Rebirth - 3. Chapter 3: No Such Wonderland

Ian headed into the kitchen. "Morning."

Amber smiled and settled their daughter in her high chair and moved over to the counter and grabbed his travel coffee mug for the road and handed it to him. "Just the way you like, loads of sugar, tons of cream, practically white and just hot enough, oh and ten dollars stuck inside the sugar packet pouch for breakfast to go."

Ian took the mug and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks, you always have it all put together."

"I try." Amber said, then she lightly grabbed his arm when he turned to walk off. "Is everything okay? You were really distracted at dinner last night, I mean...you looked as if your world had been torn in half."

Ian turned towards her. "And intuitive." He took a deep breath. "It was just a hard first day, I..wasn't as prepared as I thought I would be, I went in, class was there and...I just blanked." He looked down. "Ended up asking them what to do at one point."

"That's awful...I'm sorry." Amber reached up and brushed his cheek with her hand. "You know what I would do? They always used to do the old Romeo and Juliet thing, played it to death. Get a little twenty first century, vote on a movie, view it...and essay it. It's entertaining and they have to work for it, you know, to get to the next one. Do that for a week while you prepare a better plan."

"Might not be a bad idea, though I'll have to stop by a Red Box, snap pictures of the movies." He laughed. "Then they get another free period while I actually go and pick the thing up."

"On the first day, then they write the essay on the previous movie while you go and pick up the next one." Amber shrugged. "Or maybe it's better they vote on the next movie the day before and you snag it after work."

Ian nodded. "Thanks for giving me some things to consider." He paused. "Amber...I have to ask..."

"What?" She looked up at him.

"You know some of the content of the past life memories that I've been recalling in hypnotherapy...I was just wondering, what if I started recalling the feelings? Or the memories much faster, what if it all starts coming together? What if...I become him again?"

Amber drew in a breath, he just threw all her fears right in her face, though she bravely rolled her eyes and shook her head, fixing his tie. "Oh, please. That's entirely silly. Your past life doesn't come back to life." She said, trying to laugh, nervously.

Ian wanted to tell her about Aries, but for some reason, he just held back.

"You better go, and drink your coffee before it gets cold." She laughed and patted him on the chest and turned away, walking to the counter and covered her mouth with her hand.

Ian put on a smile and headed out of the kitchen and out the door and down the steps and walk way. That was when he realized there was a figure in the passenger seat of his car. "What the hell..." He mumbled and pressed the remote to unlock the doors and then he yanked the drivers door open and dived in, finding it to be Aries.

"How did you get in here?" He asked.

"I'm...good with clothes hangers and...door locks." Aries held up a straightened out clothes hanger.

Ian shut the door and hurriedly started the car and pulled out and took off down the street before Amber saw Aries. "So...you decided to just break into my car?"

"We were in love once, according to you, so I would think I'd have a key." He tossed the hanger in the back seat and sat down fully in the seat. "You got a nice house, a dog to go with it too?"

"It's my house." Ian took a deep breath. "So now you want to believe me?"

"I'm humoring you for convenience." Aries pulled his seat belt on. "Though, you should know, I took a look at year book 1969 and that was some sight, little teenage you in there, and current me, except I was pretty damn tacky."

"Well, I'm glad you got the eye opener, I don't Photoshop." He stopped at a red light and closed his eyes. "And what exact convenience do I serve you? Your friends fail to pick you up? You could of just as easily walked to school as you could of my house."

Aries looked down. "I needed someone to talk to...I had a rough day...my step dad." He looked up. "You would think what he normally does is bad...but yesterday was worse."

Ian drove across the intersection when the light turned green, but quickly pulled to park in front of a small yogurt shop and looked at Aries. "What happened? Tell me."

"Normally...he just gets his rocks off, I don't care, I let him do it, I want him to hurt me." He looked over at Ian. "I said some things and he decided he wanted to pretend he cared, said that I let him do it because I didn't have a dad there to love me, how wrong that was, then he tried saying that it was because I'd rather have a dad there to hurt me than to have a dad that walks away. And he says he wants to change and he wants forgiveness and he wants to care and...just minutes before all this, he was running his hand down my thigh, getting ready to do it again."

Ian stared at Aries, his heart breaking. "My god...I can't believe it..." He reached for Aries hand.

Aries yanked his hand away and started crying. "I'm sorry...I just don't want to feel...and he made me feel...and I tried to distract myself...and it worked for a little while...but then I couldn't get it out of my head. I want people to be shallow and superficial, that's what's real, what you can see on the outside, you don't know what's going on inside...that's why you don't trust it."

Ian slowly pulled his hand back. "You know...you can't live like that forever. Maybe it works now...because you're a teenager, because it's high school, that's what it's all about..but eventually, you have to let yourself go...and take that risk. If you don't, you will end up miserable and alone, no school to go to every day, no friends to always see, if you did make friends, they would all be doing it. You would be the odd one out."

"You're just saying that because of your stupid story about who we supposedly were and what they wanted us to do. Well...I'm not him, maybe I don't want to do what he wanted." He sniffled, shutting his eyes tight as he rocked back and forth.

Ian could feel the tears stinging at his eyes and he slowly placed his hand on Aries upper back, once that touch was accepted, he slowly began to rub his back. "Why not?"

He gasped with a shaky breath and looked at Ian, tears spilling from his eyes. "Because...once I let you in...once I give you me...you can do whatever you want. You can hurt me..or leave me...or maybe like before...you could just die."

"I wouldn't do those things to you...and I don't think I'm going to die, these are different times now. Look at you...loved for being just who you are, by so many people." He continued to rub his back.

"Coming here was a mistake." Aries shook his head and then leaned to the side and fell against Ian, resting beneath his arm as he closed his eyes, his shaking slowly stopped as his gasps for air began to calm down.

"It wasn't a mistake." He kissed the top of Aries head and rubbed his arm, holding him close. "Do you want me to stay with you? Just because I'm a teacher doesn't mean I can't skip school, for you, I would."

Aries slightly shook his head. "Just be late..." He said, quietly. "I just want to lay here...and then I should go, we should go, back to our worlds."

"Tell me how you feel right now." Ian asked.

"Warm...and safe, like I never want to leave...and that is why I have to. There's no such thing as Wonderland...and no fairytale without it's evil consequence." He shifted up and looked into Ian's eyes. "But, since you made me feel better, I guess that makes you a friend, for the moment." He leaned in and closed his eyes, slowly and gently kissing him.

Ian brought a hand up and rested it on the side of Aries neck, slowly and gently kissing him, until he felt Aries pull back.

"And I can kiss my friends." The hint of a smile appeared on Aries' boyish features and then he climbed out of the car and stuck his hands into his green hoodie and started off down the street.

Aries walked into the court house, deciding to skip school, at least for right now, he might go in some time, if he ran out of things to do before the day ends. He looks at the officer and takes all his stuff out of his pockets and then walks through the metal detector and retrieves his things. He looked around while putting his stuff back into his pockets. He spies a sign that said records and followed it and walked into an office.

"Excuse me..." Aries walked up to the desk. "I was wondering...where do you go to find out if someone...or more than one someone has been arrested, you know...for, like...murder?"

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Who's murder?"

Aries looked down at his phone, at the year book picture. "Adam O'Kane."

The woman typed the name into the computer. "Uh...murder victim found in the parking lot of The Blue Moon Lounge...stabbed and beaten, friend Shane Lyndon, with the victim at the time of passing, store owner across the street stepped out for a cigarette and heard the cries for help and called it in." She looked at Aries. "It says they questioned the friend and he accused some enemies."

"Does the Lounge still exist?"

The woman nodded. "The building, though it's The Breakfast Hut now."

"Oh..." He nodded "Well, Who did he accuse?" Aries asked.

"A few guys, Johnny Conrad, Jared Caesar...both checked out, they were together at Jared's house, both claimed, Jared's parents were out." She shook her head. "Max Kenton's home was searched, a pocket knife was missing, never recovered. Not enough evidence to tie him to it."

"Can ya give me current addresses?" Aries put on an innocent little smile.

"You can hire a P.I. or do a background check for that." The woman jotted the names down and laid the note paper on the desk.

Aries looked down at it and picked it up. "Or look in the phone book." He frowned and turned around, walking out. He eventually made it out of the court house and looked around and down at the paper. "Bitch! Where do I go from here?"

He looked across the street and saw the library. "Huh, so convenient!" He looked both ways and then ran across the street and into the library, going to the front desk. "I need to use a computer." He yanked out his wallet and practically threw his ID at the lady. "No, I don't have a card and don't want one." He said, signing his name on the paper. He took his ID back and put it in his wallet.

Aries rushed off to one of the computers and shoved his wallet into his pocket and sat down, a grin appeared. "Boy, do I have a surprise..." He said, pulling up a web browser and started searching for a background check. He then frowned. "A ninety five cent trial for one report, that's cheap...where do I get a credit card?" His eyes then sparked to life and he pulled out his phone and went through his call history.

"Hello?" Riley answered the phone.

"Told you I would call back." He smiled, looking at the No Cell Phones sign.

"And that you did, you tricked me last night...little trickster."

"That was off the top of my head." Aries smiled. "Though, I actually have a slightly ulterior motive...and this is totally going to make me sound like a con artist, but I swear I am not."

"Why do you think I would think that of you?" Riley asked.

"Because...I need to do three ninety five cent online background checks to get some addresses and phone numbers and...I don't have a credit card."

Riley smiled. "Aries...I've watched all of your videos...in order, from your first to your last, I've just recently started tuning in to your live feeds. You really give a lot of yourself."

His eyebrows lifted. "Wow, you're...a really loyal fan."

"And I have too much time on my hands." Riley grinned.

"Well, I feel terrible asking...and I wouldn't...but I'm trying to solve a murder, a cold case."

Riley then started laughing. "Aries solves murders, now?"

"Don't laugh at me." He grinned. "This one is kind of personal...well, in a weird way, you'd think I was crazy." He took a deep breath. "So, will you help me?"

"Not for free." Riley said. "If your Facebook is right, I live thirty minutes from you, we'll meet, and I'll pay for those background checks."

Aries looked towards the floor. "I'm not a prostitute, I'll find another way if that is what..."

"No!" Riley interrupted. "Have I even once mentioned sex? I should of mentioned no sex, I know how a lot of people from the net can be. Well, I mean if it happens naturally, I sure wouldn't say no to you..." He chuckled. "But that is not my motive, I'm a fan, just want to meet you, we can totally keep it public and safe."

"It's still morning, can you drive up today? I really need this information." Aries said.

"I'll have to ditch out on school, but sure." Riley said.

"Grade?"

"Junior, just like you, though I am eighteen, failed a few times, and people thought I was certifiably insane when I laughed about it, I just found it funny. Of course when it really settled in and all my friends moved on and...I became a loner, it kind of hit home."

Aries nodded. "Sorry about that, I can imagine. Alright, call me back when you get into town and we'll meet up, I'll find something to get into until then. I'm going to go ahead and put you into my contacts."

Riley smiled. "Be there as soon as possible." He then hung up.

Aries stared at his chocolate milk shake and frowned. "I tell them no cherry on top and they put one on there anyway..."

"I'll take it." Riley pulled out a chair across from Aries at the two seated table and sat down.

Riley had dark longish hair that draped down around his ears and was parted in the middle, though some stubborn bangs still defiantly fell forward and covered his eyes, causing him to have to swing his head from time to time. He wore a white A-Shirt tank top that clung tightly to his slightly muscular build, he obviously didn't put much effort into working out and most had to be hereditary.

Over the tanktop was a black leather vest that was left undone and a pair of loose fitting denim jeans that covered the tops of matching leather boots. His blue eyes were lined with eyeliner and maybe a slight use of mascara, something to give them a rather dark and smoky appearance. Riley smiled at Aries, appearing friendly enough.

Aries looked up at Riley, taking in his appearance and then he reached out and placed a finger on his right upper arm where there was a tattoo of a wolf's face, just below where his upper arm turned into his shoulder. His finger landed just below the tattoo. "Lone wolf. I bet the story behind it is because all of your friends moved on and you had to stay behind."

Riley looked at his tattoo and then he looked at Aries. "Maybe."

He pulled his hand away and tugged the lid off of his milk shake and plucked the cherry out by the stem and offered it over, the cherry was covered by the whip cream on the top of his shake. "Here."

Riley grinned and then leaned forward and grasped the cherry between his teeth and tugged it off of the stem and began to eat it as he eased back.

Aries stared at him and then quietly laughed as he dropped the stem on the table. "Cute." He put his lid back onto his milk shake and then grabbed his wallet and opened it and laid his ID on the table and slid it over. "The truth, it's really my name."

Riley looked down and grabbed the ID. "Aries Donovan." He read it and then handed it back over. "What made your parents pick that?"

He took his ID and started to put it away. "Parent, it was my mom who picked it...and my dad bailed not long after. And apparently my step dad says that my mom was inspired because my grandmother was the sister of one of The Zodiac killers surviving victims and that my grandmother ran away from the family and then my mom ran away from her." He laughed. "That's the tall tale I briefly spoke about."

Riley nodded. "Why dismiss it so quickly?"

Aries put his wallet in to the pocket of his hunter green hoodie. "I don't know, because it's my step dad's story? And because he's a jack ass. Though my mom did name my older brother Gemini...so there's a pattern. I still don't believe it...even though my mom doesn't have any family and never speaks of it."

Riley stared at Aries. "A lot of coincidences."

Aries stared right back at him. "If I get proof, I might consider." He leaned back in his chair and sipped his milk shake and looked around. "Seems like only yesterday I use to play in those things." He nodded towards the in-door playground.

Riley looked in the direction that Aries nodded and then his gaze drifted back to him. "Yeah, but when you look at it now, do you wonder why you found it to be so fun? It doesn't really look so fun now. Crawling through tunnels and sliding down a slide, that's it."

"That's because we lost our childhood wonder." He looked at Riley. "Only a child can see what makes it so special, all we see is tunnels and a slide." He grinned and then chuckled.

"You're really great, you know..for doing all this, even if it's not entirely selfless."

Aries tilted his head to the side. "If I didn't care, wouldn't I just be rushing you for the background checks and then send you on your way? I have a plan." He grinned. "And when it goes down, it's going to be the most hilarious thing in the world."

Riley smiled. "What's the plan?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..." Aries said. "And you wouldn't fully understand unless I told you the whole messy story that you still wouldn't believe."

"Try me." He grinned.

Aries stared at him and then shook his head. "I don't want to freak you out, I shouldn't of said anything, just forget it, okay?"

Riley nodded and brought his hands up. "Your call."

He stood up. "Though, we should get those background checks done, just so I have the information, then we can go and do whatever." He pushed the chair under the table. "At least you have a car, sick of walking everywhere."

Riley stood up. "Yeah, when do you get your license?"

"Soon, but it's not like I can afford a car. We just have my dumb step dad's, and when he's not using it for work, my mom hits the road. So what good would it really do me?"

Riley's eyes shifted to the side and he froze where he was standing.

Aries looked at him, confused and concerned. "What is it? You're doing the whole...'I have an idea, but it's an incredibly bad idea..but it would get my friend what he needs' thing." He chuckled.

"I was just thinking about my dad, he's really well connected in an...industry that could make you a lot of money." Riley looked up and shook his head. "I only thought about telling you for a second. I'm not going to let you do it, sorry."

"Oh..." He stared at Riley. "Well, I wouldn't do something like that anyway, especially for a car, that's really sleazy, maybe if it meant raising some money to save someones life that I cared about." He shook his head. "You were just being thoughtful, it's okay." He waved a hand. "You know where your car is..."

"Sorry." He nodded for Aries to follow him and he lead him out of McDonalds and across the parking lot to where his car was and he hit the button on the remote, unlocking the doors and he climbed into the passenger seat.

Aries got into the passengers seat and pulled on his seat belt, securing it, right before Riley pulled out of the parking space and drove off and onto the street once he found a clearing in the traffic. "We'll go back to the library to do it. I have my own computer, obviously, but my mom will be home and she's not always guaranteed to be passed out."

"What about your brother?" Riley asked

He laughed. "He would freak if he found out I brought someone from the net up here. I mean, he's not one of those old believers that everyone is dangerous, but he's just generally over protective."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Riley asked, taking turns and driving as Aries directed him.

"Uh...I'm not sure. Sometimes it feels good, I guess. I mean it's nice to know that I have at least one normal family member, I just don't like it when people are too close too much. It's like...keep it shallow and superficial, lets have a smile here, a high five there, maybe we'll hang out at lunch, keep it casual."

He cleared his throat. "Just...things like that. Although I do have two friends that I am close to, on a friendship level, one..with certain other benefits, but it's cool, we don't complicate it."

"Emotional Phobia." Riley grinned. "What it sounds like to me. You don't want to feel anything other than light emotions, like boredom in class or general normal, when you aren't in any sort of mood at all, you're just drifting through the motions, or maybe you're going through euphoric happiness, however it can only be on a superficial level, otherwise it becomes too much emotion, that is why you don't want to feel the rest of them, anger, sadness, love...or hate."

"Okay, shrink, you figured me out, the jig is up." Aries laughed and pointed to the next street. "The libraries down that street."

"Hope you...solve your murder." Riley said, sticking his credit card back into his wallet.

Aries grabbed the three pieces of paper from the printer with all the information that he needed. "I'm sure I will.." He stepped closer. "And, hey...call me any time you want, maybe you can come back up and hang out again."

"That would be fun." Riley said as he stepped outside with Aries and grinned. "Glad I got to meet you."

"Same here." He smiled and watched Riley walk off down the alley to the back parking lot where he had parked. He looked down at the three pages and flipped through them. "All three, living together at the edge of their golden years, isn't that just sweet?"

Aries' smile faded and he looked up. "Oh shit, I need a ride there!" He started for the alley only to bump into Ian, who had just gotten a copy of the news paper out of a machine.

"Sorry!" Ian looked up and saw Aries. "You're still out? Have you been wandering the streets all day?"

Aries looked up and his gaze fell on Ian. "Well...not all day. Do...you have time to do some charity for a hitch hiker before you go off back to school? There's still some time before lunch period ends..."

"That depends, where are you going?"

Aries looked at the papers. "Uh...329 Oakland Avenue." He looked at Ian. "And I can't and won't tell you what's there, so don't ask. It's not your business anyway."

Ian's eyebrows lifted and he crossed his arms. "So, you want to talk to me like that and expect me to give you a ride?"

Aries sighed in frustration. "It's for a good cause! You will understand soon enough!"

"So...you will tell me, eventually? And this is nothing bad for you?"

"Yes, I'll tell you after...once I am sure, and no, it's nothing bad for me, I promise." Aries looked at him with a pleading expression.

That face, it didn't trigger any flashbacks, but it triggered a feeling within Ian, a deep sensation of an irresistible need to make him happy, to love him, to show him affection. The latter two, he couldn't do, not because he wasn't willing, but Aries was firm in his choice not to pursue it, but the former of the three, he could do.

"Okay, my car is just down here." Ian nodded for him to follow.

"Thanks." Aries smiled and followed after Ian and headed for his car and once they reached it, he quickly yanked out a quarter and shoved it into the parking meter. "Woah! That was close..."

Ian turned around. "What?"

"Your meter was about to run out." Aries looked around, not seeing any cops. "Better to be safe than sorry." He grabbed the passenger side door and opened it, settling in.

Ian slightly grinned and shook his head, moving to the drivers side. Soon he was settled and pulled out onto the street. "So, how do we get there?"

He pulled the directions up on his phone and showed it to Ian. "Just follow the purple line."

"Google Maps, brilliant." Ian chuckled and looked out at the road and sighed. "So, you seem okay...compared to this morning."

Aries looked down at his phone after bringing it down to his lap. "I'm much better." He looked up. "Was it...a good memory for you...Adam?"

Ian slammed on the breaks at a red light, the car behind them blew their horn and he looked over at Aries. "Adam?"

"Well, he got a little shred of what he wanted, right? A small taste." He looked at Ian. "Can you feel him inside of you? Because I think...I can feel Shane."

"You feel Shane?"

"I think he's driving me to do this, call it vengeance, call it justice...and while I take great joy in the fun of it, I have no motivation to do it, but he does." Aries looked down at the directions.

"To do what?" Ian asked, highly concerned.

"You will find out, I promise, it's okay." Aries looked over at him. "So...this morning, tell me what Adam felt."

"Nothing, it was just me, at least I think it was me, sometimes I wonder if I can even differentiate." He looked down. "When you pleaded for me to help you, though. He felt, I felt, a deep longing to make you happy, to love you, to touch you..." He shook his head. "Only one of the three could I do." He said, taking a left as the light turned green.

"Do you think he will win?" He looked out of the window. "Do you think Shane will make me do what he wants?"

"They can't control us, Aries, they just have feelings...and thoughts, of course, memories too. None that you've been able to pick up so far." Ian saw the correct street and turned onto it and started eyeing the house numbers.

Aries looked over at Ian and his eyebrows lifted. "I'll just say this much to you, if I were to be in love...you would be a good guy to be in love with...I think." He looked down with a saddened expression. "You made me feel...like...I mattered this morning, like...I was someones world."

Ian stopped at the correct house and then looked over at Aries and put the car into park and his head tilted to the side. "Why are you doing that? All these hypothetical things you say when...I know damn well they are really what you feel, you just don't want to admit it."

Aries looked at Ian and smiled. "I don't know, that's just me." He took his seat belt off. "Now I have to do this." He opened the door and climbed out and shut the door and looked at Ian through the open window. "And you have to go, because you can't know anything yet. I'll be fine."

Ian frowned and then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and thumbed through it. "I don't know where all you plan to go...but, I don't want you to have to walk." He handed over two hundred dollars worth of twenties. "All the cash I have on me."

Aries stared at Ian and then looked at the money and slowly took it. "Thanks...I don't know what else to say..."

"Just promise me you'll be safe."

"Do you believe I'm safe at home?" He asked Ian.

Ian looked down at the console. "You're safe at a hotel, away from your step father."

Aries nodded and pushed away from the car, stepping back, watching Ian drive away moments later. He folded the money up and put it in the pocket of his jeans and turned around and looked at the boarding house. "This is it..."

Ian drove down the road, nothing and no one but Aries on his mind, that is until he heard the ring of his phone. He reached over to where it was mounted to the dash and answered, putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Ian? Where are you at? The school called looking for you, they said you weren't there, that you had a whole class in attendance and that they have already had to get a sub to take over because you're half an hour late." Amber's voice rang forth from the phone.

"Fuck..." Ian sighed. "Amber...I'm sorry, in fact...I was helping one of my students, a troubled teen, I guess you could say." He frowned, wanting to shut his eyes and curse himself for his lie, but he had to keep himself focused on the road.

"A troubled teen? Ian, that is all nice and good, but you're an English Teacher, not a counselor or a psychologist." Amber said in a reasonable tone.

"I know this, Amber." He said in a calm tone. "But..I don't know how to explain this to you, he's different."

Amber began to nervously drum the knuckles of a single hand on the counter and tapped the tip of her flip flop against the floor. "You're having an affair aren't you?" She asked, turning around. "Oh my god, Ian...damn it, if you are, fuck! I could of dealt with it, found a way to forgive you! This is a student! Do you know how much trouble you will be in?!"

"What?! Amber! Slow down! I'm not having an affair with anyone!" Ian sighed. "For God's sake...What is this about? It's like you've anticipated it."

Amber sighed. "Good." She said, relieved. "Okay, the honest truth, I've humored your dreams...and your hypnotherapy, I really have, but you talk about this past life and being this teenage guy who's in love with this other guy and...you know what they look like, but not who they are. I...have honestly humored all of this...for the past two years." She sat down.

"I know it's been a lot, I never asked for the dreams..." Ian said.

"You want to know what I really think? Well, I'm going to tell you whether you want to know or not. I think it's a simple case of you...questioning your sexuality. And your so called past life...is really your high school experience, if it's not just a lie altogether. Now, what I do know is that you have really gone to a hypnotherapist, it's on the health insurance, maybe you've really been going to make things work for us, and if that is the case, you could of just told me. I would have understood all of this." Amber rambled on.

"Oh my god." Ian mouthed and wanted to scream as he listened to his wife ramble through the phone, driving down the road as he did. "Okay, Amber...you got me all figured out, that's it...case closed."

"And now you're being sarcastic." Amber frowned. "So...after all of that, you still want to claim you're some reincarnated guy? After I told you I'd understand the truth?"

Ian slowly shook his head, it wasn't like he could tell Amber the truth. He could prove it to her, and Aries was living proof in the moment that reincarnation was real. What would be the point of it though? Give up his wife and losing his daughter when Aries didn't even want to love him. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for speaking to you that way, I'm just upset about work...and this kid, he's in such a bad situation. Listen, this conversation about me...and what's going on with me, we need to have it together, at home." He said.

"Fine, but you at least admit that the reincarnation was just a cover? Like I said, Ian...I will completely understand, if you've been making the efforts to go to therapy like you have, to try to make this marriage work, that's nothing short of admirable." Amber said, though her voice had lowered to a saddened tone. "I'll help you and support you as much as you need me."

Ian wasn't going to lie to her, not out right, still holding onto some shred of hope for Aries. "I've...been questioning my sexuality, but please...lets discuss this when I get home. I need to go and deal with angry people at work now."

Amber sighed. "Alright, I'll see you when you get home." She pulled the phone away and hung up.

Ian saw the 'Call Ended' and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Damn my life to hell!" He yelled out in anger.

Aries pushed the main door open and stepped inside the hallway of the boarding house and looked to the left and saw the apartment numbers on the hanging mail boxes and the names on each box. "Telling." He grinned and turned immediately to the first unit and knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Who is it?!" An older man in his early 60's called out as he approached the door.

Aries remained quiet and knocked on the door three more times.

The older man, Johnny, from way back when, opened the door, and he got the shock of his life. His eyes widened as his gaze fell on Aries and he drew in a gasp of breath. "H...how?!" He went to slam the door.

Aries hand flew up and caught the door and he shook his head. "No, I don't think so." He walked in and moved around Johnny and looked at his phone inside the big pocket in his hoodie and set it to record audio and he turned around. "Where's old Jared and Max? Down the hall and up the stairs, I assume? I'd love a little party get together, for old times sake."

Johnny turned around and swung the door shut, and he stared at Aries. "How the hell?! You died! You hung yourself!"

"Never heard of a publicity stunt?" He walked closer to Johnny. "Either I faked that and stayed eternally young for my good behavior..." He grinned. "Or I'm a ghost...and I've come back to haunt you until you admit what you did."

Johnny reached up and grabbed Aries hoodie. "I can touch you."

"Power...granted to me." His eyes shifted to the side. "Then again, maybe I'm not even a ghost, maybe...you've been graced by an Angel, one who wants to...urge you to free yourself of the ultimate sin you committed so that...you can make it to the heavenly gates. Which theory makes more sense to you?"

Johnny shoved Aries back, an angered expression on his face. "I don't care what you are...you will always be the same to me..."

"Sticks and stones...break my bones..." He walked around Johnny. "But words will never hurt me. And might I suggest you don't try the former, old man. You'll just trip and break a hip."

Johnny turned around and stormed out of the apartment and headed down the hall. "Jared! Get out here!" He screamed.

"Yes! Lets invite Jared out here!" Aries skipped out of Johnny's apartment and then fell into a walk, following him as another man, Johnny's age, came out of the third apartment, right beside the stair case.

"Check it out!" Johnny pointed at Aries.

Jared looked up at Aries and gasped, stumbling back. "I knew it! I said it would come back to bite us in the ass!"

Aries walked by them and grabbed the railing to the stairs and climbed up two of them, leaning forward, he smiled. "Boys...you couldn't pay me the biggest lottery to bite you...anywhere." He laughed. "Lets go find Max, I heard he was the real bad boy...at least, that's the talk up there. He has some real repenting to do."

"Up there?" Jared looked at Aries.

"He claimed to be a ghost and then said he was an angel. I was able to touch him, so I'm sure he's a damned angel!" Johnny shook his head. "Don't make us do this!"

"You don't have to...but I'm not leaving until you do." Aries grinned at Johnny.

"What are y'all screaming for?!" Max said as he started down the last flight of stairs and then he dropped his bag of trash. "It's Shane!"

"He's an angel! He's here to make us confess!" Jared said.

"Ugh...really, is it so bad? I mean, Jesus promised you a ticket to the golden gates when you died, promised me himself." Aries looked up at Max. "And Jesus don't lie to you, just like you don't lie to him, he knows what you did with that knife."

"Oh my god..." Max walked down a few more steps, coming face to face with Aries, though being a couple of steps taller. "You...you look exactly the same."

"A little updated maybe, but us angels got to blend in." He back stepped down the steps and leaned into the corner at the bottom of the steps and crossed his arms. "So, what do you say, ready to confess? First we cleanse your souls beneath the eyes of Jesus Christ! And then!" He walked over and jumped in front of Jared an Johnny. "Then we cleanse your souls in the eyes of justice to these lands that I...and Adam, once called home before you so awfully took his life..."

Max walked over to Johnny and Jared. "Maybe we should...this is really scaring me. I mean, it's Shane, look at him!"

"Hells a lot worse than anything prison can do to you, I took a tour, so I could tell any innocent I helped, from experience, what it's like." Aries grinned. "Find peace...before it's too late."

Johnny narrowed his eyes. "What happens in hell?"

Aries stared at him. "You think a prison cell is bad? What about one that shrinks on you? Smashes you alive...but you don't die? You can't die, you're in hell. So you feel the pain, then it expands and repeats...until the demons get ready to take you out for manual labor and they whip you with whips laced with fire, scar you for every sin you made. Oh...and when demon's decide to make you their bitch, watch out, we're talking foot long demon di..."

"Stop!" Jared interrupted him.

Aries grinned, trying not to laugh.

"We'll confess." Johnny said.

"Smart choice." Aries walked over and waved his hands out. "Lower before the eyes of Jesus Christ...close your eyes and feel the safety of his arms and the security of his watchful eye and let yourself remember that night, knowing that with confession comes forgiveness."

Johnny lowered to his knees, Jared and Max were soon to follow and they closed their eyes.

Aries covered his mouth and bit his tongue, trying hard not to laugh. He took in a deep breath. "Tell me what happened that night, by the time you finish the story, you will be ready, prepared to face justice as on Earth as you have before me and our father Jesus Christ."

"We were angry, we found out that Adam was with you..." Johnny started.

Aries interrupted. "Don't speak to me as if you're speaking to me, I am here to guide, but you are confessing to Jesus, remember that."

"Sorry." Johnny said. "We found out that Adam was with Shane, I was so angry, we knew that Adam was going to watch Shane perform at the lounge."

Aries' smile faded and his eyes closed and he could see flashes of himself on stage singing, experiencing the first flashbacks he had ever experienced.

"We went off and got drunk and I brought some drugs, I smoked some weed with Jared and we had beer and liquor, then I had a shot of heroine and Johnny checked the time and we took off and headed for the lounge." Max spoke.

"We got there and we saw Adam get out of his car and we started...beating him up. We were really out of it, so much anger, we raged." Jared said.

"Then I lost it...I must of had so much alcohol and drugs in my system. I wanted to impress Johnny and Jared, I was always the little guy of the trio, I wanted to do something big. So..I took out my pocket knife and the next thing I know, there's blood everywhere and...my hands were covered, the knife, I blacked out." Max explained.

"He went crazy, stabbing him, I ran back to Johnny's car, we parked it a block down, I saw Johnny and Max had come running..." Jared added.

"I didn't want to get caught, I told Max to ditch the knife down the storm drain under the side walk and told him to get away from us. I jumped in the car and told Jared to take off, we left, went to Jared's place because his parents weren't home and we planned our alibi together." Johnny nodded.

"I did what Johnny said, I tossed the knife where he told me and I ran off down the alley and took every dark, back way I could to not be seen. It had rained the night before, so I found puddles of water, rinsed my hands off and stuff, the best I could along the way. I got home and my dad was burning trash, just old stuff, when I had the chance, I threw my clothes in the fire, they burned before he came back out and noticed. I was suspected for a while...eventually they left me alone." Max opened his eyes and looked up at Aries.

Aries flashbacks to running out and seeing Adam, remembering how he held onto him, seeing images of everything, but he didn't remember any sound. His eyes shot open and he looked at the trio, who now stared at him. "That...that was good." He said.

"Now, what must we do?" Jared asked.

"Jesus speaks." Aries said, quickly regaining his composure for the act. "He says the last act to gain forgiveness is to confess to man and ask for forgiveness of them and to give justice to the families and friends of those you hurt. Then you must stand before the judgment of man, take your punishment here, trust in Jesus, it's better to take it here and be granted promised eternal nirvana."

Johnny, Jared, and Max stood up. "We will." Johnny said, he then looked at the other two. "Right, boys?"

Aries nodded. "You must all three confess your parts."

"Right!" Jared nodded.

"Of course." Max nodded, having wanted to confess for a long time, now he believed there was a reason to.

"Do it today, you never know when your number is up." Aries smiled. "And for what it's worth, I forgive you, for all of it." He turned around and walked out of the boarding house.