Hubble Bubble - 3. Chapter 3

The purpose of the rite is to raise energy, to create a 'child of lite' to honour the union of the God and Goddess. The participants channel the energies of God and Goddess, masculine and feminine and the Rite is about THEIR union and not that of the participants who are tools in much the same way as the chalice and athame (the witch's ritual knife)

To say that same sex couples cannot perform the rite is to say that it is impossible for a man to channel the Goddess, the divine feminine and that a woman cannot channel the God, the divine masculine... and that is just plain daft.. right?

“But... but... If he’s alive why hasn’t he come back? Where is he? What happened to him?” I am half out of the chair. I don’t know where I think I am going to go but... hell... Nick is alive... he’s out there somewhere. He’s ALIVE. Isn’t he?

“Yes, Sam, he is alive, but he is in a great deal of trouble. He needs you... we need you. But you need to be calm, to be patient. You cannot just rush off, like a valiant knight on a charger, you must take time.”

I hesitate for a moment but realise that she is right. I let my body fall back into the chair with a sigh.

“What happened to him?”

“There are forces at work in this land which are... I hesitate to say ‘evil’ as that is such a subjective evaluation, but they are dark Sam, they are so very dark and they threaten the very foundations of all we have built here. I appreciate that they are not a threat to your world, not yet, but if the fey fail there will be ripples that will be felt by all.”

“What does this have to do with Nick? If the threat is to the fey then... Oh. Are you trying to tell me that Nick was...?”

“He is fey, Sam. His father is a very powerful shapeshifter. In fact he and Lucifer are more than just friends... they are half brothers.” My mind is reeling. This is too much to take in.

“Did he know?”

“Only at the very end. He was not aware of anything until the danger became too great for him to remain in ignorance. We tried to shield him but in the end we had to tell him, to alert him to the danger. If only we had not believed so fervently that his innocence was his greatest shield then perhaps...” She looks down at the table, picking daintily at a dish of what look like candied eyeballs.

“So that energy, that power that was manifesting and polluting all our rituals, our spells... it was directed at Nick?”

“It was all directed at Nick, always. He didn’t know at first, not until the night of the Sabbat. That was when I authorised Lucifer to tell him the truth about who he was, who they both were.”

“And that did not work out well. He had as much trouble accepting it as you are having now. He rejected me. He ran from me and... I did not get to him in time.”

“In time for what?” Lucifer hangs his head and the Queen’s eyes become veiled, distant. “Tell me. In time for what?”

“He was taken Sam... by the dark forces. He was taken and he has been their prisoner ever since. We have all blamed ourselves that we did not protect him well enough. I have wished many times that I had chosen to tell him sooner but I truly believed that he was safer now knowing. I believed, in my arrogance that I had the power to protect him. It was not until that night I realised the extent of the power against which were pitted.”

“But why the elaborate deception? Why did they bother with the body in the warehouse?”

“Because he is being held somewhere that no one from our world can penetrate. He is beyond our help Sam. There is only one who could hope to find him and they had to make sure that he wasn’t looking.”

“Me?”

“Yes Sam. You are his only hope, and therefore our only hope.”

“I don’t understand. What can I do? I have power, yes but nothing compared to what you have at your disposal. If you can’t find him, can’t help him, what hope do I have?”

“You have something that we do not have Sam. You have the love you shared. You know him better than any being on earth. You shared his heart and he shared yours. There is an unbreakable bond between you that not even the darkness that conceals him can ever dim.”

I am floundering in a mire of confusion and doubt. It is not that I don’t believe, I do... it is just that I do not have faith that I can do what they are clearly expecting of me. I want to save Nick, with every atom of my being I want it, more than anything I have ever wanted before. I would give up my life for him but what if it isn’t enough? I have failed him once, what if I do it again? And yet... and yet... how could I live with myself if I did not at least try?

“What do I have to do?”

“We know that he is being held and... Sam I am so sorry... I would like to tell you that he is simply a prisoner but he isn’t. In the beginning, for a very long time, they tried to use him as a hostage. They believed that we would give up power... and more, for his return. It was not possible to give them what they asked for. We did not believe that they would truly hurt him. But then, about four months ago we began to feel his energy and always in ways that did us harm. We could not believe that he would do such things willingly and we then realised that they are using him, his energy, twisting it to their own ends, using it to gain access to power, to places that are only accessible to the fey.

“Until that time we had no idea where he was being held. There was no trace of him anywhere in our realm, until we felt his energy, and since then I have tried everything I can to locate him, to track back the energy they have been using, that they stole from him and... and...” She falters and looks down. My head is spinning and this time it is nothing to do with the wine.

“And what? What are you not telling me? What are they doing to him?”

“I don’t now Sam. All I know is that whenever I have traced back his energy all I find is pain.”

“Oh no...no...” The idea is unbearable. I have to do something. I have to DO something. “What can I do?”

“It won’t be easy Sam. We have tried everything we can to find him, and we have considerable resources. He is too well shielded. The only possible way that we have not tried, that we can’t try is to do it from the inside... to get into his mind, his dreams.”

“What? I...I don’t know. That would be... that would...”

“It would be a gross invasion of his privacy. I know that. But to save his life....?”

“It’s all so simple to you isn’t it? I know what your kind are like, what your morals are like.”

“Do you? Do you really? You have read stories, heard rumours, know myths, but what do you really know? We are inhuman yes, but what makes you think that humanity holds the high moral ground?”

“Fair point.” I really, really don’t want to get on her wrong side, not now, not when she can help me find Nick, and her eyes are beginning to darken. “What do I have to do?”

“You know him very well. You know his energy and he knows yours. Think of him, remember him, focus on him, find the link that was forged in your love, the connection that exists only between the two of you ... see what comes.”

It feels strange. For one thing they are both looking at me expectantly. In fact the whole party seems to have gone quiet and when I glance up everyone has stopped and is looking at me. Without consciously looking for them, my gaze rests on a pair of wide blue eyes in a pale oval face which is anxious and somehow... comforting. I smile and am rewarded by an enormous grin which make the eyes glow sapphire.

Another thing I am finding strange is getting back into the habit of thinking of Nick in the present tense. Even now, when I close my eyes and think of him I can’t get that false memory out of my mind. I am so used to thinking about it, of holding on to it and all the pain that goes with it that now it won’t let go of me. Impatiently I thrust it aside and search for other memories... and then suddenly he is there.

Head tilted to one side he watches me as I walk towards him across the circle. This time there are no stones, no rain, no people, just the two of us... and Lucifer stalking around the perimeter. Ah gods no.

My eyes snap open and I stare at the man who is watching me quietly with serene green eyes.

“You... you... I can’t believe that you were there... that you watched us... that you... I though you were a bloody cat.”

Lucifer grins and shrugs. I want to punch him. Fighting to regain my calm I close my eyes again and eventually the picture is restored. I steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the image of the stalking cat and focus instead, on Nick. His glorious hair is unbound, falling to below his waist in a cascade of ebony silk, smooth and straight. His skin is so fair it seems to glow in the soft candle light... and now I know why.

I stop in front of him and our eyes meet. Electricity sparks between us and I feel it coursing through me. My mouth is dry, my heart beating fast. My loins tingle with anticipation and I can see the evidence that he feels the same, even through the robe he is wearing.

He is not toned like Lucifer is now, in fact he is, if anything, ever so slightly overweight but his curves excite me, they always have. His eyes are dark and he is more beautiful than any man, any being I have ever seen. Today he is the altar and I am his Priest.

I drop to my knees gazing up at him in open adoration and he simply smiles. I can feel that he is channelling the energy of the Goddess very strongly tonight. In the flickering candle light I can almost believe that when I look into his beautiful face I see another, more feminine one overlaying his features... no more lovely for that would be impossible, just different.

I bow my head and kiss his feet murmuring ‘Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways.’ Raising my head I kiss both knees murmuring ‘Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar.’ Kneeling upright I place my hands on his hips and lower my face to his belly, breathing in his scent as he raises his arms spreading them wide. ‘Blessed be thy belly the creative centre without which we would not be.’ He lowers his arms as I stand and gently kiss each nipple feeling a shiver course through him at the touch of my lips. ‘Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty.” And finally I raise my head and kiss him square on the lips, feeling them curve into a gentle smile. Our bodies touch toe to toe, hip to hip, lip to lip. ‘Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names.’

I take a step back. There is a brooch at his throat, holding together the ritual robe he is wearing. I bought it for him for his last birthday. It is silver, a tiny dragon curling around a sapphire the colour of his eyes. I reach out, my fingers trembling, and release it. With a sigh of silk the robe sinks to the floor. He holds my eyes as I feel his fingers at my throat, the pupils are wide in the dim light, reflecting the candle flames. His lips curve, slightly parted as I feel the cool air on my naked skin.

I lay him down on the floor within the circle and he closes his eyes as I spread out his hair, a raven wing fan behind his head. He is so beautiful I can hardly breathe. My hands wander, stroking the soft skin, touching his face, his throat, his body. He is perfect, so absolutely perfect.

We whisper the words of the rite and his body trembles under me. I spread out his arms and legs so that his body marks out the five points of the pentagram. I bend forwards and kiss him gently on the lips. He opens his eyes and, bluer than blue, they pierce me. As always I feel like I am falling into them but this time is different, this time I really am. I fall and fall and then there is darkness.

I look around and see nothing, feel nothing. I blink and open my eyes... but I can’t. Where am I? What’s happening? I hear something, soft voices, feel hands on my body... no, not mine... I am aware simultaneously that I am still sitting at the table and yet I am also lying down, flat on my back, my hands at my side, my head slightly raised as if on a pillow. Nick.

I try again to open my eyes. I need to see. I need to know. It is hard but finally I manage to crack them open, just a little, just enough. There is a man bending over me, a man with a beautiful but cruel face, golden hair in angel curls, caught in a gold circlet, eyes of ice blue and lips twisted into a sneer. He reaches out his hand and cups my cheek, stroking it with his thumb in a blatantly sensual caress. His lips are moving but I can’t make out what he is saying.

I let my eyes slide past his shoulder and I see blue sky... no, not sky but a representation of it, painted on the high ceiling of a circular chamber. I allow my eyes to slide lower to find a window overlooking sharp, cold mountain peaks, the real sky black and broiling with dark clouds, shot through with flashes of red lightening.

Movement brings my eyes back to the man as he withdraws and someone else bends over me. He has something in his hand, something cold and sharp... abruptly everything turns red and there is pain, so much pain. My eyes snap open and the golden haired man is laughing, his eyes wide and hungry. They meet mine and he frowns, bends closer, peers deeply inside. He sees me. I am sure he sees me. His lips are moving furiously and I feel a dark presence invade me, and this time it really is me, not Nick.

Struggling furiously I try to pull back but he has me tight. He is probing me... and he is using Nick’s energy to do it. If he had used his own I could have fought him but I can’t fight Nick, I can’t shut him out and I am afraid that if I struggle too hard I will hurt him and he is hurting enough. His pain is all around me, coursing through me, flowing with the energy that is invading me. It is burning, white hot agony.

Suddenly I understand. I know what that evil creature is doing. He is making Nick hurt; hurt a lot, and he is using the energy produced by the pain to augment his own, to subtly change it and enhance it. With Nick’s energy blended with his own he can pass for fey, access areas which would otherwise be closed to him, which open to a familiar touch... like me. In that instant I hate him with an intensity I have never felt before and it is that hatred that saves me. In a blinding flash of white hot anger I slice through the connection and sever it, thrusting backwards with a backlash of energy that has him reeling, a look of surprise and shock on his face.

My eyes open again, and I am back. The Queen is staring at me, a look of shock on her own face. Has she been invading my mind as I was doing to Nick?

“What have you done?”

“What? What do you mean?”

Her eyes are wide with shock and anger and she almost spits out the words. “He has followed you. He is coming... here.” I am confused. Why is she angry with me? I have only done what she asked me to do after all.

“What? How? I... I...”

“I told you that we have tried to follow Nick’s energy back to him, well we are not the only ones who are able to do that. You should have been more careful, shielded yourself. That burst of energy you sent out is like a beacon, a child could follow it, find you.”

“You didn’t tell me....”

She waves a hand dismissively. “No time. We must flee this place before....”

Even as she speaks the sky is suddenly split apart by an enormous lightening flash and is seems as if from the place where it was rent shadows are pouring forth. They stream down towards us blotting out the stars and then, suddenly they are among us.

The fey scatter, screaming as what seem like hundreds of dark shapes touch down and begin to grab for whoever is closest. I see a dozen flower fairies crushed in the hand of a giant, who continues to pluck the swarm from the air, dying the earth with their blood and filling the clearing with the scent of crushed flower petals.

I see the nymph who was having so much fun with the rock elemental earlier dangling like a rag doll from the jaws of a vaguely crocodile like creature. In panic I scan the scene of horror before me and I catch sight of a pale figure clothed in blue trying to dodge through the bodies... but he is not running away... the fool... he is coming for me.

“Ariel ... Ariel no... go back, get away.” But my voice is drowned by the screams. He doesn’t hear me. And now the press of bodies has closed on him and I can no longer see him.

I turn to the Queen but she is gone, as is Lucifer. Damn them. I look at the shadow of the trees, so close to me. They are so inviting, so close. But I can’t... I can’t leave him to this. He is so delicate, so childlike, I can’t just leave him. With a sigh I turn and vault over the table.

Remembering what the Queen said about my energy being augmented here I draw in what I can from earth, air, fire and water, as well as from the beings who surround me, dark and light. The energy is alien and strange but it is powerful, so very powerful. It is more power than I have ever before held within me and I feel almost drunk with it.

First I reinforce my shields and I see, as I have never seen before, the faint shimmer of them in the air all around me. The sounds of battle around me grow indistinct as I am encased in a bubble of light. I walk through the midst of the struggling bodies, untouched and I wonder if I can do more than just shield.

Concentrating on my hand I envisage a ball of light which appears, physically as a glowing orb of golden in the palm of my hand. I focus in on a bat like creature whose sharp talons are buried in the tangled green hair of a tree sprit, trying to lift her off the ground. I lift my hand, palm outwards and thrust it forwards through the shield. The creature lets out a high pitched squeal and drops like a stone, lying still, twitching slightly.

The dryad untangles herself and disappears into the trees as I walk on throwing out my energy, like bullets, watching with satisfaction as dark bodies are blasted out of my way as I storm forwards like an avenging angel.

And then the bodies part and I see him. He is standing facing me and there is a man behind him, a man dressed all in black with dark hair, wild and tangled about his head. He has his hands on Ariel’s shoulders and Ariel is not running from him, he is not moving at all. He just stands there, his head sunk forwards on his chest.

I don’t understand. I try to run but I stumble over something. It is a twisted body, all blackened skin and claws. Its throat has been ripped out. So the enemy had not found the party goers as helpless as they had, perhaps expected.

When I look up the man is stroking Ariel’s hair, his lips moving as if he is whispering words of endearment but the look on his face is anything but endearing, it is hungry. Slowly he drags dirty fingers through the long shining strands and then reaches through them to cup his hand under Ariel’s chin, drawing his head back to rest on the black clad shoulder. I am close enough to see that Ariel’s eyes are open but they are blank, his face expressionless, entirely docile within the dark embrace. What has he done to him?

With a gesture that is curiously gentle and almost erotic he draws the baby fine, soft as silk hair back behind Ariel’s shoulder, exposing the milky white throat, tilting the unresisting head to one side as he lowers his face, rubbing his cheek against the soft hair, nuzzling in as though to kiss him.

“Ariel! No!”

The man lifts his head. I had expected to see blood on his lips but what I see is even worse, the brief flicker of blue sparks. He is a vampire indeed but it is not blood he is stealing, it is energy, life force. The man smiles broadly, licking his lips. He rubs his cheek against Ariel’s hair and whispers something. Ariel stiffens, arching his back although his eyes remain dead and cold.

“NO!”

The man grins, a cruel feral grin. He has one arm around Ariel’s waist, holding him tight against him, supporting his weight, for there is no consciousness in the blank blue eyes. Slowly, deliberately, he slides his other arm around, so that he is holding Ariel across the shoulders freeing his hand to stroke downwards in a blatantly sexual manner to caress and cup him. Ariel does not respond in any way, other than that, as the man leans forward slightly, his head falls again, onto his chest.

For a moment I am frozen, all awareness of the battle which still rages around me gone. All I see is the feral dark shape and the slender flame of blue that he seeks to extinguish.

Almost as if he is mocking me the man smiles and spins Ariel so that he is now draped over one arm, his head hanging back, the white hair streaming out like a flag behind him, his throat fully exposed and so close to those cruel taunting lips. One hand hangs limply, reaching for the ground, white as a lily. The vampire, his eyes locked with mine, laps at white skin in the crook of Ariel’s shoulder, running his tongue over his throat while his hand travels slowly down over his chest to slip beneath the waistband of his trousers.

“No. You will not, you must not.”

I know that I can't reach him in time. I am too far away, too late, always too late. A burst of anger shoots through me and my mind screams... not again, never again. A white hot sheet of energy lances towards the man. He throws back his head and laughs, brushing it aside almost casually and sending it back at me. I throw up a prayer to no one in particular that he hasn’t seen... that he hasn’t had time to notice... that he has missed... and then my own energy hits me and brings me to my knees.

Just before I pitch forward into the darkness I see the vampire lower his head and Ariel’s body jerks, going stiff for a moment before slumping, boneless, more lifeless than ever. And then there is nothing.