by H. T. Night
We both soared through the air at double speed. I was pissed and hurt. How could Tommy do this to me? He was engaged to my sister and he betrayed me like this? I was only gone for a month. How could the two people I care most about in this world have done this to me?
As we flew in over Hollywood, I circled Yari and midair, transitioned into my Mani form. We were at least a mile above the earth. I looked at the red hawk and said, “I need to be alone.” With that, I transitioned back to the eagle and flew toward the San Bernardino Mountains.
My head was spinning and my heart was aching. How was I going to deal with this? I needed to clear my head. I needed a change of pace. I flew up into the mountains and made my way over to Flatlands. It had been a while since I’d been there. I saw the rocky parking lot from the sky and flew toward it. I knew this was Atticai’s old stomping grounds and I might not be welcomed with open arms. Aside from my little group of friends, I had no idea what the average Mani thought of me, or if they were even aware that I existed.
I decided to land up the street and walk down so I wouldn’t go on blast as a white eagle. I looked down at my cell and it read 3:11 a.m. I figured if there was a party going on, it must be winding down by now. But then again, these were freaking vampires and they lived by a whole separate set of rules.
I stepped onto the Flatlands rock area and saw three separate bonfires. There was speed metal playing in the distance and there were large groups of people sitting around each fire drinking and partying. I saw Rubidoux right away standing by the bonfire toward the back. How could I miss him with his bleached-blonde hair? It practically glowed in the dark.
No one seemed to notice, or care, that I was walking up to their group. I casually strolled over to the bonfire where Rubidoux was standing. I walked up to him and made eye contact. When he saw me, he nearly peed his pants.
“Fucking eh, it’s Josiah!” He came over to me. He then turned and faced the entire Flatlands and yelled, “Everyone! It’s Josiah Reign!”
Everybody at all three bonfires stopped what they were doing and made their way over to me. I wasn’t sure if they were happy to see me or they were getting ready to lynch me. I was surrounded by at least forty people. I wasn’t sure if all of them were Mani. I scanned the crowd and tried to find any bad seeds by reading their minds quickly. I used all the tools in my arsenal taught to me by Goshi. There were a lot of Tandra and weak Mani because I could hear a smattering of voices.
I heard things like:
“It’s him!”
“Can you freaking believe it?”
“I thought he’d be taller!”
“Damn, he’s fucking hot!”
I shut the voices down in my head, so I could hear clearly.
“What brings you up here, Josiah?” Rubidoux asked.
“There aren’t too many places you can go where you can be yourself,” I said.
“That’s why we all come here,” he laughed.
I looked around the crowd. “How many Tandra are here?”
Rubidoux scanned the crowd also and said, “Five or six. Why? Do you want them to leave?” He was really giving me respect. Sure was different from the last time I saw him.
“No, as long as they are trusted, they can stay,” I said.
“Damn, Josiah!” Rubidoux said. “You have been MIA since you killed Atticai!”
“You heard about that?” I asked.
“We’re a small community, brother. Word travels fast around these parts. So is it true?”
“Is what true?” I looked at Rubidoux and then at everybody else.
“Are you the one?” Rubidoux pressed.
“The one?” I asked.
“Are you the one that has been prophesied?”
I looked at everyone, and they all were eagerly awaiting my answer. “Everyone here can be trusted?” I asked again.
“Of course,” Rubidoux answered.
I nodded my head. “Yes, I am him.”
“Holy shit!” Everyone cheered like I had just hit a grand slam in the World Series. All of them were looking at me with admiration, almost as if I was a religious figure. I saw hope and optimism in their eyes. It was like they had been waiting for me for a very long time. I don’t know why it took me this long to make my presence known to these people.
“Show us the white eagle!” one of them shouted.
Then others yelled out in agreement.
“Show us!”
“Let us see it!”
I calmly looked at the group and said, “No.”
“Why not?” One yelled out.
“It doesn’t work that way,” I stated to the crowd. “I’m not a puppet or some spectacle. I have a purpose given to me by the Triat. My desire isn’t to show off in front of you people.”
A girl then stepped forward. She was young looking. She looked like she was fifteen years old.
“Why won’t you show us?” She asked.
“What is your name?” I said to her.
“My name is Caroline.”
“Caroline, I came here for support, not to stick out my chest and say, ‘look at me’.”
The young girl reached out her hand and touched my face. “I have been a Mani woman for 500 years, young Josiah. I have waited a very long time for you, and if you are who you say you are, I would like for you to show me. I believe after surviving this world for 500 years, I have earned that right.”
I stared at the petite, young-looking woman. To think she was 500 years old was mind-blowing to me. “You have been waiting for a long time?” I asked
“Yes, sir, I have.”
“Why? Why have you needed me to be revealed? What did you think I could do for you?”
“Sir, you need to know I love our people. When I was young, I was their daughter and now after all these years, I have become most of their mothers. I have given my life to preserve us as a people. I have waited for you, because it validated my love for all Mani. It was the hope that I held on to all these years. It gave me a reason to continue. So when you ask, ‘What can I do for you?’ The answer is ultimately, ‘nothing’. But what you can do is validate my faith. Show me that I am not crazy for believing for all of these years.”
I looked at this fragile woman and I said, “You understand that I am not a god. I am just like you. Except, I have been given a gift. I am no better than anyone here. My desire is to serve you, not the other way around.”
All eyes were on me. They needed to know that I wasn’t bullet-proof, that I felt pain just like them.
The lady took my hand and said, “We all understand that you aren’t invincible. What we’re hoping for, correction; what I am hoping for, is that you can save us from becoming extinct. We are dying off faster than we are evolving. We kill our own for sport. As a people, we are in disarray. I am hoping you can bring all Mani together. I’m hoping that the mere idea of you gives each one of us hope.”
This woman spoke so pure and eloquent; for the first time I realized I was a ‘symbol of hope’ as well as someone who can help them.
“I am here to help,” I said to her. “I’m not exactly sure what I can do, but I know for damn sure those who follow us, who choose our side, will be rewarded.”
“So, sweet Josiah, will you show me?”
I smiled at the dear woman. For her and all of those who have waited for this prophesy to come to pass, I ran as hard as I could toward the middle of the Flatlands, and jumped through the air and transitioned into the great white eagle and flew up into the sky. I heard thunderous applause below me as I circled this tiny strip of land. I looked down and I knew I was among my people. They were looking to me for guidance. I understood for the first time what Goshi meant by saying that my love for Lena would only tear me away from my true calling. What happened between Lena and Tommy didn’t matter. What did matter were the people right here, right now, the ones who have fought the good fight and have been persecuted for hundreds of years. I was here for them. I will do whatever it is the Triat asks o
f me.
I spent the next two hours visiting all three bonfires and telling my tales from the last few months. Everyone was real interested in my trials and tribulations. I kept the details of Tommy having cognitive thought and my feelings for Lena private. Other than that, I let loose telling them all my stories. I felt like an old grandfather telling his grandkids of days gone by.
It was close to five in the morning and I decided it was time to leave. Tonight, I had seen all types of Mani. I saw them as they were and their most basic needs. I too, had fallen for the stereotype that most Mani were savages and hungered for the kill. But on this night, I saw mothers, daughters, sons, and fathers. I saw people who were once flesh and blood just like myself, but now had become immortal and were trying to live with that on a daily basis. I saw people who needed to connect with each other. To know they weren’t in this alone.
I said goodbye to my new friends and transitioned into the eagle and flew off. I have never felt such a positive feeling of acceptance. I flew back to Hollywood, knowing in my heart, I was going to let whatever happened between Tommy and Lena go for now. I had a much bigger destiny than to worry about such petty things.
Or so... I thought.
When I came into the house, Tommy was lying back in the easy chair and Lena was on the floor cross legged next to him. I was hoping to feel a great abundance of forgiveness, but that didn’t happen. I saw Tommy and Lena and I felt instant betrayal. Lena popped up off the ground and came toward me the second I got into the house. “Where have you been?” she asked.
“I went out to clear my head. I’ve had a pretty stressful couple of weeks.”
“Where did you go?” Tommy asked.
I looked at Tommy and Lena and felt an extreme amount of hurt. I wanted to yell at both of them and say, ‘HOW COULD YOU!’ But instead, I just calmly said, “I went out. It was no big deal.”
“You okay, man?” Tommy asked, suspiciously.
“Yeah, I’m great, Tommy.” I stared Tommy down with a no-nonsense stare, and then gently smiled. “I have never been better.” I turned and walked toward the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”
I went into the bathroom and closed the door. I turned on the shower and made sure the water was scorching hot. I took off all my clothes and stepped into the shower. I stood there for at least thirty minutes, and just allowed the hot water to do its thing. I needed a massage, and the water head was doing the trick. I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. I dried myself off and put my jeans back on and left my shirt off.
There was a knock at the door. “Yeah, who is it?” I yelled
“Hey, Jo, it’s Tommy! When you get out, I want to talk to you.”
Really? I thought. I wonder what he wants to talk about. He probably thinks Yari said something to me and wants to pick my brain to see what I know. At times, Tommy had the worst OCD of anyone I ever knew. No wonder he’d put on a little weight. He was probably feeling guiltier than shit.
“Sure,” I said. “Give me a minute.”
I sat down on the toilet seat and sighed out loud. I eventually walked over to the door and opened it. “Where do you want to talk?”
“We can talk in the living room.”
“What about Lena?” I asked.
“She went to the guest room.”
I nodded my head and walked out of the bathroom and sat on the couch. Tommy came into the living room and sat on the easy chair.
“What’s on your mind, Tommy?”
Tommy was quiet and rubbing his knuckles. He stared blankly ahead and had very little facial expression. Then he said something that nearly made me fall off the couch. “I think I’m in love with your girlfriend.”
Huh? No set up? No beating around the bush? Just a flat out, ‘I think I’m in love with your girlfriend’?
I didn’t know how to respond. I thought at best, he would come clear and admit he kissed her . But, in love with her? What was this? Days of Our Lives?
“Did I hear you right?” I said.
“You heard me, Josiah.”
“How?”
“Over the past month I have fallen for Lena. I feel horrible about it. I can’t figure out why I even allow it to happen, but it did, and it’s fucking me up inside.”
If my head was spinning before now it was in manic hyper-speed.
Holy shit! My best friend in the entire world just manned up and told me he was in love with my girlfriend!
I looked at Tommy and I could tell it was eating him up inside. I needed to know why he felt that way toward Lena and what she felt for him. “How did it happen?” I asked.
“Josiah, when you left, none of us really knew how to act around each other. Yari and I messed around for a while, but she’s not the type of girl you keep that up with. God knows what she does when she leaves here. I don’t ask her because I don’t want to know.”
“Did you tell Yari how you felt? She’s not just a fuck toy that you can bang and then toss to the side.”
“I know that.”
“Do you know that? Yari has more depth than either of us will ever know. She’s saved both of our lives and never asked for a damn thing from us.”
“I know that Josiah and I care about her. But she has dark fucking secrets that scare the shit out of me. There’s a little too much going on with her.”
“So, let me get this straight. You realized you didn’t care about Yari, so you decided to fall in love with my girlfriend instead?”
“Nothing is that simple, Josiah. Do you think I went after Lena and pounced on her the second I knew she was vulnerable and missing you?”
I stood up off the couch and walked to the window. I peeked behind the wall panels that covered the windows so no sunlight could come in. I saw that the sun had not come up yet, but it was about to. I closed the panel.
“I don’t know Tommy. I don’t know how you think. You do things that I would never do. You cross over the lines that are beyond my imagination. You’re a different breed than me in more ways than one.” I walked over to the hallway and pointed down the hall at Lena in her room. “That right there, Tommy! That’s a line you never cross.”
“Why, Josiah? Because you’re the fucking Chosen One, and God forbid that anyone crosses you?”
“No, you dumbass! It’s a line you don’t cross because we’re best friends! Because we’re brothers. We’re more than brothers! We have a connection that is beyond this world. At least I thought we did. But you fucked everything up! You don’t allow yourself to develop feelings for your best friend’s girl.”
“I didn’t plan on it happening. It just did.”
“Have you acted on it, Tom?” Tommy was extremely quiet. “Have you?” I shouted. Lena had to have heard me in the other room.
“Yes, I have.”
I knew he had, but I wanted to hear it from his own mouth.
“What happened?”
“I kissed her. We were at the beach, just hanging out and I told her I was having feelings for her and I didn’t want to act on them because you mean too much to me.”
“You told her that?”
“Yeah.”
“You manipulative motherfucker!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you played the ‘I’m in love with you but I want to do the noble thing card’. You’re a fucking douchebag. You forgot you taught me everything you know, Tommy. That was ‘lesson one’ in the ‘Tommy getting laid handbook’!”
“It’s not like that, Josiah. That’s not it at all.”
“But yet, you still waited for an opening, didn’t you? You waited for the right moment to stick your tongue down her throat!”
Tommy was again quiet.
“Am I right? You played her good, didn’t you? Did she bite, Tom? Did she nibble on the line? Did she kiss you back?”
“Yes and no.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means in the moment she went with it, but only in the moment; wi
thin seconds she regretted it and felt awful.”
“What about you? What the fuck did you feel?”
“I felt bad, but...”
“But what? There’s is no but. You are lucky we have a history, Tommy.”
“Why, because you would kick my ass otherwise?”
“No, Tommy, I’m not going to threaten you. You’re not worth it. To threaten you would mean I give a shit about you!”
Tommy looked at me shocked as hell. “What are you saying, Josiah?”
“I’m saying that you stepped over a line that can’t be fixed.”
“Okay,” Tommy said quietly. “So, that’s it? You and I are done?”
“I’m sorry that it even started.”
Tommy nodded his head at me. I could tell he felt awful. Then his face turned malicious and he transitioned into the werewolf. I thought he was going to attack me, but instead he crashed through the window and wall panel, spraying glass and wood bits everywhere. Tommy ran up the pathway and leaped over the main fence at the front of the community.
Then I heard a voice in my head and it was Tommy’s. It was short and to the point. “I’m sorry, Josiah.”
Lena rushed into the living room once she heard Tommy crash through the window and wall panel. “What happened?” she yelled.
I looked at her and felt disgust in my heart. The morning sun had now come up over the horizon and Tommy blasting through the window allowed a ton of sunlight to get into the townhouse.
That sure was considerate of Tommy to make a giant hole in a house filled with vampires.
“Go back to the room, you’re going to burn!” I said to Lena.
“What happened, Josiah?”
I calmly looked at Lena and said slowly, “Go back to the room or you’re going to burn!”
Lena knew I wasn’t messing around, and it was really the first time I ever threw my weight around when it came to her. Lena turned around and walked slowly back to her room.
I needed to get out of the living room where most of the sunlight was making its way through. I went into Yari’s room and shut the door. I took my phone out of my pocket and walked over to Yari’s computer and looked up a twenty-four hour maintenance company in the Google search engine.
