Disclaimer: Rights to The Pretender world and all its characters belong to creators Craig Van Sickle and Steven Mitchell. NBC owns a share, as do Twentieth Century Fox and TNT. (Even though they aren't going to air anymore re-runs – the bastards.) The point is I'm borrowing someone else's creation. No profit is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.
Admitting Hope pt 5
By Phenyx
10/23/2005
"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come." – Anne Lamott.
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Jarod stood at the edge of the meadow and watched dawn paint the glen in a magical light. He couldn't remember ever seeing anything so green, so pure. As the sun's rays glinted off the grass, visible wisps of mist formed as the dew evaporated from each blade. The sight he beheld was so beautiful it made Jarod's heart ache with the glory of it.
It wasn't cold although Jarod wore only a pair of faded jeans. As he stepped forward, the wet grass felt feather soft and oddly warm against his bare feet. Jarod wiggled his toes, savoring the velvety sensation.
A deep sense of peace washed over Jarod. He smiled, happiness surging through him as he admired the panoramic scene before him. It was lovely here, truly wonderful.
With a start, Jarod realized that he was not alone. A figure stood at the center of the field beside a huge flowering tree that Jarod could not immediately identify. He felt his smile grow. It pleased him to be able to share this beauty with another.
Just as Jarod was about to call out to his companion, the figure turned and gazed at him. Jarod found himself staring at his brother Ethan. For some reason, Jarod was not surprised to find his brother in this place.
Ethan smiled. "Jarod," he called, beckoning to him with one arm.
"Ethan!" Joy flared in Jarod's chest, tears of happiness prickled behind his eyes. He stepped forward to join his brother beneath the flowering tree but was stopped abruptly by a hand upon his chest. The pale hand belonged to a very young man. At least, Jarod's first impression was that it was a man.
A second glance made Jarod doubt that assumption. The person who stood in Jarod's way was slender and quite young. In his or her early teens, the body was not yet developed into a shape that was definitively male or female. Long blond hair flowed past the shoulders, giving the angular, chiseled face an effeminate look. Wide crystalline blue eyes, surrounded by pale golden lashes, gazed at Jarod with a wisdom that defied age.
Jarod tried to step past the youngster but the gentle hand over Jarod's heart would not permit it. "He's my brother," Jarod said.
"You don't belong here." The youngster's voice rang with a deep melodic quality.
Jarod glanced at Ethan's smiling face and tried again. "Please," he begged. "Let me go to him."
The deep blue eyes filled with pity but the hand was not removed. "You don't belong here."
"But he's my brother," Jarod cried out.
There was a soft pressure as the youngster pushed him. Suddenly Jarod was falling backward. He could hear air rushing by his ears as Ethan became smaller and smaller in the distance. Within the span of a heartbeat, Ethan was gone. The meadow, the tree, the young man, they all disappeared, swallowed up by the darkness Jarod was falling through.
For a long moment, everything was black. Terror crawled along Jarod's nerve endings. Then, just as abruptly as it had started, Jarod's fearful plunge stopped. There was no impact, no crash. He simply wasn't falling anymore.
The first thing Jarod noticed about his new surroundings was the smell. The stench that invaded Jarod's senses was a foul mixture of rotting flesh and burning plastic. He gagged, unable to control the reflex.
Instinctively, Jarod pressed his forearm against his nose and tried to breath through his mouth. He looked around and found himself before the iron-barred gates of a monolithic stone wall. The cold gray marble stretched into the distance in either direction for as far as the eye could see. It stood at least forty feet tall with ugly curled spikes at the top.
There was a rumble of thunder so loud that Jarod was forced to cover his ears. A high-pitched scream came from within the walled structure. Running to the gate, Jarod peered between the bars and gasped in horror.
There were people inside. Naked and bleeding, some of the people were chained to the inner walls many of them suspended several meters from the ground. Others were writhing in agony, impaled on huge pointed stakes. Row after row of inverted crucifixes were adorned with wailing victims, nailed to the wood through their wrists and ankles.
One voice called out above the cacophony of screams. "Jarod!"
"NO!" Jarod cried. Gripping the iron bars, Jarod slid to the ground as his legs gave out beneath him. "Kyle," he whimpered. "No."
Covered in blood and filth, Kyle stood lashed to a wooden pyre. As Jarod watched, the kindling at his brother's feet began to smolder. A moment later the wood burst into flame and Kyle began to scream.
Launching himself at the gate, Jarod fought frantically to gain access. He pummeled his fists against the bars to no avail. He railed and kicked and shook the gate but the iron bars would not budge.
A slender hand pulled Jarod away. The touch was gentle but firm and so hot it nearly seared Jarod's flesh. The youngster was back. He gazed solemnly at Jarod with eyes that were no longer blue but were instead an eerie black. There were no whites to his eyes just a fathomless black that was so complete the organs almost seemed to be missing.
The boy's voice was different as well. The soothing musical timber of a few minutes ago was now gone. In its place was a cackling hiss of sound. "You don't belong here."
"Neither does he," Jarod argued. "Please. Kyle never meant to hurt anyone."
"Yes he did." The youngster's laugh was a terrible sound. "He meant to hurt every one of them. And he enjoyed doing it."
"It's not his fault," Jarod said. "He's been taught no other way. Please, let me help him."
"You don't belong here."
Tears of sorrow and frustration streamed down Jarod's cheeks. "Then where do I belong?" he cried.
The terrible laughter echoed through the air once more and Jarod was suddenly transported to another location. He was standing on a worn cobblestone street. Far in the distance Jarod could see the stone edifice that imprisoned his brother. The road led straight to those fearful iron gates.
There were people stumbling past Jarod. They walked down the road toward the stone structure with dazed looks on their faces. Jarod tried to stop them but no one seemed to hear him. When Jarod attempted to pull one frightened woman aside, he realized that he could not move his feet.
Jarod struggled to free himself. But the harder he fought, the more firmly he was held. The stones beneath him seemed to soften and Jarod began to sink. Panic raced along Jarod's mind as he was pulled downward. Like quicksand, the earth dragged Jarod into its insidious embrace.
Only then did Jarod notice the others. The street was littered with people caught just like Jarod. Some were buried up to their shoulders some to their necks and some poor souls had nothing but eyes and nose visible above ground.
Now frozen in place, Jarod could no longer fight. He could neither move nor speak. The horrible laughter cackled again in the distance and Jarod heard the hissing voice say, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
Jarod began to weep. Or he tried to at any rate. He could not move enough to do even that. He could do nothing but watch the tide of people wander by. Somehow, he knew what was to come next. He knew yet was powerless to stop it. He heard the clicking of her heels long before he saw her. She strode down the cobblestone street with all the regal determination she had displayed in the past. She went headlong toward her fate without pause.
Miss Parker passed Jarod, near enough that he could have touched her if he'd been able to reach out. But he could do nothing to stop her. His heart skipped a beat when she glanced toward him and her eyes widened with recognition. Then with a careless shrug, she turned away and continued on her journey.
Jarod woke up screaming.
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End Part 5
