Starlight in the Heavens - 24. Chapter 24

Part 24 - Brian

I left Anthony in my bed and went in to take a shower before getting ready for work. Saeldur was still standing by the window when I returned with a towel wrapped around my waist. I paused a moment before shrugging and dropping the towel to dress. I was just sitting down to tie my shoes when Saeldur moved away from the window and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Anthony sees you as another father."

My breath caught in my throat and I froze with my shoe laces held in my fingers. As I fought for control of my emotions, Saeldur continued.

"He will not allow you to be left out of his life, Brian. Whatever fears you may have concerning the impending arrival of his birth fathers, rest assured that his love for you will not diminish."

I finished tying my shoes and sat up. He must have known the rush of feeling that flew through me, for he kept silent even as his eyes never left my face.

For most of my life, I'd kept myself in check—only losing myself in books, and then of course, I was living in my mind. Working on my car, practicing fighting skills in front of the mirror, all the things I'd done on the outside—it was all done in solitude. I didn't like being around people. They made me nervous. People asked questions; they wanted to know intimate details about your life—your dreams. I hadn't wanted to share my dreams, to be laughed at and ridiculed for the fancy brought to me in the night.

Until Anthony, I'd always thought I would be alone. It hurt—being alone. But it was better than settling for less than my dreams. I saw what that did to people and I wanted no part of it. Knowing that Anthony wanted me to remain, that he wouldn't choose to leave me alone, gave me a sense of belonging I'd never felt before.

I watched the small boy curled up on my bed sleep, and thought—not for the first time—maybe someday, my dreams could become reality. Maybe someday, I could be whole. He thought of me as a father.

I smiled through my tears as I looked up at Saeldur. "I'm glad, because he feels like a son to me."

Saeldur nodded and I gave Anthony a kiss on his forehead and left for the diner.

Something about the two guys sitting in the corner was off. They hadn't been rude or obnoxious in the way the man a week before had been. But there was definitely something about them I didn't like. Judy seemed a little out of sorts in dealing with them too, so I knew it wasn't just my imagination.

They sat at a table set for five, casually looking around the place. That wasn't so odd. A lot of people that stopped in from the interstate did that. The diner was a novelty, set up as an old 50's diner, with checkered floor and red vinyl bar stools at the counter. It even had an old Wurlitzer Vintage 850 Peacock Jukebox, completely restored and in working condition. It wasn't playing at the moment because it was before the lunch crowd.

That thought make me glance up at the clock just as two more men walked in and joined the first two in the corner. Five minutes before Anthony's lunch time. The hairs on the back of my neck stood when the front door opened again.

It was the same man from a week ago. How was that possible? I'd put him in the hospital, yet here he was, looking as fit as the day I first saw him. He sat with the other four, but not before giving me a look that would pale the strongest man alive—pure evil.

I looked up at the clock. Two minutes and my sweet boy would come through the door. I needed to find a way to contact Miss Sherry, but I needed to do it without the five in the dining room knowing. So far, it seemed they didn't know where we lived. They only knew that Anthony had been here before at this time.

I caught Judy as she put an order up on the check wheel, but never took my eyes off the table in the corner.

"Judy, I need to get word to Miss Sherry." She followed my stare and quickly looked back at me with her eyes wide. "She can't bring Anthony in today."

Judy began to shake her head as tears sprang to her eyes. "Too late," she whispered.

I felt the breeze as the door behind me opened and closed my eyes as the click of the door shutting came to my ears. At least they came in from the back door. I could get him out before the men out front ever knew he was here.

"He's here!"

The voice was a roar in my ears. My eyes snapped open just as all five men leaped to their feet and began pushing through tables and chairs, making their way toward the kitchen.

"Judy," I hissed. Get Anthony out of here.

"But... what abou—"

"Go!"

She rushed past me and I could only assume they'd gone out the back when I heard the door slam. I couldn't dwell on them at the moment. All I could do is try to figure out how in the hell I was going to take down five large men. I had trained for a long time, sure, but it was never as easy as the movies tried to make it. My only chance was to keep the doorway between us so that only one could get through at a time. But then that left the front door open. Even one of them could overpower Judy, a blind woman, and a little boy.

Keep them in the dining room.

I shook my head, thinking I had to be going daft.

I will stop them from leaving.

There it was again. Where was that voice coming from?

Then I saw the movement from the corner of my eye and remembered the night before. Saeldur. I was not alone in this fight. We held them in the room, giving hits as well as taking them for what seemed an eternity when I felt a change in the air. It crackled, much like it had a week ago before I hit the fifth jerk in the throat.

It was him again, and the other four had him surrounded, protecting him as his hands began to glow. Before long, I felt the hair on my arms and head begin to rise. Then there was tremendous heat in the air. His hands lifted, and green flame flew out from his fingers, hitting me in the chest. As I felt myself pushed back into the wall, the entry door crashed open and a load animal roar filled the room.

The pain in my chest was an agonizing fire. I felt it burning through skin, muscle and bone, and was sure I was being consumed. The scene before me was complete chaos. Tables and chairs were thrown as though they were made of plastic. A load crash reverberated through the room as the juke box was hit with a bar stool. In my bleary vision, I could hardly make out the forms of two large animals—no, it was four. I blinked away tears of pain, and for a second made out the forms of three black leopards and an impossibly huge tiger.

Then, when the pain finally reached a level beyond my ability to cope, I felt Saeldur's fingers flutter down my face. I floated in cool darkness. Starlight filled my vision, twinkling in all the colors of the rainbow. It sang to me, and though I didn't understand the words, the meaning was clear. I could feel it flow through me, healing the pain, filling my body and my soul with love. I swam in the void, amidst the flickering light, and drank in the beauty of his face—the face of my love. It was the face of the one I'd dreamed of for longer than I could remember.

I hurt. The cool darkness had given way to light, but I refused to open my eyes. It was all I could do to not cry out with the burning pain in my chest. I could hear voices of men and one woman in the room with me. Two, I could make out—Miss Sherry and Saeldur. The others were voices that were new to me.

"I have done all I can. His soul is at peace, but it is not within my power to mend the body." This came from an unknown male.

The next voice was Miss Sherry. "What about Dr. Anderson? Would he be able to help?"

"I'm sorry. He may be able to help with the pain, but the wound itself would not heal."

"Then what do we do?"

There was silence for a few minutes before Saeldur spoke. "I will contact Samantha."

I felt his fingers at my forehead. "Brian, rest." His fingers slid down my face again and the cool darkness returned.

In my dreams, he spoke to me. He told me how he'd loved me for centuries and how he'd waited for us to come together once again. He told me now that he'd found me, he'd never let me go again. If I died, he would die—together in life or death, it didn't matter so long as he was with me.

It confused me—the way he was speaking. I knew I was dreaming, but he spoke as though he was more. He spoke as though he were with me now.

I rested in his arms and tried not to think past the dream—let myself float with the darkness, feeling only his arms, the beat of his heart, and the tenderness of his fingers along my cheek.

The light was back, and with it, the pain. I didn't hear voices this time, but knew there was someone in the room with me. They didn't speak, but I could feel the weight of someone's head on my shoulder. My first thought was that it was Anthony.

The head moved and I felt the press of soft lips and the light scratch of stubble on the skin of my shoulder. Warm breath caressed the same spot before the head rested again.

"Samantha has come." Saeldur's voice. Then closer, "He is awake."

"She will heal the burn?"

My heart stuttered at the voice, and I hissed at the pain that followed.

"Shh, relax my love."

His hands were on my face, his lips near my ear. I wanted so much to see his face. Was he the man in my dreams? I tried to open my eyes, but even that small effort of movement caused a searing that radiated out through my limbs. What kind of burn was this? What kind of creature throws green fire from his hands?

The flame inside me burned hotter. I couldn't contain it. My mouth opened to let loose a scream. And then, and single point of numbing cold began in the center of my chest. I heard a woman's voice.

"Leave us."