by C. S Luis
I nodded and hurried away through the exit leading into the parking lot, and there I stood to wait for Michael until he finally came out and gazed over at me. I began to follow him over to the car.
“You don’t have to be rude to Dr. Black because you’re mad at me,” he said. I glared at him, and could tell he almost wanted to take it back, but instead we both got into the car, and he turned on the engine, and in silence we drove out of the parking lot. I wasn’t mad at Dr. Black. I was embarrassed I wanted to say to him, but I didn’t, so I just sat there in silence on the ride home.
3
Dr. John Black
Why did I insist on trying to seduce her, trying to make her see what was right in front of her? She must think I’m some kind of creep about now. But I couldn’t think straight, and I couldn’t wrap my head around what I was feeling, or what emotions were forming a link between us.
Jeez John, what are you doing?
But there was certainly a connection, if not a fucken distraction. And it was obvious she didn’t sense it as I had sensed it. But it was something I couldn’t control any longer; the more I tried, the more I felt myself slipping. And the more I found myself doing just quite the opposite. The harder I tried, the harder it was to get her to see me, John Slater, the man—
But what then, John? What if she did? Let’s just say for argument’s sake she did suddenly see you, John Slater. What would happen then? What would you do? What could you do?
I don’t know. I don’t know, because I don’t understand what any of this means. --Why I feel we have a connection. Why I feel I’ve known her all my life and have waited for her for so long. And why I’ve been searching for her even though I’ve only known of her for a short period. Or why I’m so drawn---
“John? Are you ready?”
I turned to catch sight of Ms. Stephens, the pretty blonde standing in the hallway coming up to me. She immediately smiled.
“Is everything alright? You look like you were really distracted with something just now. Anything wrong?”
“No, no nothing. Just too much work has me all stressed-out mainly.”
She came close; she smelled good. God, I needed the feel of a woman close to me, the smell and company. It had been way too long already. I wasn’t even thinking right; maybe things would seem different afterwards.
“You look beautiful,” I whispered as she came closer and pressed her lips against mine. She immediately caused a rise of a certain muscle.
“Tonight, I can make all the stress disappear,” she surprisingly said as she kissed me again. I was taken aback; I hadn’t been prepared for that. As much as I wanted to fuck her now, I had to gently push her back.
“Shall we?” I asked.
“Let’s,” she simply said.
Both of us hurried down the long hallway towards the parking lot.
4
Claudia
I sat in my room. Michael had already said I wasn’t going to the party, and when he called me down for dinner, I refused to open the door of the bedroom. He was at the door now knocking and trying desperately to apologize.
“I'm sorry, Claudia. Please. I’m only doing this for you,” Michael pleaded from the other end of the door. “I don’t want you to get hurt. You have to understand that.”
“Hurt?” I yelled through the door.
“Please just open the door and have some dinner,” Michael pleaded.
“I’m not hungry. Just leave me alone!” I yelled back.
“Claudia, I'm sorry about the party, but you have to understand I can't let you go.”
“Just go away!” I again yelled.
“Claudia, please,” Michael again pleaded. I just didn’t want to hear it anymore.
“I said I'm not hungry. I'm going to bed,” I replied back through the door.
I could see his shadow standing there for a few more minutes, and then he finally gave up and left; there was nothing else to say. I saw the lights in the hallway go out and heard the door of his bedroom slam. At once I jumped out of bed, dressed, and raced quietly to the bedroom window, looking over the side of the house onto the street.
Only then did relief ease into me when I noticed the giant oak near my window. I had never pictured I would need to ease myself upon its branches until now. I carefully climbed out and onto the branches and carefully lowered myself to the grassy lawn below. I looked up towards my window, and then only when I felt sure everything was okay, I raced into the street. Before I had time to get nervous, the mustang pulled alongside me.
I pulled open the door as Alex said, “Get in!”
I climbed in, and we sped away. As I sat in the passenger seat, Alex sat very quietly and drove, and then for no apparent reason, she began to laugh. I looked over at her and wondered what was so funny. Then she simply stopped.
“You’re right,” I said to her “It was easier than I thought to get away from Michael.”
She laughed again, but I tried not to pay her any attention.
“So,” I said again. “What did you want to talk about?” She looked over at me and gave me the strangest grin.
“Alex, what’s wrong?” I asked her. The car climbed in speed as she slammed her foot onto the gas pedal.
“What are you doing?” I screamed before I realized she’d spun the car around into the entrance of Milton’s school parking lot. The car came to a sudden halt, and I realized we had stopped.
I spun around towards her ready to give her a tongue lashing until I looked over at her eyes; they were glowing now, and suddenly, just as I was looking at her, someone else’s face resurfaced beneath her own.
Was that possible? The face looked almost like Quentin, dressed in the same scaly leather jumpsuit; except this time there was a red patch on the shoulder.
I stumbled out of the car, falling against the pavement and dragging myself to my feet as I saw the driver’s door explode off the hinges, and he leaped out and landed on the top of the car with a thunderous roar.
“It’s because of you she refuses to come home,” he sneered angrily and screamed. “You’re the only thing that stands between us, and so you must die!” He said again.
Who was he talking about? I dragged myself to the steps of the school entrance as he rushed forward towards me. I put my arms out in defense when suddenly something with a thunderous roar came between us. As I looked up, I noticed it was Quentin; he had stopped and blocked the other figure, and they were clutched in a wicked dance.
Then suddenly Quentin tossed other figure back with a powerful blow, knocking him to the ground at a distance, he then leaped into the sky and came down over him, stomping his form into the pavement so hard that a sinkhole began to form, dragging a few cars towards it.
I screamed as I moved back, racing up onto the stairs to get away from the chaos. Then at once two figures emerged from out of the ground and dashed up into the sky and continued the dance far into the dark night before me. Quentin landed a powerful blow, knocking the figure back and then another until the figure stopped and slowly started falling, landing, and crashing onto the roof of a car in the parking lot.
He didn’t move as I watched the figure above. I knew it was Quentin when he came down and kneeled before me. I dropped in front and held him tightly, and as I did, he seemed to regain his strength and push me back away. Just as he did that, the other figure came dashing at him from behind, but Quentin grabbed hold of his throat and squeezed it tightly.
“Why are you here?” Quentin yelled. “Why do you dare touch my pet?” He screamed. “You have no right!”
The figure gasped, “Maya!” The words seemed to squeeze through his pale lips.
“You’re weak and a fool to challenge me!” Then suddenly Quentin drove a fist into the other figure’s chest. “I should distinguish your life force for such an act of treason!”
But when he saw me frightened and huddled back into the corner, Quentin’s eyes eased, and he pulled out his fist from the figures’ chest. He drew the fig
ure close, and a cloud of energy seemed to drain from his lips and fill Quentin’s own mouth, and with that, Quentin tossed the fragile and weakened form to the ground, a few feet from us.
Then at once the figure dissolved into the air and was gone. I dropped to the floor, losing conscience, and when I awoke, seagulls were singing and dancing over my head. I sat up, realizing there was white sand gathered at my fingertips. Far ahead of me the blue ocean was filled with mermaids. They waved and made their presence known, emerging from the water as I rose to my feet to greet them.
I looked all around me. The greenery was a vast span of palm trees and mountain terrain, alive with the sound of beasts and colorful birds flying above my head.
“Do you like them?” A voice said from behind. I glanced back to find Quentin standing upon the white sand gazing over at me with a smile now spread over his plump lips.
“They’re a new breed,” he said, taking a few steps towards me. “I made them in your honor.” He was standing in front of me now. “My pet,” he whispered. We both looked up at the sky. It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, but it seemed to always be like this here.
“You like it here?” Quentin again asked. “You know you never have to leave if you don’t want to,” he added, and my face dropped, finding his eyes paralyzing.
“Quentin…” My lip quivered as he gazed at me spellbound and examined the expression upon my face with delight. I looked around and realized a group of witches were flying in the distance, high in the skies above us. I fell into his arms, and he held me tightly as I looked up at him.
“Why do I feel this way when I’m around you? I can’t describe it, but it’s as if I can’t be away from you. I can’t resist you.”
He smiled, stroking back a portion of my long hair.
“You feel the connection between us. We are meant to be together you and I,” he whispered. I didn’t understand. I was under his spell, dancing in his presence in an intoxication I couldn’t shake, and his words were not making sense to me in this haze.
Quentin held me to him, watching the figures above moving in the skies over us. I had seen them before, and now I gazed up at the skies as if by mere glance he would summon them to me.
“What happened? Who was that?” I whispered in reference to the figure that had tried to harm me; Quentin held my cheek to him and stared deep into my eyes.
He was silent for a moment. “You don’t have to worry about him, my pet. He will not harm you. No one will ever harm you as long as I am here to protect you.”
He then paused and looked long and hard at me and said again, "If for any reason something ever happens to me, you must get away, and don't come looking for me. I will find you as I have now."
"But why?" I asked him.
"Do not question me. You just must, my pet."
I nodded, unsure of what he meant but obeyed nevertheless, and then he smiled, and his purple eyes filled with pain and agony but glowed with a burning light as if he were recalling a long lost memory of his past.
“What happened to him? Did you…” My lips quivered as I thought about the fate of our strange visitor.
He laughed out loud. “Kill him?” He answered, and I nodded with difficulty. He pulled away in thought and then turning to me when he realized I wanted an answer.
“No, I did not kill him. I merely sent him away,” he said again with a smile upon his face, waving a hand towards the sky to symbolize his demise.
“Sent him away?” I asked, unable to understand what he meant by that. “But why did he come after me?”
Quentin’s figure levitated slightly off the ground. Leaning back, he seemed to become arrogant all of a sudden.
“Jealousy, of course.” He smiled back at me. “I can’t think of anything else.” He leaned back, but there was nothing to hold him. He pulled back his arms behind his head as if he were sitting on a lazy boy chair.
“But he said Maya. What did he mean by that?” I curiously asked. Quentin seemed uninterested by the mention of the name, and he rose and grabbed my hand, pulling me close.
“The delusional ramblings of a mad man; that is all my pet, nothing more. Let’s go; let me take you to the realm of witches of the East. Let us dance with the witches of the North. They plan a feast. We can dance and drink whatever you wish. Just come away with me,” he said, taking hold of my face in his hands. His eyes were so hypnotic I couldn’t pull myself away.
He moved, leaping into the air and staring back at me. He was gliding in the air above, and the cold breeze was now hitting my face. “Come my pet. I want you near,” he hissed, and I slowly came and took his hand, as he lifted me into the air with him.
And suddenly we were flying through the sky and up so high. We flew until we were beside a group of beautiful women. I felt air upon my face blowing back the long strands of my hair. We were soaring again through the sky with Quentin holding me tightly to him. The witches flying beside us waved at me, and I waved back at them.
Quentin laughed as he dove down into the clouds, and they followed him, and we spun around. I nearly lost my breath and screamed as he held me firmly against his body, and we came back up through the clouds and over the mountainous terrain, and I could see the snowy landscapes, the jungle, and the forest landscape below.
God, it was all so beautiful, and I felt I never wanted to leave ever. And as I thought that, I felt Quentin’s lips upon the side of my face kissing me softly. I closed my eyes to feel his tenderness, and when I opened them, I found him smiling back at me.
“It can always be like this. You would have everything you ever wanted,” he hissed. “I want you to stay with me.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled as we flew fast through the clouds; the witches seemed to have a hard time catching up to us, and Quentin’s laughter filled the sky as we came down suddenly upon the top hill covered with moss and greenery. Jungle spread beyond the edge behind us. I looked down and saw beautiful waterfalls close by, crashing down below.
There were mermaids sitting upon a large boulder in the center of a beautiful pool, surrounded by greenery all around. They waved up at us, but Quentin simply glared at them. He was standing staring down alongside me with his hands upon his hips, looking superior over the vast world, his world. He was master here, and he wanted me to know it. And I could be his Queen. I knew this as he gazed at me.
“You can, and you will,” he said. “Stay.” He walked past me towards the greenery ahead, and I stood upon the edge looking after him. At once he turned and extended his hand out to me and called me over to his side. He looked so handsome dressed in that leather black fitted jumpsuit. Beautiful short black toggles pulled back the strands of his hair against his ghostly complexion, and his eyes glowed in that radiant color purple. He was beautiful and so perfect, and I wanted never to leave his side.
I hurried like a silly girl to his side and took his hand. He brought me to him and stared deeply into my eyes. And he knew that I wanted to be with him, and that I would do anything he asked. I’d fallen, and I was under his spell. And I couldn’t explain it.
We walked into the forest with him holding me beside him. The jungle opened up into the end of another cliff, but before us was a bridge made of rotting wood. It looked weak and fragile and just about to collapse as it swung in the breeze. In front, on the other side, a large wall of the cliff was covered in what appeared to be caves. Within them I could see women descending from them, some taking to the skies and others landing upon the other end where the bridge ended looking towards us. Quentin approached the bridge first; he seemed fearless and daring.
“Is it safe?” I whispered as we now approached, standing but a few steps from the shaking and weakened bridge.
Quentin laughed at my words and then turned to me as I stood a few steps from him, not daring to approach. “Give me your hand,” he ordered me.
And it didn’t surprise me how quickly I responded to his request and nearly raced to his side, taking his hand. He gripped
my hand tightly in his and pulled me close, and we began our walk carefully onto the wooden floorboards, which were in some areas missing.
It was then I wondered why we did not merely fly across when he so easily could. And he seemed to answer me almost immediately with a smile; he loved this sort of adventure. He loved testing one’s morality; perhaps because he didn’t have any. He hurried me, pulling at my hand as I tried to stay alongside him, and I lost my footing, nearly falling through the floorboards.
My leg hung through it as I screamed, and the witches at the other end were looking on with concern. They flew towards us to help, but Quentin pulled me up to my feet fairly quickly, smiling as he did as if it were a silly game to him. I gazed at him frightened as he put a tender hand upon my cheek. And it was surprising how quickly I became lost and calmed by his gesture.
“It’s alright, my pet, nothing to be frightened of.”
And just like that, we continued as I desperately tried to watch my step, even with Quentin so urgently pulling to follow him. A few steps more, and we came to the other end. As soon as we stepped up to other side of the mountain, there were women standing before us, dressed in long, glittering, beautiful gowns with veils covering their lengths of hair. They wore golden jewelry dangling from their slender necks and wrists and sometimes ankles. They all suddenly dropped to one knee before Quentin. They were so beautiful, I thought, every single one of them. As they rose, a gorgeous redhead approached Quentin, and he stood with his hands upon his hips, merely looking about in approval at what he saw before him.
The beautiful witch kneeled again. “Welcome to our village, Mighty one.” She smiled at me and bowed her head politely. “We are so happy you are here and are delighted you have brought a guest.”
Quentin walked past her. “My Pet-tricia,” he corrected her. There were a few gasps from the group as he then turned to me, extending his hand out. I immediately rushed forward and took it as he squeezed my hand tightly, pulling me close.
