Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!!
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry. Copyright Paramount Studios.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
jmsotc@yahoo.com
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Chapter 45 The Promised Land
Slowly I walked down a road. I couldn't tell if it was a country road or not. I wasn't focused on that. I just knew it was a road and I was heading towards something I had anticipated. Eventually I came to a little turn off and saw a vast amount of open land. As I stood there staring at it, slowly a building took shape. It seemed like a vast mansion of sorts but not as a home. A fountain sprung up in the middle of the driveway and watered flowed from it, water of hope and life.
I stepped up to the doors and opened them. It opened to a decent sized foyer. On the right was a glass office. And another set of doors lay beyond that. I opened them to a large circular room. In the middle was another fountain. And it seemed four hallways branched off of the circle. On the far side of the room were several sets of door leading to the back of the building. I went up to them and saw a soccer field.
"What is all this?" I muttered.
"It's yours," a voice replied.
I looked around and saw the angel that visited with me in my prayer times.
"Mine?" I asked. "What do you mean 'mine'?"
"It's yours. It's what God intends for you. It's His plan for you."
"His plan?"
"The center. This is the center. The center of hope and life for the young."
"You mean..."
"Yes. This is what God intended for the center all along. This is where you will build."
"Where I will build?"
"The building is not yet here. The land sits un-owned waiting for someone to buy it. Waiting for the proper owner to make good use out of it. Waiting for you."
"But...I don't have the money for something like this. I had to rely on lots of other funds to help me get the one Ra's Al Ghul destroyed. How can I get the money for this?"
"The money is waiting for you. Just begin and it will be there every step of the way."
I turned to the window again and looked at the soccer field. "I must be dreaming," I thought.
"Come. There is more to show you."
The angel took me on a guided tour of the center. Down one hall were several sleeping rooms furnished with a bed and dresser. At the end of the two hallways on the right was a large room, set up like a cafeteria. Down the back hall connected to the cafeteria were several rooms, set up that looked like counselors offices. One right by the circular room looked like main offices inside.
Down the other two hallways were larger counseling rooms. The angel then took me upstairs to larger dorm rooms. Rooms were set up for sleeping and hanging out. Most rooms had two sets of bunk beds. It was practically a college dormitory.
The angel then led me to the basement. Down there were a basketball court and gymnasium, weight room, and swimming pool, as well as a large room with a padded floor. It could possibly have been for self-defense or tumbling lessons, which I wasn't sure.
We returned to the circular room and I looked at the angel. "Thank you for this. I can get back home now and begin looking for the funds for this place."
"You are already home. You first must begin to look for here."
"What?"
"You have been shown the end point. You already know the beginning. Now you must experience the journey."
The angel reached out her hand and touched my forehead.
I awoke rather abruptly. The dream seemed so real, the teen center, the sound of the water, everything seemed so real. Could it be it was all a dream?
I got up and dressed. Lance wasn't in the bedroom or the bathroom. He could only be downstairs. I went down and found him talking on the phone.
"Good morning," he said to me.
"Good morning," I replied.
I went right over to a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper. I began to draw what I had seen. On one side I drew the outside of the building when I first saw it appear. On the back I drew an overview of the land with the building and soccer field. On another piece of paper, I drew he lay out of the interior, hallways, rooms, everything. I couldn't let this information escape me.
When Lance hung up he came over to me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Sort of," I replied.
"What are you drawing?"
"The teen center."
"Really? Cool." Lance looked over my shoulder at my work. "Is this what you want to have?"
"This is what I'm going to have."
"Really?"
"I had a dream last night. An angel came to me and told me this was God's will for me."
"Interesting."
I stopped and looked up at Lance. "You don't believe me, do you?"
"I believe you dreamed this. But it was just a dream."
"Lance, I know what I'm talking about. The dream was more real than a dream."
"Aren't they all?"
"But this had the angel that visited me before."
"This angel appears to you regularly in your dreams?"
"This is the first time she appeared in my dream. All the other times it's been during prayer time, when I'm awake."
"Hmm," he mutters.
"You don't believe me."
"No, I didn't say that."
"It's okay. You don't have to. I do believe."
All was quiet for a moment.
"It's just that," Lance began, "dreams are very real. How do you know this isn't something Ra's did to you?"
"Because, I've experienced this angel before." Lance looked at me skeptically. "You believe vampires exist. You believe demons exist. Why is it hard for you to believe angels exist?"
"I believe angels exist. I just wonder why they are helping with the teen center."
"I find it fascinating that you believe it easier for a being to be capable of great evil, such as a vampire, to be real and involved in my life, but you find it impossible for an angel to be real and involved in my life."
"I believe angels are real. I told you that. I just don't."
"It's okay, Lance."
Lance walked up to me and kissed me on top of my head.
"Eric...I just don't want to see you getting involved with something and being tricked, that's all."
"I don't blame you. I appreciate your concern. But I have felt God's hand in things before. I know His presence. This has His presence. You must believe me."
"I have faith in your heart, Eric. That's all I need."
Lance kissed me once more on the head then left me to my work. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was looking at the paper. The headline read of gang violence. If anything it proved there was an even greater need for teen intervention.
An hour later I had finished my drawings to the best of my ability. I made lunch and over lunch asked Lance if we could go driving around to look for this land. He reluctantly agreed and off we went.
"Are you sure about this, Eric?"
"Yes, Lance. I am."
"Okay. As long as you are sure...I have faith in you."
I reached over and took his hand. As we neared the outskirts of the city I told him to slow down. He slowed down a bit.
"Pull over," I said.
Lance pulled the SUV over and we got out. I walked up to this turn off into this open field. It was the field in my dream.
"This is it."
"Are you sure?" Lance asked again. I turned to him. "Sorry. I keep asking that."
"It's okay. I understand."
We walked up into the field and looked around a bit. As we were leaving I noticed the small "For Sale" sign by the turn-off. I ran back to the SUV and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and recorded the number. Then we headed back to the house. I went inside and noticed a slight difference in Lance. He appeared to be distant.
"Lance, we need to talk about this."
"About what?" he replied.
"Your distance. Ever since I told you about the dream, you have become more and more distant. Is it because I had a dream? Is it because of the angel? I'd like to know."
"I'm afraid, Eric."
"Of what?"
"Of you turning into a religious extremist. That scares me that one day you may do something drastic in the name of religion. Not everyone has prophetic dreams."
"You're right. Not everyone does. And until now, I've never had one. But I've been spending lots of time in prayer. I feel God's presence the way I used to, before I accepted the fact I'm gay and couldn't change it. It gives me the feeling of peace with Him, the peace I had lost for a while."
"I can understand that. I can even accept that. I just don't want you to get all weird on me. And I don't want you to get too caught up in religion that you lose your reasoning capability. And most of all I don't want to lose you."
"You could never lose me." I walked up to Lance and hugged him tightly. "I'm yours. I belong to no one else."
"Good," Lance kissed and hugged me. "What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to call the number and find out how much the land is. Then I'm going to go to sleep so the angel can tell me where to find the money."
Lance's eyes widened a bit.
"I'm teasing. Then I'm going to check the funding that we had and see how much it's going to be."
"What about the insurance on the center? Don't you have some money coming in for that?"
"Good idea. I'll look into it."
The rest of the day was Lance and I busy tracking down the landowner and money. There was an insurance policy on the previous teen center that equaled a nice amount of money. The amount was enough to purchase the land and begin building. After much calculation, there would be plenty of money from the funding the boy bands promised to finish the building. And after that the city and local business owners were going to back the center. Everything seemed to be falling into place.
To Be Continued...
Again, a shorter chapter but lots going on. Any comments? Questions? Concerns that Eric may be going crazy? More to come!