CHECKMATE - Prologue

There was a slight drizzle in the city. The sky was an ugly black. The clouds looked like they would open up in a downpour any moment. For some reason they held back. Perhaps saving the storm for those unlucky people that were in the sky.
Mr. James Laurence and his wife Valerie were two of those passengers in the sky that day. Their plane had been an older model. One of those propeller planes that everyone avoided if possible. However that day had been rough on the airline and it had needed to transfer some passengers over to other flights because of some problem that had not been explained to the passengers. So James and Valerie had been jumping around the map waiting like a drunken man playing darts, unable to come even close to his target, for their flight back into Fredericton. Those extra hours had been enough to put Valerie Laurence on edge. She didn’t like flying in the least. “James?” She said for the fourteenth time in an hour. “How much longer?” “Still another half-hour my dear.” Replied her husband. Sighing she glanced out the window at the black clouds that had been gathering for the past 15 minutes. “I just hope the pilot can land in this weather.” “It’ll just be one more day.” Said James. “I just don’t like leaving our little boy alone for very long.” Valerie sighed. “You never know exactly what’s happening.” “Are you worried that he’s being picked on or not taking his medication?” Asked James. Valerie just glanced at him and James understood. Their little boy had a rare condition that he needed to take daily medication to suppress. One day without it could have catastrophic results. “Don’t worry Valerie. I’m positive he’s been taking it. You know he’s never been able to lie to me.” Valerie smiled at her husband. He always knew how to make her fears disappear like a wisp of smoke blown away by the wind. She glanced out the window. Something was wrong. She could feel it. A slight chill at the base of her spine. “I’m going to go talk to the pilot.” Valerie said. Her husband just nodded as he was reading a magazine that he had found in the seat pocket in front of him. Valerie stood up and started walking down the isle. Just then there was a violent jerk and the floor came up to meet Valerie. She got up quickly and the seat belt sign came on. She flew back to her husband and virtually fell into the seat beside him. She met his eyes. His brown eyes had turned serious and when he met Valerie’s he understood immediately. He started glancing around as if looking for an escape. The plane shook again and the captain came onto the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen. We have hit a small patch of turbulence but we shall continue to land in Fredericton shortly. Please excuse the…” The intercom went dead and started spewing static but the captain was silent. A baby started to cry. All of a sudden the plane tilted sharply downward and the flight attendant that had been circulating telling everyone that everything was under control flew to the front of the plane. Everyone started screaming. Everyone except Valerie and James. Their arms around each other Valerie uttered a final word of goodbye before the plane hit the ground. “Dorian.”
At school Dorian Laurence was in math class and just realizing that he had forgotten to take his medicine that day. “Dad’s gonna kill me.” He thought when the principle came into the class and said very gravely. “Dorian I’d like you to come with me.” When they got out of the class and the principle saw Dorian’s questioning look he sighed and said in a low voice. “Dorian, there’s been an accident. A plane crash. Your parents are dead.”