The In Between - 1. Chapter 1

Jordan lay on his bed, trying to complete his Physics homework. It wasn't a hard assignment, really, it was just following the formula in his textbook, but it was difficult to focus on anything right then.

He had other things on his mind.

First and foremost, Brandon. Brandon, who just the night before was in the middle of what definitely looked like rape when he interrupted. Jordan wasn't sure how Brandon was handling that, because it didn't seem like Brandon was handling it at all.

Brandon obviously wanted to take their relationship to a higher level as well. Not that Jordan minded. He wanted the same thing, too, but having that happen on the heels of the encounter with Keith made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Keith and his Enabler, Elizabeth, had disappeared, but not until after Keith had shot their friend Nikki and attempted to shoot Jordan.

Leia, who everyone was sure was dead, might not be, and it had been Jordan's unhappy job to break that news to Brandon, who had taken it as badly as Jordan thought he might.

And on top of that, his older brother had caught Brandon and him making out on the couch and had called him a faggot, making his disapproval known loud and clear.

And after all that, he was supposed to be solving Physics equations. Yeah, right.

Just when he was about to close his textbook and give up for the night, two things happened simultaneously. He felt a small pull, a tug in the back of his mind that he recognized as Brandon's, and his cell phone went off, alerting him of a text message. He checked the phone and saw it was from Brandon.

come over. now.

On the heels of that was another psychic pull. It didn't hold any anger or fear, just a strong, almost desperate sense of urgency. Brandon needed him, obviously, and needed him soon, but Jordan wasn't sure why.

Well, if Brandon needed him, then Brandon needed him. It wasn't like he was accomplishing anything here at home anyway, except for staring at his Physics worksheet and worrying about his brother.

By the time he arrived at Brandon's house, the pulling at the back of his mind had gotten much stronger and more insistent, tugging and tugging, like a willful child with a handful of hair. Jordan finally had to gently pull up a mental block and deflect the signal back to Brandon. Hopefully Brandon had gotten the message.

Jordan parked and walked up to the front door. Before he could raise his hand to knock, Brandon had the front door open and was pulling him inside. "I need you to see something. C'mon." Brandon took his hand and pulled him towards the stairs. Curiosity burning up inside him, Jordan followed Brandon into his room. Brandon's computer was humming, with a screensaver up. Brandon led Jordan over to it and pushed him down into his computer chair. Brandon tapped a key and the screensaver dissolved.

"See this?" Brandon asked. Jordan leaned forward. The screen showed a large room with hardwood floors and little furniture. As the screen slowly panned the room, Jordan saw a rug in one corner, topped with a piano. A grand piano, in the traditional style with the lid propped up and a piano bench nearby. There was nothing else in the room until the other end, where there was a large stone fireplace with nothing burning in it, just sitting there, empty and black.

"I see it. What am I looking for?"

"Leia, that's where she is."

"There's no one there," Jordan said, his eyes studying the screen.

"But she was. She was; I saw her. That's where she is, Jordan; that is where we can find her."

"Brandon-"

"Listen, just listen, okay? It's a game. It's called Charion, and it was in with Leia's stuff. And I opened it up and it asked me, it asked me, Jordan, what I was. A Creator, an Enabler, or a civilian. Those were my options. And I told it I was a Creator, and this room came up. And she was sitting there, she was sitting right there on the fucking piano bench and then she vanished. But she was there."

"Okay." Jordan was a little alarmed at Brandon's tone of voice. "Calm down. You said this is a game?"

"Computer game. I found it in Leia's stuff."

"So she had this game."

"Yes. She loved video games. So I put it in and it asked me who I was."

"And you put down that you were a Creator."

"Yes. Was that bad?"

"I don't know, but don't worry about it right now," Jordan said, his mind racing, trying to figure out what was going on. "What's done is done. And you think, what? That Leia is there?"

"I know she is. Jordan, I know this place. I know it, I've been there."

"Wait a minute, Brandon. You're not making any sense. Calm down, okay?"

"I can't calm down; this is it, this is where Leia is because you said she was still alive and I've been to this place, and-"

Jordan turned around and looked at Brandon, who was beginning to hyperventilate. "Sit down," Jordan said, pushing back on Brandon's shoulders, trying to steer him to the bed.

"I don't need to sit, I need to-"

"Yes, you do need to sit. Go on." Jordan sat down and pulled Brandon down next to him. "Take some deep breathes and calm down. We'll figure this out, okay?" Jordan squeezed his hand. Brandon gritted his teeth but made himself close his eyes and take several deep breathes the way Jordan had asked him.

"Want me to get you something, like some juice?" Jordan asked.

Brandon smiled and shook his head. "Nah. You're my guest; I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine," Jordan said. "Now tell me this again. You found this disc at Leia's?"

"With Leia's things. I had taken some CDs that she had burnt from her house. Just because they were there and I wanted to have some stuff from her. I didn't know what was on them. So I was listening to the CDs and one wouldn't play in the CD player, so I put it in the computer. And this game opened up and it was called Charion. And it asked me for my name and I typed it in. And then a screen came up and there were three choices: Creator, Enabler, or civilian. And I clicked on Creator, because that's what I am. Probably not the smartest move ever, but I wasn't thinking, you know. And then the screen came up. And it showed Leia, sitting there on the bench for a moment. And then she just faded away. I freaked out, though, because I know that place. I've seen it before. I've seen her there before. It's the in between."

"The in between?"

"That's what Leia called it."

"And when was this?"

"A couple of weeks ago."

Jordan was silent for a moment. "A couple of weeks ago," he repeated, to make sure.

"Yeah. Listen. I've seen this place. I've dreamt about it. I've talked to Leia here."

"And so you think Leia is here?" Jordan asked. "A couple of days ago you weren't even ready to accept the fact that Leia was still alive. Why the sudden change of faith?"

"Whenever I dream of this place, Leia is there. She's there and she talks to me; she's asked me to find her. I thought I was just having dreams like that because I miss her. But this place, Jordan, this place is real. It's somewhere and she has to be there. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"You said this is a computer game?" Jordan said, nodding to the screen. Brandon nodded.

"Then what is the game?" Jordan asked. "All it is doing is showing a room. There's no-"

A knock on the door interrupted him and Brandon gave the door a curious look. "Come in," he said.

Mrs. Williams opened the door. "Brandon, you have a visitor."

Another one?

Mrs. Williams stepped aside and Alexis moved past her, smiling shyly. Brandon gave her a slightly puzzled look. Alexis usually didn't come to see him, but rather invited him to her place. And if she did visit, she usually made sure to call first. This was odd.

"Brandon, I-oh hi," she said, catching sight of Jordan. She gave him a curious once over then looked at Brandon again. "Brandon, I need to talk to you. It's important. It's about Leia."

Brandon's body grew tense. "Leia?" Brandon said.

"Yeah." Alexis pulled on her hair nervously. "I'm freaking out here. It's on the Internet. Can I-"

"Yeah," Brandon said. He went to his computer and exited out of the game. He still had the disc; he could bring it back up later.

"It's on YouTube," Alexis said and then glanced over at Jordan again. "Do I know you?"

"I go to school with you," Jordan said.

Alexis looked at Brandon. "You want him to stay?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

Alexis brought up the Internet and logged on to her YouTube account. "This is supposed to be some kind of promotion, but it's not for anything I've heard of," she said as she pulled up the video.

Brandon shivered when he saw the video's title--Charion. At first, the screen was blank and Brandon heard the familiar melody--Tubular Bells. The video opened up to show a piano, just a piano, the camera focused down on the keys. They weren't moving, even though the music continued. Brandon frowned, leaning forward.

The screen suddenly cut away, revealing a woman, beating against the glass of the camera, screaming. "Help me! Please, someone help me!" It was Leia, and Brandon felt himself jump at the sudden, unexpected transition.

The screen faded back to black and a message in white letters appeared.

The Goddess is in danger. Will you be able to save her?

The screen went black again and the melody of Tubular Bells returned as a single word emblazoned itself across the screen in bright red script.

Charion

Then the screen faded and the share and replay icons came up.

"Play it again," Brandon said breathlessly, and Alexis clicked on the replay icon.

This time Brandon was expecting it and seeing Leia's face screaming across the screen was still a shock, but not as much of one as seeing it the first time was.

"Do it again," Brandon said. He could feel Jordan step up next to him and lean over the chair, staring at the screen.

"When was this put up?" Jordan asked as the video ended again.

"Just a couple of days ago," Alexis said. "Some people think it's a viral marketing campaign for a video game or a movie, but there's no website to link to or anything."

Brandon glanced at Jordan. Jordan could already tell what he was thinking, and everything was beginning to look way too pretty for a coincidence.

"Who put this up here?" Jordan asked, checking the user name. "Do you know who this guy is?"

Alexis shook her head. "No. I checked his profile, but there's not anything up there. And no videos except for this one. I don't know what to think. I mean, that was Leia there."

"Probably someone playing a very wrong joke," Jordan said, and the excuse sounded lame to his own ears.

"Well no one asked you," Alexis said with a little bit of a bite to her words.

"Cool it, Alexis," Brandon said crossly. "That's my boyfriend you're talking to."

Alexis turned her head and Brandon saw her eyes travel from him to Jordan and back again. She didn't say anything, but her feelings were made clear by the way she jumped up from the chair and stormed out of the room.

"Shit, Lexi." Brandon turned to Jordan. "Sorry but I need to-"

"Go ahead," Jordan said, moving to the recently vacated desk chair.

Brandon rushed downstairs and outside where Alexis was already standing at the curb next to her car, fumbling in her purse for her keys. "Lexi."

She ignored him, pulling out her keys.

"Lexi, c'mon-" he coaxed, reaching out to take a hold of her arm before she could open her car door.

"Don't touch me!" Alexis screamed, and Brandon jerked his hand back like he had been burned. "How could you do this, Brandon? How could you?"

"How could I what? Date a guy?"

"It's not that you're dating a guy, it's that you're dating that guy. He's an Untouchable, Brandon. Think about it. How do you know he wasn't the same guy who got Leia in trouble?"

"He's not. I asked him."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "And you believed him?"

"Yes. Lexi, think about it for a minute. He's dating me. If nothing else, Leia had the wrong anatomy. Besides, he wasn't here long enough to meet Leia, seduce Leia, and dump her. He just wasn't. It would have taken time to get to Leia the way this person did. He would have needed to start seeing her during the summer, at least. And he simply wasn't here."

"He is still one of them."

"Why do you care? What is your problem with these people?"

"Because 'these people' are selfish, mean and cliquey. And in case you have forgotten, one of them broke Leia's heart and drove her to commit suicide!" She pressed her hands against her eyes. "God, Brandon, I can't believe that you just don't care!"

"I do care. Goddamn it, Alexis, don't you tell me that I don't care. But Jordan wasn't the one who hurt her. And he's not the kind of person you are describing. I know him. I love him."

Alexis shook her head. "I can't believe this. I can't believe I'm even hearing this." She stepped away and opened the car door. "I'm going home now. I'll see you tomorrow at school." She shut the door and started up the car, driving away without giving him a second glance.

Brandon frowned and returned to the house. Jordan was sitting at the computer, playing the video again. He turned and raised an eyebrow as Brandon fell onto his bed with all the melodramatic flair he could muster.

"Is everything all right?" Jordan asked.

Brandon turned his head to look at Jordan. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but I've just essentially outed us to the entire school."

"How so?" Jordan asked, getting up and settling back down on the bed next to him.

"Alexis is going to go straight home and call her Gothling friends on the newspaper staff and sob to all of them. She'll make them swear not to tell a soul, of course, and while they are promising not to breathe a word to anyone, they'll already be texting messages to everyone they know. By tomorrow morning, the whole school will know. Everybody."

"Well, on the bright side, at least now we don't have to worry about whether or not to hide it. Your parents know, my brother knows and by this time tomorrow, most of the school will know. So, all the really important people already know."

Brandon smiled at him. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm gay. And I kinda like you."

Jordan grinned, leaned over and kissed him. "Well, I kind of like you, too." His expression got a little serious. "Is your friend going to be all right?"

"Yeah. She freaks pretty easily, but she'll be cooled off in the morning and I can try to talk to her again."

"Good," Jordan said. "So about the video--"

"Jesus." Brandon breathed, getting up and following Jordan back to the computer. "I can't believe what I saw."

"Me either. I watched it a couple of more times and this is what we have. The person who posted the video didn't give us much information. Just basically that he lives here in the good ol' US of A, that he doesn't watch or subscribe to anything. He joined at about the same time this video was posted, which is about two days ago."

"So... this video was done two days ago? That means-"

"Not shot two days ago, just posted. I don't know when this video was filmed." Jordan scrolled down through the comments, most of which were of the "WTF" variety. There was no response to any comments from whoever posted the video. "Brandon, that video game, what was it called?"

"Charion. Same as the video."

"Hmm." Jordan leaned back. "So it is a promotion. They're trying to promote that game."

"Why is Leia in the video?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe, maybe it was some previously shot footage that was edited in, but look at this." Jordan let the video play for a few seconds and then paused it when Leia appeared on screen. "Take a good look at the screen and tell me if you notice anything."

It showed Leia when she first appeared, in the process of turning towards the camera. And from the side view, it was obvious that Leia was quite, quite pregnant.

"Shit," Brandon whispered.

"Yeah." Jordan's watch beeped and he glanced at it in annoyance. "Listen, Bran, I have to go. Can I have the disc with the game on it? I want to take it home and make a copy."

"Sure," Brandon said. "I don't really want it here anyway." He ejected the disc and put it in a case. Jordan took it and went downstairs. Brandon followed him, gave him a kiss that was supposed to be brief and friendly, but quickly turned deep and longing. "Thanks for coming over on such short notice. I was a bit spooked," Brandon said softly.

"No problem. I'm glad you called me," Jordan said, running his hands lightly up and down Brandon's arms, trying to ignore the feeling that the kiss woke up inside him. "We'll get this figured out, all right?"

Brandon nodded. "Definitely. Good night."

"Good night."

Jordan pulled up to his house and shut off the engine. He opened the front door and saw a light shining from the kitchen. He followed it and saw Dylan hunched over a table, looking at some documents. There was an open beer bottle sitting nearby and Jordan was instantly wary. His brother didn't drink much, but the few fights they did have always occurred while Dylan had been drinking, and Jordan hadn't missed that pattern.

Jordan knew that the best thing to do was to engage, let Dylan vent about what was bothering him and then leave without taking the bait. Ignoring him only lead to a more volatile confrontation later, and leaving only gave Dylan more time to stew.

"Hey," Jordan said simply, letting Dylan know he was there, before entering the room.

"Where have you been?" Dylan asked.

Jordan got a Sprite out of the refrigerator. "Brandon's house," he said, popping the tab on the soda.

"It's a sin," Dylan said. "What you are doing."

What, drinking a Sprite? Jordan thought, but resisted saying that aloud. "C'mon, Dylan, don't get all gospel on me. When was the last time you went to church?" Jordan hadn't set foot in one since the service for Mattie, which had taken place a day after the one for his parents.

"Homosexuality is a sin; the Bible says so. Besides, it's just unnatural. Two men aren't meant to be together; it's not the way God or nature intended us to be."

"I'm not gay."

"Oh please," Dylan said, capping his pen and putting it down on the table. "I know what I saw. You were in here, kissing and molesting another boy who is probably too young for you."

"I love Brandon. I won't deny that. But that doesn't mean I'm attracted to other men. I'm not. Just him." Jordan pressed a hand to his forehead. His feelings towards Brandon confused him half the time, never mind trying to explain it to someone else. "Maybe I'm bisexual."

"There's no such thing," Dylan said. "Bisexuality doesn't exist. People who claim to be bisexual are just confused."

"I'm just confused then," Jordan said. That actually summed up his feelings rather well.

"Well, stop being confused and get your head on straight. What would Mom and Dad say if they knew? They-"

"Don't," Jordan said instantly, his voice growing cool and hard. "Don't you dare bring them into this that way. You have no fucking idea what they would think."

"Neither do you."

"I think that they would love me unconditionally and accept me as I am." Jordan took a long drink of his Sprite.

"All I know is that I would never allow my children to run around doing the kind of things that you are doing. I won't give them the chance to fall into sin the way you have."

Jordan was really beginning to get pissed off at his brother's attitude. Fuck him, Dylan didn't even know Brandon, and he had no business telling Jordan he was a dirty sinner for loving someone.

"Then your future children have my sympathy," Jordan bit out. "Of course we have to take into consideration whether or not that frigid bitch you're dating can even give you any."

In retrospect, Jordan realized that he shouldn't have said what he did. He should have seen the signs that Dylan wasn't just being confrontational; he was spoiling for a fight. All he was waiting for was Jordan to give him a reason to start one. But all that Jordan knew was Dylan's hand on his shoulder, roughly pulling him around to face him before the first punch landed across his face.

Jordan struck back, without even thinking, instinct taking over as the hot pain bloomed across his face. He felt his fist connect, saw Dylan stumble backwards.

Jordan was no weakling, but Dylan, being close to thirty, was still much bigger and much stronger than Jordan, and in almost no time, Jordan found himself on his back, Dylan on his knees over him, landing two more blows on his face. Jordan brought his knee up hard, hitting Dylan in the crotch. Dylan turned white and cupped his injured parts with his hands, rolling off of him.

"Motherfucker," Dylan growled, still on the ground. Jordan pushed himself up on his hands, coughing. The coppery taste of blood was on his tongue and as he coughed, specks of it landed on his shirt. He wiped his sleeve across his mouth and it came away with a reddish brown smear.

"Dylan, are you okay?" he asked, getting on his knees. Dylan was turned away from him, and when Jordan touched his shoulder, Dylan shoved his hand away violently.

"I strongly suggest-" Dylan said, and his voice was low and tight "-that you get the hell out of here before I can get to my feet and beat the shit out of you. Because I swear to God I will."

Jordan's eyes widened slightly. He had never heard his brother sound this way. Jordan pushed himself to his feet and went outside. Numb feet carried him out to his car and he started up the engine without really thinking of where he was going.

He pulled up to a convenience store and ducked inside the restroom. He looked awful; dried blood gathered underneath his nose and around his mouth. Part of his face was already growing puffy and swollen. He washed his face off, wincing slightly at the cold water against his sore skin.

He ended up at a Holiday Inn. He had thought of calling Brandon and seeing if he could stay there, with him, but then would come the inevitable questions, ones that Jordan didn't want to answer right now.

He and Dylan almost never fought. The age difference had been too great when they were younger and they just hadn't seen that much of each other. They had arguments and screaming matches once their parents had died, arguments that escalated when Jordan got into trouble with school and the authorities. And Dylan had taken a smack at him a time or two, but Jordan would just smack him back and that would be that. They had never used fists against each other.

His remark about Tina had been uncalled for, he knew that. But so had Dylan's remarks about him. And it wasn't like Jordan hadn't heard many derogatory remarks from Dylan's own lips about Jordan's lovers before. Dammit, it was just unfair.

He closed his eyes, another headache beginning to pound behind them. He took a bath, then padded naked across the room to his bed and slipped in-between cool sheets and fell asleep shortly after, comforting himself with the memory of Brandon's body curled up next to his earlier that day.