Chapter 4
614 Words
Chapter 4Warpath Journal: Dateline: "Willowcon 25," Los Angeles, CaliforniaMy name is Warren Willow. My brothers and sisters call me "War" for short.
Also because I think peace is groovy, but I believe we must sometimes fight to protect it.
Case in point. Our nation's freedom is in danger from people who look just like my family. Masters of disguise walk among us, agents of a secret far-right organization. They have imprisoned all my brothers and sisters, assumed their identities, and fanned out to execute a brutal master plan.
They call themselves the Poison Oaks. Like the Willows, they are all adopted children, raised and trained by charismatic parents for a mission. Unlike the Willows, they are pure evil.
They are our mirror images.
And I must stop them at any cost. I cannot allow them to commit acts of terror that will break the will of this great country. I cannot allow them to destroy what the Founding Fathers worked so hard to create.
And yes, I realize what I will have to do. I know that they will fight to the death. I know that I cannot show them one iota of mercy.
I know that I will have to battle these people—who look just like my brothers and sisters—and kill them in cold blood.
It will be my most important, and most difficult, mission yet. The thought of it shakes my courage...but not my faith. My adoptive father, Lawson Willow—"Law" Willow to us kids—taught me better than that.
I know I will succeed.
It's like the time I wasn't sure I could take down Ballantyne Foster single-handedly. From his cage over Ballantyne's shark tank, Father Law shouted the words that gave me the strength to defeat my enemy. Those same words have carried me through many battles since, and they come back to me now as I spot my first Poison Oak target.
"Everything you need to win is in your heart."
The target is one of the two imposters standing outside the auditorium. Though my instinct is to charge right in, I keep my distance for now, sizing up these wicked doppelgängers.
I can hardly believe how much they look like my brother Leif and sister Kitty. Seeing them there, such perfect copies, makes me miss my own flesh and blood.
It also makes me wonder if the real Leif and Kitty are still alive. We've heard nothing from them or the other abducted Willows for weeks, not since genius brother Buzz beamed out the Oaks' secret plans on his hidden transmitter.
Maybe I can get some information out of my target...as long as I remember my primary mission must come first.
Save America at any cost.
As I watch "Leif" and "Kitty," they are joined by someone I haven't seen before. A handler, maybe? His pale skin, light brown hair and goatee remind me of Scandinavian Steve.
Whoever he is, he has made the mistake of his life joining up with the Oaks. He'll regret it.
So will all of them, for this no ordinary case. It's a blood feud, with the very existence of my beloved nation and family at stake.
I call it my warpath.
And it can only end one way. No matter how perfect the imposters, no matter how deadly their weapons and skills, no matter how unbeatable their nefarious plans, I will stop them. I will win.
I know this because I see it in my heart, as Father Law taught me. I will win and receive my just reward.
Am I talking about Heaven? Only if Heaven means finishing my warpath...saving America and the Willows in a storm of peace-loving bloodshed.
Or avenging their loss, if I must.
But first things first. And by first, I mean taking out my target.
- Writer
