THE RETURN OF GENERAL KAI

Chapter 7

“What? Absolutely not!” Sarah said as she threw the keys hard on the ground.

“That is my offer, Sarah Pierce. I only care about my future grandchild and I still very much want you to divorce Kai.”

“That’s fine with me.” Kai pitched in, finally getting up from where he was sitting. Tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes, “what?” She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“Glad to know that one of us has reasoning here. Do you need me to drive you or do you have a way to get there?” Stephanie asked Sarah and Kai responded, “I’ll take her.”

“I won’t step foot in the apartment. I promise.” He added.

“Your words mean shit but I will take it.” She then turned to Sarah, “I will pick you up tomorrow morning by ten for a doctor’s appointment.” Was the last thing she said before turning to enter her car and zooming off.

Sarah stood, watching the car retreat until Kai’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, “I spent nearly all the money I earned these past few months to book a restaurant for our anniversary.”

“I think if I head back now I can get half of my deposit.” He added.

“What?” Sarah asked, confused, “you just gave your word that you will not be with me throughout my pregnancy. Don’t you think we should have discussed this first?”

Kai sighed, “no matter how much I work, I will not be able to afford an apartment for at least another three to four months.” He paused, “your first trimester is when you’re the most vulnerable. We had to take her offer.”

“Why do you not understand that I don’t care where we live? I don’t want to be apart from you Kai.” Sarah said and he kissed her forehead. Kai was concerned for her and she was riddled with the fear of losing Kai to himself. His nightmares, migraines and sometimes she saw his eyes going completely white. Other times, he just zoned out completely. 

She watched him all the time, he was becoming a shadow of himself. As though reverting to the man she met two years ago who couldn’t hold a conversation.

Kai smiled at her and planted a kiss on her lips, “I’m still around. I’m just not living with you. I won’t miss any doctor’s appointments. I’ll work my butt off so I can take you on dates as well.”

Sarah giggled through her tears, “promise?” 

“I promise.”

~

It had been a couple days since Kai last saw his wife, Sarah. He was mopping the sauna’s steam room, his home for the past two days. He was their janitor and rather than a base salary, they provided a place for him to spend the night. 

After he took a quick shower, he headed to his new job. He was starting as a courier that day. 

Kai had been in deep thought about his nightmares ever since Sarah was no longer with him. When she was present, he did his best to suppress his mind and it often felt like he was going to lose his mind. There was someone from his past that he knew but the man did not disclose his name.

He looked old enough to be Kai’s father but Kai had only seen him twice. The first time being when the man dropped him off at the bus stop he met Sarah two years ago. The last time was at his previous job as a waiter. The man only asked him how he was before tipping him with a hundred and leaving the restaurant.

It was after the second encounter and pondering on it that Kai was sure that the man had to know him on a personal level. Maybe he knew of his past but he never showed up again. It had been four months since then. His nightmares had become more aggressive and his migraines more debilitating so much so that he passed the night screaming into his makeshift pillow. He also blacked out more often and when he opened his eyes, he was on a battlefield and as always, he was surrounded by what looked like at least a million bloodthirsty men. The men called him general Kai and the army was known as the Vorgath. It was all strange to Kai and affected his life’s quality immensely.

That night, after dropping off his last delivery, Kai returned to the sauna house and began his night chores. As he mopped the grounds, his manager entered, “you missed a spot.” He said, referring to the trail of dust he left as a result of his boots.

Kai sighed, “I’ll get to it when I’m finished here.” He knew better than to talk back. His manager was not the one who hired him but people usually treated him less than human when they saw his state.

“Great. I’ll just do this then. Thanks!” The chirpy man said before taking off his boots and dusting off the mud on the floor Kai just cleaned.

Kai watched him walk away and a vision flashed before his eyes. He rushed to his manager and ripped his head off his neck. Kai fell to the ground. His thoughts had never been so gruesome before.

“Kill him. Rip out his heat. Decapitate his head.” Were the thoughts running aggressively through his mind and just as he was about to give in and run towards his manager, Kai ran in the opposite direction to the bathroom.

He stood in front of the mirror, splashing cold water on his face.

“What the hell?” He asked his reflection in the mirror. As he blinked, he saw a pendulum ball and black nails holding it. He opened his eyes again and in his reflection he was fully armored. 

“I’m losing my fucking mind.” He muttered to himself as he headed to his small room.

That night as he slept, he dreamt of Nexarath, of his family, his little sister, Elyria. He dreamt of his childhood with Kymani as well and the next morning, he woke up with tears streaming down his face.In his dreams, he was running around the open field with Elyria and Kymani, two little girls, while both their parents sat and watched, laughing. 

“Who were they?” The questions echoed in his head as he went throughout his day. He had an odd sense of familiarity for both girls.

Throughout that week, bits and pieces of his memories returned and it was clear to Kai that he was not from the capital. “Is there some place around here called Nexarath?” He asked one of his coworkers as they strung up the laundry.

“Nex-a-what? Voltaria is Voltaria, Kai.” She responded curtly, “you okay? Having those migraines again?” She asked him.

“No, I’m good. What about war? Has Voltaria ever been at war?” He asked and she laughed in his face.

“I’m sorry, Kai. Your questions are really throwing me.” She paused. “Voltaria is a peaceful nation and the capital is peaceful. If there was war, do you not think we would be neck deep in it?” She asked and Kai replied, “you’re right.”

Except it did not make sense. The vision of the pendulum made Kai to believe that his memories were altered but the more he thought about it, it looked like everyone in the capital had their memories altered. He refrained from asking her any more questions. It seemed like she really had no idea what he was talking about.

Kai got increasingly angry the more his memories returned. It churned his stomach as he remembered the abject poverty of the neighboring villages. He recalled hating the nobles in the capital for shying away from war and keeping the civilians in the dark, giving them a false sense of peace.

From that day, his demeanor changed.