Facing His Fears
Tala slept listlessly two nights later as he heard Kenny ramble in his sleep about some form of dark presence or another lurking in the Moscow streets waiting for them. Rather than waking his boyfriend of three months, he shifted his weight and listened to the howling winds of the outside world…
DREAMKenny woke the morning and reached out for Tala's warm, muscular form and gasped loudly when he found nothing but the bed sheets under his fingers. "Tala?" He called out, but his voice echoed off the hallow walls of the house.
Rising from the bed his feet somehow found and depicted a path to the stairs where he listened for any sign of his love or even the little dog they were watching. Nothing but silence met his straining ears so he carefully tiptoed down the wooden steps and entered the living room. Where were Tala and Hero? Had his love taken the pup out for a walk? Kenny's brow drew together into a tight scowl and he walked into the kitchen. No one was there and there was no note left to indicate if the older man had gone out.
"Hero?" Kenny called out. "Where are you boy?" Nothing he did was to any avail. He was completely and utterly alone in the big house. "Tala, quit playing games with me; this isn't funny!" Something creaked in the hall closet and drew Kenny's fear to first and foremost in his mind- right after finding Tala and Hero, of course. The creaking stopped and Kenny let out the breath he didn't even realize he had been holding.
Hauling open the door he screamed loud enough to wake the dead. Hanging there from the highest beam in the closet was Tala's lifeless form - it was staring at him with dark, empty eyes and its mouth was hanging open in what could have been a cry for help.
END DREAMTala dropped the skillet and bolted for the hall stairs when he heard the bloodcurdling screams of terror that Kenny had let out moments before. Throwing open the bedroom door, he gasped in shock to see someone standing over his love wearing a long black cloak with a deep hood. Shimmering red eyes stared at the Russian then looked back at Kenny's troubled form in the bed as the brunette entangled himself in the heavy sheets.
"Who are you?" The red head demanded as he took a step in the direction of the bed. "Where did you come from?"
"You should wake him now, before his dream takes his life." The figure said passively. "So much he shall never understand is locked away inside his fear of rejection. If you truly love him, Tala, wake him up." Tala's breath caught in his throat. Kenny screamed again, drawing his lover's attention to his current state and it was in that brief moment that the dark figure vanished.
"Whoever that was didn't do this to Kenny." He whispered. "What was it he had said 'so much he shall never understand is locked away inside his fear of rejection' I think?" Grabbing Kenny's sweat-soaked form from he carefully picked him up and cradled him in his arms as he whispered gentle words of praise, acceptation, and love.
DREAMKenny ran through the house in terror. Unable to help himself he continued to run from an unimaginable Evil that tracked his every move. "Oh gods, someone help me!" He screamed. Suddenly, a door that was not there before opened and he ran inside slamming the door shut with a loud bang. A voice that was not his own rang out into the whitewashed room as it whispered words of love and other things that Kenny had forgotten existed until he came to live and love with Tala.
"Where am I?" A bright white room, would have been Tyson's oh-so-obvious answer would he have been there. Sanquinix appeared just out of arms reach and Kenny gasped in surprise.
"Wake up, Kenneth."
"But I am awake."
The vampire shook his head. "No you are not. Can't you hear him- your lover?"
"But Tala's dead! His body is in the hall closet out there with that creature!" Kenny yelled.
"Your lover is trying to wake you from this nightmare, won't you wake for him?" His protector replied. "He is trying so hard to get you to wake, yet you remain stuck in a world of your own making."
"If this is a world of my own making then why am I still here? Why can't I change the outcome of the way things work out here? How did you get in?"
"You're running from something that is not really there and you, in your own mind, feel safe in this house so your fears will attack you where you feel most safe. I got in through the use of one of my many powers: telepathy."
"Alright, so far I've established three things: I'm stuck in a dream, you're real, and I'm afraid of something that will attack me where I feel safest." Kenny said as he calmed down. "Just one more question: if Tala can't wake me up, how do I get myself out of here."
"You have to face your fear." Kenny gulped loudly. "But you must first figure out what it is you fear the most and then work your way down that list of items." The room turned black with lights beaming down on the two figures within.
"But I… I don't know…" Kenny was about to say that he didn't know what it was he was afraid of but the man who had chosen to protect him put up his hand in protest. "I guess I'm afraid of you, first of all."
"Me?" Sanquinix chuckled. "Alright, what is it about me that you fear?"
"You're always so dark and mysterious when you hide behind your cloak."
"You wish me to take it off then?" The vampire inquired. Without another word the outer clothing was discarded and Sanquinix stood there awaiting the scrutiny that would never come. "You see now why I hide, my reason for my strange behavior. What do you think?" Red eyes shimmered behind a mass of black hair with a single silver streak. The street clothes he wore were a pair of faded black kakis and a black tank top.
"I think you should have shown me sooner because now I'm not so scared of what you are under that cloak." Kenny whispered grasping Sanquinix's attention in a heartbeat. The vampire smiled. It was so easy for the lithe brunette to accept what he'd seen rather than what others thought of the other after a brief encounter. A part of the darkness gave way to light.
"What else do you fear?"
"Death." Kenny answered simply.
"Alas, my friend, where there is Life there is ultimately Death. It is an immeasurable cycle, you see. And it is that sequence you must understand."
"Well, now that that's cleared up, I'm afraid of being alone." More of the dark vanished.
"Never were, are, or shall ever be alone, friend." Sanquinix replied softly. Voices of all the people that Kenny called his friends filled the room and then faded. A piece of the darkness shattered behind the two. "Anything more?"
"I'm terrified to loose Tala to anything."
"Anything?"
"Especially Death."
"You will not loose what you've found to be true, Kenneth. This is the truth that I speak, and you know it." Kenny nodded. The entire room shook as the majority of the blackened walls and ceiling caved and light took its place. One fear remained. The one thing that Kenny didn't want to say was still lurking deep within the shadows of the final piece of darkness. He felt a hand on his arm. "Walk with me." Sanquinix said gently as he led the other man out of the room.
The hall was quiet and every light was left on from his previous encounter with the shadowy house. Kenny shuddered. "Why are we walking in this hall again? There's nothing here!"
"We are walking here because you must face the final fear alone and without my help." They stopped in the kitchen. "He's coming. I must leave you now, but I shall visit you in the real world soon."
"Just the way you are? In your street clothes and without the cloak?" Sanquinix grinned ear to ear.
"Just the way I am, friend. Farewell." Just as his new friend vanished from his mind, an even darker figure filled the kitchen doorway.
"Boris." Kenny hissed. Grabbing a knife from the stand next to the stove, he launched himself at his final fear and drove the makeshift weapon into the other figure's heart. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Kenny screamed over and over again as he plunged the knife deeper and deeper into the man's torso. Stopping, Kenny took a step back to admire his work and breathed a sigh of calm. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Boris. It's high time you left what's mine alone." The bloody figure vanished and Kenny felt something tugging at him and let his mind close itself off to the dream.
END DREAMOutside, in the alleyway, a lone figure took off a restricting cloak and tossed it into the nearest garbage bin. "And so it begins." He whispered to the icy air as he leaped onto the roof of the house where his charge lived.
Tala yelped in joy as Kenny open his beautiful sapphire eyes and smiled. "Hey you." Kenny said playfully. "What's for breakfast?"
"Hey yourself, and I was way too worried to even attempt to go back and try to cook so it looks like you're cooking again." Tala whispered as he caressed his boyfriends face with warm kisses.
"No matter, I'm not that hungry anyway. I love you, Tala." Kenny said suddenly.
"What's with the waterworks?"
"Never ever leave me, Ivanov. NEVER! Do you hear me? I can't live without you ever again, wakarimasu ka?"
"Yes, yes, I understand love, but why the sudden outburst? Did you think after everything you've put yourself through for me that I would up and leave you for something else? There isn't anything in this world that can ever take your place by my side, Kenny. N-O-T-H-I-N-G, alright?" Kenny nodded and hugged his love tightly to his lithe form before letting go.
His stomach growled loudly. "Uh… on second thought, breakfast sounds thrilling!"
"Do you want to eat out today?" Tala beamed at Kenny. "I…uh…I kinda burnt the frying pan when I ran up here to check on you."
"Sure, I really don't feel like cooking anyway." Kenny replied. "I'm going to invite a friend, OK?"
"Do I know him?" Tala's thought's traveled back to the figure standing guard over Kenny's tortured form and he shuddered.
"You might. He's been keeping a sort of silent vigil over me since my arrival to Russia." Kenny said from the bathroom. "His name is Sanquinix and he use to be a part of the team called the Dark Bladers."
"Does he always wear a cloak?" Kenny's eyes widened a bit. So, the vampire really was telling the truth!
"Not anymore."
"Good, that thing was just too damn Lord of the Rings for my taste." Tala stated as he handed Kenny his jacket. "Where to?"
"How about the Rominov? I did leave a nice sized tip the last time and I'm sure the manager will remember me."
"You know what? That sounds like a promising idea. Let's go."
"Did you feed Hero?"
"Yes." Tala replied in a growl. "Anyway, where's Sanquinix?"
"He-he, look up, Tala." Kenny breathed. Tala looked up and gasped as Sanquinix leaped down off the roof and walked over to them. "I told you he'd been keeping an eye or two on me."
DMQ: There, three postings in one day and all for one story! Rim, I really hope this makes up for not posting sooner!
