“Have you ever heard the tale of the bear?”
[He keeps walking.]“Many years ago, a tribe of warriors living in the groves attacked a peaceful camp. They brutalised, murdered and tortured every living soul there – except one. She made an escape from the massacre and left into the wood for safe haven.
When she looked behind her, hoping that none of the warriors had followed, she saw a large bear. The bear was following her – a killer in his own right, step-by-step.”
[Doom looks behind him at his large boot prints in the mud.]“The woman ran all day and ran all night, but the problems didn’t follow; only the bear did. She finally stopped, exhausted, weeping and crying. She could continue no longer. She stood before the bear and gave herself to him, allowing her end, instead of running from it.
The bear, however, didn’t slaughter her. The bear said that she need not be afraid, as he was simply covering her footsteps with his own so that she couldn’t be trailed by those who wanted to kill her.
He was protecting her.”
[Doom muses with a gruff growl.]“How long have you been covering the footsteps of your brother, baby bear? How long have you been trudging behind Jackson Cade, covering up his mistakes and protecting him from those who wish to harm him.
This predicament you find yourself in with Jasper Redgrave is not about you, is it? He doesn’t really want to harm you, he wants to harm your brother, but you’re the little bear covering his footsteps with your own and instead, you find that now you’re the one in harm’s way.
Or more importantly, your mother.”
[Doom chuckles to himself.]“There’s no use in being the bear, CJ. All that happens is that you suffer. Haven’t you learned enough about what’s that like? Jackson is gallivanting with your father, fighting battles that need not concern him, but you’re left holding the baby. You’re left with blood on your hands and the weight of the world on your shoulder.
It would’ve been easier to let the tribe tackle the girl. It would’ve been easier to let Jasper Redgrave kill your brother.
Don’t you see? There’s no logic to your actions, Thorpe. There’s only suffering and pain. There’s only taking the bullet for someone else.
In the tale I told you, I neglected to share the end. Because in the end, the girl survived the slaughter. The tribe didn’t catch up with her. They weren’t, however, afraid of the bear. They skinned that bear alive by following his footsteps instead.”
[Doom shrugs.]“Just like Jasper Redgrave will do to you.”