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said,
confused.
    Steven didn’t respond. The man
didn’t seem to clue in that Steven had taken defensive steps.
    The man growled. The glass moved
again, this time to a different pose. Same result, the man’s hand stopped
inches from Steven.
    The man moved around the bed to
Steven’s other side. He observed Steven’s head following his movement, and
realized his ability to surprise Steven was gone. He let out another frustrated
growl. Then the vertical panes appeared, and within a few seconds he had left
the room.
    It worked, Steven thought,
exiting the flow. If he follows the same pattern he won’t be back again
tonight.
    He considered waking Daniel but
then decided against it. The visit was over; he could tell him about it in the
morning. Time now to sleep. Six a.m. was only a few hours away.
    Steven instead tossed and turned,
adrenaline now mixing with the protection. It was going to be a tough night.
     
    -
     
    On the drive to Olympia, Steven
related the incident to Daniel.
    “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Daniel asked.
    “He had come and gone within
thirty seconds,” Steven said. “And the good news is, your protection worked. He
tried several times to come at me and was stopped. He was clearly frustrated by
that. He eventually gave up and blipped out.”
    “Well, I’m glad of that,” Daniel
said.
    “He did say ‘I paid with eighty
years, and you’re going to pay with your life.’ I wasn’t sure what to make of
that.”
    “Well,” Daniel offered, “the eighty
years must mean the time binding. If the binding was to make him pay for
something, like a punishment, I wonder what he did.”
    “That’ll be agenda item number one
with Garth,” Steven said.
    Traffic was still light so early
in the morning, and they soon found themselves navigating to the Tall Pines facility
in Olympia, a few minutes after 7 a.m.
    They walked into the lobby. It was
large, open, and beautifully furnished. There were several couches in different
areas of the room, and several seniors were moving through to a larger room in
the back where breakfast was being served.
    Wow, this is much nicer than I
imagined, Steven thought.
    He noticed a woman sitting behind
a beautifully carved desk. She was younger and had a name badge. Steven assumed
she was the receptionist. As he approached the desk, her desktop sign read
“Concierge.”
    “Excuse me,” Steven said to her,
smiling. “We’re here to meet with one of the residents. Are you the person we
should talk to?”
    “Yes, I can help you,” she said,
smiling back. “Who were you meeting?”
    “Garth Wilmon,” Steven answered.
    “That’s Mr. Wilmon over there,”
she nodded, referring to a man sitting in a winged back leather chair on the
other side of the room. “He’s expecting you.”
    “Thank you,” Steven said, turning
to walk to towards the man in the chair.
    As they approached, Garth Wilmon
stood. “You must be Steven,” he said.
    “I am,” Steven said, “Steven Hall.
And this is Daniel…” Steven realized he’d never learned Daniel’s last name.
    “Simmons,” Daniel offered,
sticking his hand out towards Garth, who held it and gave it a shake. “Daniel
Simmons.”
    “Nice to meet you both,” Garth
said. “Would either of you like breakfast?”
    Steven and Daniel turned to each
other. They had left the house so quickly they had only brought coffee.
Steven’s stomach was beginning to growl.
    “Are you going to have breakfast?”
Steven asked Garth.
    “Well,” Garth replied, “I am, and
I’ve made arrangements for it to be served to us over there.” He pointed to a
small alcove. An elderly couple passed behind Steven and Daniel on their way to
the dining room and Garth gave them a wave.
    “Sure,” Steven said. “That would
be nice.”
    This was not what I was
expecting from an assisted care facility, Steven thought.
    They all walked over to the
alcove. It was lined with bookcases and had a fireplace with a small fire
rolling inside. There