The Dreamtrap - 26. Chapter 26

- XXVI -

Julian never let go of Raven’s shoulders while they walked to the car, as if afraid that the brunet would disappear into thin air the minute he let go of him. They both slid into the back seat of the car, and Julian pulled Raven closer again, inhaling familiar scent while the brunet dropped his head onto his shoulder.

“Give me a cigarette,” Raven muttered a minute later when the car started moving. “I went smoke-free for ten bloody days; I crave one right now like no other...!”

Julian tutted with annoyance when he realized that he ran out of cigarettes a couple of hours ago.

“I don’t have any on me,” he sighed apologetically, and Raven growled softly.

“There is a gas station a couple of blocks away from here, master Salamander,” the driver threw a quick, questioning look into the rearview mirror, meeting Julian’s eyes.

“Go there,” the blond nodded immediately.

“Mmm,” Raven said almost lustfully. “I hope they have coffee there as well...”

“There is a coffee shop not too far from the gas station,” the driver spoke again.

“All right,” Julian sighed. “Let’s get your smokes first, and then we’ll hit that shop... Even though I want to get home finally,” he added a second later. “Or at least on the plane,” he nodded and ran his fingers along Raven’s thigh.

“Charter plane?” Raven asked in a low voice.

“Uh huh,” Julian nodded, leaning closer and nibbling on brunet’s earlobe.

“How long is the flight...? Four hours?”

“Give or take,” blond’s tongue became more insistent, and Raven seriously considered forgetting about cigarettes until they got home, leaning into Julian’s touch, his eyes closing all by themselves.

Suddenly, Salamander sighed and pulled away, making Raven groan with protest.

“But I’ll wait,” Julian said mildly as if not noticing Raven’s reaction. “Let’s feed your cravings first.”

Raven narrowed his eyes, immediately recognizing the look on blond’s face – it was the same look he would wear every time he kept Raven on the tingling edge of unreachable release that seemed so tantalizingly close. Raven let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that even if he said, ‘Forget the cravings,’ it wouldn’t change anything – Julian was going to make him wait. Then he thought of something and his mood improved.

“You know,” he murmured into Salamander’s ear, his fingers caressing the other man’s neck. “I am sure there is a bathroom in that coffee shop... And I am sure...” He nipped at the side of Julian’s throat before returning to blond’s ear. “...it has a lock on the door...”

“Mmm...” the blond said with fake regret. “You are too loud for public establishments...”

“Since when is that a bad thing?” Raven grinned, knowing that he won this round. “Plus,” he added in a lower voice. “It wasn’t a problem for you the last time... Just shut me up,” he whispered and ran his tongue along Julian’s ear, noting a short, almost inaudible inhale.

The blond didn’t say anything to that, he just shot Raven a quick look, and the smaller man grinned again when he saw that look. He nipped at Julian’s throat one last time and slightly pulled away, never letting go of Salamander’s hand.

****

A couple of hours later, Raven downed his last cup of coffee and looked at the content blond.

“Let’s go,” he said, knowing that his own expression matched Julian’s to a t – he was right when he said the bathroom had a lock on the door.

“Yes,” the blond said in his usual manner and got up. “Do you need anything else?”

“Yeah,” Raven nodded. “But it’ll wait until we get on the plane.”

Julian gave him a small, smug smile, and they finally left the coffee shop. The driver immediately started the engine the minute he saw them. They slid into the back seat as they did before, and Raven let out a small, content sigh, dropping his head onto blond’s shoulder.

“To the airport,” Julian said to the driver, and the man nodded and threw the car into gear.

...“...and then she exploded every single mirror in the apartment,” Julian said ten minutes later.

“That guy will have fun explaining all that massacre to the landlord,” Raven muttered. “Holy hell, how did she do that though? If she is just a ghost...”

“You’d be surprised at what you can achieve if your will is strong enough,” Julian said darkly. “It doesn’t matter if she is not corporeal; she knows how to transform her spiritual energy into physical concept.”

“Damn,” Raven shook his head slightly. “Yeah, she was always that way,” he muttered thoughtfully. “Wouldn’t back off u-until...” he stuttered slightly. “...until... Damn...!”

He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a huge, long yawn.

“Damn!” he said again with feeling. “I’ve slept for ten days... One would think that...”

He choked on another yawn, and Julian looked at him with a small frown.

“You just had seven cups of espresso,” he said slowly without taking his eyes off Raven, who produced yet another huge yawn.

“Tell me about it...” Raven said, his speech slightly slurred. “Unless they spiked that espresso with some...”

He never finished that sentence, his eyes closing all of a sudden.

“Raven...?” Julian called rather loudly, the frown on his forehead deepening with each second. “Raven...!”

The brunet swayed slightly on the seat when the car took a smooth right turn, and then he collapsed into Julian’s lap without opening his eyes.

“Raven!” the blond shook him furiously. “Raven...! Ah, shit...!” he hissed when he recognized the look on brunet’s face – he observed that very look for the last ten days. “Not again...! Turn around!” he barked at the driver, who threw a puzzled look at him in the rearview mirror. “Turn around!” Julian repeated in the same voice. “Go back to the same bloody house! Goddammit...” he squeezed his eyes shut for several seconds. Then he opened them and started calling Raven’s name, even though he knew it was useless.

...“I will call you when I need you,” was all Salamander said to the driver, emerging from the car with unconscious brunet in his arms.

“Yes, master Sal...” the driver started saying, but Julian slammed the door of the car shut without listening to him.

He quickly walked up the steps and banged on the door with his foot, not even bothering with the doorbell. After several seconds of banging, he almost reached for the magic stream, determined to blow the door off its hinges, when it swung open, revealing very pale Gabriel. His eyes darted towards unconscious Raven.

“Oh, fucking hell...” Rayhe said with desperation, and Julian closed his eyes – apparently, the same thing happened to Specter, he thought, gritting his teeth. “Fucking hell...” Gabriel repeated and stepped aside, letting the blond into the house.

“How long ago did it happen?” Julian asked sharply, immediately seeing unconscious Desmond on the couch. The ex-assassin was wearing the same expression as he did when Julian saw him on Saturday morning, and it matched Raven’s expression perfectly.

“Twenty minutes ago,” Gabriel gritted his teeth. “Give or take. You...?”

“Same,” Julian answered tightly. “Bloody hell...! What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Gabriel said in the same tight manner. “I was making food, he kept talking... Then he fell silent and wouldn’t answer... I came out of the kitchen and found him like this. What about Raven?”

“He started yawning,” the blond said through his clenched teeth. “And then he simply passed out. Bloody hell,” he hissed again.

“Wait,” Gabriel frowned. “I thought you were in the air already!”

“We stopped for coffee,” Julian answered shortly without elaborating any further. He lowered Raven next to Desmond on the couch and straightened up, rubbing his forehead. “All right, all right...” he muttered feverishly. “Let me try something; it didn’t work before but maybe this time...”

A long, somewhat puzzled moan interrupted him, and a second later, Desmond stirred on the couch and slowly peeled his eyes open, looking very confused.

“What...” he started saying when he saw the blond, and then he realized that Raven was lying next to him. “Oh, bloody hell on wheels...” he said desperately and squeezed his eyes shut.

Julian bit his lip hard, staring at Raven without blinking, silently cursing that damn serenity on his face, which never changed, even though Specter came back to consciousness. A minute later, Raven coughed, shook his head, and opened his eyes. He sat up, and when he saw Desmond, he was mute for a minute or so.

“Are you kidding me?” he asked finally.

“Wait...” Julian said slowly, and he looked like he just received a very nasty revelation. “Wait a minute... Does it mean that they have to be close to each other in order to stay conscious...?”

Other three men stared at him without blinking or speaking.

“Are you kidding me?” Raven said again, except this time, it was much weaker.

****

“Call my number the minute something changes,” Julian shoved a piece of paper into gloomy Gabriel’s hand and looked at Raven. “Let’s go,” he sighed, and the brunet muttered something under his breath and followed him outside, his shoulders stooped.

Neither one of them wanted to believe that Julian’s theory was correct; therefore, the blond gritted his teeth and said that Raven and he would get out of the house and leave yet again. If nothing happens this time, then whatever just hit both – Specter and Raven – of them was nothing but some strange aftermath. However, if something did happen... Here Julian gritted his teeth again and reached for his phone.

“Take my car,” Rayhe said sharply. “Because if something does happen, I want you to be able to get back here fast! I am not going to count on your driver... If everything is fine, then drive back, call your driver, and get out!”

Salamander threw him a dark, heavy look but didn’t argue and took the keys. They walked outside and Raven threw his body into the front seat, his jaw locked tightly. Julian slid into the driver’s seat and shoved the keys into the ignition, his expression darker than ever.

“Should’ve just killed him when I had a chance...” he muttered under his breath and angrily threw the car in gear, forcing it to leap forward with an angry growl.

...They drove for ten minutes or so, and everything seemed to be okay. Julian let his shoulders to relax just a little after he threw a quick glance at Raven and saw that the brunet was just fine. He looked irritated and tired, but he didn’t seem sleepy in the slightest. Julian looked at the odometer; they were almost six miles away from Rayhe’s house.

Julian lit a cigarette and rolled down the window, glancing at Raven once again.

“I think it was just a onetime occurrence,” he said, and Raven looked at him, his expression less irritated than a couple of minutes ago.

“Yeah,” he grinned. “Thank God...! All right...” he glanced at the odometer as well. “Turn around at that intersection,” he pointed towards the upcoming traffic light. “Let’s go return this car, call your driver, and let’s go home already!”

“I could just go straight to the airport,” the blond said with a small smile, and Raven laughed at that.

“Let’s just go back,” he shook his head. “Plus...” he frowned and dug in his pockets for a minute or so. “Yeah,” he sighed finally. “I left my lighter in there; I like that lighter!” he nodded, and Julian rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” he said mildly. “We’ll go back...” He brought the car to a smooth stop when the light blinked red. “By the way, the merger is almost finished finally, so when we get back, I will be able to take a couple of days off.”

He expected to hear something that Raven would usually say when he heard news like that, and frowned when there was nothing. He shifted his gaze away from the blinking red light and looked at the brunet. He became mute for several long seconds, and then he burst into a string of unintelligible obscenities. Raven’s head fell against the closed window, and he was in a state of deep sleep, it seemed.

Suddenly, Julian’s phone let out a shrill, unexpected shriek, and the blond yanked it out of his pocket, flipped it open, pressed it against his ear, and barked:

“I know!”

With that, he snapped the phone shut and threw it onto the dashboard. Then he cursed again and stepped hard on the gas pedal, caring less about the light, which turned green the minute the car leapt forward. He made a screeching U-turn and raced back to that blasted house.

...Julian felt like the ticking of the goddamn clock was going to make his head explode. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

“How far were you?” Gabriel asked unemotionally.

“Six miles,” the blond answered without opening his eyes. “It happened the minute we got to the traffic light.”

“What was the name of the street?” Gabriel asked in the same emotion-free voice.

“Emerald Court,” Julian answered, his eyes still closed.

Gabriel sighed; yes, that street was exactly six miles away from their house.

“How far is the nearest hotel from here?” Salamander still wouldn’t open his eyes.

“Eight miles,” Gabriel sighed again, and this time, Julian’s eyes flew wide open.

He stared at Rayhe silently for almost a minute.

“I am not sleeping in the car,” he said finally, and Gabriel produced yet another sigh – this one was deeper than the previous ones.

“That’s fine,” he said very evenly. “We have a spare room, you can stay here.”

“Wh-wh-wh...” Desmond, who was eerily silent up to this point, shook his head rather quickly and looked up. “Wait... Did you just say, ‘Stay here’? As in ‘this house’...?”

“Des,” Gabriel looked at him steadily, his voice firm and lacking any hope whatsoever. “It’s either him staying here or you slipping into coma again,” he nodded without shifting his gaze or even blinking.

Desmond stared at him for a long minute, and then he closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. The only word Gabriel got out of that was ‘hell.’ Finally, Desmond opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he glanced at Raven and frowned. Julian followed his gaze and frowned as well – Raven’s eyes were closed, and his expression was not quite serene, but it was rather empty.

“Raven!” the blond called sharply, ignoring the flash of hope in Specter’s eyes.

“I am awake,” Raven said evenly, and Desmond gritted his teeth. “My eyes are just closed, that’s all...”

“I see,” Julian sighed and killed his cigarette in the ashtray.

“Dammit,” Desmond grumbled. “I have to go to work...! The school is seven miles from here...” he gritted his teeth. “I am not dragging him with me!”

“It’s the end of June,” Gabriel said and lit another cigarette. “You don’t have to go back to school until the last week of August. I am hoping that we will resolve this by then!” he made a wild, jerky gesture in the air with his cigarette-free hand.

Raven finally opened his eyes.

“You do have to go to work, however,” he said with a small frown, looking at Julian. “You already missed several days, and with that merger...”

“It’s almost finished,” the blond sighed again. “I can work from here; I’ll just need a good computer... I’ll get one in the morning,” he nodded.

“I am going to bed,” Desmond said sharply and got up.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Gabriel let out another desperate, defeated sigh.

“Uh huh,” Desmond muttered gloomily and walked away.

Gabriel looked at Julian and silent Raven.

“Let me show you to your room...” he got up as well.

He walked down the hallway and pushed open the door, which led to a decent size room.

“It used to be Sam’s room,” Gabriel glanced at Julian. “I hope your conscience doesn’t keep you awake during the night,” he added poisonously.

“I will be fine,” the blond said with a small smile – he didn’t even flinch.

“Of course, you will be...” Gabriel muttered darkly. “There should be a clean towel in the bathroom...” He frowned slightly. “Let me get you another one,” he sighed in defeat and went away.

“By the way,” Desmond appeared in the hallway, and he looked determined. “When this ordeal is finished and before you leave, you are going to buy a new set of sheets, because I am not using those sheets again...! Ever,” he nodded.

“That’s fine,” Julian said melancholically and took the towel, which Gabriel handed him silently. “Good night,” he stepped into the room and closed the door.