Raulin was exhausted, he was holding a cup of coffee that had already gotten cold, looking outside the window, in the direction of the power station.

“Give me that,” Maeve said while taking his cup away, her eyes sunken from lack of sleep, she had the strength to smile at him while replacing his cold coffee with a warm one “Drink it this time Raulin, it will do you good,” she told him, and rubbed his arm within her hands. ‘I don’t deserve her’ he thought, pulling her into a one-armed hug, to which she reacted a bit taken aback, she was feeling weird about showing public displays of affection under the circumstances, but then she understood that no matter what she felt, it was what Raulin, Erik, and Olaf were feeling, so she gave in and hugged him back, inwardly very happy to be able to comfort him, even the tiniest bit.

Erik Hagen looked at the two of them and smiled a tired smile. At least there was something good going on for this family. His eldest son was dead. He could not process it yet. His boy William, was no more. Why had he sent him to check the power station yesterday? Why had he sent him alone? He should have been there instead of William, had their roles been reversed, would they be all alive and well? Had he been in William’s shoes, would he have done anything differently?

Somehow, he knew he wouldn’t, he would have tried to protect the pack, since that was what he had taught his boys, protect the pack, protect the family, and protect your loved ones.

He knew the only difference would be that his boys would be mourning him instead, and not the other way around. And he also knew, that the pain he was feeling was unnatural, parents should never see their offspring go before them. It was unfair.

Those were the thoughts of Erik, father of William and Raulin, just before he retired to his room, he did not want the pack to see him crying.

Papa Olaf was asleep on a rocking chair, the events of last night too much for him, the emotional damage had finally caught up and he was resting, his face swollen, his eyes red.

Joe’s head was resting on his knees, as she was curled up at Olaf’s feet, sleeping. She had cried her heart out yesterday, yelled at everyone and everything, her mood swinging wildly from deepest sorrow, when she would wail and fall to her knees, unable to escape her own feelings, to the most visceral anger, when she would snap at anyone that wasn’t family with murderous intent. She blamed everyone for what had happened, but above all, she blamed herself for not following William.

Joe somehow thought that had she been there, everything would have turned out just fine.

Hard to say no to that, knowing how resourceful the young woman was. Thought Raulin, who was now sitting next to the sleeping couple that were Matt and Zoey.

Raulin had many things to feel regret about. Had he been there sooner, how would things have gone?

Would they have been able to come out alive from ‘that’?

He did not think so.

By the time he arrived on the scene of the events, he only saw an avocado-looking shuttle thing, a giant ‘man’ in a space suit lying against a tree with a fist-sized hole in his chest, a gift from Rusky no doubt, and a hulking giant man ravaging something, it took him a while to take everything in. Precious seconds Raulin did not know were precious; when he saw the hulking beast rip apart what looked like a man’s arm, it was already too late, realization dawned late on him, when the hulking man lifted both his arms to deliver a ‘hammer’ punch to crush his brothers head, it was too late, when his elephant gun made the ‘thing’’s head explode, it was already too late.

Many things could be attributed for adding up to the events that led to William’s death. If he had been driving a bit faster. If he had stayed with the group and asked Maeve to be his girlfriend later. If he had not delivered a joke to Joe, or if he had not taken five minutes to search for the Kawasaki bike instead of just taking one of the cheap ones.

But he had no way to know what was happening, nobody did. His Dad had said it, and so did his Gramps.

Matt and Zoey had been very supportive of him and in no way blamed him. But Raulin will never forget Josephine’s face when they told her.

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She had arrived at the site of the carnage along with Dad and Gramps, but when I heard them coming and heard her voice, asking for William in a mix of despair and fear, I jumped up, leaving Big Brother behind, jumped in front of them and grabbed her by her shoulders.

She tried to free herself from my grasp, her eyes looking at mine in interrogation.

“Let me go Raulin, where is William? I want to see him and give him the dressing down of the century”

With my voice cracking up I said to her “Joe, sweety, he’s gone.”

“What? Gone where? Why didn’t he wait for me? What are you talking about?” she said.

“Josephine, please hear me out, we are all here for you, but William, our big brother, he...he is dead Joe.”

She went limp in my arms, I had to catch her and keep her standing, her eyes were lost at first as if someone had given her a physical blow to her temple. I could see it in her eyes, the moment realization hit her. Her face contorted in a way I never thought possible, but she did not cry, she took my hands in hers, noticing the blood on them, and gently removed my arms from her shoulders, she turned away from the scene and walked for a bit in the opposite direction, where she fell to her knees, she looked up to the sky, and wailed. A primal scream that made my hair stand on end, unwavering, unrelenting grief. Her scream was so feral, so visceral, I knew she would never be the same person again.

I promised myself, that I would look out for her for the rest of my life. In William’s name. She was my sister now. By my brother’s blood, we were more family than ever.

Right then and there I promised to myself, and whatever god that had taken my Brother’s life, call it god, call it fate, call it destiny, I promised that I would keep them all safe, for William.

I knew that William loved every single one of us more than he loved himself, I knew in my heart that he would always have my back, and tonight he gave me proof, William decided to face danger alone, hoping I wouldn’t get involved, I know the ‘things’ were calling for help, and he had to try to stop them.

Obviously, the avocado seed looked like a radio device, and there were devices thrown around, probably to activate the radio thing.

My Brother would never do anything this foolish based on a sense of heroism or patriotism, not even for selfish reasons, he never had a single selfish bone in him. He did it for love, to protect us. ‘Protect the pack.’ That was the Hagen way, and that is how my brother went. In his mind, his life was a perfect trade for our future.

How he would always keep bullies away from Zoey for being such a nerd, also being the only African-American descent person in the school district was a thing to look out for, no matter what anyone said. And when she grew up into one of the most beautiful girls in town? William had already thought of that.

For you see, William always saw every single one of us as treasures. I’m sure he thinks I am the second coming of James Dean or Rock Hudson for fucks sake. He even got me that part-time gig at the model agency. One day he just said “smile” and took a picture, next thing I knew, some representatives from the Calvin underpants people were here taking pictures of me, talking to Dad and Gramps, and I had a job.

So how did he deter people from going after Zoey? Easy, anything was easy for him. One day in school, when we were children, she told Zoey, “If you ever feel afraid, or nervous, grab Matthew’s hand, that is what I do.” And somehow Zoey did, and never let go. They have been inseparable ever since.

But his crowning achievement was when he fixed our little tomboy after her parents’ disappearance. I still don’t know how he did that, and whenever I asked him, he would say “I didn’t do anything bro, other than piss her off.” Of course, I would ask Joe then, and she would only look at me and say “What do you mean? I was never ill.”

They were like two peas in a pod. Never away from each other, except when he took to boxing, I still don’t know how he kept it hidden from us, until his Olympics qualifiers. She was so mad at him, but when he was competing she was the one that cheered him the most, not that he knew, but there she was, all proud of her big brother.

And now here I am, in my living room, next to Matt and Zoey, whom I love to pieces, with Maeve curled up against my chest, I adore her. You always knew, right William? I’m sure that is why you would always find ways to leave us alone, or how you would always divide the party on D&D night, Matt, Zoey, and Joe as a team, me and Maeve in another.

Or how you would always know who she was going out with, how you would talk to the guys and politely ask them to leave her alone after she refused them.

You knew I loved Maeve even before I did because at first, I thought you liked her, which was weird, I never saw you had eyes for anyone other than our Joe, and then I noticed you were only trying to give us space.

You knew I was slow, and that I hadn’t realized my own feelings, so you created an environment in which we could be ourselves. Free of external distractions.

Gods William, what am I going to do now? You left behind shoes so big I don’t think I can fill bro. Fuck, it’s not even been a day and I already miss you so much!

The worst part of it was that I had no idea how we were going to handle Joe. I don’t think they ever realized how much they meant to each other, and the implications of those feelings. But I’m sure that weight is going to fall squarely on Joe’s shoulders, and if she was not aware before, she will be now, when she can do nothing about it.

Poor girl. We will need to be very careful, all of us, or she could end up going in a very bad direction. But it’s a possibility we cannot discard.

I had already heard Zoey talking with Matt about psychological help for her. I agreed.

Raulin stood up and went to the kitchen, where he started preparing a light meal. He knew that under the circumstances, no one would be in the mood to eat, but they would need some nourishment regardless. And now that William was not there, he had to step up.

What Raulin did not know, was that Mave and Zoey had the same thoughts the night before, that Matt had already promised his Dad he would look out for them and Joe. And even Joe had stated in no uncertain terms, that she would look out for pops and gramps for the rest of their lives, but that she was going to need some cats and a partner for Spot, her dog.

William’s life might have been short, but he touched all their hearts, and they had all decided, at different points during the past day, that they would step up, and try and fill in his shoes. Raulin was not alone, he would never be.

Even his brother William was thinking about him right that moment while lifting a magic sword from legends, imagining how awesome it would be to play pirates now, or to go to a medieval fair with the gang, and was working on getting back to them.

What Raulin did know was, that they were, and always would be, the motivation behind his brother’s actions.