Hello everyone. This chapter was difficult to write, just because. Even I'm getting annoyed…it's time to get the plot rolling, but these guys are so horribly slow at it…errr. Anyway, interesting chapter of stupidity! The end sucks, really, I planned it a lot better but…I have no clue what time it is, but undoubtedly late, and I have school soon.
The return of those damn bunnies! Bwahahaha!! Ahem, so, any of you wondering who Imare' is? Guess right and win a prize! I have no clue what this prize is…but you'll never guess! Hahahaha! Enjoy evil chapter.
He awoke to find himself sprawled on the floor, his head aching terribly. For a moment, he could not remember where he was. Turning to his side, he waited for his vision to clear, but the world did not unblur. He rubbed his eyes and tried again. It took a moment, but finally the room came into sharp focus. Sitting up was painful, and much too difficult, as though he had strained every muscle in his body. He reached blindly until his fingers grazed the warm reassuring wood of the staff. Funny, he didn't recall it being on the floor…
Why was he on the floor? And why was his room such a mess? The bookshelf was tipped, the books thrown everywhere, the papers on his desk were strewn about, some torn madly. His cheek stung, sending little needles of pain through his face when he touched it gingerly. Three deep scratches on the right side; they fit his fingers perfectly.
Standing, it all came back in one mad rush, and he fell back onto the bed with a groan. What a week this was turning out to be.
Suffocating…he had to get out of this room. Rolling to his feet, he went and tested the door. It seemed to open on its own accord when his fingers barely touched the handle. He staggered into the hall and down the stairs, each step getting harder as he went along. Too difficult to breathe…he needed air, he needed to get outside, away from this accursed house.
Wandering into the kitchen, he didn't even notice his mother until she spoke, which caused him to jump, snapping back to reality at warp speed.
"Rheas, did you hear me?" she inquired, turning to face him.
"I…am going down to the swamp to catch frogs, I'll be back later."
She gazed at him quizzically and then looked outside at the falling rain, then back to him. "In this weather? I don't want you out there stomping around in the mud in this cold, you always come back sick. Besides, you look a little pale, do you have a fever?"
"No Mother, I am fine." he replied, almost mechanically.
"All right, but take your medication, you ran out of here yesterday without it."
Rheas' golden eyes shifted to the pills lying on the counter, waiting for him. So many…he didn't even know what half of them were for, the various doctors just told his parents he needed them, and they never asked any questions. Probably sedatives for all he knew.
"I will not." he said quietly, albeit firmly.
"Rheas, please. I don't want to have to shove them down your throat." there was humor lining her voice, but Rheas didn't see it, he only saw the pills and the golden hands tightening around his throat. He swatted at them, chasing them away, which his mother mistook as random flinching.
"Then don't," he rasped, his breath coming short, "but I am not taking them." Anger was rising in him, reaching up and squeezing.
"Look at you, you're all tense and shaking. You're ill, Rheas, so why don't you just take them and go lie down."
He stared at her, wide-eyed. Wasn't she listening? Squeezing…blocking his air…His eyes narrowed and, placing his hand onto the counter, he swept the pills onto the floor violently. "You take them then, you're so attached to them! I will not take in another fucking mind-altering capsule!"
"Rheas," his mother reached out calmly, gently touching his face, "sometimes you get overexcited, look at this," she said, touching the scratches lightly, "you hurt yourself, badly sometimes, and I'm frightened for you…"
He jerked away, fire visible in his golden irises, the pupils shrinking, trying to hide from the brightness. "Then why don't you help me instead of brushing me aside with a prescription!" he screamed, and his voice broke. "When I was young, and I told you I saw faeries in the woods, what did you do!? Sent me to a psychiatrist like a fucking lunatic! Did you ever stop to think that I actually saw something? Have you ever, once, thought that maybe I have reasons for getting excited!! Look at me! My eyes…they're supposed to be blue! God…oh gods…!" he grabbed his head as the pain poured in, as though a gate had been opened. Gasping, he looked at his mother and blanched. There were now two…no three women standing there, each reaching out to him.
His mother, some slender woman with pale hair and sunken eyes that did not focus on him and a third woman he could not recognize at all. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a squeak. His knees buckled and he slumped to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. His mother knelt and wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his back and smoothing his auburn hair, whispering, "My Rheas…my poor Rheas…"
"I can't take it, I can't take it Mama…no more…" he whispered, welcoming her embrace while at the same time resenting it. "No more…"
Cameron drew open the door at the unfamiliar knock, unsure as to whom he would find there. He got a pleasant surprise.
"Ta-dah!"
"Thomas! Wha…how…You're here!" Cameron exclaimed, crushing his friend in a bear hug.
"Yeah well…" Thomas gasped after his release from the horrible grip, "you might say I'm feeling a lot better."
"But…how?"
Thomas shrugged, "Who knows, but here I am! 'Course now the hospitals got who knows how many samples of me trying to figure out what immunity I have. Actually Cameron, I'm glad to see you and all, but I'm here to talk to Rheas."
"Rheas? Why?"
"Well, Toby too, but he went back to the city to pick up the stuff they left there last night…" he paused as he noticed the flash that shot through Cameron's brown eyes, "So is uh…Rheas here?"
"I don't think it's worth talking to him right now." Cameron sighed.
"Cam, it's important!"
"Why?"
"He knew! I don't know how, but he did! He came to me and told me I would get well, and here I am. He also knew about an odd dream I had, which I hadn't told anyone about…"
Cameron shut the door as Thomas walked in, eyeing his friend intently, "In this dream…we weren't all together dressed like Amptguard crazies, were we?"
Thomas turned around slowly. "Yeah, we were actually…"
"And Rheas was wearing…" Cameron began.
"Black robes and he had white hair and…"
"Holy shit…"
"Exactly! So where's Rheas? He knows something and I want to know what."
"Thom, really, I don't know what's wrong with him but…he snapped. I think he finally lost it. He and Toby tried to make a run for it, but when I caught them…I dunno, Rheas just…freaked."
"What do you think happened?"
"I don't know. He's crazy, we all know that, but he hasn't been having an easy time lately, I think it just built up and pushed him over the deep end."
"Man…So what about our situation then?"
"What?"
"Undoubtedly we all had the same dream, which means it is not a dream, which means…" Thomas prompted.
"We're all crazy?"
"It's real. I don't mean all this 'save the world' crap is or anything, I just mean that what we had wasn't a dream. And either your brother is psychic or something or he just makes really lucky guesses."
"What do you suggest?"
"I don't know, I'll talk to Toby, he's got to know something and he'll be more than thrilled to tell me about it."
"It's still raining of course. Well, your father and I will be back later tonight, so fix yourselves some dinner, there's leftovers or some microwave dinners in the fridge."
"Yeah," Cameron nodded.
"And Cam, I know you hate having to act like a babysitter, but your brother's having a rough day. If you could just keep an eye on him so he doesn't…"
"I know, I wanted to talk to you about that, especially last night."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Cameron wasn't sure if this was the most intelligent thing to do, but she did need to know, didn't she? "Last night Rheas tried to run away again, but when I went to get him…"
Rheas sat at the table, hands flat on the wood surface, staring at his reflection in the sliding glass door intently. Where was this going? In the end, what would this bring him?
"Isn't this what you wanted?" he asked himself bitterly, "I wanted answers, and this is the only way to get them, but the price…"
Cameron strolled in, stretching his enormous arms lazily. "Hey runt," he yawned, opening the refrigerator in his quest for food, "I hear you rejected all form of medication today and lost your cool. Ever ponder that's why we put you on those things?"
"Cameron," Rheas began, turning his eyes down to his hands, "do you know what it is like to lay there and not be able to comprehend what is happening around you? What a silly question, of course you do, but you enjoy it. I am subjected to it day after day because no one wants to put up with me."
"Maybe if you stopped talking nonsense and actually focussed on real life instead of those fantasy books you love so much, people would hear you?"
The golden eyes shifted and focussed on Cameron, a strange coppery sheen with fire-blood. "You don't hear it, do you?"
"Hear what?" Cameron sighed in exasperation as he shut the refrigerator door, a hot pocket in his hand. Rheas slammed his hands down and rose, eyes flaring.
"Your soul, your instinct you idiot! That thing that makes your hair stand up when something's wrong. That little voice in your head that says 'don't do that!' when you're about to piss on an electric fence! Or are you one of those people that would do that just to see what it is like?"
"Rheas, you're beginning to scare me." Cameron said slowly, walking toward his brother.
"Scare you, scare everyone, what about me? Has anyone thought that maybe I'm scared too?! God, I've got voices in my head! That's a sure sign of insanity right there! And I'm scared. Scared at any minute someone's gonna tire of me and people with straightjackets and ropes are gonna come and haul me off, strap me to a bed and pump me full of so many drugs I'm never gonna feel anything ever again!"
"Then stop this!"
"How can I!? I'm walking down a road, Cameron, I can't stop. If I get off the road, I'll run into the brambles! If I stop, I'll starve. I can't go back, can I? And even if I could, why would I? I have to keep walking until I come to a fork in the road. I have to keep walking, because until then, that's all I can do! That's how I know I'm not insane, this makes too much sense. The farther I walk, the more answers I get, the closer I am to learning who I am, who I was! Maybe even who I will be. I have to keep going until I reach my destination, whatever that may be.
"Yet I am still better off than you, at least I know where I stand. Where are you, Cameron? You're at crossroads, and if you don't move soon you're going to destroy yourself! But you know what, I don't care. Go left, right, forward, backward, get lost in the woods for all I care! Just stay out of my way."
"What 'way' Rheas? What are you trying so hard to get to?"
"God Cameron! Haven't you ever just wanted to stand up and shout, 'I am significant! I am not a grain of sand on the beach; I am the wave. I control your fates. Better, yet, I am the moon, forcing the tides!' I will not grow up into some nameless wretch that dies in the gutter like you all think I will!"
"I don't think that!"
"You may not mean to, but you do! But you know what? I don't care. Because when you all are off living in your pathetic little lives, I will sit back and watch you all, like little ants in my ant farm, and I will laugh, because I am something greater!
"My name will be on everyone's lips long after I am gone, that will be my immortality, Brother. I will be respected, feared, even loathed, but it will not matter, because they will know my name for eternity!"
He paused, breathing heavily from his outburst of unknown origin. Is that what he had kept pent up inside for so long?
"You want me to stay out of your way, huh? Fine, fine you fucker if you're so great, I'll stay out of your way. But don't you dare ask me for help ever again, you got that you little shit!?" Cameron shouted, pushing Rheas roughly.
"Loud and clear! I actually feel sorry for you, you know that? How will you survive the second plague when you didn't even realize there was a first!?" Rheas snarled before he marched out of the kitchen. Cameron stared after him, wave of anger subsiding. Why was he angry anyway?
"Sorry for me, huh?" he sighed, tossing the crushed hot pocket into the microwave.
It took all his strength to stand the wooden bookcase back up, despite the fact it was empty. He then spent the next hour reorganizing the books into what had been read and what hadn't, what was interesting and what was dull, and packing them back onto the shelves as best he could. A small pile of books he no longer needed formed by the door, ready to be hauled off to the library. Another pile of old books sat next to the boxes in the corner, the black tunic with them. These would be packed away for later use.
The potted plant was moved and the first box opened. Inside lay items Rheas had not seen for perhaps years. Digging a bit, he made room for the books and tunic, packing them gently. The shimmer of light on a glossy surface caught his attention and he pulled out an old photo in which he and the others were all swimming in the swamp. Well, more like pond then, constant runoff from rain had turned the deep pool shallow and muddy over the years. With a bitter smile, he tossed the photo back into the box.
Bending over, eyes shut and bandana pulled over his nose and mouth against the dust, he reached into the box and felt about, searching for any mystery item that may be of interest. He stopped when his fingers grazed something soft and fuzzy. Brows furrowed in confusion, he pulled the floppy object out regarded it closely. An odd smile twitched across his lips as he sat back onto the floor, cross-legged, stroking the velvety ears lovingly. He remembered this stupid floppy-eared stuffed rabbit now.
"Merlin," he said quietly, tracing a finger over where a beady eye had once been, much of the fur rubbed off. Yeah, he remembered it…
"Will you shut up Rheas! It was just a nightmare, it's not going to hurt you!" Kate cried, exasperated, at the small boy, still crying. "If you don't shut up right now you're going to wake up Mom and Dad, and you know what that means. A spanking! Now shut up and go back to your room."
The three children stood in the upstairs hallway, a sobbing Rheas, concerned Cameron, and a rather irritated Kate. At eight years old, she wanted to stay up just as much as any child, but not with her screaming brother waking up the whole house. Frustrated, she stomped back into her own room and began digging through the pile of stuffed animals she never used -other than prisoners of war in her games with Cameron- in the corner. Finding what she had been looking for, she strode back out and thrust a stuffed rabbit with floppy ears in little Rheas' hands.
"There. Now go back to bed, he'll keep you safe, I promise." Kate stated, crossing her arms. Hugging the stuffed rabbit tightly, Rheas nodded his little thanks and went back to his room down the hall, Cameron close behind.
Merlin had worked for a little while, but soon the nightmares had returned full force. Kate had slammed her door shut and ignored her baby brother, so Cameron, only six, decided it was his turn to try something.
Rheas, don't cry! Here, I'll make you laugh…!
And Cameron, not sure what else to do, made that dumb stuffed rabbit dance for Rheas. Sometimes he would hide beside the bed and hold Merlin up like a puppet show, and other times he would sit beside his little brother, arm around his shaking form, and have Merlin dance small subtle dances.
As they got older, Cameron stopped poking his head in on Rheas to make sure he was sleeping all right, and finally Rheas stopped sleeping with Merlin altogether. Although the poor stuffed animal would be found in a corner, on the stair, in the fridge, just about anywhere every now and then, until eventually he disappeared, packed away in a box.
Rheas stood and fell onto his back on his bed, still holding the worn stuffed animal in his arms.
"No wonder I'm so messed up, I love this stupid rabbit…"
Cameron sat back on the couch absently eating potato chips as his eyes were glued to the telebi and the supermodels that were prancing across its screen. His attention span widened slightly back to normal as the commercials came on, and Cameron noticed something in the corner of his eye. A floppy-eared stuffed rabbit, held by a slender white hand, was moved into his vision, fuzzy arms outspread.
"I want your soul!" the rabbit declared in the deepest voice a teenager in mid-puberty could muster.
"My gosh," Cameron laughed, taking the rabbit from his brother's hand gently, "I haven't seen this thing in years!"
"I just dug him out of a box a few minutes ago." Rheas replied, vaulting over the back of the couch and onto the cushions beside his elder brother.
Cameron shook his head and handed the silly animal back to Rheas. "What was that thing's name again?"
"Merlin."
"I thought Merlin was the name of our cat."
"No, the rabbit's Merlin, the cat was Durin's Bane, remember? Because he ate the rat named…"
"Durin!"
"Very good," Rheas paused as the commercials ended and the show continued. He lifted an eyebrow and glared at his brother who had, once again, become sucked into the Baywatch universe. "What is the purpose of this show?"
"You're looking at it." Cameron grinned.
Rheas sighed as more women in bathing suits ran down the beach in slow motion to save some random citizen who swam out a few hundred feet, suddenly had a brain-burp and forgot how to swim. "Okay," he began, grabbing Cameron by his short curly hair and turning him so he was sure he was listening, "I'm going out for a bit, bye bye."
"Where are you going?" Cameron questioned irritably.
"Out for cocoa. I'll be back later."
"It's getting dark out…"
"As evening does before daylight savings, goodbye."
"Um bye…" Cameron gurgled, returning to his show and potato chips.
Rheas tossed his bike aside and pounded on the apartment door until he heard the click of the latch and Imare' stuck his head out.
"Rheas…? You're soaked man." Imare' grumbled, opening the door to allow Rheas in.
"That happens when it rains," the freshman sneezed, rubbing his arms.
"Well you're just in time for hot cocoa," Imare' grinned, "here, just take off that sweatshirt before you catch cold, there's little in here to hurt." His apartment was practically empty; a fold-out coffee table by the kitchenette, a desk and a mattress in the small bedroom was pretty much it. "Why are you here, anyway?"
"I'm not sure. It just so happens that whenever I have a question, you seem to have an answer, and right now I need answers. Besides, I like hot cocoa."
"Fair enough," Imare' shrugged as the kettle on the stove began to scream. Removing it, he pulled down two mugs from the near-empty cupboard, one that read "kiss me, I'm Irish" and another read "because I'm Evil, that's why!" Imare' filled the two, dumped an excessive amount of cocoa in them, and handed Rheas the Irish one. "I got some new info from the internet I thought you might like. Avalon was said to be sealed away by the Faery folk soon after the arrival of Christianity, which is why, despite the fact you've pinpointed it, you can't find it."
"I appreciate the info, but I already knew that." Rheas stated, taking a sip of his cocoa.
The junior smiled devilishly. "Ah, but did any of your sources mention where the gate that will allow you in is located?"
"You have my attention."
"Here, look at these maps I have…"
Within the hour the two were pouring over various maps and sources to locate Rheas' life-long quarry. Eventually the maps were put away, the cocoa was drunk, and the two sat at the fold-out coffee table flipping origami frogs back and forth.
"So, what kind of answers do you need?" Imare' interjected at random when the frog flew erratically off the table.
Rheas paused, rephrasing what he wanted in his mind, but then realized it was futile, he would have to be blunt. Imare' knew many things, but he was also as dense as a steel cube. "Tell me what you know of magic."
Imare' choked on his own spit and began to cough uncontrollably. Eyes watering, he finally managed to calm down and glared at Rheas. "You realize I can talk for hours on that subject."
"Go ahead. I have time."
"You don't. Time is the last thing you have!" Imare' hissed, his steel eyes flashing to a near silver.
"And what, pray tell, gives you that idea?" Rheas snarled, rising to his feet.
"The Hourglass is turned, my friend, the Sands of Time will eventually run out. However, maybe if you specify what kind of magic? The life thread I'm always talking about? The kind where you, oh I don't know…point at someone, say 'schnergalfrat' and they explode, Earth magic…"
Rheas narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Not only was the hair on the back of his neck standing straight up, but a tingling sensation was running up and down his spine. He had never trusted anyone completely, especially Imare', but lately…"Anything. I have time. Start with the Ancients."
"There we go, a starting point. Sit back down kid, this'll take a while. Okay, at least according to the sources I've read, one of which being that book I gave you, magic is an all powerful force that spreads through everything, like the Force in Star Wars, only better, and it always came from a definite source. Some say the sky, others say the earth itself, and others, like that book, claim that it comes from the moon. Or more specifically, many moons……"
"He's not here Toby, go home."
"Not here? Where is he then? It's almost midnight!"
"How should I know! Go home!"
"Well, what are your parents going to say when they come home and he's not here?" Toby pondered aloud, leaning on the door so Cameron couldn't slam it on his face. The big man cursed, he hated it when Toby was right.
"I'll tell them he's at your place, okay?"
"Isn't that lying?"
"Yes, but it'll work. Rheas is at Toby's, simple as that."
"Well, here they come, and here I am, what now?"
"Damn!"
"Whew! I need a drink…" Imare' announced, sauntering over to the sink, "been talking non-stop…Well, I've covered the Ancients. Anything else?"
Rheas stared straight ahead, his mind elsewhere. "That's who we're up against?" he whispered in disbelief.
"Eh? What are you talking about?" Imare' inquired, refilling his mug from the tap. Rheas didn't respond. "Hello? Rheas Madison? Oi, avandach!"
"Yes I hear you!" Rheas sighed, letting his head drop into the table. "I just don't believe it…"
"I never expected those words to come out of your mouth," Imare' smiled, "you want a peanut butter cup? Has your name on it."
"Ha ha," Rheas replied flatly, rising to his feet, "I'd better go, it's later than I realized. Thanks for the information, I needed that."
"Anytime, I don't get many visitors. None, actually."
"I'll see you at the concert then," Rheas said, stepping out the door.
"Bye." Imare' waved, and the door shut. His smile faded and he shook his head. "Poor lad…" he whispered, and the lights went out.
Peddling home on a dark, rainy night was no different than leaving home on a dark, rainy morning and Rheas handled it with ease. Aside from the fact it was all mostly uphill, that is. The cold had already gone straight through his cotton clothing and down to the bone.
"It's the northwest…you'd think I'd know better…" he muttered angrily to himself as he wheezed up the hill and past the two gas stations. He heaved a sigh of relief as the ground tilted and he was going downhill again, even just for a little while. Steam billowed from his lips and his breaths became labored, his throat closing up. Coughing, he took firm hold of the handlebars and reached for his inhaler.
He'd forgotten about the potholes. The bike tilted as the front tire dropped into a hole and hit cement. The bike flipped forward and Rheas met gravel.
He groaned and rolled onto his side, checking his head for blood and finding none. "I should really start wearing a helmet…" he mumbled, turning onto his stomach, "I can tempt lady luck only so many times…" Coughing, he dug around his pocket for the inhaler. It wasn't there. "Oh come on!" he snarled, sitting up and peering through the rain.
There it was. He pushed himself to his feet when a sharp pain shot through his left ankle. "Figures," he hissed, scrambling across the road to his inhaler a few feet away, "I pretty much land on my head, but my ankle gets hurt. Well I guess I shouldn't complain, it could be worse…" he thought, trying Toby's "glass half-full" theory. He was soaked, out late, hurt himself and now probably couldn't pedal home…could be worse.
Headlights shone in his eyes and then vanished. A car was coming up the hill.
It just got worse.
"Oh shit!" he snarled, grabbing his inhaler and scrambling back toward safety. Headlights coming closer very rapidly. "Curse you Toby…!" he gasped, coughing as he struggled back toward the gravel.
The screeching of tires and…
And…
A small gust of wind met him as the car stopped inches from his nose, horn blaring. He sat there, staring at the two circular headlights of the jeep, and suddenly remembered to breathe.
"You fucking idiot!" he heard the driver shout. He sounded familiar. But Rheas paid no attention as the sudden relief flooded through him like a drug, numbing his senses.
"Rheas? God, is that you?" the familiar voice demanded softly.
"Hey Thomas…" Rheas gasped stupidly before his eyes rolled back and he fainted dead away.
Garg! I had a much better ending…rrr. Anyway, that one scene between Rheas and Cameron (the road one) was fun to write, because it came about when I was home alone, so I completely jumped into character and started shouting about roads and waves and thought to myself, "That's just so crazy, it just might work." Waha! Well, Mother's gone for the week, which leaves us men in charge! (strikes 'muscle man pose, which looks utterly ridiculous as I am a skinny little wretch) Also means I can write more, bwahahaha! Ja na!