Lullaby
A solemn wind swirled quietly through the trees. It was daylight once again, but nothing had been resolved yet. Destinies still sat unknown and fates still shrouded by doubt and fear.
It was their virtual first rest if one thought deeply enough. When else had they had two days rest without incident. Everything had become so vicious lately; Sirix was the first to strike, and soon after that Maddox and Radix had entered their lives. But now all three were idle, either dead or alive, they weren't threats anymore, just memories possibly better dead and gone than vital and pulsing. But that is the cruelness of memories, imaginary images--thoughts that can never be destroyed, dormant possibly, but never destroyed. A single glance, a step or two, possibly a blink of an eye could revive them, that is where the cruelness sets in.
And disturbing yet true, is it not the horrid things that stay with us. Isn't it always infamy that infests our minds with nightmares that humans tend to remember. Would anyone truly remember or appreciate the Kennedy's if one their own was not shot dead in Dallas. Would most of our kind truly dislike that one president if he hadn't done what he did with that person. Which is more likely to remember, a woman carrying 9 babies in her womb or a statutory gunman?
Apparent or not, tragedy makes a great deal of our memories and is frequently ostracized and magnified in everyday life to give it more life than it really has. Television, movies, biographies all will more than likely try to fill one with sadness than laughter.
We are programmed to find a liking to tragedy and bloodshed, it makes life much more interesting that way, sickening as it is. Tragedy is much more a plot now than a surprise- it is very much expected. Yet tragedy is never always death or mass destruction, that would be extreme, tragedy can be very subtle and minute at times.
It is just easier to accept that we welcome problems into our lives, but it is uncanny how each time we react as if it was the first. Babies are born covered with blood, yet we never theoretically soak our lives into it, which is quite interesting to observe. That is very important to keep in mind most of the time, so a toast to problems. May you never die so you may never live.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
David stood alone, which never was strange, it was more peculiar when he wasn't. He didn't look the same as he once did. Granted he was disguised as a police officer, but his confidence and arrogance was something that always shined through even that. That was gone now. His face was dressed with a frown. He just stared out at a lake he had obviously found and would even more obviously keep to himself and away from the others.
The lake was beautiful though. It looked as if it was decorated with diamonds and crystals from how much it sparkled in the light.
His eyes watered slightly. Tony would have loved to see the water. That was his escape from the world, from everything. He would spend hours just staring at water with his own ocean colored eyes.
A tide threw itself gently at his feet. Trembling, he reluctantly spoke through the silence.
"I miss you very much, Tony. I miss you so much. Why can't you be here to watch this beautiful lake with me?", the clouds began to devour the sun. "You were the only one I could trust. You were the only one who could read my mind and know where I come from.", he looked down shamefully. "You would support me one hundred percent when I saw a flaw in Cole's judgment. You were never fake as they were.", seeing the irony he glared at his false reflection in the water. He clenched his fists. "I swear on your grave that you will be avenged. I swear it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Girls!", the boys giggled childishly in unison.
"Can't live with them!", Matt joked energetically.
"Can't live without 'em either!", Drake nudged whole heartedly.
They both laughed carelessly.
Cole entered the conversation equally lighthearted. "Well, well, well, big shot!", he joked sarcastically to Drake who laughed with him. "Isn't it true you have only had one girlfriend in your life!"
Drake blushed unknowingly.
"Really, I didn't know that?!", Matt smirked, adding to Drake's discomfort.
Drake, finally giving in, spoke. "One was all I needed."
The 2 others 'Oooed' playfully.
"So what happened?", Cole asked more seriously.
"Well.", Drake said coolly, his fingers going through his hair. "If you must know, I was dumped for some London guy she met on a vacation there. After that, I didn't really see the point in starting over again."
"Ooou. An Englishman.", Matt winked. "You know he saying, once ya go--"
"We got the picture!", Cole interrupted with a smile.
Matt, grinning evilly, spoke again. "So," he started ,beaming. "Any of you…you know…"
"Huh?", Cole answered naively. "What do you mean?"
"C'mon, Cole!", Drake prompted. "You know…"
"No. No, I don't.", he answered defensively.
"Ugh.", Drake groaned, whispering something into Cole's ear.
"That's inappropriate!", he exclaimed.
"Well, you don't need to yell it to the world.", Matt agitatedly replied. "It was just a question."
"No.", Cole smiled innocently. "And I don't want to either. I…", he started. "I want my first time to be perfect. With someone I truly love and someone who truly loves me." he said seriously. "I believe in old fashioned romance, believe it or not. Maybe to some it may seem stupid, but my goal in life is to find my soul mate and spend the rest of my life with them."
"Good luck!", Drake said thoughtlessly. "I mean, I would like to find my soul mate too, but that may never happen." he frowned. "But that's okay, I guess. And I suppose that I would rather just not even start. There is a lot of heartbreak that comes with girls."
"But in the long run its worth it!", Cole argued. "Once you find that special someone it doesn't matter! You can let go, not feel a pain in the world while you are with them!", he sighed enviously "I want someone who can make my heart beat faster and slower at the same time. Someone who I can whisk away without fear or regret!"
Drake groaned. "I guess you're right. But it seems a lot easier to be gay. Males are much easier to understand in my opinion."
Matt snorted. "I wouldn't say that in front of Mr. Homophobe. He really pisses me off when it comes to that subject."
"I'm assuming you mean David?", Cole asked.
"Yes!.", Matt answered. "I can't stand it. There is no reason anyone should hate someone just because they are different. Sure, we may not understand them, we may not even agree with them, but we shouldn't make fun of or look down at someone for something as idiotic as their race or preferences."
"Yeah, you're right.", Drake agreed, "But its very sad that there are millions of people who don't think so. And besides, David has some problems anyway. I have just learned to not listen to half the crap he says anymore."
Cole nodded in agreement when he noticed Andrew sitting away from them near a tree very quiet. "Hey, Andrew!", he yelled to get his attention. He looked up at him. "Wanna come join us? We are just being our stupid selves!", he joked. "C'mon over here!"
"Yeah, we don't bite!", Drake urged.
"No thank you.", Andrew said politely from the tree. "I'm fine."
"You sure?", Cole asked again.
"Yes."
"Okay! Just come on over whenever. We made a shelter a little earlier west of these trees. We'll be there later!", Cole said cheerfully.
"Okay."
Cole turned back around to his group. "So, where were we?"
Drake shrugged.
"What about you ,Matt? Do you kn--", Cole started to ask.
He stopped. Matt looked very disturbed, his palm over his forehead.
Drake and Cole ran to his side.
"You okay, buddy?", Drake asked gently. "Maybe you should lye down."
"No!", he growled. The others moved back. "I mean, no thank you. I am not feeling very good. I- I need to go.", Matt said, getting on his feet.
"Hey, Matt, you sure?", Drake asked as Matt began to walk away.
"Let him go.", Cole frowned. "He gets like this when he has visions. Just leave him alone."
Matt ran to a secluded area of the woods where he briefly rested. He was breathing very heavily. He closed his eyes. He could hear water dripping in his head. His head ached very much but he continued to focus himself for whatever image that was trying to pry through his mind.
He could see tides. Water. A lot of water…not quite an ocean…but a lake. It was so beautiful, like thousands of crystals and diamonds were floating in it. It was so shiny. He could smell the natural aroma from the water. So natural and pure…
He opened his eyes. He needed to find the water. His mind was trying to tell him something about water. Blindly, he ran through the woods in search of it as his stomach burbled like a tide victim to the moon. Something was obviously wrong.
Winds whirled and threw themselves at him, as though they were trying to stop him from moving, but this instinctual need for water drove him against the force.
The woods felt almost endless, but Matt continued to run, his eyes looking no where else but forward. Leaves crumbled at his stride, but tree branches started to break in front of him. He didn't care at all though. He needed to see the water now.
He continued to run but then suddenly he tripped and fell over something onto his face. He yelled in pain, clutching his knee. Reluctantly he put his palm in front of his face, it was covered with blood from his knee. Great, he thought to himself. He picked up the cause: a now crushed tree branch.
This bringing him back to his senses he felt somewhat foolish to continue his search. "It must of just been a false alarm.", he said to himself and began to walk back. The winds luckily had ceased and would make it easier to walk back.
He walked away feeling silly, but then he heard it once again. Drip Drop. Drip Drop. It must have been real. He began to go into his water frenzy again and ran forward toward the sound. Taking a quick glance at the clouds he groaned; a storm was brewing.
Almost on cue a single bolt of thunder roared and thousands of rain drops began to fall. The winds pushed against him again, but now he heard slashing, there had to be a body of water someplace. He stepped through the mud until he found himself facing a large wall of fog. Incautiously he stepped through it anyway and much to his avail.
He found it. He was so excited. It looked even more beautiful than it did in his head. He had never been so happy to see water in his life, he had always feared it. But he was overjoyed.
His skin was powder white and he was entirely soaked by the storm that still raged. He looked around, he had left a large trail of footprints in the mud leading to where he stood, but curiously enough there was another set of footprints headed away from the water. Maybe David was here, he thought.
Satisfied as he was, he was ready to go back to the others. There was nothing to see, maybe his vision was just telling him about the storm. He longed to see his friends now, he couldn't wait to tell them about the lake and began to walk away.
Then a voice went through his head. He was hearing a heavenly sound. He wondered who would be at the lake during a storm like this. It was obviously a young woman, her voice was so enticing, yet familiar. She was singing something that he couldn't understand. It sounded like babble or maybe a foreign language, but he felt so warm on the inside.
Against his better judgment he turned back to find the source of the song, but his legs were frozen stiff. The sounds were rendering his body motionless. Through the mist he could see a small silhouette in front of his eyes that was become more clear and larger.
His eyes widened. It was Christie who emerged from the fog, her song still active. Matt had never seen her so stunning and gorgeous before. She wore a long white gown that touched the ground and her nipples so stiff and alive. Her long brown hair was soaked and her bangs hang over her cheeks.
Subconsciously he moved slowly towards her until he was inches from her nose.
Firmly, Matt decided to speak to her, without giving away his identity. "What is a young lady such as yourself out here during such a dangerous storm."
She stopped her song. "To be with you, Matt.", she said softly.
Chills went through his spine. How could she know who he was?
He was so taken aback. "I-I don't know who you are talking about, Miss. You should probably be leaving now."
Christie smiled and put her finger over his lips. "You don't need to lie, Matt. I dreamed you would be here.", she said, grabbing him by the neck, slipping her tongue into him.
Matt absorbed in the moment, held her for a moment, but then pushing her away from him. "Stop it, Christie!", he yelled impulsively, but immediately regretted.
Christie giggled. "You know my name. You must be, Matt. Hold me.". She moved her head forward for another kiss, but Matt quickly pushed her away.
"Matt, I need you!", Christie pleaded, "Please don't leave me! I have waited so long to hold you in my arms! I am in love with you, Matt. Sailor Mars or not, you are my true love!", she cried, holding his chin.
Matt frowned and turned his head away. "I have no idea where you came from, or how you know who I am, but I would never betray Cole. Never. You have to leave now before you get yourself killed, Christie."
Christie stared at him with fire and passion in her eyes. "Matt, I love you and I don't ever want to let you go."
Gently she pushed him onto the mud affectionately , Matt frozen.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cole laid quietly on his side staring at the Moon, wondering about Matt. He hadn't come back since he left earlier that day. He felt a sinking feeling in his heart. Something didn't feel right at all.
Suddenly the shelter rumbled. Hoping it would be Matt, Cole looked around optimistically. But his heart sunk. It was just David who had also been gone all day. Avid looked very tired. He was totally soaked and his skin was bloodied with scratch marks.
"Where have you been?", Cole asked skeptically.
"The woods.", he said coldly.
"Have you seen Matt?"
"No."
Reluctantly, Cole dropped the subject, and began to close his eyes, hoping to dream. Hopefully Matt would be back in the morning, he was probably just clearing his thoughts..
Slowly he began to drift into a light sleep, random images coming and going through his head. He could see two chairs and strangely enough, he was sitting on one of them. His heart jumped. George was sitting in the other! Cole leaped off of the chair.
"George! I am so glad you are here! I never had the chance to thank you! You saved us all, I owe my life to you, George!", Cole exclaimed.
George frowned at him. He didn't seem nearly as at peace as he did before.
"George? What is wrong?", he asked. His smile was still very strong. He was so happy to see him.
"Cole.", George said solemnly. "I am afraid there is a traitor among you."
Cole's slowly lost his smile and stood in silence.
