Trigger The Years Past - 7. Chapter 7: Life Or Death Of The Party

Miracle stood in the park, looking at the script over his phone. "Charlie? The boyfriends name is Charlie? Okay, what era are we playing in? And I knew a cop named Charlie."

"So you want to change his name?" Conner asked.

"Like, yeah." Miracle's eyebrows lifted.

"Okay, like what?" Conner asked.

"I'm looking." Miracle scrolled his phone.

Conner started to pace. "Would you just pick a name?!"

"Hold on! It has to sound right." Miracle frowned.

"Name him or he's going to be Bill!" Conner sighed in frustration.

"Fine! Name him Landon!" Miracle sighed. "You should take more care into what you name your characters." Miracle looked at his phone. "What the hell am I named?"

"Oh, what do you want to be named?" Conner asked sarcastically.

"Just name me Riley for all I fucking care." Miracle shoved his phone into his pocket.

"Works!" Conner sighed. "So lets film the scene."

Miracle walked over to the trail and stood next to who he came to know as Orion, who was playing his boyfriend in the film. He grinned and tried not to laugh and then cleared his throat and looked serious.

"Action!" Conner said, once the camera men were in their places.

Miracle started walking down the path along side Orion. "So yeah, he just bursts his way through my mom's house and starts bitching." Miracle looked up. "You know it's so pathetic my mom only lives a block away so that when she comes to beg for my dad to take her back, she doesn't even have to blow a gallon of gas." Miracle started laughing.

Orion grinned. "These days, I think anyone would do anything to save a dollar."

"Well, he did only leave her ten thousand dollars." Miracle grinned. "And he bought that house for her...which is like pocket change for him. But he decided to go thrifty with her."

Orion threw an arm over Miracle's shoulders. "Makes it easy to sneak out and go home when shes not around during your required visitations."

"My dad laughs when I do it. We have dinner so that by the time I get back and shes finished grocery shopping, she cooks dinner and I'm like...oh I'm not hungry." Miracle then stopped when he heard noise in the bushes.

"What?" Orion asked.

"I heard noises in the bushes, and no...there was no wind." Miracle said, stepping around Orion and he turned to face him, taking a step back. "Parks are creepy at night, I don't know what kind of idea this was. We've probably stumbled upon the juggalos."

Orion laughed. "Do you even know anything about the juggalos?"

"Does it matter? I seen what they did to Tila Tequila. Didn't you check out the youtube video?" Miracle crossed his arms and looked at the bush. "Are you going to do the looney tune bush walk?" He called out.

That was when several men in black robes all stepped out of the darkness, surrounding them but at a distance. Orion and Miracle spun and turned around, seeing them.

"Even worse..." Miracle said, just as he spotted one of them withdrawing something from his robe, his eyes squinted and from the street light, mostly hidden from view by the trees, he could see the shiny glint of what appeared to be a gun, though it looked like a hand gun, it was longer because it had a silencer on it. The man took aim and like a pro fired at Orion.

Of course a blank was fired. "Cut!" Conner screamed. "Okay, get the fake blood out..."

Miracle sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This is...time consuming. Couldn't it of just fired a blood packet?"

"No, because the fire it's self might burst the blood packet." Conner grinned.

Miracle crossed his arms and sighed, watching as they started painting Orion's forehead in blood and patching it with fake gore, carefully making the mess of it.

Miracle walked up the steps, not knowing what time it was but it was still dark, he half imagined himself dragging in at dawn.

"You're back." Cheston said, sitting in the swing with a glass of champagne.

"You waited up?" Miracle asked.

"Of course." He smiled.

"I don't know if I want to do acting..." Miracle walked over and fell down onto the swing beside Cheston. "It's to much work...I mean the scene is going, the bad guy shoots the gun...and then cut while they do all the make up for the victim. Then we have to get back into position, he falls and I have to suddenly change my mood, act like I'm scared when I really don't give a rats ass...and then I get kidnapped by the satanists." Miracle shrugged. "Kind of just feels like stuff I've done before, like for real, minus the occult."

"Sometimes...you learn through experience. Though it is a short, right? Sounds kind of like you're nearing the end, if you can just push through until that, you can drop the idea of it. I told you I would hire you at the firm. You're such an amazing scheduler, I think you have potential for the rest." Cheston smiled. "And I'm not just saying that because of obvious reasons, I really meant it...and it surprised me to see you do it like that."

"Well, it sounds easier than what I'm doing. Acting seems to take an incredible amount of patients, which I don't have." Miracle leaned over and rested beneath Cheston's arm and against his chest. "I mean, I guess I could still do a drama, maybe something that doesn't have a lot of special effects. Like a soap, they film like months ahead, very fast paced environment."

"Miracle the soap star." Cheston laughed. "I could see that, it's a lot of real quick back and forth with lines, a lot of crazy drama...and yeah, minimum special effects. I think that's why some actors stay there and don't really choose to advance, they like to keep it simple."

"Maybe, if the opportunity ever came up." Miracle sighed and looked up at Cheston. "I'd rather just work a simple job at your firm." He leaned up and kissed Cheston.

Cheston grinned. "That makes me happy."

"Oh, by the way, did I tell you that my mom's flying in for the photo?" Miracle asked.

Cheston looked thoughtful as he nodded. "Yeah, I think you did."

"I think I want it in the garden...but then I'm not sure. I kind of like your balcony, kind of has that french thing going on, the doors, half sunny, half shady, the garden, the pool." Miracle smiled. "Of course I know from the balcony it would be an upper level shot, but I enjoyed being out there."

"The garden would be really nice." Cheston suggested.

"Yeah, I'm really thinking that too." Miracle said as he smiled and laid his head on his chest. "When are your parents coming to the house? I'm still kind of nervous about your dad."

"Oh, they'll get a hotel, won't arrive until the party." Cheston said. "That's how they are, then they stay at the hotel till the next day and come back, do some personal pleasantries and take off."

"So...spending the night, that was...interesting. You slept on top of the covers." Miracle grinned and ran his finger along Cheston's strong jaw line.

"I just don't think it's time to draw in that temptation yet." Chestion said. "I was wary of the whole idea to begin with, but you seemed to need it."

Miracle grinned and his finger ran down and he unbuttoned the top button of Cheston's dress shirt and then the second one and ran his finger along the slightly revealed skin. "Why do you hold back? Jaemin never did...and that didn't make him any less real."

Cheston looked at Miracle. "Because I'm not Jaemin...and I think you know, Jaemin only happens once. I...don't want to disappoint you. I...don't want to make you fall in love with me and then fall short in comparison and...ultimately fail."

"You're like Issac, never thought he was good enough." Miracle frowned. "Jaemin...was a great love, I guess everyone might think I see it as an epic love." He looked down, unfastening the third button. "He was the first one to love me like that since David...which makes him...I guess special, but his love was obsessive, it fed to my sickness, whether I want to admit that or not." Miracle frowned and looked up. "I still haven't had my first healthy relationship."

"And that's what I'm trying to give you, it's why I set these boundaries, and I can see you wanting to dive in." Cheston whispered.

"I went to see David, during my senior year." He looked up at Cheston. "That man, either he really believed it..or he was putting on a show. He said, he just had to wait until I was older to be with me. Messed up thing, he was already being with me, he just kept it secret." Miracle looked down and kept running his finger in circles. "He had this little line he gave me. He said Angels were Devil's in disguise, we make people do bad things...and then we get away."

Cheston listened as Miracle talked to him, that last bit caused him to lightly tense up as his eyes widened. "He blamed you?"

"Fucked up, huh?" Miracle leaned up and kissed along Cheston's neck. "But that's all over now."

Cheston shifted up and sat up right. "Miracle."

Miracle rolled back and then pushed himself to sit up. "What is it?"

"You're telling me these things...while you're kissing me...and touching me." Cheston looked at Miracle. "I don't understand."

"Sorry, I guess my wires got twisted." Miracle frowned. "I didn't mean for it to be like that. Sometimes my mind goes one way and everything else goes...the other."

Cheston looked down. "Jaemin was like David for you in that he fulfilled all that David did, the one good thing about it was that it wasn't...well, you weren't being victimized." He looked at Miracle. "Are you telling me this stuff because you want me to...repeat the cycle?"

"Of course not." Miracle shook his head. "Though, sometimes, I wonder if certain people can't help but to do it, they want to love me, then they want to protect me, then that parenting mode kicks in, but they don't really realize it because it's disguised beneath protection and guardianship...and then we just fall into those roles."

"Like how I've started managing your medicine...and locked the knives drawer..." Cheston said.

"Well, that's just being protective. Then you got me a safe for all of my precious things, that's after getting me to move in with you...but then giving me a different room." Miracle looked down thoughtfully. "I mean, it all seems responsible, like you're being careful and looking out for me. Nothing seems wrong with it..."

"Not until I make a full commited relationship out of it, which for you...means sex." Cheston guessed.

"I guess." Miracle said, confused. The dynamics of this relationship had went so differently, almost out of order or possibly even backwards.

"And then move you into my room, you put that with everything else, I start to feel closer to you, naturally..." Cheston trailed off.

"You get incredibly more protective, affectionate, you spoil me even more...and time goes by, you're smart though, you have to keep me safe, stop me when I want to go crazy, essentially become boyfriend and parent...and just like that..."

"I become David." Cheston said.

"Does that scare you?" Miracle asked.

Cheston looked at Miracle. "Well, truth is, however I would act would depend on how you act. If you became that reckless child again that needed that parenting...or if you reach your goal, get that independence, which I think is one of the main points, to break your pattern."

"But would you mind being that way?" Miracle asked. "Being so needed?"

Cheston grinned briefly and looked down. "For you to depend on me so much, for me to be able to take care of you like that, it's a welcoming thought. What disturbs me is if something were to happen to me, you would break again."

Miracle leaned forward and straddled Cheston's lap and finally ripped his shirt open. "I knew it." He grinned teasingly as he leaned down, kissing the man's averagely muscled and tanned chest and then worked his way up his neck and finally kissed him on the lips.

Cheston was surprised by Miracle's sudden response but every touch was welcomed. His hands slid up Miracle's hips and around his back, pulling him closer as he deepened the kiss and shortly after, broke it. "We can't." He smiled. "I want to though, just not yet."

"What are you waiting for?" Miracle asked.

"The party to pass, I want to know that you will be safe from my father." Cheston said. "Because if not, I'll have to take care of the problem before letting you risk reliving your nightmare again." He looked up at Miracle. "Once that's over...I'll make love to you...the sweetest love."

Miracle smiled and kissed him again. "I'll hold you to all of it."

Lacey walked away from the ice cream stand with her cherry slushy, using her straw to stab at it a couple of times and then she grinned. "So what did I do to deserve this?" She asked, picking a table that sat under the shade of a palm tree and she sat down.

"Because...this is our first date." Andy said after sitting down, confessing it to her right then and there, figuring the surprise approach would be the best approach.

Lacey's eyes widened. "Our first date?" She sat her slushy down and leaned in close as if some big secret were just exposed. "But I thought you were..."

"I thought I was too. Maybe part of me still is...I don't know. I just know that...I picked so many fights with you...because you made me question so many things." Andy smiled.

Lacey was rather shocked. "You have to be serious about this, you need to know, before I put myself on the line."

"I'm serious." Andy nodded. "I mean, lets not hide the truth, I'm attracted to guys, I always have been and this is not some miraculous switch. I guess it just took finding the right girl that really...woke that side up in me. I don't know, maybe I'm not one of those guys that sits around the beer table and...sexualizes people."

Lacey's eyebrows lifted. "Is that even a word?"

"I don't know, but I hope you know what I mean."

"I do." Lacey said. "And to be the girl that wakes that side up in you, I'm honored." She eased back. "But you have to really be sure, I'm just scared that you want me to be Miracle for you...because I'm the closest thing to him, I know so much about him, we have the same accent because we come from the same country, I just need to know this is serious."

"Then we take it slow, give me a chance to prove that it's you." Andy paused. "Does part of you ever get jealous of Miracle? I mean having been his best friend all this time, given your time away while he was in the states for those two years."

"I knew Miracle ever since he was adopted by the Hart family, I actually knew him before that when he lived in the boys home, it was a farm out in the country. I used to go out there and hang out with the boys while they did their chores. I guess you could say I was the girl that was one of the guys. Though when ever the man that ran the place caught me, he would always chase me away. I was drawn to Miracle more than any of them. He always had that softer side, it made him popular around there, I guess because it was such a tough environment. Miracle had a way of being popular anywhere he went. And then he got adopted...and what do you know, ended up living across the street, few doors down from me." Lacey laughed.

Andy nodded and sipped his chocolate milk shake, curious. "This boys home, that was after David, like right after?"

"Yeah, of course he didn't trust me with that story until we became really close. He was like ten when I met him so I never got to see him if he was traumatized or anything or what he was like right after." Lacey nodded.

"Do you think he did..things?" Andy asked.

Lacey's eyebrows lifted. "I don't know, I wouldn't ask about that sort of thing myself, I mean he offered up the David story to me, little kids...and the nasty....not something I would exactly ask about." She spoke in a low tone and looked around and then sipped her slushy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make this about Miracle, I just get curious is all. I mean I know a bit about New York, I just don't know much about before that." Andy shook his head.

"Well, opposite company, I don't know much about New York." Lacey laughed. "To answer your original question, we were in high school and to go around the blackmail Daniel story, he would have guys, a lot of them, but it's nothing I would be jealous of, to see his heart broken again and again. That hurt me, but what hurt me more was that his hope would never break and..people would keep shattering him. He was so happy about coming to the states. He thought it would be different, that maybe people here would be different."

Andy nodded. "That's sad, it's not the location, it's the people, just the people."

"I just wished him well, I didn't know what else to do. I knew I would never hear from him again, that he would go and get caught up in new things. And then I was surprised when he came back his senior year for that visit." She shrugged.

"You're like an Angel but really you're a Devil in disguise, you make me do things and then you get away." Andy shook his head. "I don't know if any of us ever exactly get that quote right, from memory. But it's some way to blame someone for their own actions."

"I was so mad when he told me about that." Lacey shook her head and grinned, crossing her arms. "If it were me, I'd bash the chair through the glass to get to him." She paused. "Think the glass is breakable?"

"Doubt it, otherwise they would try to escape." Andy said. "You know, worse than that, sometimes he thinks about all of those images and videos still being out there, recorded, printed, in boxes, saved on peoples computers, on hard drives, possibly still on the net."

Lacey shook her head. "He doesn't think about that much anymore." She sipped her slushy.

"And I've really ruined this date." Andy lowered his eyes and shook his head.

"No you didn't. I don't mind talking about my friend." Lacey smiled and leaned forward and took Andy's hand. "Besides, a guy who is just as concerned about my friend as me, well I'd say that's a good start."

Andy looked up at Lacey and smiled. "Really?"

"You took care of him for four years, I appreciate that so much." She smiled. "It had to be a handful."

"It could be, sometimes." Andy grinned.

Lacey smiled and then pulled her hand away. "Any news on Sterling?"

"Uh...well they are going to try reconstructive surgery and hope that the nerve repairs it's self. It's just being debated on whether it will be done here or in New York, you know whether he is currently in shape to travel or not. I personally don't see why he couldn't. He wants to go home." Andy said.

"I don't blame him. I still feel so bad about it, I should have taken him to a professional. Mysti and Rayne have worked on people a dozen times, given Rayne has never done the eyebrow before, I should have known better than to ask her." Lacey's face fell into her hands.

"All you would have been doing was creating an alternate Jaemin and...I don't think that is what Miracle would want or need." Andy's mouth stretched towards the side.

"They are going to school, it's not like they, well I guess they are practicing illegally." Lacey looked up. "At school they work on dummies, the most realistic things you've ever seen. Except Rayne's buzzes when you do something wrong."

"Well, I guess she hasn't made it to eyebrow 101 yet." Andy sighed. "It's just sad, he goes to war, most people come back with some kind of permenant damage and he comes back without a scratch and..."

"And then me." Lacey shook her head.

"I'm done blaming you...and I'm done blaming Miracle. I mean you were put in the position to listen to him rant on and on, Miracle made it clear that he needed to let go, and he did, but he wouldn't. The way I see it, Miracle is trying not to cling to guys from his past, and that is a good thing to me." Andy shrugged. "I just thought it would be a nice idea for him to have an old friend in town. Like he has you."

"I'm a very old friend." Lacey grinned.

Gavin walked in the front door, filming as he followed Miracle.

"So this is my lovely new home, and...this is the living room." Miracle grinned and turned around. "Okay, I didn't entirely get it on my own. I kind of have a sugar daddy." He laughed and walked over to the couch. "I'm just kidding."

Gavin carefully walked over and sat on the coffee table.

"I'm kind of between jobs. Cheston, my current boyfriend, well he wants to hire me at his law firm, right now I'm an actor and dedicated to a short film, a college project if you will. I know, sounds far from glamorous. In fact..." Miracle sat forward. "Acting...sucks."

Miracle continued. "So, I'm doing this scene, right? We're filming for like three minutes, one guy comes out, fires a gun and then we have to cut the scene and I have to stand there while the victim goes through make up and the blood and gore gets put on him. It's like really?" He sat back and waved his arms. "How time consuming is that? I think it would be easier to do a soap opera, they film months ahead and look at how much they get done to come on five days a week, little special effects, and it's just back and forth line for line most of the time."

Miracle folded an arm over his stomach and ran a hand over his hair. "And now I'm kidnapped and I have to check the script to see what happens to me. I likely die, the guy said he wanted to do something inappropriate to shock his...class." Miracle looks thoughtful and grabs his phone off the couch.

"Wait a minute..." Miracle pulls up the script and starts flipping through it with his finger, the digital pages flipping with each stroke of his finger across the screen until he starts getting to the end. "Give me a minute, I have to read."

His eyes widened. "I should have known it...." Miracle looked up. "Cut off the camera."

Gavin cut filming and lowered the camera. "What is it?"

"You edit out everything I said after the soap opera comment." Miracle said as he threw the phone aside. "They want to do a satanic ritual in which they fake cut me, fake blood comes out, they fake cut their arms, more fake blood comes out, I get soaked in fake blood and they each take turns...." Miracle trailed off "All while I'm strapped to this rock like table in a cave with torches and black painted tribal symbols which is most likely random doodles!"

Gavin's eyebrows lifted and he sat the camera beside him. "What will you do? They won't just let you go...they have your face all over the movie."

"Well, they'll just have to put a wrap over the characters face!" Miracle stood up and grabbed the house phone and dialed Cheston.

Cheston heard his phone and smiled at a client. "Just one moment." He picked up the phone. "Cheston King."

"You wouldn't believe what Conner did!" Miracle screamed into the phone.

"Miracle, calm down, I have clients in here." Cheston said.

Miracle took a deep breath and lowered his tone. "I read the end of the script, they want to do a satanic ritual, put fake blood all over me and then take turns....and I'll bet, given the creep of a place I was at, I bet it's not fake."

Cheston closed his eyes. "I tried to tell you, get all the information."

"He said he wanted to do something really inappropriate for his class project." Miracle closed his eyes. "I'm not doing it, they'll just have to find someone with a similar body type and wrap their head up."

Cheston nodded. "Call him and tell him, the house has an alarm system, a copy of the code is in your safe, if you've forgotten it, I had one bronze plated for you, should be the size of a card. Now our security is ADT so you would have live assistance. So if they decide to act crazy about it, there should be no worries, if you need me, call, but it's likely nothing will happen in the day time."

"Oh god, you're saying all of this in front of your clients, I'm so sorry to embarrass you." Miracle frowned.

"Things happen, don't worry about it." Cheston smiled. "Just do what you have to do...but do this over the phone, no person to person meet under any circumstances, I don't care who you could take with you, don't do it, understand?"

"I understand, no face to face."

"Okay, I have to get back to my clients, I'll see you when I get home."

Miracle nodded. "See you then." Miracle smiled and hung up.

"So?" Gavin looked at Miracle.

"He said to call him over the phone and no face to face meet under any circumstances." Miracle walked over to the code machine by the door and quickly punched in the code to activate the alarm system and then walked over to the couch and grabbed his phone.

"Sounds like a smart guy." Gavin smiled.

"He is." Miracle surfed through his contacts and tapped Conners name and put it on speaker phone and it began to ring.

"Hello! Miracle! My prized star!" Conner grinned. "Call to set up a date for the final scenes? It's going to make one hell....of a bang."

Miracle narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, hell of a bang." Miracle looked at Gavin. "About that, I wasn't aware that there was actually going to be a real bang, much less multiple bangs. I didn't know this ritual thing was going to practically be a gang bang and then a death sacrifice and reincarnation all in one go, which, how the fuck does that work? How do I get reincarnated without being a baby?"

"Oh god, Miracle. I told you, I had to do something inappropriate to shock my class. And it's my movie, if I want you to die, glow a bright white and be reborn as a satanic group member, I can do it." Conner said.

"Yeah, well it's just funny that I have to be bare while no one else has to show a thing, they can just pull it out of their robe." Miracle frowned. "And why would I glow white? That's holy."

"Because a black light wouldn't show as good. Unless I used a fire effect, then people would wonder how you didn't burn." Conner sighed. "Would you stop bitching? It seems like you've found something to bitch about every step of the way and I've bowed down to you, the star of the show. Well this is the part where you don't get to dictate a damn thing."

"Yeah, well I can quit. So...I guess you're going to have to find another body that looks like mine and wrap it's head up." Miracle said.

"You can't quit. Don't you know how this business works? Once you make a commitment, you can't break it!" Conner screamed, furiously.

"Maybe in the real deal, when you sign a contract." Miracle laughed. "I never signed one, you never had any for your little college project. So I'd get busy scouting out another body, and yeah, like I said, just wrap the head up." Miracle then hung up on Conner.

Erica found the taxi out front and was surprised to see Jeremy when he climbed out of the back and opened the trunk. "Jeremy? What are you doing here?" She shook her head. "I mean I know you're here, I just meant...here?"

"I just figured you'd like a familiar face picking you up." He smiled and walked over and grabbed two of her suit cases and tossed them in the trunk and then walked over and grabbed her roller case and tossed that in as well. "Your duffle bag? Do you always travel heavy?"

Erica rolled her eyes. "I never know how long I'm going to be somewhere." She walked over and tossed her duffle bag in the trunk and looked at Jeremy as he shut the trunk

Erica climbed into the passenger side and shut the door as the taxi drove on.

"Anyway, Miracle wants us here to take a photograph, apparently his new boyfriend has a safe for him. You know those safes that they hide behind big pictures? Well his boyfriend wants a picture of us hiding Miracle's safe. So we just have to act chummy in the picture. Plus there is a party tonight, one of those snooty parties, I figure we would attend, offer Miracle a little support."

"Oh, thank god I packed so much then. I'll have to find the right outfit for both." Erica took a deep breath. "Though, would it be to much if we traveled to California for the picture?"

"The beach?" Jeremy laughed. "I'm sure if you gave Miracle that idea, he would fly with it, and his poor boyfriend would have to go for it. Did I mention he's an attorney?"

"A lawyer? Ooo, he landed one." Erica grinned.

"Yeah, just bumped into him at the mall." Jeremy nodded and wanted to laugh at Erica's reactions.

"What a twist of fate." She nodded. "See, our son deserves good things after all the hell he's been put through. He's getting his pay off."

"So long as he acts good." Jeremy said, seriously. "I'm afraid if he strays into the dark again, things will fall.

"That won't happen." Erica shook her head. "Now that I know all of this, I won't be so passive in the picture anymore. I mean, I was giving you guys some space after I had so much time with him, but I think it's safe to say that now our time can be equally spent."

"That's difficult with you being way in New York. Haven't you talked to Craig about transferring? It's not like he'd lose his status or anything." Jeremy grinned. "And not to be egotistical, but I solved his biggest case for him, for everyone. Eric would be in prison now, serving life without parole if he hadn't died." He paused. "Or maybe the death sentence, what he did to that Robin girl was really awful, I would have pinned that on him too, if I had been given the time."

"Yes, that's egotistical. Mr. Anonymous, sending evidence to the cops like that. And no, I haven't talked to him about transferring." Erica frowned. "He pisses me off, certainly there is some kind of little job he could give me there, but no, instead it's either a diploma level job, which sucks, or stay at home where I find myself feeling like Martha, save for the dresses and the apron."

"You used to like being a house wife." Jeremy looked at her. "You were perfect."

"Yeah, but I was a cool house wife, I'd make lunch in bikini's and bring it outside to the beach where the picnic table was and we'd eat and then go play out in the sand and then I'd go lounge in my lay back chair with my stereo. You cooked out in swimming trunks and we hung out by the fire with beers all around. I was young...and I didn't have a Martha to compare myself to and now I'm constantly watching myself, trying not to copy any little thing that she did."

Jeremy laughed. "What is wrong with Martha? What exactly did she do?"

"She was like a stepford wife. Miracle came home from a party and she met him at the door with an apron and a pan of cookies and then she dropped them on the floor and got on her hands and knees worried to death about her carpet. We got drunk one time and she put up a doggy gate to try and keep me from taking my spaghetti into the living room. The proper place to eat is the dining room!"

"What else did she do?" Jeremy laughed.

"She woke everyone up at dawn...had breakfast ready, I swear the woman never believed in a microwave, but she had one, I guess for the benefit of Miracle. She went grocery shopping every friday, at the exact same time, she would leave at two in the after noon. The only inappropriate thing she did was fall asleep on the couch while watching her soaps, which by the way, her living room suit was horrible, I had all that flowery crap ripped off and replaced with black leather."

"Okay, I think I get the picture." Jeremy put his hands up. "You were like heads and tails." He lightly laughed.

"She was like 60's older adult...I was like 90's young adult." Erica shook her head. "That house is so different now, I love it. The sad thing is that I made such a great room for Miracle and then all those awful things happened."

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, maybe it happened for a reason though? A room like that could of kept him in lala land. At least he is in a nice house and it's not glorified, it's nice but normal."

"Well, Craig and I actually use that room now. We weren't there so it's not traumatizing. Hunter gave up his dorm, we gave him the house's natural master, turned Miracle's old room into a guest room, along with Hunter's old room, though it's not like we have any guests, unless victims are put under Craig's personal care, then at least they have somewhere to sleep." Erica shrugged.

The house was filled with party guests and Miracle came half way down the stairs in a white dress shirt and the nicest jeans he owned. "This is the most dressing up I'm doing." He mumbled at Gavin.

"I'm not dressed up at all." He tried not to laugh. "I remember when Wayne had these things, he still does sometimes. There are probably people here who go to both."

"Yeah, well...if the dad recognizes me, I'm dead...for real, I'm serious." Miracle finished walking down the steps and just as he reached the bottom, that was when he saw Cheston, his mother, who naturally he didn't recognize, but Cheston's step father and Eric's father, they made eye contact immediately. Miracle gripped the bottom of the stair railing.

"Oh, hi." Miracle said.

"I have someone for you to meet. This is Miracle and uh...Miracle, this is my mom and...my step dad."

"Hi, Cheston's mom." Miracle said.

"Were you able to teach it any manners?" Martin asked.

Cheston looked at Martin. "Excuse me?"

"Your brother snagged him first, couldn't teach him a thing about respect." Martin said.

"He remembers." Miracle mumbled so quietly that he wondered if he had been heard.

"You mean how Eric forced him on a date once?" Cheston nodded. "That's real respect."

"Once?" Martin looked at Cheston. "He obviously hasn't told you how he picked up Eric in a hotel elevator for his idea of a date."

Miracle frowned. "You know, for someone who doesn't know me, you pass a lot of judgments on second hand knowledge."

Martin's eyebrows lifted. "Then why don't I get to know you? Care for a drink?"

Miracle looked at Cheston.

"I'll keep an eye on you." He rubbed Miracle's shoulder and leaned in and kissed his cheek. "It'll be okay." Cheston whispered.

Miracle nodded and then stepped down and looked at Martin. "Sure, why not?"

Martin offered a hand in which Miracle took as they headed off into the the larger party room that was through two open double doors by the stairs. He reached into his pocket with his free hand and then released Miracle's hand. He turned and pulled out a small bottle and turned it up and some powder fell into one of the two glasses of champagne. He put the small bottle back into his pocket and picked the two glasses up, handing the drugged one to Miracle.

Miracle took the glass and looked at it for a second and then he looked at Martin and took a sip. "So what do you want to know?"

"Why did you hate my son so bad?" Martin asked.

"Because, for one, when I first met him, he ended up being a jerk off, for two, he took rejection awfully, did terrible things. You see, Martin, I don't like or fall in love with everyone I see. It's a sad fact, I wish I could give my love like that because there are many good people, unlike your son, who deserve it, but when it's not there, it's just not there."

"I see..." Martin nodded and looked down at his glass. "So why are you the way you are then? Because, I've heard you've been known to sleep with people for the hell of it, you did with my son...and as you say, you didn't love him."

"I could of." Miracle looked at Martin "That's the really sad thing about it. If he had just stayed...held me close, made me feel safe, loved, protected. But no, he jumped right up, threw his clothes on 'you were great' then a kiss 'be gone within the hour, before I come back with my fiance' and that shatters it."

"Wait a minute, you slept with him and...expected love?" Martin asked.

"Yep, surprising isn't it? Lets just say someone in my past was very twisted." Miracle leaned close and then eased back and took a sip of his drink.

Lacey and Mysti walked in and looked around until Andy walked up.

"Is that her? Is that Rayne?"

"Woah! Before you jump me, no, I am not Rayne. You can't even get her to leave the house. I am Mysti...I was going down the street to get some cigarettes and Lacey pulled up and invited me to this party."

Andy seemed to relax a little after that. "Fine, I guess I can't hold you responsible, though you should turn her in."

"Shes my sister." Mysti looked over. "Oh, free booze!" She snatched a glass of champagne off a passing waiter and grinned, taking a sip.

One of the richer women looked at a couple of her friends. "Have you seen some of the dreadful people here? Friends of that boy, no doubt."

Another woman took a sip of her drink. "He's a gold digger, the truth will come out eventually. Just thank god they aren't married."

"That would be a devastation." The third woman said. "I heard that boy owned that diamond Mercedes Benz at one time. He got caught trying to fraud his way into a psychic job and the family pressured the car dealership into it."

Cheston turned around and saw Jeremy and Erica walking up. "Jeremy! Hey, I'm glad you could make it."

"Yeah, I brought a guest." Jeremy said.

"Hi, I'm Erica, Miracle's mother." She looked through the crowd and saw Miracle with Martin and clearly recognized Martin from a previous party she attended, what kind of party that turned out to be.

"Miracle's mother." Cheston shook his head. "Such an honor to meet you." He smiled and shook her hand. "This is my mother, Maria."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Erica's attention returned to the people around her and she smiled at Maria after releasing Cheston's hand.

"Likewise." Maria smiled.

The three women walked over to Martin and smiled as one of them spoke up. "You wouldn't mind if we borrowed him for a minute?"

Martin smiled. "Just a few minutes, I'll bring you another drink."

Miracle smiled, already feeling rather drunk. "You should." He laughed and when Martin walked off, he looked at the women. "Hey, people I don't know. I guess I should get to know."

"We had that same idea in mind." The other woman spoke up.

"Oh, well that's cool. What do you want to know?" Miracle asked, sipping his drink, it was half way finished.

"Oh, well generally we like to know people's background, where they come from, that sort of thing. The past can be very telling." The first woman nodded.

Miracle grinned. "I'm from Kangaroo Country." He managed to put both thumbs up while holding the glass. "That was my junior year school introduction when we moved to New York."

"New York, you say? So you knew Eric?" The woman asked.

"I knew him, didn't like him. The guy didn't know how to take a hint." Miracle laughed. "I mean, you treat someone like dirt, how can you expect them to like you?"

"What did he do?" The second woman asked.

Miracle took another sip of his drink. "The man...thought I was a sleazy one night stand. That isn't what I was, that wasn't what I intended to be. But what can you do with people? Or rather, what could you do with me? I was the one that was taught everything wrong."

"Taught?" The woman questioned.

"David, he taught me as a kid, you give sex and you get love. That's what he taught me...and the results worked correctly...but then, you go out into this world and it's just errors." Miracle shook his head. "Can we talk about something happier?" He smiled.

The women frowned and hesitated to speak, possibly from shock. Finally one of them spoke up. "That's an awful way to grow up."

"Yeah, it is...and I said talk about something happier." Miracle waved his drink around and grinned. "You just want to grill me, how can you grill that? You fucked yourselves into a corner." Miracle laughed and turned around, stumbling away as he finished his drink and then accidently dropped the glass onto the floor.

"Uh oh...no one get cut." He looked around. "Can't we play some better music?"

Cheston, Erica and Jeremy, as well as Cheston's mother turned when the glass was dropped and they all rushed over to Miracle.

"Miracle, what happened?" Cheston asked.

Andy, Lacey and Mysti followed behind.

"Did you mix xanax and klonopins in your drink again? Tell me you didn't." Andy grabbed hold of Miracle.

The women just watched and one looked at the other. "Druggie."

Miracle laughed. "Andy, I can't do that. Cheston locks up my meds." He laughed. "It'd be funny if I found the key. Dora the explorer!" Miracle laughed.

"Maybe you need to sit down." Cheston said.

Martin walked over with two more drinks in his hand. "Did he make an accident?" He sighed and stepped in between everyone and handed Miracle another drink. "Take smaller sips, you don't guzzle these down like beers."

"I'm fine." Miracle took the new drink offered to him and took a sip of it.

"Maybe he just needs some air." Martin said.

"Then I should take him." Cheston said.

"Nonsense. Your photographer is going to be calling to get that photograph of his parents, you can't miss that call. Besides, this is your party, what kind of host would you be?" Martin smiled and wrapped an arm around Miracle and started helping him up the stairs.

Erica narrowed her eyes and started to follow after them, her hands clinging to her purse.

Martin helped Miracle down the hall and then up another flight of stairs. "I bet you haven't even seen the roof top terrace have you?"

"Actually no." Miracle laughed. "Half attention focused me didn't even notice you could go up there...but then I've never been this way down the hall before." He said as Martin opened the door.

Miracle walked with Martin as he was brought over to the railing and he looked down. "Oh god, that's disorienting."

"Yes, but if you need to throw up, at least the grounds people can clean it." He rubbed the back of Miracle's head and neck. "I just can't get it out of my mind...about that David."

"And then he blamed it on me...he said the angels get away when really they are the devils..." Miracle rambled on.

"But you are kind of like that, Miracle." Martin moved behind him and grabbed his shoulders. "Like an Angel....the way you draw them in...then you destroy them, like the Devil, but no one sees you, for they all only see the outer Angel."

Erica walked outside, seeing Martin behind Miracle with his hands on his shoulders, right at the railing of the terrace. She pulled out a gun. "Get away from him!" She jerked the gun up, just as Martin pulled Miracle away and turned to face Erica, causing Miracle to fall in front of him like a human shield in the instance that Erica fired the gun and hit Miracle in the chest and he fell to the ground unconcious.

Erica's eyes widened when she realized that she had shot Miracle. She ran over to him and dropped the gun and fell to his side and grabbed him up. "Miracle?!"

It wasn't long after that when Cheston, Andy, Gavin, Lacey, Mysti and Jeremy came running outside.

Erica cried and screamed. "He was going to throw Miracle off the roof!" She looked down. "Someone call 911!"

Jeremy dived down next to Erica and placed his hands over the wound to try to keep the bleeding from getting worse as Lacey moved over to the scene to see what she could do as a nurse. Gavin pulled his phone out and called for an ambulance, giving out the address and telling them all the information.

Cheston's eyes widened at Martin and he walked straight for him and shoved him at the railing. "How could you?! Just because Eric's dead?! Just because Miracle didn't want him?! Who would want someone as sick and twisted as him?! Who would want someone as sick and twisted as you!" He punched Martin across the face. "If I knew I could get away with it, I'd throw you off of this balcony...you bastard." He stepped back, tears staining his eyes. "If he dies...I will hunt you...and take my chances."