by Drue M Scott
“Can you just see for yourself?” Mathieu passed over close to Malachi and offered him his hand. “I am open, and the memories do not span back very far.”
Taking Mathieu’s hand, Malachi held it to his cheek. Melding together at their contact, all of what had transpired since his friend had left the hotel just outside of Portland, flooded him. The shock of it read plainly upon his expressions as his eyes wrinkled and lips pursed. Instantly softening as he broke from their connection, he pulled Mathieu in tight to him, hugging him warmly.
“You are so weak. This has all been quite the ordeal.” Sharing some of his own life-force Malachi embraced his friend lovingly. “I am afraid, my friend, few, if any, of us are aware of this evil entity. As you are aware our focus is on the transition of souls. We do not regularly interfere with the happenings of earth.” Smirking at his own awareness that he had broken all of these rules when he taught Mathieu how to manage his life-force, Malachi shrugged. “We knew the balance had been seriously offset, and Kyna’s essence could no longer be felt, but this would appear to be far more dire than first thought.” Each second Malachi held Mathieu, the room felt warmer. “There are several pieces at play here, though. You have but one part in the story, I would like to have it all.” Releasing Mathieu, the two remained just out of physical contact but so close their aura’s intermingled.
Despite not thinking of Malachi in sexual terms, Mathieu frequently wished to experience carnal intimacy with him when they were in such close proximity. Malachi’s beauty and strength coupled with his empathy made Mathieu feel like heaven had reached down and showered him in love. His physical body knew no other way to express such an unbridled adoration except to lust for the experience of sexual intimacy. Breaking off from his momentary infatuation, he blurted out as though his urgency in speech would detract from the obviousness of his desire. “It is a story you will want to hear.” Kissing Malachi, he quickly stepped back a pace, if only to keep from getting an erection. “I fear, though, that the one who has most of the pieces is very near death.” Pointing to Mikale, Mathieu’s shoulders dropped in a defeated posture. The heat of embarrassment he had felt briefly completely gave way to his anxiety again. “I had hoped to keep him on the earthly plane long enough for his soul, and the soul sharing space inside him, to gain closure with the wrongs done to them.”
“You mean you hoped they could get you in front of Jacob.” Malachi smiled placing his hand to Mathieu’s shoulder as he stepped forward. “I know your motives. I know what you lost.”
Bowing his head in respectful acceptance of being called-out about his motivations, Mathieu apologized. “But I do care for this man regardless of my hate for Jacob.” Wanting to be clear that he was not solely driven by his desire for revenge, Mathieu lifted his gaze to Malachi’s eyes with hope.
“I can change the course this event had been following, but the cost of my actions or inactions are not clear to me as yet.” Malachi floated Katahniesha from the room and softly placed her at the nursing station. The police officers who had been running towards their room, he moved back to their cars. The entire area was near perfectly set as though nothing had taken place at all. “I cannot reverse death, however.” Teleporting Haley’s body into the room. “She has gone to Idir, and the shell that remains, is just that… a shell.” Dropping his sight directly to Haley’s broken form on the floor, remorse washed over Malachi’s aura momentarily. “My actions will not go unnoticed by the universe. It is not a good thing I have done here today.” Returning his stare to Mathieu, “It would seem that in matters related to you, my dear, I am prone to flouting the rules.”
Hesitant to ask more of Malachi beyond what his friend had already done, Mathieu stood motionless and pondered. How can saving us be “not a good thing”? His mind sped up.
“You see the balance of good and evil in terms of light and dark, right and wrong. However,” Malachi swiftly swept Mathieu into his arms. “‘Good’ and ‘bad’ are words your brain uses to codify the disorder in the universe.” Embracing him tightly, “there can be no order without disorder; no light without darkness. I’ve tilted the scales in your favor this night because I believed it would not dramatically change the outcome.” Kissing Mathieu as he let go while still keeping him near, “but there are things at work here that I cannot know. Tonight, I threw a rock into the eternal river of life, and how that shifts the current, remains to be seen.” His life-force tingled as he let more of his energy pass to Mathieu. “I can tell you, that in spite of my interference, this will not end in the manner you hoped for.” The sadness of his declaration showed as pain upon his face. “Events have been set in motion, the outcomes of which cannot be altered.” Drawing Mathieu up into his arms again, Malachi sighed. “Not even I can change the course of fate. I can alter its path from time to time, and I can delay the inevitability of consequences, but in the end, what transpires is an event horizon; once the threshold has been crossed, there is no escaping the outcome.”
Still feeling the rush of Malachi’s sharing of energy, Mathieu shyly queried. “Can you save Mikale?” Fear of the response forced a shiver down his spine and twinge in his muscles.
“I can,” Malachi softly responded pleased by the relief he saw on his friend’s face. “The choice to do so, however, will not change the trajectory of events to follow,” pausing to sense what shift in emotions his words would bring Mathieu, a mild regret stung his thoughts, “they are irrevocably set.”
##
Mesmerized at the sight of his friend, my teacher, Mathieu’s mind faded off momentarily to the first night he spent in the hospital after the catacombs in Paris. His genitals screamed in pain, and his body ached. Drifting deeper, he allowed the memory to fully consume him. Living it again, he could see the dark hospital room where he laid stretched out on his back. The small nightlight and sporadic medical equipment lights illuminated the room just enough to make out the cheap art that hung on the muted grey walls. The smell there was very much what he could smell in Mikale’s room. Do all hospitals smell the same? A fever had begun to over-take him, and his thoughts fluttered in mind-numbing erratic-ness. His heart broke a million times a second; he could no longer bear it. Aiden was gone by his own doing, and nothing could change the hate he felt for it. Death lingered in his mind as the only option to free him from the guilt and the pure self-loathing.
“You should not be so damning of your actions.” Malachi’s soft friendly voice broke the silence of the dimly lit room. “Not many could have done what you did.” Appearing first as a ghost, Malachi floated very near Mathieu’s bed. “It was neither right nor wrong, your decision, but you damn yourself to hell on earth with judgements you’ve no right to make.”
“What?” The fear and shock of the moment did little to change the confusion and frustration Mathieu felt. Killers, soul breaking, and now ghosts; does this shit ever stop?
“Not in any manner that would stop your pain.” Malachi answered Mathieu’s unspoken question. “But, despite the rules to the contrary, I may have a way to help.”
Breaking free of the memory momentarily, Mathieu stepped closer to Malachi as he mended Mikale’s wounds and fed him energy. Watching the blue/green/white sparks of transference and softness of Malachi’s face as he lovingly rescued the poor soul that had endured more than most would experience in a hundred lifetimes, Mathieu let the memory consume him again.
The same blue/green/white sparks flared up from beneath his testicles and warmed the area. It was pleasurable, though he was embarrassed at how much so. His erection made Malachi smile.
“It is normal, my friend.” The healing man’s grin cast ease upon Mathieu. “This wound is grievous, but the one your soul has endured is far greater.”
“How do you know?” Mathieu could barely speak under the sensations his body felt. It was the building climax to best every climax he had ever had. Despite his consistent orders for his dick to not be aroused, it throbbed with a pleasure that could not be adequately describe
d; it had no comparison.
“I know a great many things.” Malachi glided his hand upward from Mathieu’s privates and rested it directly over his heart. “This I cannot so easily heal, but I can teach you ways to channel your energy, your pathways to a higher state of being.” Bending down to kiss his patient, Malachi passed more energy over to Mathieu. “These are not gifts I would bestow lightly, however.”
Falling from his memory to Malachi’s voice, Mathieu stumbled forward off balance. Instantly catching him as though he had always been standing next to him, Malachi smiled. Remaining within his embrace felt like heaven to Mathieu. If only heaven were real.
“But it is real,” Malachi rebutted his friend’s internal comments as he set Mathieu back to his feet. “It isn’t the fairy tale version you were taught in church, but it exists all the same. And thank you for the compliment.”
“Compliment?” Mathieu questioned unsure what Malachi meant.
“Comparing my embrace to heaven is no small praise. I am honored.”
Blushing and awkward, Mathieu lowered his head and quickly changed the subject. “Is Mikale going to be okay?”
“He will need to sleep for days uncounted, but when he wakes, he will be fine. The soul that shares his body shielded him from the physical harm inflicted. That was no small feat. And no ordinary soul could have pulled it off.”
“Stewart?”
“Yes. He will carry unseen wounds for the remainder of his existence, but the protection he granted this young man surely saved the aching soul within.” Malachi unfroze the room with a snap of his fingers in a z-formation and a playful smile to Mathieu. “Is this flamboyant enough for you, dear Mattie?” The gesture lightened the moment and lessened the worry that was so prevalent. “I have other obligations that require my immediate attention, but I will return in time.” Floating upward and into vapor, Malachi blew past Mathieu as a breeze and disappeared taking Haley’s broken body with him.
“Is everything okay?” Katahniesha, poking her head in the door, questioned politely. “Can I get you anything…? Where did the young girl go?” Her quizzical expression lightened her face in a way that made Mathieu smile in relief.
“She had to go take care of her mother, but everything is fine. Thank you.” Mathieu inhaled deeply and released his breath as though it carried with it all the stress of the day. “Really… thank you.”
“Anytime, sweetie. Please tell your friend I hope her mother is okay.” Gently closing the door behind her Katahniesha returned to her morning routine.
“What the actual fuck just happened?” Sergei in shock blurted out as though he had been holding back the words for hours. “You were over there, she was… he was” pointing to Mikale shock drained the color from Sergei’s skin. “This is too much.” Vevila sensing the shock quickly took control of his body to keep him from falling to the floor. We don’t need any more hurt men in this room. “What happened?” Vevila questioned using Sergei’s vocal chords. “Where is Haley?”
Sadness slumped Mathieu’s shoulders in a defeated posture as he tried to speak softly. “She died.” Stepping toward Sergei, he continued. “For the moment all is settled. Devin has left, Mikale will recover, Stewart will, too.” You need energy enough to sustain yourself outside this man? Mathieu spoke to Vevila without his voice.
How do you…? How can you know…?
“Malachi, my friend, he” Unsure how to continue with explaining all that had happened, Mathieu choked back a breath. “How are you involved in all of this?”
“Devin shredded my energy, I found this man, attached myself to his life-force, and have been attempting to gain strength enough to..”
To leave him and exist as Stewart does. So why have you not?
It’s more complicated than that. I cannot steal all his energy, nor do I risk his being viewing me as a threat and expelling me before I am strong again.
“Can I say something?” Sergei interrupted. “Can we maybe not speak of me as though I am not Right. Fucking. HERE?” His sarcastic and yet troubled voice broke under the strain of speaking while Vevila maintained control.
Laughing Mathieu nodded his agreement. “I can help you both.”
“How?”
“If you would permit me, I can gift enough energy to your visitor so that she may leave you.”
“Yes!” Yes! Both Sergei and Vevila answered in separate voices but in unison. The harmony of their answer was musical in its tone and urgent in its tempo. “Will it hurt?” Sergei quickly followed up.
“It will not, but it will require time.” Pausing to look at Mikale, Mathieu paced a step closer and laid his hand on the patient’s foot. “We’ve recently been gifted that time. Time enough to rest, recharge, and with any luck, gain some insight as to how we will proceed.”
##
“Right where I left you,” Devin, fading back into form at Jacob’s feet, coughed. Smiling at his good fortune that Jacob still lie oblivious to the world around him, Devin moved in to lift him from the cold wet grass. Stealing energy without hesitation, he reveled in the recharge it provided. The sun had fully risen and cast targeted rays across the sky between the passing clouds. The dampened earth beneath him was soft from the night’s rain, but he cared little for what was around them. Devin’s only focus was on how much energy he could amass without thwarting his plan. Something pushed against him though. It felt like Jacob was fighting back, that’s impossible, but the struggle was happening.
“You cannot win,” Jason’s hesitant voice broke over the humming Devin heard as he pulled himself free of Jacob.
Stopping was torturous but necessary. “And you know this how?” Questioning with a voice that didn’t hide his shock, Devin dropped Jacob back to the earth. The faintest thud and broken exhale escaped from the stoned man’s mouth. Jacob’s eyes cracked open barely revealing their color as he smiled.
“I’m surprised you’ve the strength to even speak to me now, so I doubt you would know anything of what is to come.” The surprise that Jason was able to break free of the isolation, where Devin had walled him up, was recognizable in Devin’s tone.
“I know because your lust for revenge gives away your real motives.” Jason could feel Devin’s anger swelling. “You loved her, but she was disgusted by your need for power.” Attempting to make sense of all the details that had so recently bled into his mind while Devin was weakened, Jason rushed his words. “How could anyone as beautiful as her love someone as sick as you?” Frustration began seeping in from Devin’s anger at his words. “You raped and murdered boys, you wasted your great strength on dominating others, you…”
“I did what I wanted and with whomever I wanted, you sissy fucking homo!” Devin’s anger began clouding his own thoughts and actions. Pacing the small clearing where he had left Jacob in overnight, he wringed his hands in angst. “What do you know of anything? I will destroy all that she loved and use that power to control all that she held dear in this pathetic world.”
“Why? So you can claim to be all powerful?” Jason laughed. It was an artificial laugh, but it got the response he wanted. Devin was losing his grip on him. Maybe his noose is loosening around Brennan as well. The hopeful thought presented itself as Jason quickly quelled it so as to not be discovered by Devin.
“I care not for your judgements of my actions or my plan. I will have what I want, and no weakling boy or his long-lost soulmate will prevent me from achieving it.”
Momentary confusion washed over Jason at Devin’s words. He wasn’t sure that the things he saw when his captor was weak and the statements being made in the moment were the same. The lapse in guard was all Devin needed to edge his insanity down upon Jason’s life-force.
“Oh, did you not know that Mikale is Brennan’s soulmate? The treasure of his life? This may be more fun than seeing his face when he realizes it’s too late to save Mikale, just like he couldn’t save Victoria.”
“Victoria.” Sudden realization crippled Jason.
“Yes.
She has lived many lives since that day, but never reconnected with Brennan, that is, until that fateful day on the beach.” Devin laughed.
His jovial expressions were all too real, and they sickened Jason.
“Did you think I made you doubt yourself and leave Mikale because he was your soulmate?” Chuckling maniacally, Devin spit on the dead body still sprawled a few feet away from where Jacob appeared to be slowly coming to. “How tragic to learn that you were nothing more than a pawn in a game of chess that began before you were born.” Snapping his fingers, the corpse decayed in fast-forward, decomposing into the wet earth. “I knew the guilt of Stewart kept him from Kyna, I knew that Brennan would kill the person that murdered Victoria, I knew your death would weaken sweet Mikale.”
Each word was more weight on Jason’s soul; it was crushing.
“I disrupted the entire order of all your lives with nothing more than suggestion and few choreographed meetings.”
“But you didn’t count on Brennan taking your energy, did you?” You motherfucker!
“The outcome is still going to be just as I had hoped. Kyna is gone; Stewart will be soon. Your precious love is dying as we speak, and Brennan, well, he will remain within his hell until insanity takes him completely.” Cracking his neck as he spoke his words, Devin bent down to help Jacob to his feet. The gesture did not match the contempt Jason could feel building inside Devin, and Jacob slapped his hand away, making the whole scene more confusing. “Once I take out all of San Francisco with this little one.” Patting Jacob’s back and wrapping his arms around him in a mock hug, Devin laughed. “Then I will have destroyed everything she held dear, murdered everyone she loved, and amassed more power than she could have ever gained.” Turning his attention, momentarily, to his volatile human bomb, Devin bit his own bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. It was thick and near black running down his chin. “You delayed my initial plan and cost me a great deal of frustration,” smacking Jacob partly to wake him fully but mostly for the joy of causing pain, “but fate would have it that your betrayal opened up a far more satisfying outcome.” I get to feel this one’s, Devin pricked Jason’s life-force, suffering as he watches his love drown in a pool of his own blood. Blocking Jason from his final words, Devin whispered something more to Jacob and sent him on his way. The distinct impression that Jacob was scheming something of his own was plain to Jason, but Devin did not appear to recognize it.