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.

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   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