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