Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people are coincidental. If you are under the legal age in your area to read erotic literature, please stop reading this and go somewhere age appropriate. If you are offended by homosexual material, please stop reading this and go somewhere your bigoted little mind can handle. If you're looking for pure sex, and plot/character development only get in your way, this story is definitely not for you. The rest of you, please enjoy chapter seven of this tale.
Author's Note: Recent responses to Godsend have been fewer, but more heartfelt and uplifting. It's a nice balance to make a writer continue. I urge all readers: if there's a story you're enjoying, please tell the author so s/he knows it's worth continuing. There's no hit counter or comments page at nifty, so responses are the only gauge writers have.
----------------------- Godsend Chapter 7: Shattered Peace
"Stefan, man, I need to talk to you," James whispered. It was Monday morning again. Angie and I had actually arrived early, and James was right near my parking spot. His eyes were darting everywhere and he looked like the slightest sound would make him jump out of his skin.
Angie looked at me with a frown. Something wasn't right, and I knew it. "Need privacy?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said quickly. Angie nodded to me with a warning look in her eyes, then walked off.
"Get in," I said, sitting back down in my car. I closed the door, and James was sitting in the passenger side with the door closed in seconds. "What's going on, James?" I asked. "You're a total wreck."
"It's Mike, man," he said. "He won't leave me alone after Friday. He keeps calling and coming over, telling me how much I want it. Dude, I don't want it from him...at all."
"Calm down," I told him. "Mike wants it from wherever he can get it. He has it in his mind that he can just take it from you. He thinks that if he pushes hard enough, you'll just give in."
"So what do I do?" James asked.
I sighed. "I don't know," I said honestly.
"If you don't know," James said, "why did you tell me to calm down?"
"It seemed like the thing to say. I'm sorry if it made you think I could fix it."
"I think you can, though," James said. "That's why I came to you. You know Mike's all about the power, but what if he's the only one who doesn't have control? What if you do what you can do to just him?"
"He'd kick the shit out of me," I replied. I had no desire to test how much damage I could survive as a god.
"If I can promise you he won't?" James asked. I was about to ask how, but James shook his head. "Don't ask. I have ways."
I don't know what possessed me. Maybe I still craved acceptance, or maybe it was temporary insanity, but I agreed. "What's your idea?" I asked. He filled me in on the details, and I prepared myself to meet James after school. Getting out of the car, I could see that James was still twitching a bit, though not as violently.
There was a buzzing in my pocket. Taking out my cell phone I saw that it was my mom. "What's up, Mom?" I asked.
"Be on guard today, sweetie," she said. "Cassandra called. She told me that a new power is coming, and that it brought change."
"The prophetess Cassandra?" I asked. "Didn't she die?"
"Your point?" Mom said. I figured she was right. Death was never a consideration for the gods. If someone was that useful to them, they'd just make a deal with Hades and get them back, possibly make them immortal.
"Isn't Cassandra cursed with misunderstanding or disbelief or something?"
"It was just disbelief when she was dealing with mortals, but it changed when it was learned that her predictions come true. Now it's misunderstanding. That's why I told you to be on guard today. The possibility that her prediction is about you is slim, but we can't rule it out completely."
"Ok, Mom, I'll be careful," I told her. "Thanks. Do you want me to tell Angie?"
"Already did," she said. "Bye sweetie." I was saying bye as the phone turned off. Sometimes I wondered if my mother had ever been taught phone etiquette.
The day was calm and normal for the most part. The classes I had with Kelly and Cade were wonderful, and I wondered how I could have ever thought of ditching Kelly as a friend. By the time school ended, I had completely forgotten the prophecy.
"So what do you want to do?" Kelly asked me when I walked out of study hall with Cade.
"Actually, I have something to do. James wants me to help him with something," I told her.
"Stefan," Cade said, worry in his eyes. "I'm not sure if you can trust him."
"I think I can handle him," I said with a smile. "If he tries anything, I'll just zap him with a lust beam and he'll be too busy to bother me."
"I guess you'll be ok," he said. "Want a lift, Kel," he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'd ask you to drop me off, but it's too chilly for a dip in Stef's fountain today."
Kelly punched him in the arm and giggled. "Jackass," she said with a smile.
"Yeah, you can take me home." The two of them walked off joking around more, and I headed the other way, to the boys' locker room.
The hallway outside was deserted, but James still spoke in a whisper. "He comes here every day to work out," James said. "The wrestling team is in there too. Can you pick him out from here?"
"No," I said. "I have to go in and see him."
"Keep it quiet," he did, pushing the door open slowly. Inside, everything was tiled, and there was a tiled wall dividing the open door from the locker room. It was a precaution, since girls walked through the hallway. Their locker room had the same privacy wall. Once inside, James closed the door softly. There was enough horsing around going on that we probably could have just barged in and no one would have noticed. Peeking around the wall, I saw that Mike stood apart from the rest, getting changed into his workout clothes without distraction. He was just pulling a tank top over his massive chest and sculptured abs, so I knew he was about to leave. It was now or never.
I reached out with my power and established a link without doing anything else. Ducking behind the wall again, I slowly turned on Mike's lust. Hearing a sharp intake of breath, I knew Mike was not only under my power, but that he knew what was happening.
"Hey, man!" came a voice from the other side of the wall. "Cut that shit out. It's not funny."
Another voice started in. "Dude, get off him. He's no queer." A scuffle started, and I could hear several punches.
A pair of hands grabbed me around the arms and wrestled me to the floor. "James, what are you doing?" I asked.
He got me into a head lock and dragged me into view of everyone. "Stop guys," he announced forcefully. They paused and looked at him. "Mike wasn't doing that shit to you guys. This little fag was controlling him." I dropped control of Mike immediately.
"You asshole!" I growled. "You set me up."
Mike stood and walked over to us. "James has wanted to get at me for a long time," he said. "You don't have a reason, Stefan...until now."
He pulled his fist back. I reached out with my power to him, but it was too late, he was already in a full swing at my stomach. His fist connected, sending the wind out of my lungs, and something else. A pulse of light shot out of me where he punched me. It was a thin ring, which grew as it shot out, passing through the guys, but bouncing off the walls. It kept ricocheting until every last bit had been absorbed into the guys there, except me.
"The hell was that?" one of the guys asked.
"What was that, Stefan," Mike asked.
"I don't know," I wheezed, trying to get my air back. I took a deep breath, wincing in pain. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. "Next time you meet someone who has powers they don't know how to use, maybe you shouldn't PUNCH THEM! I have no fucking clue what just came out of me, but if it hurts you, you deserve it." I looked out at the wrestling team. "And if it hurts you all, I'm sorry. Just remember, Punchy over here knocked an energy wave out of the boy with unstable powers because he couldn't keep his fucking rage in check."
Then I turned to James. "Why the fuck did you set me up?"
He turned and pointed to the closed circuit camera in the corner. "I had to catch you using your power," he said. "My dad doesn't believe me about what happened, so I needed proof."
"You told the Pastor about what happened?" Mike asked. My stomach dropped. If James's father was a religious leader, then this was going to get ugly.
"Yes," James said confidently. "And what he just saw on that camera proves your innocence as well as mine. Stefan's power is evil. And if he's willing to use it, that makes him evil as well."
Mike looked horrified. "Pentecostals," he spat, then grabbed my arm and started running out of the locker room, pulling me behind.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Why are we running?"
"If James's father is involved, then so are the police by now, and maybe even the media." We took a few turns down halls I never knew existed and burst outside through a single door that looked like a janitors entrance or something. It was brown and metal, blending with the outside of the school.
No one was there, and the two of us sprinted for the parking lot. When we reached my car, I looked at the main entrance for the school. There were news trucks and reporters gathered en masse.
"What the...?" I began, but Mike shushed me and told me to get in his car.
"My guess," Mike said, starting his car, "is that the Pastor told the news that there was someone forcing underage boys into sex acts at the school. News hounds will be all over it, and the video will show you in all your power. They may have already played it over a broadcast."
"But nothing really happened, did it?" I protested.
"Look, Stefan," Mike said. "When your powers kicked in, you were an unwilling participant like the rest of us. Then, when you tested it, it was on me, and I was consenting. What happened in the locker room was voluntary on your part alone. You forced me into sexual conduct without my consent. You know what that's called, right?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't even say the word. Mike was calling me a rapist, and I was starting to believe him. "Oh god," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm ok," he said. "I didn't go very far in there. I only molested a couple of guys. Besides, I think you're `duly repentant' and all that shit, right?" I nodded and mumble assent. "So you learned your lesson. I forgive you, case closed with me. Besides, I need your help with a new little problem."
I felt a sense of impending doom. "I'm not using it on anyone else," I told him.
He laughed at me. "No, the problem of what that punch produced. That's what I need help with."
"You know what it was?" I asked. He nodded and pulled over to the side of the road. "Tell me," I said.
"Up until today, I thought you were a cool guy who I wouldn't mind letting into the group."
"Did my power make you hate me?" I asked.
He laughed. "No," he said. "Now I'm getting turned on, just by being in the car with you. I think you're damn hot and I want to pound that hot ass of yours." I think I turned stark white, because I was suddenly cold. "Good," he added upon seeing my dread. "It didn't affect you, too. You see, it's not just you. It was most of the guys in the locker room, including James. I think they're all hot now. I didn't before that shockwave."
"But I'm not even using my powers right now," I protested. "How can I be controlling you?"
"You're not," Mike said. "I'm in control. You just flipped the switch that made me like guys. I was hoping you could turn it back off."
"I made you gay?" I asked.
"Yes...wait...no," he said. "I think you made me bi. I still think the same thing about girls that I did before."
My mind started going through calculations and explanations. "I think," I said after a moment, "that I can't really do anything for or against a guy's attraction to women. I think I can only change what guys want from other guys. That's not as bad as a full conversion, right? If I can't fix it, then you'll still be able to date and marry women...right?"
"And I'll throw wood every time I'm with a cute guy," he said. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was tenting his gym shorts. "Really, I'd rather not."
"I'll try," I said, not sure if it was possible.
"You'd better do more than try," he said. "If you just made the entire wrestling team like guys, the news, the Pastor, and the rest of the school will be on your ass. I think you'll want to come back with a cure, not an attempt."
I closed my eyes and focused on Mike, probing my power into every corner I could find, but there were millions of little pinprick doorways for me to explore, and I was worn out in minutes, after exploring only a handful. "There's too much there," I said. "It'll take me decades to find it without some sort of clue."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Mike replied with a sigh. "The good news is that you probably couldn't repeat it and change anyone else either."
"No," I lied. "You're the only ones. Lucky you." In truth, I had felt what happened and could probably duplicate it with ease, just not the reverse. After what had happened, I figured it was best if I kept that ability a secret. I was already going to go through hell, no need to put on gasoline boxers.
Mike pulled back onto the road and drove in silence for a while. The land around it was hilly and secluded forest for the most part. Here and there, a driveway broke the illusion of complete isolation, but mostly greenery filled the side windows. He was deliberately taking the long back route to my house, but I didn't mind. In fact...
"Mike, I want you to take a turn up ahead," I said. "There's a service entrance somewhere around here, if I'm not - there!" Mike slowed down quickly, but still overshot the mark and had to back up. It was gated, but I knew the code would match the manual override on the main entrance. I left the car and typed it in, letting the rusted gate swing inward. Mike drove through and I closed the gate behind us, hearing the little metallic click as it locked. There were still several miles of forest to drive through before hitting the main property. The drive we were now on was the only part of the area my family owned. About twenty feet into the trees on either side was a wall that extended the entire length of the drive. On the other side of the wall, there was a mixture of government owned land and private property.
When we reached the main property, we were close to the garage, so I told mike to just pull into my spot, since my car was still at school. I knew something was wrong when I neared the door and Angie burst through it.
"What's going on, Angie?" I asked. She looked at Mike, then at me with a questioning look. "Yeah, Mike knows I have a freaky power or two," I told her. I was hoping she would understand that that was all he knew.
"He has to go," she said. "Sorry Mike. Serious family emergency."
"I know," Mike said. "I pulled Stefan out of there and brought him here as quickly as possible. The reporters are probably fifty feet deep at the gates by now waiting for him."
"Mom and Dad are off and Grandma and Grandpa are watching us," Angie said over him. "They want the three of us and Kelly to stay indoors."
Angie paused, looking at Mike, digesting the words he had said, while I took in what she had said. The two of us then turned to each other. "What?" we said in unison.
Author's P.S.: Well then, one thing most writers will tell you is that the characters write the stories, not the writers. In this case, one of our scheduled antagonists, Mike, chose to change his script and save the day. I have no complaints, though. He definitely made it fit in the story.
Questions? Comments? Confess your sins? Email Joe at academygm@hotmail.com