Into The Light

by Wolfe, H. M.

  Daniel stared at the phone in his hand, not knowing what to think of the call that had just ended. Alastair was by his side for the last two years, supporting him through thick and thin, being his rock, a continual source of wisdom and good advice. But now, the usually calm, collected man was an emotional mess. Daniel sighed heavily, wondering what could have happened this time.

  CHAPTER 4

  ”I don’t know what to do with Elliott anymore, Mallory! Lately, he behaves so irrationally that he drives me to despair! You saw it yourself. Every time I want to know what’s wrong with him, he brings that damn agreement into the discussion. I can’t help him, but I can’t watch how my best friend is destroying himself, either! What do I do, boyfriend?”

  Christine was desperate, exhausted and powerless. For the first time in her life, the girl was afraid, not for herself, but for the health, safety, and sanity of the one who was like an older brother to her. Elliott had locked himself behind a heavy door and thrown away the key. Up until two days earlier, he had managed to keep up the appearance of a normal life, but everything went downhill on Thursday.

  That evening, his dizziness was so severe, that Christine and Mallory decided, over Elliott’s head, to take him to the hospital for an extensive, detailed examination. Overnight, thanks to the vitamin infusions he got, the young man’s state had improved spectacularly, so in the morning he insisted on being discharged. When the doctors refused, Elliott had shown everyone how good and convincing of a lawyer he could be.

  ”Relax, girlfriend, he will come around eventually. I know he will. Our friend is a hell of a fighter. He won’t give up that easy,” Mallory’s voice sounded convincing, as he took Christine’s hands in his.

  ”I would like to believe that, boyfriend, because otherwise...” The girl stared blankly ahead, her voice broken.

  ”Elliott is just extremely exhausted, he spent a lot of time researching the Stark-Bloom project, plus he was also behind many of the practical results.” Mallory sighed heavily. ”Now, that I can think better, there is only one person responsible for the bad situation our friend landed in,” the young man added in a guilt-ridden voice.

  ”And that person would be...” Christine left the sentence unfinished, waiting for her fake boyfriend to complete it.

  ”Me. Elliott worked himself to the bone so I could get rewarded, he spent only God knows how many nights depriving himself of sleep to lift some of the financial burdens off my shoulders. It’s me. I’m the one pulling him down, the one who is not capable of doing more. My father is right, you know? All I do is complain while letting others do the hard work for me.” Mallory’s voice was bitter and full of self-loathing.

  ”No. Don’t do that to yourself, don’t let them win!” Christine almost yelled, flames of anger in her eyes. “That lazy ass father of yours, Benard the dick, and all the other bastards from the office, they just try to bring you down because they envy you.”

  The young man didn’t say anything, he just lightly squeezed the girl’s hands, smiling sadly. She and the blond who locked himself in his room were Mallory’s only friends, and he couldn’t bear the thought of losing either of them. He had been a loner for as long as he could remember, but it was only then when the young man realized how empty his life was. As if she could have guessed his thoughts, Christine started to talk again.

  ”I know what the two of you need,” the girl smirked. ”Elizabeth told me a while ago, but I called her a twisted-minded freak. However, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced she was right.”

  ”Elizabeth, like the mysterious girl you befriended out of the blue a while ago? The one you talk about all the time?” Mallory widely grinned, his mood suddenly brightened.

  ”Exactly. There isn’t any mystery about Elizabeth, as she works as a profiler for the New York division of the FBI. She is extremely good at what she does, you know.”

  ”I believe you, girlfriend. You are an extraordinary, brilliant, feisty young lady and you wouldn’t befriend someone who is anything less. So, what do Elliott and I need, according to your good friend Elizabeth?” Mallory was interested in finding out.

  “A man in your life,” Christine’s answer came almost instantly. ”You need someone who will listen to you, a man you could come to whenever you feel tired, whom you could tell everything. Someone older, Elizabeth said.”

  Mallory shook his head, saddened. ”With all due respect for your friend, she is wrong on that one. Older men prefer an experienced partner, one who could offer them pleasure. Not...a guy like me.” The young man slightly blushed when he said the last words.

  Christine offered him a warm, sincere smile. ”If you think that being a virgin is an obstacle in the way of your relationship with an older man, you are very wrong, boyfriend. It’s quite the opposite. In most cases, Elizabeth said, experienced men prefer the company of the less experienced lover.”

  Mallory paid attention to what Christine was saying, a small smile playing on his sensual, rosy lips. The young lawyer remembered the sexy rusty-haired man he had crossed paths with a couple of weeks earlier in the main hall of the office. He was the embodiment of sophistication and elegance, every move of the man emanating confidence and power.

  During the eight years, he had worked for Weldon, Somerset & Associates, Mallory had met all kinds of people, but never someone like that red-head. The young man suspected the older man came from a wealthy and influential family, he had the best education, and he gave orders as if he was born to it, which he was.

  The second their eyes met, Mallory knew he was lost. The older, rusty-haired man captured the young lawyer’s soul in his beautiful dark-green eyes and took it with him when he left. Since then, the junior partner at Weldon, Somerset & Associates had his head invaded with thoughts of the man who had stolen his heart. However, he didn’t expect his feelings would be reciprocated, because, most likely, the rusty-haired was happily married.

  ”Hey, boyfriend, your phone’s ringing again!”

  Lost in his thoughts, Mallory startled at the sound of Christine’s voice. ”See who it is and what they want,” he answered. The young man didn’t have any energy to engage in an impotent discussion with his parents, who insisted he should marry some rich, older woman instead of wasting his time with Christine.

  ”You guys are the best! Congratulations!” The girl burst into the room, barely containing her enthusiasm. Running to Mallory, she planted a kiss on his cheek.

  ”What happened, girlfriend? Why are you so happy?” The young man smiled warmly, loving to see Christine coming back to her usual, bouncy self.

  ”Miss Gloria just called. Guess what?”

  ”What?” Mallory echoed the last part of the girl’s question.

  ”A Mister Alastair Stark called. Initially, the guy wanted to schedule an appointment with the big bad bosses. Then he changed his mind. According to Miss Gloria, Mister Stark postponed the meeting until Monday, because he wanted you and Elliott to be present.”

  ”I am glad the firm got the contract, I am,” Mallory said, although his voice and the look in his eyes told an entirely different story.

  ”Boyfriend, you could be more enthusiastic. Isn’t it what you and Elliott worked your asses so hard for?” Christine was disappointed by the young man’s reaction.

  ”And we will get paid twenty-five thousand dollars each, while Richard Benard will have the money to buy that three hundred thousand dollar car he salivates so much for. He is Mrs Weldon’s favorite nephew, Christine. No one could compete against that." Sadness, bitterness, and resignation were mixed in Mallory’s voice, the young man suddenly looking and feeling very tired.

  ”Well, not this time,” Christine said in a flat tone.

  ”What do you mean?” her friend asked confused.

  ”Miss Gloria said that this Alastair Stark guy seemed hellbent on having the two of you in his boat. She also said he promised to give you credit for the entire project so Benard the dick can kiss the huge bonus goodbye.” T
he girl sported a huge grin of satisfaction on her pretty face.

  In his room, with the curtains close, Elliott lay on the bed, hands folded under his head, staring blankly at the ceiling. He was exhausted, physically and mentally, tired of everything. Tired of hiding, of running away, of lying to his friends, of pretending to be something he wasn’t. Instead, he wanted to shout, to cry, to destroy everything. He felt like driving Christine and Mallory away for good.

  No matter how hard he tried, Elliott couldn’t find a reason to cling to the life he had, to keep his friends close. To do this, the young man would have to open up to them, but he couldn’t take risks, not again. Last time he did that, he lost everything: sanity, self-esteem, the little bit of innocence he still had, dignity, control over his body.

  Once the memories he fought so hard to suppress invaded his head, Elliott couldn’t stop from remembering how he trusted that man so much, that he had told him his deepest buried secrets. And the man used those secrets to destroy Elliott bit by bit until almost nothing was left.

  Drowning himself in his studies was the only way, the then boy, could cope with all the twisted mind games his therapist played, with the immense pain he inflicted on the fragile, already scarred body of his. The long hours he spent in the libraries and study halls, working on complicated individual or team projects were the breaths of fresh air Elliott needed before being pulled into the hell Carter had created just for him.

  Two years ago, when he escaped, the newly Harvard law school graduate was foolish enough to think it was for good. But life proved to him again how stupid he was because the past came back to torment him once again. Elliott suspected that it was going to be even worse than before, and this time he had no will to fight back.

  ”Buddy, are you in there? Are you all right?” Mallory’s worried voice pulled the young man back from the swamp of his thoughts. ”There is something we need to tell you, something that will make you happy,” his friend insisted.

  Elliott couldn’t bring himself to drive Mallory and Christine away. Not yet, anyway. ”Wait a moment,” he said, unlocking the door. ”Now you may come in.”

  At the sight of his friend, the other man felt a heart-wrenching pain, but somehow he managed to control his emotions. ”The firm was chosen to represent Stark, Inc. and Bloom Enterprises exclusively. Christine just found out, Miss Gloria told her.

  Suddenly, Elliott’s face brightened. He was happy for Mallory, who finally could be free from his parents. As for Christine, she would be a wealthy woman in her own right. "This calls for a celebration," he said. "How about stuffing our faces with ice cream?"

  ”I just heard someone say the magic words ice cream, tell me I heard it right,” an unfamiliar girl’s voice said from somewhere in the house.

  Elliott frowned, casting Mallory a questioning look, but the older man’s only response was a shrug. Both of them headed to the living room, from where they suspected the voice had come from. To the young men”s great surprise, Christine was in the company of a girl about her age, with fiery red hair and strikingly beautiful, dark green eyes.

  At the sight of the unknown woman, Elliott took a step back. Mallory guessed his intention and, with a pleading look in his eyes, gently put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, stopping him. All this time, the girl carefully studied the two, without saying anything.

  ”Elliott, do you know who this young lady is?” Mallory asked with a knowing smirk, winking in Christine’s direction.

  ”No. I take it you know, so be kind and tell me,” the younger man answered in a slightly irritated voice.

  ”She is Elizabeth, Christine’s friend. That Elizabeth,” his friend informed him, whispering the last part into his ear.

  ”Really?” Elliott pretended to be enthusiastic, although he had no idea what or who Mallory was talking about. ”Nice to finally meet you,” he continued, reluctantly extending his hand.

  ”Likewise,” the girl replied, shaking hands with the blond. ”I never met a Harvard graduate as young as you,” she continued. ”I only graduated last year, to my eternal shame.”

  ”You know what they say. It’s never too late.” Strangely enough, Elliott warmed up quickly to Christine’s friend. There was something about Elizabeth that made him feel safe and sheltered. ”What are you specializing in, if I am not too nosy?”

  ”Not at all,” the answer came right away. ”I am a criminal psychologist,” the girl smiled. ”Add badass in front of it, and you have my cousin Liam’s description of my job.”

  Elliott smiled at Elizabeth, a bright, genuine smile. Suddenly, an entire world of perspectives opened before him. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t alone after all. What if he could open up to Christine’s friend? She could help him overcome all his paralyzing fears, could help him defeat the demons of his troubled past.

  A girl would have no interest in playing wicked mind games with him, Elliott thought. She wouldn’t feel any sick pleasure in physically and mentally crippling him, leaving him to almost bleed to death on the cold floor. Maybe he wouldn’t have to make the ultimate gesture to silence the voices in his head once and for all.

  ”I was about to take Christine and Mallory out for ice cream,” Elliott broke the comfortable silence in the room. ”What about you, joining us, Elizabeth?” he offered sincerely.

  ”There is nothing I would like more,” the girl replied, regret obvious in her voice, ”but I have already an appointment with the gang.”

  ”Oh, I understand,” Elliott sighed, trying hard to hide his disappointment. ”The invitation stays open,” he offered.

  ”Wait a moment! What about you joining us?” Elizabeth asked, her beautiful green eyes shining brightly. ”That way, you could meet the whole gang,” she continued, grinning knowingly.

  ”I don’t think that is a good idea. Elliott feels very uncomfortable among strangers, and he wasn’t in the best of places lately. Sorry to disappoint you, but...” Mallory fell silent, examining the younger man’s face.

  ”On the contrary, I think it’s an excellent idea,” the one in question replied. ”Thank you for being such a good friend,” he turned to his co-worker, ”but I need a change. I could make an effort and be more relaxed around Elizabeth’s gang. They couldn’t be that bad, after all.”

  ”Not at all,” the red-haired girl assured him. ”Well, except Liam, but he behaves when the little ones are around, so...”

  After about half an hour, the four of them arrived at their destination, a cozy place with a homey feeling. The gang, as Elizabeth called her cousins, was already there, because someone waved in their direction.

  ”Oh, look, there they are! I can’t wait for you to meet each other,” the red-haired girl said in an excitement-filled voice.

  ”Finally, you convinced the famous Christine to come and meet us. Not to mention she brought her friends, too!” a young man around Elizabeth’s age exclaimed. He also had red hair and dark green eyes.

  ”This is my infamous cousin Liam,” the girl said, amused. ”Liam, this is Mallory and Elliott, Christine’s best friends.

  The group shook hands with the red-haired young man, then Elizabeth indicated another man, who waited patiently to introduce the three people accompanying her. ”This one here is the most reliable cousin I could wish for, Martin Cornelius,” the young woman dramatically gestured to him.

  ”Auntie Lilibeth! Auntie Lilibeth!” two high pitched voices called in sync.

  ”Emery! Lochlin!” the third, worried voice warned to no avail, as two curly-haired, blond little boys of around six came running into Elizabeth’s opened arms. A third boy, most likely a preteen, followed shortly after.

  ”Gentlemen and lady, I give you the three musketeers; Gabriel Bloom-Ballard, Emery Bloom-Ballard, and Lochlin Bloom-Ballard.”

  But Elliott wasn’t paying attention to the kids, as in that very moment, a man stepped inside, heading straight to the little group. Eugene Brentano-Fenelli was there, and this time the blond couldn’t chase him away.
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  CHAPTER 5

  ”Hello Alastair, long time no see,” the man said, stepping inside the apartment. ”Or would you prefer Supreme Dragon? Director Stark? Which one should it be?”

  ”Whatever Vincent, I don’t care what you call me. I’m not going to lie by saying that it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the red-haired man replied, closing the door behind his unexpected, unwelcome guest.

  ”Keeping it short and sweet, as always,” Vincent replied. There was no trace of irony in his voice, only an immense sadness. ”Don’t worry, I’m not here for pleasantries, either. If it was up to me, I could have easily spared you from my undesirable presence.”

  As he sat in the comfortable, huge armchair next to the large window, Alastair examined his guest, with a curiosity he didn’t make any efforts to mask. Once very handsome, Vincent Grant looked much older than his forty-nine years, a mere shadow of the man who gave the Starks and the Blooms so hard a time nearly three decades earlier.