by S S Bazinet
He was jostled back to the moment when Elise hit a bump in the road. It wasn’t a big bump, just one that gave everyone a little shaking up and made them laugh again. Instead of joining in, Arel peeked over at Elise. There was a big smile on her face as she said she was sorry in a teasing tone. When she glanced back, he found himself smiling too. More importantly, he felt his shoulders relax. He even stretched out his legs and started listening to one of Carey’s funny stories.
As the day continued in a stress-free fashion, Arel was particularly happy to see Annabel enjoying herself. She deserved a break after the rough time she’d had coping with both his own and William’s problems. Now, with Elise’s encouragement, Annabel indulged her excitement over the most ordinary of things. She gazed wide-eyed at changing landscapes. When they stopped and checked out a couple of gift shops, she’d excitedly scoured the store shelves for nick-knacks.
Annabel’s curious spirit of adventure soon infected the group, including Arel. He was a bit taken back when he purchased something he normally wouldn’t notice. It was a small ballerina statue that he saw Elise admiring. It only cost a few dollars in a second hand store, and it certainly wasn’t a collectible, but it made Elise smile when she looked at it. Later, Arel asked Carey to give the statue to Elise. He didn’t want to get involved again. After being with Claire, he needed a very long break from relationships.
But he did enjoy the day and the time he spent with the group. That evening, when the SUV pulled into Elise’s driveway, he got out of the car feeling lighter than normal. Elise hadn’t found a place to live, but he’d actually lost himself to the spirit of the group for a good part of the day. As he walked back home, his body felt content, and his mind wasn’t buzzing with its usual concerns.
Thirty-Eight
AREL WOKE UP and almost smiled. He took a deep breath without any effort. He’d had a particularly sound sleep without any nightmares. Unfortunately, when he stretched and his hand came to rest on the space next to him, he remembered Claire. The cold sheets brought on a twinge of sadness, but the gloom didn’t last. He didn’t feel the loss he was sure he was supposed to feel. After all, he’d been madly in love with Claire. He’d been willing to go to almost any lengths to fulfill her wants. So why didn’t he suffer more now that their wedding was off? Was William right about the abuse aspect? That might account for his feeling of freedom.
He sat up and grabbed his phone off of the night stand. It was his habit to check the time and weather. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes when he saw that he’d missed a number of calls. William had tried to contact him, but he never heard his phone. When he’d been in the car with Elise, Annabel, and Carey, he’d shut off the ringer as a courtesy. He’d forgotten to turn it back on.
When he checked William’s voice message, any sense of ease was instantly replaced by concern. William’s tone sounded way too grim, even for William.
“Arel, I’m calling from Rolphe’s. I might be wrong, but I think he’s on his way out. I think that you should come to Paris too.”
The message was so unexpected that Arel hesitated. He couldn’t imagine why William would visit Rolphe. As for Rolphe, the man seemed fine when they spoke last. Of course, weeks had passed since their last conversation.
Arel got to his feet, put on a robe and looked upwards, wondering about Michael’s whereabouts. Why hadn’t the angel informed him of Rolphe’s situation? As a twinge of annoyance made him frown, he already knew the answer. Michael maintained an attitude of non-interference. That attitude meant Arel had to be accountable. If he’d wanted, he could have checked on Rolphe himself.
He went back to the night stand and picked up his phone. After he put in a call to William’s number, he waited and braced himself for bad news. But now, William wasn’t picking up. Arel tried to tune into William’s thoughts, but all he got was a jumble of disconnected images. He couldn’t access any helpful information.
* * * * *
William sat in Rolphe’s bedroom, listening to Rolphe’s labored breaths. He was also appreciating the fact that Arel had arrived from Chicago. William would be free to return home very soon.
He’d never had a chance to talk to Rolphe after the dream he’d had. Rolphe had lapsed into a deep sleep state, and his breathing was becoming more difficult by the hour. With Rolphe looking and sounding like he could die at any time, William decided not to leave him.
Arel’s arrival was a relief. But at the moment, Arel was in the living room talking on his phone. He’d called Peggy in Chicago to explain his sudden departure to Paris. William used the time to consider his own condition. He felt better physically. His emotions were a different matter. He couldn’t forget the person who’d haunted his dream. Young Will had been so cocky and sure of himself. Every time William thought about the young man’s accusations, his anger flared. Happily, he could put Paris, Rolphe and Young Will behind him very soon.
He stood up and checked his watch. He might be able to make the next train back to London if he hurried. He gave Rolphe a final glance. It was time to say goodbye to Arel and be on his way. As he was about to leave the room, Arel came walking in. William nodded to him. “Rolphe’s all yours, Arel. Good luck.”
Arel stood for a long moment, staring at the bed where Rolphe was sleeping. When he looked at William, his scowl deepened. “Something is very wrong here,” he said.
William wanted to know what Arel meant, but he didn’t get a chance to ask. Arel was already headed out the door. William tried to be patient for a little longer and kept his voice calm and civil as he went after Arel. “Arel, what’s going on with you? You’ve been acting weird ever since you got here?”
Arel didn’t bother to answer. He walked briskly towards the living room, leaving William behind in the hall. William sighed knowingly. Arel had a very tough job ahead of him. Being around Rolphe was depressing, and the man’s energy was draining. Arel was probably unhappy about being forced to contend with the situation.
William walked into the living room, feeling sympathetic to Arel’s plight. He was surprised when he glanced around the room and found that Arel wasn’t there. “Stop playing games, Arel. Where are you?”
William was somewhat accustomed to Arel’s unusual comings and goings, but this felt different. When he quickly searched the rest of the apartment and didn’t find Arel, his uneasiness increased. Surely, if Arel had decided to leave, he would have informed William. And what was Arel talking about when he said something was very wrong?
The question sent a shiver through William’s body. Soon, he was shaking with cold. He remembered that he’d left his jacket in Rolphe’s bedroom. He went back to retrieve it. When he got to the doorway, he let out a gasp of surprise. Arel was standing next to Rolphe’s bed. “What the hell, Arel! Why didn’t you answer me?”
Arel smiled back. “Hello, Will.”
“Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
Arel hesitated. “I just let myself into Rolphe’s apartment a minute ago. How could I hear you?”
William realized how exhausted he felt. “Listen, I’m tired, and I have to leave.”
“You do look a bit worn.”
“I’ll call you when I get home,” William said as he turned to go.
A groan came from Rolphe’s bed. “William!” Rolphe cried out. “Please, stop! I don’t want to be alone!”
William turned and gave him a dismissive wave. “Arel is here now. He’ll stay with you.”
Rolphe tried to lift his head. “Arel? Here? Where?”
William frowned and pointed to Arel. “He’s standing two feet away from you.”
Rolphe’s eyes flitted right and left and came to rest on William again. “No, there’s only you and me.”
William leaned against the bedroom door jamb and rubbed his temples. Nothing made any sense. He glowered at Arel. “What have you done this time? Why can’t Rolphe see you?”
Arel shrugged and smiled back.
It was the kind of mindless smile that made Wi
lliam’s skin crawl. “Whatever, I’m leaving,” he announced as he backed away. “You deal with Rolphe.”
He was passing by the living room again when he noticed something else that was strange. There was a large bouquet of yellow roses sitting on the piano. The flowers hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. After a moment of confusion, he decided to let the matter go.
“I’m tired that’s all,” he said as he checked his watch again. “What the—” His mind stalled when he realized the second hand on his watch was going backwards. In fact, according to the time piece, he’d lost a whole day. “Dammit, this is an expensive watch, and I just had the battery replaced.” He’d definitely have to revisit his jeweler.
As he was walking to the outer door, Arel called out to him.
“William, why are you leaving? Rolphe needs you.”
“You’re here now. You can take care of him.”
Arel tilted his head, looking confused. “But how could I be here, William? I’m just arriving from Chicago. I’m still at the airport.”
William started to reply just before Arel disappeared again. “Damn you, Arel, you’re always doing something crazy, but I’d had it.”
William grabbed the door knob and tried to turn it, but it was stuck. When he tried to turn it more forcefully, the knob broke off in his hand. Something that trivial shouldn’t have made his heart start pounding, but he was terrified as he stared at the broken knob. Something told him that he might not be able to ever leave Rolphe’s apartment. He gasped out his fears. “I could be trapped here forever.”
They were irrational thoughts, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had him in its clutches again. He tried to calm himself by breathing, but his chest felt so constricted that it wouldn’t expand. He could barely get any air. Panic started to take hold, and he began to pace. That’s when he heard laughter.
Young Will appeared where Arel had been standing. “You can’t run away, William,” the young man insisted. “We’re going to figure this out whether you like it or not.”
William staggered back against the wall. “Oh hell, I think I’m still dreaming. Or maybe I’ve done something crazy like Arel.”
For weeks, he’d been contemplating what it would be like to leave the world. Now, he realized that his wish might have come true. With his growing, but uncontrolled powers, he might have copied one of Arel’s tricks and created his own alternate reality. But how and when could he have slipped away from the normal world?
Young Will’s smile broadened. “Or maybe you’re losing your mind. Wouldn’t that be something? The one thing you prize so highly could be slipping away from you. If that happens, there’ll be just you and me again.”
Thirty-Nine
AREL STOOD IN Rolphe’s guest bedroom, rubbing his eyes. They burned from too much worry and too little sleep. He’d arrived in Paris after a tiring flight from Chicago, but he couldn’t think about himself or his bodily woes. William was in trouble, and Arel didn’t know how to help him. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t wake William up. Arel glanced at Rolphe. “What happened to him?”
Rolphe stepped forward. “I don’t know. I’ve tried to wake him up, too.”
“William called me, telling me that you were the one who was in bad shape.”
“I was sick for a couple of days, but I’m better now. I thought that William had returned to London. I didn’t know he was still here until I felt well enough to be up and about. I tried, but I couldn’t wake him up either. When I called your home, Michael said you were on your way to Paris.”
Arel went over to a dresser by the window and picked up William’s phone. He checked the text messages and the calls that William had made. “His phone records indicate that he did call me and that he also left messages. But how could that be if he was sleeping the whole time?”
“I don’t know, but I have heard of cases like this when I was young and traveling with some gypsies. There were stories—”
“Please, Rolphe, don’t ever talk about such things around Will. He’s still trying to adjust to angelic blood. To think he’s having episodes akin to a gypsy would put him over the edge.”
“I’m sorry.” Rolphe backed away. “Maybe this is my fault.”
“Your fault?” Arel felt his blood go instantly hot. “Did you do something to William, because if you did—”
“A couple of weeks ago, I sensed that William was having difficulties. I wanted to help him, so I started praying.”
Arel was still dealing with his attack of instant rage and couldn’t hold back a response. “You and your damnable prayers! Why can’t you just paint your pictures and forget about everything else?”
“But I never meant any harm. I swear!” Rolphe stumbled over to a chair. “But while I was praying, I kept getting flashes of William’s childhood and what happened to him. Then I started thinking about my own youth too. That’s when I visited William in London—”
“Why would you visit him?”
“Because I knew he’d taken the wrong path, just like I did. I wanted him to stop giving away his power to ideas that are worthless. But he didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. He was angry and almost threw me out. After I came home, I felt very bad about it all and got sick.”
Arel walked over to where Rolphe was sitting. “Anything else? I want to know everything.”
“For some reason, William came here to visit me. I think he still believed that I had something to offer, maybe an answer. I told him that he’d made a terrible mistake by wanting my blood those many years ago. I pointed out that he was just looking for a way to defeat his worthless father. I told him that what I gave him was worthless too.”
“William believed your blood enabled him to have the life he wanted.”
“Yes, but he was wrong.”
“You can’t know that! If a person believes that something is right for them, and you destroy their belief and call them a fool, you destroy their foundation. You leave them with nothing.”
“Do you think that’s what I did to William?”
“Look at him, Rolphe! He’s checked out! Now, you better help me get him back. And you can start by telling me everything you know about those gypsy stories.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Don’t give me excuses, Rolphe.”
Rolphe bowed his head. “I’ll do my best.”
“I want more than your best, but before you start telling me your tales, I better get Michael and Raphael in on this. It’s the kind of thing that seems to come with their blood.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know you revere angels, but their world and ours don’t mesh very well. And trying to incorporate their lofty ideals and values can be challenging to say the least.”
“Why would you say that? They’ve helped me to turn my life around.”
Arel thought about how Elise had said the same thing. But seeing William lying so still on the bed, hardly breathing, he had to wonder about angelic wisdom. “Yes, maybe they have helped you, but look at William. His mind has flown the coop. And do you know why?”
Rolphe shook his head.
“Because of your prayers and meddling advice about what you think is worthless!”
* * * * *
Arel narrowed his brows as he studied Michael and Raphael. The angels were sitting side-by-side on a sofa in Rolphe’s living room. Rolphe was off to himself in a corner chair.
Arel was familiar with Michael who appeared older and more seasoned when it came to the world. Arel hadn’t been around Raphael very much. The angel had a youthful appearance, but his eyes told a different story. If Arel had allowed himself to stare at them for very long, he was sure he’d find himself witnessing creation at its very beginning.
Both angels looked much more mature than Carey, but Arel knew that Carey only pretended to be young and reckless. He let out a huff of disapproval. “Poor William, when I got him mixed up with angelic blood, I should have been horse-whipped
.”
Michael sighed. “Arel, I’m sorry that you find us so threatening.”
“Of course, I find you threatening. You two sit there all sweet and innocent, but think about the three of us, the recipients of your so-called heavenly gift! Rolphe’s a menace at best. Most of the time, I’m half out of my mind, and William, according to Rolphe, is trapped in some convoluted, dream world.”
“Is there something we can do to help?” Michael asked.
“Yes, you can shed some light on the subject. What are we dealing with?”
Michael sat back. “It’s a little complicated. William is experiencing alternate worlds that are similar to this one.”
Arel began to pace. “But they’re still dreams in a sense.”
“Yes, but they appear real and solid to William. The difference is that the rules of the normal world don’t apply. For instance, linear time isn’t a part of those worlds. Unexpected inconsistencies are common. People can be in two places at one time, or they can simply disappear and reappear in a different location.”
Arel paused, trying to understand what Michael was saying. When he’d been involved with lucid dreaming, he’d experienced many of the conditions that Michael described. But William had never studied those lucid states. “You’re saying that William doesn’t know how to respond in those worlds.”
Raphael spoke up. “There’s more to it than that. William’s fear has escalated. He feels like he’s lost all control. He feels trapped.”
“Why can’t we wake him up?”
Raphael hesitated. “In a sense, he is lost. Before this happened, he couldn’t accept or integrate that aspect of himself that he viewed as his child self. That part frightened him because he thought it held all of his pain.”
A loud moan came from the corner where Rolphe was sitting. “So this is my fault. I should never have shared that vision with him.”
