BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Prologue

A Fairy Story

   Once upon a time, a long time ago (but not too long) and far, far away, (somewhere in Pittsburgh!) there was a tall, dark and devastatingly handsome man named Brian Kinney. He was educated and worked in advertising, which made him exceedingly rich.

   And in spite of all these things, it was all wasted. He got no pleasure out of his wealth. He bought the best of everything of course, He spoiled himself with Armani clothes, Italian furniture, the best computers, kitchen equipment in his home. All of which, (except the clothes) he never used but simply had, like a status symbol.

   Brian was a workaholic, working at Vanguard Advertising Agency. He would often use supermodels in his campaigns. He valued beauty over all else and insisted that sex sells.

   And so, over time, Brian became cold and cruel, narcissistic, and shallow. He loved looking in mirrors and eventually stopped hanging out with ‘the old gang' although he'd still go to Babylon when things got hectic. He was still the Stud of Liberty Avenue after all! But he only really hung out with guys as beautiful as him.

  Then one day, in his 29th year, a blond man knocked and walked into his office. He wanted Brian to work on a campaign for his new skin cream that he was going to call Inner Beauty. And he wanted to be the spokesmodel.

   Brian was repulsed. The man was disfigured, blemished and ugly. He would have been blond and handsome but he had a burn scar around his left eye, down his left cheek and down his neck. The left eye was a pop-eye. There was a huge boil in the center of his forehead and another, even more fantastic one on his nose, enlarging it. He had a cleft lip, and a strange burning away of his lip on one side that revealed the tendon that attached his mouth to his cheek muscle and bone.

   Brian listened to the man`s proposal pretending to be interested, nodding and steepling his fingers. Then the man finished and smiled in what should have been a winsome way. Instead, it looked like something from a carnival funhouse.

   Brian took a deep breath, threw his head back and laughed, long and hard and deep. He berated the man for wanting to be a model, suggested he use his own skin cream before peddling it, and then heaved his considerable bulk up and grabbed the man by the collar and the back of his pants and threw him out of his office. (Since he had stopped hanging out with Mikey, he had spent the extra time at the gym and bulked up considerably.

   As he was dragged toward the door, the man warned Brian not to judge him or his cream by his outward appearance for that true beauty lies within.

   Brian just laughed harder and threw him bodily out of his office, called security and made sure he was ejected from the building as well.

   That night at Babylon, Brian was on his third Beam and recovering from his second trick of the evening when the man walked in. He was dressed stylishly but not too revealingly as if he knew he would not impress anybody there. And indeed, his face was so off-putting to the oiled and vain men who came to Babylon, that all who saw him, sneered at him and turned away from his face in disgust.

   The man grinned in a genuine way that was hideous to behold.  He did not care what anyone thought. Well, there was one. He saw Brian, waved, walked over.

   "Good evening Brian."

   Brian looked off in the distance and pretended the man was talking to someone else. How DARE that man stalk him much less speak to him in public!

"I'm not stalking you. I simply thought I'd seek you out in a more relaxed atmosphere and see if you'd reconsider my account."

   Brian sighed and turned to the repugnant man. "That's basically what stalking means," he said coldly.

   "I'd prefer to call it a "creative business strategy." The man smiled engagingly...and terribly.

   "The answer is most definitely no," Brian said simply. "Now get away from me. You're a trick repellent."

"Not as much as you might think. Be careful Brian. There is more to love than tricking. And there is more to me than meets the eye. You shouldn't take such stock in appearances alone."

   "News flash dude! That's all everybody does! Oh sure, they all say, don't judge a book by its cover but everybody does! Imagine you are faced with a book with a plain brown cover, old and worn. Next to that, the same book, only with a jacket with some sort of bright artwork on it. Which one do people pick up? The one with a jacket, almost every time!"

   "And yet, within the older, plain book, may be an autograph from the author. And the reason for its age may be because it is a first edition, making it much more valuable than the one with flash. And you are right Brian, so many are distracted by the flash that they will miss picking up such a treasure right in front of them."

   Brian huffed in frustration. There was no arguing with these types of freaks.

   "Well, I see we cannot do business. Ahh well... you shall miss the money I could have made you! But perhaps if we cannot do business, we can do pleasure. Dance with me!" He held out his hand in invitation.

   Brian laughed loudly. "Dance!? With you?? Don't be ridiculous! My reputation would be ruined, if it hasn't been already just by talking to you. Get away from me, you freak! And take your inner beauty with you!"

   "I warn you a third time, do not judge by my appearance. Look at me, Brian, really look."

   Brian only laughed at him again and turned away to order another Beam.

   When he next turned back, the laughter strangled and died in his throat.

   The man's face was rippling and shifting as if his features were made out of modeling clay. There was a major shift and all the man's ugliness was smoothed away. The boils vanished and the burned and scarred tissue smoothed away. The cleft in his lip vanished and his mouth was restored. His clothes grew dazzling white and transformed into stunning white leather pants and a blinding whit wifebeater tee, the antithesis to Brian's black one. His muscles grew out a bit and he grew to Brian's height, 6'2".

   Standing before him now was a stunning specimen of man in perfect club clothes. He was blond as he was before but his cut was better.  He had a strong jaw, a cleft in his chin and classical features. His eyes were green with thick lashes. He was perfect.

   "Oh my God! What did Anita give me!" yelled Brian.

   "Anita gave you only the usual. And as of now...you're straight and sober!" the man said definitively.

   Brian blinked. The drug induced euphoria and haze had vanished and reality invaded with noise and sharp edges. The thumpa thumpa music seemed suddenly annoying.

   The man waved a hand. Time stopped. The people froze, the music stopped. There was blissful silence.

   "There, that's better. That was annoying , wasn't it?"

   "How did you know I thought that? Who ARE you anyway?"

   "I'm your guardian. Think fairy godfather without so much of the...father part. I've been watching you since you were a small baby Brian. So far, I have watched you without interference but I cannot sit idly by and watch you turn into this Beast any longer. I have warned you three times and now I must intervene."

   "What do you mean, beast?? I've never looked better." Brian whipped a small pocket mirror out of his jeans and checked. Phew! Even his eyebrows and teeth were perfect. As he expected.

   "That's true. You're also ruthless in your business, superficial, cold, cruel, and hard hearted. All you know is mindless fucking. There is no love in your heart. You may look good Brian, but inside you're a monster! And this must not continue! You must pay!"

   "Pay!? Hey, if this is because I threw you out of my office or your cream, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Why don't you come back tomorrow...looking like this and..."

   "Have you yet learned nothing?" the fairy said incredulously, "One...there is no cream Brian, that was just to gain entrance to see you...and two...it is not how you  treated me but how you treat all your fellow men who you view inferior. As of tonight, I believe that is practically everybody. From this day forward, YOU shall be judged inferior! Your inside shall match your outside nature and you will be a monster. You will be a Beast! Medusa's curse shall be your's! And only true love shall break it!"

   Brian's face grew uncomfortably warm. Chunks of his beautiful chestnut hair began falling out. His mouth felt unnaturally full.

   "Wha's - what's happening!?" his voice came out in a growl. He whipped out his mirror again. His eyes widened in terror.

   He had a boils and scars and a burn mark over half his face. The other half looked like an acid burn and his mouth was stretched away and exposed the tendon, just as the man's had been. He had a cleft lip and sharp fangs grew out before his eyes. He watched in horror as his hair continued to fall out by the roots. In a few minutes he was bald. Moreover, tattoos of snakes and knives and snarling animals appeared on his face, neck, chest and arms, each one more hideous that the one before.

   And then, the very worst happened. Out of his now bald head grew new hair. But it wasn't hair. He could feel it itching and squirming and moving as it grew. He screamed and dropped his mirror. It smashed on the ground but it was of no major concern. He would never use it again.

   Out of his head grew snakes. Red ones, yellow ones, and green ones. He felt a few grow out of the sides of his head, right above where his sideburns grew out heavier. He even felt a few grow out right out of the sides of his temple. The feeling was both exquisite and terrifying and tortuously slow and painful all at the same time. He screamed again, as the snakes sloooooowly grew out there. The rest of them were growing out slowly and torturously as well. He never saw them but he heard them hissing, felt them moving twisting around each other for support and comfort. The two that grew out of his temples, twisted themselves once around his ears and then hung down like living, macabre earrings. A few of the ones growing out of his bangs area dropped down and twisted themselves to stare into Brian's wide and terrified eyes. They hissed and opened their mouths to reveal fangs dripping with poison. Their forked tongues stuck out and caressed his forehead in feathery touches. It tickled. It was hideous.

   Brian screamed in supreme terror and shook his head and danced around. "GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed.

This only excited the snakes and made them dance around crazily. Fortunately they all seemed to like him and did not strike.

   "I cannot," said the fairy guardian, "I told you. I have cast the Medusa Curse upon you! Your outside matches your inside. And only true love can break the spell! You are a monster now Brian. My ugliness has become yours and more. Whoever looks upon you full in the face and feels any type of fear, will turn to stone!"

   "Wait! If anyone who looks on me turns to stone, how am I supposed to get anyone to fall in love with me?"

   "Brian! Calm down and listen to me! It's important and my time with you is nearly finished. I said whoever looks upon you in fear will turn to stone! AND...if you look upon yourself full on in a mirror, you yourself will turn to stone! Do you understand, Brian?? This will be tantamount to your suicide and death! Do you understand!?"

   "Yes...," Brian said sulkily, "But I still don't understand what to do. How am I supposed to get someone to love me if they can't look upon me!!?"

"That you must figure out for yourself. Use your brain. Grow a heart. Seek to use the beauty that is inside you. Beauty you have buried deep inside."

   The fairy reached out and grasped one of his forearms. He slid his forefinger down his arm and a tattoo appeared. A single mark of beauty, a tattoo of a rose appeared and below that a tattooed row of numbers. Astonished, Brian watched as the numbers began to count down.

   "You have one year starting now. If you can find someone to love...truly love...and earn their love in return, before the countdown is finished and the last petal of the rose falls...You will regain your former beauty. If not, you will remain in this ugly state forever."

The fairy whipped a card out of nowhere. "This is the address of a house in West Virginia that you can reside in, in relative seclusion except for who you choose to be with to help break the spell. Good luck, Brian. I'll be watching!"

   The fairy guardian squeezed Brian's hand one more time, stepped back, faded away, and vanished.

   "NO! NO! Come back! Come back! You cannot leave me like this! This is cruel and horrible! You cannot leave me like this!"

"The way you are cruel to others when they are fat and ugly..." the thought popped into his head.

Thumpa...thumpa....thumpa... And then time started up again and the music pounded and the din of laughter and conversation was deafening.

   Brian turned to the bartender. Charlie!! Help! You gotta help me! You gotta....!"

   Charlie turned white. "Holy Fuck! Where did you come from!!? What the hell are you? Whaaaaat....Whhhaaaaaa......" And Charlie began to glow a bright white, matching his pale white face and growing even whiter all the way over. Then the glow died and there was Charlie turned into a white, marble statue!

   Brian gave a groan of supreme misery and he snatched the card the fairy had left him off the counter and fled. He tried to keep a low profile but it was no use. The club was too crowded. Guy after guy bumped him, spun, caught sight of him. Scream after scream rang through the joint. More and more guys caught sight, and turned to flee, too late, only to be caught in the spell and transformed. Attention was caught like dominoes. In horror and humiliation, Brian fled Babylon leaving two rows of white statues in his wake and even more, dotted all throughout Babylon.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 1

Concerning Storms and a Rose

6 months later:

   Once upon a time there lived a wealthy family whose last name was Taylor. There was Craig, his wise and gentle wife Jennifer, a small daughter named Molly and a son just about to come of age at 18 years old named Justin.

   The Taylors were rich merchants, owners and proprietors of slaughterhouses and butcher shops that sold regular and fine meats. They sold regular cuts of beef, chicken, turkey, pork, ground hamburger that was ground right in front of you, (that's how fresh it was) and packaged it healthily.

   As well they sold smoked meat, all types of sausages and bratwursts. They sold tongue and livers and other innards, if you were into that sort of thing. They sold pepperoni and many other meats wholesale to many pizza joints and subway sandwich type restaurants. Anyway, all this and more, made the Taylors very rich, as I have said. It also made them spoiled.

   Craig Taylor became a hard, unfeeling man.  In fact he was already hard and unfeeling but being rich made it ten times worse. He was also elitist, rude, and greedy. He underpaid his employees, demanded too much and made them work long hours and double shifts. He drove them on like slaves and if anyone complained they were fired on the spot. However, since Taylor Meats was so massive in many areas, people were applying and getting hired in their place all the time. Eventually though, the people working for Craig Taylor learned to keep their heads down and their mouths shut.

Jennifer was wise and gentle and kinder than her husband but where the company was concerned she had very little power. And because she wanted to keep on the gravy train and enjoy the nice things, not to mention she had two children out of the deal, she was wise enough to keep quiet and out of the way when her husband was abusive. (Which continued at home.) However, she managed to remodel the home with improvements that were so gradual and subtle that Craig didn't realize a whole separate wing had been built that was only accessible by a secret passage. And when things became too loud or when any of them had a fight and it looked like violence was imminent, she would give the children a code word and Justin would spirit Molly away to the secret panel, through the short, dark passage and through the door into the other wing where they could live comfortably for many weeks at a time. And after Jennifer had led Craig a merry goose chase through the house, she would sneak back to the correct room and join her children, leaving Craig to rant and rave all by himself. He never caught on.

   Molly was a typical little girl, living a little tense in the abusive environment, but thanks to the separate wing, was otherwise a normal girl, albeit a little spoiled. She grew to love the finer things in life and grew a bit selfish and used to getting her way. But otherwise, she was a good girl.

And then there was Justin. Justin was different. He was the only one in the family who refused to let the wealth of their success affect him. He was kind and soft-spoken, gentle and empathetic. He was selfless and took advantage of their wealth as it was offered to him but otherwise refused to be spoiled or ask for anything overt. If he did ask for anything, it was pencils or paints or other art supplies as he was artistically gifted. He often gave to charity or simply people he met who he believed to be truly in need.

   Justin had his mother's looks and he was beautiful. He grew up straight and tall but of medium frame. His face was perfectly and delicately formed. His lips were rosy pink, his wide eyes were blue, with thick blond lashes and blond hair that looked like straw that had been spun into gold.

   About a month before Justin's 18th birthday, his parents found one of his sketchbooks and grew concerned. The entire sketchbook was filled to capacity with men. Muscular men, Men with caricatured chests, naked men, with large, caricatured penises. There were more realistic nudes. Tall, blond, dark and lean. Rough and tough and strong and mean. They were all there.

   When his parents confronted Justin, he was very upset with them for invading his privacy but realized the cat was out of the bag. He revealed that he was indeed a lover of the male form and sexuality. He was homosexual.

   Justin's parents did not take it well. Jennifer blamed herself. She wondered if there was anything she should have done, maybe been stricter, forbid him to watch certain TV show or.... something. She also mourned a little that Justin was never going to have children and missed the grandchildren that she thought she had coming. However, Justin, as gentle as ever, eventually explained to her that there was nothing for her to have done, there was nothing that HE could do. What was, was. He was gay. As for children...well it depended on who he partnered with. Gay couples surrogated and adopted all the time. He advised her to be patient and so she was comforted.

Craig was another matter all together. He ranted and raved and screamed. He wondered where his "normal" son had gone. He was disowned, disinherited and kicked out. However, since he was only 17, Jennifer intervened and the kick out date was set for his 18th birthday. Happy Birthday Justin!

   In the meantime, Jennifer suggested it might be better for everybody if Justin spent as much time as possible in the separate wing. Regretfully, Justin agreed. Regretful that it was HE who had to be sent into exile, not because he was gay.

However, a few weeks later, Craig was visiting a slaughterhouse. As he was walking across one of the many catwalks, he "tripped" and a railing "came loose" and with a horrible scream, Craig fell onto the killing floor. Among the many things that happened to him, Craig was dropped into a giant industrial meat grinder where he was horribly and gruesomely killed.

   Fortunately, before his carcass could be processed into Spam cans, the slaughterhouse was brought to a halt and the unnatural meat gathered up. It was properly disposed of.

   The funeral was a somber but cheap affair. Anything that had been Craig had been ground up into unrecognizable human hamburger so it was an empty casket funeral. The service was short and otherwise inexpensive as the arrangements dictated since Craig was a tightwad.

With Justin disinherited, the company passed to the next of kin, being Jennifer. The rest of the assets were divided equally between Jennifer and Molly. Of course, Molly's share went into a trust fund until she was 21. Justin was unconcerned. He had big dreams to travel the world and live by his wits and his art.

   However, with Craig out of the picture, all this changed. Jennifer rescinded the kick-out order and put Justin into her will, and therefore reinstated him back into the family. The secret passage was demolished and the other wing became just that...another part of the house. Things became a lot more peaceful around the house.

   As for Taylor Meats, without Craig's abuse and oppressive influence, the slaughterhouses and shops became much less oppressive places to work. Workers were no longer required to run double shifts. Jennifer raised everyone's salary to a fair amount and put in a day care at all the facilities. The workers were less stressed, happier and as a result, productivity went up. And over the next month, profits went up by 30%.

A few months went by in this fashion. And of course it is at about this point where our story truly begins.

   About 3 months after Craig's death, and 9 months after Brian's supernatural encounter, Jennifer was humming a little tune as she stirred some spaghetti sauce she was making when the phone rang. A short conversation ensued and when it was over, her heart was troubled. However, she gathered her children together and put on a brave face for their sake.

"My dear children," she said, "That was a worker at the New York Port Authority. There was an incident with one of the boats that had a large shipment of ours on board."

   "What is it, Mom? Is anything wrong?" asked Justin.

   "I don't know yet," Jennifer hedged, "But it's a big deal. I've been asked to come as CEO and supervise and survey the situation. I have to leave in the morning, the sooner the better. Justin, you are almost of age. Can I trust you to watch over Molly for a couple of days?"

   "Of course, Mom."

   "Molly, this is important now. Can I trust you to mind your brother, get home before dark, and behave? Or do I need to call a babysitter?"

   "EEEWWWW! No! I can look after myself even without Justin!" Molly bragged, puffing out her little chest. The grown-ups suppressed a smile at her bravado, for even though she was responsible in many ways, she was still a small child and in need of taking care of in many ways.

"I know you are squirt. But we'll work together and if you're home on time tomorrow, I'll make your favourite, jumbalaya!"

   "Oh Boy! That sounds great!" said Molly.

And if you two promise to be good, I'll bring you both a present home. What would you like?"

   "Oh boy! A present! Oh, Mom, could you get me a pink silk dress! I'd love that!"

"Of course sweetheart! And Justin, what about you?"

   "Oh Mom, I don't want anything! I have all the art supplies I need right now and right now I'm just glad to be living at home! Why don't you make my present a present for you!? Buy yourself a rose and consider it from me. That would make me very happy."

   "Oh thank you, Justin! I will cherish it!" his mother exclaimed hugging him, "OK, I should pack and get to bed as I need to get going very early."

This plan was put into action at once and Justin took over the stirring of the sauce. In no time, she was packed and ready to go. After a hurried dinner she went to bed.

Jennifer awoke early and was out of the house and on her way by dawn's light. She drove all that day but reached New York by late evening. She found a nice hotel and settled in for the night.

The next morning she drove down to the New York Harbour and to the right port. It was worse that she had been led to believe...than she had wanted to believe, which is why she had not gone into detail with her children.

   A terrible accident had happened. As the cargo ship carrying their shipment among others, textiles, ore, and even an antique car, had pulled out of the slip, it had collided with another ship coming in too fast. Both ships' hulls were damaged, filled with water and sank. The ships were still there, tops visible but the holds had been filled with water and all the cargo, especially the meats and textiles were ruined. As far as Taylor Meats was concerned, it was a complete loss.

   Well, one little ship was not going to ruin them! But, she had to admit; things were going to have to change for a while. This was going to set them back and they were going to take a loss that was going to last for at least 6 months. But at least they were not ruined.

Jennifer started home with a heavy heart. Affecting them more immediately, there would be no money for presents. There was no money for dresses, silk or not and there was not even anything extra to buy the rose that Justin wanted her to have and even secretly, probably wanted to enjoy for himself.

   Jennifer drove out of the city and started home. She hoped to make it home faster than the trip to New York, as she would not be able to afford the nice lodgings she had the night before.

   However, she had no such luck. About halfway back, deep within a long stretch of farmland wilderness, it began to rain.  The wind picked up and it turned into a real storm. The black clouds overhead darkened everything like night. All this slowed her down and then it was as dark as night, because it was night.

She had to slow down even further and moreover use her headlights just to see a few feet in front of her and had the wipers on maximum and still it was almost as if she didn't have them on at all.

She was still in the middle of nowhere. She had no idea where the next town might be. All she knew was that she was driving through West Virginia, when all of a sudden, to her right, she could dimly make out a huge gothic mansion. She leaned forward and peered through the industrious wipers at this spectacle and wished that that was her destination.

Well, perhaps it was tiredness, perhaps it was fate, or perhaps her subconscious had a play in it but for whatever reason, a few moments after passing the mansion, the car slipped on a wet patch, skidded to the shoulder where she lost control even further. She twisted the wheel sharply, desperately trying to keep control but the more she fought to keep it, the more she lost it. The car swerved and skidded, twisted and spun and did a few other scary things before falling into the ditch by the side of the road at a 45 degree angle.

Jennifer just sat there for a few moments. She'd had her seat belt on and the airbag had deployed so she was uninjured but extremely scared and shook up. The car seemed relatively undamaged except for the front, which was probably crunched up pretty bad. Even the windshield was undamaged. She took a few deep breaths and took stock of the situation.

   She was a woman, alone on a lonely stretch of highway. She was stranded. Her car was stuck. She checked her cell phone. Great! No bars! And there was no shelter except her car....and that house.

   Jennifer took a deep breath and made a decision. She turned off the engine and lights, gathered up her wallet, her useless cell phone and other particulars in her bag and zipped it tightly up. She kept tight hold of her keys. She opened the door and then locked it. She clambered out and slammed the door, locking the car. Holding onto the car, she clambered out of the ditch but her feet and shoes were muddied almost instantly. She was drenched as well, within a few seconds.

She hurried but it still seemed like forever before she reached the back of the car. She opened the trunk and was thankful along with some emergency food and water, a flashlight, and a spare tire she thought to store emergency rain gear for her and the kids. She took out a red rain slicker and hurriedly put it on. Ahhh, that was better! She still felt the pelting rain but at least the cold was gone. She then exchanged her ruined shoes for a pair of gumboots, grabbed a bag with some granola bars, chocolate, and a few bottles of water, and the flashlight, pocketed her keys and slammed the trunk. She was ready to go.

The raingear made it a bit easier to walk but she still wished she were out of the storm. As she walked, she picked at the buttons of the slicker but the wind pulled them out of her icy fingers. For a few moments, before she could do it up securely, the cruel wind blew the coat back, making it seem as if it were a red cape and hood rather than a coat.

But at last she did it and as soaked as she was, she got no wetter. The gumboots squished satisfactorily in the mud of the shoulder of the road while keeping her feet dry. (Well, less wet anyway.) She turned her steps toward the gothic mansion she had just passed.

That she thought she had just passed. Good grief! Had it been a couple of seconds or a couple of minutes since she had passed the driveway? It seemed miles back and it took her at least a couple of hours to get there. The wind buffeted her and the cold was cruel. The rain ran off her in streams and she retreated as far back into her red hood as possible, which kept the rain out of her eyes (mostly) but gave her tunnel vision.

The night was as black as pitch. The flashlight lit up a few feet in front of her and sliced through the raindrops, making them look like falling diamonds. The wind blew harder if that were possible.

   Lightning slashed across the sky. The resulting BOOOOMMMM!!!!...was deafening. She slogged on.

   And then lightning flashed and thunder crashed right overhead. It was terrifying, and awesome and beautiful all at the same time. It flashed and crashed again and again. It lit everything up like day and Jennifer could see that she was there.

   The driveway was wet gravel and led to the house and the lightning lit everything up in stark detail. The house was even scarier than she could have imagined. It was huge and black with sharp corners and gables and towers and chimneys and gargoyles as drainspouts. Of course, all of them were gushing water.

   Jennifer stood there for a few seconds in fear and trembling. She did not want to go up to that house, especially to rely on it as a source of help. But there was nowhere else.

As she stood there, there was another fearsome display of lightning and several forks stabbed down quite close. A bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree knocking it over and setting the trunk on fire. However, the gushing rain put it out quite quickly. The smell of ozone and other acrid chemicals filled Jennifer's nostrils.

   That was enough to get her moving though. She ran/jogged her way down the rest of the driveway and reached the front door at last. They were huge double doors, flanked by flower bushes. There was a huge golden door knocker carved in the shape of a lion's head. It was the scariest thing she had ever seen. It was amazingly detailed, frozen in a ferocious snarling roar. The fangs were so long and sharp you could cut yourself if you touched them.

Fortunately, she didn't, she just took hold of the knocker and pounded hard. The banging was deep and loud and echoed over and over through the house and then faded away.

   There was no response.

She knocked again. Again the knocking reverberated and faded. Again there was no response.

Jennifer took a deep breath and banged one more time, harder than ever.

   "Please!" she yelled, "Please! My car crashed! I'm alone! I'm scared! There's nowhere else! For the love of God, if there's anybody there...please help me! Please open up! It's an emergency!" And she banged away hard for about a minute.

   At last, she gave up. She listened to the echoes pound away inside the house, softer and softer and then vanish away altogether. She cried a few tears and got ready to go all that long, cold, dark, wet way back to the car.

   She was just about to take a step when there was the biggest display yet. Lightning flashed across the sky, back and forth and back again. White forks stabbed down from the sky, a few of them to the left and to the right of her in the mansion's large front lawn. The night was lit up like day.  The resulting crashes of thunder were like the apocalypse and absolutely deafening. Roar after roar after roar thundered down and then echoed and re-echoed away.

   All throughout, Jennifer pressed herself against the mansion's door in wide eyed terror, knowing she'd never see anything like this again. Part of her was glad but part of her was  like: WOW! She'd never seen or see anything like this again! WOW! The rest of her was just glad she had made it to almost shelter and was not out there in the open.

In sheer terror, she turned back to the house and banged on the lion knocker like a woman possessed. "Please! If there is anyone home, PLEASE!! You cannot leave me out here in this! I am alone! I am helpless and desperate! PLEASE HELP MEEE!" She gave the knocker one last crash before giving up.

The rain gushed down. There was a moment of relative silence. And then...there was an answering loud sudden crash...a deep BAM!!!...like a rifle shot in the dark. Jennifer jumped and started in fear. Then she realized it was the deadbolt being opened. And then there was nothing.

   She gave a few cautious knocks on the knocker. Then she tried the door. It opened inward. Cautiously she stepped inside.

   "Hello! Hello!? The door unlocked! I'm the one who's been knocking! My name's Jennifer Taylor! My car broke down! Hello! I'm coming in now!"

   And she did and then shut the door behind she and re-locked it. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now that she was out of the rain she was feeling a little better but she still felt a little scared. The front hall was deep and dark. There was a wide staircase curving up and to the left.

   "Uh...hello!!? Is anybody there! Someone must be at home! The door unlocked. My name's Jennifer! The storm's terrible! Just terrible! My car crashed! I don't suppose you could help me!" There was no answer. The house remained deep and dark.

   "I-I can pay you! Just not right now! But I can pay whatever you wish for some help! Or just use your phone! Is anybody there?"

   A light went on.

   It turned out there was a hall to the right of the stairs that led deeper into the house. About 2 doors down and to the right there was a room. The light in this room went on. Otherwise there was silence. No one spoke or came to greet her.

   When the light came on, Jennifer could see a coat-rack near the stairs. She pulled off her boots and carried them over and hung up her slicker as well. Then she walked down the hall to the lighted room.

   "Hello!? Hello!? Is anyone there? I'm so glad to meet..."

But there was no-one there.

Inside the room was a long dining room table and at the end of the room was a fireplace. At the end of the table and nearest to the fireplace a single place setting was laid out. There was silverware laid on a white linen napkin and a white dinner plate full of food. There was a tall glass of milk and a goblet of wine.

   Jennifer took one look at her soaked bag of granola and chocolate and water that she still clasped in one hand in a death grip and ran her way down that table in joy. She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it. And the smells that were coming off it made her stomach growl in earnest.

Jen sat down in the chair, which was plush and soft and enjoyed the fireplace that was warm but not roaring hot and began to eat the dinner that someone had laid out for her. There was slices of roast chicken breast, a baked potato with sour cream and chives, and roasted vegetables, green beans and carrots. There was a small dish with a roll on it on the left and another small dish with pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on the right. The goblet had red wine in it. Jen took a sip and admired it in shock. The goblet appeared to be pure gold and encrusted with a row of alternating rubies and diamonds all the way around.

   Jennifer ate and drank to her heart's content. She ate every bit of the potato with sour cream and chives, all the vegetables, most of the chicken, and ate the pumpkin pie as well.

   At last she was full. She wiped her mouth daintily with the white napkin, laid the silver silverware on top of the plate and turned the chair toward the fire. She sat there, nursing the wine a bit, digesting and feeling drowsy and warm although a bit careworn and sticky from her rain watered out clothes.

   A light in the hall turned on.

   Jennifer put down the goblet and got up. Dinner was over. Someone must be watching. She wondered if there were cameras. Yes, that must be it.

   "Uhhh...hello!? Are you there? Are you watching? Are there cameras? Look, if there's someone there, you can come out. It's just me! Thank you for dinner! I don't mean to trespass! If you want, I could just use a phone and be on my - Oh my word!" she yelled, startled out of her wits.

All through her monologue, Jennifer had picked up her bag of supplies and made her way toward the hall light. As soon as stepped into the hall the dining room light went out, plunging the room into darkness behind her. That was what startled her. After the dining room light went out, the front hall near the stairs lit up. Jennifer slowly went that way and reached the front of the house again.

The hall light and the front hall went out. A light at the top of the stairs went on.

Jennifer was sufficiently creeped out now but she was beginning to get the idea. She climbed the stairs. At the top, was a hall to the left and a hall to the right. The halls stretched out a long way down and at the end of each hall she could see the hall branch off into a T fork.

The top of the stair light went off and the left hand hall lit up. Jen went down that hall.

   All along this hall were many doors. She passed down the hall about halfway when the light went out. The entire house and hall was plunged into darkness and silence. Jen let out a little scream. She was more than a little scared. She couldn't go forward. She knew she wasn't to go back. Her heart was in her throat.

And then two doors down under the door to the right, a light went on. Jen could see the light come on under the crack at the bottom of the door.

There was nothing for it. Jen felt her way down the rest of the hall. She took hold of the doorknob. She twisted the knob and sort of...pushed the door open quickly, pushing it open ahead of her.

Phew!!! Jen was charmed. Inside was a very nice guest bedroom.

   Jennifer went inside and shut the door against the dark hall. There was a single bed with clean, white bedding and a nice green coverlet. The bed had a shining, brass, curved headboard and footboard. There was an easy chair over by the window that was a matching green. To the right was a small wardrobe and a writing desk. To the left was a door that led to a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower stall. There were windows directly across from you as you walked in. They opened outward but right now they were fast shut against the storm. Rain pelted against them and ran down in rivulets obscuring everything outside. More lightning and thunder flashed and crashed but inside this cozy room, Jennifer felt warm and safe at last.

She crossed over and shut the heavy curtains over the windows, creating an even cosier atmosphere. She checked the wardrobe and was delighted to find a long, white nightgown and a nightcap.

   Carefully, she checked the walls or anything that could be hiding a camera. There was nothing. Well, perhaps they were only in the common areas. She stripped, hung her clothes carefully over the footboard, and put on the nightgown. It felt great to be out of the soaked and then flash dried clothes at last and the nightgown felt great against her skin, clean, and soft and strangely enough, almost warm as if it had been fresh out of the drier or freshly ironed. But that was impossible. She was unexpected and moreover she had seen nobody.

She sat down in the green chair to think. There must be somebody. The door had unlocked. Lights turned on and off. And that dinner...somebody had made that exquisite dinner. But for the life of her she couldn't figure it out.

Her eyes began to flicker and the bed began to look more and more attractive by the second. Finally, she gave it up and just decided not to kick a gift horse in the mouth. She got up and went to the door.

   Carefully she opened the door. The silence in the hall was as deep as the darkness. It was scary as hell.

   "Hello!" she called. Hello....hello....her voice echoed.

"I just wanted to say thank you!" Say thank you...thank you....you...

   "And good night!" night...night.....

   She felt a little foolish but after all somebody had to be doing this...right? Better to be safe than sorry. She closed the door again against the dark hall and discovered a push button lock on the door. She knew there was probably no reason to do this but she pushed it anyway. It made her feel more secure and that dark hall out there gave her the willies.

   She turned down the bed, turned off the light and climbed aboard. Within a few minutes of her head hitting the pillow, she was fast asleep.

Next Morning:

   By the next day, the storm had passed and was like a bad dream. It was bright and sunny and a crack of this sunlight streamed through the curtains of Jennifer's room.

   Jennifer awoke slowly, in stages, having had lovely dreams. Then she came awake more quickly and sat up in bed as she remembered where she was. She looked about herself frowning. Something had changed. But she couldn't put her finger on it. Everything was immaculate, perfectly in order.

   She got up and went to use the facilities. She washed her hands and then came back into the room. Suddenly, everything seemed stifling rather than cosy. She opened the curtains and opened the windows outward.

   It was a beautiful day. The sun was bright and warm. Jennifer was looking down into a beautiful courtyard, a decorated garden. It was very beautiful.

   She took a few deep breaths of cool, morning air and then closed the windows again.

It was then she turned and realized what the difference was. Her clothes were gone from the footboard. However, the wardrobe door was half open.

   Jennifer went to check. Sure enough, her clothes were inside all hung up and neat as a pin. They had been laundered and ironed.

   Someone had been in her room. Someone had been there...while she slept! In growing trepidation, she slowly approached the door to the hall. She eyes widened and she gasped in shock.

The lock button was still pressed in.

   She twisted the knob and the button obediently popped out and the door pulled open. She checked.

   The door had no keyhole.

Quickly, she slammed the door again and locked it. Her fear mounted. Someone had gotten in her room while it was locked and seemingly without opening the door!

Jennifer got dressed, and replaced everything. She put the nightgown back in the wardrobe. She turned and pulled the sheets up as neatly as she could. She grabbed her bag of emergency belongings and her bag and gave a final double check. As she did, she happened to see inside the wardrobe. She gave a short scream.

   The nightgown was gone.

   Sure now, that something supernatural was happening, Jennifer spun and fled that s

small and now somehow oppressive room.

The hallway was still dark but not oppressively so. Jennifer made her way back to the stairs, and then downstairs The downstairs was filled with natural light now and it made her feel a little better but she still wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

   She had grabbed her red slicker and was about to put it on when two things happened. First, she realized she was still stranded with her car in the ditch. At the same time, she smelled wonderful morning smells. Bacon-y smells.

Slowly, she replaced her slicker and made her way to the dining room. There was a setting for one, a plate of food ready. There was bacon and eggs and hash-browns and coffee and orange juice in another golden goblet. The food was still steaming, it was so hot.

Again, Jennifer wondered how whoever knew she would be down at this time to be ready for a hot breakfast....right now. And again, she just had to give it up.

She went and ate the breakfast and drank the coffee and OJ.  As she did, she found a folded piece of paper next to her plate. Jennifer had thought it was a napkin but there was another white linen napkin next to that. She unfolded the paper and read:

Outside the front door is something that will help you.

   That was all. But it was enough. Jennifer finished the nice breakfast, wiped her mouth daintily and again left everything in a neat state. Unsure of what to do, she also left her last $20 bill next to the plate and partially under the white linen napkin.

   "Ummm....Thank -you very much!" she called out. Of course there was just silence. "I've - I've left some money! Thank you very much for your hospitality."

   With that, she left the dining room, went to the front hall and put on the slicker and boots and prepared to leave. Looking back, there was nothing else she could have done. She wondered with all her might what was waiting outside but for the life of her, she never would have guessed, not in a million years.

   Cautiously, she opened the front door and her mouth dropped open and she gasped in astonishment.

   Outside waiting for her in the driveway was a horse. A huge, hairy, ugly beast of a horse with oversized, hairy feet. It was in fact, a Clydesdale horse. It was tan and very intimidating. It was saddled and bridled and there were huge stirrups.

The horse was attached to a wooden frame on wheels. And attached to the frame was a length of chain with a large, strong hook on the end of it.

There was a note pinned to the saddle. Jennifer went out of the house and carefully closed the door. She went over to the horse and petted it experimentally. It huffed a bit but otherwise did not move and was complacent. She took the note and read:

This horse is strong enough to pull your car to safety. Attach the hook to the back of the car and have the horse pull. After you have pulled the car to safety, unhook the horse, leave the frame by the side of the road and let him go. He will find his own way home. His name is Arjax. He follows the following commands. Do not return.

   The rest of the paper outlined the commands that the horse would follow.

   Jennifer was giddy with relief. Finally, this nightmare was nearly over.

   She checked the paper and said: "Arjax...Down!"

   Arjax immediately kneeled on his front legs. The saddle was now tilted but low enough for Jennifer to mount. She put one foot in a stirrup and did so.

   "Arjax...up!"

And Arjax stood and the ground dropped away to a dizzying height. However, Jennifer just closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. When she was ready, she said Arjax...Gee Up!"

Obediently the horse started down the driveway. The mansion looked even more fearsome in the daylight. The gargoyles were twisted, ugly and plentiful. The house seemed to be made entirely out of black stone.

Using the commands, Jennifer rode the horse and...whatever it was....back to her car. Thankfully the return trip was faster with the horse's help and more peaceful with the sunshine's help.

When they got to the car, Jennifer obeyed the note, attached the hook and chain to her back end, under her back bumper.      Then she referred again to the note and yelled: "Arjax, YAAAHHH! YAHHHH!" over and over.

   The huge horse began to pull. It strained and heaved its big muscles and at first nothing seemed to happen. Then slowly, the car began to move.

"Yes! Yes! That's it! That's it! YAHHH! YAHHHH! Keep pulling, Arjax! You're doing it!" Jennifer yelled in joy.

And so, Arjax kept pulling and pulling and inch by torturous inch the car kept moving until at last it was pulled out of the ditch and back onto an even keel onto the road. And through it all, the highway remained empty. No other cars came along to bother them. It was welcome and weird and surreal, all at the same time.

Jennifer gave the order to stop and Arjax did. He stood and rested and heaved and sweated a bit. Jennifer went over and patted his huge and ugly nose.

   "Oh, Arjax! Thank you so much! You deserve a good rest. Come on now." Jennifer unhooked him from the car and led him by the reins over to the side of the road where she unhooked him from the frame.

   She ran back and checked her car. The front end would need some bodywork but otherwise was not too bad. She tried the engine. It started. She sighed in relief.

Letting it idle, she ran over and slapped Arjax in the butt two times, which was the signal for him to go. Arjax whinnied cheerfully, and trotted off down the road where he soon turned aside into a field. He took a well deserved and rather large dump. He walked a little ways away from it unconcernedly and began to graze on some particularly sweet clover.

Jennifer retrieved her keys from the pocket, took off the red slicker and put it back in the trunk but kept the boots on.(If you remember, her shoes were ruined) She figured she could always take off the boots and drive in her stocking feet if they became too cumbersome.

She tossed everything else in the car and did exactly that. But she decided not to obey the note and instead drove back to the house to see if she could meet and try to thank her mysterious benefactor. Besides, she was really curious about the food and lights and the other mysterious happenings that had gone on while she was a guest.

   The return trip up the driveway was even more intimidating that the last. The house seemed large and more horrible and complicated, the grounds and lawns were still fallow and yellow and there was no sign of life. Nothing. No car. No lights. No movement. But there must be someone! The lights...the food...her clothes...Arjax...the notes...even the note that warned her to not return...

She pulled up in front of the house and turned off the motor. Boots on. Up to the door.

And the door was deadbolt locked. There was no way she had locked it.

   She banged on the door with the golden lion. You would think that the knocker would have lost some of its scariness but nope! If anything, it was even more realistic and snarling in the daylight.

   "Hello!! If anyone's there, won't you answer me? Please! Hello!!?"

   Of course there was no answer.

   "Well, I know, I shouldn't really have come back but I just wanted to meet you! Whoever you are! Thank you again! It was a little scary but I had a great time and I'm very grateful! Thank you again! OK, goodbye then!"

   Jennifer turned to go and walked a little ways back to the car a little sadly. She felt bad that she could not thank her benefactor and felt even worse about leaving anybody in this desolate place.

   As she walked back to the car, her caught sight of the two flower bushes flanking the door like sentries. She did a double take. They weren't just flower bushes! They were rose bushes! And this wasn't really the time of year for it but somehow there were many flowers in bloom or halfway there.

As she looked at them a vivid picture of both her children arose in her imagination. They were sad and disappointed. She felt bad that she was going to have to disappoint both of them. Molly, because she was younger but especially Justin because he was sweet and sensitive and Craig had put him through such shit since they had found out he was gay. And because he was gay, Jennifer still felt that a bit of Justin would have enjoyed that rose for himself. Not that he was effeminate. He wasn't. At least...she thought so...maybe he was...really. Maybe he wanted to be...Maybe...

Jennifer gave herself a little shake. Oh God, this was all so confusing! She still didn't understand homosexuality very much at all but at least she was willing to learn. Not like...

"Stop it!" she admonished herself, "Rehashing it over and over isn't going to help!"

She looked over at the bushes again and saw how many roses there were. So many. And Justin had only asked for one. She couldn't buy Molly's dress or even a rose from a shop for a long time but now here...here was an opportunity to fulfill at least one of her children's requests.

Slowly, she walked back over to the door to the left hand bush. There were so many. And she would love to ask. She would. But whoever was here was determined not to make contact. So...maybe he wouldn't mind....just one. She hoped not.

And so, she reached out and took hold of a half opened rose and snapped the stem close to the stalk it was growing out of. And in so doing, she sealed all their fates forever.

   She sniffed the rose and it was so sweet...as sweet as...well, as a rose. She turned and walked slowly back to her car.

She was halfway there when the front doors were flung open. Both of them had to be solid oak but they were opened inward and tossed aside like they were nothing. The fearsome CRAASSHH!!...was like a bomb going off. A fearsome figure of a man strode out. His face was as dark as his clothes and he was dressed all in black.

   Jennifer screamed and quailed before him as he strode out quickly toward her, his hands reaching out for her. She expected them to go around her throat and squeeze, he was so angry but he just grabbed her arms and shook her into submission before letting her go again.

   "THIEF!! THIEF!! I SAW YOU! I SAW! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM ME!! You were warned never to return! And yet you did, just so you could steal from me! HOW DAAAAAAAAAARE YOU!!?" He huffed and puffed like a Brahma Bull, awaiting her answer.

   "NO! That's not true! I came back because I wanted to meet the one who helped me and thank him in person! I wanted to see..."

"OH I GET IT!!! YOU WANTED TO SEE!!! YOU WANTED TO LOOK UPON THE FREAK! YOU WANTED TO SEE THE BEAST! WELL, GO ON THEN, LOOK!!"

   "That's not...not what I..."

"I said LOOK!!" the Beast of a man yelled louder than Jennifer thought possible. And so, she looked up from where she had been guiltily studying her gumboots like they contained the secrets of the Dead Sea scrolls.

Black leather, knee high boots led into leather pants that could have spray painted onto huge, powerful thighs. A black leather shirt. Elbow high gauntlets that were like a second skin to his hands. A full leather trenchcoat. Then higher...to his face...

   Most fearsomely of all, he was wearing a customized, black, leather mask, executioner style that reached downward to cover ¾ of his face, past his nose and nearly all the way down to his jawline on each side. The mask was cut into a razor point on one side and covered the other side of his face fully. Under the razor point of the mask, Jennifer could see he was a burn victim. He wore a Muir cap over it all.

   He was huge, 6'2", wide and powerfully built with thin hips. His face was black as the mask with rage and his entire outfit screamed power and authority. Jennifer was frightened out of her wits.

"All right, I'm looking," she said, "Please, Sir! I AM grateful for all you've done! I did NOT return to steal from you, not really! I just saw the bushes and you had so many and all I wanted...all I needed was one so..."

" So you stole it!" the man repeated pitilessly, "WHY!? I let you into my house, I fed you, I gave you lodging, sheltered you from the storm and asked for nothing in return! I even lent you my horse...my own horse...to help you with your car! And yet you returned and stole from me! For this you shall surely die!" He advanced on her and grabbed her by the front of her shirt until they were nose to nose. His other gauntleted hand slowly reached toward his mask...

"Die! No! No! Please no! Not over a single rose! Please, why!? You have so many!"

   "Every one of my roses are precious to me! Look around! My grounds are fallow and barren! These two bushes are the only thing of beauty I am allowed! And so I guard them jealously! And now you will die!"  He reached up closer for his mask.....

   "I didn't know! Please don't! I...I have a family! In fact, I took this rose for the sake of my son!" She closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.

   The Beast's hand stilled an inch away from his mask. "A son!? You have a son?"

   "Yes."

   "And why...would a son...care for a rose?" He released here suddenly and not gently.

   "Not for himself he doesn't. When I left home, I asked my kids what they wanted for a present! Justin only asked that I buy myself a rose! But there is no money. I'm a meat merchant. I'm CEO of Taylor's Meats! But I just found out a large shipment of our stock was sunk in the New York Harbour and was ruined. We will be very poor for the next six months. There will be no money for extras for a while. I saw your rose bushes and thought...at least I can honor Justin's request. And after how he was treated...it was the least I could do!"

   "What do you mean? HOW was he treated?"

   Jennifer explained how they just found out that Justin preferred men. She then went on to describe Craig's cruel and shameful treatment and that soon after he died. Of course, Justin was re-instated but Jen never stopped feeling guilty and ashamed at Craig's behaviour.

"Show me a picture of him!" the Beast demanded, "I assume you have little wallet sized pictures you carry around. I want to see him."

Jennifer fumbled around in her purse and extracted her wallet. It took a bit of effort as she was trembling so badly.

   The Beast looked at Justin's picture for a long time. Something in his face softened.

"One more try..."he murmured, "One last chance..."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jennifer asked.

   He ignored her. He tossed back her wallet.

   "All right...I have made a decision! I have decided to spare you! And stop feeling guilty! Guilt....regrets, apologies...they're bullshit! As it is, it seems like this Craig person got what he deserved. As for Justin, he's no longer your concern! His life must be forfeit for your own! In one week, he shall be standing where you are, or I shall hunt you down, Jennifer Taylor of Taylor Meats...and I will kill you all! You and both....your children!" he threatened in chilling, deadly serious voice. And Jen knew he was dead serious. And because of their fame, she knew he would hunt them down until he found them.

   "Oh, please no! Don't kill him! He's a good boy! Not for what I've done!"

"I don't want to kill him! I too, prefer men!" he explained.

   "No! NO! He'd still only be 17! He'll be three weeks shy of majority! And he's a virgin! Oh please don't do this thing!"

"Three weeks shy is good enough for me! And trust me, it is good enough for him! You know this to be true!

   Jennifer just stood there weeping in regret.

"Go! One week! Or I shall kill you all! Take your rose....and these..." he snapped his fingers and out of nowhere the two golden, jewelled goblets fell at her feet.

   "Sell them and use the money to get through your period of trial! Your...money is in your wallet. My wards have no use of mortal money! They were extremely amused. They thought it was some kind of toy!"

   "Your...wards!?" asked Jennifer.

The Beast ignored her. "I will expect Justin in a week! The nearest village is to your right as you leave. Go! And pray you never see my face, Jennifer Taylor!"

He turned on his heel and strode back inside the house. The doors slammed and locked with a fearsome noise. It echoed away and then there was nothing but silence.

   Jen sat sideways on the driver's seat of her car for a long while and wept bitter tears. She couldn't believe the conundrum she'd been placed in. It was medieval, like something out of ancient European fairy tale of arranged marriage. And it was do or die...over a rose!

Eventually though, her tears abated, and she knew she had to think practically.  She went over, still sniffling a bit and picked up the golden goblets and tossed them onto the front seat of the car. The Beast was right. Even if she had to sell it off diamond by diamond, the goblets would take care of them during the time of famine. There was no use leaving them there to rot on the ground.

Then she got into her car and got the hell out of that accursed place.

A little while down the road, she heard that terrible voice in her head: Pray you never see my face, Jennifer Taylor...

   Funny...she thought the expression was, pray you never see my face again.

Then she remembered thinking of how when she thought he was going to kill her, instead of doing it, instead of strangling her or even just twisting her neck sharply, he was reaching for his mask. It came to her memory and it would haunt her dreams for many nights to come. Closer and closer that gauntlet was coming to his blacked out face...

   And she realized: He was right. She never did actually see his face...

And she did. She fervently prayed that she never would.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 2

Leaving Home...Coming Home

   "My God, Mother! What have you done!?"

   Justin looked at the rose his mother had given him and let drop on the coffee table between them from unfeeling fingers. She sat there miserably having slowly slipped out the entire story.

   "Oh Justin! I'm so sorry! Everything just..."

""I'll tell you what you've done!" Justin yelled, not hearing her, "You sold me! You sold me, like....like a fucking piece of meat! For a rose!"

The irony of this statement was not lost on either one of them.

"Oh Justin no! Please don`t think of it like that! I - I didn`t want to! He...he forced me! It was either promise...or never come home at all! Maybe...maybe we don't have to!"

"What do you mean?" Justin narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"I could sell the company! We could change our names! We could go away! Get away!"

"And live out the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders!? No thanks! Besides, the stock in the company will be down for the next six months! Wasn't that the point of that whole trip? We wouldn't get enough for the company to live on for a year right now!"

Jennifer just sat there. She knew he was right.

"Besides, that company's a legacy...for Molly now. Yes, Molly!" he repeated, as she looked up at him in surprise. She thought he'd want it now that Craig was gone. "Butchering is not in my destiny. And neither is...being in this house or family any longer, it seems. First Dad wanted me gone. Now this! If I don't go, something else will force me out. Not to mention he'll come for Molly."

Jennifer cringed as she saw that he wasn't including her in his best wishes for health and happiness.

B&B&B&B&B

That that been three days ago.

Justin stepped down from the Greyhound bus onto the street of the one horse, six street square town...no, village that Jennifer had said was the closest town to the Beast's mansion.

The driver jumped down, opened the bottom of the bus and found Justin's one piece of luggage. He tossed it on the ground roughly and slammed the undercarriage closed again. He jumped back in the bus

Justin walked over. "Uhhh, thanks..."

The driver shut the door in his face.

"...a lot," Justin finished to no one.

The bus roared to life. It drove off and zoomed out of town like it was fleeing the scene of an accident. Justin was left there alone coughing and with the headache of one who has sucked down a bunch of diesel fumes.

After the bus left, Justin looked around. The town was not only tiny but it seemed deserted as well. He had been left at a bus stop with one bus shelter beside it. That was their bus station.

Justin grasped the handle of his bigger suitcase with wheels, which mostly contained art supplies, and his other suitcase, which contained a few changes of clothes, a few toiletries, and his toothbrush. That was all. Other than that he had turned his back and cut himself off from the life that had sold him off like the sausages hanging in one of their butcher shops. Truth be told, he was still carrying around a lot of anger toward his mother and resentment and hatred towards his dad. He wanted nothing more to do with Taylor Meats whatsoever. And with all that baggage, what did he need with more, carrying around the clutter of a former life?

Justin looked around for a clue as to what to do now.  He was on the Main Street, which seemed to be deserted right now. There was a hardware store closest...closed...A dress shop...closed...A diner right on the corner...open. Well that seemed a good a place as any to use a phone and rest himself while he figured out what to do.

Justin entered the diner and the bell over the door rang. The seats were in green and there was a row of stools against a counter. Behind the counter, watching a small TV in a corner was a bored looking waitress. She was forty something, a little tired looking. Her uniform was green with white trim and most startling of all, she had a full shock of frizzy red hair. It was an outrageous wig, and it looked ridiculous. At least...he hoped it was a wig. Yes, of course it was.  She swung around in surprise when she heard the bell.

"Good Grief! Is the meeting over already?"

"Probably not! What meeting?"

"The meeting at the factory! Everybody in town's supposed to...hang on! You're not from around here!" she screeched accusingly.

"No, that's true."

"Well, where did you come from?!"

"Pittsburgh," he answered honestly.

"No kiddin!? Wow, I have a cousin in Pittsburgh! Her name's Debbie! She works in a diner too! You ever meet her?"

"I'm afraid not. Sorry."

"Well, that's ok! My name's Beddy! Not Biddy! Not Betty! Beddy! Got that young man!?" she admonished in mock distress.

"Yes'm." Justin said mock meekness.

"Yes'm! That's rich!" She cackled like a witch guarding a candy house and not just glass containers of pies and lemon bars. "It's just Beddy! So what brings you all the way from Pittsburgh to...our little burg?"

"I've come to live here," said Justin, "I was...invited...to stay with a man living in a black mansion a ways north of town. I'm told it's quite forbidding. I actually came in here to find a ride. Do you know the number of a taxi?"

During his speech, Beddy's face had slowly drained until it was the color of chalk. Then, to his surprise, she burst into tears.

"Oh no! Oh no! Not another one!" she sobbed.

"Beddy! Whatever is the matter!?" exclaimed Justin.

"Oh it's the Beast! You're going to stay with the Beast, aren't you?" she sobbed.

"Well it was my mother who encountered him. She said he was a man," Justin said doubtfully.

Beddy sniffed and wiped her eyes with her apron. "Oh, I'm sorry punkin! It's local color. We all call him the Beast because he dresses in nothing but black and is nothing but snarly and surly and angry and vicious whenever he comes to town which is once every month or so to get supplies. But most fearsome of all is he never shows his face! He wears masks or hood and hats or a combination of all three. Once...I'll never forget...he came in here dressed in nothing but black leather clothes, tall black leather boots, and a full length black cloak with an onyx stone as a clasp. He was hooded with a full leather hood on with nothing but eyeholes and a zipper mouth to eat. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen."

"I see," said Justin, gulping in fear convincingly. And he did see. The black cloak. The shiny onyx stone. The boots. And the smooth as sin leather hood with no way in except a strip of metal to swap spit and the promise of a warm, wet tongue.

He gave himself a shake and forced himself to pay attention. Beddy hadn't finished.

"Every so often a young man shows up like you and goes to stay with the Beast. Sometimes, they claim to have come for a job, others were enticed by a reward of great wealth. But none of them...none....are ever seen again!"

"Oh my! That does sound scary!" said Justin.

"And I can't stand to see you meet the same fate. Oh Justin! I know we just met but I hope you don't mind me saying this! You are so young! So full of promise! And your hair...your sweet face...it reminds me of a sweet ray of sunshine! My cousin Debbie would absolutely skin me alive, if I didn't at least warn you and do my very best to say....Oh please don't go! Whatever he's promised you, it's not worth it!"

"I'm afraid I..." Justin began.

"You can stay with me!" Beddy gibbered, "Just...just stay here...help me in the diner for a few hours till my shift ends...or just hang out...but if you help there's the biggest slice of apple pie you've ever seen in it for you...oh my yes, you're too skinny! And then you can stay with me until the next bus out of town tomorrow!"

Justin was overwhelmed. "You'd do all that...for me? But I'm a stranger!"

"You're a good soul! I can sense it. I have power in such things, you know!" she winked conspiratorially, "Besides, if it will foil the Beast into getting you, I'll do anything! I'm in close e-mail contact with my cousin and I'm not kidding! If she knew I didn't do everything she'd do...even opening her home to a worthy stray...she'd drive down here toot sweet and skin me alive!! Believe me!!"

"OK, OK...I believe you!" Justin laughed at her antics. Then he sobered. "But I can't. I must go. You see it's not for the promise of a job, and I have plenty of wealth of my own...No, I go because of blackmail!"

"Blackmail! That's terrible! And just like him too! Ohhhhh!!!!" she ground her teeth in fury."Care to share the deets?" she asked, as if it was no big deal, but Justin could see she was dying with curiosity.

Justin sighed. It was rather private and he was aware of small town life and gossip. Whatever he told her would be common knowledge before the next edition of the newspaper came out.

Justin gave her the abridged version and concluded that he must go, or all three of them were forfeit. He didn't know what the Beast wanted to do with him but whatever the price, he was happy to pay it for the sake of Molly and even...yes even his mother. To not answer the summons even if it meant his death in his exchange for his mother, in his eyes, would have been supreme cowardice.

"And now," he finished, "I've really enjoyed meeting you, Beddy, and you can e-mail your cousin and tell her you did everything you could and all about me but I really should get going. Do you have a phone and a taxi service in this town?"

Beddy heaved a huge sigh and heaved a large, black, rotary dial telephone out from underneath the counter. It looked about a hundred years old.

"Well....I tried. Here you go. There are two companies in town." She took off a couple of cards from a billboard. "Here you go, Sunshine! However, be forewarned...they know about the Beast too!"

Justin nodded and dialled the first one. When they asked him the address, he said, "Hmmm. Actually I don't quite know. It's a black mansion north of town. I've been talking to a townsperson here. I believe you call him the Beast."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?" asked Justin.

"There is NO way I would ask ANY of my drivers to go to that death trap! Is this a prank call!?" The screaming was so loud Justin had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"It's not a prank," Justin said.

"Well forget it! Hire a car! Walk! Or better yet, forget that horrible place because I`m never sending one of my cars up there!"

"Hey! If you never send a car up that way, how do you know it's so horrible?"

The only answer was a sharp click in his ear.

The only response from the second company was a sharp, girlish scream, (the answeree had been a male) and the click of the phone hanging up in his ear.

"How rude and unprofessional!" Justin exclaimed, "What am I going to do!? Short of hiring a private local or something, I'll have to walk! And I have no idea how far it is!"

"I tried to warn you," Beddy said sadly, "Look, you don't have to be there right away, do you? Let's fall back on my plan. Come stay with me! We can regroup and maybe find a ride later!  Or better yet, a ride outta town! We'll figure someth..."

The phone rang.

They both stared at that boxy, black phone as if it had grown fangs and a tail. The phone rang again, not one of those digital, electronic rings but a real bell, filling the little joint up with real noise as loud as a fire alarm.

"Oh my God! This town's so small, I've never needed to use it...I don't even remember the number."

The phone rang again.

"That phone hasn't rung in 50 years!"

His hand shaking a little, Justin answered on the next ring, cutting off that horrible bell in mid ring. "Hello..." he asked cautiously.

"Hello...Justin Taylor, is it not?" said a deep and smooth voice, that made Justin think of sweaty, black silk sheets.

"Yes...who's this?" asked Justin.

"My name is Mr. Kinney. In the days to come, you will call me Brian. Everyone in the town where you are sitting calls me Beast!"

Justin mouthed to Beddy, "It's him!" and then asked the phone, "How did you know where I'd be? Or this number? I didn't tell anybody my schedule."

"My dear Justin," the Beast named Brian chuckled and this laugh made Justin think of rich chocolate and hot sex. His insides turned to mush a little. He shook himself. If his voice could do this to him then what...? He tried to concentrate on what the Beast was saying. "There is very little in that town that I don't know about. Plus you are mine now, and I always take care of what is mine. I understand you are having trouble getting transportation to my house."

"I - I - Yes, I am! But...how did YOU know that! I just now got into town! Nobody knows that! And...and I am not yours! I am my own man!"

"Ohhh, Justin, Justin! You ARE mine! The exchange between you and your mother was made the instant you stepped off the bus. And I have had my eye on you ever since! And you are as delicious as your name! How I love saying it, Justin!"

"Wait! You can see me!?"

"Yes."

"H-How?? Prove it!"

"You are sitting on a puke-green stool in that deplorable excuse for a diner wearing a blue sweater that matches your exquisite eyes exactly. Your hair is so blond it is like shining gold. Shall I go on?"

"No! But how? How? Do you have this place wired with cameras? Where are they?" Justin looked around wildly.

"No cameras. Don't work yourself into a conniption. Now, I simply called to tell you...I will provide transport to my house. Be on the main street at the bus stop where you were dropped off in 45 minutes which will be...at 6:00 PM. Do not be late and when it arrives do not linger. Do you understand?"

"I - Yes. But...how will I know it's you?"

"You will know. Order anything you want to eat and tell the busybody behind the counter I will pay whatever the bill is the next time I am in town. See you soon, Justin." The last was a promise that again made Justin thing of sweat-rumpled sheets.

"Hey! She's nice!"

The Beast only laughed his deep, sexy laugh again. "See you soon Justin," he said again, "Justin...how I love saying that beautiful name!" The phone clicked in his ear.

Justin slammed down the phone in annoyance. Did the people in this town have an allergy to saying good-bye!?  Geez!

Beddy was on pins and needles. "What did he say?"

"He knew. He knew I was in trouble. He said there were no cameras but he can see me. He's sending a car. And he said if I order dinner, he'll pay for it when he next comes to town!"

"The Beast?? Coming here! NO! No, that's all right! Everything's on the house!" Beddy was frightened out of her wits.

"Nonsense! Don't worry Beddy, I'm here now! If he comes here, I'll make sure he behaves! And if need be, I'll come with the money to pay it back!"

"Well....OK! That's sounds all right! So..." a pad and pencil were whipped out of nowhere, "Whaddy'll have?"

B&B&B&B&B&B

  Forty-five minutes later, Justin was well fed with the country-fried steak special and the biggest slice of apple pie a la mode he had ever seen. Beddy hadn't been kidding. It was at least 3 inches high, if not more and filled the entire saucer.

Then he'd given her a small hug but she'd have none of that. She grabbed him over the counter and squeezed tightly and whispered: "In case you don't come back!" in a tearful voice.

"Beddy, listen to me! Even if it's for a visit...to pay you back...or just for another piece of that incredible pie...I am coming back! You hear me?"

"I hear you! And I'm going to write my cousin all about you, Sunshine! I know...even long distance...she's going to love you!"

Justin laughed and said his goodbyes and headed out to the bus stop and made it there by 5:55 PM.

He sat there a little forlornly, checking his watch frequently, feeling that that anxious feeling one feels while traveling waiting for a connection and wondering if he's missed it or on time and oh God! What if he did? What was he to do? He was alone and stranded and the town seemed more deserted, emptier, and desolate as a graveyard. He couldn't have missed the Beast's car...He just couldn't. Could he?

He checked his watch. 5:58. He sighed. He peered down the road north, which was straight as an arrow. There was nothing.

Wait! There was something. A black dot in the distance but getting larger and larger all the time.

Justin squinted at the thing...and then squinted harder...and then as it got closer his eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. He blinked....and then blinked again at looked at the thing coming at quite a fast click down the road, getting clearer and clearer as it got closer and closer.

It was a boxy, old world carriage, the likes of which Snow White or Cinderella might have ridden it if they had existed outside of their ancient fairy tales. This carriage was square and made out of a rich wood, oak, or maybe mahogany. It was painted a deep black. It was overlaid in onyx stone carvings and the trim was gold. The gold trim was intricately carved. The wheels were rubber but the hubcaps were also overlaid with golden carvings of ivy and leaves that blurred as they spun. But the unusual ride was only a small part of Justin's amazement. No...shock. And fear.

The carriage was rolling into town at a good clip, all by itself. There was no horse. There was no exhaust pipe or engine. It was only this deep black, covered carriage rolling along all on its own. It moved almost perfectly silently. The only sound was the rubber hissing on the asphalt.

Justin watched this wonder and terror with wide eyes. He couldn't look at it hard enough. The carriage slowed as it approached him. Justin watched, swivelling his neck 90 degrees as the carriage slowed and then stopped directly in front of him.

He looked at his watch. It was exactly 6:00.

The door facing him gave a deliberate click!... and slowly opened wide.

Justin flashed back to Brian's sexy as sin voice on the ancient telephone and his insides turned to mush again. He remembered his instructions not to linger and now he knew why. He looked again at the spookily deserted town and decided quickly not to disobey.

He dragged over his wheeled suitcase and threw it inside. He tossed the other one after it and then climbed in after it. Before he had finished settling into the black leather seat, the door was slowly but deliberately closing after him. It closed with a snap.

The carriage was the same forwards and back. It didn't even need to turn around. It simply slowly started up again in the opposite direction, and then faster and faster rolled north out of town, carrying its precious cargo within it.

One hour later...

Justin was bored. For a solid hour, he had been watching cows and horses and fields flash by. Red barns and dilapidated barns, old farmhouses, strawstacks, antiquated farm equipment. It got monotonous. And it was getting dark.

At last, just when Justin despaired that he was going to be rolling along in this supernatural carriage forever, he caught sight of what must be his destination. In the midst of fallow fields and amidst a large yellow lawn, was the black, gothic mansion that could only be what his mother described. It was uglier than he had imagined. The house stretched back and rose up at least 4 stories and was very wide. As she had said, gargoyles were plentiful. So were chimneys and towers, adding to the twisted, medieval, and European look.

The carriage rolled up to the driveway, turned up the driveway and rolled up to the house. It rolled up close to the front door and stopped. Click! The door opened.

Justin shrugged. It seemed this was the end of the line. He got out and tugged out his luggage.

The carriage door slammed closed and the thing rolled off to the right and around the side of the house.

Justin walked over to the front doors intending to knock and present himself but he was expected. As he approached the two doors opened by themselves, welcoming him in. Justin walked through. The front hall was all lit up.

"Hello! Hello! I'm here!"

"Hello Justin! Welcome to my home. Thank you for coming!"

The Beast was at the top of the stairs. He was clothed in leather pants, no shirt, revealing washboard abs and a wide, stunning torso. However the beauty was marred by the many tattoos covering his chest, stomach, arms, and back. There were snarling wolves with foam dripping off wickedly sharp fangs. A lion. A long knife dripping blood in one corner and a sword impaling a lifelike human heart in another. The heart was dripping blood and down from there, there was a pool of it and a strange and evil chimera monster was springing forth from the blood. There were skulls and eyes and a jack o' lantern that had a smile so evil and murderous it made Justin shudder. And there were many, many other designs as well. And twisted around everything and throughout was a evil looking thorny ivy. Over all this he wore a full length, black, silk cape, with an onyx stone at the nape of his neck as the clasp. Justin wondered if this was the cape Beddy was talking about. He wore tight gloves that had elastic fitting around the wrist, like police gloves.  He wore a Muir cap that had extra room in the top. Even so it was moving and shifting a little. Over his face, he wore a pair of large, steampunk type goggles, deep black. They concealed the top half of his face but left the rest exposed. Justin could see the burn marks, a huge boil on his nose, enlarging it significantly, and what looked like acid burns on one side of his face. His mouth had burned away on that side. He had a cleft lip and fangs that grew down past his lower lip. He had a heavy moustache that led into muttonchop sideburns. He had no beard.

"I didn't have a choice!" Justin ground out in anger.

The Beast started down the stairs with an arm outstretched. Halfway down, he made a waving gestured. All by themselves, the front doors slammed. Justin started at the noise but he stood his ground.

"How are you doing that?" asked Justin.

"Doing what?" asked the Beast.

"That! The doors closing by themselves! My mother reported lights going on and off by themselves! I was just driven here by a carriage that ran all by itself! How are you doing all this!? Tell me!"

The Beast continued down the stairs. About ¾ of the way down he stopped. "Perhaps one day I shall tell you. One day when you esteem me highly enough to ask in the good manners I have shown you."

"We both know that day will never come," Justin said in a terrible voice.

"Never say never," said the Beast. He started down again. His arm was still stretched toward Justin.

Justin let him, get a step, maybe two down when he planted he feet in a battle stance held out his hand and yelled, "STOP!" in that terrible voice.

The Beast stopped. "Yes?" he asked in that deep smooth voice in had used over the telephone. He was highly amused and it showed.

"I have come as you requested. I have come in my mother's stead. Before you come another step closer to me, I want you to renounce your claim on my mother's blood."

"I renounce it." The Beast took a step down.

"STOP!"

The Beast stopped. He took a deep, patient breath. His deep, wide chest expanding even more was wonderful to behold.

"I want you to renounce your claim on my sister's, Molly Taylor's blood."

"I renounce it."

"Very well. You may approach and...and do whatever you wish with me. I am ready."

The Beast descended the rest of the way down the steps his arm outstretched and stood at the bottom and a little ways away from Justin who stood in the middle of the Main Hall. His breath hitched a little. He lowered his arm.

"I may...do...whatever I wish? Whatever?" he asked.

"Yes." Justin lifted his chin in defiance, exposing his throat. "Just....just make it quick will'ya?"

Slowly, the Beast approached Justin, one arm outstretched, his hand curved into a claw. His cloak flowed out behind him.

"Oh Justin! Trust me! Of all the things I want to do to you, none of them is....quick!"

"His outstretched hand reached Justin's throat. Closed around it. Justin closed his eyes and waited for the end to come.

B&B&B&B&B&B

Instead, the Beast held his neck gently, lovingly, and stroked it, oh so lightly. The light stroking of the leather felt amazing and made Justin groan in desire. The Beast's other hand found a nipple and Justin quivered in pleasure. The hand snaked around his shirt and found its way under his sweater. It stroked up and down on the small of his back. It felt fuckin' amazing and Justin's knees buckled a little. The Beast easily held him up, dipped him, still stroking his neck.

   "Close your eyes," commanded the Beast.

Justin was extremely confused. He was ready for death and wished the Beast would just get on with it. At the same time the mushy feeling in his stomach was back in spades. Not really knowing what else to do, thinking maybe there really wasn't anything else for him to do; Justin obeyed. He closed his eyes.

The lips that met his were warm, shy and hesitant. But as they met no resistance, the gained confidence and Justin felt a warm, soft, large and practiced tongue seek entrance and God help him! Maybe it was the leather had still caressing him gently, maybe it was the gentleness of the Beast, but Justin opened for him willingly and the Beast groaned/growled in satisfaction and probed deeper and for many minutes plundered the depth of his mouth and partook of the treasures it offered.

At last, when they came up for air, Justin was able to gather some of his equilibrium. He pulled away. "I - I don't understand. Why...what are you doing to me?"

The Beast smiled and it was hideous to behold. "Come Justin. We're both healthy gay guys. Surely you can figure that out."

"But I thought...I thought...Didn't you bring me here in exchange for my mother? Didn't you bring me here to kill me?"

"Kill you? No! Didn't your mother tell you?"

"I didn't really give my mother a chance to say much of anything. And I left as soon as I could."

"Well, I wanted to kill her! I agreed to the exchange because I wanted you for another purpose."

"For...what purpose?" Justin asked in trepidation. But in his heart, he already knew.

"To love me," said the Beast, "I brought you here to love me."

"Love you! But...I just got here! I can't love you!"

"Oh. No, I suppose not. It is my punishment, my doom. Am I very ugly to you, my Beauty?"

"NO! YES! WHAT?? I mean, no! Yes!"

"Which is it, my Beauty?" the Beast was highly amused.

Justin took a deep breath to give him time to collect his thoughts. Then he said slowly:

"Yes, Beast. You are quite ugly. But no! That is not why I cannot love you!"

"I see. Well, why don't we go somewhere more comfortable and you can explain further. I feel quite bad standing you out here in the hall for so long! Bring your bag and we'll go have hot chocolate and cookies before bed. And maybe a little bit of Beam."

The Beast grabbed his larger bag and wheeled it along on one side as he led Justin with an arm around the shoulder on the other. Justin carried his other, lighter bag. Beast led Justin past the dining room to a door beyond that. The light turned on by itself. They went in.

Inside was a kind of den, with floor to ceiling bookshelves, all filled, rich carpeting, and a large fireplace with an ornate mantle. Before it were two brown leather easy chairs. There was a nice fire in the fireplace. Each chair had its own table and upon it was exactly what the Beast had described. There were two tall, glass mugs filled with rich hot chocolate and a plate piled with chocolate chip cookies. Next to one of the chair was a cart filled with liquor bottles.

The Beast deposited the bags by the door and sat in the chair nearest to the alcohol. He gestured to the other seat. Justin sat down. The seat was very soft and comfortable and the fire was warm. Justin sighed in contentment. This was better that standing in the hall. And now that he knew he wasn't under the threat of death anymore, he felt a bit more at ease.

"Irish up your chocolate?" asked the Beast, doing that very thing to his own.

"I don't know...I mean I'm still only 17. I won't be 18 for another..."

"Three weeks. Yes, I know. I hardly think a fraction of Beam in your hot chocolate will corrupt you though. Care to try?" The Beast raised an eyebrow, testing him.

"All right. Just...not too much." Justin decided.

The Beast poured about half a shot glass worth in. "There. Not too much at all. Now...you were saying..."You cannot love me tonight because..."

"I cannot love you because I just got here 5 minutes ago! Besides which you have the entire village nearest to you scared out of their wits of you. According to Beddy, you are surly and nasty to them all the time! I don't want to love someone like that!"

"I see."

"Added to that, she told me you have already invited numerous men here. Is that true?"

"It is," said the Beast.

"Aren't they enough for you? Where are they?"

"They are all dead," said the Beast calmly.

Justin gasped, nearly choking on a piece of cookie. "What - what happened? So...did you bring me here to kill me after all?"

"Calm yourself Justin. I will tell you more about their fate and show you where they lie. But not tonight. Another day and soon."

"So...there is to be no love at first sight tonight. Because of my surly attitude. The tatts and fangs have nothing to do with it, hmmm?" And he bared them fearsomely in the firelight.

Justin shrank back in his chair a little. Then when he saw the Beast was kidding, he said shakily, "Well, maybe a little," he admitted, "You are a very good kisser though."

The Beast chuckled a snarling laugh. "Thank-you, my Beauty. Well, perhaps I can show you improvement in my attitude in the short time we have."

Justin's hot chocolate was about half gone. He lay back in the chair, his body heavy. "How much time...do we have?" he asked drowsily.

"I will show you exactly how much. But not tonight. Another day and soon," said the Beast.

Justin yawned. "Why do you wear those goggles?"

"I have many kinds of facewear. I wore the goggles tonight to show you my ugliness without overwhelming you."

"Over...overwhelming me? What do you mean?" Justin ate another cookie and drank a bit more but he was seriously sleepy now. And it didn't help that the night had gone deeply dark while they had been talking.

"I will tell you that, but not tonight. Another day and soon. But I will tell you this. I am more ugly than you see here, more ugly than you can possibly imagine. You must never take off my sunglasses or goggles or whatever I am wearing and above all you must never seek to look me straight in the face. This is serious!!! Promise me, Justin!!!"

"I...I promise...Why...why is your hat moving?"

"I will tell you but another day..."

"And soon," Justin finished along with him irritably, "Is there anything you CAN tell me?"

"Yes. I can tell you that you will sleep shortly."

"You're not kidding! I can barely keep my eyes open! What's happening to me?"

"It's the Beam. It's having a tranquillizer effect. You are not used to it like I am."

"Wh-what are you gonna do with me?" asked Justin fearfully, "Hey, you didn't roofie me did you?"

The Beast threw back his head and laughed long and hard, snuffling like a wolf amused. Suddenly he came out with a long AAARRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

The Beast blushed and was embarrassed, the way someone might be after sneezing hard in public. "Sorry! Those don't come out too often! Mostly when I laugh. And no, my Beauty, I didn't roofie you. When we make love, I want you to be looking at me, remembering every detail of your first time."

Justin felt that pleasant stomach churn again. He notice the Beast said when, not if they made love. As if it were inevitable. As if it was destiny.

Suddenly the Beast lunged and grabbed him suddenly. Justin tried to struggle, but he was a thousand pounds and amidst his struggles and the Beast shifting him, he suddenly found himself cradled in the Beast's powerful arms and pressed up against that hard chest and ugly artwork.

"However, I will take advantage of the situation to carry my prize to his bed. And when you love me enough, I shall carry you to mine!"

And he proceeded to do just that, taking swift, long strides out of the room. Justin's bags had already disappeared.

"That...that will never happen," Justin said sleepily.

"Ahhhh, my Beauty! Never say never."

The Beast carried him down a richly carpeted hall with many beautiful paintings lining it. Then through several salons, each one more richly furnished and beautiful than the last. Then down another hall and up a wide staircase. At the top, and to the right was a huge double door across which in large letters made of gold said: JUSTIN'S APARTMENTS.

The Beast carried Justin through these doors, walked over and turned on a small lamp beside an enormous king sized bed. The sheets were black silk and the bedspread was wine red. The rest of the room was lost to shadow and then the night.

The Beast proceeded to quickly strip Justin until he was naked and then put him to bed between the sheets. His loins stirred and a great temptation to climb in after the Beauty overcame him. But he resisted, and instead caressed a cheek with a leather finger. Justin groaned in pleasure and leaned into the caress and the Beast nearly crumbled to temptation. Finally, he allowed himself one thing.

"I can tell you two things before you sleep, Justin Taylor!" he growled, "One: In truth I did not "roofie" thee but I think I will take a small advantage of the effects. For I love thee, my Beauty!" And he bent down and kissed Justin's rosy pink mouth, kissed it witless, thoroughly, and long. It left Justin moaning in desire and quivering with the need for more. But the Beast merely backed off and wished him good night.

"Oh, and two: I can tell you that you may explore wherever you wish. You must think of it as your own home now. My house is your house. And if you choose to love me one day, I will give it to you, without reservation. It's been for you all along, I can feel it. It's for my Prince..."

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 3

JUSTIN'S APARTMENTS and the Courtyard

   The next morning Justin awoke from a deep but restless sleep. He had dreamed erotica all night long. He had a straining woody that was almost painful. He figured it had to do with that un-fucking-believable kiss the Beast had planted on him just before he fell asleep. He swore he even felt the fangs at one point...(well two points!) but instead of being afraid of them Justin had boldly forced his tongue between them and he remembered the Beast's sharp intake of excitement.

   "Oh! Oh Shit!" he yelled. He had been languidly stroking himself, remembering and that last bit had been enough to just...wham! He climaxed hard, with so much pleasure he arched back on his shoulders and heels. Then he collapsed back, breathing hard.

   Shit! What was happening to him? Here he was, in a strange place, in a strange bed with an ugly and scary man as his only benefactor and here he was beating off like a horny teenager! Of course...he was a horny teenager but still...

   The next thing he noticed was that he was lying on rumpled, black, silk sheets. He gasped. They looked just the way they did in his imagination yesterday. He gave himself a mental shake. It was a coincidence. It had to be.

   He threw off the covers and jumped out of bed, energized by the climax and now feeling the need to clean off and pee. He wondered if there was a place to do that near here.

   There was a creak.

   A door to the left was ajar and swung open a few inches. Justin checked. Yup, a bathroom. Damn! What a bathroom!

   The floor was shining white tile. The sink, toilet, tub and shower all were porcelain white but the fixtures: toilet handle, taps, spouts...were golden. The shower was a walk in.  The bathtub was big enough for four people.

   Justin used the toilet and then stepped into the shower. The taps and shower spout were golden (plated, he was sure...weren't they?) He snickered as he turned on the water and washed his stickiness away. It gave a wicked double meaning to the phrase: golden showers...

   Justin gave himself a shake. He wasn't that kinky....was he?

   Suddenly a vivid image of him lying on the floor of that very shower with four muscled bodybuilders standing over him assaulted his mind. Then one more figure, taller than all of them wearing leather pants and an executioner mask joined them. Entranced, Justin looked up into the eyes of the masked man...God that was hot! He couldn't look away.

   And then all the men nodded to each other and with one accord...they all peed on him! It was disgusting and revolting and yet...In the dream, Justin tried to resist, get away and found he was restrained somehow. He couldn't get away. He was totally at their mercy, helpless. They could do anything they wanted to him...and they were. And that...that was the erotic jolt flashed through Justin like electricity. There was a splash of urine on his face and...

   Justin gasped and shook himself. It was just the stream from the shower. That was the water splashing on his face. Thank goodness!

   And yet...there was an element of disappointment as well. And his cock was hard again.

   Justin gave himself another shake both mentally and physically. He finished the shower and got out. Something was happening to him. Something weird. Maybe it was all the leather and silk and masks and...the Beast. Something about him was bringing out the dark side in his normally sunshine-ey nature. I mean he grew up WASP for Chrissakes! He was as conservative as his father and his father before him.

   But then, Justin mused, he wasn't around his fellow WASPs  any longer. He was with the Beast. And he had no desire to be anything like his father. (mayGodhavemercyonhissoul)

   He finished toweling off and went to get dressed. He decided to put this train of thought on the back burner as it was in danger of giving him a serious complex.

   The first thing that caught his notice was that his bed was made.

   He had definitely not done that. He was definitely going to have a serious talk...

   His eyes widened and all thought sort of ground to a halt as he stared around him at what the morning light was now revealing to him...his entire bedroom.

   It was long room with a vaulted ceiling. The floor was shining hardwood. It was sectioned off into three portions. As Justin stepped out of the bathroom he was stepping out of a short end of the rectangle that was his room. To his left was the door to the hall, bookshelves, hooks on the wall that had yet to be filled or just paneled wall. There were no windows along this side as it was facing inside the house.

   The other wall, however, was a different story. There were four huge windows with curved tops along this wall, two on the right and two on the left of this wall. Separating the windows into the two groups was a huge fireplace with a mantle made out of dark wood.

   The first section of his bedroom (the one nearest to him) was his bedroom. There was his king size bed, a wardrobe to his direct right, along the short wall, so as not to obscure any window. His bags were standing in front of the wardrobe but unpacked and untouched.

   Justin's eyes followed along the room and he felt like he was in a dream. He was going to wrap the towel around his waist but now he felt like he wanted...nay, needed to experience this room in a way that was as free and unfettered as possible. His towel dropped on the floor and he walked forth as free and naked as he imagined, still semi hard.

   The middle section of the room was a living space. There was a Persian carpet on the floor and a leather couch and two matching armchairs facing each other at an angle, just like downstairs in Beast's den. The furniture was in front of the fireplace but far enough away from it that the heat would not be too intense if it was lit. There was a Grizzly bear rug in front of the fireplace. Justin smirked and rolled his eyes. In his dreams.

   To the left of the fireplace and in front of a window was a small four person breakfast table with four chairs. Along the wall to the hall at about this section, and to the right of the door to the hall was a small fridge, stove and sink with golden fixtures. There were counters to the left and right of the sink and three cupboards under each counter. There were shelves above them all. Justin checked them. One had pots and frying pans nesting each other. One had dishes and one was empty, presumably for dry goods. He checked the drawers. One had silverware in a nesting tray. The next had gadgets; a grater, slotted spoons, turkey baster, ladle, potato masher, and the like. The others were empty to be filled, as he liked, he supposed. There was a knife block on one counter and a toaster oven on the other. There was a percolator on the stove.

   Justin checked everything over, looked at the living room furniture and sort of...rubbed up against it. The leather cushions did things to his cock that should have been illegal.

   The third section and farthest along was seemingly the most simple but it was so profound it brought tears to Justin's eyes. The end of the room and the other short "width" of the rectangle were three sides of floor to nearly ceiling glass windows that let in as much natural light as possible. There was a large easel and a stool in the midst of this space. That was all.

   Justin sat on the stool and closed his eyes and imagined there was a huge canvas in front of his and that he had a whole array of paints and a palette and a brush. He mimed brushing a stroke. Oh, this would be wonderful! It was still only morning and this space was already bright. He could feel the light hot against his eyelids. He could tell from the position from the sun that it would stay like this until it set in the west. And it was quiet and so private that...that he could paint just as he was if it took his fancy. He could paint nude. And he could paint as many men as he wanted without fear of being kicked out, without fear of censorship. Justin took a long, slow breath of pure contentment. He made another miming stab. And hit something. He froze. Slowly he opened his eyes.

   There was a brush in his hand. There was an empty palette on his lap. There was a giant canvas on the easel, just as he had imagined. To the right of the easel a table had appeared. On this table, was a semicircle of tubes of paint, each one marked with their color. There was a rainbow of colors, just as he had imagined.

   Justin was so startled he jumped a foot and fell off the stool and onto his ass. The palette fell to the floor with a crash. He got up, wide-eyed with wonder. But he was beginning to get an idea but it was so ridiculous he thought he was going mad. He closed his eyes and imagined a semicircle of brushes, all the different sizes. Slowly, he opened his eyes. And there they were; each one next to a different tube of paint.

   Justin righted the stool, put the palette on the table with the paints and brushes and rushed the whole length of the room back to get dressed. He now had a feeling what was going on but he needed confirmation.

   There was a change of clothes on the footboard of his bed. The towel he had dropped on the floor was gone.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   In what seemed like no time Justin was dressed and ready.

   He opened the door to the hall and saw on the outside of his doors, JUSTIN'S APARTMENTS in gold. Apartments was right! Not just a room but a living space! Justin figured if he was set up there with provisions, he could live there for quite a while, much like he had lived in the secret wing at home.

   No. He couldn't do that either. He didn't want to squirrel himself away like that after the Beast had brought him so far to be kind and loving to him and even...gulp...fall in love with him.

   Justin still didn't know how to feel about that. He was so young and inexperienced. He wanted to live, really live a bit before settling down especially with one guy, and yes, Justin had to admit it to himself, he didn't know if he could settle down for the rest of his life with someone so ugly that he was forbidden to look at his face. Could it really be that bad? Maybe he was exaggerating. Maybe he had a complex.

   Justin gave himself a shake. Well, he could figure that out later. First, he had to figure out his way downstairs.

   Justin looked around. As well as a wide, lavish hallway stretching off nearly into the distance to both the left and the right, there was one directly in front of him, stretching away into infinity.  There were dozens of door, doorways, and multiple forks in the halls leading to...God knows where. Justin's head spun. He was completely disoriented.

   But Justin had an idea, a hunch that he was eager to try out.

   "I need help. I need help to find the Beast. Beast, if you can hear me...help me!" Justin thought clearly.

   Down the hallway in front of him a light fixture flashed on and off three times.

   Justin smiled.

B&BB&B&B&B&B&B

   Ten minutes later, after following the lights through a veritable maze of halls and rooms and yet still what he believed was the most direct route, mind you, Justin finally made it to the front staircase where he finally knew where he was.

   He dashed down the stairs and then followed his nose to the dining room where a lovely breakfast faire was spread out and two settings were laid out across from each other. The Beast was there, in one of the places.

   "Ahhhh Justin! How clever of you to make it down! I figured you might dine in your room. Do you like your room?" asked the Beast.

   "Yes, very much. Thank you Beast," said Justin. He sat across from Beast and began to help himself, "But I cannot eat in my room yet. If the fridge followed suit of the cupboards, there is no food there."

   "What do you like to eat Justin?" asked Beast.

   "Oh, I don't know...anything really...vegetables and fruit...what we're eating now..." he indicated the breakfast faire of eggs and bacon, sausages, orange juice, cereal, and coffee. "I saw a percolator...potatoes...rice...I can make jambalaya!" he said, he said defensively, not really knowing what else to say without seeming like a pig.

   The Beast was highly amused.  "I see. And when you make it...is it any good?"

   Justin was insulted. "Well of course it is! Anything I make in the kitchen turns out perfectly. I don't do anything unless I know I'm going to do it well!"

   "Oh, Justin! Of that I have no doubt!"It was clear the Beast was not talking about cooking. Justin blushed.

   I will have provisions delivered at the last stroke of noon," said the Beast.

   "Noon! But how? There will not be enough time to go to town for all that!"

   "No. That's true," said the Beast.

   "So you must have the provisions here," accused Justin.

   "Yes."

   "But you aren't going to be the one hauling the stuff all that long, lonely way up there...are you?"

   "Of course not."

   "Then who is? And who is playing with the lights? And my bed made itself this morning! Who is doing all this? Is it you? Are you reading my mind?! Tell me!!"

   The Beast was wearing large, tinted aviator style sunglasses today. He tilted them down and quirked an eyebrow before replacing them.

   Justin sighed noisily. "Please! Please tell me! Look, if you are reading my mind, don't I have a right to know!? And besides, if I don't understand what's going on, pretty soon the curiosity will drive me mad!"

   "That'll be a short drive!" observed the Beast in a deep, slow drawl.

   At Justin's furious stare, however, the Beast relented a bit. "My Beauty, you will be happy to know I am not reading your mind."

   As Justin heaving a sigh of relief, he continued, "But someone is."

   Justin's sigh turned into a gasp of shock. "What!? All of them?"

   "No. Just the ones pertaining to your needs and desires. You have probably noticed that whatever you wish for comes to pass. The rest of it, the cleaning up and so forth just...happens. There is magic in this house, Justin, some of it great magic, not to be trifled with. Much of it...I still do not understand. This magic...takes care of me in my solitude. Now it takes care of you too, in the time we have left. Can't that be enough for now?"

   "I suppose..."Justin grumped adorably. "So...did it take care of all those other men too?"

   "While they were here. Yes." The Beast answered.

   "How many were there?"

   "Quite a few," the Beast hedged.

   "HOW many?? Are you sure they're all...gone?"

   "Yes, I'm..." then a slow, smug, shit eating grin spread over the Beast's face and the side where his face had been eaten away was horrible to behold. "You're jealous!" he said in realization.

   Justin went red. "I'm - I'm - I am not! I just...just...I don't want...I mean..."

   "Yeeeeeeeesss????" the Beast drawled out slowly.

   "Well...You're obviously attracted to ME..."Justin clarified, "And I don't do groups or deal with two timing or anything like that. And this place is huge! You could have any number of people anywhere! So if you have any guys stashed away planning any kinky shit, you can forget about it!"

   "Justin, I'm not going to lie to you. There was a time in my life when having casual partners, multiple partners wouldn't have bothered me one bit. I preferred it even. But I've learned a lot...changed a lot...and now, any...kinky shit...we decide to do...and I AM into some kinky shit, Justin...we will do alone."

   Justin gulped. "Oh I see. Well, what did happen to them? Where did you dump their bodies?"

   The Beast sighed long-sufferingly. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a black thumb and forefinger. He was wearing the police gloves again this morning with the elastic, fitted wrists. As well he was wearing a leather shirt with silver snaps up the front, leather pants, casual leather boots and a red tie. He wore his large Muir cap, and the aviator sunglasses with tinted lenses, as I have said before.

   "I didn't "dump" their bodies anywhere. You're really not going to let this go, are you?"

   "Nope!" Justin returned firmly. He crossed his arms.

   "Very well Justin. I shall show you what happened to them after breakfast. Finish your eggs."

   "Very well, Beast." Justin said, mimicking him.

   "The Beast sighed again. "Justin, only the villagers call me Beast and they only do so because of my...less than stellar treatment of them as you pointed out last night. Don't you remember on the phone? My name is Brian. Brian Kinney. You can call me Brian."

   "Very well Brian. Why have you been so scary and bullying to the villagers? Why, Beddy was scared half to death!"

   "It is for their own protection. As long as they hate me, they will leave me alone. And except for the company I choose, I must be exactly that...alone."

   "Ohhhh, I see! To protect them. To be left alone, never showing your face. So they never have to see your "monstrosity", is that it?" Justin asked.

   The Be - uhhh...Brian nodded and sighed in relief. At last he was getting it.

   "BULLSHIT!!!" Justin yelled so loud and slammed a fist on the table so suddenly, Brian jumped about a foot. "BULLSHIT AND HORSEFEATHERS!" he yelled again, "And you didn't enjoy their fear at all!? You didn't relish the power it gave you to be feared, and you don't enjoy the infamy it has earned you at all!!? You LIKE having them scared of you and you perpetuate it! Look me in the eye and deny it if you can!"

   Brian looked down at his plate. He didn't answer.

   "I thought so. When we next go into town...and it will be soon, Brian...You are going to apologize to Beddy and be civil to anybody we come across! Do I make myself clear!?"

   "Yes, Dear...Whatever you say Dear..." Brian said in an amazingly accurate Droopy Dog voice. Justin had to fight to keep the smile off his face. This was serious.

   "Damn right!" Justin finished firmly but not angrily.

   "Well...now that we have that settled...will you finish your breakfast?"

   Justin gave him a million watt smile that curled his toes. "Very well Brian."

   Brian smiled an ugly smile but within the ugliness there was a beauty as well that he could not see or understand. He loved it when Justin said his name even more than his Sunshine smile.

   But Justin saw and understood.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   And so, when Justin had finished his breakfast, which consisted of: two eggs, two sausages, hash browns, two slices of brown toast, a glass of OJ and a mug of coffee and when Brian had finished his breakfast consisting of an egg white omelet, one slice of toast, OJ, and coffee, they headed out of the dining room and turned to walk deeper into the house.

   Brian had watched Justin eat in awe and envy. Oh, to be that young again and have the metabolism of a racehorse! He had looked down at his own low cholesterol, low calorie, low carb, low everything shit and sighed. He had taken a bite of his egg white omelet, which suddenly tasted like Styrofoam and wished he could have a sausage. Just one measly sausage. He had gulped some orange juice to give whatever the hell that thing had been on his plate some flavor.

   Now, as they walked through the house, he ignored his hunger pangs, which were his constant companion and turned to Justin and said "Jambalaya huh?"

   "Yes. And other things too. I had to cook for my little sister often growing up."

   "I would very much like to taste your jambalaya, Justin."

   "Well, perhaps I'll cook it for you someday."

   "How about tonight?"

   "Tonight! But..."

   "The sooner the better. Our time is short."

   "You keep saying that! But you won't explain." Justin said in frustration.

   "I will explain if you will dine with me tonight in your apartments and feed me your jambalaya," Brian promised.

   "Weeeeelll.....OK. but you must dress nicely for me. I'm tired of this leather bullshit."

   "Oh really! Are you?!" And Brian grabbed his wrists and pressed them and him up against the wall of the hall. Justin struggled but Brian held him fast. And then he began to stroke Justin's pulse points and his palms with his leather thumbs.

   Justin gasped as the sensations shot through his entire body like currents of electricity. He'd never felt anything so erotic in his life. And being restrained, struggling against the mock captivity was hot too. He bit back a moan and his knees buckled. But somehow, Brian's knee was there and he was straddling Brian's leg.

   Ohhhh God! Brian's leg felt like the leather couch upstairs only hard and muscled. And there was still the leather gloves working their unholy magic on his palms and wrists.

   "So, who's tired of this leather bullshit?" Brian asked in amusement.

   Now Justin did moan and to his humiliation felt himself mindlessly try to dry hump Brian's leg. The sensations that it elicited made the couch feel like a kiddy ride.

   Brian released him but kept ahold of one hand. "That's what I thought."

   Justin tried to pull away. "That wasn't fair!" He was red with exertion and embarrassment.

   Brian refused to release him. "You're right. But I don't have you here to play fair. I'm playing to win! And the prize is my life! And yours!"

   Justin took a few deep breaths to get his heart rate back to normal. Damn this man and what he could do to him! "What do you mean...our lives?"

   "Come with me, my boy. I'm about to show you!"

   Hand in hand, they continued toward the back of the house.

B&B&B&B&B&B

   They walked down several halls and passed through several interconnecting galleries but strangely, this time, they needed to take no turns. The way went as straight as an arrow. At last, they reached their destination, a very nice sitting room with a yellow theme and a pair of large French doors, leading outside.

   "Here we are," said Brian, as if that explained everything. He pushed open the double glass doors.

   Outside was a small stone patio. There were stairs leading down to the left and the right.  Justin took a moment and looked over the stone wall of the patio. His eyes widened and he gasped.

   Spread out before him was a huge rectangular courtyard garden. The courtyard was so big and so long, Justin could not see the end of it. It was, in fact, the same courtyard his mother had looked out upon when she had been staying in her small guest room.

   "The house has three courtyards, two small round ones and this one. It is the largest and central courtyard," Brian said, sounding like a tour guide.

   Justin nodded and went slowly down the steps on one side and into the garden. There were flowerbeds everywhere and a white brick path meandered aimlessly around them, leading deeper and deeper into the courtyard. Placed along the path at various intervals were white stone benches to sit on.  Justin went along this path, looking at everything.

   The place was heavily enchanted. Justin could smell it. The sun shone bright as summer, flowers grew everywhere. But it wasn't summer. And everywhere else, around the outside of the house, everything was yellow, overgrown, and fallow.

   And all throughout the courtyard, in the center of each flowerbed, the garden was decorated with a white marble statue of a man. There were dozens and dozens of statues seemingly scattered haphazardly throughout the courtyard but as Justin walked through, he saw that each one had been painstakingly placed, reverently taken care of, and a had a circle of bright, white pebbles placed around it. Each statue had its own flowerbed and each bed was growing a different flower. One was a bed of blue roses, one white, another red. There was a bed of daisies, a bed of tiger lilies, one of white orchids, one of black.

   Justin wandered deeper. There was one of violets. One of hyacinths. One by itself, grew poison ivy. There was a bed of pussy willows. Morning glories. Poppies. English Ivy, which was growing around its statue. And on and on, different varieties, different colors....sometimes repeating but not often. The courtyard and the statues seemed to go along forever.

   At last, Justin needed a rest. He sat down on a white, stone bench.

   "This is all very interesting and beautiful but I still don't understand. You said you would show me what happened to all the men that you had over. Where are they?"

   Brian sat down beside him and even though the large aviator glasses hid his eyes, the rest of his face was the very picture of abject sorrow. He took a long, slow deep breath and when he let it out it was one of supreme unhappiness. It was the sigh of one bereaved, who is walking through a graveyard.

   "Brian! What on earth is the matter with you?"

   "Oh Justin, cannot you yet guess? The men...the men who came before you...they are here. They are all around you."

   Justin looked around in confusion. "But...there's...no-one! There's nothing here except the gardens and...the statues! Brian! Are you telling me that these statues, are the remains of...real, living men??"

   Brian got up and walked over to the nearest one, a well-muscled young man of about his mid twenties in the midst of a bed of daffodils. He stroked a hand over one bicep regretfully.

   "This was Mark. He was a gardener and landscaper. He answered one of my ads for a job. He quickly realized there wasn't one. He lasted three weeks before he said he was ready. Perhaps he thought he was. We had become great friends. But he wasn't ready. The friendship was not enough and it never turned to love. That's probably why he grows daffodils. Now here he stands forever."

   He moved on to the statue amid the poison ivy. "This was Steven. He lasted three days. He was a greedy, odious person. I promised him a cash reward to lure him here and he grew impatient.  We fought and my mask and hat fell off and he saw my full face. So here he stands, forevermore. It's probably why his bed grows poison ivy. As you might have guessed this courtyard is under a heavy enchantment. The flowers need no tending and they grow according to the personality of the man who is to occupy the bed. This one..." he indicated a bed where several sunflowers grew up sentinel around their charge. "He was a happy and bright soul. We lasted about two months before he said he was ready. But he wasn't. He let fear overwhelm his happiness and now...here he stands."

   "You keep saying that. What do you mean...they were ready?"

   Brian turned back to face him. "They felt they were ready to see me...they thought they could love me. But they were wrong. They did not love me. Or they thought they did but it wasn't enough. Or they simply didn't believe me...thought I had a complex or something. But I don't. And they paid the price."

   "What price? Brian, what are you talking about? Are you telling me you can turn people into stone?"

   Brian looked at him sorrowfully. "Ahh, I see you do not believe me as well. Well, it's a long story. Perhaps...over jambalaya?"

   Justin seethed in frustration. "Ohhhhh! I am making a list, Mister! And if all those things don't get answered by evenings end, I am leaving! Do you understand, Mister!?"

   Brian threw back his head and laughed deep and loud. Then he swept over to the bench and gathered Justin in a leathery embrace. Justin struggled but somehow he just became more and more entangled and suddenly he found he's been maneuvered onto Brian's wide lap in a cradling position and his arms were around Brian's neck. The leather smell was intoxicating.

   "Hey!"Justin was still mad and pushed away but Brian chuckled and refused to release him and moreover gathered him in closer. "Mmmmmm...I love it when you call me Mister like that!" he growled, "Look, I promise...all your questions will be answered...all in good time. In the meantime do you remember that I made you promise never to look me full in the face?"

   "Yes."

   "Well, keep your promise and all will be well with you." Brian's ugly face bent down and planted a hot, proprietary kiss on Justin's plump and beautiful lips and then stood them both up.

   "Now, I have one more thing to show you before we leave. Come along."

   "Oh Brian, this place is huge! I don't know if I can go all the way through and then back. Besides...I don't want to hear about anymore of your conquests."

   "It's only to the middle of the yard. And I promise...no more details about them. Come."

   "Well...all right." Justin came.

   "One thing, I do wonder..." Justin wondered as they went along. How are there so many!?"

   "I thought you didn't want to hear any details," Brian said, his tongue in cheek. It filled up the space that was left in the side of his cheek. It was grotesque. Justin couldn't suppress a shudder.

   "I - I meant personal details. You know the intimate stuff...about how great they were...or whatever...you know what I mean!" Justin seethed.

   "Yes, I know," Brian laughed. Then he sobered. "Well, the fact is, some men lasted longer than others. When I first got here, I was still very immature. I was angry and resentful and I didn't understand what I was supposed to do. At first I thought, all I needed to do was get a decent blowjob. Those guys only lasted a day or so. Some only lasted a few hours. It took me a few times of those to learn my lesson. Some came in groups. I soon learned that was not love either. I'm not...into that anymore," he confirmed and Justin breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, here we are."

   They had reached the very center of the courtyard. All around them as far as they could see were flowers and garden and statues. It was staggering and a little creepy and more than a little morbid when you considered who these statues really were. In the very center, there was a round flower bed. About 6 paths from different directions converged on it, making it a central point, even the central point of the whole garden. Two flowers were growing. There was no statue.

   In the center of the bed a ring of white stones had been laid out. However, this ring was twice as large as any of the others.

   Justin looked at it and then sat down on a bench. "Brian, why are we here?"

   Instead of answering him directly, Brian said, "After I sent your mother on her way, I came out here and laid out this ring of stones. I knew you were coming, you see."

   "All right."

   "The morning of the day you arrived, I knew you were near because these flowers had grown up here."

   "They're very nice. What are they?"

   "I've no idea. I've never seen this variety of flower before. It's completely new...or at least, new to me."

   "There's no statue," Justin observed.

   "No," Brian agreed.

   "Where's the statue, Brian?"

   Brian didn't answer.

   "Brian? Where's the statue?"

   Brian just looked at the flowerbed, into the center of the circle of stones. His shoulders moved slowly up and down as he just stood there in abject sorrow.

   Justin gritted his teeth. Brian...I'm not going to ask again...Where's...the goddam...statue?"

   Slowly Brian turned and again, Justin saw that he was grieving deeply although his glasses covered him like a mask. "Oh, Justin, oh my Beauty, can you not guess?"

   Justin's sky blue eyes widened in horror as realization slowly dawned. He whispered..."No...no...!"

   "Yes. If...if...the worst...happens..." Brian swallowed over the thick lump in his throat. "Then...then this is where I will place you. This is your bed Justin..."

   "NO! NO! NO!!! You cannot do this! You cannot! It's too cruel! You cannot bring me here, tell me to love you and then change me into stone! It's not fair! It's too cruel! Why bring me here if you were just going to kill me all along! My God! You're a monster! Beddy was right! You're just a Beast!"

   Suddenly he was on his feet before he knew it and he was pummeling Brian's chest and stomach with his smaller fists and frame. "You can't! You can't! You can't!" he screamed over and over, pummeling away at what might as well have been marble stone. Of course, Brian felt nothing. "You can't! I won't let you!"

   At last, Brian grabbed his wrists and Justin struggled and fought him violently but Brian only drew him closer and suddenly Justin was plastered around him and Brian wrapped his arms around his back in a tight bear hug and they were hugging, clinging to each other as if they were each other's lifelines.

   "Please...please don't kill me," begged Justin in a whisper.

   "Justin! Oh my Beauty! Will you calm down, stop being just a twat and a drama princess! I'm not going to kill you! And I don't want you to turn you into a statue! In fact, I never wanted to turnanyone into a statue!"

   Justin pulled back and looked at him and the fear and skepticism cut through Brian like a stiletto blade. "Oh really! And yet..." he gestured wordlessly around them.

   "Come and sit back down and I'll explain," Brian said, drawing him into his lap again and rocking him. "I never wanted to turn anyone here into stone. The rule is if you look upon my full face with fear of any kind, then you will transform. But if love has grown in your heart so that there is no room for fear then you shall be spared. So far that has never happened. But that is your chance...your one hope."

   "But what can possibly make you so terribly ugly for this to happen?" asked Justin.

   "I shall show you...but not now. Another time...and soon."

   "Justin buried his face into his chest and wept. "Oh, do not do this thing! To be cold stone! I don't want to stay here! Especially all alone in a flower bed! I don't want to be alone...forever!"

   "You will not be alone," declared Brian.

   Justin wiped his eyes. "Wha - What do you mean?"

   "About a month before you came, I had my last man over. He transformed and it cut me up pretty bad. Anyway, I decided I'd had enough and I was running out of time to boot. I gave up. I decided to accept my fate and run out the clock. Then your mother came and she told me she had a gay son. I saw your picture and I was overwhelmed by your beauty and innocence. So I thought...One last chance...one last hope. I'm going to make the most of it, wait till time is ripe and then....You've probably noticed your ring of stones is larger than the others." He changed the subject abruptly.

   "Yes, I did. Why?"

   "Because...if the worst happens...I will not live my life out as a monster. I cannot. So...if you become stone, I shall set you within the ring...I shall set my affairs in order...I will come out here with a hand mirror...the only mirror within this house by the way...I shall step into the ring with you...I will put my arms around you...uncover my face...and look into the mirror which will cause me to fall under the power of my own curse! I shall transform into a statue and be with you here...forevermore!!!"

   Justin stared up at Brian for a long time, his too-blue eyes wide with horror as Brian described what would basically be his suicide.

   Then he looked down at the flowerbed, and at the two flowers growing there. They were singular in their beauty. Their golden petals waved in the gentle summer breeze.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 4

Preparing for Dinner

   After the ugly scene in the beautiful courtyard, Brian had gone to the workout room and Justin went upstairs to his room. He was beginning to get the hang of the house by now and only needed minimal help from the guiding lights.

   He got in at about 11 AM. There was yet no food or anything to do there except paint or relax so whatever so Justin used the time to unpack his bags and then do a bit of sketching. He kept a close eye on the time via a clock on his wall.

   As he did, he thought back to the courtyard. Part of him was still in a state of shock. True, he had asked his question, demanded answers and now he wished he never had.

   What a terrible position to be put in! To love a Beast...or die! And if he couldn't...or wouldn't...then Brian would die as well! And Justin wasn't sure if he did want to. Sure Brian was nice and all, generous, friendly...but now that Justin was in the privacy of his own room, he could admit to himself that...oh God, Brian was ugly! Frighteningly, horribly, ugly! His tattoos repulsed him. They were so lifelike and filled with violence and murder. His cleft lip kinda grossed him out, as did that space at the side of mouth. It was a strain to keep smiling in his presence because at the same time his stomach was churning.

   Justin gave himself a shake and found that he had been absentmindedly been sketching Brian's face, the side that had the space and tendon exposed. With a cry of anguish, he threw pencil and pad away into the corner but it only landed with Brian's face up, staring at him.

   Justin stared back and felt terrible. Terrible for thinking such things, Brian couldn't help the way he looked. But terrible as well, because he had to think practically as well. Could he live with Brian's deformities for the rest of his long, long life? And it would be all his life; he turned 18 in three weeks. His youth, his 20's his 30's and onward stretched out before him like a prairie's grass stretches out before you, forever and a day, all the way to the distant horizon. And then Justin wept because he simply did not know what to do.

   After Brian had outlined his suicide, Justin, innocently asked to take a walk back inside which Brian readily agreed. When they were inside, he just as innocently asked to see this mirror. So, Brian took him up a long twisting way to his own room where he showed him the large, square hand mirror with a silver back and golden curlicue filigree over that.

   Justin took it up and then let go. He blasted and yelled and screamed at Brian non-stop for 15 minutes about the evils of suicide and that under no circumstances was he going to commit such an act while he was under this roof. And just to make sure, he was taking this with him. This was his mirror from now on! Understand!?

   And throughout his ranting and raving, the Beas...no...the Bastard!!...had done nothing but stand there with a small smirk on his face. It was like when he had been smiling at him that first night when Justin demanded that he release the claim on his mother and sister. It was as if he were humouring a small child and waiting for him to wind down like a tired clock.

   After the 15 minutes were up and when Justin could think of no more to say, he took in a huge breath of air, let his red face return to normal and generally wound down like a tired clock.

   OHHHHHH! And do you know what the only answer that Beas...no - Bastard gave? He said:

   "Sure, keep it. You're the only one who can use it now anyway."

   "OH NO!! You don't get to threaten suicide and then act the self pitying asshole!! You promise me! Promise me right now!!"

   Brian sighed long sufferingly. Justin was beginning to hate that sigh. "I promise. I promise not to do anything while you are under my roof. OK?? Now...can you stop the histrionics please? It's making my dick soft."

   Justin huffed.

   "Now, if you've finished all the "After school special crap", why don't you go and get ready for tonight. And I need to go work out! How about I come to your apartments at about 7? Anything else I can do for you?"

   "Fine! And yeah 7 is OK!" he yelled as if to say: You better be there, buster! Justin wasn't over his mad and huffed his way over to the door like a locomotive engine...just because he could. "And you better be prompt! Oh yeah...and I'm sick and tired of sunglasses! Wear something so I can see your eyes, for Chrissakes!"

   It wasn't till he had slammed his way out of the room and was five minutes walk away, that he realized Brian really hadn't promised anything different after all.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   At last, the clock struck noon.  The clock was still chiming when Justin went over to the fridge and opened it up and then the cupboards.

   There was nothing there.

   Justin closed the doors and wondered. It was noon, wasn't it? It wasn't that he was impatient...well, he was, and he wanted to start cooking...but he thought the Beas...no, Brian...had said things would be here at noon.

   No, that wasn't entirely true. Justin struggled to remember.

   DING! DING! DING!" The last stroke of twelve sounded.

   There was a shuffling sound in the cupboards and an equally disturbing shuffling sound in the fridge as well as odd clinking sound. Then all was silent again.

   Carefully, Justin opened the cupboards again. They were packed with food. There was a big bag of rice, boxes of cereal, a box of coffee, sugar, salt, and flour. There were a lot of other dry goods not worth mentioning, plus oil, vinegar and a whole section just for spices. On the counter where he hadn't noticed before was a flour canister. Justin checked and within was nested the rest of the set. He spread it out.

   Next, he checked the fridge. It was filled with vegetables and fruits, just as he had imagined downstairs. There were potatoes and carrots and apples and oranges in the crisper. There was cheese and yoghurt. There were four bottles of fresh milk. That is what had made the clinking noise.

   He checked the freezer. It was equally stuffed with freezables.

   Justin closed the doors to everything and thanked whatever magic that had done this for him.

   "You're welcome, dear boy." Came the thought, unbidden to his mind.

   Justin blinked. That was weird. It was like...he had thought that and yet as if...he hadn't. As if he had been forced to think it.

   "Wait!" he cried, "Are you there? Is this the magic that the Beast...uhh...Brian talked about?"

   There was a pause. Then: "We are here. Yes, we are the...magic." Came the thoughts-that-were-not-his-thoughts. They sounded...if that was the right word and Justin couldn't think of anything better...amused.

   "You are sentient!"

   "Yes."

   "Who are you?"

   "You must ask the Master that..."whispered the voices in his head.

   "Master!? You mean Brian?"

   "Yessss," whispered the voices.

   "Are you enslaved? Is he mistreating you?"

   "We do not understand, little one. You must ask the Master..."

   Ohhhhhhh!!! Damn right he was going to ask him! And he was going to get answers too.

   "Are you happy here? Are you all right?"

   "We do not understand, little one. You must ask..."

   "The Master, yes I know," Justin was getting increasingly frustrated. He struggled to think of a question that the entities could answer. "What are you here to do?"

   "We are here to take care of the Master in the year of his enchantment. We fetch and take away. We clean and cook. We protect him. And now we protect you as well, little one."

   "Oh, this is strange! Oh, it makes my head spin when you force into my head like this. Is there any other way to communicate with you?"

   A pause. Then: "Yes. Take up the mirror."

   Justin went over to the bedside table where he had put the mirror and obeyed.

   "Hi Sweetie! Now isn't this better!?"

   Justin gasped. Instead of his reflection there were the shoulders and head of a skinny, smiling man with a charming gap in his front teeth.

   "But...But, I don't understand! This isn't possible!"

   "I know it isn't! And yet...here we are!' The man placed his cheeks in his palms and seemed to lean forward as if he were lying on his stomach supported by his elbows. Justin smiled. He could almost see the guy's long legs raised in the air behind him, crossed at the ankles ready for a real girly gab-fest.

   "Who are you?"

   ""Oh, I'm afraid I can't tell you that! You'll have to ask the Mast - ohhhhh, you mean who am I!??" he said in sudden understanding but not really understanding at all, "I'm a projection of one of the Master's friends back home. His name was...Emmett, I believe. Of course, the real Emmett is far away but since I'm the one who's in charge of the cooking and dressing and decorating, I thought I'd take his form. You see this is who the Master thinks of whenever I make a particularly good meal or create a particularly fanciful mask for him. I'm the one responsible for all the food right now." The man paused to take a particularly deep breath after this rather rambling speech.

   "Well, thank you very much!"

   "Well, you're welcome so much, Sweetie! And remember....whatever you wish for, I'll make it happen as soon as I possibly can! And don't worry...as long as you're here...we'll watch over you Bye for now! Call me if you need me....!" Emmett began to fade away.

   "Oh wait! Don't go! Don't go! I have so many questions!" cried Justin.

   "Sorry sweetie! Master's growling like a angry wolf for his lunch....Gotta go...See you later...." And then Emmett faded and vanished altogether from the glass and Justin's own reflection reappeared, as it should be.

B&B&B&B&B&B

   Justin hummed a little tune as he set the table in his breakfast nook. He checked the clock for what seemed like the thousandth time and at last it seemed to have made some progress.

   After Emmett had disappeared, he had lay down on his bed and had a nice long think about Emmett, about what Emmett actually was and how to get the answers he so desperately craved.

   At about 4:00 PM, he had given up and started on the jambalaya. He cooked some meat and the vegetables together. Then he cooked the rice and made the sauce and stuck everything in the oven. Everything was right on schedule.

   At the stroke of seven, there was a knock on the door. Justin went over and answered it. He gasped.

   The Beast - uhhh...Brian had really gone all out but had honored Justin's request to see his eyes in the most unusual way. He wore a fancy leather shirt with silver snaps and leather blazer and a black cowboy hat. Over his hands he wore black leather gauntlets that went up to elbows and flared out. He wore jeans and black leather chaps so Justin could see his denim butt cheeks. He wore a black leather belt and at the side was some sort of clip or hook and fastened to this was a coiled lasso. He wore a black kerchief around his neck. And over his face was a black, rubber, executioner style mask. The mask had large eyeholes so his eyes were clearly visible but his forehead, nose, and cheeks were covered. The mask curved down gently on both sides and covered ¾ of his face. The rubber was smooth and shiny and stuck to his face like a second skin and was the most erotic thing Justin had ever seen to date. Hell, the whole thing was the most erotic thing Justin had seen to date

   "Howdy pardner," Brian drawled.

   "Uhhh...good evening...I mean, howdy yourself! That's quite the outfit!" Justin managed.

   "Do you like it?" asked Brian suggestively.

   Justin nodded wordlessly and sucked back the drool that threatened to escape.

   "Thank you, my scrumptious Beauty," said the Beast smoothly, "May I come in?"

   Justin was suddenly glad that he had taken the time to take a shower and get dressed in some clean jeans that hugged his bubble butt and a nice red shirt. He nodded and stepped aside.

   "Thank you, Justin," And then he was inside but instead of moving further inside, he kicked the door shut, moved into Justin's personal space and gathered him into his arms.

   "I'm very hungry for your jambalaya," said Brian, "But I think we have time for a little...appetizer...first!" And with that, he smashed his lips down onto Justin's and demanded entrance. And Justin willing gave it. Truly, if anything, he wanted to feel those fangs again.

   And then he did and yet when he did, it was not enough. He moaned. Brian was the most intoxicating thing he had ever smelled. He smelled all the leather and the rubber and then all of a sudden, all he wanted was more. He groaned and tongue fucked Brian until he heard a moan in return. He stroked the mask up and down. He moaned in pleasure. It felt even better than it looked. For many minutes, they remained fused, not wanting to let go and yet Justin was of two minds. On one hand he was incredibly hard and turned on but at the same time, he wondered if this was wise. He didn't want to give Brian the wrong idea and besides he didn't want to do anything...more...until he turned 18.  And so finally, he broke away and set them both apart gently.

   "What's wrong?" asked Brian said, confused and a little hurt.

   The oven timer buzzed.

   "Nothing's wrong. Dinner's ready," that's all," Justin hedged.

   "Fuck the dinner!" Brian grabbed him again. "That's not all! You pulled away from me! What happened?"

   "Let me go!" Justin struggled. Brian refused, holding him in strong arms that were like steel bands. Dammit! Why did those strong arms have to feel so damn good!?

   "Fine! Just let me go for a minute to turn off the damn buzzer and I'll tell you!"

   And so, Brian let him go and stalked over to the couch while Justin hurried to silence the timer and turn the stove down to low.

   Then he came over to the living area and came up behind the couch. He touched Brian's shoulder to let him know he was there. Brian smiled up at him in a way that was both toe curling and hair-raising and covered his white hand over with his bigger, black one. Justin closed his eyes for a moment. There was a roar and a whoosh and a fire sprang to life in the fireplace.

   "Ahhhh, I see you are getting the hang of this place!" Brian said in approval.

   "Yes. I'm beginning to see how things work," Justin said and then moved around to sit in one of the chairs. Brian would have none of that though and pulled him back until Justin landed right where he wanted him, square in his lap. Justin struggled but those steel arms were around him again and easily arranged him so he was lying across Brian's lap, his back against the soft side cushion and his body pressed sideways against Brian. His arms were inescapable.

   "However..." he continued, when he saw he wasn't going anywhere, "The way things work around here is also why I pulled away from you over there."

   "What are you talking about?" Brian asked.

   Justin looked at him like: Are you kidding me? "Really? You don't see it!?" He sighed. "OK. You're the Master. What you say goes. Your way or the highway. And we...the rest of us...of me...are the slaves who have to wait till you're damn good and ready till you are ready to open up or deign us with an answer to a question. There are..."

   "We?? Who's we!!?" Brian growled. When Justin didn't answer, he growled dangerously and yelled, "Justin! Answer me! Who's we?"

   "There! Right there! This is exactly what I'm talking about! You need an answer and it's demanded!! Well, I'm sorry you're Highness! Maybe I'll tell you. Or maybe...I'll wait till later. You know...another day...but soon." His voice was like acid.

   Brian looked properly shamed. "You're right Justin. I'm sorry. It's part and parcel of being an Alpha male, I guess. I'm used to getting my own way and I've been getting my way an awful lot lately."

   "That's no excuse!" raged Justin.

   "No, it's not. But that's another reason why I wanted to have this dinner. I promise...today...tonight...is the day where I shall answer your questions. I will answer everything you want to know before I leave tonight."

   "Everything? Really?" Justin was transported with joy to a pincushion filled with pins and needles.

   "Really. But take care Justin. You may not like the answers. And you may grow to wish you had never asked the questions."

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 5

Jambalaya

   And so, they both took their places at the table. Brian took off his gloves to eat and placed them on the table beside him. Justin took the jambalaya out of the oven and served up two plates and brought them over and served them. Then he sat down across from Brian and said:

   "Will you say the blessing?"

   "I don't pray."

   "What? Never?"

   "No." Brian's voice was definitive and held a warning.

   Justin sighed regretfully and said, "Well, I shall start you off lightly then." He bowed his head and said quickly, "For what we are about to receive...and do receive...may the Lord make us truly thankful."

   The fire gave a WHOOMP!...as it flared higher for a second and then died down.

   Justin began to eat. Brian followed his example. Although he tried not to, Justin watched Brian out of the corner of his eye. Brian watched him out of the corner of his eye. He caught Justin looking and grinned, the space in his mouth stretching horribly. Justin blushed and looked away and Brian's smile faded a little because he had forgotten for a moment. But he could see that he was probably making it hard for Justin to eat.

   And so it was with supreme pleasure, he saw Justin look up again. He thought he could get in another corner-of-the-eye look and then looked down again when he saw Brian was openly ogling him. He was just shy.

   "It's not bad," he said nonchalantly. And he ate some more.

   And Justin looked up and looked at him with shining eyes and his hair looked more like spun gold than ever. It gleamed in the candlelight and firelight and his smile was so white and bright it looked like the sun coming out. He had the Beast's number by now and he knew that was a compliment of the highest order.

   "Oh, thank you Brian!" he said.

   "For what?" Brian said, just as non-committally.

   Justin eyed him shrewdly. "Oh... you're right. Nothing I guess." But he knew Brian now, and he knew Brian loved it. He looked at Brian right back now; with a huge smile he couldn't wipe off and watched him eat.

   And they sat like that for a little while in silence, just looking at each other. Justin was very glad Brian had worn the mask tonight for not only was it unbelievably sexy, it let him see his eyes at last and Justin couldn't get enough. Brian's eyes were hazel with flecks of gold in them. They were the most beautiful thing Justin had ever seen. They were, in fact, the only beautiful feature that the fairy guardian had let him keep, sadly knowing that because of the deformities surrounding them, that Brian would never notice.

   Finally about halfway through the second bowl of jambalaya, Brian sighed and began to speak.

   "I was beautiful once, you know. Really beautiful. None of these features are real. I don't have burns by fire and acid. I didn't have fangs. I don't have a cleft lip. I could get any guy I wanted. And I did."

   "Where did they come from then?"

   Brian ignored him. "I worked in advertising. Top of my game. Used supermodels in almost all my accounts. I valued beauty (especially mine) above everything else. I didn't realize it but I was vain, narcissistic and cruel. I stopped hanging out with friends....well, my real friends. I worked all the time. I was rich, had the best of everything but I never used anything. My loft was like a showroom."

   "OK," said Justin.

   "So then one day his guy strolls into my office. He had all the ugliness I have now. He wanted to promote a beauty cream and HE wanted to spokesmodel! I laughed in his face and threw him out."

   "OK," said Justin.

   "So that night, he shows up at Babylon and tries to chat me up. Me! The Stud of Liberty Avenue! Me!" Brian tried to convey the outrage.

   "I see. What's Babylon?"

   "It was a gay dance club. Very big, crowded, noisy. Crammed with big, beautiful gay men," Brian sighed reminiscently. "And I was the most beautiful."

   "Hm. Seems you still haven't let go of that vanity," observed Justin.

   Brian gave him a dirty look. "Aaaaannyway," he drawled annoyedly, "Where was I? Ahh yes. So this dude stalks me down and tries to sell his cream again. No sale. So then the creep tries to hit on me! Strike three. Along the way, he warns me about beauty within but I didn't understand any of that."

   "Why am I not surprised?" Justin said, playing with his now cold jambalaya.

   "Quiet, you!" admonished Brian in a surprisingly good Mr. Peabody impression. "So anyway I'm getting another drink and when I turn back, the guy's face is re-arranging itself like Silly Putty and he turns into this dude almost as good looking as me!"

   Justin looked at him pointedly and raised an eyebrow.

   "Oh hush!"

   "I didn't say anything," protested Justin.

   "No, but you were going to," said Brian accurately. "So anyway, it turns out this guy was a supernatural creature, a fairy guardian and as punishment for being the dick I was, he...he turned me into this! And he told me I had a year to get someone to love me in my ugliness or I'll stay this way forever."

   "A year! And how much time to you have left?"

   "I have been here about 9 months. So...3 months or so, I guess. I'm not sure exactly but I can...well, here...I'll show you."

   Brian unbuttoned one of his sleeves and pulled it back so Justin could look over at his forearm. There was a tattoo of a rose. It was in vibrant, full bloom. Underneath was a line of numbers: 00 03 25 07 25 15.

   Justin blinked and shook his head. His eyes widened in astonishment and he pulled Brian's arm closer. As he watched, the last number changed to 14...to 13...12...11...10...

   "Oh my God...It's counting down! Isn't it!?" Justin breathed. He reached out with one finger and touched the changing number, stroked it. It was still permanent and inked into his flesh and yet...it changed...right underneath his finger!

   Brian sucked in a ragged breath. "Yes! Yes it is. Oh Justin!"

   Justin looked up and saw in concern that Brian was heaving and his eyes were a little dilated.

   "Brian! What's wrong!?"

   "You're touching my arm. It's getting me hot!" he leered suggestively.

   "Oh good grief! Get over yourself!" Justin gave him back his arm. I just wanted to feel the tattoo! I've never seen anything like that before!"

   Brian's breathing slowed and he became calmer. He buttoned up his sleeve again. "You can't see it but the rose changes too. I've watched the leaves grow and the flower bloom from a tight bud to what you see here now. The fairy told me it will eventually wither and die and when the numbers count down and the last petal falls, the curse will be permanent and I will be a monster.....for the rest of my life."

   "That's terrible!"

   "Yes. And...well you've seen the courtyard. I tried and tried and...well...it never worked out. Last month, I pretty much gave up. I decided to just run out the clock here and when it did, follow through with what I described in the courtyard. This house will no longer be available to me. The only alternative is to wander the world as a monster. And there is no room in this world for monsters, Justin. They are hunted down and killed. No...It is best I go out on my own terms."

   "I'm still not sure I agree with you on that one."

   "Well, maybe I won't have to now! just a few weeks after I decided that, YOU came into my life! I have one more chance! A chance where I didn't have to bribe or trick anyone into coming. So there are no ulterior motives with me...or you. We can break the curse!" Brian covered Justin's porcelain hand with his tattooed one.

   Justin snatched it away. "Yes, no tricks or bribes! Only blackmail! Make no mistake Brian! I may be here! And I'm glad I'm you're guest and not your prisoner. But I'm still here against my will! How am I supposed to love somebody who has done this thing to me....and my family!?"

   Brian looked truly penitent. "I don't know. I only hope you can forgive me someday. My life depends on it."

   "Your life! Your life! You selfish dick! That's all I keep hearing! What about my....!!"

   Justin sat there and put his head in his hands. He took a deep ragged breath. "Never mind! Just...just...go on with your story....Wait! You said he was all this ugliness. But he wasn't masked or turning people to stone."

   "No. He gave me one more ugliness. He took...he made...my hair...It turned..." Brian choked up a bit.

   "What!? Are you bald?"

   Brian shook his head sadly.

   "No. Being bald wouldn't turn a person to stone. Wait! That first night...your hat was moving!"

   Brian nodded sadly.

   "I asked you about it...You said you'd tell me later. Now's later, Brian!"

   Brian just looked at him with inexpressively sad eyes.

   "Wait! Your hat's not moving tonight!"

   Brian nodded.

   Why isn't your hat moving, Brian?"

   Brian just looked at him.

   "Tell me!"

   Brian just heaved a great, sad sigh. "Yes. The time has come. I'll do better than tell you. I'll show you."

   He adjusted his black kerchief and pulled it up over the bottom half of his face. He looked like a western train robber who was into S/M. "I'd better cover everything. I'm not quite sure of the potency of this," he explained. His entire face was covered. Only his now sad, sad brown eyes with flecks of gold were visible.

   He took off his hat.

   Justin gasped.

   It was now revealed that the top of the rubber mask had been sliced away, all the way around the top, exposing the crown of his head. Under the hat, Brian was wearing another hat. The brim was an iron band and fixed to this band was a dome of sorts, made of criss-crossing wires. Held inside the wired hat teemed a mass of snakes, twisting and writhing and re-twisting around each other but unable to escape the squares of wire.

   "Brian...What...are...those...things??" Justin asked, hardly daring to believe his eyes.

   "I designed and had this made so that I can look almost normal but so they can breathe," Brian said.

   "So....they can breathe..." Justin choked out.

   Brian removed the hat.

   The snakes positively burst forth, eager and cramped from being in their confined space. The stretched and twisted and found friends a ways away from themselves and twisted around his ears and... Oh God, the effect was horrible and there was no denying what they were now.

   Justin leapt out of his chair and screamed. He couldn't help it.

   "It's ok, Justin," Brian said from behind the kerchief, "Take deep breaths. Try not to panic. I'll put them back."

   "Put them back! Where are they coming from!!? Where is your hair?"

   "Justin...they are my hair."

   "OH...DEAR....GOD! This is how you do it! Oh, my God, Brian, you're a Medusa!"

   "Yes, that is what he called it."

   "Are they poisonous?"

   "Some of them. Don't get too close."

   "Never fear of that!"

   "I'll put them back."

   "Don't they bite you?"

   "No. For some reason, they like me!"

   With a bit of prodding and coaxing, Brian was able to get them back under the wire framework and then put the cowboy hat back on.

   Justin breathed a sigh of relief.

   Brian pulled down his kerchief around his neck again. "Now you understand. That is why everyone is stone. That is why you must never seek to look me full in the face."

   Shudderingly, Justin sat back down. He nodded.

   They paused a few minutes, Justin to get his normal breathing back and Brian to wait for him to do so and move on to the next step.

   Finally Justin was able to start breathing normally. He said: "I'm sorry! I can't imagine what came over me. I don't usually react so violently to things."

   "I believe it's part of the curse," said Brian, "I've shown them to every one of my guests when they've asked and without fail they all had the same reaction."

   "Oh."

   Are you ready to hear the rest of the story?"

   "Yes. I think so. There aren't going to be any more nasty surprises, are there?" Justin gave him a cautious look as if he might be hiding a Devil's tail and trident somewhere.

   "No. That's the worst of it. Well, where was I? Oh yeah, so after the guy turns me into this he gives me a card with the address and description of this house on it, re-starts time and vanishes into thin air. Oh, did I tell you he stopped time for a while? Ooops, sorry! Yeah, I guess he decided we needed a little "us time"!"

   "Wow! So what happened then?" Justin was back on pins and needles.

   "Oh, now that was terrible! I was panicked and I had no idea what to do. I turned to Charlie the barkeep and asked for help. He glowed this eerie white and changed into a statue right in front of me! So I ran. I tried to keep my head down but it was no use! I must have turned half of Babylon to stone trying to get out of there!"

   "Oh Brian! That's must have been terrible!'

   "It gets worse! Out on the street it was worse. People turned into statues right and left. I must have turned dozens of people to stone before I managed to duck into an alley."

   Justin looked on, wide eyed with horror.

   "I think the screams were the worst part. God, I'll never get those out of my head! All they had time for was one scream before they were caught and silenced. But another would look over to see what the other was screaming about and be caught in the curse. Soon the entire street was screaming. And then...silence, save for the lone survivors who were crying over their loved ones. Then fresh people turned the corner and found them and the screaming started again."

   I ran through the alley to the next street. I had on my club clothes, had my keys, my wallet but that was all. I was terribly cold. I couldn't go into a store to buy anything. So...I laid in wait till I saw what I needed and...and I mugged somebody!"

   "Oh, Brian!" Justin's voice was soft with pity and regret.

   "I didn't want to!"Brian said defensively.

   "Of course not!"

   "I'm not a criminal!"

   "I never said you were," Justin said, eating some jambalaya.

   Brian looked at him as if he had for a second and then humph'ed.  "Humphhh! Well, anyway, I grabbed this woman from behind and told her not to look behind her. I made my voice all rough and mean and desperate. I took her scarf and her driver's licence and then let her go."

   "I tied the snakes together and then back as much as I could and then wrapped the rest of it around my face. All I could think of was the guy saying, If anyone looks you full in the face...so I covered it as much as possible. And it worked! I ran the rest of the way home and people still got out of my way in a hurry but no-one turned to stone either."

   "I was safe at my loft at last. Or rather everyone was safe from me. I still had the scarf on. I went around with every sheet and towel I had and covered all the mirrors. I ended with the bathroom waved goodbye and covered it. I never saw my face again. At the time, it didn't matter, for the man I was, was already gone. But I still remember him. And I miss him."

   Justin looked as if he had something to say and then thought better of it. He motioned for Brian to continue.

   "There's not much to tell. The next morning, I made a few phone calls. I quit my job at Vanguard. Then I phoned up an old friend, Mikey and offered him my loft to sublet for the year. He wondered what was up and started asking questions. I shut him up and told him I had to start to travel for work. Then I told him if he didn't want it I'd ask Ted. (Friend and accountant.) That shut him up. That's the thing about Mikey. He knows he had first dibs with me and if I'm really serious about something, I'll offer it to Ted next. And he hates that. So he took it and moved in with his partner, Ben. At least, I think he did. I hope so."

   I packed a bag, grabbed a bunch of money from my wall safe, phoned a limo service and was out of there. I mailed the keys and codes to my loft to Mike, mailed the scarf and the licence to the address on the licence, and when the limo got there, got in and came here."

   "Wow, a limo! Ohhhh, I get it! Tinted windows, right?"

   "Right! I told the driver to leave the window up all the time. I said I was a reclusive celebrity who wanted...to be alone! Like Garbo! He swallowed the whole thing and we communicated only by phone."

   Anyway, I guess that's it. You know the rest. When I came here, the place was awash in magic. I soon realized I barely needed any of the money I'd brought or even the bag I'd brought. Practically all my needs were met and those that weren't could be solved by an occasional trip into town."

   "Ahhh yes! Where you scared them all to death! Shame on you!"

   "Justin, I told you, it was for their own protection! After what you've just seen, can't you understand that? They're small town folk. If you're friendly and they to you, then they talk to you and about you! They want to be friends and invite you to barbecues and swap meets and book clubs and dinner parties!"

   "Oh yes, I can see where that would be a real grind! Just horrible!" Justin said sarcastically.

   "Justin!" Brian admonished gently. He tapped his hat. "Think! I can't have that! I can't have that ever again!"

   "Why not? We're doing it right now," Justin said reasonably.

   "It's just the two of us. And I'm being careful, covered up. Out there, I might be able to pull off a party or two around Halloween but the rest of the time I'd look awfully strange. In my own home, I'm eccentric. Out there, in town...I'm walking cyanide!"

   Justin sighed and rolled his eyes.

   "No, it's better this way," Brian continued, convincing himself...again. "If they hate you, they leave you alone, they don't talk. Your house becomes...that house...haunted, evil, dangerous. People warn away their kids from you. They're safe...They're..."

   "I say again BULLSHIT AND HORSEFEATHERS!!!" Justin yelled again, smacking the table with his palm for emphasis. "I have never heard such self-pitying garbage in all my life! I won't allow you to think of yourself in this way as long as I'm here! It is...It...ah, yes how did you put it?...It makes my dick soft!"

   Brian started and smirked a little to hear his own words thrown back at him.

   "Besides, I think we already established that you scare and bark at those poor people for your enjoyment. You could have very easily made friends with those people and been benevolent to them."

   "Oh yeah! How!?" Brian roared.

   "Well first, you could stop going into town dressed like a dungeon master! A nice suit, a coat and hat being sure to wear that wire doohickey underneath. If you're intent on being medieval about things, a nice cloak would do. Then you simply tell people you were in an industrial accident that burned your face and you're shy about your looks, which is why you go around wearing a tasteful mask. No more total hoods, Brian! Oh yes! Beddy told me all about it!"

   "Bitch..." Brian muttered under his breath.

   "SHE'S NICE!" Justin roared, "And you scared her half to death! Aren't you ashamed of yourself at all!!?"

   Brian looked down at his plate and pushed around his last bite of jambalaya. He shrugged his shoulders wordlessly and sulkily, obviously ashamed of himself.

   "In fact, I think that's what we'll do, next time we go to town, say tomorrow or the next day." Justin said brightly, as if it were a done deal. He ate the last of his own serving, savouring the taste of the meat and spices. "We can tell her you were under a lot of stress and you can apologize while you buy me lunch and repay her for the one I ate when I came to town."

   Brian looked at him as if he'd grown a third head. "Are you fucking crazy!?" he yelled, "I'm not doing any of that shit!"

   "Oh yes, YOU ARE!! Justin yelled right back. "I may have to stay with you but I'm not going to do it and sit idly by and watch you abuse me or anybody else for your own amusement. So we're going to follow this plan and you're going to straighten up and fly right with these people while I'm around, do you got me Mister Beast!?"

   "Yes, Dear, whatever you say..." Brian started.

   Justin smacked the table again to show he was dead serious and to cut the crap.

   Brian sighed long sufferingly. "Fine, Justin OK!? We'll do it your way! OK!?"

   Justin relaxed back and sipped his wine primly. "Of course we will," he said serenely.

   "Watch it little boy! I'm still the cock of the walk around here and I can still..."Brian growled.

   "So you were telling me about the magic that you discovered in the house?"

   "Yes well..."

   "When did you find out it was sentient?"

   Well, I..."

   "Oh, and who's Emmett?"

   Brian's face went white.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 6

The Wards

   "Where did you hear that name?" Brian asked, stricken. You could have knocked him over with a feather.

   "Oh, I'll tell you another time...but soon," said Justin smugly. "So, who is he? Is he...down there?" he gestured, meaning the courtyard.

   "No. Just somebody I used to know in the Pitts. I haven't thought about him in ages."

   "Really? So you don't think about him when you get served your meals?"

   "Well....sometimes...I guess. I don't really think about it, his face just sort of...pops in my head from time to...Hey! How did you know that!?"

   "Yes. The time has come. I'll do better than tell you. I'll show you," said Justin, again using Brian's words.

   As he got up from the table and moved past him, Brian grabbed his arm by the bicep and was surprised and a little turned on that he felt a toned, hard bump there, like a swimmer's or a gymnast's. "Be careful, little boy! Push me too far and you'll find out my sanity's only so-so!"

   Justin grabbed Brian by his own bicep and yanked him forward easily with a strength that surprised, turned on and worried Brian all at once. He kissed him hard, hot and quick. Brian was left breathless, hard as a rock and wanting more.

   "Well, let me know in advance whether you'd like to kiss me or kill me!" he rasped throatily. Then he pulled easily out of Brian's grip.

   He went over and retrieved the mirror.

   "Emmett! Emmett! Can I talk to you for a minute! Emmett! I need you!"

   His reflection vanished and Emmett's gap-toothed smile appeared.

   "Well, hello, sweetie! How are you doing? Did everything go all right with your dinner? Would you like some dessert? I could whip something up!"

   "Not just yet! I wanted someone to meet you first."

   "Someone to meet me?? But who? There's nobody here in the castle except you and the-M - M - M -M - Ma - Ma - Ma - MASTER!!! How ARRRRRRE you!!? I trust everything's well!? Well, you heard me offer the little master dessert! Maybe you - you - you'd like something too!? A torte perhaps! Or...." the terrified mirror man began to ramble.

   Well, of course you can guess what happened. Justin had turned the mirror around so that Brian could see Emmett and now the magic creature was freaking out. He was very confused as to why this should be until he looked up and saw Brian. His eyes widened.

   Brian was standing up and drawn up to his full, huge height. His chair was overturned. His chest was heaving and his face had gone from snow white to rose red. He foamed a little at the mouth. He made strangled noises. His hands were curved into strangling claws.

   "Great heavens Brian! What's wrong!?" Are you choking!? Are you OK?? It's OK, Brian don't worry, I know the Heiml..."

   And then he stopped in confusion for Brian was taking the biggest breath he had ever seen and was most definitely not choking!

      "SHUT...UUUUUUUUUUPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Brian screamed louder than Justin thought was possible, right in his face. His blond hair blew back a little in the force of the scream."WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!!?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TALKING TO HIMMM!!!?"

   "What are you talking about!?" yelled Justin right back.

   "THIS!!" Brian indicated and snatched the mirror. "HIM!! WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HIM!!!?? AND WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HIIIMMM!!?" he screamed at Emmett, "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING HIM!!!? HOW MUCH HAVE YOU TOLD HIM!!!!?"

   "Ma - Ma - Master, stop! Nothing! I told him nothing! I told him to ask you! I TOLD HIM TO ASK YOU!" Emmett yelled.

   Brian seemed to be able to process this and paused a minute and calmed down a peg. Just a peg though.

   "YOU!!" he yelled at Justin in a softer but still extremely loud voice, "YOU TOOK THIS! YOU TOOK IT JUST SO YOU COULD WORK MAGIC! YOU TOOK IT SO YOU COULD COMMUNICATE WITH THESE BEINGS!! TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT ARE YOU!!? TRYING TO ESCAPE!!!?

   "Of  course not! I didn't..."

      "WELL IT WON'T WORK!!! YOU'RE MINE!!!! YOU'RE HERE FOREVER!!"

   "AS YOUR CENTERPIECE!! DON'T REMIND ME!" Justin yelled back.

   This seemed to deflate Brian a bit more. "HOW DID YOU MANAGE THIS! AND WHY!? WHY THEN...ARE YOU TALKING TO HIM!!?"

   "I didn't manage anything! He contacted me! Now will you stop queening out so we can discuss this rationally!?" Justin yelled.

   But Brian was not yet ready for that. He looked furiously at the man in the mirror. "WHY!? IS THIS TRUE!? WHY WOULD YOU TALK TO HIM!! YOU'VE NEVER ONCE SAID ANYTHING! YOU HAVEN'T CONTACTED ME OR SAID HELLO ONCE!!! AND WHY ARE YOU TAKING HIS FACE??"

   "The little master can answer that! As for why I contacted him I was merely saying you're welcome. The little master had the good graces to say thank-you for what was given to him and does not consider us as mere slaves!"

   "WHHHHAAAAATTTTT!!!!!!????" Brian screamed.

   Emmett drew himself up and puffed out his skinny chest as much as possible. Since he was inside a 12" frame, this really wasn't very much of a difference and Justin had to bite back a giggle.

   "You know what!?" he declared, "I don't quite care for your tone! I'm leaving! And if I hear five minutes of quiet....polite conversation, (or good old fashioned necking) I might consider coming back to serve dessert! And don't you be taking out any of your anger at me on the little master! If you harm one hair on that blond little head, I won't serve you so much as a cupcake for the rest of my...while I'm here!"

   "You have to serve me something!!!" growled the Beast low in his throat.

   "Is that so?? Well, then dry bread and vinegar and river water, coming up! Don't test me, Mr. Man!"

   "The river's polluted!" Brian pointed out.

   "Ex--actly!" Emmett shot back, pointedly and then vanished.

   There was a bit of a silence except for Brian's heaving as he struggled to keep his temper.

   "You know, this is rather what I was talking about earlier," Justin said a trifle cheekily as he sashayed his bubble butt over to the leather couch and sat down. He was done with dinner and he knew the...things...would clean it up anyway so he just left everything. He put his hands behind his head and waited. The fire was lovely.

   "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!!??" Brian yelled. He wasn't ready to stop being angry yet.

   "When Mr. Big, Bad Beast wants something...answers, lunch, a freaking piece of pie, it's demanded...expected...and now...THIS!! Oh, but when someone asks you a question, It's...oh not tonight, another day...but soon. That's not fair Brian!"

   "And you know, I don't care for your tone either," Justin continued, "You really should think about changing it if you are going to remain in MY APARTMENTS, isn't that what they're called?"

   There were a few HUGE....LOOOOOONG, DEEEP, breaths as the Beast powered all the way down. "Yes Justin, that's true," he said submissively, "Don't send me away."

   Justin glanced over with a puzzled frown. The Beast was standing there like a guilty schoolboy, twisting the handle of the mirror in his hands nervously. This didn't match up with what had just happened at all.

   Then he decided he was more angry than curious and he barked out, "I don't want to send you away. I want you to calm down, and sit down and talk to me rationally! Oh...and give me my mirror!"

   Brian guiltily went over to the table, righted the chair, retrieved his gloves and came over to Justin and gave him the mirror. Justin put it face down on the coffee table and directed Brian to one of the chairs. Brian sat down.

   "Now!" Justin said definitively, "Who is Emmett, who is that thing and just what the HELL is going on around here?"

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   "I don't really know where to begin," said Brian, after a long silence.

   "Try at the beginning," said Justin, "It's a very good place to start."

   "So I've heard," Brian said wryly. I have seen the Sound of Music, you know. I am a fag after all."

   After that queen out just now," Justin observed, "Of that I have no doubt."

   Brian looked uncomfortable, "Oh Justin, can't you let that go? That was SO five minutes ago!"

   "That's because it WAS five minutes ago!" Justin yelled. "Now stop stalling and spill!"

   Brian sighed. "Well, you remember, I told you that when I arrived that the mansion was awash in magic. Well, it was. Doors opened by themselves. Lights showed me where to go. Dinner appeared. It was cleared away. Much of what you have seen. But it was even more than that. It was like the walls were shimmering and sometimes undulating. I'd hear whispering but never understand anything specific. It was almost like the house was haunted but I wasn't afraid. It was like...the very house was alive!" Brian suddenly realized.

   He closed his eyes and began to remember. It seemed like ages ago. "For days, I wandered though the house, letting the house and the magic take care of me. Then one night, I had a dream. A very vivid dream. It was my fairy guardian. He was dressed in the white clubbing outfit I'd seen him in and behind him were these four, black, hulking shadows. But they weren't shadows. But they weren't alive either. I mean not the way we are. I mean...Well, I just didn't know! I couldn't figure it out. I stared at them for a while but nobody said anything. And then I woke up in a cold sweat."

   "The next night I had the dream again. The shadows behind him loomed even higher and scarier. They were even more forbidding. I could tell they were angry. I turned to run. I ran through a black forest most of the night but the shadows were always there, one step behind me. Finally, I was dead tired and I fell. The closest one caught me. He grabbed me in a cold, clawed hand and ate me. I was consumed by darkness and cold. I fell into forever. Again I woke in a cold sweat."

   Justin was riveted.

   "The next night I had the dream again. The shadows behind my guardian were blacker than the black background they were against. That was the only way I could see them. But they were in 3D now, hulking and huge. They had muscles on them that would make Arnold Swartzenegger jealous. They had teeth that shone in the darkness that were as long as butcher knives and twice as sharp. Foam was dripping off them. Again I could feel they were furious and that they hated me."

   "I looked at everyone carefully and was silent for a while. I wasn't sure what was expected of me, if he would talk to me or even if he could. But I knew the dream would end again and I would have no answers. Running wouldn't help. So I asked my guardian, "Can you speak to me? Have you forgiven me? Are you here to comfort me at all?"

   "He answered, "I can. I have not. I am not."

   "What do you want then? What are those things behind you?" I asked.

   He smiled at me. "Ahh, Brian, now you are asking the right questions. I have come to introduce you to these beings. They are the ones who have been taking care of you for the last few days. I have assigned them to take care of you in your seclusion for the next year. One...to clean and carry..." he pointed to each one as he spoke. The first shadow took off and flew off with a whoosh, gone in a blink. "One...to fetch and take away...One...to cook and serve food...and one...to show you the way..." Whoosh! Whoosh!! Whoosh!! Right over my head! Oh God! I still remember! It was like watching an enormous whale pass directly over you extra fast."

   "These are your Wards, Brian. They are angry with you because as I have said, they have been looking after you, but you have not been looking after them!"

   "What must I do?"

   "That, you and your guests must discover for yourself. Kindness, for one, would not hurt."

   "Kindness?"

   "Yes. They are prisoners, just as you are now, Brian. Seek to make their work a little less of a grind."

   "I don't understand! What are they?"

   "They are guardians, like myself, who for whatever reason have disgraced themselves and fallen from grace of the Power."

   "Power? What power?"

   "I do not know exactly. It governs us, the magical creatures. We simply call it the Power and submit to it. Imagine if I were to ask you, "What is God?"

   "Oh...I think I see," I told him and anyway it was clear that's all he could tell me."

   "They have disgraced themselves and been made prisoners. They have been given to me and I have given them to you. If they can serve you for your year, then they will have earned the right to become guardians again. And be warned, Brian. Once their year is up, whether you have broken your own curse or not, they will be free. You will be alone and have to fend for yourself after that, so do your best."

   "Well, Justin, I have to admit, I begged. I felt like I was in the darkness of Hell and my soul was almost as sick. So yeah, I begged him."

   "Oh please! Can't you just call this off!? Can't you please just forgive me, change me back? Please!! I'm sorry! I'm sorry a thousand times. Please!"

   "The guardian launched himself at me and hugged me and I still can feel his strong arms around me. It would be a long time before I felt and kind of genuine contact like that again. As he did, I could feel I was my old self again. I was human!"

   "This form will only last while I am with you," the guardian said, "And no, Brian, I cannot. I, too, must be submissive to the Power. If it were up to me, I would forgive you now this instant, have you click your heels and restore you to your life. But the Power that governs us all, desires this path for you, Brian, for you to become something more than you are, and so this is what I must do to you and watch as you suffer it. So try not to suffer and take care of your Wards and they will take care of you. Goodbye, my child."

   "He let me go and drifted away. I begged him to stay but he only said "Goodbye..." again and drifted further away and vanished and I was left alone in a void."

   "And then something grabbed me by the ankle! It pulled me down, down, down, into that horrible cold forever feeling again and nothing would stop it! And then I was jerked awake and I could hardly breathe! I was back! And I was back to normal again. Well, if you can call this normal, anyway. After that, the house sort of normalized. The walls were normal and the house seemed as if it settled down. But the Wards stayed to protect and serve me. And I was glad." He opened his eyes again, his story finished. His eyes widened as he saw Justin's crossed arms and narrowed eyes looking back at him in undisguised hatred.

   "You disgust me," he said.

B&B&B&B&B&B

   Brian's eyes widened in surprise and shock. This is not what he expected at all. He had just opened himself up in a way he had never done before and Justin was shutting him down first thing.

   "What the hell, Justin!? You know what, I don't care. Screw you!" His defences went back up and he hid behind his wall of anger to mask the pain. "You know what? Fuck you! I answered your questions! Don't blame me if you don't like the answers. Fuck you! I'm leaving!" He stood up and grabbed his gloves.

   "No, Fuck YOU, Brian! Sit the HELL down!" Justin yelled back with authority.

   He was astonished when Brian did exactly that, almost as if...as if it were against his will. He looked down at the ground in defiance though and kept the fires of anger stoked, to keep the tears of disappointment at bay in front of the twink.

   "You knew!" Justin whispered in horror. "You knew they were sentient! You've known this whole time and you treated them like nothing! Like slaves! And you didn't tell me and I've been doing the same thing! My God! It makes me sick!"

   "I'm telling you now," Brian said sulkily.

   "So how does this work? Are they chained or imprisoned somewhere? Does it hurt when you use them, drain their power. Do they get tired? Do you give them any rest or respite? Do you even care? And when's the last time you said thank-you for anything?"

   "Hey! It's not like that, any of it! And I've said thank you..." Brian paused.

   "Yeeeeeessss???" Justin drawled.

   "I - I can't remember," Brian admitted, "But I must have....sometime...sometime..." But for the life of him, he couldn't remember.

   "Shit!" he said finally, knowing he was well and truly fucked, and not in a positive, life-affirming way.

   "I thought not," Justin said in this snotty, judgemental way.

   "Oh shut UP! Like you've never made a mistake in your life!" snarled Brian.

   Justin considered and then acquiesced, "Touche," he said and then settled his spine into the sinfully soft sofa.

   "Besides," Brian continued, "It's not anything like what you have in your head. They're not prisoners, not the way you mean, anyway. They can't leave the property but they're anywhere and everywhere they want to be otherwise. They don't have bodies, not the way we think of them anyway. They can assume a form, kind of like how my guardian did but that isn't really them. In their natural state they are just spirit, a breath of cold air...or...something. They don't sleep. They don't eat. They don't get tired. They just sort of reach into your mind to see what your deepest needs or desires are and  then...make ‘em happen."

   "You mean they read our thoughts!?" Justin cried fearfully, "All of them?"

   "No, not like that! It's sort of like...oh, the way we'd look through a window to the next room or outside. A quick observation to see what you need or yearn for. What's the matter Justin?" he leered, "Keeping some thoughts bottled up? Some dirty thoughts?"

   Damn him! How could he go from insane rage to sulky little boy to horny bastard at the drop of a hat? And pull it off!! How?? How??

   "Nothing you need to worry about!" Justin retorted. "I just don't like the idea of having my thoughts read over like a catalogue or a stolen diary! That's all!"

   "I see," Brian said smugly.

   Justin sighed. "I can tell by your tone that you don't get it at all! So let's just drop it. OK so these "Wards" are not being abused. Good! But you remember what your guardian said. There were ways to make their bondage less of a grind! And you did nothing!"

   "I didn't know what to do! I didn't know there was a way to communicate with them! They're invisible and silent! Whatever they do is instantaneous! I can't pay them! I only saw them once and it was by accident! What was I supposed to do!"

   "Your guardian gave you the answer there too! But you were too selfish to see it! Kindness, Brian! Thankfulness! Maybe not acting like a totally spoiled, selfish Prince and doing a few things on your own, once in a while! Make your own bed! Cook a meal for yourself! Close a damn door by yourself! As you said, they're spiritual. You have to think what you can do for them spiritually!"

   In the enclosed room, there was a WHOOSH!!!...and a gust of wind blew through the length of Justin's Apartments. Justin was filled with euphoria. A sense of peace, happiness, thankfulness and joy that was not their own moved through their souls. Both men gasped at the feeling. It was fantastic, transcendent. There was a clinking and a clanking over by the sink and when they looked over the pots and cooking utensils were all cleaned and scrubbed and stacked, ready to be put away. The jambalaya was covered and tidy and ready to be stored.

   "Oh Brian, did you feel that? It was like they...or one of them, moved right through my soul! I think they're trying to tell us something."

   "Yes. I think they're trying to tell us that you're right," Brian said regretfully, "And that I'm an asshole!"

   "Well, there's only one thing for that, Brian! Stop being an asshole and start treating them right. It's never too late to change!"

   "We'll see," Brian aid doubtfully. And Justin smiled because he could see that Brian was not being belligerent, but simply doubted himself. And that, over time, could be overcome.

   "Hey!" Brian said suddenly, brightening. "You wanna see ‘em?"

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 7

What Happened After Dinner

   Justin started up and stared in stupefaction. "What d'ya mean? I thought they were invisible and spirits? How can we see them?"

   "Well, they are. For the most part. And especially if you are not looking or don't know what to look for. But remember? I told you I saw them once...once mind you and by accident. If we recreate the conditions we might be able to see one of them."

   "What are the conditions?"

   "Well, the time that I did, I was at a very low spot. I was between boyfriends and all alone. So I was sitting alone in a dark room. I wasn't moving. I wasn't speaking. I was barely breathing. I thought of the old gang and wondered if any of them missed me at all. I was so depressed and lonely. I wished for death. That I knew I could not have so I wished for the next best thing. I remembered a store I used to go to.  There was...a strange...something...and then there was a fire burning in the grate and a tall mug of the creamiest hot chocolate with a mound of whipped cream on the side table beside me."

   "What kind of thing?" asked Justin in spite of himself. "And why would they bring you chocolate?"

   "I think they tried to satisfy me the best way they knew how. You see, the store was called "Death by Chocolate"."

   Justin laughed.

   Brian laughed too and then sobered. "As for what it was, I can't really explain it. It's easier if you just see it for yourself."

   "Well, how are we going to manage that?"

   Well, first we have to pretend we're gone. Then we wait in the dark. Then...we hope."

   He got up and moved to the door. He pulled on his gloves. He motioned Justin to follow. Justin did so, cautiously.

   "Come on, Justin! Let's go for a walk to work off those carbs and come back in about ten minutes!" Brian said theatrically. "Maybe when we come back somebody will have gotten over his hissy fit enough to serve us dessert...and do a decent job of it too!"

   He gathered Justin close and turned off the lights. Then he opened the door and with a fierce joy, slammed it again, from inside the room. He made loud clomping sounds with his boots and motioned that Justin should do it as well. Then he made them quieter and quieter. Justin followed suit.

   Finally, they both slid to the floor. The room was almost totally dark. Justin could see a fat, full moon outside the window though and a sky full of stars like studded jewels.

   "Now....keep your eye on the window," Brian said next to him in the dark. He whispered right next to Justin's ear, sending puffs of warm air into it and his lips and tongue tickling the hairs there.

   Justin jerked away. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed.

   "If you have to ask, I must be losing my touch," Brian smirked into the dark.

   "The only thing you are losing to touch is me!" Justin retorted, "I haven't forgotten or forgiven your huge queen out earlier. You don't get to scream into my face one minute, and then breathe into my ear the next, mister!"

   "Awww, Justin, I'm sorry! I - I - well you're right. I lost my temper. Please forgive me."

   "Hmmmph!"

   "Pleeeeeeaaase!!" Brian wheedled into his ear.

   "Stop that! You know, I think you might be faking the whole thing! You just wanted to get me in the dark!"

   "No! I swear! Keep watching the window! I swear! That's where it happened the last time! No faking, I promise!" Brian said seriously.

   "Well....OK."

   "However...." Brian leered into his ear, having you in the dark...in my clutches...is a definite excellent side effect!" He grabbed Justin around the waist in the dark, blew into his ear and nipped and sucked on his neck.

   Justin gasped and tried to struggle. But Brian seemed to get off on it and Justin couldn't escape the embrace. He never felt squeezed but he was always effectively restrained. Brian sucked and kissed and nipped his neck until he collapsed in submission. He still hadn't forgiven him but this...this felt so good! And not just the kissing, it was the restraint, the struggling to get away...and yet being unable to...was a total turn on. Justin groaned in pleasure.

   "Keep watching," Brian said. "Keep as quiet as you can."

   Justin kept quiet but kept struggling too. A bit of light and not so light petting ensued. Brian breathed out, "I'm sorry," and covered Justin's mouth with a kiss in the dark. And dammit, he shouldn't have but Justin loved it. He moaned softly and kissed back. Again, he was assailed with doubt. Could he live with a Beast? He wished it could be dark all the time. Here in the dark, he couldn't see anything, any of his ugliness and as long as the snakes were kept at bay, maybe there wouldn't be any need for masks or anything. Then he felt those fangs again and he didn't care about anything for a while.

   About 5 minutes later of hot and heavy kissing and generally making out like a couple of teenagers in the back of a dark movie theatre, Brian gave Justin one last sipping kiss and pulled back. "Wait! They're near!"

   Justin shook his head to clear his head from the fog of passion. Then he smiled into the dark.

   "How can you tell?" he asked. At the same time, he reached out and found Brian's gloved hand. It felt sinfully sexy and he "accidentally" guided it over and across his huge erection. "Oops, sorry."

   "You are not, you little twat! Any more of that and you are going to get more that you bargained for!"

   "We'll see...So you were saying?"

   "I've learned to sense them, feel them just before they come. But it took me a long time. Shhhhh! Now! Over by the table!"

   The two men sat in perfect silence. Justin strained his eyes. But there was...there was nothing. There was a kind of heaviness to the air that built up like a charge before a thunderclap.

   Then...there was a kind of SKKKREEEEEKK!! Like a kind of bat call only it ripped through Justin's mind, his very soul, not his ears. At the same time, something passed in front of the window. It was black and empty and as fast as a shutter click on a camera. But for one instant the fat moon and the jewelled stars vanished. They were blotted out and then reappeared. And then the thing...whatever it was...was gone.

   "SHIT! What was that?" Justin whispered.

   "Did you see it!? Did you see it!? Right in front of the window! Wahoo!" Brian yelled. Wahoo! ARRRRROOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

   There was a pause. Then the lights came on and Brian stood a little embarrassed. "Ahem! Sorry about that! Ahem..." He straightened his clothes unnecessarily and turned away toward the table. "Well, let's see what they brought us, hmm!" He hustled over and did just that.

   Justin stood up, his face pink, his hair mussed, and with a painfully large boner still pressing against his jeans. He followed Brian over and then pressed it into Brian's backside. Brian gasped.

   "Brian...there's no reason to be embarrassed. I think it's cute."

   "Well, it's not! It's part of...of this!" Brian growled, "Let's just not talk about it, OK?"

   "OK. But if you ever do..."

   "I won't."

   "If you ever do...you can. OK?"

   "Oh look! Devil's food cake for me! And apple pie for you! Wow! I've never seen anything so big! Well, there was Rick! But that's another story!"

   Justin sighed and shook his head. Ahhh well. Maybe one day. In the meantime...

   "Ahhhh! It's a re-creation of the pie I had in the diner the other day. How lovely!" Justin at last changed the subject and they started in on their dessert and they didn't even feel the need to talk about their make out session.

   But they both thought about it. And both men could read each other's thoughts by the way they mutually eye-fucked each other from across the table.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   After dessert, they moved to the couch and started up again. They giggled and pawed each other and Brian found that Justin's chest was a lovely sensitive spot. Brian's kisses were mind melting.

   However, there came a time where things grew more serious and one of Brian's hands grew more wayward than ever before and moved down the front of Justin's pants.

   Justin slapped it away. "Brian, NO!"

   Brian's chocolate eyes with golden flecks filled with confusion and hurt. "How come? Why are you pulling away again? I thought we'd resolved that issue. Aren't we having a good time?"

   "Actually, that hasn't been resolved at all. Only time will tell if you change and you haven't even promised to try. And besides...this is about....something else!"

   "What something else?"

   "Brian, I'm only 17! I don't want to have full on sex yet."

   "Ahhh yes! So I remember your mother saying....three weeks wasn't it?"

   "Well, it's 17 days now" said Justin shyly.

   "Ohhhh my! Seventeen days! One day for every year! You know what this means, don't you Justin?"

   "What?" Justin asked suspiciously.

   Brian kissed him. "I have to kiss you seventeen times." He kissed him again. And again. And again. Deeper.

   "Mmmmmppphhh! Brian! No! That isn't.....mmmmmmm.....isn't....mmmmmmm....isn't necessary!"

   "Sure it is! It's the most wretched of luck if I don't." Deep kiss. "It's practically the law..." More kisses.

   And darn it if he didn't get in all seventeen kisses!

   "Well! We wouldn't want to break the law," Justin heard a wanton voice say around the 9th one or so. With a shock, he realized that it was his own.

   When Brian finally finished his campaign to drive him crazy, he pulled back and said, "Are you sure? Look Justin, if you are old enough to kiss like that and let it affect you...you're old enough to have your cherry popped. And damn! I want that ass so damn bad!"

   "I see. Thank you for that overwhelmingly disgusting proposal for what should be the most defining and romantic experience of my life but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

   "Oh Justin, really! Sex is sex! Sure it's defining but it's rarely romantic, especially for us guys! Romance is something the card companies came up with to satisfy the women and straights. Love and romance...that sort of this is for straights and munchers! Besides...I'm on the clock here..." He motioned to his arm. "Let's get down to it!"

   Justin looked at him incredulously.  "And yet...aren't you in this situation...because of those delusions...and to prove them wrong? To find love!? Perhaps the reason you have been here for nine months is because you have hung onto these wrong points of views. And they ARE wrong, Brian! Men want and need love just as much as any woman. And they need...I need for love to be as much a part of the fucking if we are going to do it, especially if we are going to do it right! And...wait a minute!" Justin's face drained of color. "Did you think that just because we would have sex, that I would be in love with you??

   "Well, of course. Wouldn't it!?"

   "NO! Good God, Brian!!! Is that what happened to all the guys here? Is that why there are so many statues in the garden? Did you have sex with them and then show them your face convinced they were in love with you?"

   "Some of them," Brian said sulkily. This is not what he'd had in mind at all. He was hoping to have been buried inside Justin's sweet little bubble butt and pounding him into the mattress by this time, but alas that was not to be, it seemed.

   "And you didn't clue in when it never worked!?" Justin asked scathingly.

   Brian just looked down, guilty and ashamed. He shrugged in such a manner.

   "Oh Brian!" he said disappointedly, and then: "Oh, Brian!" in horror, "Don't you get it!? You nearly killed me!" Justin shuddered as he thought how close he had come to a premature demise, frozen into white stone.....forever.

   "NO!" Brian yelled, "I didn't! I wouldn't! I would never..."

   "I know you wouldn't," Justin relented a little, "Not on purpose. But you said it yourself. I'm your last chance, Brian! You have to be careful! So careful! For both our sakes!"

   "I know! I know! I will! I'll do better!"  He gathered his bossy beta male into his arms and pulled him close. "I'll do better. I promise. I'm sorry. So...if I can't sex you up...what DO you want to do next?"

   Justin hugged him close to hide his amused smile and rolled his eyes. Brian was incorrigible!

   "Um....well, I dunno," Justin licked his lips nervously, unaware of how it made Brian's dick throb inside his plastered on pants. "Do you know any games?"

   Brian's breathing got a little erratic. "Do..do I know...any..."

   "Yeah, sure. You know, Scrabble, Monopoly, Sorry..."

   Brian threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Oh Justin, I'm alone here most of the time! I have no use for...those types of games."

   "Oh right." Justin looked crestfallen.

   "Besides...I gave up all those kinds of games when I hit 14. I'm afraid the only games I know are...big boy games!" his voice grew hungry.

   "Oh..." Justin looked even more crestfallen and disappointed.

   Brian lifted his chin and kissed the unhappiness away from the blond's pouty lips. "However... I do know games...games that don't necessarily have to involve sex...at least for you."

   "Really?" The innocent eagerness in his voice was nearly Brian's undoing. "What games?"

   "Oh let's see...We could call the first one....Release and Catch!" Brian said in a raspy voice.

   "Don't you mean, Catch and Release?" Justin asked hopefully. Hopes that were dashed when Brian shook his head slowly and smiled ferally, his fangs suddenly seemed extra sharp. He opened his arms slowly and released Justin. Then he gave him a quick...RUFF!! and a mock bite to get him going. Justin got it and got going.

   Brian chased him twice around the apartment before they ended up on opposite sides of the sofa. "And now for the next game..." Brian rasped panting from exertion and excitement. "Tickle the Twink!"

   "Brian, no! NO! You can't! I'm really, extra ticklish! You CAN'T!!"

   "Well then! This should be really, extra fun then!" Brian growled. He lunged. Justin dodged and made a break for it. He ran across and made for the door.

   Brian was unconcerned and straightened up. He stalked after Justin with his long, leathered legs. A gauntleted hand went to his hip.

   Justin looked behind him and his eyes widened as he saw Brian was in earnest. He threw open the door and ran down the hall. "NO! NO! I'll hide somewhere from you and you'll never find me until you calm down!" he threatened.

   Brian was unconcerned. The hand at his hip unhooked the lasso that had been by his side the whole time. He unfurled it a bit and began to twirl the loop expertly above his head. He stalked slowly but steadily toward his prey.

   Justin glanced back and his eyes widened in shock. Partly in shock but partly because the picture that Brian portrayed, a black leathered masked and sinister cowboy swinging a rope above his head...was extremely erotic. The image went straight to his dick and it hardened instantly, painfully. But he knew instinctively that if he let on, Brian would lose interest; that part of the game for him was the chase.

   "Brian, NO! You wouldn't! You wouldn't DARE!" Justin cried, knowing full well he would.

   Brian just smiled evilly and spun the loop wider, faster. He came relentlessly closer.

   "OHHHHH SHIT!!!" Justin spun on his heel and made a break for it.

   Brian planted in his heels, let Justin run a bit, timed it just right and.....tossed the rope perfectly. The loop flew through the air and landed perfectly over the head and then the shoulders of his blond as if it were planned. And in a way, it was.

   Justin ran as fast as he could and at the last second thought he had eluded the erotic cowboy. But then he felt the rope settle over his shoulders and tighten perfectly, jerking him to a halt and pulling his arms tight against his body. The rope felt smooth as silk, sex and sin.

   He was tugged backward. He managed to turn and glare furiously at the Dom. "DAMN YOU! Let me go this instant!" He struggled backward in the bondage, which of course only pulled the loop around him tighter. Brian smirked as he pulled Justin closer, hand over hand, closer and closer. "Feeling, pretty cocky, are we?" asked Justin cheekily.

   Brian gave a hitch in his breathing. "My sweet, blond Beauty..." he rasped, "If you want your cherry to remain intact, I suggest you watch what you say and avoid words pertaining to...cock-y!"

   Justin gulped.

   Hand over hand, he was reeled in like a fish. Halfway. Three quarters.

   "Wha...what are you going to do with me?" Justin quavered.

   Hand over hand over hand. Brian didn't answer.

   And then he was there. Right in front of the leather Dom. And Brian bent down and kissed him witless. His tongue demanded entrance and Justin was helpless to resist. The Beast tongue fucked him with precision and perfectly. Justin groaned as Brian began to tweak his nipples at the same time. He felt himself turn to mush. Brian felt it as well and holding the rope tight with one hand, dipped him deeply with the other, still making sure he was filling the twink's mouth with his large tongue, made soft by years of drinking Beam. Justin moaned some more as he was overtaken with a wave of pure pleasure, the likes of which he had never known.

   Finally, when he was sure that Justin was completely discombobulated, he pulled away suddenly. Justin was left dazed and confused. He wanted more. He felt like he was spinning.

   Then he realized he was spinning. Brian was easily rotating him around and around, coiling the rest of the rope around his torso, completely immobilizing his upper body with about 8 coils of rope. When he reached the end of the lasso, he fastened it off with a clever hitch and that was that. He was captured and a prisoner of the Dom Beast.

   Brian hooked a finger through a coil of the rope and pulled Justin till they were nose to nose. "You know very well what I'm going to do with you, my Beauty! I told you...the next game is called...Tickle the Twink!"

   And with that, he picked Justin and slung him over his shoulder and carried him back inside the bedroom. He laughed in triumph and ignored Justin's struggles as he kicked the door shut with a slam.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   Brian ignored Justin's kicking legs completely and carried the blond boy over to the bed where he then dumped him unceremoniously onto the mattress.

   Justin looked up at him with wide eyes that were clear and as blue as a lake on a sunny day. They were a little frightened but Brian could see he was curious too, wondering what was going to happen next and eager to find out.

   Brian straddled Justin at the waist and bent down and kissed them both witless again for several minutes. Then he rose back up and just gazed at his bound Beauty. He was so beautiful, trussed up in the ropes it hurt his eyes.

   "The first thing we need..." he said, lightly teasing Justin's nipples through his shirt in contemplation. Justin whimpered. It felt so damn good. It was not enough. "...is a safe word. In case things get really out of hand for you or you really can't handle it. Like a 911. And only to be used in an emergency. Understand?"

   "Yes," said Justin.

   "What is your word?"

   "Eclipse," Justin said.

   Brian nodded in approval. "A good word...so be it. From here on in I will stop only if I hear that word." He began to slowly undress Justin from the bottom up, starting at the shoes, then socks, then pulling down his pants, leaving his underwear. However, through the thin material, Brian could see a straining, throbbing, hard cock, leaking in anticipation for that which would never cum. (Well, for 17 days at least!)

   "Ohhhh....I cannot...wait to caress every....square...inch of that white skin," Brian purred in anticipation.

   Damn him! Justin struggled mightily in his ropes as the Beast kissed and stripped him but it was no use. And then it was done. And to be truthful, Justin didn't want to escape. Not really. He enjoyed the darkness, the restriction, the mock peril situation he was in. Again, he was filled with confusion. He had always been such a good boy. So normal and ordinary. Well, except for the whole "loving to suck cock" thing. But down to earth and white bread, so to speak. This was completely out of character for him.

   Next moment, his mouth twisted up in satisfaction. Brian was just discovering that he could only lift his shirt up so far without encountering the ropes. "Ha! Ha! Looks like you didn`t think things all the way through!"

   Brian shrugged. "Ahh well, we'll just have to make do," he said as if it didn't really matter, "Besides...I know of a way to...up the ante!"

   He got up and went to the kitchen area. "Struggle all you like," he called pleasantly without turning around, "but if you put one foot on the floor, when I get back, I'll tie your feet to the bedposts."

   Dammit! How did he know!? Justin had sat up and was just about to do just that and make a run for it. He lay back down.

   Brian returned shortly with a paring knife.

   Justin's breath sped up a little and he was a little afraid. "Brian...what are you going to do?? Brian?? You're not going to cut me are you? Please don't do that...." His struggles sped up a little.

   "Don't worry, my sweet, I'm not going to cut you. I'm not into gross things like scat and blood. However....as I said before..." He kissed him till his whimpers were sobs of desire, "You'd be surprised at what I AM into. And you're about to find out."

   He cut two small holes in the chest of his sweater above each nipple. Within seconds, he had full access to Justin's nips.

   "Awww, geez, Bri, I really liked that sweater!" Justin groused.

   "Not to worry love, just leave it on the footboard before you go to sleep. The Wards will fix it. And you can even thank them for it in the morning," he said mockingly.

   "You shouldn't make..." he started and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he lost train of coherent thought as Brian began chestplaying him with those leathered fingers without mercy. He writhed and struggled but just when he thought he couldn't stand any more, Brian would stop and give him a rest. Then he'd start up again. It was exquisite torture.

   Eventually, Brian moved down to lightly stroke Justin's sides.

   "OH!!" he yelled. "Oh Brian, no!" he was breathing heavily, trying to recover from the tit torture. "Brian wait! You don't - you don't understand! You don't underst..."

   "I can't wait to find out, "Brian growled sadistically. He paused...and then dug in hard through the sweater with all fingertips, tickling him without mercy.

   Justin screamed and laughed and screamed with laughter. He writhed and struggled and spasmed. At that point Brian eased off and stopped and gave him a rest.

   "And that is how you play, Tickle the Twink!" he declared.

   Justin was heaving and sweating and struggling in his bonds. His hair was a tangled mess and soaked with sweat.

   "No....No more!!!" he gasped.

   "I'm not hearing a safe word..."sing-songed Brian, "So...does this mean you're ready to let me bring you off?"

   "No...sex..." Justin gasped out.

   Brian shrugged and started in on his sides again.

   "Noooooo! Noooooooo! I'll tawk! I'll tawk! Anything you want to know!!!" Justin screamed.

   Brian eased off and stopped. "Anything huh? Anything?? Hmmmmm.....well, we should make this good then..." He pretended to think a moment. Then he tweaked his nips and leaned into his personal space, so close that Justin could smell the leather of his mask and their lips were a half inch apart. He breathed in the blond boy's scent and encouraged the other to do the same..."That's right my Beauty. Sniff me. Breathe my scent that is beyond the leather beyond my sweat, beyond what you can really sense. That is me. Breathe it in and make me part of you...forever. I'll be in your dreams, your mind, under your very skin and you'll never get me out. Never. Now...what I want to know is....what would you give for me to kiss you right now?"

   "Anything! Oh God, anything!" sobbed Justin.

   "Well....too bad!" Brian said heartlessly as he sat back up.

   "WHAT!!!?" screamed Justin.

   "Life's a bitch, when you're all tied up, isn't it blond boy??" Brian cackled, "And baby...SO AM I!!" He threw back his head and laughed heartily and then held out his gauntleted hands in curved claws.

   "NO! No! Nonononono!!!!" Justin murmured, thrashing wildly.

   "Oh yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!!" Brian said deeply, evilly. And he did. He tickled Justin's sides, his stomach, his legs, everywhere.

   Justin screamed and writhed and struggled and finally gave up in submission. "Eclipse! Eclipse!"

   Brian stopped immediately.  Then he bent down and kissed him softly, then deeper, then tiny sipping kisses. "My good boy! My very good boy!" he crooned.

   Then he moved down to the end of the bed and removed his gauntlets. "And now...."he drawled, a very special reward for my very good boy who has endured so much and used the safe word when he reached his limit. Very good, Justin. I am pleased Boy!"

   "Wha - wha - what are you going to do to me now!?" gasped out Justin, still exhausted by his ordeal.

   "Not to worry! You'll like it," Brian assured him.

   Oh Brian, I don't think I can take any more! I can't...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh....." and he was instantly reduced to a malleable mush of pleasure.

   You see, Brian had taken his right foot in both his hands and was massaging it pressing certain pressure points, moving up, down around and then up and down again. He turned on the bed so he could watch Justin's reactions to his ministrations and Justin was transported to another universe.

   After a long time of careful attention to the one foot, Brian switched to the other, showing the same care and attention.

   "Don't stop," Justin slurred, "Don't ever stop,"

   "Feel good?"

   "Feels un-fucking-believable," said Justin.

   "Good." Brian slid a hand up his leg to his thigh to his inner thigh. "Then maybe you'll feel good enough to let me bring you..." His hand moved closer and closer to his goal.

   Justin's forearm slammed down onto Brian's from where it was pinioned to his side like a mousetrap. "No...sex...until my birthday!" Justin snapped out just as sharply.

   "Rats," said Brian, caught like a guilty schoolboy trying to check out an upperclassman in the shower.

   "Nice try though," said Justin more conversationally.

   "Thanks. However, I never try. I only do."

   "Seventeen days, my love. In seventeen days. So...is this the end of the game?"

   "Yes I suppose it is." Brian made a pick and a flick with the rope and it came undone. Justin struggled and pushed his way free of the bondage.

   "I must admit that was...different. I feel so strange..."

   "What's the matter? Are you numb? Did I hurt you?" Brian leaned in to check for injuries.

   "No, I'm fine. Nothing like that. The thing is...well growing up...well, I was such a good boy. But what we just did...what we did was so erotic and exciting! That felt sooooo goood!!!" He jumped into Brian's arms and kissed him madly. "Sooo hot!! But...I'm usually such a good boy!"

   "Oh Justin! "It was just a bit of kink! And just the tip of the iceberg in the grand scheme of things! I will show you things that you've never dreamed of yet, press you to limits you never knew you had. And just because you're kinky doesn't mean you're bad! In fact, I think...it makes you even better!" And he kissed Justin back madly.

   Finally, he gave him one last kiss and pulled back.

   "Well, if there's to be no sex then I guess I will say good night and end the evening for my balls are as blue as your eyes."

   Justin giggled. "Truth be told...so are mine!"

   Brian gave a ragged, loooooooong-suffering  sigh and got up from the bed and grabbed his lasso and gloves and made his way to the door slowly.

   Justin shrugged out of his pants and followed him to the door in his underwear. After what they had just gone through, he really didn't see the point in dressing again.

   "Oh Brian, one more thing!"

   "What is it, Justin?" Brian said happily and then turned at the door. His face grew serious as he saw Justin was frowning again.

   "First, I had a really great time here and I hope we can move on from here. Now that I have food up here, I will probably take my breakfast up here and paint a lot. But you can come again and see me at seven again tomorrow. Okay?"

   "Okay. I will come. Is everything all right Jus...?"

   Justin looked straight into those gorgeous eyes of brown with gold flecks. "But Brian.  If you EVER....EV...VER....Yell at me like that again....I will consider it domestic abuse and consider my agreement with you here null and void. I will leave you Brian. Then and there and if you won't give me transport to the village, I will strike out on my own. I will just go. Do you understand me?"

   "You know, you're kinda cute when you're all bossy like..."

   "Brian!" His voice was quiet but filled with purpose and promise. "I mean it! It's just the two of us here. We're secluded. If you ever hurt me...if things turn ugly...or physical...if I was hurt...there is no one around to help and there's no one around to stop you! I need to look after myself! And I will NOT let that happen! I won't be you're victim! Not that kind! I will leave you Brian. Do you understand me?"

   "Justin, I would never hit or harm you! I promise! Never! And I really AM sorry. I didn't mean you yell like that. I'm really sorry!"

   Justin's face was like stone. "I said...Do...you...under...stand...me?"

   "Yeah, I understand."

   "Good."

   The door slammed.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 8

17 days later...

Justin Remembers

PART 1: Brother Brian

17 days later...

   Justin sat at his easel; painting with long, dark strokes of deep colors, bold colors, angry colors and colors of deep frustration and intense lust. Deep green, blood red, navy blue and several others, black, orange so bright it made you squint to look at it and a deep, angry pink.

   He sat naked. Well, except for the airiest of smocks to catch the spatters. He always painted naked now. Half of the reason was there was no one else around except Brian. The other reason was that he hoped Brian might someday knock on the door, catch him at it and fuck him into oblivion, rule be damned. But he never had. Justin sighed. Now, he never would.

   Thinking of Brian made his dick pinch inside the chastity device but the knowledge that he would never come in the middle of the day relieved the pressure again. Justin looked down at the device and smiled a Mona Lisa smile. He did not love it. He did not hate it. It simply was there. It was just another part of his body now. He had gotten used to it, like one gets used to a wart or a mole or a corn on your foot. It was just there, waiting for the right time to be removed.

   And in the meantime, it was lovely. It was made of gold and perforated with pinprick holes so his cock could breathe. It was an elongated piece of cock shaped gold that form fitted his cock nicely with a gold cock ring that encircled his balls in a tight grip. The tip, when pressed, would press in slightly and then release, popping open and swinging open on a hinge, that allowed him access to his tip allowing him to pee. Other than that, however, Justin could not touch his cock, could not get hard, which in itself was getting hard, as in difficult, as he was now constantly horny. The device was locked with a gold padlock that fitted through a hasp formed by loops on the ring and penis enclosure, locking everything in place. The lock opened with a golden key, which Brian kept within his possession at all times. His cock had been in there for ten of the seventeen days leading up to his birthday, ever since Brian had come to his apartments and locked him into it.

   His hand started to cramp and shake and spasm. He sighed. He'd hoped to get in a bit more before this happened again.

   Reluctantly, he put down the brush and dipped his hand into the tray of water filled with Epsom salts and soothing oils and a few other ingredients that Ted and Michael would not or could not identify. He stretched and clenched his hand slowly a few times and then concentrated on lying it flat on the bottom on the tray as per the doctor's and the physiotherapist's instructions. He sighed again and looked around the room at the rest of his works. As he did, he caught sight of the left side of his head, dimly reflected, in the window. He winced as he always did. He was now glad that there were no other mirrors in the mansion and even with his enchanted mirror, he didn't really use it anymore except to talk to the Wards.

   The entire left side of his head was shaved. Well, in truth it was coming back in, seemingly a little slower than before. It was light and wispy and bristle-short. But for a long time there was nothing but the angry red scar healing along the left side of his head. Half of his beautiful blond hair, the color of shining, spun gold was gone. Most of it was coming back, but when the long red scar had finally healed and turned to white the hair on that part of his head would never grow again. When it was long enough, he was going to have to go to a barber who was "creative" with his methods to cover it.

   Brian always said that regrets were bullshit but that didn't matter to Justin anymore. To him, that was bullshit. He had so many regrets. If only...if only...if only....the many events that had led up to this swirled around in his brain like a maelstrom in the middle of the sea. Ending with the fact that Brian had not come to see him for seven days. Justin knew why. After...it happened...Brian had always come at his usual time. They had dinner, talked a bit, maybe watched a DVD. Within three days however, conversation became strained; Brian's kisses were shorter and farther between. Finally they ran out of things to say and just sat there. Then he started to call up and make excuses not to come up. For three days he did this. And then, four nights ago he had just not showed up. Brian's possessiveness would not let him let him go but he was now as ugly as the Beast. Tears pricked at his eyes and a painful lump rose in his throat. Brian would never fuck him now. Never.

   One memory however managed to put a smile on his face. Beddy. She never judged him and only strived to mother hen him more thoroughly than a real hen when he got out of the small clinic/hospital. And when Brian had first visited her with him...

   As Justin soaked his hand, his eyes grew dreamy and glazed over. He remembered back...16 days earlier...

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   At the same time Justin was falling into daydream, Brian was trying to drink his coffee. He very carefully raised the mug of hot liquid supporting it with his other hand. Both his hands shook so violently that the scalding liquid splashed over the rim onto his hands, burning both of them. The pain caused him to reflexively drop the coffee and spill it all over the table. The Wards tactfully cleaned it up immediately, the mess vanishing magically.

   "DAMMIT TO HELL!!!" Brian roared. This was his fourth day without coffee because he couldn't stop shaking.

   He was so horny it hurt. He had a constant hard on and his balls were as blue...as his eyes? The sky? Violets? No. Deeper than that and so painful he could barely walk. But he refused to touch himself. Not until he fucked him.

   And he wanted to fuck Justin now with every fibre of his being. He dreamed about it day and night. Lifting him bodily, smashing him on the bed and then pounding his sweet blond boy ass into the mattress until they were both five inches deep. After removing that golden device of course, which he planned on throwing out the window the minute it was off him.

   He wolfed down the rest of his huge lunch but he tasted nothing. Food, drink, taste, sensation, pleasure, light and life had no meaning without the golden haired boy who usually sat across from him. And Justin had not come down since it happened. Since he had gotten frustrated and locked his cock away. And then a week ago...Brian shook his head. Had it really been a whole week without his blond boy? A week since he started to make excuses to stay away because...Brian shook his head again. He didn't want to think about that. Not now. His groin was painfully tight.

   His dick was always hard. Thinking about Justin made it hard. Hell, breathing...made it hard these days. All he could think of was gold and blue.

   "DAMMIT!! DAMMIT!! DA-AA-MMM-AAAAAAARRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" In frustration, he swept the dishes to the floor, listening to them smash to pieces with a loud, satisfying noise. However they were cleaned away with annoying efficiency.

   "RAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!" he roared this time in desperate rage. He let the snakes out of their cage and felt them wriggle around his head and entwine around each other and wrap around his ears like they always did when he let them free. Let him come down now! How DARE he abandon him!!? And then he was burying his face in both hands and snarling in sorrow because deep down, he knew that was not the case. In fact... No!!! He refused to think about that!

   He roared again and jumped into a run. His body bent and he seesawed along running on his feet and on his knuckles as if on 4 legs. Since...it...happened, Brian had begun to revert back to his more animalistic nature. He shaved less and although he still had no beard, the rest of his face was now wild, his eyebrows thick and his moustache thick and abundant, a huge handlebar. He had discovered that running this wild way was much faster and so he had gotten into a habit that he knew he should kick.

   He ran down a long hall and into a familiar room, where he had been spending a lot of time. It was the only place he could think of to get rid of the now almost nonstop manic energy. It was his workout room.

   Brian did 5 sets of 20 repetitions of everything with the weights on heavy as he could take them. Then he did 5 more sets. And 5 more until failure. When he was done, sweat was pouring off him, he was heaving for breath and his muscles were all quivering in exhaustion.

   But it was not enough. Thoughts of a slim and toned blond boy still nipped at his heels. Brian howled in misery and ran out of the room and then out of the house at a dead run.

   He ran around the property 5 times, the equivalent of 20 miles. He had done it this morning. He did it now He had done it morning and night, to drive him into exhaustion since...it happened. And then tonight...tonight he would finally satiate himself and drive the vision that was Justin Taylor out of his mind and his loins.

   As he ran, he couldn`t turn his mind off, as much as he wanted to. He found his mind going back to that day, 13 days ago. It was all his fault. All his fault. He remembered IT.....

B&B&B&B&B&BB&B

Justin remembered...16 days ago...7 pm

      Knock! Knock! Knock!

   Justin threw open the door. "Hello Briaa-AAACCK!" He rolled his eyes. "What the-OK, Brian! What's the deal!? What's with the get-up!?"

   "I'm preparing for my life of celibacy," Brian intoned in a deep, grim voice.

   "Oh for God's sakes Brian it's only 17 days! Well, 16 now," he amended.

   "That's a lifetime for me," Brian intoned in that same deep, mournful voice.

   "Ohhhh.....whatever!" Justin was beyond disgusted. "Well!? Are you coming in?"

   "I'm waiting for you to invite me," Brian stayed in character although now the deep voice was taking on a seductive tone. Was that even possible? It definitely did not fit with the way he was dressed.

   Brian was dressed in a brown monk's robe, complete with a rosary and large cross with heavy sleeves and a large and deep hood/cowl. It was drawn up and Brian's face was hidden in the darkness of the folds of cloth. He held his hands together, joining the sleeves together.

   "Oh by all means...please come in...Brother Brian!!" Justin said with scorn as he stepped aside.

   "Thank you my child." Brian nodded and walked in. The robe was so long and deep, it trailed the floor and looked like he was gliding along the floor. He glided his way across the room to the couch and sat down.

   "Can I get you anything to drink? Sacramental wine? Holy water?" Justin asked, heavy on the sarcasm.

   "Beam will be fine, my child," Brian intoned. "So....what victuals hast thou prepared this eve?"

   And darn it, if he didn't keep up the act all through dinner! It was...yes, my child this and... such and such is just heavenly...and...Bless us, oh Father for this and that...until....

   "OK Brian, I want to you to take me to town tomorrow like we talked about."

   "What! No fuckin' way, Justin! Why??"

   Justin laughed out loud to hear a monk swear. "Now, now!! How many Hail Mary's and Our Fathers is that? And I don't have any reason in particular. I just hate the thought of being in debt to anyone, especially a sweet soul like Beddy. And you can meet at least her and apologise for being such a douche and scaring her! Besides, there's no point in putting it off!"

   "Yes dear, whatever you say dear," Brian Droopy-Dogged from underneath his cowl.

   Justin ignored him. "Now, we should drive in something that can be driven or at least look like its being driven."

   "The Wards can transform the carriage into a limo. It's how I usually get to town, my child." Oh great! Brother Brian was back!

   "And I want you to dress properly, Brian! No monk suit, no S/M shit, something nice! A suit of some kind and your most straightforward and non-scary mask! Do you understand? Can you be classy? Or at the most...tasteful?"

   "My child...I am always tasteful! Even now, I have taste."

   Justin quirked an eyebrow.

   "Oh yes. In my former life...I always wore Armani. And even now, here, I'm with you, aren't I?"

   "What are you talking about?"

   "Even now, I can smell you across the table. If you taste the way you smell, I'm sure you're kisses would be delic- most...tasteful." Brian's breathing grew a little ragged.

   "Hmmmmmm....What's going on under there? Do I detect a wolf in sheep's clothing?" Justin asked facetiously.

   "No. But if you looked closely, you might find a pig in a blanket."

   Justin laughed out loud at that one.

   Then Brian stood and said, "Well, if we are to have a day trip and leave tomorrow, then I suppose I should be going to prepare so everything is ready and tailored to your specifications." He bowed. "Thank you for dinner, my child."

   "Your welcome, Brother Brian," Justin returned, rolling his eyes.

   Brian walked halfway to the door before stopping as if he had forgotten something. "Oh yessss!! There is....one more thing!" He turned around to face Justin again, the folds of his robe swirling magnificently.

   "Yes?" Justin asked.

   "Come here, my child," Brian beckoned with his sleeve, as his hand was lost within the depths just as his face was lost within the depths of his cowl.

   Hesitantly, Justin got up from the table but he was hesitant to move closer. "What is it?"

   "Come to me, Justin....Come....Come to me....Do not resist...Come to me, my boy....That's the way, closer....Come!"

   Step by slow step, Justin made his way over to the mock monk. The space in his cowl was deep and dark and Justin found himself a little afraid but drawn towards the blackness against his will as he listened to Brian's deep and rhythmic voice calling to him.

   Finally, he stood before him. "What is it, Brian?" asked Justin, in real confusion.

   "Close your eyes. Close them...tightly!"

   Justin obeyed.

   He felt Brian's face come closer and felt air being drawn away from his face, as Brian smelled him. "I just wanted to smell that intoxicating scent one last time....And to....keep your eyes closed boy! Don't open them at any cost!"

   "Yes Brian," Justin said obediently. He felt something momentous was about to happen.

   "And I wanted to taste...that smell...I wanted to taste.....the forbidden fruit...of your lips!"

   And Justin was grabbed! Grabbed by robe-ey arms pressed against a wool body. The wool was itchy. And then lips found his and Justin knew he must be in the depths of the actual cowl itself. He kept his eyes tight shut.

   The lips smashed down and he felt himself dipped back in a deep dip. A tongue snaked out for entrance and Justin gave it willingly. The mock monk dipped him and plundered his mouth for several minutes. The two men groaned in ecstasy.

   Finally they came up for air. "So...did I taste like you thought?" asked Justin, still a little fogged.

   "Sweeter than sacramental wine!" declared Brian, "And such a GOOD BOY to obey my instructions! I knew that under that bossy bravado there was an obedient boy waiting for me!"

   "Never fear! I have no wish to be turned to stone!" Justin declared.

   A robed arm was raised and it fell back enough so that a hand emerged. The hand grasped his chin and cheek and a thumb stroked the cheek. Justin leaned into the caress.

   "I know you don't," the made up monk whispered. His tone was indistinguishable.

   Then he brightened. "But you needn't have worried! I always wear protection. See!?" And he pulled the cowl away quickly, enough for a peek, and there he was wearing a domino mask that dipped deeply over his cheeks!

   "Dammit Brian! Why didn't you tell me!? I thought I was in real danger there!" Justin's mouth was a perfect O in amazement and outrage.

   "I wanted to see how well you took direction. And you took it....very, very well! Now close your mouth my gold haired Beauty...or you just may get something long and hard shoved into it!"

   Justin's mouth snapped shut and Brian burst into deep laughter as he swept from the room. "Good-night, my Beauty! Be ready at 9 am sharp! We shall go to this...Diner...for breakfast. For now...good bye....and good night!" And with that, he swished out of the room, his deep laugh still ringing in Justin's ears and his kiss still tingling on his lips.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 8

17 days later...

Justin Remembers

PART 2: The Trip into Town

   The next day, Justin was ready at 9 am. He saw what a dominant, controlling personality Brian was and he figured this would apply to his sense of time as well. He dared not be late.

   He was right. At exactly 9 am there was a knock on his door. He went to it; dressed in black slacks, a white dress shirt and a black blazer he found hanging in the wardrobe that morning. He opened the door. He gasped. Then he shook himself. Gasping at the door was becoming a habit. But then, Brian kept showing up in something different, something impossibly erotic, something devastating every time.

   Today he was devastatingly handsome, even in his ugliness. He wore a black Armani suit with a white necktie and polished, gleaming black shoes. He was no doubt wearing his snake hat underneath a black porkpie hat. His facial hair was and trimmed nicely and his fangs had been...capped...somehow to make them look less sharp. He wore the domino mask that he had been wearing last night, the one that dipped extra far down his cheeks. However, his burn scars on one side was still partially visible and the tendon that could be seen on the other was only halfway covered.

   The two men inspected each other and found each other quite satisfactory. That is, Brian said, "Ahh, good! We match! Ready to go, my Beauty?" And Justin just nodded dumbly and sucked back the drool.

   Brian held out his hand for Justin to take it but did not move forward. He did not cross the threshold. Justin noticed this and filed it away for future reference. But he didn't say anything. He just took Brian's large hand in his small one and together they set off for the front of the house.

   As they walked through the many halls and rooms, Justin held Brian's bigger arm and leaned against him and sighed. He pretended that this was his life and this was his house. He tried to figure out how that felt. He pretended that the Beast loved him and that he loved the Beast back. That they were a real couple, really and forever. He thought back to a couple of the last few kisses that he had given Brian and wondered (at least, re: him loving Brian) if it was really pretend anymore. Did he? Could he...love a Beast...and forevermore?

   Justin looked up at those brown eyes flecked with gold and thought they were the most beautiful eyes in the world. It was just...the rest of him. Could he stand the rest of him? Could he stand to look him square in the face? Justin remembered the horror he had felt when he was just shown the snake hair. And he could honestly say...probably not. OK, truthfully, most quite certainly not. And Justin was filled with a great sadness because he knew he knew he was not the man...or man enough...to break the spell.

   By this time they had reached the front Grand Staircase. Brian looked down at his blond counterpart and started when he saw Justin already looking up at him with a strange mixture or longing, adoration, and supreme sadness.

   "What! What is it?" Brian asked, with a mixture of confusion and apprehension.

   Justin reached up and stroked the lower part of his face with one finger, under the mask, the opposite side of the exposed tendon.

   "Nothing...It's nothing. Let's just go." Justin started down the stairs.

   As Justin touched his face, Brian felt a shudder go through his body, his mind, his very being. He was completely rattled. But he concealed all these things. He had been concealing these types of things his entire life so it was relatively easy. At the same time, he could see how hard it was for Justin to conceal emotional things much less anything from him. So he let Justin continue down and waited until they had reached the bottom before grabbing his arm, spinning him around and gathering him into his arms. He mashed their cocks together and rubbed wantonly against the smaller man.

   "Nothing, bullshit. There's something. What is it? Tell me!?"

   Justin groaned. That should be illegal, how good that felt. And he wanted to tell him but he knew it wouldn't be received well and he was ashamed that he was not enough man for Brian. So he just smiled and covered, and said, "I was just wondering if we could make out in the limo."

   And Brian pressed a hungry kiss to his rosy lips and said, "My dear, didn't you know? That's a prerequisite for backseat limo riding!"

   And with those words, they went out.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   The limo was wonderful, long and black with gold handles, hubcaps and hood ornament. And the inside...

   Holy SHIT!" yelled Justin.

   The inside was larger than the outside. It was the size of a living room. There was a wine red carpet on the floor and a long, 3 person, black leather couch bolted to the floor. There was a matching chair next to it, a coffee table and an end table between the couch and the table. Everything was bolted to the floor. In front of the furniture was a large bearskin rug. In front of the rug was a large, merrily blazing fireplace, as big as his own up in his apartments. The fireplace was in the place where a driver should have been.

   Justin pulled his head out again and looked around. Everything was normal, yellow yard, nice stretch limo, Brian. He looked inside. The sitting room was gone. There was just a fridge, a car phone and the two large seats facing each other.

   "What!! Where'd it go??" Justin cried. He poked his head in. And then the sitting room was back.

   "The magic only works when you are inside. That was, anyone who passes by will just see a regular limo. Now get in, you twat, I'm hungry."

   So Justin climbed aboard. Brian got in and slammed the door, which was the cue to go. The limo set off and Justin lurched a bit.

   "Ooopsy-daisy," Brian said and grabbed him around the waist to steady him. His hand roamed in an unnecessary fashion as he led Justin over to the couch and strapped him in; the couch was equipped with seat belts.

   Justin giggled and then slapped his hands away from his crotch. "Thank-you sir. But hands above the waist!"

   "Rats," said Brian.

   "Besides, we'll be at the Diner in no time, I'm sure you'll be able to satisfy your appetite in no time."

   Brian sat down beside him and buckled up. "I highly doubt I'll be able to digest anything that comes out of that thing you call a Diner. (Justin rolled his eyes) No I'm hungry for something else altogether."

   "What else could you be hungry for?" asked Justin, falling for it and genuinely clueless.

   "YOU!!" Brian turned and leaned over, capturing his waist, his back, the back of his waist and the back of his head, running his hands through Justin's golden locks. And then he captured his mouth and forced his way in, bruising his lips, tugging at his tongue, plundering Justin's mouth with his own tongue. Justin felt overwhelmed, overshadowed, over...everything.  The circles Brian was making on his back made him groan in pleasure and the things he was doing to his scalp made the foot rub the night two nights ago (was that only 2 nights ago??) seem weak as water.

   Helplessly, he let Brian tongue fuck, then tongue rape him into submission.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

One hour later:

   Justin groaned as he mindlessly dry humped Brian's leg.

   There could only be one explanation. Brian Kinney, AKA, the Beast was some sort of sex god. An unholy being, He had the power to bend others to his will, enflame the senses, break down all resistances, and make a man so horny that cumming was not only inevitable, but necessary.

   In the car ride to town, Brian had done all this to Justin and more, if there was any more. Justin couldn't decide. He couldn't think. He had been reduced to a mindless sex toy, a rutting Beast in his own right and all he wanted, nay needed to do, was cum.

   Both men's blazers were ripped off long ago. Justin's shirt was unbuttoned and pulled down over his shoulders. He was straddling Brian's waist, facing him. His pants were undone and his cock out. It was gloriously, hard. He knew he should be strapped in, had been strapped in until about 15 minutes ago when he finally couldn't stand it any longer. And since they had not seen a car in either direction since they started, they figured they were safe.

   Brian was sitting down still strapped in. His shirt was unbuttoned and opened to display his torso. He also had his dick out and was encouraging Justin to stroke it. Eventually, Justin gave in and stroked them both. After all, Brian wasn't on restriction and this wasn't any more that what Justin would do in private anyway. They rubbed cocks together. They kissed. They touched and felt each other up.

   Brian stroked Justin's body up and down on his side, his thumbs on his flat stomach and then chest and then back down again. Then back up and he would play with Justin's nipples mercilessly. At these times, Justin would go a little incoherent and his eyes would glaze over in pleasure and passion. He would glance down at Brian in that smooth as sin mask and just about reach the edge. So Brian would back off a little and Justin would cool down and be very frustrated. Then he'd start edging his boy back up again. It was during those times when Justin's eyes would shine and glaze over that Brian would look up into the face of an absolute angel. He would look up, entranced and fascinated at the blond boy's beauty and passion, an untapped well of great sex whose depths he would soon plumb. It also made him feel something that he'd never felt before something that he didn't yet recognize. Much later, he would realize what this was: He was happy.

   "Oh God! Oh FUCK, Brian! Oh, I can't stand anymore! Don't stop! Don't stop! I need to cum! I need....need....UHHHHHHHH!!!!" Justin collapsed backward and threw his head back and his hips forward as he rode a wave of pleasure to the top. He crested, gave a loud shout and broke the wave, orgasming with a pleasure that made his eyes roll back. There was a gush of fluids, nine shots, hitting Brian's bare chest, hot and sticky. Justin collapsed, spent, sweaty, and nearly unconscious.

   As Justin collapsed back the first time, Brian caught him easily with one hand and took over stroking his cock. At the sight of Justin cumming with such wantonness, such abandon, such freedom and noise, it sent him over the edge. He gave a loud shout and came himself adding his seed to Justin's.

   There was a box of Kleenex in the drawer of the side table. Brian used a lot of them to clean himself and Justin up and then wipe away most of the sheen of sweat that was on Justin. And by the time he was finished, Justin was almost recovered.

   He lay forward and kissed Brian deeply. "That was fucking amazing!" he said.

   "It was all right," Brian answered, non-committally, his asshole mask firmly in place over the leather one.

   Justin's face fell. "Oh...OK," he said, trying not to let the hurt show. He got off Brian's lap and checked the windows. "Looks like we're there," he said, in a careful, mostly steady voice. And then he was quiet. He reminded himself that Brian was used to doing this, probably had done it with a lot of those boys in the garden. It was no big deal to him. He could handle that. He wasn't some crying, silly little faggot.

   Brian looked over and at once saw that he'd made a mistake. He clenched his hands. Fuck!

   "Justin, I'm - I'm sorry. That's a throwback from Liberty Avenue and Babylon. It's like...automatic pilot...it's like..."

   "Learn to drive!" Justin snapped.

   Brian covered a smile. He loved Justin's quick wit. "You're right. It's a poor excuse. There is no real excuse but all of them are true. I had an abusive upbringing. I'm used to casual sex with nameless tricks. I never believed in love until it was thrust upon me. And even now, I don't believe...or don't understand...or even know what to do. Tell me what to do, Justin. Tell me what to do to make this better."

   "Just be honest. Quit hiding behind that asshole, I don't give a shit routine you hide behind! Just tell me how you liked it! Just...hell...just tell me what I told you! Tell me it was fucking amazing!"

   "I can't do that," Brian said quietly.

   Justin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was NOT going to cry in front of this asshole....this...BEAST! He got up abruptly and strode across the room and looked out the window. His shoulders were hunched miserably and while he was facing away from Brian he let a few tears leak out.

   He felt rather than heard Brian come up behind him. The Beast put his hands on his shoulders and started to rub them. He put his face right next to Justin's right ear and whispered: "I can't do that because it wouldn't be honest. It was more than fuckin' amazing. It was mind blowing. It was so fuckin' hot watching your face and eyes glaze over with pleasure and cum with total abandon and knowing that was all for me. It was like...like a supernova! Like witnessing a supernova, standing right next to it watching it explode right in front of you!"

   Justin turned and looked into Brian's eyes, so close and deep that it was the only part of him he saw. He searched the brown orbs with golden flecks or any sign of a put on. But he couldn't see any.

   "Really?" he asked. He smiled tremulously.

   "Really. I mean it!" And to seal the deal Brian grabbed him and kissed him hotly, urgently, and Justin pressed back, just as eagerly. He gasped with pleasure as he felt Brian grab his bubble butt globes and knead gently. The two men groaned in pleasure.

   A few minutes later they broke apart, breathing heavily.

   "Convinced?" Brian asked.

   Justin nodded happily.

   "Good. Then let's get out of here and get this over with. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm actually hungry enough to eat something from that thing you call a Diner!"

   Justin rolled his eyes and together they got out of the limo.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   Justin lifted his hand out of the water. It was pruney felt a little numb. He thought maybe he had held it in there too long but he didn't mean to remember so much.

   He flexed his hand into a fist a few times. The spasms and the numbness were gone. That was just as well because he didn't feel like painting anymore anyway.

   He was tired. Tired of this room, tired of the thing on his cock, tired of being neglected, tired of Brian, tired of Brian, making such progress and then obviously regressing back to his asshole "Stud" ways again. Wanting more than he could have, wanting only the most attractive and beautiful things. He had never let on how much but that thing he had said back there in the Diner had really hurt him.

   He touched the side of his head. He was not Beauty anymore. And his sunshine had gone out. That is why Brian had not come for a week. And would not come again.

   He was just walking wearily to his bed when the phone rang.

   After four days of complete silence it finally rang. But Justin just stared at it like a like it was a serpent or a dead thing or something else repugnant. After four fucking days of neglect and one weekof no visits, he was supposed to drop everything and dash to the phone and answer in a breathy, excited horny little voice.

   Justin's face twisted in disgust and derision. He didn't think so.

   Justin let the cell phone shriek and shriek and shriek into the silence and flopped down on his bed. He groaned a little as he landed squarely on his blue balls.

   He lay there and remembered the rest of it. If he was honest with himself, it was the last happy memory before IT happened.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 8

17 days later...

Justin Remembers

PART 3: The Diner

   It was déjà vu all over again.

   The door opened, the little bell ding-a-linged and Justin walked into the Freedom Diner that was...mostly empty. This time a few booths were occupied and a few stools were taken but otherwise it was not too busy. And behind the counter, pouring coffee with one hand and watching the TV with one eye, dressed in that same green and white uniform, her frizzy red wig all over the place was...

   "Beddy! How are you?" asked Justin.

   "JUSTIN!! IT'S YOU! You're still alive! Oh thank God! I was praying so hard!"

   Beddy finished pouring the coffee and dropped the carafe onto the counter. The customer lifted the cup to his lips...

   Beddy lifted open a section of counter and dropped it without looking as she ran towards Justin. The counter whacked the customer in the shoulder and knocked him off the stool. The coffee cup went flying and smashed somewhere.

   The counter section slammed down and dinged against the coffee carafe. It went sliding toward the edge of the counter where it teetered...teetered... Justin winced. At this point, Beddy had flown into his arms.

   The carafe fell, splashing hot coffee all over the downed customer and smashing into a zillion pieces.

   "YOOOOWWWW!!!!!" screamed the customer.

   "Thank God you're alive," Beddy sobbed.

   "Of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?" asked Justin, "Uhhh....shouldn't we..."

   "Oh, that's just Earl! Tell me! How? How did you escape?"

   "Oh yes, don't mind me! I'm just fine thank you! I especially like being doused in scalding coffee and surrounded by broken glass!" broke in Earl.

   Justin ran over to help. "Hmmmmm, stay still sir. I think it would be better if we swept some of the glass away first. Are you injured?"

   "I don't think so," answered Earl. "Except for a slight, horrible BURNING SENSATION!!"

   "Sorry sir. Anyway Beddy, I didn't escape from anywhere. Brian and I are friends."

   "Glad to have that clarified. Although I did think we were getting to a stage that was a bit more than friends," came a deep voice, "Why on earth would you think I needed escaping from!?" Brian asked Beddy. He had come in without a sound; he must have stopped the bell with his hand.

   Everyone whirled. (Except Earl.)

   "Brian! I thought I told you to wait outside! I was going to introduce you!" Justin said.

   Beddy's face had gone white as a sheet.* She held her heart. "Oh Lord! The Beast! In my Diner!" She hid behind Justin. Oh, it's the B...the B...the B..."

   The name's Brian Kinney. I'm afraid the name is not pleasant to you," Brian said, coming towards them and holding out his hand. Beddy only cowered further behind Justin.

   "I came in...because I was watching through the window. I saw that it would probably take a while to be "introduced" and by that time someone might end up in intensive care," Brian said in his dry way. He gave up on Beddy and strode over to Earl. He grabbed him by the back of the collar and lifted him bodily out of the glass and onto his feet.

   "Oh thank you Sir! Thank Y - Y - Y - Yaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!! It's the BEEEEAASST!!!!" he screamed as soon as he saw the shiny black mask of the one who had helped him. And still screaming, he ran out of the Diner and down the street.

   "Such friendly, grateful townsfolk! And you wonder why I hold them in such high esteem," Brian said sarcastically as he sat down at a booth.

   "Now Brian! You know you only have yourself to blame," Justin reproved gently as he sat across from him.

   Brian made a face. Justin made a face back at him.

   "Oh! Are you wanting to eat here!?" Beddy asked in surprise.

   "What else does one do in a Diner? Get their hair done?" Brian quipped, already bored with the whole thing.

   "Brian! You promised!" Justin scolded. Then to Beddy, he said, "Yes, we're here for breakfast and then repay you for whatever I ate when I arrived."

   "Oh you don't have to do that!" Beddy said quickly.

   "I know," Brian said, still bored, "But he wouldn't let me out of this godforsaken town if I didn't." He jerked a thumb at Justin. "You know, you never did answer my question: WHY would I need escaping from?"

   "Well...If you're going to be so insulting, maybe I just won't answer you!" said Beddy defiantly. She had finally taken in that Brian was dressed elegantly, if not downright mouth-wateringly handsome and not just scary like usual. Besides if Justin wasn't scared of him, why should she be?

   "GGGGRRRRRRRRR!!!!" the Beast growled at her like a dog.

   "EEEEEPPP!" she squeaked, and jumped lickety-split back behind the counter. Now that they were hidden, she let her knees knock together freely.

   "Beddy, after you get a mop and broom to clean up the glass, can you please bring us a couple of menus? I'm going to have a talk with Brian." Justin asked her gently.

   "OK, Justin...Sure thing...right away!"

   As soon as she was out of earshot, Justin leaned in. "HEY! What's going on here? I thought we had an agreement! No more scaring the locals! And apologize! You promised!"

   "Yes Dear...Whatev..."

   Justin slammed on the table before he could finish.

   They were still staring daggers at each other when Beddy came back with two menus and a mop and bucket. She handed the menus over and said: "Why don't you boys have a look see and choose what you'd like while I have at this."

   While she did that, Brian hid behind a menu and Justin made clearing his throat noises. Brian ignored him.

   Finally, Justin said, "Beddy, I believe Brian has something to speak to you about."

   The menu dropped and if Brian had been staring daggers before, now he was staring Ginsu knives.** Justin just stared back smiling beatifically.

   Beddy approached hesitantly. "Yes, Mr. B...uh, Brian?"

   Brian sighed hugely, as if this were a HUUUUUUUUUGE imposition. "He spoke mechanically, as if he were reading off a card.

   "I want to apologize for scaring you in the past. I want to apologize when I came in here in any especially scary outfits and was mean and nasty in the past. And right now. Old habits die hard. I was...uhh...self conscious about my masks and face and didn't want to make any friends."

   "Ohhhhhhhh!!!!!! I knew it! I just knew you weren't so bad!" And Beddy threw her arms around Brian as much as she could and gave him a hug. "Oh my! You certainly are all hard and muscle under that suit! Which isn't scary at all! But why do you wear the mask?"

   Brian was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. Justin jumped easily into the void.

   "Brian was in an industrial accident. He has acid burns of part of his face and the rest was horribly burned. He wears the mask because he's self conscious about his looks and doesn't want to scare anyone unnecessarily especially small children who might not understand," he explained untruthfully.

   Brian's brown and golden eyes widened behind his mask.

   "Oh, I see. Well, do you boys see anything you like?"

   "Yes, I think I will have the pancake special.  Brown toast, sausages and poached eggs. Brian?"

   Justin didn't know there was a combination of wonder and disgust, but somehow Brian found it behind his mask. "Uh, yeah...egg white omelet...brown toast...some hash browns are ok, I guess."

   "OK, comin up!" Beddy put the order in the window and got to work mopping up.

   "Say!" she said as she worked, "Now that we're all acquainted like...how bout we plan a party!? A big gala over at the mansion to get the stigma of haunted house off your mansion, Brian! Or...maybe...just a barbeque....or something."

   Brian was staring furiously at his counterpart and pointing and making "MMMMMM---MMMMMM," type noises as if to say, "You see!? You see!?"

   "I'm sorry, Beddy," Justin replied, smoothly, "Brian is an agoraphobic. He's getting therapy but that's why he chose that house up there in the first place. He needs his space and seclusion for the most part but he's getting better. In fact, these visits to town are his therapy. Isn't that right, Brian?" He smiled sweetly.

   Brian stared at him, unable to believe how easily and convincingly the lies slipped off his boy's tongue.

   "Yes," he ground out between clenched teeth. "That's right."

   "Oh my goodness! First scarred and an agoraphobic too! My poor little lamb!" She rubbed his shoulders comfortingly oblivious to the look on Brian's face, which was a good thing. "Well, don't you worry!" She began talking in what she thought was a soothing voice but was one of those slow and enunciated, I'm talking to a disabled person, voices. "This-is-a safe-place! Anytime-you-want...you-come-here! You'll-be-safe-here-and-we'll-give-you-half-off!"

   "We most certainly will not!" yelled a voice from the kitchen.

   "Awww, SHUT UP Randy!" yelled Beddy with righteous anger. "We got a disabled here! I swear if you give me any grief over this, I'll knock your block off!"

   "Brian spoke and it was with great disdain but it held no vitriol as before, "My dear lady, I may be a little phobic but I am hardly disabled. Also, I'm exceedingly wealthy. This...half off thing...will not be necessary."

   "Oh...of course sugar! Of course...Well, I'll get your guys' food now, Kay?" She rubbed his shoulder soothingly, which had no effect and she again totally missed that Brian's expression that was as sour as a lemon as opposed to sweet as the sugar she named him after.

   "Great!" he said dourly, as she ran off. "Now she thinks I'm sort of invalid, thanks to you."

   Justin had been biting his tongue to keep a straight face this whole time. Now he couldn't stop giggling. "Oh relax, Brian! You got what you wanted. Thanks to her and the gossip grapevine, no one will ever come to the house now! Well not without our permission anyway. You'll be ...left alone," he amended, mimicking Brian from that first breakfast.

   Brian opened his mouth to argue, paused, then closed it again. The little twat was right.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   It was a little while into their breakfast. Beddy had mopped up; all the while giving Brian watery, awww, ain't he a brave one-type looks. These made Brian gnash his teeth and Justin want to giggle.

   But at last she was done and for a while there was relative peace as Justin wolfed down his huge breakfast and Brian picked at his low carb, low calorie shit. They had the place to themselves now because shortly after Earl had fled the premises, everyone else had ponied up and left as well. And every time there was a dinging of the door bell the person or persons would catch one look at Brian's black and yet tasteful mask, turn right around and head back out again in fear/revulsion. But Brian was unconcerned so Justin followed suit.

   "Hey, I know what!! yelled Beddy, making Justin jump and Brian nearly swallow his fork. "I'm going to Skype with my cousin and introduce you to her!"

   "Madam," said Brian haughtily, "I really don't thing that's..."

   "Yeah, it'll be great!" enthused Beddy, not even hearing Brian as she overrode him. "Justin, I e-mailed her all about you like I said and she told me to contact her if you ever came back! She'll be thrilled that you're still alive!"

   "Of course he's still alive!" Brian strangled his fork in frustration. "Why would he NOT be alive!!!?"

   "Ahem! Ahem!" Justin cleared his throat noisily.

   If it had been alive, the fork would have been turning blue. Brian took a huuuuuugge breath and closed his eyes. There was a pause.

   "Beddy!" Brian burst out in this overly bright and happy voice, "What I meant to say was...now that we're both such good...friends..." he forced out, as if there were a large stone in his throat, "Maybe you could tell me why you seem perennially surprised that my boyfriend is...still alive?"

   Of course, Beddy overlooked anything out of the ordinary. She answered, "Oh, well, I'm sorry, Brian but for the longest time you were only "the Beast" ...boy I sure feel a little silly calling you that now..." She gave a little nervous giggle and petered out.

   Brian just waited in stony silence. Pointedly, he expertly raised one eyebrow.

   "Oh...yes well..." she twttered and hemmed and giggled some more, "Well anyway there were all those other boys who came looking for you and well, none of them ever came back and well, you know, I kind of feared the worst for a while. But since you're here now and Justin's OK, everything else must be OK with those other boys too...right Mr. Brian?"

   "Uh...right...Of course. Everything's fine about them. I was just looking for someone who could be a companion to me in my disabled condition. However, no one measured up until Justin here." Brian said.

   "Oh of course...of course," twittered Beddy, "It's just...well...I never saw them again and we're the closest town and all and...and well....a few of us were wondering...what happened ...to them...." She was twisting a dishcloth in her hands and her face was bright red. You could tell it was taking every ounce of her courage to ask this question from the forbidding  "Beast" himself.

   At the moment, though, Brian felt anything but forbidding. He had no idea what to say. He looked at Justin in horror as she asked her question because before it was halfway out, he knew what it was going to be. And while he was very good at telling people what they needed to believe, it most came out as bossing and directing people at what to believe. He rarely needed to make anything up so he never learned to lie. I mean there was the small stuff like: How are you doing? Oh just fine thanks...But none of the real whoppers.

   Justin caught on to Brian's distress and gave a kind "Oh, that's so silly you're going to laugh too when you hear it" kind of laugh. Then he said with a cheer he didn't feel, "Oh Beddy, well, of course! When you get to know Brian, you'll see just how generous he can be! Every time it didn't work out, Brian sent the young man off in his own personal limo, straight to the nearest airport and then off back home to their hometown lickety split! That's why no-one stopped back here afterwards. Isn't that right...Brian!?" He finished pointedly.

   "Uh....yeah!" Brian wagged his head like a bobble head doll, "Yes that was exactly it!"

   "Oh thank goodness! Oh thank heavens! All those boys, safe and sound! My cousin will be so pleased! And I'm texting with her right now! She's taking a break so you can meet her!" At this point, Justin saw that she was twiddling around with a silver laptop whose brand name he could not quite make out. And then she was lifting the thing and carrying it over to their table. There was a built in webcam at the top of the screen.

   "Who's your cousin?" Brian asked like he didn't really give a cat's crap.

   "Her name's Debbie! She's a waitress just like me! She works in Pittsburgh at the Liberty Diner!" Beddy gabbled,

   Brian nearly swallowed his fork again.

   "That's why I asked the boss here to make the Diner here, the Freedom Diner! It's pretty informal here so he agreed. I want to be just like her in every way!" She pressed the call button.

   "NO!!" yelled Brian.

   But it was too late. The Skype was making its calling noise and then it was being answered and then another red wig was filling the screen.

   "Hiya punkin!" came a familiar screech, "How are ya!? You keepin' all those homophobes out there in the sticks in line for me?!"

   "Hi Debbie! I sure am! There's a lot of that attitude here but they're not allowed to bring it into my place!"

   "Good girl! So where's this Justin? And his man!"

   "Hey that's right! I got my first gay couple to take care of! And just like you Deb, I'm fixing to make this a safe spot for them to come!" She turned the screen toward Justin first. "This is Justin. I thought he was in danger but it turns out I was mistaken! And all those other boys got driven home to their mamas in a limo to the airport! So everything's all right!"

   Justin was faced with red bewigged 50-ish woman who looked kind of plump but otherwise good for her age. She wore too much bright red lipstick and smacked gum noisily as she bent too close to the cam on her end. She was in constant motion and when she moved back he saw she was wearing a rainbow vest and under that a shirt that said: EAT...GAY...LOVE.

   "That's great sugar! So Justin! I almost feel I know you; my cousin was talking about you so much!"

   "I'm flattered. It's good to meet you too. Beddy really looks up to you."

   "Well, thanks sugar! So I hear you're part of the only queer couple in the area! OK, well I shouldn't talk long so I'll keep this brief..."

   "Yeah, that'll be the day!" yelled someone off screen. "How bout some service!" yelled someone else.

   "I'm on a break! If you two queens are hungry why don't you partake of a little protein in the bathroom! You whiners are sure suited for each other!"

   "Now, don't be intimidated where you are! I know there'll be a bunch of homophobic yokels out there, but you just stare ‘em down! And if the heat gets too intense, just head to Beddy's Diner! She'll take care of you and protect you! And don't take any guff from your partner!"

   "Oh don't worry Debbie! I never take guff. And he and I have an agreement regarding any abuse. Don't we, uhhhh....sugar?" Justin was momentarily confused as Brian was making violent slashing motions across his throat. Cut! Cut! Quiet! He was silently screaming.

   "Ohh?? Your partner there? Well, he's a lucky guy! Gorgeous blond hunk like you, must be like having a constant ray of sunshine round the house!"

   "He tells me every day," Justin said sappily, causing Brian to gag violently. And it wasn't exactly untrue. If you considered his scorching hot kisses, him telling him that.

   "Well, let's meet him! Let's have a peep at this paragon!"

   Several things happened at once. Beddy obediently turned the laptop towards Brian who was making increasingly panicked motions not to do so. At the last minute, he made an undignified dive onto his booth seat below the level out of sight. At the same time, there was an outraged shriek from the computer. It was too late.

   "BRIAN!!? BRIAN KINNEY!!? Is that you!? Get your ass out here!!!"

   "Take it easy cuz! He's agoraphobic. He might be shy meeting you!"

   "Agorawhatsa!!? Bullshit! He's been dancing in the crowds of Babylon ever since he could fake an ID! Get your ass out here, Brian!"

   Sheepishly, Brian rose up and faced her. "Hiya Deb!" he said.

   "Don't you hiya me! Where the fuck have you been!!!?"

   "I've been...right here, Brian breezed, as if it were no big deal.

   "Yeah, after taking off in the middle of the night like that! Scarin' everyone half to death. And why are you wearing that mask? Take that damn thing off!"

   "Sorry Deb, the mask stays on. That's non-negotiable. I'm...having some work done. If everything goes ok, I should be back in about 3 months."

   "He was in an accident!" Beddy supplied unhelpfully.

   Deb looked sceptical. Brian winced.

   Bed, hon..." he ground out through clenched teeth, "Do you mind if I have a few minutes alone with your cousin...to catch up?"

   "Oh sure! Sure Mr. Beas...Uh, Mr. Brian! Take as long as you need!"

   "OK, look! Here's the deal!" Brian whispered furiously, once they were alone. "I wasn't in an accident but there are certain things we're telling the locals here to make it...easier for them to understand. As far as they know..." he outlined their cover story. "The truth is, something did happen to me, something...supernatural. No, I can't explain...Not even to you Deb, and no one can see my face...NO-one!" he emphasised until Debbie was convinced of the seriousness of the situation. "And we can't have just anyone coming up to the house, especially unannounced! That's why Justin came up with the agoraphobia angle! It's also better that you don't let on that you've talked to me or tell any of the gang where I am Deb...especially Michael! He'll just want to hunt me down and if he does, he may not live to tell the tale!"

   "It's that serious!?" asked Debbie.

   "Yes. By the way, speaking of Michael, how's my loft?"

   "Oh, don't worry! You're precious Italian furniture is fine!"

   Brian breathed a sigh rof relief.

   "It's Michael I'm worried about. Ever since he moved in there, he's been acting about as snooty as if he were best buds with Robin Leach! Even Ben's getting fed up! If you don't get home soon...."

   "Hey, you know who's not getting fed up? Me!" yelled a voice.

   "Eating's overrated!" screamed Debbie.

   "This is a Diner!" yelled the voice.

   Debbie rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back." They watched her move to the order window, take three plates of food and disappear for a minute. Then: "There! Happy?"

   This isn't my order, you gave my stuff to him!"

   "And he has my order!" yelled two other voices.

   "Deal with it!" yelled Debbie. And then she was back.

   "As I was saying, he's making himself awfully comfortable there. If you don't come home soon, you might have a fight on your hands."

   "Hmmm..." Brian considered this new development.

   Then he shook his head. Sorry Deb, I can't worry about that right now. I'll be back as soon as I can. For now you've got to keep quiet about me. Oh, and you can't let on to Beddy either. Stick to our cover story and don't let on!"

   "But she's a smart gal! Surely, if you just explain..."

   "I can't explain the unexplainable. I just had to dig myself out of a hole to prevent becoming a poor man's Sweeney Todd for Chrissakes! It's imperative that everyone stay away!"

   "Brian that's not true and you know it!" Justin spoke up to everyone's surprise.

   "Whadd'ya mean, Sunshine!?" asked Debbie, smacking her gum noisily.

   "Brian, you're letting your own fear cloud your judgement. With a little planning and preparation, we could easily have a party,"

   "Now, I like this one! Don't screw this up, asshole! And I'll be calling back, so if I hear you've broken his heart, I'll break your balls!"

   "Yes, mother," Brian snarked, "Besides, you needn't worry. The moment I saw his picture, I knew he was the one. The best and most beautiful thing I ever saw. And I deserve only the best!"

   Justin's face did a strange thing, a kind of hitch, a gasp, his smile faltered a bit. But then it was back, as sunshine bright as ever.

   "OK, Deb, back to work," someone said.

   "All right, I gotta bolt..."

   "Bout fucking time!" Someone yelled.

   "Oh, shut up! I'm coming!" To Brian she said, "Tell Beddy, I'll call her later, when things have died down here. OK, Brian, I'll keep your secret for now but I expect to see you back here in three months or at least hear from you! If not, I'm calling out the troops!"

   "Deal!" Brian said quickly. He'd take what he could get and besides, if the worst happened, no manner of "troops" would find him.

   "All right, who's first!? Yeah, yeah, I see you! Hey you, I saw that! I'm getting to you last and if you don't like that, you can KISS MY..."

   Justin disconnected.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   After breakfast, with Beddy doubly paid back, Brian made one more stop and went into a store by himself. He claimed it was a surprise. When he came back, he presented Justin with a shiny, black cell phone. He showed him the one he had gotten for himself as well.

   This way, if I need you, or you want to stay upstairs painting, or you want or need me or miss me at any time, we can keep in touch," Brian explained.

   "If I want you?" Justin asked for confirmation.

   "Yes."

   "If I need you?"

   "Yes."

   "If I miss you?"

   "Yes. Justin, what's the problem?"

   "It's just....I might never want to get off the phone then," Justin said coyly.

   Brian growled and moved in for a killer kiss. They both moaned.

   Brian's hands got a little careless. They moved up and down and then up and seriously down south.

   Justin slapped his hands away. "Hands above the waist, mister!"

   "Rats!" Brian said.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   The cell phone rang and rang and rang in the silence. Finally it stopped.

   There was a few minutes of silence. Then: Riiiiing.....Riiiiiiing....

   Justin sighed. He knew if he did not answer it, the beast would just keep calling and calling and calling and then eventually show up at his door banging on it as if to beat the devil, even though...

   Justin sighed. Even the "even thoughs" didn't matter now. The Beast would find a way to him no matter what.

   Justin gave a weary sigh. He reached over and picked up the phone off the bedside table. He answered it in mid ring.

   "Hello?" he answered in a weary, disdainful voice.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 9

Brian Remembers:

The West Wing, the Hungry Hermit, and the Horrible Hunters

Or

If You Can Read This, You Are A-literate

   Brian ran around the property 5 times, the equivalent of 20 miles. He had done it this morning. He did it now. He had done it morning and night, to drive him into exhaustion since...it happened. And then tonight...tonight he would finally satiate himself and drive the vision that was Justin Taylor out of his mind and his loins.

   As he ran, he couldn`t turn his mind off, as much as he wanted to. He found his mind going back to that day, 13 days ago. It was all his fault. All his fault. He remembered IT.....

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   For a couple of days after the Diner, everything was fine. They'd have breakfast together, Justin would explore, Brian would go work out, they'd have lunch either together or apart, and Justin might work out, and then go paint. Brian showed him the back estate (it was too big to be called a yard) and the woods that surrounded the back of the house on all three sides. He showed him the stables and introduced him to Arjax. If one needed to touch base, they'd phone each other.

   At seven o'clock there would be a knock on the door and the Beast would visit him. They'd do dinner, sit and kiss in front of the fire until Brian got too frustrated or watch something.  And Brian would bring him a small gift of some kind. A watch. A cowry bracelet. Or something practical for his painting. Well, that's what he would have gotten, if disaster had not struck.

   On the thirteenth day and counting down to B-day, as Brian had dubbed it, not the B-day, his B-day or the like, but simply B-day said as morosely as the actual day it was parodied after, Justin went exploring and forgot his cell phone.

   Justin was exploring the west wing of the house and he was puzzled at the way the halls were maze-like as usual but at the same time seemed to guide him inevitably back to the same room. The carpets on this side of the house were ripped and dirty, with huge holes torn out of them or sections missing completely. The wallpaper had huge slices ripped in them at regular intervals. And more and more, there were ugly gargoyle statues staring down at him from near the ceiling.

   Down this horrible, haunted hallway went Justin, growing more and more scared, totally disoriented and lost as the lights were all either smashed out or burnt out and the Wards could not show him the way. This also meant it was dark as a dungeon. Dead ends became more and more frequent, doorways less and less and at last there seemed only one way to go, through a final pair of black, double doors with simply huge, deep, claw slash marks out of both of them. One of them was hanging by one hinge.

   Into this fearsome lair went our fearless hero. Well, that's not quite true, he was scared out of his mind but he had no choice so in he went. Inside was a huge room and at the end was a pair of glass, French doors with more than a few of the panes smashed out. There was a huge mahogany desk at the end near these doors. The whole room was long and then widened out near the end. Justin looked at the floor plan carefully and smiled a little because it was obvious that from the ceiling, this room would be shaped like a coffin.

   Justin made his way to the end of the room. He gasped.

   The room was in shambles.  It smelled of musty decay and whatever furniture there was...no, had been...was reduced to splinters. There were large cut out people standing against the way, but they were also ripped to pieces, of just torn in half. Justin went over to a few.  There was a large cut out of a muscular man in speedos. His face was clawed out and he had been gutted until the cut out had broken into pieces. Justin put him back together as best he could and moved along. The next one was a female model, buxom, blonde, and beautiful as a Barbie doll. She too had been gutted. Bye-bye Barbie.

   Justin frowned as he tried to figure it out. Why have all this stuff here? Why women cut outs?

   Justin couldn't figure it out and continued toward the desk. The legs and top had been deeply scratched. Now that he was closer, Brian saw that there was something on it. One thing had escaped destruction. Under a domed, glass dust cover was a framed picture. Justin brushed off the grime and peered inside. Brown hair and brown eyes stared back at him.

   Justin carefully lifted off the dust cover and took a closer look. His eyes softened at the cuteness.  It was a little boy, a baby less than a year old. He had brown hair and brown eyes that matched Brian's exactly except for the gold flecks. Otherwise the boy was Brian's moniker.

   Justin picked up the picture gently, carefully as if it were the finest crystal. It very well might as well be. It was obviously taken care of and cherished. He took it over to the doors to look at it closer where the light was better. Looking out he saw the doors opened out onto a stone patio similar to the one in the central courtyard, only this one had stairs leading down to the left only and they were at the back of the house and very near the woods. He admired the boy for several minutes He must...he must be Brian's son. But how? Brian seemed to have no inclination to be straight whatsoever. He looked back at the bashed Barbie. Perhaps...one of them? Justin still couldn't picture it though.

   Carrying the picture in the crook of his arm and as carefully as if it were a real baby Justin turned back toward the desk. He was going to put it back when something else caught his eye. On the wall to the left and now facing him, where the room widened, was a huge portrait. It too had been slashed. Justin went closer.

   The picture had been completely ruined. But out of the top half stared a pair of wide and happy brown eyes with golden flecks. Justin felt an excitement rising in his chest. He lifted a few strand of the painting trying to get a view of the slashed man's face. A chiselled jaw came into view.

   Before Justin could see anymore, there was a fearsome crash at the end of the room. Both doors exploded off their hinges and one door was broken into several pieces. At the same time there was a terrible roaring that filled Justin's ears. Justin screamed and bent over shielding himself and the picture with his own back.

   Brian rushed into the room, running on all fours. He was dressed in nothing except black leather shorts and a full-length fur cape. He rose up slowly from all fours to his huge, full height and Justin could now see the cape was really an actual pelt, complete with the four legs that Brian had slipped his arms and legs into and a lion's head that Brian could (and was) wearing as a hood and mask. Justin screamed again in real fear because in the darkened room and with the even darker expression on his angry face, Brian really did look like a real Beast!

   "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!?" Brian yelled in a fearsome growling voice.

   "I...I got lost... I couldn't find..." Justin stuttered.

   "YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!!" Brian yelled.

   "I didn't know! And I got lost! All the halls are dark...and they all lead here!" Justin hated the whining tone that he couldn't shake but he was thrown completely on the defensive. "He straightened up. "Hey! How'd you know where to find me?"

   "THE WARDS TRACKED YOU AND INFORMED ME!! I'VE BEEN CALLING YOU AND CALLING YOU ON YOUR CELL!" Brian growled, but the volume never really went down. "WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER?"

   "I forgot it in my room this morning," Justin said, "Don't you think I would have used it? Now, will you calm down?"

   However, that's when Brian caught sight of the picture cradled in his arms. The brown and gold eyes blackened in dark feral rage. The part of the face that was exposed went red. He held out his hand wordlessly.

   Justin went to say something and then changed his mind. He handed it over. Brian grabbed it back jealously and crossed the room in two steps and placed in back on the desk and under the dust cover.

   "Brian...I'm sorry...I was just putting it back...and protecting it...it's obviously very prec..."

   "YOU NEVER SHOULD HAVE TAKEN IT!" Brian yelled so loud, his ears rang.

   "I know. You're right, I'm sorry. He was so adorable I just wanted a quick look. I was putting it back. I was..."

   "I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE WEST WING!! I TOLD YOU NEVER TO COME HERE! I TOLD YOU IT WAS FORBIDDEN!!!" Brian continued to rant and scream.

   "Geez, Brian, I'm sorry, OK!? I didn't mean to...WAIT A MINUTE!! NO YOU DIDN'T!!!" he yelled back, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? AND STOP YELLING AT ME! I'M WARNING YOU, BRIAN..."

   "GET OUUUUT!!! JUST GET OUUUTT!!!" Brian yelled, and smashed the cut outs into further smithereens in his rage.

   Justin covered himself in the face of this destruction and then straightened up. He was shaking in fear and tears ran down his face but he didn't run away.

   "FINE!" he screamed back, "I'm getting out! But not by the way you thought!" And he strode quickly over to the outer doors and went out. He turned and slammed both doors with a satisfying crash. To his delight, as he did, every pane left in the decrepit doors smashed with a great noise. Then Justin saw that one pane of glass had survived. He narrowed his eyes at Brian who stared back hatefully. He strode over, balled a fist and with the side of it, knocked it out with a smaller but satisfying smash. The doors were now just a useless frame.

   "I warned you Brian! I warned you! Now you can GO TO HELL! Our agreement is at an end! I'm leaving! Right here! Right now!"

   "You can't leave! Where do you think you'll go, little boy! What about your stuff! What about your art!?" Brian crashed his way out of the now useless door but Justin was already on his way down the stairs.

   At the bottom, Justin closed his eyes for a few seconds. A beat up duffle bag appeared by his feet, a basket of food appeared in his waiting right hand and a dark blue travelling cloak with a hood appeared around his shoulders. A compass appeared in his left hand.

   "I'll use this till I get out of the woods!" Justin yelled, holding up the compass. "HA! Bet you didn't know I could do this, did'ja!?"

   "I knew! I was just hoping you didn't!" Brian said morosely.

   "RRRRRGGGHH!!!!" Justin growled in frustration, "Well, whatever then! You want me gone! I'm gone! I'll go to Beddy's until I can get a bus out of this godforsaken place!" He picked up his duffle bag that he knew contained a few changes of clothing and his toiletries and headed off.

   "Justin...."Brian growled at normal volume at last but somehow this was far worse than when he was yelling. It was a calm that was before a coming storm and Justin knew it. "I do not consider our bargain at an end! Re-consider carefully! Return now and I will forgive and forget! Do not make me hunt you down! My wrath will be terrible," he finished with a careful nonchalance that belied his festering rage.

   Bravely the blond boy tossed his head in defiance which only threw hair into his eyes. The sight made Brian was to giggle and twitched his dick. Awkwardly, Justin brushed it back out again.

   "Do your worst!" he threw back bravely. Then he strode off into the forest and disappeared.

   "Justin! Justin, come back! JUUUSSSTTINNNNNN!!!!" And then Brian roared, a real roar, a lion's roar that could be heard for a mile.

   Just inside the forest, Justin paused and let the roar wash over him and for one minute actually re-considered going back.

   "Then he shook his head. He HAD to learn that when he said something, he meant it. He strode forward and continued on.

   So when he heard Brian roar again, he never saw that it was with his face buried deep within his paws.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   Brian finished his run just as he was finishing letting that awful scene run through his mind. He gave a mournful AAAARRRROOOOOOOOOO!!!!...and clasped his hands to the sides of his head in regret. Why did he have to be so stupid!? He'd always said, no apologies, no regrets but at this point he did regret that time, the way he acted, everything. If only he hadn't yelled, if only he hadn't driven him away, none of IT would have happened.

   Heaving and sweating profusely from the 20 mile run, Brian made his way inside. He was finally tired out. He went inside and showered and changed. He clipped his face hair, his nose hair his body hair and his eyebrows. He shaved. He filed down and sharpened his fangs. He gave himself a mani/pedi, making sure his nails were unsharp. That would never do.

   As he shaved and cut and clipped and filed and basically transformed from Beast to Man, he found himself going back over the rest of it. He was unsure of exactly went on from Justin's point of view but during their few dates before Brian couldn't stand being around the blond anymore, Justin had filled in enough of the blanks so that Brian could figure it out. Although when he was shaving, he took a break from remembering to concentrate. Some things that a man did had to be done without daydreaming. That would never do.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

A/N: I become alliterate. Bold move or temporary insanity?? You decide.

   And so it was, that Justin found himself walking through a deep dark forest on his way to the house...well...Diner of an old woman who could laugh like a wicked witch but was as kindly as his old Granny and the best darn fag hag a blond boy could hope for this side of the Allegheny mountains. Whichever side he was on anyway. Maybe he was in the mountains.

   Justin shook off these unpleasant thoughts and vowed to find out when he got out of here. He kept going.

   It was slow going through the underbrush so when Justin finally came upon a thin trail heading in...somewhat the right direction he was exceedingly glad. Justin jumped for joy and virtually pranced along the provided path. He started to make much better time as he hurried along, every so often checking his compass to make sure he was on the right heading.

   The trees were leafy and green and the pines were so tall, Justin could barely see the tops. All the foliage muted the sunlight pleasantly and Justin was able to see about an hour later that it was approximately noon.

   And so, as soon as the next stump came along, Little Blond Boy in Blue halted his hurried hike along the provided, promenaded path. He sat his bubble butt down and checked his basket of goodies. No, not THAT one, you perv! The one with the food in it! Honestly!

   The basket was a wicker wonder trove of treasures. The whole thing had been covered a red and white checked cloth that could be unfolded into a tablecloth sized picnic basket. There were 3 apples, 3 oranges, 6 sandwiches and 10 granola bars wrapped in twos. There was a plastic wrapped piece of apple pie and a wrapped up piece of pumpkin pie. There were 6 bottles of water. At the bottom were two boxes of matches and in between the sandwiches was a folded up piece of paper. Justin unfolded it.

Hi Sweetie!

I'm the one you know as Emmett. All four of us added something to the basket and wish you weren't going but we heard your thoughts loud and clear so we thought we'd better help. The tablecloth can be transformed into a tent or just a sleeping bag if you take it into your head to sleep under the stars! I'm afraid this is all the food we could whip up at a moment's notice and you'll see I've added some matches...just in case. However, if the Master catches you, I'll deny everything! I'll miss you sweetie, you were a ray of sunshine in that gloomy old house and I think you were good for him. I wish you'd come back. But if not wherever you end up in the world, lots of luck baby! Wish I could do more!

I remain,

Your Auntie Em.

   Justin brushed back a tear and folded the note back up. He was never going back. Never.

   "Hello there, young man!"

   Justin jumped and went instantly on guard. He hadn't heard anything in the stifling silent stillness within the deepness of that dark, dank, deciduous forest. It was like having cotton wool stuffed in your ears. And so, the sudden sound in the silence was startling.

   It was an old man wrapped in a blue travelling cloak like him. He had a long white beard and carried a small basket of herbs and mushrooms in one hand and a little tin cup in the other.

   "Who are you? What are you doing here!" shouted Justin, shielding his belongings and taking a defensive stance.

   "Who me? I'm just an old man," said the old man, "I'm just a lonely old man living out my pension in hermitage. I was out gathering herbs and mushrooms. I eat them or make them into potions and sell them on Sundays in the center square of the village. What are YOU doing out here?"

   "Oh, I see. Well I'm sorry if I was rude but you rather scared me," said Justin, "I haven't met anyone since I entered these wild woods. I thought this deep, dark, dank forest was deserted."

   "They are...except for me. That's the way I like it. So I ask again, why are you here?"

   "Oh, I'm just passing through. I'm on my way to Beddy's place in the village. She's like a foster Granny to me and I'm hoping to stay with her until I can blow town for good. I'm running from my lover, I suppose."

   "Oh, that old story! What she do? Henpeck you to death?"

   "Well no...actually it's a different situation. You see, I'm gay. My lover is...was,,,a man. And he was bigger than me."

   The old man looked a little surprised. "Well! That is a rather....newer story. So what happened? He hit you?"

   "No. He had screaming fits and yelled and raged at me. I told him I wasn't going to put up with that. We're alone in the country and I wasn't going to wait for it to turn physical. So...I guess I ran off. I've been following my compass but I still feel rather lost. So I stopped for lunch."

   "That's a good idea. I always think better on an full stomach."

   Justin nodded and took out a sandwich.

   "Mind if I join ya?"

   Not at all. Pull up a stump."

   So the hermit picked a nearby stump and sat down. He looked very hard at Justin's sandwich. Then he sighed and began to pick out a mushroom and nibble at it.

   "Oh! Is that all you have? Didn't you pack a lunch?"

   "Not today. I strayed a little farther into the forest to forage than I figured and now I must munch my mushrooms. And if I can find a stream, I can fill my cup with water."

   "Oh, you shouldn't do that! Even the cleanest streams can carry the most malignant microbes nowadays! And I feel bad if you have to munch your mushrooms if that's what makes you money for fresh food. Here...well, I don't have much considering I don't know how long I have to go but...why don't you share my lunch. I can spare...a sandwich...an apple....a granola pack...and you can share this bottle of water with me. How's that?"

   "Why, that's mighty kind of you, considering I'm a stranger! Thank you! It's much better than munching on moldy mushrooms!" cackled the alliterating agester.

   For a few minutes, two boys in blue, one old and one new munched together in silence.

   "Do you know if I'm headed in the right direction? Is this the way to the village?" asked Justin. He poured some water in old man's cup.

   The hungry hermit drank deeply before returning a reply. "Yes it is, but you will have to travel many miles. You will not reach there today. You must stay on this path and at every fork you see take the path that is a little wider. Do not stray from the path young man. Wild wolves wander the western woods and would love to eat the sweet young meat that is your flesh. As well, there are hunters hiding in the thickets who seek the wolves for their pelts. But the woods are thick and they might shoot you, thinking you are a wolf or a rabbit. So stay on the path."

   "My goodness! Well, don't worry, I will! I have no desire to be dead!"

   "Eventually the wild, western woods will open onto some farmer's fields. You will have to cross many fields before you reach the road you seek. You had better cross them at night for if the farmer catches you trespassing, he will put you to work unfairly, lock you in the barn at night and then you will never be free! He leaves me alone because I am old but you are fair of face and have a strong healthy back. He would put you to work and make his ugly daughter bring you lunch and eat with you in the hopes you will marry her!"

   "Good Lord!" replied a joyless Justin in real revulsion. "But I'm gay!"

   "That wouldn't make no never mind to him! Stupid oaf! He'd wear you down with work until you agreed! So mind what I tell you!"

   "Yes sir!" returned Justin fervently. Reluctantly he looked down into the basket. "Well...I guess it's time for dessert! Would you like apple or pumpkin?"

   "Oh, I absolutely adore apple!" said the old man.

   "Well that's perfect because I prefer pumpkin!" returned Justin.

   They giggled at their wordplay and then the man sobered. "Oh, I see! You only have two pieces! Well, that will never do!"

   From amongst the folds and inner pockets of his cloak, he brought forth a small, carved, wooden box with a hinged, flat lid.

   The old hermit took the piece of apple pie and put it in the box. He closed the lid. Then he lifted it open again and somehow there was room and there were two pieces of pie in the box.

   Justin gasped.

   The old man did the same thing with the piece of pumpkin pie. "There now! Now you have dessert for later! And if you like, you can have dessert and food for the rest of your life! For being so generous and kind to a poor old man, I'd like you to keep this duplicating box. Use it wisely and you'll never go hungry or thirsty again! You can even be rich! Be a fool with it and you could end up in trouble!"

   "What do you mean?"

   "Use the box only when you are in need. If you get in the habit of it, greed may overcome you and if it does, it will consume you. The box will duplicate anything you can put into it, even money! But take care that you only use it on your mortal metal money for if you put paper bills in, the law will catch up with you and you will be undone!"

   "But why?" asked Justin.

   The box duplicates everything exactly. EXACTLY! Savvy?" the hermit asked.

   So if a bill were put in....the serial numbers! The serial numbers would be the same!" gasped Justin.

   "Ohhh, such a smart young man! Smart and generous and kind! I knew I'd made the right decision giving it to you!" cackled the hermit.

   "But this is a wonderful treasure! Why not use it for yourself! You could be rich instead of picking mushrooms to survive!" Justin said.

   "Oh my boy! I did! I did! But the beauty of riches is in the eye of beholder. I used it enough to build up a goodly pension and I grew tired of fair weather friends who only stuck with me for what I could do for them. That's why I retreated to the woods and turned to a simple life. But I'm well off enough to live out my life and besides, I'm in the winter of my life. Soon I will rest. And I want the box to go to who I want to give it to, not be taken by just anybody who comes along to pick my bones!"

   "Oh my! Don't talk like that! I can't bear it!" Justin said in sadness.

   "Oh why not? It's true enough. I may be winter but you - you are in Spring, fresh faced and in your prime with your life ahead of you. And generous and moral to boot! That's why I want you to keep it!"

   And Justin could see he was in earnest, so he accepted. "Oh thank you! I'll treasure it and use it wisely for all my life! I promise!"

   "Good! Well, I should be off! I'll eat my pie on the road. Keep it safe! Keep it secret! And someday....find a nice young man like yourself to pass it on to. Savvy?"

   "Savvy! Thanks again!"

   "Your welcome, my boy! Your welcome! Goodbye!" The old hermit's voice faded as he tottered away down the path and then turned amongst the towering totems into the forest. Soon he was lost to sight among the trees.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   And so, Justin packed everything up and then added his new treasure to the wicker basket. The magic treasure box melded itself perfectly amongst his other belongings and fit perfectly. Justin tucked the red and white cloth over all and continued on.

   Our hero, the Little Blond Boy in Blue, traipsed down the traversed trickle of a trail that wended and wound its way around the towering trees always further westward. The stifling silence was spooky.

   Little Blond Boy in Blue continued on in this way for about 15 minutes when suddenly the stifling silence was shockingly shattered. A lion's roar permeated through the entire forest, still very, very far away. But the effect was subsonic and it penetrated every pore of our protagonist, Little Blond Boy in Blue. A frosty fear filled every follicle of our favorite blond boy, especially when the subsonic sound sustained and furthermore formed a word: JUUUUUSSSSSTTIIIIINNNNNNNNN!!!!!! The whole wood shook, the ground quaked and Justin felt the subsonic sound quake through his stomach and then through his entire being. Then there was silence once again. But Justin knew a deadly game of cat and mouse had just begun. He ran on until he reached the first fork.

   The first fork was formed when a trickle of a trail meandered deeper into a darker part of a forbidding formation of the forest. To the left was a slightly wider way wandering through a thicket of roses, forming a tunnelled flower bower. Little Blond Boy in Blue vetoed the trickle trail and voted the wider way as his volition.

   The flower bower opened out into a mossy meadow filled with fragrant flowers. Far away, at the opposite end of the meadow, Justin could see a dark entrance that led back into the forbidding forest.

   "JJUUUUUUSSSSSSTTIIIINNNNN!!!!!!! I CAN SMEELLLLLLL YOOOOUUUU JUSSSTIIIINNNNNNN!!!!!"

   Oh God! It was closer! How was that even possible!

   Justin fled the flowery forest and flew through the fragrant flowers and green grasses. He tiptoed through the tulips and hastened through the horsetails all the while seeking to hide under cover of the next stretch of the forbidding forest and gain the goal of winding up at the western woods.

   But alas, our brave Little Blond Boy in Blue never made it that far. About 3 quarters of the way across the meadow, he was brought up short by 3 brainless bears of men hunting in the woods. Their names were Bobs, Hobbs, and Cobbs. And poor Justin never even knew they were there, until all three of then rose up, tall and hairy and wide on all three sides of him. He was snared and surrounded within seconds and found himself eyeballing down the barrel of the bears' boomsticks.

   "Who're you!?" growled Bobs.

   "Where'd you come from?"  snarled Hobbs.

   "And where ya goin'?" howled Cobbs.

   "I don't see how any of that is any of your business!" elucidated our intrepid explorer, "You've got to get me pass! There's a terrible thing hunting me..."

   "Hunting! If anyone going to do any hunting, it'll be us!" said Bobs.

   You! Who are you guys anyway!?"

   "I'm Hobbs!"

   "I'm Cobbs!"

   "I'm Bobs!"

   Justin opened his mouth, paused then shut it again. After the hermit and the magic box, he'd believe anything at this point.

   "I'm charmed...to meet you, I'm sure! But I really must dash! He's coming quickly and if I don't clear out he's going to catch me!"

   "Who's coming to catch you?" asked Bobs.

   "We'll protect you!"  declared Hobbs.

   "Yeah!" reiterated Cobbs intelligently.

   "I'm afraid you can't! You should get away too," warned Justin, "You see, I'm being hunted down by the Beast!"

   And with those words, our blond and blue bravester made his fatal flaw. And although he wanted to quest west, this is where his journey ended because at this point everything went quickly south.

   You see, the Beast was famous far and wide, to and fro and most of it was nothing to boast about. And the bearish hunting brothers had heard ALLLL the rumours especially the ones that were nothing for the Beast to boast about!

   "I heard he's ugly!" said Bobs, picking a snail out of his overgrown beard.

   "I heard he's mean!" said Cobbs.

   "I heard...he's queer!" said Hobbs. All of them gasped as if he cooked and ate little babies.

   "JUUUUSSSSTTIIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!!! I AM CLOSE  JUSSSSTIIINNNN!!!" came the roar again and this time it was louder and closer than ever. The ground quaked as if a giant was shaking a frying pan filled with frying hash browns.

   "You see! He's coming! I've got to flee!" Justin deigned to dash but again all three rifles were pointed at his head and he had to halt.

   You see, as well as not being too bright, these horrible hunters were homophobes of the highest order. But our poor protagonist hadn't the poorest perception of that.....yet.

   "What are you doing?" he cried, "Let me pass!"

   "Not a chance!" sneered Hobbs, who seemed to be the brains of the operation, "See, I figger, if he's queer and he's chasing after you, that means you're queer too! I've heard the stories! I heard he invites a new man up there every week and once he's had his queer old way with him, he murders him and buries them in the basement. They say that, that old house is built on a foundation made from the bodies and bones of his butt buddies!"

   "That's disgusting!" yelled Justin, "Not to mention completely untrue!"

   "Never mind that! What's important, is what do we do with you, FAG!" Cobbs reached out and with one meaty fist grabbed him by the neck. Justin tried to pry his hand away but it was no use.

   "JJJUUUUUUSSSSSTINNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!" The ground quaked like it had the ague.

   "Beast...."Justin gasped as he turned a little blue. Desperately he dropkicked the doofus square in the balls. Cobbs gasped and dropped Justin who gasped and ran for it. "BEEEEAAASSSSTTT!!!! HELP! HELP ME!!!! THREE HORRIBLE HUNTERS WANT TO HANG ME!!!! HELLLLP!!!!!"

   "JUSTIN! I'M COMING! HANG ON!! Brian's voice yelled out quite close and it had ceased to be that sub sonic quality.

   Justin ran out full tilt toward the tunnel leading back into the towering trees and was nearly there. The horrible halfwit homophobe hunters were hotfooting it after him in hot pursuit.

   Suddenly the flower bower exploded outward in a shower of flower petals and color. The bower was completely destroyed. Arjax and Brian fairly flew out of the forest and made the scene, tearing up chunks of green grass and making mud on the meadow.

   Brian was bloodcurdling, wearing his most horrifying hood, that is, the one with the zippered mouth and eye holes and nothing else. He wore his best black S/M suit. Black boots up to this knees leading into leather pants with no shirt, just a harness crossed over his chiselled abs and chest. His terrible tattoos were a terrifying, torturous tableau. He gripped the reins with gauntlets that grew up to his elbows and flared out fantastically. Down his back he wore a full-length crimson cloak. His hair of snakes was loose. They hissed and sissed and twisted and twirled and tangled around his head and face. It was terribly scary.

   All four men turned at this startling and stupefying yet fantastic sight. Despite his washed up, WASP-y, white bread way of living, Justin was pleasingly perplexed when the sight of badass, blacked out Brian gave him an instant woody that was so painful he bet it would have chucked wood. (If it could.)

   He was almost to the other side of the meadow. He could have made it.

   Then he saw Hobbs raise his rifle and bank on blowing his bounding Beast sitting atop his stunning steed to Kingdom Come.

   He didn't hesitate. He ran back, reached Hobbs just before Bobs could get his disgusting digits on him and banged his elbow into Hobbs' back, causing him to jog his elbow. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" Little Boy Blue screamed.

   The readied rifled was slanted too high but went off. BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!! The sounded echoed an re-echoed across the meadow.

   Arjax screamed and reared in a fantastic fashion and Brian was thrown off the saddle, into the air and onto the ground. He lay still on his back in the grass and flowers.

   "Fucking fag!" yelled Hobbs, "You made me miss! He raised his rifle by the barrel end and swung it like a club. Our poor blond boy protagonist felt his fighting spirit flee and fear flooded his full and total being.

   Yessir! (Or ma'am, as the case may be.) It's like they always say. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 10

IT

13 days ago:

   The readied rifled was slanted too high but went off. BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!! The sounded echoed an re-echoed across the meadow.

   Arjax screamed and reared in a fantastic fashion and Brian was thrown off the saddle, into the air and onto the ground. He lay still on his back in the grass and flowers.

   "Fucking fag!" yelled Hobbs, "You made me miss! He raised his rifle by the barrel end and swung it like a club. Our poor blond boy protagonist felt his fighting spirit flee and fear flooded his full and total being.

   And before our Blond Boy could do any more he was bashed in the side of his beautiful blond head. He was knocked out and crumpled to the emerald green grasses and mosses of the meadow.

   Arjax screamed again and reared a few times and then turned and fled back the way he had come. He smashed his way back into the forest and ran all the way back, back through the trees, back to his stable where it was always warm, and back to his manger that was always filled with oats. It wasn't that he was a cowardly horse, it just that he was a work horse not a war horse. And the constant, manic pace that Brian had spurred him onto had frightened him out of his horsey wits and exhausted him to the point where he was heaving and foaming with sweat.

   Meanwhile, back on the mossy meadow, Brian had been stunned for a few seconds with the wind knocked out of him. As he struggled to breathe and sit up, he saw across the meadow as Hobbs bashed his blond boy's head and Justin fell to the ground.

   "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" yelled Brian and then roared louder than all four of them thought possible. The green grasses bent flat against the force of the sound and all three of the halfwit, homophobe hunters were sufficiently scared out of their wits, even with their guns.

   "You ASSHOLE!!!" Brian yelled, "HOW DARE YOU!!! YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!!"

   "What's it to you?" Hobbs sneered to cover how scared he was, "He's just a fag!"

   "Yes, but he's MY FAG! And you have no right TOUCHING him! Do you not know who I am! Do you not know WHY they call the BEAST!?" roared Brian.

   "I thought it was because you were ugly," quaked Bobs.

   "Correct! Fortunately, you won't have that to worry about any longer! Look upon me...AND DIE!!!!"

   And that's when he did IT. Or rather the other half of it, as what he did, was caused by Justin's bashing. He reached behind him and ripped off his hood. (because of the snakes, all his masks were Velcro-ed in the back.) For the first time in 9 months, and for the first time ever, Brian wilfully showed his face to another human being with the direct intent to kill.

   His eyes glowed pure white with magic and utter contempt and fury. All his fangs were bared and glowed ethereally white and fearsomely long and sharp. His scarring was pronounced and the exposed tendon was especially disgusting. The snakes were all riled and they thrashed all around his head and forward, many of them baring their fangs, itching to be the one to strike the ones who were the object of their master's wrath. The three hunters were caught within the fairy guardian's spell and in a few quick seconds it was over. Three screams of agonized horror, three bright white glows and it was over. The meadow now was graced with three disgusting decorations and forever haunted by three hapless wandering spirits.

   Brian never gave them a second look. He ran over to Justin. Justin was bleeding from the head. Brian took off the crimson cloak and wrapped his head in it, a few layers deep and then pressed hard against the wound with the rest of it.

   "WARDS!" he screamed, "I need you! I need another cloak and my domino and transport to the village! Help me! I need your help! JUSTIN needs your help! Please!!" he said in a tortured voice.

   There was a whooshing sound and a whistling and as loud and as fast as a locomotive, a concentrated column of evil looking black smoke was flying up and above the trees and heading straight for him. The column slammed down into the meadow like an evil cyclone and then split into four smaller whirlwinds. Each whirlwind formed into a man shaped image made out of a strange combination of oil and smoke. They were 12 feet tall and huge and muscular but blacked out and featureless. And Brian knew he was seeing their true forms at last. One of the wards held out a white cloak and his domino mask. The others just waited.

   "Please help! He's been hit in the head ...by one of them!" he gestured. "We need to get him to a clinic! As fast as lightning! Help me! Not because you have to! Not for me! For him! Please!"

   The Wards bent towards each other and melded into one. The images of men elongated and transformed and shapeshifted into a huge, black, otherworldly horse. It was at least as twice as big as a normal horse and out of its nostrils, it breathed flames of fire and smoke. The horse had two saddlebags. There was a kind of skip and Justin's basket (the wicker one, you perv...honestly, this is not the time!) and duffle were inside them. The horse wore no saddle or bridle.

   Lifting the beautiful bashed, blond boy, Brian bent his powerful legs and the bounded straight up in the air, high. The horse was somehow there, beneath him.

   "Now, please hurry! To the village clinic, as fast as lightning!" yelled Brian.

   Immediately, the excellent, ethereal, equine galloped across the meadow and then jumped. It kept going, rising up and up past the tops of the towering trees. It moved so fast it was lost to view in two seconds.

   The mossy and now eerily silent, haunted meadow was left behind. The three statues stood there, still and soundless, a silent testimonial to their evil. They were never found.

B&B&B&B&B&B

   The black horse only had to travel another 4 seconds before it began to descend again. It landed on the main street and screamed a whinny that shook the windows as it galloped down the street and then stopped exactly in front of the clinic. It reared magnificently up on its hind legs and landed heavily back down and screamed another whinny. It blew an intense flame of flat fire and set the roof of a convertible on fire. Everyone in the vicinity screamed in terror and ran away.

   Brian tied his cloak off tightly to Justin's head with as much pressure as he could. Quickly, he put on the white cloak that mercifully had a hood. He reached into pocket and pulled out two thick, strong rubber bands. He quickly grabbed his snakes and pulled them back to the nape of his neck and then slid his hands down so that he was grabbing and holding them by just behind their heads. He fixed the rubber band around their necks just above their heads. Thank goodness they were always docile with him. Then he stretched the other one extra wide, slid it over the trapped heads and then upwards a little to about halfway. The effect was that he now had a snakey pony tail. He addressed the snakes: "Give me any grief and I won't feed you for a month!" he whispered furiously. Reluctantly they settled down against his neck.

   Brian fixed on his less scary domino mask and then pulled up his hood, hiding the snakes. He grabbed Justin and jumped off the horse.

   "Thank you! You'd better wait for me but transform into something more normal. This form seems to scare the townspeople."

   The horse nodded and as Brian walked into the clinic, it shrank and morphed and shapeshifted into - the limo!"

B&B&B&B&B&B

   Inside the clinic, Brian screamed for help and quickly got it. A gurney was fetched; Justin placed on it, and wheeled away to the back. They gave Brian a bunch of forms to fill out, the ones designed to shut you up, keep you busy, and drive you crazy all at the same time. And it did all three things to Brian. For: Cause of accident, he truthfully wrote in: hit of head with butt of rifle...and less truthfully...Assailant...escaped. Under relationship to patient, he filled in "brother" which of course was a bald faced lie but this was an emergency. He didn't need any more homophobic, boneheaded, blowhard-ed, bigoted bullshit to block him from his blond boy.

   At last the forms were all done, and turned in, and they relegated him back to the waiting area. Brian sat there in a white chair, his eyes leaking a little but otherwise impassive, masking his emotions as well as he did his face.

   And his emotions were in turmoil. Anger, anxiety, remorse, guilt, and grief all took turns gnawing at his soul and swinging on his moods.

   After 15 minutes and the third time of jumping up like a jumping jack to demand if there was any progress, the nurse behind the desk suggested that perhaps he might be more comfortable waiting somewhere "less clinical".  At this point, Brian realized he was being a hyperactive nuisance.

   "OK...Maybe you're right. I'm going to be at the Freedom Diner, two blocks down. I can be back in five minutes. Please call this number, (here he gave his cell number) if he wakes up or a doctor is ready to talk to me. I'll be back in 3 hrs."

   The nurse agreed and he walked to the Diner. The limo followed him silently and parked at a strategic place near the door.

   Inside, he chose a puke green booth to sit in and stared morosely out the window. He didn't want to look at the seat across from him because this time there were no blue eyes, golden hair or sunshine smile looking back at him. He fell into a kind of daze and the colors all washed together as he watched the street.

   "Um - Mr. Beas...uh...Mr. Brian? Are you all right? Can I get you anything? A coffee, maybe?"

   "Huh!? Oh, Beddy, it's you! Uhhh...yeah, sure a coffee'd be great for now! Thanks. I'm not too hungry right now. I just need a place to sit and wait for a while."

   "Oh...oh, sure, Mr. Brian. You just sit there for as long as you like. I like you're outfit by the way. So...different...than last time."

   "Huh? What?" Brian looked down at himself. "Oh SHIT!" he yelled pulling the white cloak closed and buttoning it up a few notches. It didn't help things completely but it helped a little.

   He was so concerned about Justin, he completely forgot about his outfit, which he meant to use to convey power, authority and strike terror in the hearts of those who saw him. He wanted to overwhelm Justin and scoop him up while he was still a deer caught in the headlights of his erotic power. He still wore his knee high boots, leather pants, no shirt, harness and gauntlets. He pulled the white cloak closed over most and explained: "Sorry...hunting outfit..."

   "Hey, no problem. What were you hunting?"

   "Sunshine."

   "Huh?"

   "Sunshine...you know...Justin...we had...a fight. I was bringing him back. I was trying...We ran into these hunters...Homophobic assholes...One of them hit Justin with the butt of his rifle. He's in the clinic two blocks away."

   "Oh my goodness! Well, what are you doing here then?"

   "I was making a nuisance of myself there. Don't worry. They have my number and I plan to be calling until closing." Brian tapped his cell phone, which was lying on the tabletop.

   Beddy stood there with her lips pressed together in outrage of the homophobes and to think furiously. "I'm going to bring you a pink plate special and you're going to eat it up y'hear? You need to keep up your strength. And I'm going to let Debbie know!"

   Brian was so numb he didn't even think about disagreeing with her. He just wanted to let life happen around him for awhile.

   And so, he looked out the window again and let the colors wash together and basically just tried not to lose it. Dimly in the background he heard, "Justin's hurt....clinic...homophobic dicks...Brian....seems pretty low...and then the computer was being shoved under his nose and there were two red bewigged ladies for him to deal with.

   However, Debbie could see that Brian was having it rough, in a way that she'd never seen before. Whatever effect Sunshine was having on him, it was profound and so she was uncharacteristically gentle.

   "How's it going, sweetie?" she asked.

   "Not so good, Deb....oh God...I miss you all so much right now!"

   "What happened?" What happened to Justin hon? Bed here says there were hunters? And a rifle?"

   "Oh Deb! It's all my fault. All my fault..."

   "Whoa! Now before you start playing the blame game, how about you tell me what this is about!!"

   "There was a part of the house I didn't want him in. I thought I warned him away from it. Turns out I didn't. He saw...a lot of personal stuff. He saw the picture of...the only picture I have...of Abraham."

   Debbie shuddered. "Yuk...I always get a chill out of that big name for such a little boy. It's still not too late, Bri! They haven't filled in the birth certificate yet!"

   "They haven't? Why not?"

   "Linds keeps putting it off. I don't think she likes it either. She was kind of thinking of Gus but Mel overrode her."

   "Oh. Well, I'll think about it. I'll let you know. Anyway, I was upset. I yelled again and drove him away. He left, going through the forest. I went after him to track him down but before I could get there..." He outlined the rest of the story.

   "Oh my God! Those homophobic assholes! Brian, this is a hate crime! You've gotta call the cops!"

   "Deb's right! Granted, Zeke and Blaine aren't the most...liberal and they wouldn't care about the homophobic angle, but you could still get them for assault and battery," said Beddy.

   "NO! No cops! Look, I can't really explain right now but...I took care of it. Rest assured...those assholes will never bother anybody again."

   "Brian! What the HELL did you do?"

   "I told you... I can't really..."

   "But at that moment, Brian was saved by the bell - quite literally.

   DING! DING! DING! "OK, Deb, back to work! Orders are piling up here! That's enough now!"

   "Yeah! Yeah! Don't get your pink panties in a bunch! I'm coming! I'm coming! Look..." she continued to Brian in a furious whisper, "This is not over! You better call me after 10 tonight! There was furious typing and then a BLOOP!...as a phone number appeared in the text portion of the window.

   "Yes, mother," Brian replied with a smirk, "Get going now, don't get in trouble on my account."

   "Wow, you have changed," she commented, "The Brian I know wouldn't have given a shit about that. OK, gotta go! Yeah! Yeah! I`m comin'! Geez, if you're that desperate to suck on something, forget the milkshake! Why don't you hustle to Babylon and suck on..."

   BLOOP! Brian disconnected.

   Beddy was just as curious as Debbie as to what Brian had done but after it was clear he was determined to remain tight lipped, she finally left him alone. She brought him his food and coffee, assured him again, she was there for him and then left him alone.

   Brian called the clinic again but of course there was no change as yet. He hung up, more depressed than ever.

   He hated the sympathy but he craved company with an intensity that cramped his stomach. He thought of the old gang and thought of the one person who would have been there with him if it was at all possible. The person's face formed clear in his mind as a thousand memories washed over him. He wished he hadn't lost touch. He wished he hadn't been so vain and stupid. He wished....

   DING A LING!! The bell rang as the door opened. Brian glanced up to see who it was and then did a wild double take and swallowed a bunch of food that went down his throat like a rock. His eyes widened.

   A young man with straight black hair, boy next-door good looks, and green eyes, came up to the booth. He wore white tennis shoes, comfortable jeans and a tee shirt.

   "Hello Master," said Michael.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   Brian grabbed onto the man's arm and pulled him down into the booth.

   "For Fuck's sake! Don't just stand there! And don't call me master! Not here! Not when...not when you're...not when you look like...him!"

   "All right," said the Michael-who-wasn't-Michael, "What should I call you then, Mast...uhhh...sir?"

   "Just call me Brian."

   "I feel privileged, I'm sure, said the Man-who-was-and-was-not-Michael, although, he spoke mechanically and did not sound privileged at all.

   "What should I call you? Which one are you?" asked Brian.

   "I am the one who shows you the way," the Michael-Ward said. "And I suppose you can call me Michael. I saw his name very clearly in your thoughts."

   "OK," said Brian.

   There was an uncomfortable silence.

   "Perhaps I should explain," said Michael.

   "What a scintillating idea!" returned Brian with the highest scope of snarky sarcasm.

   "Well, we who are the limo could feel your unhappiness like it was our own. We felt your wish for this Michael-friend-person and everyone felt I could represent him most fully. We could tell he was the one who had shown you the way and taken care of you many times in the past. As I have, Mas - uh...Brian. And then you wished! And so, even though it is technically against the rules to show ourselves in public, we felt that it was enough of a loophole for me to come and offer you the company and comfort that you need."

   "But you aren't him!" pointed out Brian.

   "No. But as you observed, he cannot be here and maybe would not be here and I can be. Just use me. Use me as if I were him. Don't worry about the rules or what should be. If there is a penalty involved we will take it. I will take it. You might not believe this...Brian, but we are all fond of you. And the little mas - uhhh...Justin as well. We are all concerned for him. How is he?"

   "I don't know! That's half the reason I'm miserable! They're working on him now but it'll be a while before I know how he is."

   Michael closed his eyes for a moment. "It is conveyed and they understand," he said, "But that's only half the reason you're upset," he prompted.

   Brian suddenly found the tabletop fascinating. He took a deep breath and then said it, to the Ward and to himself, the thing that he would love to repress, to push, push, push away forever but knew it would push back just as relentlessly and in so doing, slowly drive him insane.

   "I killed them. I'm a murderer," he said in a low voice.

   "Yes, that's true," said Michael with surprising candor. "But Brian, they had guns. We see your memory and we saw what happened. The hunter who hit Justin was going to murder you. The little master could have made it to the safety of the woods but he ran back and hit the hunter in the back to cause him to lose focus. They would have killed you AND Justin but he saved your life and in turn you saved his. It was a crisis situation and you had no choice."

   "I never would have...I never have shown my face like that to anyone," Brian said.

   "I know," Michael said and put an arm around Brian, "I know."

   "Hey Brian! Who's your friend?" It was Beddy, in an overly bright voice, butting in with that annoying and often startling timing that waiters and other servers often have. They both jumped. "Can I get you anything mister?"

   "Oh, I really don't eat. I am the one who shows..."

   "Uhhhh....This is my friend from out of town, Michael!" broke in Brian too loudly, trying to shut him up. "He's visiting for the week and arrived yesterday! And what he meant was he's dieting. But he can have a coffee and we'll both share a salad. OK? Thanks Beddy!"

   "Uhhhh...OK. Sure." Beddy gave them a strange look and went off to fill the order.

   "Phewwww!!! That was close! What were you thinking? You can't tell mortals who you really are! They won't understand! They don't believe in the world of magic! Not like we do!"

   "Sorry Mas...Brian!" Michael said. "I haven't been out in the world for a long time."

   There was a long silence.

   "Oh God! What if he's really hurt? What if he doesn't make it? I have to call!"

   Michael put a hand on his arm. "You just did. Be patient Brian. This is a head injury. They are most certainly going to take a long while. Just wait. He is in good hands. They will take care of him. Just as you took care of him by calling us and getting him to safety as quickly as possible."

   Brian balled his fists and looked down at the tabletop with red rimmed eyes "I can't lose him. I can't. I need him. I need him."

   "Ahhhhh!" Michael said in satisfaction and he smiled gently. "At last. At last you are beginning to understand."

   "Understand what?"

   "What your own guardian sent you out here to discover. Don't you see? This needing...this wanting....this is the beginning of love. If you let it progress, you may yet break the spell over you."

   "The spell? Oh God, I'd forgotten. Oh that doesn't matter anymore! I don't care if I stay like this forever! I just need him to be all right!"

   "He will be. He will be," Michael said holding him, "He's stronger than you think."

   Brian's shoulders shook but no tears fell. Michael knew this would be the closest he would let himself come to crying. He said nothing, just held him and let the bigger man let it out without comment.

   "He has to be all right....He just has to be," Brian kept repeating.

   "He will be...he will be..."Michael repeated right back. And inside, he thought to himself and his fellow Wards: "And so will you. You're definitely on your way, Brian."

B&B&B&B&B&B

Present:

   Brian was whistling a cheerful tune, his favourite, "Gonna Bang me a Boy"* with his beautiful, blond and now legally bang-able boy in mind.

   He was just finishing up his shaving regiment and splashed a little aftershave on, still humming. Then he picked up his cell and dialled its twin.

   It rang and rang and rang but Justin didn't pick up.

   ‘Dammit!' thought Brian, as he listened to it ring. ‘Didn't he learn anything from the last time he forgot his phone!? If I have to hunt him down aga...'

   He broke off that thought guiltily. He didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to remember how his pigheadedness had made Justin leave, setting off the chain reaction that led to IT.

   Just in case, he dialled again. This time Justin picked up. "Hello?" came the weary query.

   "Hello Sunshine! Tonight's the night! See you at seven!?"

   "What the hell are you talking about?"

   "It's day 17! So it's B-day right!?"

   There was a sharp intake of breath of annoyance. "If you mean it's my birthday, then yes that's right! So what?"

   "So....you're legal! Tonight I pound your ass and take your cherry!"

   "Wow!" came the dry reply, "What a romantic proposal! Just what every virgin wants to hear! I think I'll pass though. So if there's nothing else..."

   "Justin...what's the matter? I thought you were looking forward to this as much as I was?"

   "What's the matter!? WHAT'S THE MATTER!!? You stop coming up here for an entire week and then you buzz me up and announce you're going to "take my cherry!" Well FUCK YOU, Brian! It doesn't work like that!"

   "You could have come down," pointed out Brian.

   "Ohhh, I'm afraid I was MUCH too busy," Justin's voice was laced with sarcasm.

   "Oh yeah, doin' what?"

   "Oh, well, let me check my schedule," Brian heard the rifling of pages, "Ahh, here we go...for the last ten days...hmmmm, let me see....oh yes...oh that was fun...hmmmm.....oh I remember that....so the rest of the time...ahhhhh yes!....Locked in chastity...locked in chastity...LOCKED IN FUCKIN CHASTITY!!! Fuck you, "I could have come down with this shit on!!"...and screw you in general, Brian! Don't come up here...or I'll have you shot!" was the blond boy's parting shot before he hung up, knowing how it would sting.

   "Oh, I'll be up all right!" Brian said grimly half to himself, half to the dead phone. "I'll be up at seven and it is I who will fuck YOU!" he vowed incorrigibly.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 11

Aftermath

   It was three hours later but may as well have been three years later when Brian's phone finally rang.

   Brian grabbed at it but his hand shook so much, the phone slid out of his fingers twice before he finally just engulfed it in one meaty palm and pulled it open.

   "Hello!! Hello!!"

   "Mr. Kinney?"

   "Yes!"

   "Your brother was brought in with a head injury?"

   "Yes! Yes! How is he? How is Justin?"

   "Well, it's hard to tell. He has a lot of healing to do but we patched him up as best we could. There was an epidural hematoma as a result of the blow. We had to..."

   "Wait..what?! What's that?" yelled Brian.

   "There was a blood clot between the two outer most layers of the brain. I can show you the X-rays and CT scans if you come in."

   Brian was already out the door. "Is he awake? Is he going to be OK?"

   "Well, we had to anesthetise him so he'll be asleep for quite some time. As well, I'd recommend letting him sleep and heal for as much as possible. I did the best I could here but we're just a small town clinic here. He really should be in a hospital."

   "I want this privatized as much as possible. I cannot be in a city," Brian said.

   "Well, then he should be looked over as much as possible for the next three days. More even. Mr. Kinney, I did the best I could but we had to relieve the pressure on his brain. I had to drill a hole into the side of his head where the hema...clot was and insert a small temporary catheter and suck out the clot. We're monitoring him and it looks like the pressure is going down. However, that's all we can do for him now but as I said, he should be monitored. But we are just a small clinic and it's way past closing now. There's no place for him to stay permanently here so it's either a hospital or you come to collect him and take him home with a medical staff. YAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

   The doctor screamed because Brian's heavy leathered hand had fallen on his shoulder at this point. He had arrived, searched out the doctor by the sound of his voice and come up behind him.

   "Very well," said Brian, in his deepest, most forbidding voice, "Pack whatever you need and call whoever you need to take over this clinic for the next three days. Call the nurse who helped you. YOU will be the medical staff that my...brother...needs."

   "WHAT!!? That's outrageous! I'll do no such thing!" the doctor sputtered.

   "Oh, Doctor, YOU WILL!" Brian's heavy hand moved down from his shoulder and easily gripped his upper arm in a vise-like grip. "You see...I am not asking...I am telling you! You are coming with me! You and your nurse either willingly, or as my prisoners! You will be well fed, well taken care of and when Justin is stable, VERY well paid! Betray me or try to get away and you will die!"

   "The doctor struggled to get free and yelled, "Let me go! What are you talking about, prisoners!? Die? You can't treat people like this in this day and age!" But Brian was relentless and of course, the doctor could not escape.

   "Oh yes, Doctor! I can! I'll do whatever I have to, to survive and for that man to be healthy. I have killed once today for that man and right now, I will kill you now, if you refuse me again!"

   "K - killed?" faltered the doctor.

   "Yesss," said Brian hissingly, "Tell me, Doctor, have you heard the stories about me? About why they call me the Beast?"

   "I - I've heard some things," the doctor said dignified and bravely.

   Up to now, Brian had kept his hood up, cloaking his head and partially obscuring his face. "Well, none of the stories are true," he said.

   The doctor sighed in relief.

   "They're MUCH WORSE!!" bellowed Brian, as he pulled his hood down. He showed the doctor his snake ponytail and bared his fangs. The domino mask prevented the full effect from killing the doctor but it had the desired effect.

   "OH MY GOD!! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!!!" the doctor screamed and tried to run away but Brian held him with both hands now and just laughed horribly. The doctor's screams brought the nurse who was then easily caught as well.

   Finally, Brian felt they'd had enough and covered himself again. "Now....I take it you both understand the gravity of your situation!" Brian said in a snarling, Beastly voice. "So what is your decision? Willingly? Or prisoners!!?"

   "Well, of course they came willingly.

B&B&B&B&B&B

   At this point I'm going to do a....fairly quick overview because at this point you can probably guess what happened from here on in. Also, because I have no idea how to speak medical. Yes...sigh...I know my shortcomings. Look, if you want a good medical story, you can always switch over to the House fandom. You could but...WHY?? He's such a pill!! (Pun intended) But I digress.

   Hey! HEY!!! Where do you think you're going!? Sit yo' ass back down! Yeah, you! And you in the corner! And you! Yeah, especially YOU!

   The one thing that I have gleaned that is still a mystery to you is the appearance of the now infamous chastity device. Well, dear children, hunker down and listen up and I will tell you.

   Anyway, the doctor and nurse, made the necessary calls to their colleagues and families to tell them of the emergency, grabbed a lot of IV bags and blankets and other medical supplies, loaded Justin on a gurney, wheeled him out to the lone ambulance and bundled him in. Then they all took off to Brian's spooky mansion.

   Brian rode behind them in the limo. He hogged the road to ensure that the nervous nurse and the dodgy doctor didn't decide to ditch him.

   He took them up to Justin's Apartments, had the Wards magic up one extra bed (since one of them would be watching Justin at all times. He told them to eat what was served them and threatened them with dire and deadly consequences if they did any less than their best. Then he locked them in.

   He checked on them every few hours but otherwise left them alone. This pattern continued for 2 days and 3 nights. Justin awoke on the first day and asked for him and he was there in seconds. Brian wore his white cloak and domino and stroked Justin's hand and whispered sweet nothings and told him he was sorry, so sorry. Justin told him about the box he acquired, telling him only that it was very special to him and to keep hold of it. And then, suddenly, his eyes fluttered and he lapsed into a convulsion.

   The doctor was all over him in seconds. Well, it was a good thing Justin was being monitored. The doctor found two more hematomas and drained them quickly but it was not without cost. With all the shaving and drilling and draining and so on and so forth Justin was left with the aforementioned scar on his head that would be there for the rest of his life. Also, the doctor warned that there would probably be some lasting damage that they would have to discover later. And what they did discover later that it affected his right hand, wearing it out, giving it tremors, numbness and aches when used strenuously. His painting hand. The doctor prescribed some exercises and physiotherapies he could do to rebuild his strength but Justin was pretty broken up about it and when he found out about it, Brian snarled at the doctor so that the poor doc's face was as white as his coat.

   On the third day, Justin was awake, lucid and cranky about being in bed all the time. He still couldn't get solid foods down and was hooked up to the IV. But he was allowed to walk around a bit and the doctor thankfully pronounced him out of the woods. He warned Brian to keep an eye on him for the next few days and call them again immediately if any fainting or seizures or anything else serious happened. He said to call if they needed any more IV bags. Brian promised, gave them each 5 stacks of 10 $100 bills and summarily threw them out of the house.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

Evening of the third day, 10 days before B-day, 7:00 PM

   Brian knocked.

   Justin braced himself and answered. It was not enough. With this man, it would never be enough.

   Brian was wearing leather boots, black leather pants with a blue stripe down each leg, a leather shirt, with short sleeves, police gloves with elastic cuffs. He wore a Muir cap over his snake cage. He wore his executioner mask. He held his hands behind his back.

   "Mind if I come in Sunshine?" he asked as if it was no big deal and he wasn't standing there in a sexy police uniform.

   "I...guess so. Say, why do you always ask that?"

   "I gots good manners," breezed Brian. Justin gave him a "get serious" look.

   "Well....There IS one other reason. Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow. If you're not too mad at me."

   "Why would I be mad at you tomorrow?" asked Justin.

   "For what I'm going to do to you tonight!" said Brian, and he grinned ferally. He kicked the door shut with a BANG! He brought out his hands to the front to reveal the many coils of rope he was hiding behind his back.

   Justin backed away, pulling his IV stand with him. "Brian...what are you doing? Brian? Brian! BRIAN!! NO! I have my IV in! NOOOOO!!!"

   "I'll be careful," said Brian as he advanced relentlessly toward his prey.

   "No! No! NOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Later...

   "Well, well, well!!! My little runaway! What AM I going to do with you?" said Brian cockily, from where he was straddling Justin's body just below what he could imagine was his magnificent cock. He stroked Justin's porcelain cheek gently with one finger. He pulled it away just in time as Justin tried to bite it.

   "FUCK you, Brian! You yelled at me! I told you I'd leave! I told you our agreement was at an end! So I left!"

   "And I told you it wasn't! I told you my wrath would be terrible! And now here we are...in this MOST interesting position...."

   Justin struggled but it was no use.

   "You may yet escape that wrath, Justin. If..."

   "If what?"

   "If....you bend your rules and let me fuck you! Let the genie out of the bottle, Justin! Let loose for me! We'll be so great together! And it's only ten days. It's no big deal."

   "If it's no big deal, then you can wait the measly ten days with no problem," returned Justin. "And I swear to you, Brian, if you have put me into this position, just to rape me, it will be the first and last time you ever have sex with me again!"

   "Justin!" Brian looked hurt, "I would never rape you or hurt you. And I want you to know again, I'm very sorry I yelled. I guess when I saw you holding my son's picture I kind of lost it. It's my most precious possession."

   "I understood that Brian. I was treating it with the greatest of care, like a real baby even. And I would have even put it back sooner if the portrait hadn't distracted me."

   "Looking back on it, I see that now. But, you know, hindsight is 20/20."

   "What's his name?"

   "One of his mothers is Jewish. She named him Abraham."

   Justin made a face.

   "I know. I don't really like it either."

   "He's such a sweet little baby," Justin closed his eyes and remembered, "Oh my! Oh! I would have called him Gus!"

   Brian started and he had a thunderstruck look on his face. "What did you say?"

   "I said he should be named Gus. It's short, sweet, and to the point. And it's more of a butch name. Poor kid's gonna get the crap beat out of him at school with a name like Abraham."

   "Hmmmm. Maybe. Anyway, I'm sorry and I promise I will never yell at you again. I'm sorry." He kissed him. "I'm sorry." He kissed him. "I'm sorry." He showered his face with kisses. I'm sorry. Never again."

   "IF you do, do you NOW recognize our bargain will be at an end Brian? No more of this shit!" he gestured at himself.

   Justin was tied up to the bed spread-eagled. As he had promised, Brian had been careful with his IV wrist and even given it some slack but not enough to let him get away.

   "Yes. I will recognize it." Said Brian seriously.

   "And I also want you to start seeing someone about it then. Even if it's by video-conference somehow. See a therapist about it. I want to take no chances here, Brian."

   "What!!? No fuckin' way!" screeched Brian.

   "Yes way! Or else! I may have promised myself to you in exchange for my mother but if you don't, it will only be as a prisoner and slave and if you try to have sex with me, you'll have to rape me...every...single...time. Do you understand me Brian? I will never love you. Never. And the spell will not be broken!"

   "Geez, Justin!"

   "I mean it, Brian!"

   "Fine! I'll see someone. So...can you relax now and fuck me?"

   "Sure Brian...In ten days," he ground out.

   "Arrrrrgggh! FINE! Well, if I can't have your cock...than neither can you!"

   "WHAT!!? What the Hell are you going to do Brian?" Justin struggled against the ropes, quite scared now.

   "Well, Justin...If I can't suck and lick and taste that sweet cock, I'm not going to have you sitting up here enjoying all that loveliness without me. Plus...this will ensure that you don't run away again. You won't leave with your cock in bondage!"

   "In bondage? What are you talking about?"

   Brian closed his eyes and wished. Something gold appeared in his hand. He bent down and whispered, "I told you when you first arrived that I was into some kinky shit."

   Then he reversed his position so that he was facing Justin's legs and sitting on his chest. Justin struggled mightily but it was useless. Brian only laughed heartily and easily did what he willed.

   And that's when Brian put Justin's cock into the golden chastity device, locked it with the golden padlock and hung the key on its golden chain around his neck.

   "DAMN YOU, BRIAN!!"

   Brian flicked one knot so Justin could work himself free. He laughed evilly, got off the bed and left. SLAM!...went the door. Justin could hear his laughter fade as he went to his own rooms.

   Justin struggled his way free and then sulked his way to sleep.

   Which pretty much brings us up to speed.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 12

B-Day

The next night...(Night after being locked in chastity)

   KNOCK! KNOCK!

   “Oh, Justin! Open the door and let me in!” came the request as sickly sweet as honey.

   “Fuck You!” came the charming reply from his Prince.

   “Come on Justin, you’re not still sore about yesterday are you? Come on. Open up!”

   You can’t be serious! This goes way past yelling or a mistaken practical joke Brian. You...locked...my...fuckin’...cock in CHASTITY...for Chrissakes! Get lost!”

   “I remember what I did Justin. I was there.”

   “Oh good! So now you can understand why I don’t want you here!!”

   “But Justin! How are we supposed to continue to get to know each other and break the spell?” Brian asked in a logical tone.

   There was a silence. Then there was angry stomping and the door was thrown open wide, hard and fast and Brian was faced with the most beautiful sight in the world.

   His angry Sunshine was clouded over with hate and fury. His eyes flashed a holy blue fire. He wore not a stitch of clothing. His head was swathed in white bandages, hiding his blond hair. The only thing he wore was the golden chastity device on his cock. Brian had never seen anything so beautiful and delectable in all his life.

   When he spoke it was with a cold, controlled, calm that belied his furious state. “The spell!? Are you shitting me? I don’t give a rat’s ass about that anymore!”

   “Oh come on, Sunshine! You don’t mean that!”

   “Oh don’t I!?” Justin turned around and sashayed his way over to the bed, giving Brian a perfect view of his delectable and perfect ass. He retrieved the mirror and brought it back. He handed it back to Brian.

   “Here. Do whatever you want with it! Kill....yourself. Please! Just leave me out of it!”

   “Justin, I can see you’re very upset about this. Let me in and we’ll talk this through.”

   Justin considered. Then he sighed, part annoyance, part acquiescence. “Well...door’s open.”

   “Invite me in, Sunshine boy! I love it hearing that inviting sexy tone in your voice.”

   Justin was on his way to the couch when he stilled. Slowly he turned.

   “It’s more than that though....Isn’t it? ISN’T IT! You ask me that every time! And the other day when we went to town, you didn’t enter my room. You waited for ME to come to YOU! TELL ME!”

   Brian was silent.

   “Oh, my God! You need my permission, don’t you? That’s it! Isn’t it!? Isn’t it!?

   Brian sighed. “Well, Sunshine, I was going to tell you tonight, but you figured it out. Yes, you need to invite me in. There is a powerful magic protecting your room for as long as you are here. It is a safe zone, a refuge. Only you can allow other’s entrance to your apartments. That is why I ask.”

   “Ohhhh, I see! Well, in that case, I do...”

   Brian stepped forward eagerly.

   “...NOT allow you in!”

   There was a wave of blue energy that struck Brian in the chest and propelled him backward, throwing him bodily out the door and 10 feet down the hall.

   Justin approached the door thoughtfully rubbing his chin. “Hmmmm....You know...This really has possibilities. In the mean time...OHHHH...So sorry about the rotten luck! Thanks for playing and better luck next time! Good-night everybody!” he sounded like a game show host. And with that he slammed the door with a mighty crash.

   When Brian got his wind back, he quietly got up and approached the door. He stroked the golden letters of Justin’s name on the door gently.

   “Good-night Sunshine,” he whispered, “See you tomorrow. I miss you.”

   Then, without another word, he turned and left, vanishing within the maze within minutes.

   Within his rooms, Justin was listening for any sign of life. He was still seething with anger, almost wishing Brian were still there so he could heap more abuse on him and at the same time just wanting him gone.

   After a few minutes, when he heard nothing, he called out cautiously, “Brian? Are you still there?”

   Receiving no response, Justin, slowly eased the door open to an empty hallway. He was relieved but he couldn’t help being a little disappointed too.

   “No. It’s better this way. It is...” he murmured to himself. Then his eye caught sight of something.

   Brian had left the mirror on the floor, propped up against the wall near the door.

B&BB&B&B&B&B

   The next night was not much better and the next after that even worse, just stony silence as Justin knew he was hideous and could not forgive and Brian had run out of ways to apologize. And then, as I have said, Brian started to make his excuses and stopped coming altogether.

   And so, FINALLY...at long last...it was 7:00 PM, on THE night.

   KNOCK! KNOCK!

   “Go away!”

   “Oh Stubborn Little Twat! My little piggy! Open the door and let me come in!’

   “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”

   Come on, Sunshine! Don’t be angry anymore! It’s B-Day! Time to celebrate!

   “No!”

   “I have a B-Day present for you!”

   “What is it?” came the heated yet suspicious voice.

   “I can’t tell you what a gift is, especially on your B-Day! But I’ll give you two clues. It’s smaller than a breadbox. And it’s gold!”

      That brought a hitch of an excited gasp of breath. There was the running of feet and the clambering of the doorknob. Justin threw open the door.

      His golden blond hair was shaved half off and the scar left from his injuries was about as red and angry as he was. The other half of his hair was in total disarray and he looked like Albert Einstein cut down the middle. He wore nothing but his chastity device and a light, white, airy smock that was almost see through and was open down the middle and spattered with a bit of paint but otherwise reminded Brian of a cloud. Clouds...golden hair, blue eyes, and a smile that could light up the room, a smile, Brian was determined to put back on him as soon as possible...by any means necessary. Every day this man earned his nickname. More and more....he WAS Sunshine.

   Justin’s face was still as mad as a junkyard dog but all that was wiped away when he saw Brian. He gasped. He gasped longer and louder than he had yet. He clutched his chest. He reeled. He opened and shut his mouth like a fish and his eyes were about as wide and round as one too. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He just couldn’t look at it hard enough. It was incredible.

   “OH...MY...GOD!” he finally managed to gasp out.

   Brian smirked. He knew what kind of fantastic and ultra erotic image he exuded.

   Brian was HUGE. Like really, really, (what the fuck happened, it’s only been a week) huge. His chest was heavily muscled, and at least 45” wide. His abs were shredded. His arms were huge and defined as were his legs. He wore pair of boots, leather chaps with no ass and a zip up front. He wore a pair of Damascus skin tight gloves. For a shirt he wore nothing but a thick harness. He wore an extra low executioner mask and a black leather band was on his left arm accentuating his huge bicep there. He wore a skullcap to cover the snake crown. The zipper to his crotch was open. A joyful, huge, 10” boner pointed diagonally upward and it had a red ribbon tied around it and his balls.

   “Happy B-Day, Justin,” drawled Brian sexily, enjoying every second of every minute of this moment.

   “Th – th- thank you,” Justin managed, “But can you stop calling it that? It’s my birthday, Brian, not the start of a world war and I’ve been finding it really annoying to have you compare it to that!”

   “Oh sorry, Justin. OK, I’ll stop. So, are you going to invite me in?”

   “I don’t know...Where’s my present? I mean, I’m enjoying the view and the gift wrap but this...”Here he stroked Brian’s boner with a single, alabaster finger, “...isn’t really the shade I was hoping for.”

   Brian growled and lunged. Justin jumped back. Brian’s arms were pushed back by a blue force field. Justin smiled in satisfaction and put his finger in his mouth and sucked on it slowly, tasting the jewel of pre-cum on it.

   “MMMMMMMMMMMM....” he moaned torturously.

   “Little Boy...Little Boy....let me come in...you!” Brian whispered mischievously. “And be careful...you know not what you do!”

   “Ohhhh....I think I do,” Justin said cockily, “Well, my Big Bad...Beast! I’d love to let you in! But...” He indicated his own crotch. “I seem to be all tied up right now!”

   Brian bent on one knee and whipped out a ring box. He opened it and held it out. “Happy Birthday, Sunshine,” he said.

   Nestled in the box was a golden key.

   Justin made a hungry, excited noise deep in his throat that went to Brian’s already hard cock. The blond boy grabbed the box and held it aloft for a moment before reverently taking and holding up the key.

   “Now this....THIS...is the present I have been dreaming about....ever since you put this damn thing on me!” And wasting no more words, the bondaged birthday boy unlocked the padlock, dismantled the device and hurled the hated thing into a far corner of the room.

   Ohhh God! At Last!!! And when Justin next turned toward Brian it was with his own glorious 8” boner.

   “AHHHHHHHH!!!!” Brian salivated and bared his fangs. “My Boy! My Beautiful Boy! You are more beautiful than I could have imagined! Invite me in!!”

   “Not yet!” declared Justin with considerable restraint, “First you must answer 3 questions to my satisfaction! If you can, you may consider yourself invited.”

   Brian was heaving with anticipation and horniness. “Ask......your.......questions!”

   “What happened to you?”

   “I’ve always worked out. But for the last ten days, I doubled my workouts and in the last 7, done nothing but work out and run to keep my lust for you at bay. I’ve been working out twice a day and running forty miles a day.

   “Lust for me? That’s a laugh! You can’t even stand the sight of me!”

   “What – What are you talking about?” Brian snarled out in confusion. His breathing was labored and snarly and animalistic at this point. Everything he said had a beast-like snarl to it but Justin didn’t mind this time because he knew it was born out of lust now and not anger.

   “This!”  Justin pointed to his scar. “This wretched scar! I saw you looking at it when you were last here! And then you stopped coming altogether! You think I’m ugly! As ugly as you!”

   “Jusssstin, if I ever did look, it was to see if everything was OK and if it was healing. You are and have been, the mosssssst beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on! Besides, the scar will soon be covered with a golden waterfall of your hair and besides that...ugliest man in the world here! Turns people to stone over here!” he growled, pointing at himself. It’d be pretty hypocritical of me to judge you forrrrr your looks even if you weren’t a stellar beauty!”

   “Then why!? Why did you forsake me? Why did you not come up for all that week, to call, to come up. We had a standing date at 7:00 o’clock!”

   “I made no forrrrmal promise,” muttered Brian.

   “It was an unspoken agreement!” Justin yelled, “You always came! Always! Even after....it happened, you came! And then you started making excuses and then you didn’t even call! You just left me alone! You obviously aren’t angry with me! You don’t think I’m ugly. So....why? Why just neglect me and then show up here ready to “pop my cherry” as you so eloquently put it!?

   “You could have come down,” snarled Brian softly in half-hearted self-defence.

   Justin’s sneer of contempt spoke volumes. “I think we covered that,” he said.

   “Yeah... I guess we did....Oh Justin, don’t you get it!!? I couldn’t...I couldn’t be around you anymore...I couldn’t stand...”

   “Looking at me...I knew it!” Justin turned around and wandered toward the couch giving Brian a view of his perfect ass.

   “Justin! You’re not listening to me! Don’t you get it!!?” Justin...I couldn’t....I couldn’t...!” Brian gave a fearsome roar.

   “Couldn’t what!?” Justin yelled.

   “I – I couldn’t...”

   “Couldn’t WHAT!?”

   “Dammit, Justin! I couldn’t stand being in the same room with you anymore without wanting to rip your clothes off and fucking you into oblivion!!” Brian yelled, his breathing positively growling and irregular at this point.

   “Justin turned back, a slow, seductive smile on his face. “Third question: “Then why don’t you?” he asked softly.

   Brian’s breath hitched in his throat. His eyes went a little wild. He growled. He bared his fangs, which seemed to glow whiter and longer and sharper than ever before. He roared again, a triumphant roar and his body sort of bent his half, his hands on the floor in front of him. His legs bent, tensed, got ready to strike.

   And with another roar, he leapt through the door and reached his blond boy in one jump.

   Justin met him halfway. Their first legal kiss was explosively hot, all-consuming and one of pure sensation. Justin’s tongue explored everywhere and moved in between Brian’s fangs. He moaned, realizing how much he missed them and relishing that they were his, all his and he didn’t have to hold back any more. He ran his hands over those huge muscles worshipping them, loving them, loving the fact that they were the product of Brian’s desire for him and that again...they were all his.

   Brian had no coherent thought. He shifted purely into instinct and desire. And his one desire was to get as close to his Boy as humanly possible. To fuse their bodies together and make one entity. To taste and lick and suck and hold his Boy against him, the likes of which he had so far been denied for 17 days. A lifetime.

   The denial...the waiting....was ended.

                                                                                                                B&B&B&B&B&B&B

OK Folks, from here on in things get a little blue. Or a lot blue if that’s what you consider a M/M sex scene to be. So, if you want or need a PG 13 story, this is where you get off. Just consider this the end of the chapter. From here on in consider it rated M or 18+ or whatever. The following is rated SUPER M!!!!!!! YOU WERE WARNED!!!

Brian went wild.

   Still kissing, he picked Justin up quite easily, a buttcheek in each hand. Justin wrapped his legs around Brian’s waist and rested his hands on his arms, one on each bicep as big as a large softball.

   Justin moaned in pleasure as he felt Brian’s hands kneading his cheeks and as he kneaded his biceps. They made out like horny teenagers, tongues duelling in a primal pleasure that both of them could not get enough of.

   Eventually they came up for air. Justin licked and sucked his way down his neck to his collarbone and Brian did the same to him. Then they came together and fused themselves in a kiss that they wished would never end but quickly became not enough.

   Brian carried him over to the bed where he then dropped his prize upon it. He grabbed Justin’s airy shirt at the back and pulled in opposite directions. There was loud RRRRIIIIIPPPP!!!!!!!...and the shirt was in tatters. He pulled again and the tatters were pulled away and Justin was gloriously naked.

   Brian jumped aboard the bed, boots and all and towered above Justin. He flexed all his muscles, in a dominant display. Justin caressed an arm and went to stroke his cock with another. Brian batted it away.

   “Mine...” he growled, “Mine to play, mine to suck, mine to make you come!”

   “Do it then!” Justin whimpered, “God, I’m so horny, I could cum just by looking at you!”

   “No you won’t! You will cum only when I allow it, only when I say so! Understand Boy!?” Brian leaned down and sucked on Justin lower lip, gazing deep within the boy’s crystal blue eyes. Justin shuddered in pleasure at the sensations that racked his nubile body with just the gentle caress and the heated gaze of brown and gold of his new lover.

   “Oh yes, Sir!” he cried out enthusiastically.

   Brian growled his approval and showed it by kissing and licking his way slowly down Justin’s chest and stomach. He spent extra time on his sensitized nipples that were all the more erogenous by 17 days of not cumming. Soon he had the boy writhing under his touch.

   “Oh....Oh....Oh, God! Oh Brian! I can’t. You’re gonna make...”

   Brian immediately pulled back. Justin pounded his fists on the bed in frustration and nearly wept.

   “All in good time, my Boy! All in good time! And you should be aware that the first orgasm you have will be very powerful, maybe painful after so long. But after that....then we can take our time. And I will take my time! I’m going to fuck you all...night...long! I’m going to...going to.....going to....” Brian’s back arched and he roared loudly. He roared again and jumped off the bed.

   And then, Brian went wild.

   Quite literally.

   Brian’s eyes went feral. His fangs were now so long, they overlapped each other. His hair seemed longer and thick, his muttonchops huge.

   He roared, a lion’s roar, right in Justin’s face. Justin flinched back a little.

   Brian’s fingernails sort of...grew right out of the tips of his gloves. His fingers moved forward a little and suddenly he was wearing fingerless gloves and his fingernails were long and pointy. Brian roared again, and again and then again, this time as if in pain. He stumbled back and wavered and sort of...snapped forward and fell onto his hands and feet. Nothing was broken but it was clear he couldn’t get up again either.

   “Brian! What’s wrong! Are you all right!!?” Justin hopped off the bed after him but stopped short as if approaching a wild animal.

   Brian lumbered forward and walked around Justin. He sniffed him. He reared up on his “hindquarters” and put his hands on Justin’s shoulders and sniffed his face, his neck. He breathed deep as if he was smelling the most intoxicating rose. He dropped lower and sniffed his waist and then lower to his ass. He sniffed deeply here. His muttonchops tickled and Justin flinched away. But Brian would have none of that and grabbed his waist and buried his nose in. Then he flicked in a tongue. Justin spasmed and shouted as if he’d been touched with a live wire. Brian snuffled happily and did it again.

   “OHH! Brian! Can you still understand me? What....OH!!...What are you doing?”

   “I understand!” Brian said but it was in a growly, snarling voice. He sounded like the Wolfman. “I am sniffing you! It seems like the right thing to do. You smell...fantastic! And it’s coming the strongest down herrrrre!! Now I’m rimming you! Do you not like it?”

   “I love it! I’m just wondering what’s happening to you, that’s all.”

   “I do not knowwww!!” snarled Brian, “This has neverrrrrr happened beforrrrrree!!”

   Brian continued to rim him and Justin continued to feel electric spasms of pleasure. Then the older man turned him, rimmed him, and reached around to lightly fondle his balls. Justin groaned at the extra stimulation. The skin tight leather felt incredible on his balls.

   “Brian! I – I can’t...”

   “It’s OK, my Boy! Let go! Let me see you cum! Cum for me!!!!”

   Justin gave a kind of sigh of relief, leaned back into Brian’s huge strong muscles and let go. Brian was right. The orgasm was powerful, almost painful. Brian took a break from rimming to witness the streams of cum shooting across the room, the first one shooting with such force it reached across the width of the room and hit the door! Justin gave loud moans of pleasure as eight ropy streams shot out from him and then two lesser shots before his pleasure spasms subsided and he collapsed back against Brian who was still on his haunches. Justin fell almost all the way down on his butt before Brian bagged him in his brazen, bronzed, brawny arms pulled him up into a “loverly” lustful lip lock.

   “Oh, my Boy! That was unbelievable! Feel better?” Brian asked between kisses. Each one was deep and long and wet and so this short speech took a long time and by the time it was done, Justin was fully hard again.

   Justin just nodded sinfully and then guided one of Brian’s gloved hands down to his cock. “Fantastic! But I’m ready for more!”

   Brian roared his approval and threw the boy back up onto the bed. Then he hopped up after him.

   “Ohhhh, my Boy!! If you could only dream of how much I have been...dreaming...of having you in this position!” Brian snarled.

   “Oh Brian! Oh, my Beast! I’ve been waiting too! Although...you’ve become...slightly more...Beastly than I thought! What do you suppose has happened?”

   “I do not know! This has never happened before! Of course...no one has made me wait before either!”

   Brian stalked him slowly from the end of the bed on his hands and knees. He moved higher and higher up onto the bed until he was directly over Justin’s body in a push up pose. He held it effortlessly and then slowly began to lower himself down onto the creamy white skin of the smaller man below until he was lying fully on top of the smaller man. Brian framed his face with his two feral hands and kissed him softly, then harder and then inserting a long feral tongue into his mouth that would have made Gene Simmons jealous. Brian tongue fucked Justin with the utmost precision until Justin was helpless with desire and mindless with lust. Justin had long ago decided he had won some kind of lottery and was the luckiest man on Earth and to just go with it.

   Justin reached up and encompassed Brian with his arms and legs as much as he could. He touched and stroked and worshipped every muscle he could get his hands on. He couldn’t get enough.

   Brian pushed up on his knees and tongued his way down Justin’s body again engulfing Justin’s cock and again nearly driving the young man insane when he pulled back at the last minute. He lifted the young man’s legs up and again rimmed him with electric results. The moans and groans of the young man enflamed Brian’s libido and his cock to full proportions (as if it needed any help, it seemed to him he had been hard for 17 days.

   At last, Brian could stand it no longer. He reached, hesitated and then growled “Reach into my pocket and pull out what you find there!!”

   Justin did so and found a number of condoms and a small bottle of lube.

   “Put one on me!” the sexy Sir commanded.

   Justin opened one and put it on Brian, slowly. The ribbon had been untied and discarded long ago. Now all that was left was the huge thick boner.

   Brian tried to undo the lube bottle but could not. His fingers were enlarged and nails grown to the point where they just got in the way.

   “Damn it!” he growled, “You’re going to have to do it!  I don’t trust myself to touch you down there with these nails anyway!”

   “Show me,” said Justin breathlessly, batting his baby blues.

   AAARRRRGGGGGG!!!! This boy was going to be the death of him! Brian showed him...in painstaking detail, watching him lube and finger himself ready.

   “UHHHHH!!!!  Justin groaned, “Oh God! What was that!?”

   “Ahhhh! You must have hit your prostate! And now! Now it’s my turn!”

   Brian moved forward toward the now well-lubed hole.

   “Just...go slow,” Justin said nervously.

   “Of course...of course...this will hurt a little...that’s part of it...but it will fade. And this first time...I will not last long!”

   Brian touched the hole. He moved in, out, in, out with the tip, then deeper, deeper, deeper still, letting Justin get used to the feeling of having his dick fill him up so deliciously.

   The initial pain did fade just as Brian said it would and soon he was urging Brian deeper and faster and Brian happily obliged. Soon the feral man was pumping away hard and fast, burying his way to the hilt. After only a minute though he gave a shout and had his release.

   “Oh! Is that it?” exclaimed Justin disappointedly.

   “Not at all! That was just round one! That was just to take the edge off!” Brian pulled out and threw away the first condom.

   “Put another on me!”

   Justin complied, slowly, sensually.

   Brian gave a growl. “Now! Now you get your real present! Now you get the real ride! I’m going to ride you for hours, birthday boy! Look into my eyes boy, I want you to remember this forever! And no matter who you’re with, I want you to feel me there with you for the rest of your life!”

   He entered him, slowly at first, then faster and faster and faster. The bestial nature in him gave him super powers of stamina and speed and he drilled Justin for hours in ways that the neophyte knew were not normally possible. Brian moved as fast a drill, as fast as a jackhammer. And just when Justin thought he was going to be split in two, Brian would slowdown to an aching sweetness, hitting his prostate, every single time! Then he’d slowly speed up again until Justin couldn’t really tell which way was up and his eyes rolled up into his head. It was like a sweet torture that was such intense pleasure it was pain. But, as Justin reflected once, Brian didn’t ask him any questions.

   Over and over, this went on, far into the night, the only sounds, their primal groans, moans and screams that reflected their fierce need for each other and their fierce need to blow a load. However, that was a privilege that Brian denied him time and time again. They changed positions countless times.

   At last...at last...Brian speeded up once more to jackhammer speed and then unbelievably, incredibly, even faster, and then faster than that until he was literally a blur. Justin knew he’d never experience anything like this again in his life. His eyes rolled up into his head again. And then, as Brian moved at super speed, he blacked out a bit in pleasure as Brian literally fucked him into oblivion.

   When Brian saw that, he finally slowed to a more reasonable pace and waited for Justin to recover. When Justin opened his eyes, Brian growled, “Welcome back...and now, I’m going to make you cum...” Here he grabbed Justin’s wrists in one meaty hand. “...Just by telling you to.” He stroked in and out, expertly hitting Justin’s prostate every time. “Not now...not now....but...NOW!”

   And Justin did, in a huge gush, coating his entire stomach. His orgasm hit him as powerfully as his first. He let out a keening cry that was almost a singing note. Although they both didn’t know it, it was the unique mating call that was for Brian and Brian’s ears alone, a sound that would affect him uniquely. And it did. The sound ripped through his soul, making Brian feel a way that he had never felt before and it went straight to his dick. And as he heard and listened to it, he roared in response and felt a gush and a huge release as he felt his own orgasm rip through him.

   The two men collapsed, onto the bed and at last Brian could feel himself change back to normal. He discarded the used condom and went to the bathroom to get a towel to clean Justin up. Justin just laid there, shell shocked, trying to recover.

   As Brian cleaned up, he stroked Brian’s cheek and mask and whispered, “Brian...thank you...that was beyond incredible. This was an amazing birthday.”

   “Well, you’re welcome Sunshine, but why are you talking like we’re finished? Ready for round three?”

   Justin’s eyes widened comically. “WHAT!!? Round three?? Is that even possible? Surely you can’t be serious!!”

   Brian waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I AM serious, Sunshine! And don’t call me Shirley!”

   And he bent down and kissed away Justin’s groan at the old joke and showed him just how serious he really was.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 13

Departure and Inner Demons

The morning after:

   Justin awoke at about 10:00 AM to the smell of fried bacon and fresh coffee. But he was unable to partake of them for a few reasons.

   The first one was that he couldn't move. He was currently...ensconced wasn't even the right word for it...more like cocooned in Brian's burly clutches. He was spooned up against Brian's massive chest with his huge arms wrapped possessively around him. Ditto his legs around his legs. He struggled and was only able to manage small squirming movement. Yup, it looked like he wasn't going anywhere for a while.

   The other reason was that he really didn't want to get up yet. His body felt so loose and limp and thoroughly fucked through that he was like fleshy pudding. His body was heavy and sated and he didn't ever really want to move from where he was right now. Right now, where he was, he was home.

   Brian had been insatiable. Including the first quickie and then the long, languorous second time when Brian had transformed into a unique werewolf creature, they had made love for a total of 6 times. And that second time when Brian's hair had thickened, his fangs grew so big they overlapped each other; when his voice had been reduced to the Wolfman's and his nails had lengthened and sharpened to claws, that time had been the best. Brian had acquired sexual super powers and had fucked him so hard and fast that Brian had been a blur. After their mutual climaxes, he had transformed back but his appetite had not been satisfied. He had fucked and made love to him a total of 4 more times until Justin had hollered Uncle and begged for sleep three hours ago. And now it was morning.

   Of course the thing that happens when you are just waking up and perfectly comfortable to roll over and go back to sleep, happened. He needed to go to the bathroom.

   Justin struggled mightily but it was no use. H was able to make a few weak squirms but that was it. He wasn't going anywhere.

   "Brian! Brian, let me go! I'll be right back!" Brian didn't wake.

   Justin poked and pinched a few strategic locations and that seemed to do the trick. Groaning, Brian rolled over on his back and went back to sleep, snoring gently.

   Justin hopped out of bed and hustled to the bathroom as fast as a bottom boy with a sore ass could hustle. He did his business and then came back into the main room on the hunt for those delightful breakfast smells.

   The Wards had conjured up eggs, bacon and hashbrowns and a selection of fruits in the breakfast nook. And coffee! Oh, thank all the gods and Spongebob, they had included coffee.

   Justin poured two steaming cup and dolloped up two plates filled with food. He went over to the bed and wished. He waved a plate under Brian's nose and the older Alpha began to crankily wake up.

   "I swear, Sunshine, if that bacon didn't smell so good, you'd be in big trouble for waking me up!" he complained.

   "Oh stop your grousing! The fact is, it does smell great and probably tastes even better! And I wished these up for us." Justin put the food on the two TV trays and slid them into place, so they could eat in bed.

   "Ahhh, Sunshine! What would I do without you?"

   "Pine away and be desperately lonely?" Justin asked hopefully.

   "Twat." Brian gave him a groggy, sloppy kiss.

   As they ate, Brian warned him that despite this, it was not going to be enough to really wake him and to let him sleep. He had done an awful lot of working out and run 40 miles the day before after all.

   "You sleep as much as you need. I'll entertain myself." Justin told him. Brian nodded, and shovelled in a few more bites before feeling the heaviness of sleep overcome him again. Justin removed the tray and whispered consolingly, "Sleep now, my love. And let this be a consolation. At least you'll never have to worry about carbs again."

   Brian yawned hugely. "You never know. You should always watch out for carbs!" And with another sloppy kiss, he fell back among the pillows and fell deeply asleep.

   After that, Justin pottered around and cleaned up a bit, ate a bit more and looked upon Brian sleeping peacefully on his back, sheets just low enough to expose his dick, which, although soft, was still huge and curved attractively over his thigh.

   An overwhelming desire overcame Justin. No, not THAT kind of desire! Will you please get your minds out of the gutter!? Honestly!

   He moved his easel a little closer to the center of the apartment and began to paint his lover.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   Brian slept most of the day and finally woke up at about 3:00 PM.

   "My goodness! Welcome back!" Justin said good-naturedly.

   "Thanks. And what did you do today?"

   "Come and see," invited Justin.

   And so, Brian went over to the easel and looked at the painting Justin had done of him as he slept with his bare chest on magnificent display and his cock curved generously over his thigh.

   Brian was thunderstruck. Justin had drawn him without a mask and while it was a little off, it looked amazingly like him...uhh....well...how he used to look like.

   "I know it's probably not perfect...I took a look at your bone structure and the shape of your cheeks and your nose and eliminated the mask and came up with this. I know it's not exactly..." Justin started to ramble, getting nervous as Brian drank in himself in silence and was giving no feedback.

   Brian pulled him toward him and spun him around. "It's perfect. True, it's not exactly how I looked but it's pretty darn close. And I love it. I wouldn't change a thing!"

   "Really, Brian?"

   "Yes. Absolutely. I love it. I love y..."

   Brian cut off and stiffened before he could complete the lesbianic thought. Where the hell had that come from? Brian Kinney didn't love! Brian Kinney fucked!

   "Love what, Brian?" asked Justin leaning back into his huge chest and wiggling his pert butt against his crotch.

   "I, uhhhh....love what you did to my eyes," lied Brian. "And I'm loving what you're doing right now. Give me a few minutes to scrape off the funk and I'll show you exactly what I mean."

   "Mmmmmm! Sounds like a plan! Oh, I know! Let's take a shower together."

   "Not this time, Sunshine, I need to really let everything hang out and uncover. So that means I need to be in there alone. You must promise to leave me alone and not peek in the door at all. Promise me!"

   "All right! All right! I promise! I promise!" he repeated in a mock super serious way.

   "That's my boy," Brian said. He kissed him and went to take a shower.

   Justin puttered around a bit, casting worried looks at the closed door every so often. Never fear! He had no desire to see what was behind that door! And he was not fooled, although he would continue to pretend to be. He knew Brian was going to tell him something else, something important. Probably that he loved him. But he wasn't going to force him. Brian had to discover what Justin already knew, and overcome the barrier to expressing his true feelings on his own.

   Awhile later, Brian came out of the bathroom with his skullcap and mask intact but otherwise gloriously naked. He found Justin sitting on the edge of the bed looking sad and pensive and so very, very small.

   "What's the matter, Sunshine?"

   Justin looked up and shook off his melancholy thoughts. "Oh, nothing really. I was just missing you."

   "Well..." Brian took two steps and bent over him and leaned him back onto the bed. "We can't have that now, can we?"

   And he captured Justin's mouth in a hot and hungry kiss that curled Justin's toes and never really ended for the next two hours.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   After that, things were a bit more relaxed and comfortable.

   They settled into a kind of routine, a rather scheduled existence. They would wake up, make love and then have breakfast. They'd have a shower and a quick fuck whereupon Justin would leave the shower first and let Brian have his quiet time. Then Justin would either leave or shoo Brian out of his apartments and paint for most of the morning and some of the afternoon. They would usually but not always have lunch alone. Brian would work out and have his session with an online psychiatrist they found, via Skype.

   In the afternoon, Justin would paint some more or go exploring. However, he never went into the west wing again and he NEVER again forgot his cell.

   At seven sharp, Brian would knock on Justin's door. He was so punctual, Justin could set his watch by him and he never forgot or refused to come ever again.

   They would have dinner and Brian would bring him a small gift. Then they would just sit and talk or make out and suddenly Justin would be swept into Brian's arms and he would be carried off magnificently either to his bed or to Brian's depending on how long Brian felt he could hang on for. The weird thing about that was, that no matter how many times Brian carried him off, later, when Justin tried to find his way back, he would always get lost again and end up in a different part of the castle. (Which he now knew it was, it may have been a mansion on the outside but inside it was clear it was like the limo...drastically bigger on the inside.

   At any rate, as soon as they got to either bed, they would make insane, loud, rowdy sex far into the night until they collapsed from exhaustion. Then they'd wake up and do it all over again.

   This went on for about 2 months. The two men fell deeper and deeper in love. The collection of Justin's paintings, especially the ones of Brian grew. The countdown on Brian's arm counted steadily down.

   Eventually, Brian took a nice selection of paintings and sketches and sent them to his friend Lindsay in Pittsburgh. Lindsay, in turn, had connections in the art community and sent copies to a few agents. Some rejected them and sent them back but one astute one wanted more. So Justin kept painting, the agent kept sending them to dealers and they started selling.

   And soon after that, they sold well enough that they wanted Justin to have his own show in the gallery Lindsay worked at, the Sidney Bloom gallery. And they asked for Justin to be there personally to host the whole thing.

   Justin refused. Period.

   "But Justin! I thought this is what you wanted! To be an artist and a success! To be a self made man and have the means to travel and paint or...or just do whatever you want!"

   "My wants have changed, Brian. It's true, I'd like that but not if it takes me away from you. I never want to be apart from you. Besides, the timing's all wrong. The deadline of the spell to break is only two weeks away."

   "Then we have two weeks. If you went...and came back to me...in time to break the spell....then you could host your show."

   "But...I don't want to leave you! Maybe you could come! Maybe I'm ready to break the spell now! Then you could come with me and we'd never have to come back to this terrible place again!"

   "You are not ready."

   "You don't know that! Maybe I am!" Justin said rebelliously.

   Brian sighed heavily. Sadly he removed his hat and cage crown.

   Justin screamed and jumped behind the bed.

   "That's how I know you are not ready. That's why I need my private time in the morning and during the day," Brian said as he replaced everything. "You can come out now."

   Justin did so, a little shamefacedly.

   Brian came over, properly covered up and wrapped him in his huge embrace. "I cannot come with you. I will be too much of an oddity and the slightest mishap could cause a disaster. Besides, my wants have changed too."

   "What do you mean?" Justin asked, anxiously, "Don't you still want me?"

   "I want you...every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every year so that I can barely stand it. What I wanted...and no longer do...was to hide you away and have you all to myself and have you to hold and possess so that nobody else could have you or see you ever again. But I see now...you are too beautiful for that. The things you create are too beautiful. Already you belong to everybody else. And when this show is complete, you will be successful and rich and free...free to roam the world....or come back to me."

   "No! No! I don't want to ever leave you!" Justin hugged him fiercely and sobbed into his shoulder.

   "Oh dear!" Brian said in true remorse, "It seems I have trained you too well."

   "But I don't understand! Why do the snakes still affect me so? I know that...I mean, I must...I love you Brian! I love you! And we make love all the time!"

   "Sex is not the answer. We have a yard full of my mistakes to attest to that. And as for you...you love as much of me as you can get. But I still stay carefully covered for you and you as yet cannot and do not seek anything further. It is the nature of the curse."

   "Then the curse is cruel! You do not deserve it!"

   Brian smiled regretfully and stoked his cheek. "I did. I see that now. I did deserve it!"

   "But you've changed! You had changed by the time I got here and since then you have changed further still! You do not deserve this anymore! And I don't want to do this without you!"

   "You must. And you will. You will and you will be brilliant. As brilliant as the Sunshine you are named after."

   But Justin just buried his face into his neck and wept as if his heart would break.

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   Well, of course Brian got his way. He always did. It was one of the things that irked Justin about him but he loved him so much now he usually could overlook it. But now, in this instance, when he was faced with the reality of separation, he could not overlook it and it affected him strongly to the point of depression.

   He begged and pleaded with his handsome hunk but Brian was deaf to it all. And so, finally, Justin just sat there morosely as Brian packed his suitcase for him, somehow finding suit after gorgeous suit in his wardrobe, chattering about how his show was going to be so successful and how lovely it was going to be to see family again and even chattered about the best clubs to go to after where all the hottest guys were.

   "Oh, Brian, I don't care about any of that! I don't even want to leave here right now! I don't want any hot guys! I only want you!"

   "Oh, well, thank you very much!" said Brian, pretending offence.

   "What I mean is..." Justin sighed hugely and got up to embrace his huge lover. He laced his hands around the back of Brian's neck and gazed into the brown, gold flecked orbs. "Is that you are the hottest, hunkiest guy I could ask for, that and that any club hottie would be lukewarm compared to the fire of your kiss, and that I'd rather spend eternity in your embrace with our golden flowers than one night with any handsome face. When I first came here, I wasn't sure but I do now. You're it for me. You. My one, my only...my beautiful Beast!" And he leaned up and kissed Brian thoroughly, tongue fucking him till he heard Brian groan in pleasure.

   "You got that right," Brian said when they came up for air. "And don't you forget it!"

   "What! Why you...! Brian Kinney! You have an ego that could eat New York!"

   "Ahhhh, but instead you're talent will eat it! First the Pitts! Then the Big Apple! Then the world will be your oyster!"

   "What's with all the food references? Are you hungry?" asked Justin cheekily.

   Brian threw a pillow at him.

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   At last the time had come.

   Brian kept up the chipper routine, carried his bags down to the door, made sure he had his tickets and kept up a steady stream of talk to the point that Justin didn't have opportunity to get a word in edgewise. And then they were at the door.

   "Remember Boy! Remember who you are! Whoever you're with, always use a condom, and no kissing on the mouth! Never forget you are still mine! You still belong to me! You have a week! After that you must return to me! Understand Boy!?"

   "Yes Sir! A week! I'll be back!" Justin understood Brian was in Dom mode and answered accordingly.

   "There is a chance you will be tempted to stray or not return. Justin...I want you to leave me the mirror."

   "Brian no! Don't you trust me!? Please! Don't do this! I will come back!"

   "Justin...you're so young! You're so beautiful! You may meet someone! Your success may be great...so great you may not be able to come back. All I want is that you don't leave me with any recourse, with no way out. Leave me the mirror."

   Tears were streaming down his face as Justin handed it over. He could see that Brian had his mind made up.

   "Promise me! Promise me you will not use this until the last possible second! I promise...I WILL return! Do not use it! Not unless it's really too late!"

   "I promise!" said Brian.

   They embraced passionately, kissed fiercely.

   "I love you," Justin whispered.

   "I know." Brian replied.

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   Outside was another surprise.

   The Wards had combined into another car to take him to the airport but this time, they had combined to form a sleek, black version of the Knight Rider car!

   They both stared goggle eyed and speechless for about a minute. They couldn't help it. They were just so flabbergasted.

   "I...get to ride in that!!? Brian, it's too much!" Justin exclaimed.

   "Hey, I had nothing to do with this," Brian protested.

   Then the car spoke and a red light pulsed in time with the words just like the real Knight Rider car. Really, it was the Knight Rider car...except....

   "Hi Sweetie! Ready to go hon?" asked the car in Emmett's unmistakable voice.

   "He's having a little separation anxiety," Brian said, "But he's all ready to go."

   "I'm not at all ready! Brian, don't do this! How can you just shove me out the door like this and..."

   "Like this..."Brian said, shoving him out the door and towards the car, "Enjoy your week out." He tossed his bags in the back. "Come back promptly." He bundled Justin into the front as effortlessly as if he were one of the bags and slammed the door. "And remember what I told you. Remember whose you are.  How to behave. One week."

   "Brian don't do..." Justin quailed under Brian's uncompromising stare. "Yes. Yes, I'll remember. Oh Brian, how can you do this..."

   "Get him out of here," Brian said brusquely and turned his back on him. Without saying another word he strode back to the house and slammed the door.

   The car began to slowly move out and down the driveway and Justin could hardly believe that it was happening. He began to cry softly.

   "How can he do that!? How can he shut me out and shove me out and turn his back on me like that!" How can he just toss me aside like that and not even care!?"

   "Simple, sweetie! He can't. You'll see." Came Emmett's chipper voice from the dashboard.

   "What do you mean?" Didn't you just see what he...?"

   "Wait for it!" said Emmett. They had reached the end of the driveway.

   "Wait for what? I don't understand!!"

   "Wait for it!" was all that Emmett would say as he turned onto the road and began to drive slowly away.

   Justin was about to ask what he was talking about again, when suddenly IT came.

   AAAAAAAARRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   At first sad and then of agonizing anger and then pain, the roar rolled out across the fields and hills, louder and louder, more and more powerful, never seeming to reach a crescendo. The inside of the solidly built car began to vibrate a little.   The roaring grew more and more...intense...more powerful. It began to vibrate within Justin's very body, his mind. It was so loud and long now it was just a long, sustained, subsonic hum that Justin was sure could be heard for many miles in every direction.

   At long last it began to fade away and slowly it dwindled away to nothing. Justin was still sad but he was comforted a little.

   "He does care. That was for me. All for me. But I don't understand. If he loves me, and he obviously does, why did he push me away? Why?"

   "Maybe sweetie....Maybe he wants to see what some time away from him will do for you. And to see what you will do with the choice he's set before you."

   "I don't understand. What choice?"

   "Oh well, that's very simple isn't it? To escape...or to return."

   "But I didn't even want to go!"

   "Ahhhhhhh, but now you have sweetie! And who knows how long that resolution will stay with you?"

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   The car speeded up and went faster and faster and faster. As before, they encountered no other traffic on the way to town. There was a blur of...of something....a kind of difference and Justin figured that was the village. And then there was nothing but countryside again and the car was going even faster...and faster...and faster. Pretty soon the outside began going by in a blur and it seemed to Justin as if the whole world was moving around them and they were standing still.  And perhaps that's what was happening.

   After a little while, Emmett piped up and said: "Sweetie, if it's all right, the others and I have been talking. We have a little something for you but if you take it, it's strictly hush-hush. We probably shouldn't be doing this. Probably violating parole and all that. But we've all discussed it and decided that it was worth the risk."

   "What is it?" asked Justin eagerly. He was tired of feeling sad and weepy and the thought of a gift was a real perk up.

   The dashboard popped open and the inside tray slid out. On the center was a ring, pure silver and intricately carved.

   "This ring is a way back. After your week is up, simply put it on and twist it three times on your finger and say: "There's no place like home." You will be instantly transported back to the castle."

   Justin fought back a strong impulse to giggle. "Oh Em! Really!? For goodness sake!"

   "Well!" the voice of the car said impishly, "I figured, since my counterpart ..and me too for that matter... ARE named Auntie Em, I may as well not let it go to waste!"

   Justin picked up the ring and slid it onto his left hand ring finger. It was the only finger it would fit. "Well, thank you, Emmett. Thank you all."

   "You're welcome Justin. Remember...Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Treat it like it was a trinket, not worth anything and everyone else will too. All four of us have imbued it with a portion of our magic which as I said, we are not sure is allowed. But we are doing it anyway, to show that we love you as well as the Master and to give you help in a time of trouble or if you simply cannot get home in time.

   "Trouble? What trouble could there be?"

   "One never knows these things. But it's better to be safe than sorry, isn't it Sweetie!?"

   "I suppose you're right. Thank you all again. I'll keep in private and I won't take it off."

   "That's good honey. Well....We're here."

   And the landscape slowed from the blur and evened out and then stopped and Justin could see they were suddenly at an airport.

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   Brian walked and wandered the vast and now lonely halls of his huge castle. His snakes were free, his face unmasked. What did it matter now? The mirror was in a drawer somewhere face down.

   Eventually, he came to the courtyard. Slowly he descended the steps and even more slowly wandered the twisting paths through the many gardens and men whose lives he had cut short.

   His shoulders were bowed and he missed Justin with a physical ache in his stomach. He had no idea how he was going to get to sleep that night without his ray of Sunshine to warm his body and his bed. He didn't know that he even wanted to try.

   He remembered the morning when he had made up his mind. He had woken up first, a rare occurrence. He had watched Justin sleep, his smooth, white, alabaster skin and golden hair contrasting starkly against the black silk sheets. Justin's cupid bow lips were curved into a small smile that conveyed perfect peace and utter contentment. His hair had grown over his scar and concealed it completely and anyway it was nothing more than a white line now anyway. He looked like an angel sleeping there. And he knew.

   He knew he was not worthy to have an angel in his bed. He was not worthy to be loved by such beauty. He was not worthy to own such beauty. His art was not worthy to be locked up for his eyes only. Justin's art and Justin himself belonged to the world and soon he would belong to the ages. And so he had hardened his heart, woken his angel and started the process of letting him go and setting him free.

   What was that phrase? If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours to keep? Something like that.

   The only trouble was, Brian wasn't free. The little twat had gotten under his skin and wormed his way into almost every room of his house and his heart. Every time he closed his eyes the only thing he could see behind his lids were a pair of wide, expressive blue eyes. Anytime he saw anything yellow he was reminded of the yellow blond of his hair. His phantom musical laugh echoed through his mind till he could almost hear it like a physical sound.

   For hours, Brian wandered the gardens, looking woefully at the stones that were once men. More than once he had sat on a stone bench and gazed up at the terror filled effigy, wondering what he would tell him, what advice that guy would have given him, what he would say to ease his broken spirit. If there was anything he could say.

   Finally, he reached the center of the garden and "their" garden. There were twelve golden flowers growing there now. The emptiness of the circle matched the emptiness of his heart. He lowered himself onto the bench across from it and stared at it, his vision blurry for a long time.

   Suddenly, he covered his face with his hands and he shoulders bowed and shook silently. There was no sound but his body was wracked with grief that he could not express.

   For he knew he had made a grave error in letting Justin go. The spell would never be broken. He would never be free. And worst of all, he would never see his ray of Sunshine again.

   Justin would not come back. Why would he? Given the choice between a world of beauty and a monster of ugliness, one who would most likely send him to his death, the choice was simple. Brian knew which one he'd choose. Who wouldn't?

   He was never going to see Justin again.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 14

Back at Home

Back in Pittsburgh:

   "Justin! How are you darling!? I wish you had let me come pick you up!"

   "There was no need, mother. The gallery had arranged everything days ago. The limo ride was most pleasant." Justin said as he let himself be enfolded into her embrace and then led into the house as if he were a guest rather than a long lost family member.

   "Well come in! Come in! You have to tell me all about it! How on earth did you escape!? MOLLY!!!" she screamed suddenly, right next to his ear. "Your brother's home! Come say hi!"

   "Mother! Geez! Take it easy! And it was rough at first. But I didn't escape. He let me go. Practically shoved me out the door," he said regretfully, in remembrance.

   "Let you go? But I don't understand! He made such a big issue about having you? Why would he let you go?"

   Good God! Had she always been this shrill, this grating? What had happened? It had only been a few months. Had he been the one to change in that time? Or maybe a short time away from what he was used to had opened his eyes to what he had been used to as the status quo.

   "Mother, please! I just got in! Give me a little while to unwind and besides Molly's coming! We'll talk about this later, ok?"

   And then there was a thumping and clumping down the stairs and next moment there was squealing and flying hair and his arms were full of little sister.

   "Mollusk! It's good to see you too! Of course I brought you something! You know I wouldn't forget you!"

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Later:

   Justin had taken a shower and changed from his travel worn clothes and unpacked a bit. Molly was outside playing with a friend.

   Justin and his mother sat down in the living room where they could talk in comfort and privacy.

   "SO!?? What happened? How have you been doing? WHAT have you been doing all this time? How did you esc - uhhh - get here? And why would he let you go!?"

   "Mom, please! I can only answer one question at a time! And to answer one of them, I'm fine! I've been doing fine. He treated me very well. He made it quite clear he wanted me as lover but I made him wait till I was 18. And since then, we've gotten very close. He's changed a lot from the man who was threatening to you. He's a lot kinder nowadays...gentler. He's made me...very happy."

   "But then why leave? You said he made you leave. After all that fuss, why?"

   "It's not permanent. I have a week. I've been painting a lot up there and Brian used his connections to send my work off. I have a show coming up at the Sidney Bloom gallery. Would you like to come to it?"

   "Oh Justin, that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you! I'd love to come!"

   "That's great Mom! You're support means a lot to me." They embraced warmly.

   "What a touching picture you two make! Did I hear something about an art show? I hope I'm allowed to tag along?" said a male voice behind them.

   Justin had leaned forward and grabbed the nearest weapon and then vaulted over the sofa in one jump before he had realized he had moved. With a few well placed kicks, he relegated the intruder onto the floor on his stomach and had his knee pressed into his spine. The fire poker was pressed against the back of his neck. (Hey, you don't live with a Beast for a few months without picking up a few moves!)

   "Justin, NO!" Jennifer shrieked.

   Justin ignored her. "Lie still stranger, if you value your life!" His voice came out, snarling, menacingly, in a most Brian-like, Beastly way, "I'm placing you under Citizen's arrest! Now...who the hellare you and how did you get into my mother' house uninvited?"

   The man on the floor was dressed in a charcoal grey suit with a red tie and a matching kerchief in the breast pocket. He hardly looked like the break-in type.

   "Justin, stop! Please stop! It's all right! Really! It's all right! This is my business manager for the company! I hired him after you left! He comes over all the time! Please don't hurt him!"

   "Is this true!?" snarled Justin.

   "Ummmpphhh...Oooooggg...." said the man who was currently face first into the ground and munching a lot of carpet.

   "What?" asked Justin, removing the poker slightly so the man could turn his head.

   "Yes. That's right. It's true!"

   "Oh. All right then! I'm sorry then." Justin helped the man to his feet and brushed him off a bit.

   "Oh that's no problem. If I had to be taken captive by anyone, I was glad it was someone as handsome as you. Are you the artist of the show you mentioned?"

   Justin ignored the obvious come-on. "Yes, I am. I'm Justin Taylor. And you are?"

   "The man smiled widely, His teeth were white and even, his face young and handsome. He held out a hand and Justin shook it.

   "I'm Ethan. Ethan Gold."

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   It was a while later.

   After Ethan arrived, things changed drastically. Justin did not feel comfortable discussing Brian or the castle and the Wards with a stranger, so he just became very quiet and withdrawn as he waited for Ethan to leave.

   But Ethan didn't leave. He plunked himself right down on the other sofa and was right at home in seconds. And Jennifer felt no such discretion and proceeded to tell Ethan all about Brian and the strange house in the middle of nowhere somewhere in West Virginia, at least from her point of view. She went on to tell her experience at great detail, much the way as I've told it to you. Ethan found it all quite fascinating.

   "And you've been living with this terrible man ever since? How dreadful for you! Are you glad to be home?" he asked.

   "Actually..." Justin ground out between clenched teeth, "Before you got here (strolled in like it was your own home, just who the HELL do you think YOU are?) I was just telling my mother that he's changed quite a bit. He's a wonderful man now. He even saved my life."

   "Darling, how thrilling! You must tell us all about it!" said Jennifer.

   "I will tell YOU about it! But not tonight! Another day but soon!" Justin said with a small smile of remembrance. "So Ethan....Why are you here?"

   "Justin...Manners!" simpered Jennifer in a way that Justin had never heard before. Just who was this creep?

   "I came to discuss a business matter about the company with your mother," replied Ethan.

   "Then I'll leave you to it and go take a nap and take my personal matters with me," Justin said pointedly.

   "Justin, you're right, of course. Ethan, why don't you stay for dinner? That way we can take care of business matters now and discuss things in a more relaxed atmosphere later. Justin how does that sound to you?"

   Justin sighed. He was halfway out of the room when he turned. He said stiffly and made no attempt to hide his hostility. "Whatever, you want, mother. It's plain I have no say in the matter. However, be advised I will not be discussing Brian or the house in West Virginia as part of this "relaxed atmosphere" Some details are sensitive and are a family matter. Ethan, I hope you understand."

   And he left the room without another word.

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   Well, of course he didn't go take a nap.

   As soon as Ethan and his mother were ensconced in the kitchen looking over reports and financial statements, Justin snuck back downstairs and listened through the swinging door.

   "I'm afraid there's still no change," Ethan was saying, "The market's still down and we're still feeling the losses from that ship. Production is in full swing in the factory but we're still in the red. We had to shut down another couple of outlet stores."

   "Oh dear! Isn't there anything we can do!? All those people losing their jobs! I feel terrible! What can we do?"

   "Nothing really. We just have to soldier on and try to get out of this debt. Do you have the monthly payment?"

   "I do but I won't be able to keep up with that much longer. I was given some resources but this is depleting them faster than I thought. This is the last payment I can make before I'm completely broke. And there's still Molly to think about. I don't know what I'll do!"

   Ethan said, "Well, I suppose I could write the remaining balance for the month myself. That is...if..."he paused dramatically.

   "If? If what?" asked Jennifer in puzzlement.

   "Your son is quite a dish. Set me up with him over dinner and I'll write the cheque."

   Justin's mouth was a perfect O of astonishment over the man's audacity. Was this never to end? Was he to be sold like a jar of pickled pig's feet yet again?

   "Oh Ethan, I can't do that! I know he feels that I sold him off to that...that man once even though it wasn't intentional, I can't do it again! Especially since this time it IS like I'm brokering him like some sort of meat we sell in the shops. I can't do that to him again!"

   "Oh, all right then." Ethan sounded disappointed but unconcerned, and started shuffling papers. Sounded like he was getting ready to leave.

   Justin counted. One....two...three....

   "Wait!" said Jennifer nervously. (‘Bingo!' thought Justin) "Well, you're staying for dinner anyway, right? Well, how about I seat you next to him and you can get acquainted like that on your own. Try and get invited to his art show. I'm sure if you guys spend enough time together, you'll hit it off."

   "Hmmmm, well I guess that sounds all right. How about this? I'll write out half the amount right now. When and if Justin invites me to the art show, I'll come through with the other half. OK?"

   The only sound in reply was Jennifer's muted sobs but Justin could imagine that she was nodding as well.

   Justin could stand it no longer. He retreated quietly and went back upstairs to the safety of his bedroom. He locked the door and lay down.

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   Dinner was predictable.

   Justin was predictably paired up with Ethan on one side of the table and Molly and Jennifer sat on the other side.

   Ethan was predictably smarmy and sleazy in his constant come-ons. His hand found its way onto Justin's leg with a kind of tiresome regularity and, with an equal regularity, Justin picked it back off with his thumb and forefinger as if he were handling a rat by the tail.

   At one point, Justin asked: "Would you like some more Brussels sprouts, Ethan?" He dipped into the serving dish and dumped out a spoonful onto Ethan's plate without waiting for an answer. He used his left hand and made sure his ring was prominently displayed.

   "Oh my Gawd!" Jennifer squealed, seeing it immediately, "Justin, is that a wedding ring!?"

   "No Mom, not yet. But it is a promise ring. We exchanged them to each other. I gave one just like it...to my boyfriend," he invented, speaking meaningfully to Ethan.

   "Ahhh well! You're not married yet! You can still have a bit o' fun! And I'm very fun!" Ethan said squeezing his thigh again.

   Justin rolled his eyes. The man had the smarts of a speed bump! "Are you really?" Justin answered batting his baby blues, ignoring the pain where Ethan was squeezing his leg too hard.

   "Oh yeah...loads of fun," answered Ethan, stroking down to his inner thigh, encouraged at last.

   "Well then, why don't you take your hands off me..."he said, practically needing a crowbar to pry Ethan's hand off his leg, "And go play with yourself!"

   "Justin! Think of Molly!" gasped Jennifer.

   "Good point Mom," said Justin, "And stay away from my sister!" he yelled at Ethan.

   "Arrrgh! That's it! The deal's off! And I quit! I hope you all enjoy bankruptcy and starving in the streets for all I care!" Ethan snarled. He pushed off from the table angrily and stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

   "Oh Justin! Couldn't you have tried to like him? Just a little bit. For a little while? Oh, you don't understand what you've done!" Jennifer said mournfully.

   "Mother! The man was a complete creep! I told him repeatedly I had a boyfriend. I even waved a ring in his face and he wouldn't back down! What was I supposed to do? And why are you on MY case about it?" Justin feigned ignorance about the deal.

   Jennifer was forced to come clean. "Well...oh dear....well....well, the thing was, Ethan was going to help us out...if...if you hit it off. Now, we're on our own, the company's in huge debt and there's no way to pay it off with what we have left. He's right! We'll be bankrupt soon."

   "Mother!" Justin said sternly, "Didn't Brian give you something when you left to help with expenses?"

   "Yes," sniffed Jennifer, "But I guess I overspent a couple of times and I sold nearly everything. Besides...the company...it's been a huge drain..."

   "Those cups weren't for the company! They were for you and Molly to live on until the next ship came in! Figuratively as well as literally! And to live frugally! That means cheddar cheese, not havarti! That means tuna, not caviar!"

   "Justin really! Tuna?" Jennifer worked it out around her tongue like a bad word. "Be reasonable!"

   "I am being reasonable Mom! Lots of people live on tuna every day! And if you are going to survive, you are going to have to economize. Now...what do you have left of what Brian gave you? Give it to me!"

   "Give it to you! But then we'll have nothing! We`ll be completely broke!"

   "You'll just have to trust me. I won't let that happen. Hand them over."

   Regretfully, Jennifer reached into a pocket and pulled out a ruby, an emerald, a diamond, and a sapphire, each one about the size of a pea. That was all that was left of the beautiful cups Brian had given her. She had dug everything out, sold the gold to a reputable dealer and sold all the other gems as well.

   Justin took them away and went upstairs for a few minutes. Then he returned and gave the ruby back to his mother.

   "OK, sell this and use the money to buy the groceries and mortgage for the next three months. If I see that you are not being excessive in your spending, I'll give you the emerald to liquidate as well. If things go well, I'll give you enough to pay off the company and more but this time you'll have to be careful because when I return to Brian, it's likely, I will not return for a long time. This will be your last chance."

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   And so, this is what they did.

   The next day, the family went to the jeweller's store that Jen had been using and sold the ruby for a fair and generous sum. Then he let them loose at the mall but had to leave and go to get things ready at the gallery.

   "He warned them: "Get receipts for everything you buy. If I don't like what I see, I will be returning it." Then he drove away.

   It turned out, letting Jen loose alone in a mall with a wad of cash was a huge mistake. Jennifer was a shopaholic. One that had expensive tastes. She went to all the specialty stores and bought Edam and Havarti, and Gouda cheeses, and specialty spiced deli meats and fresh vegetables. She bought a spice rack worth of spices. On the way to the next item she saw a dress she "couldn't pass up" and of course she had to get matching shoes and the a purse to match the shoes. Poor Molly was dragged along and had to watch all this with a quiet sort of horror as she did every time Jennifer went and spent all their money. But there was nothing she could do. She had long ago given up trying to beg and plead and reason with Jennifer that she didn't need to spend $100 on spices from the Orient or that she didn't "just have to have" the newest style of shoes. Once Jen got that look in her eyes and went into that zone there was no stopping her.

   At 6:00 PM, Justin got home. He walked in the door.

   There was a pause.

   At 6:05 Mount Justin erupted. There was a screaming, yelling fight that could be heard for a block radius for a good 15 minutes. Then there was deathly silence for the rest of the night.

Next Day...

   Justin walked a kind of grim death march kind of walk through the mall returning all the cheeses and spices and other foods he could and the clothes that he was appalled to find had come from those really expensive boutique stores; those small ones who look down on you until you break out the green whereupon they serve you champagne. Jennifer walked silently and meekly behind with Molly who had a kind of mixture of awe, relief, and thankfulness about her. Finally, there was someone who could curb her mother's overspending. She had never seen her brother yell so loud or get so angry. And even though he was youthful and small, it was clear who the head of the house was, now that he was back.

   Fortunately, Jennifer had indeed kept receipts for everything. He couldn't take back the fresh vegetables but Justin went from store to store and took almost everything else back and apologized/explained in a kind of rehearsed speech that he eventually learned and performed by rote. Jennifer gave a kind of physical flinch every time she heard "cut back" and "mistake" and "in debt".

   When Jennifer had finished yesterday, she had about enough left over to pay the mortgage for one month and that's it. After Justin was finished getting refunded, he had enough to pay it for 3 months and $500 besides. He carefully folded the mortgage money into a separate pocket and took them to the other end of the mall to a large all purpose store called the Q-Mart.

   "Oh my Gosh! Why is it so bright in here?" complained Jennifer.

   "It's fluorescent lighting Mom. It's completely normal light," answered Justin crossly.

   "Well there's too much UV for me! It's giving me a headache," complained Jennifer loudly, slipping on sunglasses.

   "Mom! Lower your voice! You're embarrassing us! Now come on! There are groceries over here."

   The ordeal continued as Justin carried out his thre - uh...promise and introduced them to the world of Hamburger Helper, macaroni and cheese, tinned tuna and salmon and other fish, canned vegetables and meat and other cheaper groceries, mostly freeze dried, canned or frozen which could be stored for a few months.

   "How are you supposed to get the food out of these things?" his mother asked densely at one point inspecting a can of peas.

   Justin rolled his eyes. "With a can opener mother. You know, that shiny, square appliance on the counter you never use?"

   His mother laughed. "Oh that old thing! I wondered what that was! I thought it came with the house. How do we know these are peas? Or the carrots? They could be anything!"

   "That's not how it works mother! What you see is what you get. Now come on!"

   And later: "Justin how are we going to pay for all this?"

   Tiredly: "With money, mother!"

   "But dear...all these weird prices...2.99....5.99....6.99...I've searched my purse and I never remember having a 99 cent coin in my life!"

   Justin closed his eyes, sighed hugely and fought off the stress headache. This was turning into a very long day.

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   When they were finally done and home, they had a full freezer and pantry that would last them for three months at least.

   Justin said, "Tonight is my show. Let's just forget all this right now so I can focus. Tomorrow, I'll sell the emerald and that money will be for living expenses, utilities, heat, water etc...for the next while. Mother...this is not mall money. No new clothes until the company starts doing well again. You have a lot of nice clothes. You don't need any more."

   "But Justin..." his mother was tearful.

   "No, mother! You need to learn the difference between wants and needs! My God! When did you become such a snob!?"

   "I'm not a snob! I'm rich!"

   "Not for a while you're not! You need to get that through your head and adjust."

   "Yes Justin," answered Jennifer, since that was the only answer to give at the moment. But other thoughts were going through her head as well.

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   The Sidney Bloom Gallery was in full swing. Every light blazed, and the noise of a thousand conversations thrummed out to where it could be heard across the street.

   A pair of cold, calculating and cruel eyes emerged from the alley across the street and watched the party. The art show seemed to be doing well. The cold eyes homed in on the handsome blond man sipping champagne, shaking hands, accepting congratulations, and allowing their hands to linger on him slightly longer than needed to be. The eyes narrowed. Slut!

   The owner of the eyes took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When they opened they were no longer cold but dancing with happiness and playful mischief, like a person dancing through an ice cream commercial. This was going to be so much fun. Justin would be so glad to see him and he didn't suspect for a moment he was coming.

   The owner of the eyes walked across the street and entered the gallery. He waited at a respectful distance while Justin finished schmoozing with whatever bigwig who had his hands all over him. Eventually, Justin eyes roamed and fell on him.

   "Ethan! What are you doing here?"

   "I came to see your show." Ethan smiled warmly as if he were doing Justin a favor.

   "I thought you made your position perfectly clear when you quit your job and left my house. Sorry, I'm not "starving in the streets" as you hoped. Besides, this was an invitation-only party. How did you get in?"

   "I slipped the doorman a 50. OK, so I crashed! Sue me! I wanted to see you again. I'm sorry for what I said. Plus I looked you up online and was very impressed. I wanted to see your work. Maybe buy a piece." Ethan worked that back in his head and smiled. Sure, that sounded plausible.

   "Well, I'm very flattered, I'm sure, Ethan, but I'm still not interested in you personally and as you can see, your patronage is not needed. I'm nearly sold out. So, I'd be happier if you would just leave."

   "Oh, Justin! Don't be like that!  I came a long way. Why not have one glass of champagne with me and then I'll leave."

   "Fine!" snapped Justin, who was put in a rather bad mood now. Well, it was one drink and then he'd be rid of odious man.

   Ethan grabbed a couple of glasses from a passing server and handed one to Justin. "I'm very proud of you Justin. Here's to all your success." They clinked glasses.

   As Justin drank, he wished a tall, dark, muscular, masked man were speaking the words instead.

   Ethan pretended to look at some of the paintings but he was instead drinking in the sight of his blond boy ass which he kept in his line of sight at all times.

   Within a few minutes, Justin was blinking and shaking his head, his steps seemed heavier and slower than they were a minute ago. Ethan kept close. Any minute now...

   A minute later, the champagne flute slipped out of Justin's hand and smashed onto the floor.

   "Ooops, I think we have a tipsy artist. Make way! Make way! The artist feels sick! He needs some air! Queasy artist coming through!" Ethan supported him around the waist and "guided" him out the door onto the street.

   Justin groaned and gurgled but by this time, his whole body including his face and jaw muscles felt incredibly heavy. He couldn't get up the energy to talk or yell for help, which is what he was doing. And then everything went black.

   Ethan smiled down at his charge, now sleeping, took a quick look around and then scooped up the young man in a cradling position and quickly carried him across the street, through the alley to the next street where his car was and then buckled him into the front seat. Moving quickly but not hurried, he got into the driver's seat and then drove away into the night.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 15

Greed

   Justin groaned and stirred a little in his seat. His eyes fluttered as he struggled to open them.

   "Ahhhh, is my little Sleeping Beauty starting to wake? Well, we can't have that, can we?"

   Justin tried to struggle. But his limbs were heavy as lead and seemed numb. He could barely lift his fingers and his eyes still seemed like they had weights on them as well. But he struggled to open them, find out where he was, what was happening.

   But before he could, a thumb and forefinger were pinching his cheeks hard, forcing his mouth open. A small pill was popped in and then a leather-gloved hand was covering his mouth so he couldn't spit it out. The other leather hand massaged his throat until he was forced to swallow.

   And the chemical-induced fog descended, like a dark and evil spell and Justin once more fell into a black and sweet oblivion.

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   The nightmare continued.

   Justin had no idea where he was, how much time was passing, had passed. Every time he started to wake, Ethan sedated him again.

   Once, Justin played possum for a while, feeling his limbs come back a little at a time. He lay there with his eyes closed, feeling that feeling in that stomach you feel when you are moving. A car. He was in a car.

   With his eyes flickering, just the slightest bit at a time, Justin flicked them open to see where they were. An endless highway stretched out before them. The landscape was flat and desert-like with scrub and cactus stretching in all directions.

   Justin closed his eyes. It was not yet time.

   Flicking his eyes every so often, Justin continued to bide his time for an opportunity to make his move. More and more feeling came back into his body. His mouth and jaw didn't feel so clumsy anymore.

   Finally, there was a spot in the road where the shoulder widened and there was room for a few parking spaces and a pipe sticking out of the ground ending in a water spigot. Ethan pulled over and stopped and got out to stretch.

   This was it. Carefully, silently, Justin eased open the door. Even more carefully he eased his cramped and half sedated body out of the car. He bolted back the way they had come.

   "Ahhhh, I didn't know you'd woke!" called Ethan conversationally. Please...do run. It'll be so much fun chasing you down with the car until I find you again. It's 30 miles back the way we came to anywhere and 20 miles in the other. He continued doing lunges and hip bends and twists and other stretches as if he hadn't a care in the world.

   Justin lifted his left hand and prepared to depart. His heart lurched in disappointment. The ring was gone. They were in the middle of the desert. Ethan was right. There was no use trying to run. Dammit.

   "And of course, while I'm running you down, I'll probably...run you over. Probably. I haven't decided yet."

   Justin just stood there, seething with anger, until finally he was forced back to the rest stop.

   Ethan indicated the spigot. "Care for some water before you dash off? Of course, it'll probably wear off before you get a mile."

   Justin actually did take a drink. The water felt cool and refreshing and as if he hadn't drunk anything in days. He probably hadn't.

   "Knock it off," he said dully, "We both know I'm not going anywhere."

   Ethan shrugged and had a bit of a walk around. Then he got a bunch of water pouches from the car and began filling them up.

   "Why?" asked Justin, "Why are you doing this?"

   "Why does anybody do anything? Money, of course."

   "What money? I don't have any money on me. My painting's sold but Sidney Bloom was taking care of all that and then it was going straight to the bank."

   "Not that money. I was told you were carrying quite the wad of cash. This wad," he taunted, pulling it out of a pocket. Justin checked his own pocket self-consciously.

   "Damn it Ethan, that's supposed to go towards 3 months of my family's mortgage! Give it back!"

   "Ahhhh, no wonder I had to give a chunk of it back before we actually left. Along with the emerald. Of course the diamond...and the sapphire...were all mine. They should fetch quite a price when we get to a decent city." He plucked them out of his pocket and looked at them adoringly, especially the diamond, which sparkled in the sunlight.

   Justin frowned. What do you mean....give a chunk of it back?"

   "What do you think I mean?" Ethan slipped everything back inside his own pants pocket. "Your mother's about as greedy as me. Almost. Why do I have a feeling that money won't be going to the mortgage?"

   Justin's jaw dropped. "My - my mother? What has she got to do with any of this?"       

   "Justin, she has everything to do with this. Who do you think hired me to kidnap you?"

   "But why?"

   "She knew I had the hots for you. Besides, you were cramping her style. She wanted you out of the way, I guess. I don't know. I don't really care. Besides it's not the first time I've done her dirty work. It's just the first time I've enjoyed it."

   Justin tensed up at the lustful look in Ethan's eyes. "Back off! I may not be 100% but I know more moves than the ones I gave you at the house and you'll be in a world of hurt!"

   "Ethan calculated his chances and then shrugged. "Your loss. Besides, I'm not into the rape scene. I don't force when I can make men beg for it."

   Justin laughed derisively. "Geez Ethan! Is your cock bigger than your ego?" Cause if it is, you must be hung!"

   Ethan's face twisted in anger. "I think this little rest stop is over! Time to get going! So...time for another sleep pill." He took out the bottle.

   "NO!" Justin backed away but Ethan stalked him until he was pressed up against the car.

   "Since you're so....wide awake...I'm giving you a choice. Take it yourself...or I'll knock your head against the window until you black out and make you spend the next leg of the journey in the trunk."

   Justin looked at the criminal in the eyes and saw he was deadly serious. He was pretty sure that Ethan was unaware of his head injury but Justin couldn't let him exacerbate it. He had no choice. He took the pill from Ethan.

   "Where are we? Where are you taking me?"

   "We're in Texas. I'd figured we'd head to Dallas before we start on the next leg of our journey."

   "And where's that?"

   "Where I was told to take you. As far away from Pittsburgh as possible."

   "Wait! Texas? How long have we been on the road?"

   "Oh, about 5 days or so. Come on! Bottom's up!"

   Justin made a last ditch effort. "All right! I will! But Ethan, why did you take my ring? Give it back! It's worthless to you and means the world to me! I promised I'd never take it off! Please!?" He conjured up some realistic tears.

   "Worthless? Who are you trying to snow, Justin? I've looked at it and it's solid silver! I'm going to sell that as well. It may not fetch as hefty a price as the jewels but as I said Justin...I'm a greedy, greedy man! Now take the fuckin' pill!"

   Justin thought quickly. As he swallowed the pill, he figured, he was just missing his week deadline. He had to escape. But how?

   And then there was no more time to think as the heaviness and the sleep descended and Ethan was guiding him back into the front seat is preparation for heading to parts unknown.

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   On the seventh day, the day of return, Brian had awoken with hope in his heart. He put on a nice suit and put his snakes back into the ponytail, ready to hide quickly when needed. He'd shaved, waited for Justin, did his nails, waited for Justin, put on his sexiest mask and waited for Justin.

   And then there was nothing else to do but wait. And the later it got, the more his hopes and heart fell. Until at last the sun slipped away and it was clear that Justin wasn't coming.

   He had chosen fame and fortune over a life with him. Perhaps he had even found someone to share his bed with. Someone with nice teeth and flawless skin. Someone who didn't need a mask to hide behind. Someone who could be a travel companion as he travelled the world painting. This last thought was an especially bitter pill to swallow, as Brian had grown to dream about travelling to parts unknown after such a long seclusion. And his thoughts were absolutely feral when he thought about another man touching Justin.

   He didn't understand. Justin promised. He had promised he would come back. Hell, he had to force the twink into the car for fuck's sake!

   Brian roared, a terrible roar that was equal to the one he had done when Justin. He was heard for many miles in every direction. He roared until all of his strength was gone and he was on his knees.

   "Are you happy!?" he yelled, "Are you fucking HAPPY!? Is this love? Is this what you had in mind for me when you put this...this THING on me? This pain? This jealousy? This REJECTION!!? This utter humiliation!? Is this what you wanted!!?"

   There was no answer. There was only silence.

   "I did my part! I thought...I thought...finally, I did it right! I didn't rush! I didn't force it! We waited and he consented! He even made out that he didn't want to leave!?"

   There was no answer.

   "And all the time, he couldn't wait! All the time, he was waiting for a time for me to let down my guard! And now I'm doomed! There's no time for another! And I don't want another! Soon, I'll be your monster even though I did my part! Is that fair! IS THAT FAIR!?"

   There was no answer.

   "I know you're there dammit! You said you'd be watching! Well, I hope you enjoyed the show! It's the last thing I'll give you the satisfaction of watching! And I'll be damned if I give you the satisfaction of winning!"

   There was no answer. There was only silence save for a series of strange choking type noises.

   The day had started with a dawn of hope but it ended with a dusk of despair.

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   The nightmare continued.

   Ethan and Justin's trip heading west continued. Ethan was careful. He never stopped for gas and/or food when Justin was awake and when he did stop to have Justin take a piss or drink it was in a semi-conscious state. At night, they would stop at motel and Justin would awake to find himself being tied or already tied to the bed in such a way that it was spread eagled but with a few easy adjustments could be released to go to the bathroom. His hands and ankles were tied with rope as if they were manacles and then attached from wrist to ankle with another line of rope in such a way that it attached his wrists to his ankles but allowed limited movement.

   Since he slept all day, Justin often found that he would lie there all night awake, tied up and bored out of his mind. He missed Brian with a physical ache. He also feared those pills were becoming habit forming, as he could feel the need for one when Ethan started getting ready to go.

   Whenever he was lucid enough, Justin begged for his ring back. He knew he sounded pathetic. And Ethan knew it and kept it around for a few days longer than necessary, holding it over Justin's head, torturing him. Justin would sob and squeeze out a few emotional tears.

   However, what he was careful to conceal, was that whenever Ethan would turn his back after one of these confrontations, Justin would give a small, satisfied smile.

   Finally, there came the day where Justin knew he had to get away. He had calculated in his head that they had been on the road for about 2 weeks. He figured that this was the deadline day for Brian's spell. God, Brian! He must be going mad. And if he didn't get back Brian was going to kill himself before the day was up. Justin knew he couldn't let that happen. He wondered if Brian missed him at all.

   And then he realized it didn't matter. What mattered was that he missed Brian and he knew he had to save him. He couldn't let him die. He loved him. He started as he thought that and then felt that thought become knowledge and the knowledge became fact. He loved him. He loved Brian, was in love with Brian, flaws and all. He didn't care about the snakes or the tattoos or the acid burns or anything. All that mattered was saving his life. All that mattered was being with him again and being held and kissed and fucked into oblivion. Forever.

   Justin was tied up to a motel bed as usual when he thought of this on the morning of the deadline day. They were somewhere in California. Ethan had sold the diamond for a huge amount but was still holding the ring over Justin's head as leverage and mental torture. Justin began to plan and realized he was going to have to give up a lot in order to get away. Maybe everything. But he also realized if he could play this right, he might be able to get away with everything.

   Justin bided his time. He was careful. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

   He waited till Ethan woke up and released him to go to the bathroom. He hobbled over in his ropy manacles.

   "Sorry, I have to keep you tied up," Ethan taunted. "If only I could be sure you wouldn't run away."

   "You've hardly given me a reason to stay," Justin replied back drily as he did whenever Ethan gave him this tired line.

   He did his business and then came back into the main room. He took a deep breath. This was it.

   "Look Ethan. Why don't you just let me go? You did it. We're in California. I'll never make it back to Pittsburgh for a long time, maybe forever. Just let me loose, give me my ring, take your spoils and we'll part ways. Sure, I could go to the cops, but I'm sure you'd be long gone by the time I could find one. You did it. From here on out I'm just a drain on your resources. Just let me go."

   "Sorry, can't chance it," said Ethan stubbornly, "Change of plans. I'm going to take you to the coast where you'll take a long walk off a short pier. I can't leave you running around telling every cop who I am, what I look like. You're too dangerous to be left alive."

   "That's not true! As I said, you can be long gone before I get to a cop. Look Ethan, all I want, all I've ever wanted, is my ring back. Give it to me, let me go and you have my word, I won't even go to the cops." He took a deep breath and pulled out his trump card. "I'll pay you. My mother paid you to take me into captivity. I'll pay you to let me go. I can pay you more."

   "What are you talking about?" asked Ethan derisively, "You don't have anything I want."

   "Oh yes I do," Justin said. He hobbled over to his clothes and out of his sock he dumped a ruby, an emerald, a diamond and a sapphire.

      Now Ethan's attention was caught like a deer in the headlights. "Ahhhhhhh....." he breathed, "Where did you get those?"

   "Never mind where I got them. I've got them. And you can have even more than this, if you give me my ring and let me go."

   "What are you talking about?"

   Justin hobbled over and fumbled at his clothes. He picked up his jacket and then dropped it clumsily. "Look, I'll show you, but I need to have my hands free. Can you please untie me. I'm not going anywhere without my ring and besides, I'm sure you could catch me easily if I tried to make a break for it. Please. You won't regret it."

   "Oh...fine! What's to show me? I removed all your valuables the first night." He flicked a few knots and Justin's hands were free.

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   Brian woke up on his death-day quite suddenly. He lay on his back and his eyes just flipped open as he went from deep sleep to full awareness in one second.

   He lay there for a few moments just looking at the ceiling. He felt nothing. Nothing happy. Nothing sad. Nothing angry. No depression. No despair. Nothing. He felt...blank. Yes, that was it, he felt blank and empty as one of Sunshine's canvases before he started to work his magic.

   Something...surged inside Brian but he quickly pushed it down and away and it was gone. And then, again, there was...nothing.

   After his initial Beast-like tantrum, he had waited till the next day to see if he would come. Perhaps he was detained. Perhaps he had had more shows. Perhaps he had missed his flight. And so he had waited.

   He had waited in vain. He didn't come the second day either.

   He phoned around. He phoned Debbie from the number she had given him the day of the accident. Yeah...accident.

   Debbie hadn't seen him since the art show and he hadn't been around the Diner since then either. She suggested Lindsay.

   Lindsay hadn't seen him either. She knew about the deadline and thought he had gone back to Brian. She suggested Jennifer.

   Jennifer was cheery and optimistic and informed him he had been approached by several agents, met a rich, devastatingly handsome man with raven wavy hair and green eyes and great teeth, and had packed up with him and gone to New York to pursue his art career further.

   As Brian listened to this, he had the strange sensation of having a wad of marshmallows plugging up his mouth. He couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe. He felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Finally though, he'd sucked in a big breath, hoarsely thanked Jennifer for her time and hung up.

   He'd sat there for hours, wave after wave of emotion rushing over him, coursing through him, driving him closer and closer to insanity. Depression. Anger. No, rage. Intense jealousy. Pornographic pictures of Justin writhing in ecstasy in the bed of another man tortured him, images of Sunshine's blue eyes hooded with passion as the new man pleasured him with his mouth and his cock until dream-Justin writhed and screamed in ecstasy. A handsome man. A man who didn't need to hide behind glasses or masks, with eyes as green as seaweed, skin that was unblemished from tattoos and bronzed like a God, and wavy, raven black hair. Justin had chosen beauty over substance and he would never see him again.

   He had chosen his career and New York and forsaken his promise. He hadn't even come back to say goodbye, probably afraid Brian would lock him up again in a fit of jealousy and possessiveness and so, had just escaped into the urban jungle that was the Big Apple.

   For a few days, Brian wandered the rooms and halls, mourning Justin as one dead. He walked, sat in a beautiful room until he couldn't stand it anymore and wandered to somewhere else. The beauty of the tapestries and carpets and rooms and furniture were lost on him. The castle was now nothing more than a gilded cage.

   Brian sighed and looked over to the other side of the bed where it was glaringly empty and cold. He sighed deeply again. At least he would never wake to an empty bed again.

   He got up, went to the bathroom, did his ablutions. When he walked back into the bedroom, there was a tray near his bed with a delicious breakfast on it. He ignored it.

   He got dressed. He dressed in a formal suit with a nice tie and a matching handkerchief in the breast pocket. The handsomeness of the suit clashed interestedly with the ugly snakes that writhed around his head.

   He pulled the snakes into a ponytail and found a simple domino mask.

   He went downstairs to a kitchen and opened the fridge freezer. He took out an ice cube tray. Frozen inside one cube, was a tiny golden key.

   He found a meat tenderizer, wrapped the cube in a towel, and broke the key out of the cube.

   He took the key into a room where there was a wooden box on a mantelpiece. He opened the box. Inside there was a larger, silver key.

   He took the silver key and went over to a side table. He unlocked the drawer in this table.

   He pulled open the drawer and took out the mirror.

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   Justin reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out a carved, wooden box about the size of a matchbox.

   "What? That old thing? You wanted to show me an old matchbox? Pshaw! I already know about it! I found it the first night I took you!"

   "And yet you overlooked it and left it with me! Had you realized its properties you would not have let it out of your sight! Perhaps next time you will learn not to judge things by their appearance alone."

   "What are you talking about?" Ethan snapped impatiently.

   "Only this," Justin said. And he opened the hinged lid at the top and put the ruby inside. He closed and opened the box and there were two rubies inside. Somehow, the box was big enough for both of them. Justin dumped them both onto the bed.

   Ethan's eyes bugged out of his head. "How did you do that? That can't be real! You're - you're playing a trick somehow! A trick to save your skin!"

   Justin sighed. "It's no trick. The box duplicates anything that's put inside." He tossed one ruby to Ethan, put the other in the box and closed the lid. And then there were two.

   "Do it again!"

   Justin did it again.

   "Again!"

   He did it again.

   "Put all of them in!"

   Justin complied and somehow there was room for a ruby, emerald, diamond, and sapphire. And when he closed the lid, there were 8 jewels.

   "Do it again!"

   Justin closed the lid and opened it. There were sixteen.

   "Again!"

   Justin gave a small Mona Lisa smile and did it again

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   Brian took the mirror and went up through the halls and stairs until he reached a very special door. For a few minutes he just stood there, his eyes wide and dry.

   Then he reached up with his index finger and began to trace slowly along J...U...S...T...I...N. He did it again...and again...each time his finger moving a little slower along the gold.

   Finally, he reached toward the handle. He could go in now. Justin was gone and the enchantment would be inactive. Almost against his will, his hand started to slow. A few inches away, it started to shake and then dropped to his side.

   A thousand memories flooded his mind. All of them of him a Justin making...fucking. No. Making love He smiled a little. Yes. He would call it that, just this once, now at the very end. Justin and he had...made love on every surface in that room. The bed, the table, the counter, the shower, the bathroom sink, and even once on his artist's stool. They had made love everywhere and they would never make love again. He couldn't go in there and have him not be in there...waiting, wide-eyed, eager, spattered with paint, innocent looking and yet carnally hungry for his cock and his kiss.

   He traced the gold letters of his name one last time. J-U-S-T-I-N.

   "Good-bye...my love," he whispered brokenly

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One hour later:

   It had just been an hour but to Justin it had seemed like much longer. A heaping pile of the assorted jewels lay on the bed. After a while though, Ethan grew bored and made him clone a bunch of the silverware that had come with the room service. Then he had given Justin a dime and a quarter and made him duplicate that as well. Justin had opened and closed the box until it was as big as a breadbox and poured out a huge heaping pile of shining coinage as well. Then he did it again. And again, until there was a mountain of silver on the bed and the mattress sagged a little because of the weight.

   The greedy lust shone perversely out of Ethan's eyes. "More! More!" he panted.

   "NO! No more! Not until I see my ring! At least show it to me!"

   While Justin had worked, Ethan had gotten dressed. He pulled out Justin's ring from a pants pocket. "What? This ring?" he taunted.

   Justin made a lightning quick grab for it but Ethan pulled it back just in time. "Make me more!" he commanded.

   "For fuck's sake Ethan! You don't need any more! The pile of jewels alone will set you up for life! That alone should buy my ring and my freedom. Plus you have all this silver and money as well! How much more do you want!?"

   "Twice as more! No! Twice as more as that! Until we can dump it all in the tub and I can lie in it! No! Until we fill up a swimming pool and I can swim in it! No! More! More than that! Till I'm the richest man in the world!" His eyes were shiny with maniacal greedy lust.

   "Ethan! Snap out of it! If you tried any of that the weight of the coins and jewels would just weight you down and bury you alive! Be careful! You're greed is getting out of control! Be happy with all this! You can sell all this and live comfortably for the rest of your life!"

   But Ethan was in his own little world. He heard only what he wanted to hear.

   "Bah! You're right! All these quarters are just chump change! And selling gem after gem would be the height of tedium. Why not cut to the chase!? Here! Duplicate this!" And he pulled out some of the money he had left and peeled off a $100 bill.

   "No! Ethan, you don't understand! You can't duplicate..."

   "Oh, shut up! Get out of my way! I'm going to be rich and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Ethan pushed the jewels and coins out of the way, grabbed the box, and shoved Justin off the bed and out of the way.

   Justin bumped his knees and elbows as he landed but otherwise was unhurt. He quickly untied his ankles. Ethan was too busy to notice.

   "Be careful, Ethan. I'll warn you again, do not let your greed consume you. Stop now and be glad what I've done for you."

   Ethan ignored him. He put the bill in the box, which was big enough for it to fit perfectly.

   "No...Ethan...don't..." Justin said listlessly but did didn't really care. Ethan had chosen and sealed his own fate, and anyway he wasn't listening to him. He got dressed hurriedly. He felt something momentous was going to happen.

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   Brian next went down to the West Wing. The trashed walls and tattered carpets seemed strange to him now. On one hand he remembered inflicting every bit of damage and yet at the same time it was as if he were looking upon the handiwork of someone else. The scratches on the wall....God, he'd been so angry! Now...he, remembered the anger, all the hateful thoughts but at the same time, they were someone else's thoughts as well.

   He reached the office. God, what a mess! All those tantrums! What a child he'd been. And it had almost cost Justin his life. It was a fitting shrine for a baby.

   He went over to the desk, uncovered, and picked up the picture of the son he would never see. His eyes were wide and dry but when he spoke, his voice was filled with heartbreak.

   "My little boy. My very little boy. How I wish things had turned out differently. I wish I hadn't ignored you, spent all that time working. I wish I had used my wealth to spoil you, lavish gifts onto you. I wish I had been there for your first step. Your first word. To have you over to the loft. To tuck you in. To watch you sleep and have you wake me up. To feed you Corn Pops and Froot Loops and all of the other disgusting sugary things your mothers will never allow you. To take you to school. Your first schoolyard fight. Your karate lessons. Your second schoolyard fight, which you would win. Your first date. With whoever. Ohhh God! Brian sniffed. "I wish I had gotten to tell them to call you Gus. Oh, my little boy! Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for everything!"

   He gently pressed a kiss to the baby in the picture. He left the room in deep sorrow, only dimly aware that he still carried the picture with him.

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   Ethan opened and closed the box over and over and over with the $100 bill inside it. One became two, two became four, four became eight, and eight became sixteen, and so on and so on.

   The box became bigger and bigger as more and more money was created. It became as big as a cigar box. It became twice as big as that. It was as big as a briefcase. It became twice as big as that.

   "Ethan stop! For God's sake that must be enough for you now!" cried Justin

   "Shut up!" snarled Ethan.

   The box needed to be slid onto the floor. It became as big as a travelling trunk. It became as large as a large treasure chest.

   "Ethan, stop! For God sake, that must be enough!"

   "Shut up!" snarled Ethan.

   The lid was harder to open now. With the next open and closing it was as twice as large as a large treasure chest. And then it was as large as a wardrobe. It stood on its side so the lid opened out sideways.

   "Yikes!" Even Ethan was a little startled at the radical growth of this latest open and closing.

   "It doubles, every time you open it!" Justin said scornfully. "What did you expect!? Surely, this is enough for you now!"

   "Oh shut up! But yes, maybe this is enough."

   He reached over and went to open the lid/door. There was a snarling, growling noise. This startled Ethan and along with that, the lid was heavy now. He started and the lid slipped out of his hands. It slammed closed and now it took up half the room.

   "Ethan! What have you done!?" yelled Justin.

   "I didn't mean to! The lid was heavy! And it growled at me! What was that noise!? What the hell was that noise?"

   "I don't know! But you wanted it! Take it! Open it!"

   There was a pause.

   "I'm not sure I want it now," Ethan quavered.

   There was another dull growl from the huge box. The lid thumped open and closed slightly as if to say: Open me!

   "Open it Ethan! Your treasure awaits. You made it. You wanted it. Go get it." Justin said with steel in his voice.

   "No! I - I changed my mind! I don't want it!"

   The lid slammed and beckoned.

   "Ahhh, but it wants you Ethan! And I want my ring back! So here! Here is your treasure! Here is what your greed has made. Take it! Take it and let me go! Take it and leave me alone and let me return to my Beast!"

   "Your Beast! Why would you want to go back to a monster anyway!? Besides, we're in California! You'll never see him again! You'll never get back to the East again!

   "I want to get back because I love him. He's better that 20 of you and I swear if it takes me 20 years, I'll get back to him. But it won't take me that long! Now here! Take your treasure!"

   And with that, Justin grabbed the lid and heaved it open, pushing with all his might, opening it wide.

   Inside, there was a wall of money. The low growling came again, became louder and louder, became a snarling, one that reminded one of low-lying anger and fierce revenge.

   Ethan began to scream.

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   Brian had gotten back to the Main Hall and was about to head down the hallway that led to the Courtyard when he heard a muffled, soft, voice as if someone was trying to talk through a pillow.

   "Master! Master!?"

   Brian looked around in confusion and then just shrugged and kept going. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

   "Master! Master!" the voice came again.

   Then Brian realized he was carrying the mirror with his arms listlessly at his sides, the face of it resting against his pant leg. He lifted the mirror up and looked into it.

   It was Emmett.

   "Oh, Master! There you are! We've all been...I mean, I hope you don't mind me talking to you this way but we all felt the mirror move and hoped...Well, we could all feel..."

   "Oh for God's sake, spit it out!"

   "Right! Well, the thing is...well we saw that you hadn't touched your breakfast and we...I mean, I was hoping there was nothing wrong with it...plus with the overall psychic gloom of the house, we all thought we'd see if you were all right. So...are you...all right...Master?"

Emmett finished with extreme nervousness.  He looked and sounded like one who had drawn lots and was then shoved into a room to put a bell onto a large and hungry tiger. Which was sort of the case.

   "It is my last day. I did not eat the food because there was no point. I didn't want it. The "psychic gloom" as you called it, is there because I am preparing to die. So no. I guess I am not..."all right"."

   "To die!? Why ever are you preparing to die?"

   "I'm not going to be a monster forever. I can never see my son. Justin is not coming back. He was my last chance to break the spell and he left me and decided not to come back. I opened my heart to him and he left me. Now I'm doomed. And I cannot roam the world as a monster out of mythology."

   "Uh...Master? Maybe you're wrong about the little master? I remember driving him to the airport and him being absolutely distraught. He did not want to leave. He was upset that you pushed him away. And all he could talk about was getting back. Maybe he was detained or something? I'm sure he'll return shortly."

   "He's not detained. He met someone at his show and went off to New York. He's not coming back. He never was." Brian's voice was as dead and lifeless as he wished to become.

   "No! That cannot be true! I'm sure...that doesn't sound like the little master at all! We were sure! We were sure he was the one to break the spell!"

   "Well, he wasn't. He fooled all of us. He was just biding his time, waiting for the right time to escape his promise and get away from me."

   "Oh, Master! Do not talk like this! I hate to see you..."

   "You don't have to call me that anymore. You are all discharged. You have served me well. Thank you for everything you've done but there is nothing more you can do."

   "We cannot be discharged until the spell ends or in the event of your death," said Emmett, "And anyway, none of us will leave you now, until the end. We love you Master."

   "Thank you...Emmett," replied Brian, at a loss of what else to call the creature, "But there's nothing more for any of us to do. Go away now. I'd like to be left alone now."

   "Oh, but Master! If you're feeling so low, how can I leave you by yourself. How bout I bring you a nice lunch in the dining room and maybe a nice soothing cup of..."

   "No! Be gone!" Brian hated to be so harsh but it was the only way to get rid of the irksome spirit who would hound him until he was commanded.

   Emmett's face fell a little but he cut off his speech and sadly faded away.

   Left blissfully alone once more, Brian headed slowly through the castle. Slowly, he made his way to the yellow room. Out onto the verandah. Down the steps and into the Courtyard garden.

   He wound his way slowly around the white paths and said his goodbyes and his sorrys to as many of the statues as he could. Some were sweet men, some were fortune hunters, but all received something as Brian went past. He knew this was foolish as they were dead but a part of him knew he was putting off the inevitable. He also wondered if maybe there was a part of them that could hear him somehow, like a coma victim.

   After a long, indeterminate time, he finally reached the center. He caressed the picture of his son one more time and then carefully placed it on a stone bench where he'd be able to see it.

   Then he stepped into his flower bed into the center of the ring of golden flowers which was now a full 24 flowers at least.

   He pulled back a sleeve and looked at the countdown. The rose looked sickly and withered. As he watched a leaf dropped off and then a petal as well. There were only 2 left anyway. Both fallen items vanished. The countdown read that there was only about an hour left.

   Brian dropped his hand and took a deep breath. Then he took a few more. He may as well get this over with. No use dragging it out.

   He took another deep breath for courage. This was it.

   He looked over at his baby son and it gave him comfort.  He could do this. He could. Justin wasn`t coming. There was no hope. He had to do this He could do this. He could.

   With a last long deep breath, he raised the mirror. Lowered it. Raised it. Lowered it. Took a huge breath, looked at his son, raised it. He looked into the mirror.

   He undid the snakes. They writhed and hissed and swirled around his head, thrashing happily now that they were free from their bondage.

   Slowly, with a trembling hand, he reached up. Closer and closer it came to his face as he prepared himself to take off his mask........

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 16

Death of a Dream

   With a last long deep breath, Brian raised the mirror. Lowered it. Raised it. Lowered it. Took a huge breath, looked at his son, raised it. He looked into the mirror.

   He undid the snakes. They writhed and hissed and swirled around his head, thrashing happily now that they were free from their bondage.

   Slowly, with a trembling hand, Brian reached up. Closer and closer it came to his face as he prepared himself to take off his mask.

   “What the HELL do you think you’re doing?!!” yelled a voice. “Don’t move! Not a muscle, mister!”

   Brian froze. He couldn’t believe his ears. He shook his head. He must be dreaming. Imagining things. Eleventh hour, call from the governor type syndrome thing. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. Again he reached up to grab hold of his mask, to pull it off, ready for the end…

   “HEY!” yelled the voice, “Didn’t you hear me!? Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare move!”

   A compact but hard body barreled into him. The mirror was wrested away from him and thrown away. It flew through the air and hit a statue somewhere. It was smashed into a thousand pieces.

   The small, hardbody plastered itself around his chest and sobbed in joy. “Oh thank God! Thank God! I’m not too late! I’m just in time, I’m not too late!!”

   It was, of course, Justin.

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   As Justin continued to cry for joy, Brian just stood there, feeling numb in body, mind and soul. He let the boy cry on him for a while before finally peeling him off and holding him away from him.

   “Brian…what’s wrong?” asked Justin, pushing against him, trying to get back into the warmth of his arms but unable to penetrate through Brian’s iron grip.

   “You’re late,” Brian said dully, “You had one week. I told you to come back within the week. You promised! You broke your word!” Suddenly, the numbness wore off and intense feelings of rage and hate rushed through him like water out of a breaking dam.

   “Brian, I…”

   “WHY ARE YOU HERE? HOW….ARE YOU HERE? WHY DID YOU COME BACK HERE!?”

   “Brian, I…”

   “NOT A PHONE CALL! NO DEAR JOHN LETTER! NOT EVEN A FUCKING POSTCARD! COULDN’T YOU EVEN SHELL OUT A MEASLY 50 CENTS TO LET ME KNOW YOU WERE OK, TO TELL ME!!! WHY! WHY!? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!” Brian continued to queen out.

   “Brian, I…”

   “I HOPE IT WAS ALL WORTH IT! NEW YORK! ADORING FANS! YOUR NEW TOYBOY! I HOPE YOU WERE HAPPY! DID YOU TELL HIM ABOUT ME? DID THE TWO OF YOU HAVE A GOOD LAUGH!? DID YOU HAVE A GOOD LAUGH AT THE BEAST!?”

   Justin’s face grew more and more confused at this speech. He just stood there, arms crossed and waited for Brian to wind down.

   “What the HELL are you talking about!!” he yelled back, “Toyboy? New York!? I was never in New York!”

   “WELL, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!!?” Brian yelled in full blown queen out.

   “If you SHUT UP for a minute, I’ll tell you! He took a deep breath. “I was KIDNAPPED!”

   “Kidnapped!? But you’re mother said…” Brian deflated a little in confusion.

   “Brian, my mother is the one who HAD me kidnapped. She’s become a very greedy, shallow, and different person since I’ve been gone. Trust me…whatever she’s told you, it was a lie. You were grossly misinformed. There was no New York. No other man. Quite the contrary. I’ve been on a horrible road trip against my will, drugged during the day, tied to a bed at night, all the way to California.”

   Brian deflated a bit, his feelings of concern, uncertainty and fear replacing that of rage. “I – I just don’t understand. If you were in California, what really happened? How did you get away? How did you get back?”

   Justin held up his hand and showed him the silver ring. “A present from the Wards. It transported me. But it was stolen from me and I was only able to get it back an hour ago. As soon as I did, I used it to get back here. As for how I got away, it wasn’t easy. You see, it all started…”

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   Justin grabbed the lid and heaved it open, pushing with all his might, opening it wide.

   Inside, there was a wall of money. The low growling came again, became louder and louder, became a snarling, one that reminded one of low-lying anger and fierce revenge.

   A single bill peeled away, fluttered across the room, the way a crisp autumn leaf dances in the wind and stuck to Ethan’s forehead. There was no wind.

   Justin was just straining not to let the door/lid close again. It was incredibly heavy and it strained back as if it wanted to close and duplicate again. But Justin knew if he let that happen, it would fill the entire room and even crush them in the process.

   A few more bills peeled away. They too, fluttered over and stuck to Ethan’s body. Ethan was still trying to get rid of the first bill but no matter what he tried the bill stayed stuck to some part of his body. He could grab it off his forehead but it wouldn’t fall out of his hand. It stuck to his fingers like glue. He pulled it away with his other hand. It came away but now was stuck to that hand. The other bills were likewise sticking to him.

   Five more bills fluttered over.

   Ethan began pulling at the money trying to remove them only to have them stick somewhere else until he was whirling like a dervish. And all throughout, that low growling filled the room, like an enormous dog that was getting ready to attack.

   And then, with one accord, the wall of money flew out the box and swirled around the room like a snowstorm, like bees, like bats out of hell. They flew up and down and around and then straight for Ethan to join the others. Within a few seconds, he was a man covered in money.

   Ethan began to scream.

   He spun faster and faster but he was unable to escape his now unwanted money. More and more swirled and flew and stuck to him and now he was nothing more than a money scarecrow.

   He spun a few times more and then fell. Something fell from his grasp and spun away from him. Something small and silver.

   Money continued to gush out of the box. It seemed never ending. But, at last, Justin could feel the pressure on the lid subside.

   He chanced it. He darted through the money blizzard to the place where he saw the ring go. Already he had to dig his way through a bit but at last there was a shine of silver amongst the green.

   Justin grabbed up his ring. At last! At long last it was his again! His slipped it on his finger. It began to glow with a dazzling silver light.

   Money continued to gush out of the box. It had returned to the size of a wardrobe. Ethan’s form was lost beneath a mound of money.

   The light of the ring kept the money at bay from him, even as it was sticking to Ethan. There was so much money in the room that it was now indeed a blizzard and visibility was virtually nil. But now, with the ring, no matter how much it swirled, no matter how much it whirled, no bill came within three feet of him.

   Justin searched about a bit and found the bed. He took a few steps over there, pocketed a handful of the assorted jewels, making sure he had a variety of all four. He took a handful of the dimes and quarters and put those in the other pocket.

   The money continued to gush out of the box. It was now half the size of a wardrobe. The bills swirled and whirled around the room and Justin could see that if the ring had not protected him, he would have been thigh deep in money.

   Justin slogged his way over to the box. Money continued to spew out of it like a fountain with no signs of intending to stop. It was as big as a crate now. Justin stood near it and watched the money swirl around him getting deeper and deeper and deeper. Up to his waist. His chest. His shoulders. Surely it would stop soon.

   It didn’t stop. His neck. His head. He was surrounded by a round wall of money. If he hadn’t been wearing the ring, he would have been buried.

   As big as a treasure chest. As big as a large suitcase. As big as a briefcase. As big as a breadbox.

   At that point, Justin reached down and snatched it up. He shook the last of the evil money out. He didn’t want a bit of it. It shrank to the size of a cigar box.

   The money now reached to the ceiling. In consternation, Justin saw that his protection was failing. The wall of money was collapsing in on him. Money dumped on him up to his ankles. His knees. His waist. Soon he would be buried.

   Justin wasted no more time. Holding the box tightly to his chest, he turned the ring on his finger three times and yelled:

   “THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!”

   Instantly, he vanished. The wall of money fell in, filling the space where he had been completely.

   The entire motel room was now filled to the brim with Ethan’s ill gotten gains.

   Everything was still and quiet at last. At 11:00 the motel clerk came to inform them it was check out time. Receiving no response to his polite knocks, he opened the door with his master key and was promptly astonished when he came face to face with a wall of money that gushed out and buried him up to the waist. Further investigation found a single man at the bottom of the debris, luckily but barely alive.

   It was not so lucky for him a little while later when it was found under closer observation that all the bills had the same serial number and were pronounced as counterfeit.

Meanwhile:

   As I said Justin vanished.

   However to his point of view, he didn’t really vanish. Instead, to him it seemed that he felt a pulling. The ring was pulling, yanking him up and away. He braced himself for the ceiling but it was gone. The pulling continued to the point where it hurt his arm a little. His surroundings were indistinct and as the pulling became stronger and stronger and he travelled faster and faster, his surroundings were simply nothing but a mystical blue tunnel and he was pulled and flown through this blue tunnel at a fantastic rate.

   On and on he went, faster and faster he flew and still the mystical tunnel stretched on and on before him. Justin really didn’t worry about it though, he reasoned he was going from one side of the country to the other and so even magically, it was going to take him a little while.

   Finally, after an hour, he could feel that he was slowing down a bit. Then a bit more. The world came back into focus. He was standing upright. Everything stopped. He was standing in the center of the Main Hall of the castle. He had arrived.

   He had no idea what time it was or how much time there was until Brian’s tattoo countdown ran out but he had a strong suspicion where to find him.

   So, without hesitation, he ran out of the Hall, down the corridors to the back, into the Yellow room, out into the courtyard and through the gardens shouting at the top of his lungs where he arrived just in time to knock the mirror out of Brian’s stupefied hands.

   Which pretty much brings us up to speed.

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   Justin talked for nearly an hour. Ethan. His mother`s snobbery. His show. The drugging. The trip. Ethan`s greed. His escape. All was revealed. Through it all, Brian just stood there, arms crossed, outwardly stern, not sure what to believe, but at the same time horrified at the events and disgusted at the behaviour of his so called mother.

   “So...there was no New York?”

   “No. Although I did get several offers. But those remain to be seen.”

   “So...there was never another man?”

   “No...”Justin smiled, “There never was another man. There can never be…another man.”

   “Why not?” Brian asked in real confusion.

   “Ahhh! Now we get to the crux of the matter!” Justin stood from the bench where he had been sitting and wrapped himself around Brian’s powerful frame and this time he would not take no for an answer. “There can never be another man because I’m already hopelessly in love with you.”

   “What?” cried Brian, stupefied.

   “When I woke this morning, I knew. I knew I had to get back to you. Get back or die in the attempt. Because I love you. I never wanted to leave in the first place. Beast or handsome, I have to be with you, be loved by you, be fucked by you into oblivion, for all time. And I couldn’t let you die.”

   Justin pulled back his sleeve, checked the tattoo. He gasped. There was a minute left.

   “It seems I must be quick. Brian, I love you. I am in love with you. I know that now. And nothing about you can scare me now.”

   He reached up toward his mask. The snakes hissed and thrashed and tried to strike him.

   “OH, FUCK OFF!!” Justin yelled with authority.

   Instantly, every snake went limp and loose and hung straight down. With one accord, they all fell out, hitting the ground with a chorus of dull thumps. They were dead. Brian was left completely bald.

   Brian was beyond astonished. “You mean, THAT’S all you needed to do to get rid of them!!?” he yelled in supreme surprise.

   Justin just smiled his Mona Lisa smile and reached up and undid Brian’s mask. He took it off him and looked him straight in the face.

   “I love you, Brian. With all my heart, with all my soul, I love you.”

   He kissed him, soft, warm, wet and wonderful.

   Until Brian groaned and deepened the kiss, ravaging his mouth, tongue fucking him in that wonderfully thorough way of his.

   “Oh, Justin! My Beauty, both in and out! I love you too! I love you...” he choked out hoarsely, “I love you.”

   Together, they watched the tattoo, count down: 4...3...2...1...0. The whole line of numbers and the now dead rose vanished from his arm.

   There was a trembling of the Earth an ominous rumbling and then it subsided. The two men held onto each other until it did.

   “We did it!” yelled Justin in triumph, “We did it! We’re just in time!”

   “Maybe. But why don’t I feel any different? Except for the snakes, nothing’s really changed.”

   “Oh who cares!? I love you. I’ll take you anyway you are! Come on! Let`s go! Let`s get out of this terrible place forever!”

   “I can’t!”

   “What do you mean you can’t? Don’t you want to get out of here? Don’t you want to celebrate and fuck me in your big huge bed!?”

   “There’s nothing I’d like more! But Justin, I can’t! Literally. I can’t move my legs!”

   Justin looked down and blanched. He gave a yell of horror.

   Brian’s feet and ankles had turned to stone.

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   “NO! No! No! No!” yelled Justin, panicking, “What’s happening! We love each other! I thought we broke the spell! Why is this happening now!? Why, why, why…..??” he started to chant in helpless horror.

   “I don’t know,” replied Brian simply.

   Brian was veeeerrrrrry slowly turning to stone, the way fire licks its way slowly through a tightly rolled up newspaper, only it never speeded up. It just moved torturously slow up Brian’s legs, transforming warm flesh into cold immovable stone one slow inch at a time. It took two minutes to get to his calves and two more to transform those calves and head for the knees.

   “No. We broke the spell…We love each other! We beat the deadline. We beat it dammit! I can’t let you go! Not now!?”

   “Justin. I don’t understand what’s happening. But don’t waste our time, queening out on me. It doesn’t look like I have much time. Maybe I looked in the mirror….before you…hey you broke a mirror! Seven years bad luck!”

   “First of all, who just had the mother of all queen outs? Second, you still had your mask on. Nothing should have happened. And third…I’ll take them! Every year! Every minute of those seven years of bad luck! As long as I’m with you!” And he hugged Brian crotch to crotch, stomach to stomach, chest to chest and refused to let go for many minutes.

   The stone crept its way slowly up to his knees.

   Brian slowly wrapped his arms around Justin and pulled him in tight. He sniffed in his scent and relished it. He never thought he smell the smell of Sunshine again. His shoulders shook and tears finally began to flow, making Justin’s shoulder damp.

   “I never thought I’d see you again,” he wept. At least I got to see you…one last time. I love you….I love you!”

   “No, Brian! We’ll beat this…Somehow…we’ll beat this.”

   “No. It’s no use Sunshine. I can’t….I can’t feel my legs.”

   The stone had reached his thighs and crept slowly upwards toward his crotch.

   “I guess…I guess we were too late. Or maybe it’s that stupid Guardian’s idea of revenge! Can’t take it that I actually beat his curse and is doing this out of spite! A SORE LOSER!” He yelled into the cosmos.

   There was no reply.

   Brian’s crotch and waist were consumed. There would be no fucking into oblivion. Ever again.

   Brian took a deep breath as he tried to control himself. It was a strange and sobering feeling as one’s pleasure center and reason for living went numb and then cold.

   He forced himself to look at Justin and held Justin’s face between his palms, forcing Justin to look at him as well.

   “Listen to me Justin, are you listening!?”

   “Justin was still crying softly but he nodded.

   “I don’t know how much time I have left, so I better get this out quickly. When I’m gone, get yourself to…”

   “No! No, I’m not going to leave you!” Justin hugged him fiercely.

   “When I’m gone…” Brian continued relentlessly, “Take Abe’s picture. Take Arjax into town. Stay with Beddy until you can get back to Pittsburgh. When you do, find Lindsay again. Tell her…Tell her, it’s my final wish that his name should be Gus. Show her the picture as proof that I gave it to you and this is my wish. Call him Gus. If you can’t get back right away, call Debbie on Beddy’s computer. She’ll…she’ll help you…somehow.” He gasped sharply.

   The stone had consumed his stomach.

   “I’ll get back! I’ll get back as soon as I can, never fear!” Justin said resolutely, his thoughts on his magic box, once more safe in his pocket.

   “That’s my boy! Stay with Debbie when you get there. Get established. Get Molly away from your mother and don’t go back there.”

   “That was my plan,” said Justin grimly.

   “Promise me! Promise me! You won’t stop painting. You won’t stop your art! Promise me!”

   “I promise!” Justin wept.

   Brian started to wheeze. Breathing became difficult. The stone had reached his chest.

   The stone stopped moving so fast upward as it reached his shoulders and then slowly moved down to consume his arms. Brian was left to breathe and wheeze the best he could.

   There were a few moments of quiet as they both watched his arms turn to stone, oh so slowly.

   “I’m so cold,” Brian said.

   Justin had never felt so impotent and helpless in his entire life. “I know,” he said lamely. He hugged Brian and buried his forehead into his stone chest. “I know. Try not to think about it. I’m sure it’ll be over soon.”

   Brian leaned down to kiss the top of the head whose locks were the color of spun gold. “Don’t stop painting!” he warned again.

   “Never!” Justin wept, “And wherever I go, I will always paint many with you! As you are, as you were, as I imagine you to be! I shall never stop!”

   There was a minute or two of contented silence. Suddenly a strange look came over Brian’s face. “You…have to…go!” he wheezed.

   “No, I won’t leave you!” Justin refused adamantly.

   “You don’t…understand! Something’s…wrong! You have to…get out of here! Run!”

   “What’s wrong!?”

   “I don’t know! Something’s wrong….with me! Run!!”

   What do you mean something’s….well, that’s strange! Brian, what the hell is happening to you now!”

   “You…tell me!”

   “You’re feet! They’re glowing! White! Blinding white! And it’s spreading upwards! Brian, what’s happening!?”

   “I don’t know! But whatever…it is…it’s horrible! You have…to get away! You…have…to run!”

   “I don’t care! I’m not leaving you!”

   Brian’s arms changed and fixated. The change moved upward again. His neck.

   “This is it! I can feel it! I love you my Beauty!”

   “I love you, my Beast!”

   “Goodbye Justin!” His chin. “I love you,” said Brian.

`   There was a crackling sound and with a merciful rush the rest of his head turned to stone.

   It was over. Brian was dead.

   Justin pressed a sweet kiss to his stone lips.

   “I know,” he whispered.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   But time and magic and spells and curses are cruel mistresses, especially when they all get together and especially in the case of our heroic Blond Boy.

   The dazzling white light was creeping upward toward Brian’s knees now. It consumed the stone, even as the stone consumed Brian. And Justin had no idea what was going on but at the same time, he hated the light, instinctively and with every fibre of his being. The light was like an icicle; it was bitterly cold and yet would burn your hand with a terrible heat and yet freeze it numb at the same time if you came too near it. It was more than hot or cold. It was pure, concentrated evil.

   After a last, quick kiss to his unfeeling lips, Justin at last left Brian standing in the middle of his garden, surrounded by the ring of 24 golden flowers. He grabbed little Gus’ picture and hightailed it out of there.

   The white light spread up to Brian’s waist.

   Justin ran and ran but the courtyard was vast and he had to constantly zig and zag around flower beds each with its stoned suitor in its center. Progress was slow.

   The light spread upward to his chest and arms.

   In a panic to get away, Just resorted to jumping through the beds, bypassing the playful paths altogether. And still it was not enough.

   The light spread up to Brian’s neck.  His chin. His nose. His head. The light pulsated in a rhythmic way that was terrible to behold.

   Justin was still too far away from the house. He knew he’d never make it before....IT...happened, whatever IT was.

   Dashing over to one quickly, Justin kicked over one of those friendly, white benches that would have been a delight to sit upon and enjoy the mixed up fragrances of the garden. Now however, this was an emergency. Justin leapt behind it and used it as a makeshift barrier and shelter to hide. He peeked over it with wide eyes to see what would happen.

   The thing that had been Brian was now nothing more than a pillar of cold white light. The light grew brighter. It started giving off shockwaves of energy in spits and farts.

   The light grew brighter. It became dazzling and too bright to look at. Justin shielded his eyes.

   There was a particularly strong fart of energy and then an ominous pause. Justin ducked.

   BBBOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!

   Brian exploded.

   The statue that he had become was obliterated into pieces no bigger than a pebble. An enormous and powerful blue shockwave radiated out in all directions from the explosion. Everything it touched was destroyed. Every statue, every bench it touched blew apart into pieces no bigger than a playing card. And it came closer and closer to Justin.

   Justin knew there was nothing he could do to escape it. He watched it for a few seconds watched the statues being blown apart and then ducked behind and pressed himself against his barricade as tight as he could. He closed his eyes and waited for the end.

   The shockwave reached him and covered him.

   His bench was obliterated. The glass in the framed picture his held tightly to his chest smashed with a spiderweb of cracks. Justin himself was rolled several feet before hitting an obstruction.

   The wind was knocked out of him. He sucked in a huge breath at last but the shockwave was still consuming him, pressing in on him.

   He passed out.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 17

The Wards are Released

   Justin groaned and rolled over. He tried to sit up and ignore the wave of dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him. He felt like he'd been stepped on by an elephant.

   "Oh come now, young man! It wasn't as bad as all that," said a deep voice behind and a little to one side of him.

   Justin whirled and then wished he hadn't. He fought off a wave of nausea.

   A muscular blond man, with strong, classical features stood there. He had green eyes and nice white teeth. He wore loafers, leather pants, and a white tee shirt that form fitted to his huge biceps nicely. Everything he wore was white.

   "What are you talking about?" Justin asked grumpily, "Who are you?"

   "Being stepped on by elephants....really! You young men are so given over to exaggeration!" The man gave a laugh that was as rich and deep as chocolate.

   "How did you know what I was thinking? Who are you anyway?"

   The man chose to overlook the first question. "I'm what you'd call...I guess you'd call me a kind of Guardi...no...even that's too complicated...Guard...Gord...yes that will do...Why don't you just call me Gordie?" Gordie reached down to help him up.

   Justin hated to do it but he still felt like he'd taken 10 rides on the Tilt o'Whirl all in a row. So he reached up and let Gordie pull him up.

   Gordie's hard was large and strong and he pulled Justin against him, Justin's back against his wide front. It could have meant more but somehow, Justin knew it didn't. He gave a deep sigh of contentment. He felt...exactly the opposite of how he'd felt with Ethan, all 2 weeks of it. Then he'd felt frightened, hateful, angry and alone all the time. But here within Gordie's embrace, he felt loved, protected and safe. He could almost feel happy. Almost.

   "Just relax," Gordie whispered into his ear, "Your equilibrium will return to normal in due time. Until then, you are safe with me."

   "I know," Justin said, and instinctively he knew it to be true, "Where am I? How long was I out?"

   "Only for a few minutes. And you are where you have been for many months now. You are at the back the mansion you were sharing with Brian. Although you may not recognize it now that the spell is broken."

   Justin shook the rest of the cobwebs out and looked around, really looked around. He gasped.

   He was seemingly in a completely different place. And yet...there were similarities as well.

   Behind him (them) was indeed a large mansion but it was a different mansion than before. It was still larger than life but it was a normal, cheerful mansion with a lot of bright, cheery looking wood, white and red brick and otherwise modern looking; Justin figured Tudor style. The black stone and gothic scariness and gargoyles were gone. Although cheerier, the house had a forlorn air to it, as if it had not been lived in for many years.

   They were at the back of the house in a kind of large patio that was surrounded by the house on three sides of them but the back of the yard was open and visible as the unkempt grounds seemed to stretch on forever. The patio was paved with large, white flagstones. Weeds were plentiful in the cracks. The statues were gone. The flowerbeds and plants and all the gardens were gone. It was just the wide open space of the three sided court.

   Filling the patio space and surrounding them on all sides were hundreds maybe thousands of balls of light, yellow and friendly, each one the size of a golf ball. They pulsed and twinkled like stars. They drifted and rose and fell and bounced off each other but none of them really made it out of the yard.

   "The spell! It was broken!? But I don't understand! If it was broken, why did....oh God! Why did Brian die!? He exploded and was destroyed! And...and...how do you know about it anyway!?"

   "I know about it...because I'm the one who placed it there," Gordie said.

   "YOU!! YOU'RE the Guardian Fairy Brian told me about?" Justin asked in astonishment.

   Gordie nodded modestly. "Yes. And Brian didn't die. His cursed self did. The Beast....the part of him that he let consume him for so long...the Medusa curse...that's what blew up. As for the explosion...well every spell breaks differently for every person. Brian is so dominant...so over the top, so headstrong...I'm surprised that's all that happened. I told him that his outside would match his inside. Since he's no longer ugly anywhere, the Beastly body was destroyed. And due to that over the top personality..." Gordie shrugged, "Well, you saw what happened."

   "But then...where is he? I - I have to find him!" Justin strained against Gordie's hold and Gordie released him instantly. However, dizziness overcame him and he nearly fell again within a few steps. Gordie caught him easily and stood him upright.

   "Easy! Easy! All in good time! All in good time! You will recover soon. In the meantime, I'll show you something wonderful. Do you see those lights?"

   "Of course. What are they?"

   Each one is the soul that was trapped and transformed within the stare of the Medusa for the sake of trying to break the curse. While they cannot be returned to the life that they knew, each soul can be returned to their birth time and enter in a new life, a new birth, a new reincarnation for a second chance."

   "Wait! What about the ones in the meadow!? The ones that tried to hurt me and Brian?"

   "No! They were transformed intentionally to pay for their evil. They will never be found and never be free of the curse."

   Justin breathed a sigh of relief and returned his gaze to the lights around him. "But there are so many..." Justin whispered as he looked around at the seemingly endless quantity of soul lights.

   "True. And each one will need a guardian to watch over him for that new life. But it is too much for one fairy spirit to do. And I have my own charges. I cannot do this thing." Here he gave Justin an exaggerated wink. "Oh my! If only there were some others to help me!" he continued in an projected voice, "Maybe...maybe some newly liberated spirits with pure hearts and who are fearless in the face of hard work!"

   There was a whooshing of wind and then another and another...and then one more. And with each breath of wind a streak of light zoomed past and around and down and then landed in front of them. And Justin was face to face with the Wards in their true forms for the first time.

   They were huge, as buff as any bouncer and twice as tall. They were in the form of men, much the way they had been in the meadow standing before Brian. But instead of inky black, they were now men made out of the purest, most wonderful, white light. It was different than the light that had consumed Brian. Where that light had been cold and cruel and made of consuming evil, this light was glowing and warm and filled with a righteous holiness.

   "Master! I and my brothers do not fear work!" intoned the one on the very left. He along with the others stood very straight and to attention. He bowed and then as if he couldn't stand it any longer, he gave Justin a quick wave. "Hi Sweetie!" he enthused, in a deep, majestic voice.

   The one next to him gave a quick slap on his arm and the Ward straightened up and got back into line.

   Justin's eyes widened. "Emmett!??" he asked incredulously.

   Gordie nodded assent and all the Wards relaxed visibly. Emmet swished over with the speed of thought and Justin was caught up and enfolded in the bright hug of pure energy. Emmett blasted into the air like a rocket and Justin was taken of a wonderful ride up and around the estate, engulfed in light and love.

   "Yup! It`s me!" the strongman of light enthused again in his deep voice "Of course, I don't really have a name. This is what I really look like. When we served you, our light was gone and we were black as pitch. However, now that the spell is broken, our light can finally burn bright! Wheeeeeeee!!! I just knew you'd do it! I just knew it!"

   "Yes, but if I broke the spell, then WHERE'S BRIAN!??" Justin had to yell over the repeated WHHHHEEEEEE's!!!...that Emmett was making as they swooshed crazily around.

   "Oh, I dunno honey! Don't worry, I'm sure he's around some - ooops, I'm getting word from the Boss. We gotta go back now!" There was a final rush and the world blurred even more than it was and then the ride was over and they were back on the ruined patio area.

   Gordie took possession of him once again, enfolding him into his safe, strong arms.

   "Brothers," Gordie said, "You do not have to do this thing. You have been set free. Neither I, nor any man is your master any longer and you may help me with this thing or go wherever you wish. But it is my supreme hope that you will."

   "I am the one who cleaned and carried. I am no stranger to hard work," said the one who had been Emmett, "But I cannot take them all. I will take one fourth of them and care for them in a way that will make the Power proud."

   "Thank you. So be it," said Gordie.

   "Farewell, little ma - farewell Justin," Emmett said as he rushed forward and hugged him. Justin revelled in it. He was so warm. "We shall not meet again, so I leave you a gift. I give you the gift of beauty. True beauty you already have but now...now you shall be radiant. Anyone who looks upon you shall feel joy and have 1 hour of the best luck they have ever known in their lives. As you grow older, you shall age like a fine wine and never wrinkle. And you and a person of your choice, shall share in this gift and shall have double lifespan. And now unto forever, whenever anyone thinks on you they will remember you most as you are now, young and beautiful. Farewell!"

   "Good-bye, Emmett! Thank you so much! I'll miss you!" Justin choked.

   Emmett rose into the air, swooshed once around the court and then disappeared taking one fourth of the lights with him.

   The next Ward stepped forward and said: "I am the one who fetched and took away. I am the one you knew as Ted. Before my punishment, I was adrift, aimless and without a charge of my own. I should very much like to help you. I will take one fourth of the souls and raise them well."

   "So be it. Thank you, Ted," Gordie said.

   "Good bye Justin," said Ted. He moved forward and shook his hand in a more sedate way. "I too have a gift. I give you the gift of truth and justice. If anyone in your presence tells a lie, you will know who is telling it and what the truth is. And if anyone has done a wrong, and I mean a real wrong like a broken law or a terrible moral misdeed, they will confess the truth as you stand before them."

   "Thank you so much! That will be amazing!" Justin said.

   The Ward bowed and took off. Once round the court and he vanished taking one fourth of the lights with him.

   The third Ward said; I am the one who showed the way. I am the one you knew as Michael. My job was a light burden so I do not mind the thought of more responsibility. I will take one fourth. I will make you and the Power proud."

   "So be it. Thank you, Michael," said Gordie.

   "The Ward moved forward and shook Justin's hand "Good-bye Justin. My gift to you is prosperity. Whatever you choose to do, you will succeed. Whatever you touch financially will turn to gold...metaphorically speaking, of course. The seven years of bad luck you joked about with Brian will never happen and in fact will be forever reversed. Good luck and fortune shall be yours forever. Farewell!"

   "Thank you! That sounds wonderful. But where is..."

   But the Ward was already rising into the air. Whooshing once around the court, he and a fourth of the lights disappeared.

   The last Ward stood before them but he was silent for a minute.

   "Speak your mind," Gordie said, "I sense you are troubled."

   "Yes Sir," the Ward said in that deep voice that they shared, "The task you have challenged us with is indeed a noble one but..."

   "But what?"

   "Is it truly as you said?" the Ward questioned, "Am I truly free to decide on my own? Am I my own Master? Do I truly not have to do this thing?"

   "Everything you have said, is so," answered Gordie, "You are free."

   "I am the one who cooked and served up the food. My job was the hardest and most taxing and frequent. Three times a day, every day, sometimes more if they wanted snacks. I did my job, served my time and I did not complain. But now, what I most desire is rest, and the freedom to wander and travel and help those in need that I want to help. I do not want this task."

   "Very well. Go in peace. I will take on the remaining fourth."

   "Thank you Sir!" the gratefulness resonated through both of their souls. He rushed over and hugged Justin. "Even though, I most desire rest, it was a pleasure serving you, Justin. I have a gift for you too, if you will take it. I must touch you though."

   "What is it?" asked Justin a little apprehensively.

   "I will give you the gift of male pregnancy. It will not affect your masculinity. If you accept, you will conceive your first child within a year and give birth in due time. Although your first child.... will not be your last. Do you accept my gift?"

   "That sounds.... amazing! Incredible! My own child! Yes! Yes, I will accept!"

   The Ward's light glowed brighter for a moment and Justin could sense that he was smiling. "I must touch you now," he warned again, "This will just be for a moment." The Ward's glowing hand moved down and touched Justin on his crotch, just below his balls.

   Justin gasped. There was a flash of pure pleasure, like an intense, dry orgasm. And then it was done.

   "You now have an extra opening just under your male genitalia," said the Ward, "Those who would not understand would call you a hermaphrodite. But that is not the case. The hole is too small, too tight for penetration. Do not attempt sex there. But it does lead to a small chamber, a womb that will only expand when your child is inside and growing. The hole will then expand and expel the child when the time is right. Otherwise have sex as you normally would as a gay bottom and your prophesied child will come at the due time."

   "I understand. Thank you," said Justin.

   "Your welcome. Farewell." The Ward rose straight up and flew off in a streak of light.

   "Are you feeling better?" asked Gordie.

   "Yes, thank you," said Justin whose dizziness and sick feeling had faded considerably.

   Gordie released him. "Then I must be on my way. I have a lot of work to do now. But you can tell Brian, I'll be watching. I'll be watching you both now."

   "But where is he? Where's Brian!"

   The Guardian began to glow a dazzling white and he rose up into the air. The rest of the lights followed him, much as the children must have followed the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

   "I'll be watching...." he called.

   "Where is he!!? Where's..."

   "Farewell, Justin! Be happy in your new life!" He was so high he was a ball of light the size of the sun. The souls of men surrounded him like shining stars.

   "I will...But where's..."

   "Use your gifts wisely!" He was a star of light.

   I WILL!!! But WHERE'S BRIAN!!?"

   There was a blinding flash of white light. And then he was alone. The Guardian and the rest of the lights of the souls of men disappeared.

   He was alone.

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 18

Where's Brian??

   Justin was left alone on the abandoned and now forlorn patio. A cold wind swept through and he shivered. He realized he was in a pair of jeans, sneakers, and his pale blue sweater. The same clothes he had arrived in. His nice Armani suit (albeit wrinkled and soiled from the kidnapping) was gone, vanished like a dream. He checked and was relieved to find everything that had been in his pockets were still there though. At least he would want for nothing.

   Almost nothing. The gifts that the Wards had bestowed upon him were truly wonderful but they could not fulfill his true desire, answer the one question that burned like fire with his chest.

   Where was Brian?

   Perhaps...perhaps he truly was nowhere. A tear ran down his cheek and he hugged Gus' still cracked picture to his chest. At least...at least his pain was over now. He wasn't a monster. He wasn't a statue. Perhaps he had been one of those soul lights. One never knew. There were so many. If so, that meant, he was being born anew He would have a new chance, a new start, with new parents, hopefully better parents than the ones he had told him about.

   The cold wind swept through the open court again, a little stronger than before. It was a dead wind, an autumn wind, and it chilled him.

   He turned to go inside. The French doors that faced him were simpler than the ones he were used to and the elevated patio with the steps were gone. He went in.

   The inside of the house was grand but again, Justin could tell it was different. Solemn and silent, the house waited for him. And empty. Like really empty. The room he was in was unfurnished, uncarpeted, and huge, the floor shiny with clean and bright hardwood flooring.

   Justin went through from room to room and found the same thing. Empty and unfurnished rooms but clean, like it was ripe for moving in. In addition, Justin could tell that it was large but more modernly thought out. The castle had been vast, mazelike and with connecting passages and interconnecting rooms. Now it was more thought out and Justin could tell which room was which as he travelled along and easily found his way to the front hall. Kitchen. That would have been a games room. A study or library with walls lined with empty bookshelves. Dining room. Huge living area with fireplace. Front hall.

   At the door stood the two suitcases he had brought, waiting for him. On top of one sat the cell phone Brian had given him. Justin was sure Ethan had confiscated it along with everything else but now that the spell was broken, it had been returned as well; at least that's the only explanation Justin could come up with.

   Justin went over to it. He put Gus' picture down on the suitcases and picked up the phone.. He looked at it sorrowfully. It blurred and a tear splashed down onto the display screen. The twin was destroyed and Brian would never call him again, never yell at him for being lost, never ensnare him in a lasso, never hold him tight, never fuck him into...

   The phone rang.

   Justin was so startled, he threw the phone a little and had to grab, one...two...three times as it slid out of his sweaty fingers before he finally caught it again. He saw by the display screen that it was: BRIAN CALLING. His eyes widened in shock.

   He opened the phone and answered: "Hello?"

   "Hi Sunshine, it's me! Aren't you coming? Hurry up!"

   "Brian!! Is that you? Where are you? Are you at the house?"

   "Of course I'm at the house! Where else would I be? Hurry up!" He hung up.

   Justin ran through the whole downstairs of the house, but he couldn't find Brian. He ran out the back and passed a tennis court with a ripped and disused net, broken fence and cracked and broken paving. He ran past and saw the stables. He gasped.

   The stables looked a hundred years old. The walls were greyed and weather-beaten and the roof was all tilty and caved in, in a few places. There was no horse. Arjax was gone.

   The phone rang.

   "Sunshine, where are you! I'm waiting for you!"

   "I'm at the stable. It's a wreck. What happened?"

   "I'm not at the stables. Hurry up!"

   "But Brian, where are you?? Are you in the basement?"

   But Brian had hung up.

   Justin rushed back to the house. He found the stairs in the corner of the kitchen. He carefully made his way down to a vast, dark and spooky basement.

   "Brian! Brian are you down here?"

   Justin found a huge and old flashlight covered in cobwebs near the bottom of the stairs. Thankfully, it worked. Justin made his way deeper and deeper into the spooky basement.

   Brian! Brian! Where are you? Are you down here?"

   The basement was vast. Justin swept the light from side to side but aimed straight out it could not find the other side.

   Justin slowly made his way deeper and deeper into the basement. The basement was filled with all kinds of junk, furniture, boxes, knick knacks, toys. Spilled book, clothes, wirehangers and all manner of other junk were arranged in piles. Justin went deeper and deeper into the dark.

   There was a growl.

   Justin swung the flashlight over. He couldn't see anything. Deeper and deeper into the dark and scary basement went our courageous boy.

   There was a snarl.

   "Who's there!!? Who is it? I heard that! I heard you! Who is it!!?"

   There was silence.

   Deeper and deeper into the dark and scary basement went Justin step by terrifying step. It was inky black and scary as hell. He moved the flashlight in jerky, terrified movements trying not to freak out.

   Brian! Brian! Are you down here!? WHERE ARE YOU!!?"

   There was a huge snarling roar and a huge shadow jumped out of the dark off to the side. Justin screamed but it was no use as a huge hairy monster with lots of fangs leapt straight toward our Boy and....

PSYCHE!

OK! OK! If you haven't figured it out by now, I AM purposely dragging this out and totally f**cking with you. There's no monster and no scary basement. Let's back up and get this party started. Moving on....

   Justin reached the bottom of the basement stairs when his phone rang.

   "Sunshine! Where are you? Let's go!"

   "Where am I? I'm looking all over for you! Are you really down here?"

   "Down where?"

   "In the basement!"

   "What the fuck would I be doing in the basement?"

   "Brian! WHERE....THE...FUCK....ARE...YOU!!!!??"

   "You're a silly twat, aren't you? Well, don't get your panties in a twist, princess! I'm outside in the driveway by this sleek, black, Corvette convertible! Now, come on out and let's blow this Popsicle stand!" he hung up.

   And so, Justin did NOT go into the dark and scary basement. Instead, he ran back up the stairs, back through the house and threw open the front door. He ran outside.

   There was a large but different circular driveway. In the center was an empty flowerbed with a white statue of an angel in it. In the driveway was the black Corvette. Sitting in the driver's seat, facing away from him was....someone.

   Justin stopped short. He suddenly felt shy and he didn't know why.

   Hearing the door open, the man glanced over, and smiled as he saw him. He reached over, got something out of the seat next to him and then got out of the car. He turned around.

   Justin gasped. Who was that?? Where was Brian?

   The man getting out of the car was tall and broad shouldered and muscular as Brian had been when he had shown up on his birthday. He was dressed to kill in a black Armani suit with a maroon tie. His hair was thick and dark brown and he had wide eyes, a roman nose, beautiful features and a cleft in his chin. His skin was unblemished and a wide full mouth, made for kissing. In short, perfect.

   Justin stood stock still in the middle of the drive, drinking in the man's beauty as a deer drinks from the stream. He could see the heat of desire from the stranger's eyes and it made him uncomfortable. At the same time, he couldn't stop looking.

   The man walked slowly over to him, a shy smile on his lips. He carried a bouquet of 24 golden flowers in his arms.

   Justin waited for him, looked around him while he waited, looked back at the man. The estate was largely the same as he remembered but it was still overgrown, yellow and fallow. The whole place has a disused, abandoned air to it. Justin could easily imagine that he and the man were the only ones here in the drive, the house, and indeed, the entire area. So....where was Brian?

   The man stood before him. He held out the golden flowers.

   "Hello Sunshine. These are for you. I know what they are now. They're golden gardenias. There's a legend that says if two people smell them together, they'll be in love forever."

   "Thank you. But if it's all the same to you, if that's true that is, I'd rather smell them with my boyfriend. He's supposed to be out here. Have you seen him? His name's Brian."

   "Justin, you twat! It's me! I'm Brian!"

   Justin stepped back, in shock. "What! Brian!!? Really??? But you're so....so...."

   "Wonderful? Perfect? Sexy? Gorgeous? Yes, I know."

   "Hmmmm, modest too, I see. I meant...so...different. But if it is you, where are your scars? Your tattoos? Where's that exposed tendon?"

   "All gone. Justin, all that was part of the spell. It's me, Brian!"

   Justin looked up sceptically and looked carefully into the man's face. Brian looked down at him with a mixture of amusement, exasperation and love.

   And then he saw it. Justin was gazing into the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes that were flecked with gold.

   "It is you!" he whispered, "There you are, Brian."

   Brian chuckled. "That's what I kept telling you," he said. He hooked one hand around Justin's neck and pulled him in and Justin sighed and willingly complied as Brian pulled him in for a deep kiss.

   Their lips locked, they're tongues battled and then Justin let Brian win and sucked at that Beam softened tongue like his life depended on it. Brian's mouth closed over his in a tight seal. Between the two men the golden gardenia were wedged and both men breathed in the honeyed perfume together. It was intoxicating.

   And then there was a gust of wind that rippled through them and out from them. This wind was warm like spring and not that cold wind from the patio. It was a pulse of pure and true love radiating out from them. Justin's eyes popped open and he gasped in pleasure. Then he gasped in surprise and he pulled away with a "Pop!"

   "Look, Brian, look!" Justin yelled.

   The warm wind, the pulse of pure love radiated out from them the way a stone ripples a pond. And everywhere that it touched, everything changed.

   The center flowerbed was no longer empty but filled with peonies, all colors. The statue was restored like new.

   The wind radiated further. All the fallow ground and yellow grass disappeared and was replaced with emerald green. The grass was new and bright and freshly mown. Fruit trees and bushes appeared out of nowhere and dotted the huge front estate. The yard was completely restored.

   At the edge of the property a high, stone wall appeared, marking the estate. It was going to be a very large estate. Wrought iron gates appeared at the end of the drive.

   The wind reached the house. There was a rumbling.

   The two men grabbed each other held on. Whatever was going to happen, they weren't going to lose hold of each other again.

   The house was completely restored. Not only did it lose that disused air it became like brand new. And not only that, but it began to expand and change. The very bricks and wooden features began to grow and multiply. Brick grew from brick; the roof was pushed higher. The house grew wider and wider. Then taller again. Towers and turrets popped out. White angel drainspouts grew out of nothing. Windows folded outward into existence like opening shutters. Four stories grew into eight, eight into ten. Near the back, which was a long way off, a tall tower made out of white stone slowly twisted its way up into existence.

   The rumbling stopped. The two men stood there, flabbergasted, astounded and wide-eyed. They simply could not take it all in. They couldn't look at it hard enough.

   They were now standing on a very wide driveway in the middle of a restored, green front lawn that went on forever. Apple and peach and pear trees dotted the estate. There were topiary lions and rabbits and other animals including one gorilla. Rose bushes were plentiful. The house was now a bright and shining castle. A real honest to goodness castle with turrets and towers made of white and red brick and red rooves. The drainspouts were all angels holding pouring flasks. It was a singularly beautiful place that exuded an air of wealth and power yet benevolence.

   After about 5 minutes of dumbfounded goggling, Brian turned to Justin and gurgled, "Is this...Is this for us? Do you suppose...Do we dare?"

   Justin looked up at him with sweet eyes and said, ‘Do you still want to blow this Popsicle stand?"

   Brian leered at him. "Well, now that you mention it, there is something I'd like to...blow!"

   Justin leered at him back and then took two steps casually away. Then he bolted.

   Brian gave chase. Laughing and shrieking in pure unadulterated joy, they ran up to the huge doors of their new castle. On the way, Justin purposely slowed down and let Brian catch him and kiss him witless before they got there.

   What? He only did it, like, five or six times.

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   Inside, Justin's bags were still by the door. But once again, everything had changed.

   There was a huge front hall in checkerboard black and white flagstones. An enormous staircase carpeted in red rose up before them and then branched off to the left and right. There were hallways up there, lined with doors.

   Before they did anything, Justin went to his bags and got Gus' photo. To his joy, he saw that the glass had been completely restored. He gave it back to Brian who was also filled with joy at seeing the baby's picture again. He vowed that soon, he'd have a new, updated picture soon and many of them.

   Then they took off to explore.

   To the right and to the left was each a pair of white double doors. To the right and to the left of the staircase was each a long hall leading deeper into the castle.

   The right hand doors led to a vast ballroom with floor to ceiling windows that were rounded at the top. The ceiling was two stories high and there were 12 chandeliers in there. The walls were bright and white and the whole place was filled with light and love.

   The left hand room was a receiving room. It was a throne room as was evident by the two huge gold, jewel-encrusted thrones on a dais at the end of the room. It was a somber room.

   "Oh Brian, I know the...well whatever made this place meant well, but I don't want to be a king! Not a real one anyway. And I can't imagine being in authority over Beddy and the rest of the villagers!"

   "Not to worry love! We'll re-decorate!"

   And with that simple plan made, they closed the door on that room and ran down the hall on the right. There they found:

   A vast banquet hall, seating at least 100.

   A library, filled with books.

   A book lined study with leather chairs, a fireplace, and an oaken desk. A computer was on the desk.

   And at the end of the hall a vast living area, with fancy seating, desks, plenty of squooshy armchairs, an entertainment center, and a HUGE fireplace with a bearskin rug in front of it.

   "OK, exploring party is postponed!" declared Brian, scooping up Justin and striding over to the rug. "If I don't get my hands on that hot little heinie, I'm going to blow!"

   "I thought that's what you were going to do anyway," said Justin cheekily.

   "Ahh too true, my love, too true," growled Brian deep in his throat.

   Clothes went flying and soon the two men were naked. The lay back on the rug and kissed languorously. Then Brian worked his way down Justin's body until he reached Justin's member that had been throbbing and leaking precum ever since he had recognized Brian out at the car. He took him into his mouth and began a most artful blowjob that had Justin moaning and then sobbing with desire. And...just when he had Justin...on the edge...he stopped and licked the sweat off his torso, all the way back up again. He kissed him soundly. They looked deep into each other's eyes. Justin's were hooded with lust and desire.

   "My God! You're even more beautiful that I remembered...I mean since...My God that seems like forever...but it couldn't have been that long...it's like.... your eyes are glowing...radiating love, peace...it's amazing!" managed Brian.

   "Oh that! Well, I'll explain later. Right now...I need you inside me...now!"

   "Oh God! I want that too...I'm just not sure...protection!" gasped Brian.

   "Brian!! I need you more...than I can imagine...If you love me...you will check! NOWWWW!!!!!"

   "Well! Aren't you the little bossy bottom! Be right back, lover!"

   Brian jumped on his clothes and turned them all inside out, checking. Then, at last, a miracle! The Wards, or his Guardian, or someone else was on his side, because in the last pocket he checked, was a single condom and a small bottle of lube.

   Brian smirked. Even coming back from the cursed and the dead, Brian Fucking Kinney was always prepared.

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SMUT ALERT!!!     SMUT ALERT!!!       SMUT ALERT!!!

   Brian rolled on the condom and lubed it up. Then he did the same thing to Justin who was ripe and ready in the doggie position.

   But Brian roughly flipped him over onto his back and kissed the daylights out of him. He fingered him more, scissoring him with two fingers, until he felt Justin relax and be ready for him.

   "I want you this way," he said, his voice rough with want and need, "I want to look at you when I join with you the first time back. Those incredible eyes..."

   "Oh, yes! OH GOD YES!!" screamed Justin wantonly.

   Brian touched down and eased inside. He waited until Justin's gasp at the initial pain was past and then moved it further. He rocked forward and back, slowly, torturously, entering deeper by the inch with each stroke. With the same speed, he jerked Justin off. Justin was holding onto Brian's huge body for the ride of his life. He bucked wildly, trying to coax and then force Brian deeper but Brian was not to be rushed. He refused to let Justin control the movements and kept up his slow descent down his hole despite the wave after wave of pure pleasure with each small movement that threatened to make him blow his load right there and then.

   "Oh God, Brian, that feels so good!! It's just...mmphh....ohhh!" he made sounds of discomfort in the back of his throat.

   "Am I hurting you?" Brian asked in concern.

   "No....ohhh....not exactly...it's just...mmmmm....we're not exactly in the right position, you know? Just let me lift up...and hike you up this way...and...."

   Justin lifted his hips and lifted Brian's huge calves with superhuman, lust driven strength. Justin moved up and Brian slid down and...shhhtock!...Brian slid into Justin's sweet ass up to the hilt.

   Brian gasped at the sensation, his eyes wide.

   Justin sighed in sublime and supreme satisfaction. "Ahhhhh!!! That's better!"

   "Why, you little sneaky trickster! You were faking that whole time! You weren't in pain! You just wanted my dick up your ass!"

   "Gilll-teee!" Justin admitted unrepentantly, "And now....I want you to move! NOW! Hard and fast!"

   "My goodness...You really are the bossy little bot..."

   "NOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!!!" howled Justin in a tone that brooked no argument.

   And so Brian moved all the way out and then slammed all the way in. Justin screamed in pleasure. Brian did it again. And again. And again. Hard. And then faster. And faster. And faster.

   "Oh Gawwwwwwdd!! Don't stop! Oh....myyyy .....Gawwwwwwd!!"

   Brian went faster and harder. He could feel that he was hitting Justin's prostate every time. He felt so tight, so warm, so good. He went faster and still it seemed like nothing.

   Justin was screaming and yelling in pleasure. He thrashed his head back and forth and he bucked wildly, meeting Brian, stroke for stroke of ecstasy.

   "Oh YES! Oh YES! Fuck me! Fuck me! Oh my Beast turned Beauty! Fuck me like the first time!!"

   And Brian did. He drilled his blond faster and faster and suddenly he was a blur, he was going so fast and yet, he felt like each and every stroke was perfectly controlled. He shouted in a perfect joy.

   Justin joined him in a yell and keening scream that probably could have been heard throughout that entire huge castle.

   "I'm cumming! FUCK! Don't stop Brian! Fuck! FUCK! FUCK!!!!!" He screamed, long and loud and clear.

   And he came in a gush, coating his stomach and chest. He spasmed wildly.

   And then Brian, who had been holding back for a long time anyway, came himself, with a great yell, filling the condom, this beautiful sight sending him over the edge, unravelling his control as if it had never been.

   He pressed them together, chest to chest, still inside him and kissed Justin witless. Justin kissed back and they rolled over and over on the rug, joined as one, body, mind, and soul.

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   Eventually, they cooled.

   Brian slid out of Justin's ass and he tied up the condom and threw it in a wastebasket. They lay there beside each other on their backs, heaving, both of their chests sticky from Justin`s cum. They looked over at each other and grinned. Their hands found each other and their fingers entwined.

   "I love you," they said in unison. They smiled.

   "But don't ever leave me again," they said, again, in unison.

   "Never," they said.

   Then Justin looked deep into Brian's eyes and asked: "Do you mean it? Will you stay with me forever? And you won't send me away again?"

   Brian looked back into those now in-fucking-credible!...eyes and answered: "No. Oh, Justin, I'm so sorry! Sorry for what you went through. I didn't know it would end in such a disaster. I sent you away because I saw the incredible talent you had and yet I was holding you prisoner...like a fucking canary in a cage! I - I just couldn't do it anymore!"

   "And yet I ended up a prisoner anyway. Perhaps that is my destiny. If that is so, then I'd rather be your prisoner, locked within your arms forevermore."

   Brian rolled his eyes. "Oh geez! Still the ever over sentimental Princess Twat, aren't you! You aren't anybody's prisoner! You're free, Justin! Free! And if you want to stay with me, it's by your choice. If you want to travel and paint, or go to New York, or...or...whatever, then you can go do that as well. I...I won't stop you."

   "Before...he took me...my show did very well. As I said, I had several offers to do shows in New York. I may need to go...from time to time."

   "I see."

   "Oh, you do not see, you silly man! If I go...when I go...you must always go with me!"

   And now Brian's smile was like sunshine. "Oh, yes! To stay with you forever! Now that is MY destiny! You're my drug, Justin, and I'm hopelessly addicted!"

   Justin rolled his eyes. Now who was being the sentimental one? But he wisely didn't say anything.

   Instead, he asked again: "Are you sure? Will you stay with me for always? That could be...I mean...We would be together...for quite some time."

   Brian looked over. "What do you mean, Justin?"

   Justin smiled. After you exploded, the Wards were freed from their bondage. Before they left, they each gave me a gift. The first one..."

   And so, Justin told Brian about the Wards' first gift. He included the fact that he now had double lifespan and the ability to pass the gift on...to just one other.

   "That is why I ask you seriously, Brian. Consider carefully. The life you choose with me will be doubly long...and I'm a jealous, jealous man, Brian. No more tricking...and I will never let you go."

   "Then it seems I am your prisoner as well!" Brian said joyfully, "For I never want you to let me go! And if you give that gift to another man, I will be most upset! No more tricking! I'm yours," he finished seriously.

   "Oh yes! Then it's you! I choose you! I share my gift of Beauty with you, forevermore!" Justin kissed him passionately and both men could feel the gift pass between them and become a part of Brian as well.

   "I love you." said Brian seriously, "But now...I'd really love a shower as well! Do you suppose this place has a bathroom?"

   "God, I hope so!" answered Justin. They both got up, naked and messy and hunted around. They found a short hall at the opposite end of the living room as they had come in and at the end of this hall was a door. Inside was a bathroom that was fully big and golden as Justin's apartment bathroom. In time, they would discover that every bathroom was as big as this one. It had a Jacuzzi and a walk in shower with glass walls and was fully stocked.

   They took a shower which of course, ended up with Brian fucking Justin into the glass wall of the shower. Fortunately, there was a small crevice in the wall stocked with condoms.

   Then they returned to the main room where they dressed and cuddled on a sofa.

   "So...what are we going to do now?" asked Brian, "What are we going to do with this castle!? I mean, it's fantastic having it all to ourselves but that's going to get old real quick and then I'd just feel selfish with it just being you and me, rattling around in this place like two peas in a can. A really BIG can!" he added.

   "Oh...don't worry about that! I have some ideas that we can discuss later. First, I think we should return to Pittsburgh and wrap up loose ends there before starting our new life."

   "What sort of loose ends?"

   Well, first thing that comes to my mind is my mother," Justin declared grimly, "Not to mention, Molly. I can't leave her with her after what I know she did. Then we can visit Gus...and invite him out...maybe even the muncher mommies as well. I'd love to meet Debbie in person. Then there was something about your loft and Michael too, if I remember."

   "Oh, he can have it," said Brian dismissively, "I kept it around as a fuckpad but that part of me...is gone. Burned away in whatever was left in me before the explosion. Everything in there was being unused anyway, like a big, impersonal museum."

   "The explosion! Oh my God! How could I have forgotten! Brian, I saw you turn to stone! I saw you explode!"

   "Yes," said Brian agreeably. He smiled winsomely and his flawless face was fantastic to voyeur. He began to nuzzle Justin's neck.

   Justin gasped in pleasure but kept going. Geez! Didn't this guy ever get enough?

   "But then...ohhhhh God.....but then how are you here!? What happened to you? How did you get to the front drive?" Justin grabbed his face and held his cheeks in his palms and looked deep within his eyes. The gold flecks were moving now, twinkling like the stars in the sky. "Brian, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!!!??"

TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 19

The New Castle

Last time on Beauty and the Beast:

   "But then...ohhhhh God.....but then how are you here!? What happened to you? How did you get to the front drive?" Justin grabbed his face and held his cheeks in his palms and looked deep within his eyes. The gold flecks were moving now, twinkling like the stars in the sky. "Brian, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!!!??"

And now:

   Brian took hold of Justin's wrists in his own meaty hands and then gently pried them away from his face. He slid his hands up to take hold of his lover's palms and with his thumbs began to lightly and rhythmically stroke them. This caused Justin to quickly turn to mush.

   "Ever the princess aren't you! Now will you please take your panties out of the twist you seem to have them perpetually in or I'll have to lock you in that tower out the back! So! Are you ready!? Good! Then listen to me and I shall tell you."

   Somehow, Justin found that he had been manoeuvred into lying back against Brian's huge musclebound chest. And if this position weren't erotic enough, Brian's arms came around on either side to encircle him and his hands began to lazily flick and play with his nipples. This caused gentle waves of pleasure to thrum back and forth through his body and any coherent thought flew right out the window. He collapsed back against that burly chest and lay there in a haze as Brian told him the following story.

    "When I was turning to stone I got very cold. I felt it right up until my neck. But at the same time I was feeling a kind of heat too moving up from my feet. It was a terrible heat though, the kind of burn you get if you knelt down bare in the snow. Only there was never any numbness, only that horrible heat and burning."

   "There was a light," interjected Justin with difficulty.

   "Anyway, I said I love you that last time. Then everything went black and still. But still I could feel that horrible heat rise and rise until it was consuming every bit of me. And then...and then...there was a climax. A kind of shattering. God, if I didn't know better it was like a kind of orgasm. Only an anti orgasm. Because instead of pleasure there was a flash of pain, of burning, the likes of which, I'd never felt before. And then I was on fire."

   "That would have been the explosion," drawled Justin still in a nip flicked haze of pleasure.

   "Thank you Capt. Obvious!" said Brian giving his nips a pinch causing Justin to groan in pain and pleasure. "Anyways..."

   "I was on fire. I was floating in some kind of void. I was burning. I was screaming but nobody heard me. I tried to see what was going on and I felt I could move. And I saw that my tattoos were being burned away. Those horrible boils...those acid and burn scars were being burned away. And I realized my insides were changing as well. The coldness I'd held toward my fellow man was being burned away. My desire for tricking. My desire for hunting. Then only my desire for you, for my son, to love again, to see my friends, to see the people I loved, remained. I felt so...so cleansed. And then...I shattered yet again. And then I was nothing but a mind...pure thought floating through a universe I could not see."

   "And then...with a rush I came together again. It was still dark. I realized I had my eyes closed. I opened them and I found I was in the front yard in that incredible car. The bouquet of golden gardenias (and I suddenly just knew what they were; I can't explain it) were in the front seat along with my cell phone. I realized I was back to normal. And that's when I called you."

   "He bent Justin toward him and smiled gently. "I also realized it was you. It was you who brought me back to normal. My hero." And he captured Justin's lips in a light and long kiss that was made up of lots of soft tongue. Justin groaned.

   "Remind me to be your hero more often," he quipped, after they were finished; a long time later.

   "You are. You always will be. Now. Forever. And a day." And Brian drew him again for another round of kissing and chestplay that escalated in another round of fucking that was slow and languid culminating into fast, furious and frenzied. Their climaxes were earthshattering and yet still they were not enough. Not even if they went on for forever and a day.

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   They showered again and then went back to the big room. Brian wrapped Justin up in his huge arms and then wrapped them both up in the bear rug. They fell asleep.

   A few hours later, they awoke, ravenously hungry. ‘

   "What are we going to do?" asked Brian. "We don't have the Wards anymore. We're on our own in this huge old place." The prospect was daunting and even a little creepy to him.

   "Not to worry," Justin said, "There must be a kitchen in this place somewhere. I saw a banquet room back there. Let's try there."

   So they dressed and did just that.

   Sure enough, at the back of the huge banquet hall (that is, the opposite side of the room where they entered) there was a set of swinging double doors. And through them...

   "Good grief!" exclaimed Justin, "I was expecting something...but not this!'

   This...was a huge room with two rows of ovens. Each oven was separated by a sink, counter space and a fridge. There were cupboards up high, and below. There were 20 ovens in all, ten in each row. There was a fridge for every stove.

   They walked through it, marvelling. At the opposite end of this room was another door. They went through this door.

   "Holy Hell!!" yelled Brian.

   It was, of course, the pantry. But once again, it was unlike anything they had ever seen.

   The pantry stretched out wide as well as long and it was all organized on rows of shelves. It was fully stocked and as large as a large supermarket. The left side of the room was the freezer section and was one long freezer with doors at intervals just like a real supermarket. At the end of the room on the left were eight more doors. Each led to a walk in freezer, filled with whole haunches of meat, chickens, turkeys, pheasants, a few other exotic fowl and even a few whole pigs. In each one.

   Justin inspected everything carefully and was very pleased. Then humming a little tune, he went over to the appropriate places and picked out, a loaf of bread, a can of Spam, a block of cheese, and a head of lettuce and then headed back to the huge kitchen. He used the area nearest the dining hall and made them sandwiches. He rummaged in the cupboards and found dishes and cutlery and glasses and milk in the fridge in a gallon jug. Despite the huge extra space, he felt right at home. He always had in the kitchen.

   Brian was still as flummoxed as Justin was calm. He had never really moved past the "Holy Hell!" stage. He was nervous and cagy and felt very, very small in such a huge and splendorous place. I mean, don't get me wrong, he was used to luxury and riches but even this was out of his league.  And without the Wards or magic, he wondered how they were going to keep up with it all.

   Humming a peaceful tune, Justin finished the triple decker sandwiches crammed full of meat, cheese and lettuce. He poured them both a huge glass of ice cold milk and cleaned up the leftovers and wiped down the counter. When he was done, everything was as spotless as it was when they had entered.

   He motioned for Brian to take his plate and glass and together they went into the dining hall and sat at the huge table. Both men felt like a couple of bugs sitting on a picnic blanket at that huge table with 98 free chairs.

   "Justin, what are we going to do with it all?"

   "I have a few ideas. Let's not worry about it now. I don't like to talk about such things with an empty stomach. Let's eat."

   And so, they ate the sandwiches and drank the milk. At last they both settled back with full tummies and sighed. Brian had never really tasted Spam before and while it wasn't very pleasant, it was edible and the cheese covered up any unpleasantness. Mostly.

   After their meal, Justin took the dishes back into the kitchen and together they washed up the dishes. Justin washed and Brian dried their meager dishes in that enormous space where 20 chefs could have easily worked on 20 different dishes and never been crowded.

   They went back down along the long banquet hall when all of a sudden Justin saw an unobtrusive door about halfway down.

   "I wonder where this leads," wondered Justin. Brian shrugged and just made a "after you" motion with his arms. The door might be a mystery but Brian could see the glint in Justin's eyes and he knew where that was leading!

   So Justin opened the little door and they went along a dark but clean stone passageway. The floor was paved with white cobblestones and the walls were red and friendly brick. At the end of this strange little passage was a plain wood wall with a lever sticking out of it.

   "This is weird," said Justin.

   "And creepy. Don't forget creepy!" interjected Brian. The narrow passage was not meshing well with his huge body.

   "Oh you! Don't be such a nervous Nellie!" said Justin, "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

   "How ‘bout I let you top me instead?" said Brian, right next to his ear.

   Justin gasped in excitement.

   "Someday."

   Justin huffed in disappointment. "You big tease!" he said and pulled the lever.

   There was a click. The wall moved open like a door a little bit. Justin and Brian pushed and the wall swung out on well-oiled hinges and then they were stepping out into the Great Room with the bearskin rug and the fireplace from out behind one of the bookcases. One of the books was pulled out.

   "Well this is handy," said Justin as if it were the most normal things in the world to have a secret passage that led into your living room.

   "Handy!! It's amazing!!" cried Brian, "I wonder how many other secret passages there are in this place!"

   "Quite a few, I expect. And we get to explore....and find them all!" Justin's eyes were shining with excitement and love.

   "Hmmm....maybe..." said Brian slowly.

   "What do you mean, my love? Don't you want to find them?"

   "Oh yes! It's not that Justin!" said Brian.

   "Then what? Oh wait...." Justin bent to take note of the trigger book before the case slid back into place and closed with a click. He began to laugh.

   "What is it, Justin? What was the book?"

   Justin wiped a tear away. "The Joy of Cooking!"

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   It was a few minutes later. They were once more ensconced on the bear rug. They were kissing and engaged in some light petting.

   "Now. What is it? What is bothering you, my love?" Justin asked finally.

   "This place. This castle. Oh, Justin! It's so filled with light and love and a strange magic of all its own that has nothing to do with the Wards and yet is just as powerful!! Can you feel it?"

   "Yes. I've felt it. That is why I feel such a sense of peace and belonging here."

   "And yet...that's why I do not. Justin, it's too big! It's too grand. It's different than my cold, dark mansion that shielded me. The Wards are gone. We have to take care of it and ourselves. It's going to take untold wealth to keep it up and running. Even with my wealth, I could not hope to do it. We cannot stay here just the two of us and we cannot afford its upkeep. We have to sell it."

   "Oh, Brian, who would buy it? It must be worth millions...maybe even hundreds of billions of dollars. No one could afford to buy it. It's ours." He kissed him. "Our children's. Our children's, children's. And we shall see them all, and we shall live here together."

   "But how?"

   Justin smacked his forehead. "Oh, how stupid of me! You do not know! I forgot! You said it was going to take untold wealth. Brian, we have untold wealth. Unlimited wealth." He took out the handful of gems from one pocket and the pocket change out of the other and a strange carved box about the size of a matchbox.

   "What's all this?" asked Brian.

   Justin gave a small Mona Lisa smile and grabbed a few rubies and diamonds and put them in the box. The box somehow accommodated all of them. Justin shut the lid. When he opened it there was double the amount. He opened and closed the lid three times. Then he poured a second pile of gemstones out on the rug.

   Brian's eyes were wide.

   Justin found five quarters. He made ten. He made twenty. He took five out of those and made ten. He took 25 quarters out of that and put them in the box. He made 50.

   "OK, that's a roll of ten dollars." He closed the box and opened it. "Twenty dollars. Forty. Eighty. One hundred and sixty." Justin poured out the mound of quarters onto the rug. "All we have to do is roll them and bank them when we need to."

   "Oh. My. God!!!!! Justin, are you sure! Isn't this counterfeiting?"

   "Not really. There's no distinguishing marks on coins and each is the same as the other. They're all real. The only thing we must not do is duplicate bills." He explained about the serial numbers. "And anyway, if that makes you uncomfortable we can always just duplicate the gems and sell them at a reputable jeweller who will give us a fair price for them. After a while maybe we can buy bigger gems and dupe them...or a gold ingot. Or...whatever. Whatever we duplicate, all we have to do is remember to hold back at least one. Then we can duplicate all over again. So you see Brian, we can stay here. We can keep up this place. We'll hire out people in the village. We'll hire Beddy! She'll never have to waitress again in her life and instead manage an army of cooks. Maybe we can even hire your friend Debbie and have her move here. She can co-manage or manage another fleet, elsewhere in the castle. On their off hours they can finally be together!"

   "Fleets! What will we do with so many cooks!?" asked Brian.

   "I have a feeling we're going to need them. This castle...we can't just keep it to ourselves. We have to share it with everybody! To help people! First those in the area! The village. The farmers. Maybe even the world!"

   "What are we do to with it?" asked Brian, "You said you had some ideas."

   "Yes. What about a resort hotel? Or a hospital? Or...oh, Brian, what about an AIDS hospice?"

   "Which one?"

   Justin looked around in excitement. "All of them! Oh Brian, why choose? There's more than enough room for everything!!"

   Brian sat down and looked at everything and tried to wrap his head around everything. He couldn't. It was like contemplating the fact that the universe was endless. Eventually you just had to stop thinking about it or go crazy.

   He looked at all the red, green, blue and white jewels. He picked up a few of them. He put them in the box. He duplicated them. He closed and opened the box. He did it again. And again. And again. And again. And one more time and poured another pile out. He looked at it with shining eyes.

   Justin looked at him sadly. He recognized that look in Ethan's eyes. The greed was taking hold of his lover and soon he would be lost. There was nothing he could do to stop him. Soon, all Brian would care about was making jewels or other riches.

   Brian could feel something small in his stomach. It grew and grew and bloomed into a wild excitement. He jumped up. He hollered. He whooped. He went a little crazy. He danced. He pulled his hair a little. He grabbed Justin and whirled him around. He kissed both his cheeks multiple times. Then he backed off and asked: "Tears?? Are you crying Justin? Why?"

   Justin looked forlorn. "The greed. It's consuming you. It's Ethan all over again."

   Brian looked stern. "One: Never compare me to that scumbag! Two: It's not greed. OK, well maybe a little. But it's mostly...Oh, Justin! I finally get it! There are no limits! We can do anything! I don't have to worry about finding another advertising job! You can paint for fun...not because you have to earn a living on it! We could make the money out to take courses in...whatever! Travel! Whatever! I feel like we won some sort of lottery! I'm so excited! So happy I can hardly bear it! I love you! I love you so much!"

   And he took Justin into his arms and dipped him deeply down and kissed him, an all-consuming, killer kiss that curled Justin's toes and stiffened his dick within seconds. Justin matched Brian's ardour and they remained fused together like that for a long time, both of them, never wanting it to end.

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   Afterwards, Justin pocketed the box, a few quarters and dimes, and a handful of the jewels, one of each kind. Then they left the room and abandoned the rest.

   "Will we see it again, Sunshine?"

   "We might. Maybe we'll make it back to this room. Who knows?" Justin said.

   At any rate, they started by going back to the Entrance Hall and going down the left hand corridor. There they found a mirror image of all the rooms they had found in the right hand corridor except that the study room was a billiards/game room with a variety of table games, board games stocked, and a foosball table in it. And there was another banquet hall another grocery store sized pantry and another Great Room. At the end of the room and leading off to the left where they hadn't noticed in the other Great Room was a set of double doors. They assumed there was another set in the other room leading off to the right.

   Through these door was another long corridor lined with double doors. About halfway down the hall was a double set of elevators and a door to a stairwell. The stairwell was clean and white and there was a frosted glass window at every floor that let in the light.

   They started opening doors. Each set of double doors led into large suite of rooms, like an apartment. Each one had a living room, kitchen, bath, and bedroom with a king size bed. Justin opened his phone, and snapped a picture of every room in one apartment.

   "What are you doing?" asked Brian.

   "It's for the website," was all Justin would say.

   They checked the elevators. There were 12 floors. There were three floors of king size bedroom style suites. The next three floors were a little less opulent and had queen size beds. The next three floors had two double beds and were a bit smaller but no less equipped. The top three floors had single doors, and more of them and were single beds and suites. The rooms were smaller and simpler but very elegant in their furnishing.

   They went back down stairs to the Great Room. What they had though were just a large set of windows with curved tops were actually a set of French doors. They went out onto a vast patio that was like an outdoor restaurant with dozens of tables scattered around, each one with a closed outdoor umbrella. The tables were surrounding an Olympic sized swimming pool. There was another door that led into the Great Room they had made love in and across the way there were two more sets of doors leading to their own Great Rooms and two wings of 12 floors of suites. There were two more banquet halls on this side.

   They went all the way through to the back where the back doors were just as nice and opulent as the front doors. There was a wide driveway in front of them that wound its way around the side of the castle. Brian figured it met up with the front.

   Past the driveway were more lawns and smaller paths which led to:

   Two more swimming pools, each with their accompanying hot tub.

   A dozen tennis courts, each one with 6 playing fields in them.

   A set of stables that was not a hundred years old and had tripled in size and was full of at least 50 Arabian stallions and had room for at least 100 more horses.

   Brian and Justin were looking at everything in awe and Justin was snapping a few pictures of the horses when from behind them came a snuffling, snorting like of breath and a voice said, "Masters...I trust everything is in order? I saw the horses...I fed them...I'm looking after them for you!"

   Brian and Justin whirled. All this time they had thought they were alone in this huge old place. Now it seemed they were wrong.

   "Hold it right there!" Brian yelled, "Who are you and what are you doing here!?"

   In the door was a huge man, both in height and muscular girth. He was at least 7 and a half feet tall. He was youthful with a wide, deep chest, six pack abs and powerful, thick legs. He wore a cowboy/ranch hand's clothes: light blue jeans, cowboy boots, assless, tie on leather chaps. He was wearing a plaid shirt that was open down the front. Brian squinted in suspicion. That shirt looked awfully familiar.

   The man wore tan leather work gloves and a cowboy hat to complete the sexy picture. His shirt sleeves were rolled up; his biceps bulged like large apples. The man was a total bear. As I said he was youthful but his hair was a tawny brown color and thick and long enough for it to spill out of his hat in an uneven shag. His bangs were in his eyes. He had a thick handlebar moustache that led into muttonchops right back into his hairline. His back, shoulders, arms and chest had a thick play of hair. Even his stomach had a thick treasure trail.

   This formidable man stood before them and Brian stood as tall as he could as he shouted at him. In silent distress, he knew he was no match for this intruder but he kept Justin in back of him and postured himself as threatening as possible, ready to go down fighting if he had to.

   At Brian's angry voice the man shied back a few steps. Then he took a few steps forward. Then back. Then forward. He blew out a snorting kind of breath, the kind a horse blows out when it is nervous. The man took off his hat and turned the brim in his hands. He snorted again.

   "Master? Master Brian? Are you angry with me? I tried. Yes sir, I tried! I fed all 50 horses for you! I'll work very hard! Just like always! I'm a good, hard worker!" He blew and snorted. "But please, Master, if you are to acquire any more horses, oh please, will you send me more help? I cannot take care of them all!"

   "I wasn't aware we'd taken on a worker at all! You never answered my question!? Who are you?" cried Brian.

   "Masters? Don't you recognize me, Master Brian? It's me! It's me...Arjax!"

   Justin's eyes went wide and he took a few steps toward the stable manager. Arjax snuffled and took a few steps back, then a few forward again. Justin stopped...then moved forward again.

   "Arjax!? Is that really you!?"

   "Yes, Master Justin! It's really me! It's meee! Mee-hee-hee-heee!!!"

   Justin continued on to this formidable man and reached him. He looked up into his eyes and pulled aside the man's bangs and was reminded all those times they had to trim the Clydesdale's mane out of his eyes. It was exactly the same color. And his eyes...

   Justin could see the eyes were the same chocolate brown, so full of love. As well, his gift of truth kicked in and Justin was swept with the empathetic emotions of the man-horse. Feelings of total trust, of love, devotion, and skittish fear swept through him. But there was no hint of a lie.

   "Oh Brian! It's him! It's really him! It's Arjax! It's Arjax!!" And Arjax found himself with an armful of blond that was wrapping itself around his huge waist since that's where Justin came up to on his taller frame.

   In a twinkling, Brian had joined him and all three men were hugging and crying and laughing for joy.

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   "But how?" asked Brian.

   It was sometime later. They were on the central patio sitting at one of the tables around the pool. Justin had gone into another pantry and fixed them a huge sandwich and found an enormous shiny red apple and a beer. Then he had come back and used the box to duplicate both the sandwich and then the apple twice. Then he made three beers. All of them were very happy and contented and Arjax's eyes had lit up especially when he saw the apple. He crunched into his enthusiastically.

   "I do not know, Mast - uh...Brian," answered Arjax. Brian had insisted that man-Arjax call him by his name, as he was no longer just a beast. "I was in my stable under my horse blanket munching my oats and..."

   "That shirt! Now I know! That shirt is the very same as your horse blanket!" yelled Brian interrupting.

   They both looked at him. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Sorry," he backed down, "Well, it is..." he said awkwardly.

   "So...I was munching my oats and there was this terrible bang. A terrible feeling of fear and dread overcame me. So I kicked out the door to my stall and then the stable and made a run for it. And then a wave of icy cold and fear, worse than before overcame me. I looked behind me and saw that a...something....was coming and it was destroying the stables. Well, more like changing them. They looked ancient all of a sudden. I ran and escaped into the forest."

   "For a long time, I just wandered around, eating the grass and flowers which were nice but not as sweet as the apples and oats you used to give me. I missed you both terribly."

   "All of a sudden, there was another thing...like a wave...a wave of feelings of love, of peace, of happiness. The part of the forest I was in rippled and disappeared and I was on a grassy lawn amongst bushes and flowerbeds and the house was coming closer. A tower was growing into the sky. That tower!" he indicated, pointing at the tallest white tower near the back.

   "My hooves felt different. I was having a hard time chewing. I spit out the flower I was trying to eat. I stood up. I was as you see me now. There was...a kind of voice...that came from my inside. Like my insides were telling me something but it was someone else telling it to them.... If this makes any sort of sense? Anyway, it said, Arjax, if you are willing, you will do far greater things than you ever could in this new form...if you are willing! So I nodded yes and the voice or feeling or whatever faded away and I started walking toward the tower and I found the stables and I just...knew....I should look after them. Already my life as a horse was beginning to fade away and even now I have the memories but they are like the memories of dreams. Occasionally, one will come back stronger than the other or I'll have a horsey manner but otherwise I feel like I've been a man for a long time. Well....mostly." he blushed. He put the ravaged apple core down.

   Brian and Justin were filled with astounded wonder and profound joy. They were unable to speak for many minutes.

   Eventually though, Arjax grew nervous at their silence. He thought that they maybe did not like his new form and wished he were a horse again.

   "Mas...Brian?? Justin?? Do you not want me here? Now that I'm a man now, I mean? I'll still work for you real good! I'm still a hard worker! I like the stables! I'll need helpers! But I'm not complaining!! No sirrr...sirrrr.....sirrrrrrr....heeeheeeheee!!" He huffed and shook that off but it only served to escalate his nervousness. "Please! Please let me stay! I missed you! I don't want to be alone again! I don't want..."

   "Arjax! Arjax! Calm down!" they both cried, but it was no use, Arjax was deteriorating into a full blown 7 and a half foot bodybuilder panic attack.

   "Please! Please let me staaaay! St-St-Naaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!" he jackknifed up too quickly and knocked over his chair which startled him and turning to quickly, knocked into another table and turned it over, breaking it in half. This panicked him further and caused him to knock into another table and another. His eyes were wild and he screamed like a panicked horse.

   "ARJAX!! DOWN BOY! DOWN!!!" yelled Brian in his best authoritative voice.

   Arjax quieted at once. He was on his hands and knees and still took heaving, gulping breaths as he was finally able to calm down.

   "I'm sorry, Masters! I'm sorry! I felt scared. I couldn't stop," heaved Arjax.

   Justin heaved Arjax to his feet and hugged him. "Arjax, Arjax, calm down. You will never be sent away," said Justin comfortingly. "We loved you as a horse but we find it even more wonderful that you've been transformed and we love you more than ever now. You can always be in the stables and in fact you will be Stable Manager and command a fleet of stablehands and do as much or as little physical work as you like. Whatever your decision, we don't want you to leave. We must never be parted. In fact....if you fancy a career change....you'd make a pretty good bodyguard as well."

   "Whatever you wish!" Justin was grabbed in burly bear arms and swung around and crushed in a hug that Brian would guess would have made Debbie jealous. "Oh thank you, little Master! Ooops! I mean Justin! Thank you Justin! Thank you...Brian! Thank you!"

   Arjax was ecstatic. Justin was crushed but happy. Brian was amused as he pried his partner free. All three men's joy was complete.

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   Dear one, the opulence and staggering layout of this castle that seemed to go on and on...I cannot hope to describe to you fully. Justin had been right. The place was as big as a city. It took them a full week to see everything and to get back to the first Great Room and then the front doors of the castle.

   They rested in the nearest nice room when they needed to. They fucked and slept in a different nearby bedroom every night and ate at the last kitchen they would come to. And still it just seemed to go on and on. They snapped dozens of photos. In fact they used up the allotted memory in both Justin's and Brian's phone. Justin directed that one photo space be left open. Brian didn't understand but he acquiesced.

   There was a certain type of magic at work in the castle but it was bigger, more powerful and more sentient that the Wards could ever be. It seemed like the castle itself could re-shape and accommodate itself according to their ideas and desires. It directed them to the places they needed to go, but not like before. Instead of tiresome flashing lights and manual directions, they would just seem to...find themselves at their desired destination after wondering where it was.

   Among the many and wonderful things they saw during their travels were:

   Many conveniently placed elevators.

   Many "You are here" maps for a certain section of the castle they were in.

   Near the front of the castle, very near the first Great Room, in fact, they found a door they never noticed before. In golden letters above the door it read: FAMILY WING. Inside this door was a whole section of rooms. Another living room that was more manageable, kitchen with the cupboards done all in cherry wood, 3 baths, a sauna and a series of bedrooms.  There was a laundry room with front loader washer and dryer. The whole thing was as large as a mid-sized house only all on one level. There was a master bedroom, three guest bedrooms which were more like bachelor suites and...

   Brian teared up

   The last suite had furniture that was all half sized. One whole wall was wallpapered with artist canvas. It was blank...for now but Justin's artist mind went into overdrive. There was a sports car bed.

   Taking out the picture where he had tucked it into his blazer next to his heart, Brian put the picture of his baby boy who was now a few years old onto the small bedside table beside the sports car bed. It had found its new home.

   Justin came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him. "It won't be long now Brian. We'll get him here. Even if it's just for a visit or a part custody....We'll get him here. You're a different man now. You have different needs. We'll make them see that. I promise."

   Brian turned in his arms and gave him a resounding kiss. "Yur darn tootin' we will!" he said.

   Justin laughed through his tears.

   A section of the castle that was the servant's quarters. It was as large as a small village with its own large kitchen and dining area, game room, large pool and first aid center. Each of the many rooms were large bachelor suites with a double bed. It was an area that could be completely self-sustaining.

   A large section that was obviously the "hospital" portion of the castle. There was an automatic sliding glass door to the outside leading to an emergency room. There were dozens of shiny O.R s and gurneys and hospital equipment. There were 10 stories of semi-private and private rooms.

   A large wing of the castle that looked very hospital-ish but the rooms were all more long term dwelling looking. If that makes sense. Justin declared that this section was to be the HIV/AIDS hospice.

   A morgue in the basement.

   Underneath that, were long halls filled with heavy doors that could be locked with large, heavy locks that were opened with a ring of large golden keys they found on a nail on the wall. Each heavy door was the door to a vault, all of which were empty but clean, waiting to be filled.

   "Why do you suppose they'd be empty?" asked Brian.

   "I think it knows," answered Justin, "The castle knows...we have the power to make our own vast wealth," he fingered the magic box gratefully and with love.

   Underneath that, were 6 floors of cavernous parking garages. For some reason, a cold chill, swept through Justin and he refused to get off the elevator. Brian was equally spooked and they left that area as quickly as possible.

   Moving on....A shopping mall.

   Several large movie theatres with full sized screens.

   Several more ballrooms.

   A vast and intricate hedge maze with a balcony overlooking it so any lost people could be directed out. Brian and Justin could see many white benches situated in many areas for people to rest. They also found a shed that housed many poles with flags on the top of them for people to carry around so they could signal if they were truly lost. In the center of the maze were a three-tiered fountain, benches and a small cottage with a pool.

   Four auditoriums for live theatre with all the backstage amenities.

   Twelve more swimming pools in various parts of the castle. Some were square, some kidney shaped, some round. Some were equipped with saunas. All were wonderful.

   A large house at the back of the property that was like a mini castle all in itself. There was a white tower that went up three stories. There was a small door in it and small stairs they couldn't fit into that led up to the top. The door to the castle was half the size for an adult but just the right size for a child. They couldn't get in but peering in the windows, they glimpsed child sized furniture and even a kitchen with a half sized stove. Justin decided that this was a child's playhouse but really it was a child's play mansion.

   Spas and workout rooms equipped with weights and cardio machines.

   A shed full of golf carts and segways.

   They left the white tower for last. There was no door but there were two large silver keys on a nail. On the handles was carved: PRESIDENTIAL.

   They searched all around and finally Justin let out an "OWW!!" and Brian rushed to see.

   Justin had run into a glass wall. Perfectly camouflaged against the wall, set against an equally invisible, painted white track was an elevator made completely of thick glass. There was a keyhole in the wall of the tower to the left of the elevator. Justin used it and the doors opened. They got in and the doors closed and the elevator rose at once. There were no buttons.

   It was a dizzy, spooky feeling to be rising up in a completely glass elevator. It was rather like you were standing on nothing at all. And they just kept going up and up and up and up. Eventually, Justin just closed his eyes.

   At last, they reached the top. An inner door opened and they got out. They gasped.

   Inside, was a large, perfectly round room, with just one area closed off for a compact but fully stocked bathroom including a Jacuzzi. There was wine red carpet on the floor and golden wallpaper. There was a living room set around a pot-bellied stove. The furniture was exquisite. There was a kitchen area complete with a working stove. There were 3 windows at the compass points. The elevator acted as the fourth window. Imagine the most opulent penthouse, a top floor suite at any Hilton or the Plaza Hotel in New York. It made all those look like dumps.

   The elevator had closed. There was a matching keyhole in the wall next to the door. Now it was clear. The door could only be opened and activated with the keys. One was for the guest and one for the manager. If someone was up here, they could send the elevator back down and be as secluded as Rapunzel if they wished. And once it was down it stayed down until they wished to leave or someone came to collect them (ie. The manager.) The view was the most amazing thing you had ever seen in your life in every direction. Anywhere you looked, you could see over the castle and beyond. You could see for many miles in every direction.

   Opposite the elevator was an open door with stairs going down. They went down a circle of stairs and came to the most beautiful bedroom, you could ever imagine. There were two windows here. There was a larger than king sized bed with canopy and curtains. It was an obvious and larger than life fuckpad. It was amazing.

   "When we have everything set up, we are going to come back here, and I am going to spend a week fucking you into that huge mattress!" vowed Brian.

   "How long has it been since you had another partner, Brian?" was Justin's unexpected question.

   "About a month before you came," Brian said, honestly. "Why?"

   "Let's wait about another month or so...get tested...and then spend the time in here doing it raw." Brian sucked in an excited breath. "I'd like this, the place to be where we start a family," said Justin.

   "Huh? I don't understand. What do you mean, Justin?" asked Brian.

   "It doesn't matter." He pressed a soft and passionate kiss to Brian's lips. "Ask me again sometime." And he went back up to the elevator and refused to say anything more about it.

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   And so, they were finally ready to return to the front of the castle and head out to the village and then back to Pittsburgh to wrap up that chapter of their lives. The castle seemed to know the need for them to return to the front door and the long, wide, straight hallways seemed plentiful and led them nearly directly there. Well hey! It only took them two hours!

   They found the original Great Room just as they'd left it and filled a vase with the jewels on the floor and another vase with the coins and left them on the fireplace mantle to be taken care of later. They picked up Arjax and headed out to the Corvette. At the sight of the car, Arjax's face fell a little but brightened with an effort, like he was putting his game face on.

   "Arjax, what's the matter?" asked Justin.

   Arjax circled the ‘Vette warily. "That certainly is a ...nice...wagon, Masters," he said sadly, "It looks a bit...heavy. But I can do it! I can do it! He stood at the front of the car and planted in his feet. "OK, Masters! Hook me up! I can pull it! So....how do you hook me to this thing anyway?"

   Brian was already behind the wheel. "Arjax, will you quit being a twat and get in the car already! You don't pull this wagon! It pulls you! Now get in! Your pulling days are over!"

   Arjax looked like Christmas come early. "Truly!?? I never have to pull anything again??"

   "No Arjax! You're a man now!" Justin said, "Besides, this wasn't made for horses or men to pull. It's a car! Now get in!"

   In supreme joy, Arjax jumped in. Through some...creative rearranging that involved Justin sitting on Arjax's lap since this was a two seater, they all managed to get buckled in.

   They peeled away and drove fast and easy toward the front gate. Brian found a remote strapped to the dashboard and pressed it. The gate swung open.

   "Wait!" yelled Justin. "Hold everything!"

   "What!!? What is it!!?" yelled Brian squealing to a stop.

   Justin unbuckled and jumped out of the car. He ran back a few paces and then posed. "One last picture! Get the whole castle! And get me in with it!"

   Brian complied and then yelled: "Now can we please get the hell out of here!?" I'd like to get on with the rest of my life!"

   Justin got back on top of Arjax and they re-buckled up. "You little shit!" Brian groused, "You nearly gave me heart failure! What was that all about!? And why did you need to be in it?"

   "Because words aren't enough to describe this thing. No one will believe us about it unless they see it. And I needed to be there so they know we didn't photoshop or fake it somehow."

   "Oh. Actually....that's really smart."

   "Thanks hon." He leaned over for a kiss.

   And then they were truly off. Brian peeled away with a screeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! The gates were closing and they were zooming down the open road towards town into the setting sun.

   And Arjax who had never felt the wind on his face like this, never moved this fast in his life and had never ridden in a carriage but always pulled them, was filled with a full, fierce, and wild joy. He pulled off his cowboy hat as they zoomed off into the distance, waved it ecstatically around and yelled:

   "YAAA-HOOOOOO!!!!! YIPPPEEEE!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

THE   END

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TBC