The White Owl

Chapter 2: Late Coffee

Silence... complete and utter silence... you think that after having to go thru the worse things imaginable and having to learn that silence is survival that one would be use to it by now.

But it never did, unlike back in Europe, they learn that silence was survival, so when they came back to from Europe by boat and set foot on the land of the United States.

They were confronted by the loud sounds of cars passing by, ships sounding their horns and people talking loudly within the streets and tables.

For Lincoln it was a great relief to be back home, but for the little girl she was scared. She instantly hid behind Lincoln and stood in place, fear had taken over as she was an outsider to this new world she had come upon.

But Lincoln had mange to calm her down and explain to her that their was no more reason to worry about being silent.

Even now, back at Lincoln's house the girl sat quietly in her seat as she did her best not to let her training and instincts take over and do the things she was taught to do.

A part of her wanted to run up to the windows and barricade them, check the rooms and search for food, water and supplies for her to take and count.

The other half was trying her hardest to follow Lincoln's demands as she did her best to stay put.

Lincoln on the other hand sat quietly in his seat as he look down to the floor while the rest of his family and friends sat across him in silence.

His mom Rita was in the chicken with Lori and Cookie making some snacks and drinks for everyone.

So for the time being everyone was waiting anxiously for food to come, but at the same time they were quietly waiting for Lincoln to say something, besides the quick hugs and hellos he gave back at the cemetery before coming home, he hadn't really said anything besides a yes or a no.

But as he sat their waiting for his mom to come back with the others, he couldn't help but to rub his hands together and look at his left wrist to see that his device wasn't their anymore.

"right... it's not needed here", he said to himself in a quiet voice as he pulled up his sleeve and continue to look at the ground.

Although he meant to say it in a low voice so that nobody could hear it, the room was so quiet that his whisper was audible to everyone within the room.

Causing many to feel curious and concern over what he said.

Ever since they saw him again, they could see the drastic changes he has undergone, his face looked like he had undergone thru a lot of pressure and stress as well as countless nights without rest or sleep. He had a few wrinkles underneath his eyes to prove it, even a few scars that were noticeable down to his neck.

His clothes looked worn out and dirty with the few occasional small holes that looked like gun shots and a few rips that looked like it came from sharp blades.

His jeans were also in a bad condition, a few patches and bandages around the end of his legs and his boots looked like they were just about ready to fall apart at any moment, but what was somewhat disturbing was that their was some dark red coloring to his clothes, even his backpack looked like it was hanging on it's last strings.

But looking at his backpack, they saw that it appeared to have something rather long within it as it stood upright on it's own.

The little girl looked just as worn out as he did, they could even see the few red stain marks on his clothes and her backpack that looked a bit to big and heavy to her.

But coming back to what he said just a few moments ago, Luna was the first to come to her senses as she was more than ready to bring about the many questions that family and friends wanted to ask Lincoln about.

"L-Lincoln, you don't know how happy we are that you are back, everyday without you felt so horrible, it was like a never ending nightmare that just keep on getting worse and worse the more it went by. But now that you are here, it feels good to have you back. But at the same time, we can't help but feel like you have something important to tell us, like what happen to you and... who is she?".

At this everyone in the room looked to the little girl who keep her eyes to the floor after seeing everyone turn their eyes to her.

Lincoln simply keep quiet for a bit before raising his head up a bit to look back at Luna with his eyes that were soon covered by his long white hair.

With his fingers he moved them across his forehead to move the bangs away from his face, and gain a troubled look.

He knew he had to come back to answering questions, keeping himself quiet wouldn't do anything good for anyone, himself included.

So with his answer he turn back to face them and let out a deep sigh before leaning back in his seat.

"well it's a rather long story, but I'll tell you the short and easy answer. She is my 'daughter' Amelia, Amelia Loud, guess that makes you guys aunts... and you dad a grandfather". Lincoln said as he placed his hand on Amelia's hand and held it firmly.

Even if he tried to explain it the best he could, it would still be rather difficult to understand just how she came to be. So for now, he stated the obvious.

"w-what?"

"how..."

"b-but... she is... how"

Of course, he figured everyone would be in disbelief over the truth.

"like i said... long story. What do you want to hear next?". Lincoln asked.

Again silence filled the room, what do they want to hear next?... how abut everything that happen for each day for those 2 years?.

"w-what happen... after we left?", Cecilia said as she looked at him with teary eyes.

Ever since that day, she couldn't help but grief over his death, and the possible pain and torment he had endure back in Europe.

It ate at her everyday not knowing the possible hell he must have gone thru, more so when he looks like he had seen it far to much, or perhaps to much.

"what happen... a lot of it that's for sure... after you guys made a run for it, i mange to get away while returning fire to those terrorists as i ran for my life. I tried to make it back to the hotel along with a few others from our class and those from the other classes, I along with 2 others had gotten our hands on some guns. We even took a few cars that were left behind in the chaos to make our getaway, in total we started off with 9 of us. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was in ruins so we made our way to the next point, the path to the airport was more difficult to say the lest, every turn we made we were getting shot at".

"gunfire their and here... glass flying at us from all sides, fire engulfing stores and buildings... even people were running down the streets with fire eating out their body. The screams... it was all around, i got shot in the shoulder while driving. It hurt like hell but i keep on driving as i was carrying 4 others with me. When we got to the airport, we were blocked by the military telling us to back away and that we were denied access without passport. We didn't have any so we had to figure out a different way out"

At this Lincoln's hands were visibly shaking at this point, even his voice cracked a little at the memories he was recalling.

It was horrible to say the least, so many people suffering and dying all around him, bombs were going off from side to side, people were being shoot down in the numbers in seconds, not just adults but children too, even the ones that couldn't walk.

It was just horrifying... it was like being part of a war that he never asked to take part in.

His family along with the teens and his mother, Lori and Cookie came back to the living room carrying a tray of food but stop midway when they heard Lincoln talk about the past.

"So taking our leave we headed out to the harbor, if we can't fly our way out we figured we could sail our way home. Even if it meant having to fight others to secure one, you have to understand that at this moment... everyone was on edge and willing to do anything to save themselves. We saw bodies littered all across the streets, blood ran like rivers... a few moved on the floor asking for help, but... their wasn't much we could do about it, so we continue to drive..."

Lincoln stopped for a bit as he had to catch his breath for a second, he moved his right hand to his mouth, just having to talk about it made him feel sick to his stomach.

He could even smell the foul stench of blood and iron that filled the air as they raced to the harbor.

"but by the time we got to the harbor, a few of them were left unattended so we tried to get to one as fast as we could. But then their we saw the terrorist coming right around the corner with guns in their hands and vehicles behind them. They knew what we were up to as they begun to shoot and throw bombs at the boats below and begun to burn people alive that were in range with their flame throwers. Two of our classmates were shot in the chest and killed, we turn back and got in the car and drove off as fast as we could, now it was down to 7".

"by then we decided that we needed to get out of the city as fast as we could, everywhere we go... their was just another trap waiting for us to get kill in. But as we drove down the road, me and the other driver failed to notice that a trip wire had been set up a few feet ahead, by the time I saw it, the driver ahead of us got blown to bits, scrap metal and 'they' were flung into the air, bits of metal with embers and their blood came raining down... along with 'bits' of them as well".

Lincoln stop their, he clench his head as the sight of seeing their classmates and other students get rip to pieces and blown to chunks came raining down like a shower of dirt and blood.

Haiku, Clyde, Jordan, Kat, Cecilia and Cookie could only gasp in shock in horror at what they were hearing, not only were the other missing students were alive... they ended up getting killed the worse possible way, even more he was the one who saw it happen right in front of them.

But then they begun to wonder, would this had happen to them if they hadn't manage to escape thanks to Lincoln?. Would it have been them in the car that got blown up to bits if he didn't acted like he did those 2 years ago.

As for the family, they were more than horrified at Lincoln's experience, never once did they think he had gone thru something this terrifying.

"we travel east, we figured that by going out to the rural areas we might be safe. That was until the bomb came down, a blinding flash of light with the burning feeling of that of the sun. Everything around us was either blown to bits or burn to ashes, we were lucky that we were behind a building when we were driving that it protected us from the full blast. But we were still slightly burn from the explosion and our vehicle got turn over... and we blacked out after that... when we finally woke up after what was 4 or 6 hours later. All the fires had been extinguish and everything had come to a stand still...".

At that Lincoln stopped, he swallow what ever bad feelings he had and turn to face the grown again, Amelia turn to face her father, she had only seen him act like this a few times before in the past, but it's been a good while since he acted like this.

So doing what she did once may times before, she comfort her father by giving him a hug.

"...thanks sweaty, I'm good", Lincoln said in a low whisper as he placed his hands on his lap, trying to calm himself as he let out a quiet sigh before looking at his daughter's face as she looked back at him with those dead eyes that showed concern for him.

How he hated having to see those eyes of hers, not because of anything she did or said in the past, no he was more so angry at himself for failing to keep her safe and shield her from the horrors they had seen.

She had to do things that no child had to do or learn in order to survive, she had lost her innocence so early in life and had to kill another living being in order to survive.

She was taught how to count her supplies and how to use her gun and knife for any given situation, even more on how to kill in silence, even more on how to kill him if he ever got 'sick', something she fear to do the most.

He loved her all to much, but at the same time he couldn't help but blame himself for failing to protect her innocence. If he did, she could have been a happy and carefree child still, but instead she had matured rather fast and learn how to act like an adult and learn how to hold a gun within the first few days of her life.

And the face she made when she took her first kill... it horrified her to see herself kill a man right in between the eyes with his blood dripping down his face and a few droplets hitting her face.

After that, she became lost in her thoughts and it became almost impossible to show any other form of emotion besides the ones she had come to know.

Fear, Guilt, Anguish, Concern, Sadness, Hate, and a bit of Love is all she had come to learn.

That little bit of 'love' can be said to be just as big as one can be for a daughter to have for her father, who had gone thru the most in order to protect her in their travels, he had already faced many challenges and hardships to keep them alive that he had come close to dying just about every time he and she walked on the snowy roads of Europe.

It pained her not to be as strong as he was, to be as fast and smart as he.

If she was, perhaps he didn't have to suffer so much, starve himself every night just so that she could have the two cans of food he heated and prepared for her.

She would eat and have a full stomach while her father will face another night with no food as he would smile at her before lying down to sleep for the hundredth cold night.

The way he care so little about himself and always put her on top of everything, how he had to face those 'things' whenever they came charging right to them, he had to get stabbed and beaten up to a pulp in order to kill one of 'those'... and then just walk it off with him asking her to keep on following him to their next destination.

It pained her so much to see him cover in blood and wounds that he had endure just for her, why couldn't she be as strong as he?, the only things she was good at was searching for stuff hidden in small places and bandaging his wounds just about every day.

She had become a good healer and doctor for her father, that alone made her happy none the least that she was good at one thing and be useful to him.

"don't lose yourself father... I hate seeing you like that" she said in a whisper as she rested her head onto his shoulder.

Lincoln only frown at that, but it quickly went away and was replace with a smile as he brought both of his arms together to hold Amelia in his arms in a warm and loving hug.

"I know sweet heart... I know, hey mom do you mind if i have some coffee for me and Amelia please", Lincoln said as he looked over his shoulder to see his mom wiping away some tears before she was called upon by her son.

"O-of course sweetheart, sorry I was just caught up on things... here have as much as you want", Rita wiping away her tears came over to the middle of the living room as she place down the tray of food and coffee before she took two mugs and filled them with hot coffee and grab two plates and placed three pieces of bread along with some cookies.

Lincoln took them and handed Amelia the mug and plate to her who had a confusing look on her face.

She had seen coffee before but not the bread and cookies, having gotten used to seeing her food in aluminium cans it was somewhat strange to see food offered to her in a plate.

Lincoln easily saw the confuse look on her face, it earn him a sad look before he turn his attention back on to her.

"yeah it's new isn't it?, don't worry it's good to eat and i bet you will like it more than the tin food we have so why not give it a try?". Lincoln said as he instinctively took a piece of bread from his own plate and offered it to her.

Amelia saw it, and she was just about ready to grab it before looking down at her own plate, and instead picked up the piece of bread on her plate and did the one thing she never though she would ever do.

She took it in her hand and gave it to Lincoln, he looked somewhat surprise before realizing rather quickly that she and him had their own plates of food, something they never once had or rarely had at all.

"y-you eat... eat please father", Amelia said as she keep on pushing the piece of bread towards her father, Lincoln understood and open his mouth and took a bite.

Soft, warm and homemade... oh how he had forgotten this feeling of eating something that came from home, the care and work that went into making something that was sweet and tasteful instead of eating what ever they could find within the ruins of houses or in tin cans.

It was something he missed for the longest time, how he missed something warm and soft, having the usual cold and frozen food sometimes made it taste plain and unflavored to his mouth, even that of that food they 'hunt' on their own wasn't near it's perfection of something that came from home.

"I-it's really good... thank you honey", Lincoln said with a happy smiled as he look back at her who looked like she was on the brink of crying.

This was the first time for her that her father got to eat out of 'her' plate instead of having to eat the scraps the he scavenge for, the first time they will be able to eat on a full stomach, he wouldn't have to starve to death anymore just so that she could eat the little food they could find.

It made her so happy to see him eat with a content look on his face that she couldn't help but let a few tears come down her face.

It wasn't long until she begun to cry openly as she came down burying her face onto the couch while clutching her hands into a fist.

Lincoln reached out to her and brought her into another warm hug, but this time he too had tears rolling down his face.

"I-I don't want you to s-starve anymore d-dad, no more please...", Amelia said with a pain aching cry as she tighten her small arms around her father's chest.

Lincoln had a pain looked on his face as he too brought his arms around her while saying, "I wont, not anymore honey. We are home now, here we won't have to starve anymore, and you don't have to treat to my wounds anymore like you always do, 'we' are home". Lincoln said as he rubbed her back while he rocked her back and forth in place, something he did in the past in order to comfort her.

The sisters and parents and the group of friends couldn't help but shed a few tears.

Just having to watch how they acted with one another, and how they spoke about not having to starve anymore over the small amount of food they had in the pass.

Just how bad did things turn after the bomb hit?, their was far to many question that they wanted to ask, he did tell them what happen on the day he help them escape, but what happen afterwards?.

But for now they watch as Lincoln keep comforting Amelia for the next 6 minutes until her cries turn silent.

And the quiet sounds of snoring were heard within the living room.

"Guess she is out of it, do you want me to take her to my room bro?. She can sleep their if you want", Luna said as she stood up and walked up Lincoln, expecting him to say yes and give her Amelia to carry her to her room to sleep in.

Instead he said 'No', saying that she would feel safer in his arms and it would prevent her from having a nightmare.

Their had been a few times when she had sleep on her own, and most of the times she woke up screaming or crying while holding her gun or knife, she then would end up looking for him thinking that he might have left her or had been taken as they sleep.

But she would always find him running to her with a worried look on his face as he came rushing to her aid.

"She can't sleep on her own, if she doses she will end up having a nightmare and end up screaming. It scares me to think what she dreams about that it causes her to scream in terror. She always sleeps by my side, thanks for the offer sis but it's fine". Lincoln said as he fixed his daughter's hair that cover her face.

Luna simply nodded before going back to her seat, although she and the rest did feel a bit concern over his comment but let it slide and just decided to stay quiet for the time being.

Meanwhile Rita stood behind Lincoln with a happy smile, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of her son tending to his child.

It was odd to say the least, she had expected to see her first grand child at a hospital held by either the wife of Lincoln's or one of her daughters arms as one of them would share that tender moment with their husband.

Instead she saw her little boy all grown up holding his baby girl in his arm, and this also concluded that she was now a grandmother and her husband a grandfather.

"She looks beautiful Lincoln, you know... she kind of reminds me of you when you use to have nightmares and I used to hold you in my arms at nights and I would rock you to bed", Rita said.

Lynn Sir smiled too at the reminder of how Lincoln acted when he was just a baby or near the age of 4.

The older sisters being Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan and Lynn, they too shared a smile as they remember Lincoln's time being a young carefree child full of joy and wonder.

Luna on the other hand seem to be the one who was more than happy to be reminded about it, because unlike the rest.

She had spent the most time taking care of Lincoln as a baby, the songs she sang for him would always help him fall to sleep as a child.

Just watching him hold Amelia in his arms, she saw a quick image of herself and Lincoln in the pass. She cherished those memories fondly.

Hard to believe that just 2 hours ago they were heading to the cemetery to pay their respects for their dead brother.

But instead, he had come back home and here he was with a child of his own and a mountain of mysteries that have yet to be answer.

It sure took them by surprise but either way, they were more than overjoyed to have him home again.

"yeah i know, I guess taking care of Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lisa and Lily when they were babies help me in the long run... that and i did take a few pointers from you mom when i was back in Europe. Man it sure was a long 10 years for me..." Lincoln said as he continue to hold Amelia in his arms.

But while he continue to do that, everyone had a confuse look on their face at Lincoln's last sentence.

"Lincoln... what do you mean by the last ten years?", Lola ask as she was more than curious and yet oddly confuse by his statement.

He looked somewhat surprise by her question even thou he did said it, but then he cursed himself for saying it, it wasn't time to explain that, not yet anyway.

"shit why did i say that... well... things happen back in Europe that caused a lot of problems and 'changes'. You see, when they drop that bomb, it wasn't just a regular typical atom bomb or nuclear one. It was something much more different than that, I don't know what that bomb was made out of or what was purpose it had, but it had major causes that it cause a vast area of 'time dilation'".

"Suddenly the skies were covered in pitch black clouds that it turn everyday to night time and it was also the last 3 days we saw the sun out. We had to relay on torches or flashlights in order to see, days turn to weeks and weeks turn to months, by the first year we had been surviving in total darkness with snow coming down everyday we spent their. With no sun to warm up the area, the cold from the north became a problem, it brought snow storms just about every week".

"Travel was harder now that we couldn't see more than 5 meters and walking in snow without the right tools was hard to do so. And at the same time we felt we were getting heavier and heavier the longer we stayed their, but it felt somewhat constant until we got the hang of it after 10 months of it when we stop feeling that heavy weight on us".

"I guess gravity for us got stronger until it reached it's point... but considering the change of gravity we still feel the same as day one, we just happen to gotten used to it. But other than that, it caused time for us to slow down dramatically, I had tried to use my phone to check the time and date, even tried to call you guys but... it keep on giving me an error so i decided to just toss it aside, their wasn't any reason to carry a dead piece of metal that wasn't going to be useful".

As he said this, Lincoln couldn't help but imagine himself in a dark room with windows that were fogged by the cold as he sat quietly in a room with a small fire to keep him company.

The sounds of the cold wind could be heard from outside the windows, his breath would fog the room with each breath he let out, dark, quiet and lonely.

That's how he felt as he sat in the room, not knowing the time or day it was, his phone had died by then and their was no way of recharging it, the only thing that provided him with any warmth or comfort, was this small fire in front of him.

Hard to think that a small little fire like that could keep him sane with 42 days of complete darkness so far, most people he had meet had already lost their minds as they couldn't take living another day in the dark.

In the end he was one of the few lucky ones that manage to keep themselves under control and maintain a strong mind.

"But that's impossible, their isn't any way that earth's gravity can be effected in one area with a bomb. I mean in order to do such a thing it requires a large amount of power and also it would take a lot of effort to keep something of this magnitude a secret from the world." Lisa said as she found this information hard to swallow.

She was the smartest if not the most smartest in the world, and for her to hear her brother say how a bomb mange to change the flow of time with gravity was something she couldn't accept.

But she knew that gravity had a key in terms on how time works, the weaker the gravity, the faster it flows but the stronger the gravity pulls, time can slow down dramatically.

But when she eyed her brother again, this time she look for key factors in his brother's physical appearance. He did look a tad bit taller, his hair was obviously longer and his face did hold a few wrinkles. Then their was the little girl, she did have a few key factors that came from him, such as his eyes and his round face and nose.

But then again how was she this old in just 2 years?, if what he said was true, then just how did this girl come to be in such a short time.

So could it be true that this bomb caused a time dilation that resulted in a change to earth's gravity?, and if so... this meant this was a huge brake thru in modern science.

But before she could say anything, Lana came from behind her and cover her mouth while saying, "Ok Lisa, we get it but don't you think Amelia is proof enough that what he is saying is true?, i mean just look at her she must be about 6 or 7 years of age?". Lana said as she pointed at the sleeping girl in her father's legs.

"shes 6 years old and 3 months old by now, she might look like it but she acts like a 18 year old to be honest", Lincoln said with a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his head as he said that.

It was funny seeing such a little girl act like she is 2 to 3 times her age when she can only do 1/3 of the things he can.

"wow that's cool...well if she is that old and you are with her... where is the mom?". Luan ask as he came up and took a seat next to Lincoln as she look down to admire the sleeping Amelia.

Luan might had not put much though into what she said as it cause Lincoln to have a rather sad look on his face as he turn to face the ground.

The rest saw this and felt the air get rather tense and cold, more so colder than the freezing air outside.

Luan quickly realize her mistake as she backed away a bit as she held her hands in front of her while saying, "Oh my god I am sorry Lincoln!, I-I didn't mean to say that, I d-didn't know".

"No... it's fine Luan, like you said you didn't know...all i can say about Amelia's mothers is that...

she no longer suffers...".

Well that dose it for this chapter... sorry it took so long, I read your reviews and I was more than happy to hear what you guys had to say about it. And also i am sorry it took so long to upload the next chapter, i was busy with work and other stuff and i was kind of stuck with what to write next.

I want this story to follow in order and be clean in writing, i don't want it to be all over the place like the first one, from here on things will follow in order and take it's time to have things explain to you guys so you won't fell lost.

Also i though that if you guys really enjoy this story, i have open up a (P)atreon encase you want to support me for a buck, ill still be posting here for no cost, and ill continue as long as you guys keep on enjoy the stories.

On my (P)atreon I will be posting sketches and drawings of the story, as well as Lincoln and Amelia's terrifying survival journey across Europe, ill be posting things like, character designs, environment, weapons, tools and even the creatures that crawl the never ending darkness that is Europe.

Like i said, the story will continue on here for no cost and I am not saying you have to support me, that's just your choice if you feel like sharing a bit of love, but it will motivate me more to put out longer and well detail chapters and bring me the motivation to do more than just write the story, i want you guys to see the story as well...

So anyhow i hope you enjoy this chapter and leave your reviews down below, and be honest with the reviews, not matter if it's harsh or perhaps you putting your own ideas to it i will accept them, i need to learn my mistakes and improve from them.

Alright you guys ill see you till next chapter.

My user name on is the same as my user name here, Kha'zix the RiftWalker