother. Seeing Sean laying so cold and gray on a slab of metal seemed so unearthly while giving them the chance to coming to terms with the truth that there really was one less of them in the family. They would never be able to laugh with Sean again, wish him another birthday face-to-face… never hold another family event for one of his accomplishments. The pain of that feeling seemed to hit all of them like a blast of arctic air, chilling their bones, turning their outer shell into stone. Nothing seemed to hold color anymore. To hold any meaning. Every day was just as gray as any other. Every day was just as boring and lifeless as the morgue itself.                 Before the death of their brother, Jade would have called herself a cheerful girl with her head full of day dreams. After death, she felt as empty as one of her baby dolls, laying around aimlessly all day, waiting for something or someone to give meaning to her empty shell.                 On the day of the funeral for her brother, they all arrived, dressed entirely in black. They spoke only to greet the pastor. Their eyes remained on the ground by their feet as they listened to the prayers spoken for Sean, emptied into the damp, deadened air surrounding his coffin. They lifted their eyes to give a final look at their loved one as they lowered him into the cold ground, where he would lay forever. Tears streamed down several cheeks, while many cries erupted. After the pastor took his leave, Jade’s father approached her mother, a limp to his step. Jade and Eric remained behind their father, looking at James’s bloodshot eyes not hardened with a seriousness they had never seen in him before.                 “Cyprus, let’s work through this troubling time together, as a family, hmm?” Her father’s voice finally helped her to break her staring contest and look to her mother. Her face held an indifferent expression, hatred still flashing in her eyes. Jade watched as her mother held up an envelope, sealed with red wax, a dragon head inscribed in the middle of the hardened liquid. Jade tilted her head curiously at the letter, watching as her father accepted it with surprise evident in his hardened face. “You can’t really mean…”                 “You know what it means. Prepare yourselves,” Cyprus cut across their fathers’ words, turning on her heel to walk back across the cemetery. Jade followed them with her eyes until they finally evaporated in the misty fog.                 “What’s this?” Eric slipped the envelope out of their father’s fingertips. Jade watched as he broke the wax seal, his face turned into a frown as he overturned the letter over an outstretched hand. Red sand filtered from the letter and made a pile in the center of his palm while some of the grains blew away with the wind. “Why would our mother give you this?” He questioned turning to their father who seemed to have turned into stone. Jade remained quiet, waiting for an explanation of her mother’s words and the letter with the red sand.                 “It’s a notice. In ancient China, sand in a letter sealed with wax was a sign of war.”