The First Male

by Lee Hayes

  He moved through his bedroom and into the bathroom. When he flicked up the light switch, he saw the ugly black marks, caused by his blood and vomit, that stained the floor. He was repulsed by the sight of it, but stopped cold when he saw a curvy black trail left by the serpent when it slithered hurriedly across the floor and disappeared into a crack. He closed his eyes and shuddered when he remembered the awesome pain he felt when the snake squirmed out of his mouth. Where was the snake now? he thought to himself.

  As he stood in the bathroom, a familiar scent wafted into his nostrils. He opened his eyes and looked around the room, searching for its source. The scent was like fresh flowers, like lavender—like a perfume Brooke wore. The pace of his heart quickened. He stepped out of the bathroom and moved across the bedroom. As he neared the living room, the scent grew stronger. When he reached the threshold, he peered around the corner, nervously. He gasped. Brooke stood in the doorway that divided the living room from the dining area, at the edge of the room. She had never looked more beautiful to him. Her blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders like ocean waves, and the depth of the smoldering blue in her eyes had never been more mesmerizing. She wore a pink flowing gown, like something a princess would wear. She was resplendent. She smiled at him, delicately. He had never missed her more than he did in this moment. His aching for her was palpable, almost tangible. He wanted to move closer, if only to be closer to her scent, but something held him in place. Something was wrong. Her body was hazy, out-of-sync with the rest of the room. Still, her beauty filled the space, and the longing he felt for her vibrated in his pants. It had been days since he had felt an orgasmic release, and the sight of her burned deeply within his loins.

  “Simon,” she whispered. Her voice fluttered across the room, warming the frigid air as it traveled. When her voice landed against his chest, it took all the force he could muster to keep from running over to her, tackling her and mounting her. His love for her was deep and even though he vowed to never say the word, he felt so weak in this moment that it had already formed on his lips.

  But, before he could speak, the image dissipated, like smoke scattered by the wind.

  “Simon, Simon, Simon. How I have waited for this day.” Simon flipped around and standing behind him was the man with a face like his—his twin. Simon jerked his body quickly, his feet tangling around each other as he tried to step away. He fell hard against the wall, but recovered instantly and stumbled into the living room. “Don’t be alarmed,” his twin said in a calm voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you. My name is Eli, but I’m sure you know that by now.” Eli’s voice echoed throughout the room. “I’ve been looking for you, for years,” he said with relief. “My brother, at long last.”

  Simon steadied himself and watched Eli, dressed all in black, walk toward him. His long gait was exactly like Simon’s, but he stepped boldly, with far more confidence; whereas Simon liked to fade into the background, it was clear by his walk that Eli loved center stage. His stride bordered on being sinister. Eli’s presence was formidable and spellbinding. Simon longed for an ounce of the self-assuredness Eli possessed in spades. Simon was simply awe-struck and studied Eli’s face; it was his face. Eli’s eyes burned with the same intensity as his, but his wavy hair was slicked back and Simon’s was in a Caesar cut. They were the same, but very much different; and, Simon longed to know him. The familial ties that he had longed for all of his life suddenly tightened around his neck. He hadn’t felt this sensation with Addie, even though she was his grandmother. He didn’t want any of this stuff that he had been subjected to over the past days, but he wanted a family. The magnetic pull to Eli was strong, like two halves itching to become a whole. Simon wanted to know him, wanted to be him.

  “Oh my God,” Simon said, his heart pounding in his throat.

  “No, not God. Just me.” The corners of his mouth curled up into a twisted smile.

  “But how?”

  They took a few awkward seconds and sized each other up, checking to see exactly how identical they were. There was no denying it; they were exactly the same. Same height. Same weight. Same body composition. Same piercing blue eyes and olive skin. “We have a lot to talk about, dear brother,” Eli said, finally breaking the tension. “Do you have anything to drink?”

  “Uhhh, yeah. I have some water or juice in the ’fridge.”

  Eli looked at him playfully. “I was hoping for something with a little more . . . kick.”

  “Shit. I’m sorry. I have some vodka in the freezer.” Truth be told, Simon craved something far stronger than juice, too. He needed something with some fire to calm his nerves.

  “Now you’re talking.” Simon moved around Eli and entered the kitchen, but when he looked toward the refrigerator Eli was already in there staring out of the window at the snowfall. Clearly, he had the same ability to travel as Simon did. Simon didn’t show his alarm. Instead, he reached into the cabinet and pulled out two glasses.

  “Look at this beautiful storm,” he said reverently. “I wonder if it will bury the world.”

  “Let’s hope not.” Simon opened the freezer door, pulled out the very cold bottle of vodka and poured more than a healthy amount into each glass. “Do you want some juice or something to mix it with?” As soon as he asked the question, he realized how silly it must have sounded.

  Eli grabbed the glass off the table, but a rough cough rose from his chest and threw him off balance. He grabbed onto the kitchen counter for support.

  “Are you okay?”

  Eli didn’t respond. Instead, he reached over and grabbed the roll of paper towels that sat on the counter. In the midst of a cough, he ripped one from the roll and brought it to his mouth. When he was done, he wiped a trace of black mucus from the corner of his mouth; it looked to be the same substance that came from Simon when he vomited the snake. Eli tossed the towel into the trashcan.

  “You need to sit down.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  “I said I’m fine,” he snapped. He grabbed his glass from the counter and raised it. “Here’s to us, brothers. Reunited at last. Let our reign begin.” Reign. Simon didn’t like the way the word burned across his ear, but he raised his glass anyway, clinking it against Eli’s. They each took a long pull from their cups and the cold burn from the vodka instantly warmed Simon’s chest. Eli finished his drink in a hurried gulp and poured himself another.

  “Let’s talk.” Simon watched Eli stroll into the living room. “You can’t know how much effort and time we’ve put into finding you. You were well-hidden by the witch’s cloaking spell.”

  “The witch?” Simon asked as he rounded the corner and entered the living room.

  “Adelaide. Our dear grandmother. The one you freed.” Eli’s tone soured when he spoke of Addie, and a flash of something malevolent swept across his eyes. “I assume she used some trick of the mind to get you to free her, but I won’t dwell on that. What’s done is done. I would, however, like to know what she told you about us, about me.”

  “Nothing. I mean, not much. I left before we finished talking. I had to get out of there; I wanted to come home.”

  “Good. You shouldn’t trust her. She’s a bitch. And a liar.” Eli lowered himself onto the couch, taking his time to make sure that he was comfortable. He crossed his legs at the thigh, fully ensconced in the comfort of the chair. “You know she’s the one who kept you from us, right? She’s the one who ripped you from the loving bosom of our dear mother. This hard life you’ve had,” he said as he looked around the room with disdain, “is all her fault. You could have been basking in luxury, in paradise, had it not been for her.”

  Simon felt heat building in his chest. “Is that true?” Simon wanted to trust him, but he tread lightly. He was wise enough to know that truth changed, depending on the storyteller. Was he to put his faith in Addie or his brother? He didn’t know. He didn’t know either of them; both gave him reason to pause. As he listened to the slick words that oozed o
ut of Eli’s mouth a warning sounded in his heart, much as it had when he listened to Addie. He wanted to trust Eli. After all, weren’t they the same?

  “I wouldn’t lie to you, brother.” Eli sipped from his glass. “Oh, she also killed our father. Burned him alive.”

  “She said he died in a car crash.”

  “That much is true, but she probably left out the fact that she caused the accident. When he didn’t die upon impact, she set loose a fire that utterly consumed his body—turned him to ash right there in the street. Oh, the stories I could tell you about dear old grandma.” Eli spoke so casually about the death of their father that it was eerie. The heat continued to build in Simon’s chest. He didn’t know what to say or do. His thoughts were convoluted and erratic; there was simply too much to process.

  “Oh, I’m sorry about the image of Brooke. I was reading your emotions and that’s what you were projecting. I didn’t mean to send her to you like that.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “You love her, don’t you?”

  Simon paused. “Yeah. I guess,” he said, slowly, as he took a sip. “Yeah, I love her,” he said more confidently. “I do.” He had never said the words out loud before, but they felt good on his lips.

  “These human emotions will be the death of us all,” Eli said, shaking his head in disappointment. “I guess I can’t blame you, though. After all, you’ve been around them all your life. I can smell them on you.” Eli coughed again, but Simon ignored it.

  “We’re not . . . human?”

  “We’re so much more than that.”

  “This is too much for me. In the last few days, after spending a lifetime alone, I find out that I have a grandmother and a twin brother. Now, you’re telling me I ain’t human? What am I? A demon? Some kind of vampire?”

  Eli chuckled. “Vampire? Really? Don’t be silly.”

  “I tasted another man’s blood. And, I liked it. How do you explain that?”

  “How did it make you feel?”

  Simon spoke with no hesitation. “Powerful. It made me feel powerful.”

  Eli smiled and raised his glass. “We are indeed brothers.” He leaned deep into the chair. “We are many things. We are everything. Vampires and demons—even angels—will worship at our feet. Everything that walks on the earth, crawls beneath it, or flies above it will serve our will. Everything will bow down to us. We are The One.”

  Simon took a long sip from his glass and shifted in his seat before speaking again. He wasn’t sure if Eli’s boastful words were hyperbole or if he should take them at face value; regardless, his words were enticing. “One of Adelaide’s books said that I am the destroyer of worlds.”

  “We are the destroyer of worlds. We,” Eli corrected. “And what do you mean you read it in one of her books?”

  “She had some old book with a bunch of symbols that I couldn’t read at first, but she insisted that I could. I tried, but I opened it and saw gibberish.”

  “Her books are written in a language only known by her sister-clan. I want to know how you read it.”

  “I didn’t exactly read it. I put my hand on it and I knew everything that was in it—I knew.” Eli’s eyes flashed.

  “Marvelous. Simply marvelous. We have been trying to read their language for eons. You are indeed powerful, and, together, we will be unstoppable. We will grind kingdoms to dust and build a whole new world; a world in which we are worshipped as deities. We will be gods.” A ravenous lust flickered across Eli’s eyes as his prophetic words drifted across the room, mesmerizing Simon and igniting within him ambition he never knew he possessed. Naked ambition. It warmed Simon’s loins. Simon had never been strong on ambition, but Eli’s words suddenly gave him a raging emotional erection; the throbbing he felt went far beyond simple lust. He was jonesing for something he had never really had before—power. He let out a slow hiss, like air escaping from a tire. The dark was rising in his soul.

  He tried to hold on to memories of love and friendships.

  “What if I don’t wanna be this . . . this destroyer of worlds. I don’t wanna destroy anything; that sounds so morbid. I kinda like this world.”

  Eli leaned a little closer to Simon. “We can make one that is so much better. This world is full of pain and death and misery. There are starving children everywhere you look. Horrific acts of war are committed on a daily basis. What is there to like about this world? This world is dying more and more each day.” Simon didn’t say it out loud, but Eli made a good point. There were so many things wrong with this world, but there were so many things that he thought were right, too. Like Brooke. Like Franklin. Like music. Like smiling and laughing children. Many things.

  “Do we have the same powers?” Simon asked, changing the subject.

  “I don’t know. No one is sure what powers you have.”

  “How do I control them? You seemed to have mastered yours.”

  “Ahhhh, that’s a bit more tricky with you, brother. That bitch Adelaide bound your powers at birth.” His tone sharpened.

  “She did what?”

  Eli exhaled as if he couldn’t believe Simon didn’t know the answer. “I have so much to teach you. She bound them. It’s a little trick witches use to block the powers of their enemies. She cast a powerful binding spell on you to prevent the maturation of your powers. That’s why your powers come out in spurts—probably tied to your emotions—but who the hell really knows? The witch is clever. She’s trying to deny you your birthright. You see how evil she is?”

  “I’m not her enemy.”

  “Yes, you are and she will try to kill you the first chance she gets. Addie is neither weak nor foolish. She is cunning as a fox and strong as a lion. Do not take her kindness for love. Behind every smile is a plot to rid the world of you—of me.”

  “I was with her. She could’ve killed me if she wanted.”

  “Killing us isn’t a simple task. We are unlike anything that has ever existed.” Simon exhaled. The more Eli spoke, the more Simon realized that nothing would ever be the same again. Not for him. Not for the world.

  “Why didn’t she bind your powers, too?” Simon asked after a few moments.

  “Because,” he responded coolly, “she didn’t know about me. I surprised everyone, including Eetwidomayloh.” Eli relayed the full story of their birth and as he spoke, Simon was suddenly flooded by vivid memories of being in the womb. He remembered. He even remembered sharing the womb with someone else. Eli. Old memories swept over him like a tsunami. He remembered speaking to his mother, telling her to push.

  “Oh my God,” Simon said in astonishment. “I remember. I remember it all. I remember the cabin. I remember my mother. I remember Addie. There was a storm that night—a really bad one.”

  “Do you remember being torn from our mother? Do you remember the pain our mother felt? I remember it. I felt it in the womb and I’m sure you did, too.”

  That old pain came back to Simon. Pain he didn’t even know he carried. It came to him in hard, jagged bursts that jabbed against his insides; it was an animal longing to be free. He lurched forward. “I remember.”

  “It’s all coming back to you, isn’t it?” Eli smiled.

  Simon’s eyes went black. Completely.

  “That’s it, brother. Remember. Remember who you were meant to be.”

  This time Simon didn’t fight the darkness. He didn’t want to. He let it wash over him. He let the pain of his birth flush through his body. He let every hurt he had ever felt in his heart sweep over him. Every part of his body tingled as if a low-level electrical current ran through his frame. His body shuddered and the feeling was pleasurable, almost erotic. He felt close to orgasm. His skin was alive, crawling with power.

  “That’s it, brother. Embrace the power. Embrace it.”

  The surge of energy that flowed through Simon completely took over him. He saw flashes of light followed by piercing sounds. His senses were on fire. He felt omnipotent, god-like. Slowly, he rose to his feet, feeling fully
in control of the world. He gazed at his brother who seemed astonished by the energy Simon emitted.

  “You are sick, my brother,” Simon said in a voice so deep it seemed to drop to the floor. “I will make you whole.”

  “No, Simon. You can’t. When we ascend, my powers will heal me.”

  “That’s if you make it to the Ascension. You are sicker than you know. I can smell your death.” Eli’s eyes widened, in shock. “I will heal you now.”

  “No,” Eli protested, “to heal me you have to take my sickness into your body. I can’t let you do that.”

  Simon smiled confidently and then let out a chuckle. “You worry too much, my brother.” Before Eli could utter another word Simon was upon him, the palm of his hand firmly planted against Eli’s forehead. Simon closed his black eyes and felt a rush of heat throughout his body. He looked down on Eli whose body convulsed violently as pools of the black substance gathered in the corners of his mouth before flowing slowly down his face. Simon felt the poisoned magic leave Eli’s body and enter his. He felt sharp pains in his stomach, but he withstood them, fearlessly, all for his brother. Tonight, he would save Eli. He had no doubt.

  When Simon removed his hand from Eli’s head, he was blasted across the room, landing hard on the floor on his back. He felt the foreign magic inside of him, struggling to take hold, to control him, but Simon held it back—he wouldn’t let it take root.

  Simon let out a scream so primal that it sounded as if it originated from the depths of hell itself. It was a raw, scratching, unhuman yell that could not be contained. The yell lasted for several seconds, and then it was over.

  Eli stood over him, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. “Simon, are you okay?”