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    CassieQ
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Not The Sun - 17. Chapter Seventeen: Leia Again

17 ~Leia Again~

Brandon woke up later that afternoon and found himself alone on Jordan's bed. He stretched slightly, sliding his arms up under Jordan's pillow before pulling the pillow to him, burying his face in it and breathing in deeply. He could smell Jordan on it and it made him smile.

He got up and left the room. Jordan was sitting downstairs, talking on his cellphone. He saw Brandon and waved at him, motioned for him.

"Yeah," Jordan was saying. "No. Not since last night. No, I didn't, but Brandon did. Very well." A long pause. "Well, I can't see that being a problem. I don't think he'll have a problem talking to you about it." Jordan raised his eyebrows at Brandon and Brandon nodded. "Yes. I understand. Okay." Jordan smiled at something the person on the other end of the line said. "Okay, I'll tell her. All right. Good. Okay. Bye." Jordan hung up the phone. "That was Ray. He's one of us. He's a cop up in Arlington and he's agreed to keep an eye on Keith and Elizabeth for us. He's searching our database for them as we speak, and if he finds them, which I doubt, he'll let us know. He's going to want to talk to you sometime soon."

"Okay. Is he a Creator or Enabler?"

"He's an Enabler. His Creator is a girl named Cynthia. They both work for the police; he's a Detective and she's a sketch artist."

Brandon shoved his hands into his jean pockets. "So now what?"

Jordan shrugged. "We wait."

It was an unsatisfactory answer, but Brandon took it. He helped Jordan put together a late lunch, a chicken chili salad. Brandon, who still didn't want to go home, sat down with Jordan to watch a movie. About fifteen minutes in, Jordan, who was feeling restless and brave, reached over to grab the remote and pause the movie. When Brandon turned to look at him curiously, Jordan gripped a handful of Brandon's shirt and gently pulled him down until his lips met Brandon's mouth. He kissed him softly, cautiously, all too aware of what had almost happened last night. Brandon kissed him back aggressively, and Jordan found himself too soon on his back with Brandon's weight on top of him. Jordan knew that stopping would not be as simple as pushing Brandon away and telling him no, and that more importantly, he didn't want to. His skin was tingling, his cock was heavy and throbbing and growing hard. So he decided this once, just this once, it would be okay to let go. To let everything go.

So he let himself do what he wanted to do right then, which was to wrap one arm around Brandon's waist and used the other one to grip the back of his head, kissing him hard. He ran his hand up Brandon's back, fingers catching on his shirt and pulling it up until he was breaking off the kiss to tug the shirt over Brandon's head, then letting his hands slide down Brandon's neck, down his back, fingers trailing over the small bumps of his vertebra, down to his hips, pulling them down against his own until they both moaned. Brandon finally broke off the kiss, leaning back, straddling Jordan's thighs. He ran a hand back though his hair, long thick black strands shot through with streaks of blue. The gesture was unintentionally sexy and had Jordan aching to pull him back down and copy the gesture, to run his own fingers through that same hair.

"You okay?" Brandon asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," Jordan said.

Brandon smiled and leaned down to kiss him again, his hands gently touching his face, stroking his neck and shoulders. Jordan ran his hands up the outside of Brandon's thighs, up to his hips, the rough denim rubbing against his fingertips. Brandon's mouth was hot and hungry on top of his, kissing him with an intensity that almost bordered on urgent. Jordan let his hand drift up to Brandon's belt, touching it, tracing the edges with his fingers, but not making any effort to unbuckle it. Just letting his fingers rest there for right now, because this hungry kissing, with Brandon's weight on top of him and his hands on his skin, was nice.

Brandon slid a hand down Jordan's chest and stomach until it rested on his groin, where he pressed gently, massaging the erection straining against the fly of his pants. Jordan threaded one hand through Brandon's hair, the other covering the hand on his groin, encouraging him to continue.

The click of the key in the lock was barely noticeable and the only hint Jordan had that something was off was a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision. He froze momentarily and pushed Brandon off of him, sitting up with wide eyes and staring at his brother who was in the doorway staring back at them.

"Dylan."

"Jordan," his brother said, his eyes taking in the scene. Brandon had managed to move off of Jordan and to the other end of the couch with a speed that was uncanny, his face tomato red as he tugged his shirt back on.

"Um... I'm going to go and get my... um... stuff together," Brandon muttered and left the room quickly.

"What are you doing?" Dylan asked then held up a hand. "Wait, wait, don't answer that. I don't even want to know."

"Dylan..."

"Jordan, what the hell?"

"What?" Jordan asked, standing up. "You have a problem with me kissing my boyfriend?"

"Since when did you start dating guys?"

"Since I found one that I wanted to date."

"Jordan, you're not gay."

Jordan's eyes widened. "And since when did you decide whether or not I'm gay?"

"Jordan, you know that it's unnatural. Two guys are not supposed to be together."

"Christ, Dylan, I never pegged you for a homophobe."

"And I never pegged you for a faggot," Dylan returned. He sat his briefcase down. "Look, I'm way past the point where I'm going to try to tell you how to live your life. You do whatever the hell you want. But if you're going to do that, at least do it where I don't have to watch."

Stunned and hurt, Jordan turned and left the room, going upstairs. He paused outside Brandon's room and knocked on the door tentatively.

"Come in," Brandon said, and Jordan opened the door to see Brandon sitting on the floor, pulling on his boots.

"I'll take you home when you are ready," Jordan said.

"Just give me a few minutes, I'm almost done," Brandon said, glancing up. His movements slowed a little. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jordan said. He couldn't meet Brandon's eyes. "I'm sorry that Dylan just walked in on us. He sometimes comes home early, especially on the weekends."

"It's no big deal," Brandon said. He stood up, his bag in one hand. He approached Jordan and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Are you really all right? Was he mad?"

"No," Jordan said. "Just not terribly understanding."

"Do you want to come over and stay at my place for a while?"

It was a tempting offer, but Jordan shook his head. He still had homework to take care of before school started up again, and he wasn't going to let his brother chase him out of the house. "I'll be fine."

It was a lie both of them were growing comfortable telling.

Brandon went upstairs to his room after Jordan dropped him off and after he had passed his parental screening to make sure he hadn't been drinking. He flopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He was still horny and he wished Jordan was here so they could take up where they had left off when they had been interrupted.

He shifted as he felt something digging into his back and reached underneath him to pull the offending object free. It was Leia's belt. He wrapped it around his hand, the press of leather and metal comforting. He sat up and grabbed the box he had taken from Leia's room. He should do something with her possessions; it didn't seem right to keep them tucked away in a box somewhere. He went through the contents again. The book he had given her could go with the rest in his bookshelf. He flipped through the pages and a concert ticket for Slipknot fell out. He picked it up then put it back in the box.

Christ, this was hard.

He went downstairs and then realized that he couldn't get a drink with his parents here and that when he thought about it, he didn't want a drink as much as he thought he did. His stomach still wasn't happy about the abuse it had been subjected to the other night. He got a Coke instead and went back up to his room. He took the picture of the four of them on the beach and stuck it in the frame of his mirror so he could see it every day.

He pulled out a couple of discs, curious about what Leia had been listening to. He put the first CD into his stereo and flipped through several of the songs. Rammstein. He grinned and slid another in and considered asking for a multidisc player or maybe even an iPod next Christmas. Metallica. He put in another disc. God help him… Justin Timberlake? He made a face.

Leia, what were you thinking?

He pulled out Justin Timberlake, thinking that if it hadn't been Leia's, he would have thrown it away. He would die of embarrassment if anyone found it. He slid another disk into the stereo, listening to it hum as the stereo attempted to read this disc.

DISC READ ERROR

Disc read error? What the hell? He removed the disc and studied it. It was plain silver with only one word written across the front in a green Sharpie. It wasn't Leia's handwriting.

Charion.

Was it a DVD then? He didn't recognize the title. He looked it over again, then went to his computer and inserted it into the CD-Rom drive. The drive hummed for a few moments before a screen popped up.

Welcome to Charion.

Brandon smiled in understanding. A computer game. Of course. Leia was so into that stuff.

Another screen popped up asking if he was a new or existing member. Brandon clicked on new member and the game paused for a moment, telling him it was loading. A screen asking for his name popped up. Brandon typed it in and hit okay.

The screen went black as the drive hummed for several seconds. Another box popped up.

There were three buttons he could click on. Three choices. Three options.

Creator
Enabler
Civilian

What the...

Heart beating hard, Brandon clicked on Creator. The drive hummed again and then a new image popped up, along with a dialog box.

Welcome Creator.

He barely registered the words, his eyes fixed on the image that filled the screen. The screen slowly panned a very familiar room, from the fireplace, across endless expanses of hardwood floors, resting finally on a grand piano gleaming in the light. And she was there. Not playing, not speaking, just sitting on the bench, her head lowered, hands in her lap.

He froze. He couldn't think. Couldn't breathe.

"What is this place?"

"The in between. I can get no closer to where I used to be."

As he watched, the figure of Leia lifted her head, stared right at him and smiled. It was a sad, lonely smile that made his heart ache for her. Then she slowly faded away into nothingness, leaving nothing but an empty bench by the piano.

"No!" Brandon said, desperately, reaching up to press his hand against the screen, forgetting for a moment where he was, what he was doing. God, she was just there, she had been right there. "No, Leia, please!" He closed his eyes, his hand fisting against the screen of his computer, tears sliding out from his closed eyes.

"You're never going to find me if you don't start fucking looking."

God. Oh, God. She was there. In the in between. And if she was there...

...God help him, if she was out there...

...he was going to find her.

End of Book 1

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

On 09/25/2011 09:20 PM, Tiger said:
Great story, Cassie. You have a knack for mystery and suspense. I read the whole thing today and will be reading the next part tomorrow.
Holy cow, that is a lot of reading for one day! I'm very glad you liked it!
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On 09/27/2011 08:23 PM, Mikie said:
Cassie,

I, like Tim, just read the entire story within a span of two days. [well, he gave it to me in the afternoon, and I finished it in the wee hours of the morning]. I couldn't stop. It was very well written, and I enjoyed it very very much. It was quite different from anything I've read, and I'll happily be reading the second one as well.

 

Mikie

Wow. That is a lot of reading in such a short amount of time! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thank you very much for your comments. I hope you enjoy Book 2 as well :)
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Not my normal taste, which is perhaps why I wasn't so keen. I feel the first book of a series has to hook in a reader but at the same time be a complete story. Right now you have a hook but I have no interest in keep going because I don't feel like I was given a full story. Why do I want to keep reading if all I get is cliff hangers and suspense with no conclusions? I feel like I am stuck in Act IV of a Shakespeare tragedy yet we have yet to reach intermission.

Sorry I don't mean this as an attack but as an expression of my interest to see this do well.

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On 11/11/2011 09:22 PM, wholysoul said:
Not my normal taste, which is perhaps why I wasn't so keen. I feel the first book of a series has to hook in a reader but at the same time be a complete story. Right now you have a hook but I have no interest in keep going because I don't feel like I was given a full story. Why do I want to keep reading if all I get is cliff hangers and suspense with no conclusions? I feel like I am stuck in Act IV of a Shakespeare tragedy yet we have yet to reach intermission.

Sorry I don't mean this as an attack but as an expression of my interest to see this do well.

It is too bad this type of story wasn't too your taste though I applaud your decision to read something that was obviously outside your comfort zone. The Not The Sun series is meant to be a full story arc, however, I felt it was too much content to cram into one book, so I separated it over a three part series. The cliff hangers and suspense that you mentioned was quite deliberate, to draw readers to the next chapter or story. I don't believe all trilogies must have a separate contained story (look at Star Wars, Part V or the Lord of the Rings). Maybe trilogies aren't to your taste? Anyway, I know that I cannot write a story that can appeal to every single reader out there…I doubt anyone can…but I enjoy hearing feedback from somewhat who normally does not read the kind of fiction I enjoy writing. Thanks for sharing your perspective :)
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On 07/29/2013 11:30 AM, joann414 said:
Good Grief! You did not just do that! "bangs head against wall" Beats you with fly swatter while you run round and round the house. :funny:

Needless to say, I am tired as hell, but will definitely continue the journey of these great characters. What an enthralling read! :worship:

Oh yes, I did! :D Put your fly swatter away, there are still two more books! Glad you liked it so much and thanks for the reviews!
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Hey, welcome to NTS!  I am always delighted to find new readers!  

 

Brandon has always been one of my favorite characters and he grows quite a bit by the end of Not The Sun, and continues to grow throughout The In Between and Jabberwocky.  I personally think Jordan has been really good for him in this regard. ;)

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the story and thank you so much for commenting!  

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It was a good story for the most part. I was captivated by the mystery and intrigue. Admittedly I had difficulty wrapping my head around certain concepts but I've since learnt not to let myself get too bogged down in the finer details and just enjoy the ride. I think it's a credit to your originality that I couldn't fully understand the idea of creators/enablers, something which is unique and entirely new to me. Anyway, you've captured enough of my interest that I need to read on to see what happens, well done.

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On 6/1/2020 at 5:56 AM, Goodie said:

It was a good story for the most part. I was captivated by the mystery and intrigue. Admittedly I had difficulty wrapping my head around certain concepts but I've since learnt not to let myself get too bogged down in the finer details and just enjoy the ride. I think it's a credit to your originality that I couldn't fully understand the idea of creators/enablers, something which is unique and entirely new to me. Anyway, you've captured enough of my interest that I need to read on to see what happens, well done.

Thank you so much, I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far.  I will admit that I was a tad overambitious with this and there were a lot of concepts that I wanted to explore that I ended up dropping because it would be too much, so it's a bit of a messy read and not as streamlined as I would like.  I appreciate all of the comments and feedback, I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the series.  :hug:

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This is my first story by this author. And I did not know it was only part one of a three part story. So I am at a bit of crossroads as to whether or not I want to continue.

A poster above me mentioned they did not feel like you gave enough plot but instead relied on cliffhangers and manufactured drama. I can see the point they made. There is a lot of angst in this story, and at times seems to be the only reason for this story is to write sex scenes between hot guys. Not that Jordan is hot mind you. :)

But underneath the angst, multiple chapters of Brandon's self-destruction while everyone just seems to stand by and watch, there is a very unique plot unfolding, albeit too slowly in my opinion. Not sure if there is a reason to split up the story into three parts. Even Star Wars had a singular plotline for each installment underneath the larger narrative.   

That being said, I want to know more about creators/enablers and their world. I don't think they were fleshed out enough thus far, and we are seventeen chapters in. But all this is armchair quarterbacking. This is the story that you presented us and probably spent hundreds of hours agonizing over to offer us free story to read. So I will hesitantly proceed to part two. I just hope there will be more focus on plot and moving forward with the overall narrative instead of focusing solely on angst, cliffhangers, and sex scenes.

Can't lie, I had fun reading this part and guessing where you were heading. And after all, isn't that the job of every author?

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9 hours ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

This is my first story by this author. And I did not know it was only part one of a three part story. So I am at a bit of crossroads as to whether or not I want to continue.

A poster above me mentioned they did not feel like you gave enough plot but instead relied on cliffhangers and manufactured drama. I can see the point they made. There is a lot of angst in this story, and at times seems to be the only reason for this story is to write sex scenes between hot guys. Not that Jordan is hot mind you. :)

But underneath the angst, multiple chapters of Brandon's self-destruction while everyone just seems to stand by and watch, there is a very unique plot unfolding, albeit too slowly in my opinion. Not sure if there is a reason to split up the story into three parts. Even Star Wars had a singular plotline for each installment underneath the larger narrative.   

That being said, I want to know more about creators/enablers and their world. I don't think they were fleshed out enough thus far, and we are seventeen chapters in. But all this is armchair quarterbacking. This is the story that you presented us and probably spent hundreds of hours agonizing over to offer us free story to read. So I will hesitantly proceed to part two. I just hope there will be more focus on plot and moving forward with the overall narrative instead of focusing solely on angst, cliffhangers, and sex scenes.

Can't lie, I had fun reading this part and guessing where you were heading. And after all, isn't that the job of every author?

I'm on vacation right now, so I've been a bit lax in replying to reviews.  But I do want to take a minute to say that I like cliffhangers and hot guys having sex and I'm not going to stop writing either.  I'm also a character driven romance writer that likes to write weird shit from time to time.  If that's not your cup.of tea, that's 100% okay and feel free to read something  else.  I've appreciated reading your comments.  :thumbup:

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Well Cassie, I'm impressed :) 

I know you have some people that didn't like Part1 ending here, but I'm fine with it. I don't know if there is any set laws on trilogies, other than they should be linked together in some way. So what some expect it to mean, doesn't mean you have to have the same feeling, nor do I. Add the fact that you were so polite, shows you understand that some don't see things the same way as you do but that is okay. Which over all is a great thing, imagine if we all thought and did everything the same.

As a long time reader of @C James, I have learned to love and hate cliffhangers :P I didn't find your use overused or them too distracting. Yes, I can always click on the next chapter, but if I could only be reading a chapter a week, I would laugh and tease you about them. I don't have a problem with there use. Let's be honest, not every chapter ends in one.

Now, I really did enjoy Part 1. I think it was paced out in a way to that gives me a little bit more information with every chapter or paragraph or even sentence read. Yeah, I think some of us caught on in the last few chapters that Leia might still be alive, but do any of us know the details or how that happened or why it happened? I don't, but I will as I continue to read on.

Once again, these dreams make me think that Brandon has more psychic ability that he realizes, or even Keith and Elizabeth know. I'm sure they would shut her down if they knew she was communicating with Brandon. Also makes you wonder how much Leia actually knows what is going on, that she is blaming Brandon for where she is. Or is that his guilty conscious reading more into it than what is actually there.

Now I will throw out one more thing, could the psychic connection be more strong because Leia might be a Creator too, but never found her Enabler yet, and Keith and Liz decided to use her to their advantage? :o 

Well, off to part deux ;) 

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Ohhh, what's happening? Charion? And that 'game'? Creepy, mysterious, and exciting. 

Brandon and Jordan are progressing curiously - their dynamic is quite unhealthy but so, so delicious. Both characters have developed during the story, aka Brandon's spiral and... pushiness, perhaps? (could be just an aspect that's been revealed), and Jordan's 'not so golden boyness'. Brandon's a bull (kinda hate that word) in his own right, and Jordan's a bit of a cinnamon roll, maybe. This is interesting, cause I kind of pegged it vice versa in the beginning.

Thank you! ❤️

Now, part two.

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On 11/21/2022 at 8:38 PM, wildone said:

Well Cassie, I'm impressed :) 

I know you have some people that didn't like Part1 ending here, but I'm fine with it. I don't know if there is any set laws on trilogies, other than they should be linked together in some way. So what some expect it to mean, doesn't mean you have to have the same feeling, nor do I. Add the fact that you were so polite, shows you understand that some don't see things the same way as you do but that is okay. Which over all is a great thing, imagine if we all thought and did everything the same.

As a long time reader of @C James, I have learned to love and hate cliffhangers :P I didn't find your use overused or them too distracting. Yes, I can always click on the next chapter, but if I could only be reading a chapter a week, I would laugh and tease you about them. I don't have a problem with there use. Let's be honest, not every chapter ends in one.

Now, I really did enjoy Part 1. I think it was paced out in a way to that gives me a little bit more information with every chapter or paragraph or even sentence read. Yeah, I think some of us caught on in the last few chapters that Leia might still be alive, but do any of us know the details or how that happened or why it happened? I don't, but I will as I continue to read on.

Once again, these dreams make me think that Brandon has more psychic ability that he realizes, or even Keith and Elizabeth know. I'm sure they would shut her down if they knew she was communicating with Brandon. Also makes you wonder how much Leia actually knows what is going on, that she is blaming Brandon for where she is. Or is that his guilty conscious reading more into it than what is actually there.

Now I will throw out one more thing, could the psychic connection be more strong because Leia might be a Creator too, but never found her Enabler yet, and Keith and Liz decided to use her to their advantage? :o 

Well, off to part deux ;) 

Thank you.  I know a lot of people are divided on the subject of cliffhangers, but I've always liked them...like reading them and like writing them.  

Brandon has a smidge of psychic ability and it got a boost from being bonded with Jordan.  He was the closest to Leia, and a natural choice for her to reach out to.  

Thanks for reading and the many comments, I enjoyed reading them!  

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2 hours ago, Leona said:

Ohhh, what's happening? Charion? And that 'game'? Creepy, mysterious, and exciting. 

Brandon and Jordan are progressing curiously - their dynamic is quite unhealthy but so, so delicious. Both characters have developed during the story, aka Brandon's spiral and... pushiness, perhaps? (could be just an aspect that's been revealed), and Jordan's 'not so golden boyness'. Brandon's a bull (kinda hate that word) in his own right, and Jordan's a bit of a cinnamon roll, maybe. This is interesting, cause I kind of pegged it vice versa in the beginning.

Thank you! ❤️

Now, part two.

Creepy, mysterious, and exciting.  I'm flattered.  

I love writing about the boys.  They're a mess, but I love how they work off of each other.  

Thanks for reading and commenting, I hope you enjoy Part 2.  

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