by S S Bazinet
Tim’s words seemed to affect Arel deeply. When Arel looked back this time, his eyes were soft and gracious. “You’ve been the best of friends. Thank you.” He put his hand on Tim’s shoulder. “And believe me, I want to help you.”
Arel’s touch was comforting and warm, just like it had been on the evening of Tim’s accident. On that occasion, Arel had healed Tim’s head wound. Perhaps now, Arel could dispel his fears. Instead, the warmth Tim was enjoying suddenly shifted. The feeling of well-being escalated into an overpowering fiery sensation. At the same time, Tim was thrown back into his nightmare. In an instant, he felt like his whole world was going up in flames.
Arel released him immediately and jerked back, as if he felt the fire too. Happily, he took the nightmare with him. As soon as Arel broke their connection, Tim felt his head clear and his body relax. He didn’t feel shaky or afraid anymore.
“That was strange,” Tim whispered. In the blink of an eye, the vivid scenes from his dream began to fade. The mob that had been so frightening all disappeared. The screams of their victims went quiet. When he looked up, he knew Arel had worked his magic a second time.
There was only one problem. Arel looked weird. He was staring straight ahead, like some catatonic inmate in a mental institution. Tim snapped his fingers a couple of times, trying to bring Arel back from wherever he’d gone. It didn’t work. That’s when Tim knew the magician needed help. He called for Michael, the person who usually stayed behind the curtain when things were happening. But Tim suspected that the quiet man had hidden talents. “Michael, the dream expert needs you!”
* * * * *
Arel was spirited away so fast, he was completely disoriented when the world stopped spinning. It took a moment to understand where he was. He cringed when he realized that he was standing in the middle of a mob. He was surrounded by blazing torches and unwashed faces. Features were distorted with anger and rage. A savage, unforgiving energy battered his body and filled him with dread.
Am I visiting Hades?
As soon as Arel asked the question, he remembered Tim’s nightmare.
I’m in his dream!
Or was he? Perhaps the place he was visiting wasn’t a dream. What if he’d gone back in time? He’d done it before.
No matter what, it’s not my reality.
Arel tried to intend himself back to his own time. He started repeating Dorothy’s line from the Wizard of Oz. “I want to go home. I want to go home.”
His frantic mumbling was lost to the yelling and howls of the crowd. Their shouts rose in a crescendo of malice as a young man forced his way through the ragged throngs. As soon as Arel saw the man, he recognized him. It was Tim, but he looked different. This version was younger, and he had a less robust frame. Noting the man’s frantic attitude, Arel froze. A flood of memories followed.
In a past life, Tim’s name was Oswyn, and we were best friends.
Arel instantly forgot about going home. His focus was on Oswyn. The man’s face was ashen and his expression was one of absolute despair. Arel felt it too. He knew why Oswyn was trying to get to the center of the square, but he still couldn’t move.
No! I can’t go through this again!
Arel had already relived this scene himself. He knew what was coming. So did Oswyn. The man screamed out at the cheering onlookers who waited for two people to be burned. The young woman who had been condemned was Oswyn’s betrothed. The man next to her was Oswyn’s best friend. Both people would soon be engulfed in flames.
“You’re all murderers!” Oswyn shrieked.
Oswyn’s protests were met with instant reprisal. The irate multitude immediately gathered up loose stones from the street. They attacked him with the rocks and with demeaning insults and hateful curses. Oswyn held up his hands, trying to defend himself, but he was attacked from every angle. The stones did their job, battering his head and body. He soon went down, helpless to protect himself.
Outraged by Oswyn’s plight, Arel broke loose from his paralysis. He rushed to where Oswyn had fallen. He tried to shield him, but the shower of rock went through his ghostly body, finding its intended target. Bloodied and losing consciousness, Oswyn dragged himself forward. He wouldn’t give up.
Arel could feel Oswyn’s suffering, his utter torment. Oswyn loved his betrothed with all his heart. Her brother was like a member of Oswyn’s family. Soon both of them were going to be set on fire. There was nothing Oswyn could do to stay the execution, to stop the unthinkable. His anguish and grief encircled him like a great, black cloud of absolute helplessness.
Arel tried to get through to his friend. “You have to let go of this nightmare!”
But the black despair that surrounded Oswyn was too dense. His wretched state was suffocating the life out of him. Arel’s only desire was to save Oswyn from his despair. That’s when he felt a potent rush. It was a heady rapture that invaded his mind and spread throughout every particle of what he knew himself to be. A powerful force within him began to draw off Oswyn’s despair. Massive amounts of the black energy were absorbed in mere seconds. Swirling inside of him, it began to extinguish his own light. But Arel was so caught up by the need to aid his friend, he ignored what was happening.
“Arel! You have to stop!” A stern command emanated from the heavens.
Arel didn’t heed the warning at first. As his power was poisoned by what he was taking in, he was losing strength. He was becoming so weak that all he could do was hover over Oswyn protectively.
“Arel! Look at me!”
The voice rang out again, and Arel had enough strength left to glance upward. The night sky was cold and black, but a singular, dazzling star hovered above him. The light from the orb targeted him, like a bright spotlight on a black ocean of doom. He squinted back, unable to look at it for very long. As he shielded his eyes, the name, Michael, weaved in and out of his frenzied mind. He turned to Oswyn, but his friend was still unconscious. Arel was losing consciousness too. Everything was fading into a black void. That’s when a second voice called out to him.
“Dammit Arel, you’re not going down this easy.”
“William?” The sound of the man’s voice was an instant slap to Arel’s ghostly face.
“Yes, William, the person you threw out of heaven!”
Arel’s heavy burden of guilt made him claw his way back from oblivion, to gather up a few shreds of awareness so that he could respond. “You know I’m sorry—”
“I don’t want your apology!”
Arel began to tremble. William’s voice was so loud, so filled with wrath that it froze the mob scene where Arel was groveling on hands and knees. Everyone around him stopped moving. Even the fires from their torches went into a sort of freeze frame. Arel was the only thing that was animated. “If you want to punish me, Will, you should leave me here, with these ignorant monsters.”
“And let you forget what you did to me?” A great laughter shook the still heavens and the frozen medieval scene. “No, you’re not going anywhere but back to your body! And you’re going back there now!”
William’s words were enough to send Arel hurdling through space and time. He felt himself slam into his physical form with so much force that he woke up from the horrific, dream scene.
* * * * *
When he opened his eyes, Arel was staring at Tim. Or was it Oswyn? Whoever it was, the man was trying to get his attention.
“Arel, are you okay? You had Michael and I worried. You fainted, and we couldn’t wake you up.”
A very bright light moved into Arel’s line of vision and spoke to Tim. “Arel needs to rest.”
Tim smiled at Arel. “Maybe Michael’s right, Arel. You look like you saw a ghost. You probably need to sleep it off.”
Arel’s teeth were chattering as he stared at Tim. He was so cold. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help with the dream.”
“It’s okay. I feel a lot better,” Tim said as he backed away. “Excuse me, I have to get back to Peggy before she wakes up.”
&nbs
p; Arel squinted as Tim walked to the foyer and let himself out. After he was gone, Arel tried looking at the blinding light again. “Michael? What’s going on? Why are you so bright?”
“Close your eyes and relax for a moment, then open them. You need to settle into your body properly.”
Arel did as he was told. When he opened his eyes this time, Michael was his usual self. “Do you know that you almost blinded me when I was in that nightmare?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t think about what you just experienced.”
Arel sat up, still a little woozy, and tried to calm himself in spite of his chills. “It was just a dream, right?”
Michael grabbed a wool throw from a recliner, put it over Arel, and tucked the blanket around his legs. “Yes and no.”
Arel stared back, happy for the warmth, but concerned. He knew he’d lost control of himself again. “I don’t understand. Please explain what happened to me.”
“You projected your energy body into a dream state, and that dream state had validity. In a way, you left this world for a short time. That’s one reason why your body suffered.”
“But dreams and reality are different, right?”
Michael smiled patiently. “Everything is energy. In that respect, everything is real. When a person becomes very powerful, they have a great potential to alter circumstances no matter what form it takes.”
Arel crossed his arms. “Like when I invaded William’s experience on the other side.”
“Exactly.”
“Did I go back in time just now?”
Michael hesitated. “Reality is very fluid. Think of the past, present and future and then imagine that they’re all part of an ocean of infinite energy and possibility. Every individual’s every thought and every action affects that ocean and what’s contained within it.”
“Was that a yes or a no?”
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to confuse you.”
Arel eyed him reproachfully. Michael was clearly a repository for universal knowledge. Unfortunately, Arel’s repository was more like a children’s library. When Michael explained one of his concepts, Arel needed a copy of “An Angel’s Wisdom for Dummies” guide.
Michael’s gaze drifted, as if he was contemplating the merits of such a book.
Arel cleared his throat, bringing Michael’s lagging attention back from his ethereal wanderings. “I usually heat up when I pull in negative energy. So why am I so cold?”
“When you left your body and your etheric counterpart became lost in a so called dream, the connection to your normal reality and to your body was weakened. If you hadn’t returned to your physical vessel when you did, the connection was in danger of being severed.”
“Fat chance with William checking up on me.”
“Yes, you ignored me, but you did pay attention to him.”
“I guess I should be grateful. I tossed him out of some wispy paradise, and he returned the favor by saving me from hell.”
“I’m afraid his motives aren’t as pure as they could be.”
Arel pushed the cover off of his upper body. His temperature was rising very fast as he thought about his savior. “William wants me dead, but he also wants to be the one arranging my demise. He’s getting more vindictive as the days go by.”
Michael nodded. “On the other hand, I do have good news about Tim. He won’t be having that dream anymore.”
“Really?”
“When he was dying in that other life and you were there to comfort him, he felt your kindness and concern. You gave him hope that the world wasn’t totally cruel and uncaring.”
Arel’s spirits soared a notch. “You’re saying that I did something good for a change.”
“Believe in yourself. Believe that you can have what you’ve been looking for from the very beginning, the freedom to be who you really are.”
“Who am I?”
“Do you really want to have that conversation now?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Michael beamed back a most heavenly, but mischievous grin. “Where shall we start?”
“Nevermind.” Arel had already asked for Michael’s blood and gone through hell trying to cope. Did he really want to open up another, potentially catastrophic can of worms? “Right now, I can still function for the most part. Let’s keep it that way.”
Twenty-Four
WILLIAM WOKE UP with a start. Rubbing at his eyes, he noticed how fast his heart was beating. It seemed appropriate. He’d just had the most intense dream of his life. It might have been the product of wishful thinking, but no matter what, it was an exhilarating experience. In the dream, he’d encountered a very weak and pathetic Arel. The man who recently acted like some kind of powerful deity, was so feeble in the dreamscape that he was ready to check out. William didn’t let that happen. Even if it was just a dream, William was able to call the shots.
What a glorious feeling it was to thwart the bastard.
William stretched, threw back the covers and practically leapt out of bed. It had been a long time since he’d felt so energized. And he was finally enjoying some other bonuses after surviving Arel’s Madness. He’d been hyper sensitive to the sun for almost a century. Now, he was able to bask in its warmth again. It had taken a little time to get used to the idea, but he was looking forward to getting out that morning. He wanted to pick up various plant care supplies for the experiments that he was planning. His current studies were based on a statement that Arel had made. Arel claimed they both had powerful abilities. William hadn’t believed Arel in the beginning, but now he wasn’t so sure. Arel had demonstrated god-like powers. Did William have them too?
I certainly possessed them in that dream!
He thought about Arel’s face when the man found out he was William’s pawn.
Was that a look of surprise, Arel? Even shock?
As soon as William realized his mind was open to Arel, he quickly shielded his thoughts. He had to be careful not to let Arel snoop around in his head. It was a disturbing feeling to know that Arel had that capability. On the other hand, William could access Arel’s thoughts too as long as Arel wasn’t hiding them away in that steel vault enclosure he kept around himself most of the time.
He has an advantage. He’s stayed hidden away for most of his life. He’s an expert when it comes to the concept of fortification.
William paused, realizing that he was thinking more and more about Arel and how contemptible he was. It wasn’t a healthy sign. Becoming obsessed with someone or something outside of himself was a weakness. It was true that he had been abused by Arel, but he wouldn’t allow Arel’s actions to define who he was. He had to rebuild his self-confidence. He had to return to his previous self-contained state of mind. As he dressed and let himself out of his front door, he continued to enjoy the idea of being a totally, independent man.
No ties, just me again.
The thought put an extra zip in his step as he made his way down the street. He was getting in shape and feeling physically sound. He also felt a lot better about his appearance. With his sandy-brown hair styled short and spiky, it gave his face, with its high cheek bones, a dashing, sophisticated look.
My charisma is coming back too. I’m sure of it.
He immediately tested out his charm on a woman he was passing. He gave her the slightest glance, just enough to let her get the feel of him. She was tall and slender and beautiful. Her blond hair lifted off her shoulders as she returned a friendly smile. Inwardly he smiled too, content that his magnetism was working. He quickly forgot the woman herself. He wasn’t interested.
But what about Annabel?
He bristled at the thought that he found Annabel enticing. Perhaps, he even found her more than desirable. The deadly ‘R’ word crossed his mind, but he quickly doused any ideas about a relationship.
Why do I keep her around? I should fire her, send her on her way once and for all! I need to free myself of two mistakes, Arel and Annabel.
He tried to do just that wi
th Annabel. Every day, he vowed to accomplish the simple task. The afternoon before, he’d opened his mouth and pointed to the door. Annabel stared back, waiting patiently for what he had to say. When he was finally able to speak, he asked her to go to the corner to buy a newspaper. It was such a lame request. He flushed red with embarrassment when Annabel went to the side table and fetched the paper he’d been reading earlier. Her smile was playful when she handed it to him. She even called him a forgetful goose.
He should have been furious with himself for being so weak, to allow such an indiscretion. Instead, he smiled back, caught up in the moment and in her sparkling, emerald eyes. There was no malice in them. They were pure and innocent of any ill humor. Afterwards, as he watched her leave the room, he had visions of being with her, of making love in a way that he’d never done before.
Stop it! You can’t let yourself care about someone again. You can’t let another person into your life.
The thought was followed by something that stirred in his gut. This feeling was cold and callous.
When the time comes, you’ll have to really get rid of her, just like the one you thought of as your brother.
He brought himself back to Arel, this time without any emotion. His archenemy was simply a project that needed completion.
Concentrate on business, and soon you’ll be free again, with no complications.
Rolphe was visiting London in a few weeks. A meeting was in the works. He didn’t know if he could trust Rolphe, but hopefully, the man would become a powerful ally. Together, they could devise a plan that would put an end to the person who could threaten William so easily.
Twenty-Five
PARIS LAY UNDER a stormy night sky as Rolphe sat on his couch and gazed out his living room window. He sipped his supper thoughtfully and leaned back. With his tall, muscular body, he needed an over-sized sofa to feel comfortable. But he couldn’t find any comfort when he thought about meeting William.