GFD 12: Blood Ties - 23. Chapter 23

It wasn't like Trevor to willingly give his concern without there being a definite reward to be taken in return. He never hides his sinister thoughts deeply enough to really consider them 'hidden' at all. In fact, I think he liked letting people catch glimpses of his darker side. It gave him an unsettling appeal sometimes. It worked to keep a person off balance.

I sat in silence for a few moments, looking out at the waves in front of me. Thinking. Remembering. Suppressing, mostly. But Trevor continued to stare at me from the side, taking some minor pleasure out of my suffering. "You know...if you're trying to use Dion's extra to hide your emotions from me...it won't work. My abilities don't operate that way." He said. "I deal in desires...intentions...motivations. You can't hide them from yourself, what makes you think you can hide them from me." He smiled as he moved closer. "Awww...you're trying to block out the pain, aren't you? Your temper tantrum at the lot has finally made you an outcast, and you think you can cover it up by ignoring the burn with Dion's little mind tricks. Won't last. You can't use it indefinitely, Justin. You'll end up zombifying yourself, and that would be quite a loss."

"Don't pretend that you know me..."

"Don't pretend that you can use Dion's abilities as well as he can. Trust me...you can't. Don't even try. You're a 'Mimic', Justin....and that's all you are. A knock-off of the real thing. A copycat. A bad imitation with only a weak, on-the-surface, understanding of who you think people really are. It doesn't make you any closer to the real thing than if you were running around wearing Dion's boxer shorts. I thought you would have learned that by now."

"Why are you doing this?" I said, feeling some of the emotions still slipping out from under my control.

"Because ignoring pain and anger doesn't make it go away. If anything, it strengthens it. Prolongs it. Gives it a power over you that it wouldn't have if you just put down the shield and armor and dealt with it. Let it go. All of it. It won't do you any good anyway." Trevor looked me in the eye, trying to break through my defenses. Patient with his invasion. "The hurt. It's like this hollow ache inside. Festering. Growing rotten in your stomach until you can't stand it anymore. It won't kill you...but it'll attach itself to everything that you do. Everything that you are. Like a computer virus, growing more and more destructive until your entire system has been corrupted. And then...you get little outbursts like the one you had tonight. Which, while spectacular to watch, I'm sure is a big part of what's eating you up inside right now." His smile widened. "You can let it go, you know? The longer you nuture that anger and pain, the more damage it will do to you. The strongest shackles we have holding us back are linked with grudges and regret. Nobody's forcing you to live in torment but yourself. You'll never be Jesus, so stop trying. Get rid of it and start over."

I looked over at Trevor, doing my best to feel nothing. Trying my HARDEST to feel....'numb'. "If you must know...my fight with Rage left me with a lot of severe injuries. He cut me pretty deep, Dion landed some really good blows too, and I was trying to use Rain's extra to heal some of the damage..."

"But the physical to emotional transfer is too much to take?"

"Exactly. Dion's extra is the only thing keeping me steady right now." I said.

"Right. And....that's total bullshit, and you know it." He said. "No...there's more to it than that. I can feel it. I mean, I give you heartfelt applause for a perfectly logical and strategic answer to my question...but I still think you're hiiiiiding something from me. Maybe even from yourself." Trevor scooted a bit closer. "I think you should share it with me. Come on, oh great warrior. Unburden thyself. I want to be your rock in this trying time." He smirked.

"Am I supposed to believe that you're doing this to help me out?"

"Believe what you like. But despite our occasional friction at the lot, I must admit that I have a certain...fascination with you. So your well-being is somewhat important to me. Call it an emotional investment for the future."

"Right. Whatever." I stopped the conversation there, hoping that he would allow me to easily return to the quiet meditation that I was engaged in before his untimely arrival. It wasn't easy holding myself together. It was a lot like walking a tightrope in a high wind, with nothing but despair and misery beneath me, praying that I wouldn't fall with every breath I could muster. And then I felt a tremble go through me. A hunger. My body reacted to it instantly, and although it was subtle and self contained, I knew that Trevor could see it. Alec had bled me so badly...

The thirst would be back soon. I could feel it. someone else was going to have to 'refill' me.

"You and Taryn had issues tonight, I take it?" Trevor smirked, still using his detection extra against me.

"DON'T mention my boyfriend's name, do you hear me?" I warned him. Anger, another crack in my emotional wall.

"Must have been pretty significant to have you so riled up about it. Lover's spats can be so entertaining sometimes." He then added. "You know, if Taryn isn't giving you the proper 'attention'...you're not out of options." He was trying to take advantage of my current madness, but I wasn't going to let him. I worked harder to shut my emotions down even further than before. I hid my darker self from him. Denying him access. Because, in my heart of hearts...I wasn't sure that I'd be able to turn him away in this frame of mind.

Instead, I spoke with a scoff at his comments. "That's our Trevor. Always working an angle."

"After twelve years of intense sexual practice, you'd be surprised how well I can...'work an angle'."

"Yeah. No thanks."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Too many reasons to count without using a calculator. The very FIRST of them being that I'm pretty sure Michael would kill us."

"Kill us? Silly boy...with the right smile, I could get Michael to join us."

There was a growing sickness in me, an evolving disorder that separated me from my former human self....and Trevor could easily sense it. In fact, it felt like he was able to effortlessly tap into it. He was bringing it to the surface, and it was difficult to keep him from discovering it in its entirety.

"You're thinking about it...aren't you?" He asked with a wicked grin. I didn't answer, I just looked away from him and stared back out at the lake again. "My oh my....you certainly aren't that scared little boy that originally came walking through the gate of the lot the first night I met you. Your patterns don't read the same at all. I find that quite interesting indeed." I attempted to stay alert and keep my wits about me...but madness and emotion were so hard to distinguish at that moment. I couldn't let either one of them slip without knowing which was which. "The pain and the guilt from what you've done is devouring you alive from the inside, isn't it? Dion's extra isn't a cure, Justin. It's a temporary fix. A morphine drip for a dying soldier. If it was actually any good at fixing anything, we wouldn't have to watch Rain bleed herself out three times a week or watch her cut herself to pieces while she cries her eyes out." I just wanted him to go. Please just go. This was all the protection that I had right now from falling apart. I didn't want to feel the misery. I didn't want to feel the ache of it. Why did my pain excite him so?

Taryn. My sweet, beautiful, Taryn. What have I done?

Another bloodthirsty tremor ran through me, and Trevor took note of it as well, even if he didn't say anything about it. I secretly winced from the sensation.

"Isolation isn't the answer for you right now. Come on, walk with me. We need an adventure."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Sure you are, come on." He stood up and offered me his hand, but I gave him a angry glare instead. Folding my arms around my knees to remain sitting and ignore his offer. "Fine. Suit yourself. But there's really no reason for me to go and visit Jeremy all by myself. I don't know your friend, Richie, half as well as you do. I honestly just wanted to go so I could get a peek at him."

That...got my attention.

"Richie???" The emotions slipped again, and suddenly, Dion's extra deactivated completely.

"A spark of interest? Whaddya know." Trevor grinned, and turned away to start walking in the other direction.

I sat there, stubborn at first, then with caution, then with curiosity. Frustrated, I sighed to myself. "Goddammit..." And I got up to join him after all. Because...sighhhh....crafty, evil, low down, no good, RAT or not...Trevor was still 'family' to me. He has been for nearly a year now. And he was taking me to see Richie! But I knew to keep my distance from him. He was never to be fully trusted. He was definitely up to something, and that's never a good thing when dealing with the likes of him.

I knew it would be a long walk for the both of us. But as always, Trevor had this really deceptive way of becoming believably normal after being around him for a short while. It had to be some kind of trick. Like being hypnotized by the movements of a poisonous cobra just seconds before the strike. Something about him made you let down your guard despite your every inner alarm warning you to stay away. Perhaps it was his brazen honesty about it all. Making no excuses for the wicked thoughts rolling around in his head. He may be a bit of a bastard when he wants to be, but it's not something that you can't see coming ahead of time. There's a certain comforting 'charm' in knowing that. Trevor just seems like the kind of person who would stab you in the front.

We eased into a conversation after about fifteen minutes of walking. A conversation that got easier as time went on. "As always, Justin, you're thinking too much. If I spent a day in your head just going around in circles the way you do, I'd be insane." He said.

"I'm just trying to get a handle on what it is that I have to...'learn', or whatever."

"Maybe you don't have to learn anything. Just borrow some money from Doc, go get a 99 cent notebook, and start writing. Doc's got tons and tons of old scriptures and vampire proverbs for you to look over. Just read them. Maybe something will stick out."

"I don't know..." I thought back to that extra 'something' that I kept feeling inside of my thoughts and agonized over not knowing what it was. Just this...this small, dim, light that was there, but not there. Something that felt like...I just wasn't ready to see it yet. "...Sometimes, I dream..."

"You what?"

"I dream. I mean...they used to just be regular dreams and nightmares, but now...they're different. They don't seem like dreams at all anymore. It's like...I'm being divided somehow." I looked at Trevor, who obviously didn't know how to respond to that. I guess I can't blame him. "Do you think it's possible to just...completely lose yourself? To the point of not even recognizing your reflection in the mirror?" I said, afraid of the answer.

"I suppose anything is possible." He answered. "Is that what you're afraid of, Justin? Losing yourself?"

"It's already happening." I told him. "I don't think I know who I am sometimes. Or what I am. I don't...I don't feel like 'me' anymore. My life has suddenly become this game, and I don't even feel like I'm the one playing it. I'm just...I'm so confused. It's exhausting to be this confused all the time. Am I even in control of my own thoughts anymore?"

"Beats me. But you seemed to be playing that 'game' of yours rather well back at the lot."

A short flashback of the fight with Dion, and the awful things I did to hurt Taryn...it ripped open a very fresh and painful wound on the surface of my heart, and I quickly tried to retract the emotion before it got any worse and tore a holr right through me. That was close. Allowing any of those thoughts to fully reach any level of maturity in my mind would have brought me to a nearly hysterical fit of tears right here in the middle of the street. "That's just it, Trevor. It still wasn't me. It...it 'feels' like it should be me, but it's not. There's something inside of me...and it's growing stronger...seducing me into becoming something that I'm not, but at the same time, it's making me believe that it's better than what I am now."

As we approached Jeremy's front gate at that moment, Trevor said, "Well...maybe the key is to love the real you more than what you're telling yourself you should be. Then you won't go believing that anymore." He said the words and then just casually walked away to knock on Jeremy's door. I was left standing there for a moment, feeling it penetrate, letting it sink in. Wow. Did Trevor just...'help' me figure something out and not even know it?

Jeremy opened the door, back to wearing his black lab coat. "I expected you an hour ago."

"Don't you ask, 'who is it', before opening the door? I thought you would have learned your lesson after last time. I could have rushed in and stabbed you with something sharp." Trevor joked.

"Highly unlikely." Jeremy smirked, and I heard two low growls as the large, looming, shadows of Torsten and Grimm emerged from under the steps on both sides. "Fool me once, shame on you. I believe you know the rest. Come in." With all the powerful extras at my disposal, those freakishly huge vampire wolves still creep me out!

We stepped inside, and his blood dealing oasis seemed to be pretty close to being back just the way it was. Maybe even better in some spots. Whoever Jeremy's contractors were, they did one hell of a job on getting him up and running again in a hurry. But I still have to say that I found it highly uncomfortable to be standing on a floor that I knew had a surplus of fresh corpses beneath it.

Jeremy turned on a few lights, and led us down into the basement. A place where I was still scared to go. "Your friend has been stabilized for the moment, Justin. It's a miracle that he made it. But from what little I can tell from my archaic machines down here, he should be alright for at least the next few days." He shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, but this place has never really been used for keeping humans alive before. Excuse me if it's a science I'm not all that familiar with." He led us around a few corners, and into a large white room, brightly lit, with a few giant freezers lining the walls. And then...a gasp as my heart momentarily stopped. There in the background, a boy my age...laying on a table, while attached to machines. Jeremy and Trevor walked up to the table in front of me, and I stood on my tiptoes to look over their shoulders. "I certainly hope this boy was worth all the trouble it took to get him out of there." Richie had been bruised and scarred pretty bad in a few places, but at least he was alive. He had an oxygen mask on to help him breathe, and a few IV's in his arm. Jeremy really did know what he was doing to a certain extent. And I was happy for that. Happy and thankful.

"So this is Richie, huh?" Trevor smiled. "This is the one boy that the great savior, himself, would go back and risk everything for? Funny, I thought he'd be bigger. Very cute though." Trevor turned to face me. "When you said that you and Richie were 'friends', did you mean that literally, or were you hinting at something more exciting?"

"He's my FRIEND, Trevor. My best friend." I told him, slightly insulted.

Trevor exchanged a grin with Jeremy for a moment, and said, "Yeah...me and Jeremy, here, are old 'friends' too."

Jeremy added, "Yeah, the first few times we got together, I shook the HELL out of his hand, and he shook the hell out of mine. Good times." They can make all the lewd little comments they wanted to. It didn't matter. I had Richie back. And at long last, I could make sure that he was safe.

I took a hold of his hand...it was so cold to the touch. Barely alive. It felt like his brittle fingers would literally break with the slightest of squeezes. I gently rubbed the top of his head as my vision blurred with the beginnings of tears. "Buds forever, right?" Echoes of his playful voice echoed in the emptiest parts of my mind. I never felt so helpless.

"So...are you ready for the good news or the bad news, rookie?" Jeremy asked, and I gave him a confused look, not wanting to take my eyes off of Richie for more than a few seconds.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, the good news is...I got Richie here in time to keep him breathing, and he's hooked back up to the most necessary of his noisy contraptions. I've even got a little 'happy juice' pumped into him for the pain. AND...I'm not gonna charge you for my services either, seeing as you let me see you naked and all." Trevor widened his eyes on that one.

"Really now??? How was the show?"

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders, "Meh...average. Sexy...but average. I'm betting he can really work that thing though."

"I've seen some pretty big smiles on Taryn's face coming out of that trailer over the past few months. So I'm assuming you're right."

They continued to share a few giggles at my expense, but stopped when they heard me sniffle and realized that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. Richie was sooooo absent. His heartbeat was barely enough of a murmur for even my vampire senses to detect. His breathing was so shallow that I doubt it would be enough to even keep him conscious if he were awake. His skin was so pale. So thin. "What's the bad news?" I asked between pressured moments of holding back my sobs of desperation.

Jeremy paused for a moment, and cleared his throat. "The um...the bad news is...your friend here..." He looked over at Trevor for a moment, then back at me. "...Justin, he was pretty much running on his last legs when we got to him. You know that, right? I mean, I didn't a really good look at his chart or anything, but..." I turned to him, with more tears of anger and sadness running out of my eyes. This time there was no stopping the rush. No dulling he pain. It hit me like a runaway train at top speed.

"What are you saying?" I told him.

"I'm saying..." Jeremy took a second, and replied, "Well...it's cancer, Justin. You know...CANCER? If you wanna know the going rate on a fresh pint of cholesterol free, adrenaline packed, type O-Negative, blood, calculated with the appropriate regional tax...I'm your man. But I can't cure cancer, dude. That's just not possible."

"Are you telling me that he's going to DIE on that table, and that there's nothing that you can do about it?" "I'm telling you that the clock is ticking, and the battery's low. Despite all my best efforts, even with better, more up to date, equipment...I wouldn't be able to guarantee you that he'll still be alive a week from now, or even five minutes from now. So...if you're gonna work some of your miraculous vampire voodoo magic on him, I suggest you do it fast before your old buddy here starts heading towards that big bright light in the sky. You get my meaning?"

The words hit their mark, and I looked back down at Richie, noticing the disappearing and reappearing puffs of condensation in his see-through oxygen mask. It was too much to handle. It hurt sooooo much. Tears didn't do the feeling justice. Get a grip, Justin. Level head. Breathe. Cry if you need to...but breathe.

It felt like a total betrayal, using Dion's extra to hide from my own emotional torture when I knew that he would probably DOUBLE my punishment if he could. But I tried to bite down and bear it anyway.

That's when Jeremy said, "Come on, Justin....it's not like you didn't know how this was gonna end. We've all lost people that we loved and cared about, but...we just gotta keep moving forward, man. You know?" He said that, and I nearly lost it. I nearly fell to my knees and lost it.

I can still...FEEL my connection to Richie flowing through me. Flowing through both of us. Just as strong now as it ever was when we were growing up together. Bonding us as one for life.

"You guys ready? Say cheese!" his mom told us. Richie and I huddled together at Buckingham Fountain...together. Back when things were somewhat normal. Back when I had an eternally loyal companion at my side. Before my entire existence turned to shit right before my eyes. As sick as he was, I could still look at that beautiful face and see traces of the friend I once knew. My little 'Freak' was still fighting. He wasn't giving up. And neither was I.

"Ok..." I said. "...So how do I do it?"

Jeremy wrinkled up his forehead. "Uhhhh...how do you do what, exactly?"

I looked at my one and only 'blood brother' with growing determination, and I said, "You know...'do it'. How do I ummm...give him the bite, or whatever?"

There was dead silence around me, and when I looked up, Jeremy gave me a weird look. "Ok, listen, I know what we discussed at the hospital was...panicky and last minute...but before you go getting all happy go lucky with the fangs there, vamp boy...let's think this think through first."

"What is there to think about?"

"More than you know, Justin?" Trevor answered.

"Like what? What is there to discuss? If I don't bite him...he dies for sure."

"There's no guarantee that your bite will do anything to help him at all..."

"There's no guarantee, but there's a CHANCE, right? I mean, it's better than just sitting around here and waiting for him to fade away on some stupid table when I know that I might be able to do something to help him survive. Right?"

They were so hesitant. Arrrgh, what the hell is HARD about this???

Jeremy walked around the table and stood between me and Richie, leaning back on the table and folding his arms. "You know, I realize that we're pressed for time here, but you should really think about this. This isn't just mouth-to-mouth ressucitation we're talking about here...we're talking an eternity in darkness. Without the kid's authorization. That's a pretty heavy decision to make for him. Think about it."

"I have thought about it, and I want to do it. Show me how."

"Justin..."

"SHOW ME HOW!!!" I demanded.

Jeremy took a long pause, and with a slight roll of his eyes, he discontinued the argument. He turned to Trevor and said, "I'm not keeping here for the duration his crossover. You'll have to take him back to the lot."

Trevor was visibly surprised. "WHAT crossover? You're actually gonna let him DO this?"

"What? He seems pretty clear on his game plan, dude. I mean...have you got a better idea?"

Trevor was stuck, and so was I. I said, "I'm not just gonna let my best friend in the world pass away without trying, Trevor. I'm not. Just tell me what I need to do and let me get this over with. I'll find a place at the lot. I'll keep him safe."

"You can barely keep yourself safe..."

"Jeremy is back home, Dylan is staying with Dion, Richie can sleep in his car...."

"Dylan is DYING, and you know that." He said. I didn't know words had such sharp edges. I felt them deep in my gut, trying to block out images of Dylan being mortally wounded. But I didn't have much time left, and I did all I could to remain strong for Richie's sake. "Listen...we'll figure something out. Ok? Richie can stay here in the meantime, just until we get some kind of logical plan of action together."

"Um...excuse me?" Jeremy interrupted with one finger up. "I really don't mean to be harsh, but this kid can't stay here. He's got to GO. And SOON! Ya get me?"

"What???" I asked.

"Hey, I never said that I was gonna baby-sit him forever. You wanted him alive, he's alive. I got my humanitarian award for the year. But I'm not gonna harbor a 'threat' like this just because you can't come up with a better script. Now you two take a moment, conversate, figure out what you're doing, and get this boy the hell out of my facility. Asap."

"I'm turning him into one of us. That's the plan..." I said.

"No, you're NOT!" Trevor answered. "Jeremy...come on, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing? I'm protecting my neck as well as my business. That's what I'm doing." He answered. "I don't know if you've noticed...but your boy over here is capable of some really freaky shit that he has absolutely NO control over whatsoever. Which, I'm sure, is gonna piss off the Elders at some point. And pissing off the Elders is NEVER a good idea. You've practically just STOLEN a terminally ill teenage boy from a local hospital...that Justin went floor to floor WRECKING to the point of malfunction, might I add! No telling when THAT'S gonna become a problem that we can't hide from anymore. The cops are gonna be looking for this kid, the FAMILY is gonna be looking for this kid, and worst of all...that little bloodthirsty psycho teen demon with all the freaky fucking powers and the personality of a rabid pack of hungry wolves...is ALSO looking for this kid! I just got this place back up and running, and Taryn's sweet little mini-me playmate is running around town, using MY extra to track this boy down. So...in the unfortunate event that he figures out where his target is and comes after him again, no offense Justin...but I want to be as far away from this son of a bitch as humanly, or superhumanly, possible." Jeremy said, and stood upright, walking towards one of the freezers to get back into his 'work' for the evening. "Listen, I'm not completely heartless. I'll do what I can for now. But I suggest you guys work out another arrangement, and fast. Turn him, or don't turn him. I don't have a bias, one way or the other. But I'm telling you right now...his rent-free residence in THIS little palace of love is already beginning to wear out its welcome. Sorry, Justin. But as you know...my kindness only goes so far." He said. "I'll give you guys some time to talk things out. Knock on the freezer door when you're ready."

Jeremy grabbed a clipboard and went into the freezers to take inventory of his newly replaced stock...leaving Trevor and I standing there with Richie, and the low-tech machines that were keeping him alive. I could hear his breathing. Hear the blips and bleeps of the heart and brain monitors nearby. I took a hold of his hand again, and Trevor spoke. "Don't let a random flood of emotions guide your decision on this, Justin."

"You're the last person that I thought would wanna stop me, Trevor."

"That's because you need to think this out. Crossing someone over into darkness is a complicated process..."

"Dion already told me all of that, and no matter what you say, you're not changing my mind."

"Don't be stupid." He said, and I wiped a tear from my eye as I glared in his direction.

"Didn't you turn Taryn? Wasn't that your doing?"

"That was different, Justin. I gave Taryn a choice and he took it. This is not the same situation."

"I told you, I'm not letting him die."

"So you're gonna kill him yourself? Is that it?" Trevor said. "Listen to what you're saying. Justin...you'd be raping this boy of his life." He said. "Just take a moment and think about that. He can't say yes or no to you right now. Even if all the odds were in your favor and you somehow managed to successfully make him into one of our kind...do you really think he'll be thankful for that?" I took another look down at Richie's sleeping face. It was so...peaceful. "Everyone isn't cut out to be one of us, Justin. The allure of living in darkness is an illusion that many take too lightly sometimes. Especially at your age." Trevor put a brotherly arm around my shoulder as I maintained a firm grip on Richie's tender hand. "Are you prepared to deal with his awakening, Justin? Are you gonna sit him down, and tell him what you did to him and why? That he can never see the light of the sun again? That he can never see his family again? That he's now doomed to roam the streets looking for donors to brutally murder every couple of weeks just to stay alive? That he'll be stuck in this body for the next century and never grow up? Because if you're not prepared for that, Justin...then I suggest you let this one go. This is one mistake that you won't be able to take back once it's completed. Sometimes...Justin, sometimes, we suffer some serous losses and it hurts like hell. But the truth is...it may just be Richie's time to go. Who are you to keep him from being at peace against his will?"

I didn't say anything at first. I saw two of my tears drip off of my chin, and land on the back of Richie's hand as I held it close. I pulled the hand up to my lips, and tenderly kissed the back of his knuckles. My heart felt as though it was collapsing in on itself. The pain was unbearable. There was no distraction from it. It hollowed me out to the very core of my being, and the 'hurt' of it was so intense that I couldn't even bring myself to cry anymore. I listened to the beep of that machine. That constant 'countdown' to Richie's demise that refused to be ignored. And I just thought back to times...when the world was much brighter.

"I missed you."

"What if I could...fix things?"

"I don't wanna die, Justin!"

"I'm telling your mom you tried to kill me!"

"I'll bet mine's longer than yours."

"Maybe you can make me Superman too..."

"Buds forever?"

"Buds forever?"

"Buds forever?"

I looked at him again, and thought back to a dream that I had a long long time ago. What seemed like ages, but it had only been a few months actually. A vampire dream where Richie was in the hospital and I was trying to protect him from the Beast. Doing all I could to fight for him. Doing all I could to keep him safe. But....in my dreams...Richie almost always turned on me at the end. Eyes glowing. Fangs drawn. He said a single word to me in those dreams once....

'Destiny'.....

And he was scarred and slashed in almost the exact same way on that table as he was in the dream. Was this event a long time coming? Was this one of those unavoidable circles that was just now reaching completion? Now that I am so much further along in my development than I was back then, am I able to see all the places where the circles began? Some part of me...it had to have seen this coming in advance. Is this another part of the prophecy coming to pass?

And if so...what other circles have I seen before they happened? When will they reach their end in the days to come?

I am on a very shaky path. That I know for sure. But it may be a path that I cannot change. Perhaps I'm simply a spectator to the events unfolding before me now. Maybe all I can do is hope that the scriptures have a better ending planned for me and Taryn than the ones I read in the Nifty Archives in the IceZone. Who's to say?

But I do know one thing...

If this is destiny....for both me and Richie...and it means his survival, and keeping him close...

..Then this is a part of the prophecy that I don't wish to change.

Trevor saw the look on my face as I peered back over my shoulder. His extra had already scanned my desires and had given him my answer. Then, with a smile that Satan himself would be proud of, Trevor said...

"You know...Bryson's totally gonna KILL you when you bring this boy home..."