Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:45:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: JMH <trandar2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Love in Passing Chapter 21
If they had caught Brian off guard, he didn't show it when the
three of them entered the room. In fact the man wore a bemused smile on
his face from the high back chair he was sitting in, a cigar in his hand.
"I hope the three of you didn't rush here on my account," the
dark haired man chuckled.
After they had walked halfway towards Brian, Daryl did
something that shocked the twins... he went down on his knees and bowed
before his former lover.
"Father..." Daryl whispered.
"Daryl." Brian said with a faint whisper that was barely
audible.
The twins watched as Brian placed his cigar in a nearby ashtray
before standing up and making his way toward where Daryl remained bowed.
Placing a hand on top of Daryl's bleached hair, the man ran his fingers
through its long strands. He then closed his hand into a fist, offering
the ring on his finger to Daryl's lips. After Daryl had kissed the ring,
Brian grabbed Daryl by both shoulders and lifted the man back onto his
feet.
"I've missed you Daryl. Have you missed me?"
"Every day," Daryl replied, his eyes still looking down at the
carpeted floor.
"Look at me Daryl," Brian said, placing an index finger under
the man's chin, raising his head up.
"Look at me Daryl," Brian said more insistently when he found
Daryl's eyes still closed.
"Look at me Daryl!" The Father eventually shouted, this time
causing Daryl to pop both eyes open.
`There now... was that so hard?" Brian said, his voice once
again calm.
"We are not supposed to gaze upon the face of the Father,"
Daryl whispered.
"That never stopped me or your brother. It was a silly custom
in the first place so I got rid of it after dad stepped down," Brian said
as he circled around Daryl as if he were examining a piece of art.
"That's not all you've changed," Daryl said accusingly, his
nose wrinkling from the smell of the cigar.
"You mean this?" Brian asked, taking quick strides to the
ashtray and picking up the cigar. "That's funny coming from you... how
many of the rules of discipline did the two of us break when we were kids?"
"What about these outsiders?" Daryl demanded, pointing to the
six armed men in the room.
"True believers of the faith." Brian said defensively. "After
becoming the Father I decided our church needed to expand. I therefore
became quite the missionary."
"I don't understand. It takes five years to become Blessed."
"Another stupid custom." Brian laughed as he went over to
where a man, dressed in a gray suit stood. "Daryl... I would like you to
meet Missionary Peter Thomson. He's the one who helps me see where to find
the people who will lead our church in this new century."
"Where did you find them?" Daryl asked.
"The streets," Peter said. "Among the homeless, drug addicts,
hustlers, and disaffected youth. With the funds the Father generously
provided, the church now has hostels, shelters, and youth centers all over
the country. You would be amazed how lost most American youth are.
Parents these days treat most of their kids like fashion accessories or
score cards. All it takes is love and a little motivation and you can not
only make them your friends but willing to give their lives for you."
"What have you done Brian? What are you doing with
this... this evil man?"
"I'm rewriting all our holy texts," Brian said, slipping back
into his leather chair.
"But why?"
"For you Daryl... I've done all this for you."
"What?"
"What happened to your brother and to us was a sin, a sin I
have committed myself to making unrepeatable."
"I don't understand. How can you erase over a hundred years of
tradition?"
Brian reached over and took the hands of two of his bodyguards.
"Can't you see what I've done? We are now the chosen people, not those
cattle whose only good use is breeding."
"You mean gay people?" Daryl asked.
"Yes... us men! It came to me one night like a divine vision.
All our texts refer to God as a man and as everyone knows Jesus was a man
too. Now if both were divine, and both were capable of perfect love, then
should men not aspire to achieve that same love?"
"You've gone mad," Daryl accused.
"No... I've become a prophet," Brian insisted.
"A prophet of doom... our people would never go along with this
craziness," Daryl replied. "You will destroy everything our people have
built... have stood for."
"But what have our people ever built? For almost the last 120
years our `people' have been living off the kindness and generosity of your
family. And how did we treat you in return? My father had your parents
killed Daryl. They didn't die in a blizzard."
"That's not true," Daryl stammered.
"It is... my father told me himself. You're parents threatened
to not renew the lease. My predecessor, thinking he would have better luck
with you and David, had them killed. It's the same reason why my dad had
to get rid of David."
"No... David died because I shunned him."
"But why was he shunned in the first place? Dad feared that
David would influence your decision on renewing the lease. He had to find
someway of separating the two of you."
"So you are telling me my brother died over money that I have
never wanted?"
"Yes," Brian said as he stood up and embraced his former lover.
"Can't you now see why I must reshape our church? It must be purged of
corruption and hate and rebuilt on the foundation of true love. I can't do
it though without you."
"I still think this is madness Brian... a gay cult?"
"No... a true religion for a people who have been abandoned by
all other faiths." Peter said.
"I'm sorry Brian, but I can't go along with this," Daryl said,
gently pushing the man away.
"But you don't know what's at stake or what I need of you."
"You need to pray Brian... try to find your way back to the
person you once were."
"I can never go back Daryl...I have HIV," Brian whispered.
"How did you get that?" Daryl said, shocked. New Hope had been
such a tight community that it had been blessed in being free from all
sexually transmitted diseases.
"Giving my love to our chosen people." Brian said guiltily.
"You slept with outsiders?"
"So many I've lost count," Brian admitted.
"Including hustlers..." Daryl remembered.
"Yes... I waited for you... hoping you would come back but you
never did. Then I met Peter and together we came up with the idea for a
new church based on love. I wanted to make sure though that everyone of my
new followers loved me..."
"Slut..." Patrick said, covering his mouth as if he were
coughing.
"Yeah slut..." Brian chuckled weakly.
"What do you want from me Brian?"
"I screwed up Daryl... I caught the virus but I didn't stop
having sex. Remember Tammy?"
"Your wife?"
"Yes... she's now sick. So are most of our old
friends... Landon, Glenn, the people who I've put in charge of New Hope.
Your old friend Stan is not sick though."
"Stan was always sensible," Daryl replied.
"It didn't make him smart enough to see what would happen by
helping you run away," Brian retorted.
"You've not hurt him... have you?"
"No... I made him CEO of NM Mining. Even so the ungrateful
wretch refuses to have much to do with me."
"As I said... he was always sensible. You have not answered my
question though. What do you want with me?"
"New Hope is facing a crisis. Outsiders and locals combined,
there are over eight hundred of us infected... that I know of. Almost none
of them are getting treatment. Our own doctors don't know how to treat it
and I can't be sedating 800 people each month to go to the mining doctors.
We need our own doctor... one that is trained in modern medicine and who
understands our customs. Our people need the Gavin family again... they
need you Daryl."
"Damn you Brian... damn you for being so stupid, damn you for
betraying our church, damn you for putting me in this position and twice
damn you for shunning me."
"I have a lot that needs forgiving I know... but can't you find
it in your heart to forgive me Daryl. Everything I did was for you... to
change things in New Hope so you would come back home."
"And it seems you've succeeded," Daryl sighed.
"You mean it... you'll come back home with me?"
"I would be damning myself if I didn't. But you have to do
some things for me Brian."
"Anything Daryl. You name it and it's done."
"Get rid of this bastard." Daryl said, pointed a finger at
Brian's Missionary.
"Done." Brian said with a snap of his fingers.
"Now wait a minute." Peter said, stepping back as Brian's
followers closed in on him.
To Daryl and the twins' horror one of the men pulled out a gun,
quickly screwing in a silencer.
"Brian!" Daryl shouted.
The Father, now sitting back in his chair gave Daryl a blank
expression as the man with the gun shot Peter in the heart, the missionary
falling back into the waiting arms of the other men.
"Why did you kill him?"
"Because his sins demanded it... he was stealing money from our
people not to mention planning to kill you, and betray me."
"Why would he kill me?"
"Did you not forget that since my father legally adopted you if
you were to die, everything you own, including the gas fields, would go to
me? My father remembered. That's why I had to get rid of him, in case he
decided to have you killed like David and your parents."
"I shouldn't go back... I shouldn't," Daryl said, afraid of
what additional madness he would find if he went back home.
"Before you decide, there is someone else you should talk to."
Brian said, snapping his fingers, this time triggering the opening of the
bedroom door.
Standing in the doorway, looking dirty and disheveled was a
plain dressed woman with long black hair. Next to her was a blond man
holding a gun.
"Diana?" Daryl said in disbelief, on seeing Brian's sister,
the woman the former Father had wanted him to marry.
"Daryl..." the woman said in a hoarse, disused voice.
"Get that gun away from her Landon!" Daryl demanded as he
hurried toward the woman's side.
"Oh Daryl... finally someone who will talk to me," Diana cried
as she raced to meet her former betrothed.
"Why isn't anyone talking to you?" Daryl asked, confused as he
tried to comfort his old friend.
"Father had me shunned." Diana wept.
"Brian or dad?"
"Dad."
"But surly your brother could have it removed."
"Not going to happen" Brian said darkly.
"She's your sister Brian!"
"Tell him sis... tell him why dad had you shunned."
"I did something terrible... unforgivable," Diana whispered.
"You will never convince me of that."
"But it's true... and when I tell you, you will feel the same
revulsion the rest of the church feels toward me."
"I promise you Diana, I won't feel that way."
"Don't make promises you don't know if you can keep," Brian
chuckled.
"Let her talk," Daryl barked at Brian.
"Remember when David was shunned?"
"Yes... you and I were the only ones who tried to stick by my
brother. It was you who passed the notes between us."
"I did more than pass notes." Diana said nervously. "I
comforted your brother."
"Comforted him how?" Daryl asked.
"The two were fucking each other!" Brian shouted, his voice
filled with rage.
"Interrupt your sister one more time and you will never see me
again Brian," Daryl swore.
"Fine..." Brian said, getting out of his chair and leaving the
room to smoke on the balcony.
"I'm sorry Diana," Daryl sighed.
"It's alright... my brother has every right to be angry with
me."
"I don't see why."
"Because of the unforgivable sin I committed. I only comforted
David once but once was all it took for his seed to grow inside
me. Remember how sick I was the month before David killed himself?"
"Yes... I thought it was the flu."
"So did dad... that was until mother told dad she thought I was
pregnant."
"What happened then?" Daryl asked.
"Father sent me to the mining clinic. I was too sedated to
know what happened there but when I came back father was very angry. It
was the same day that Brian started shunning you."
"I remember."
"Dad then forced me to commit an unforgivable crime. He made
me go to David and tell him I was pregnant and that unless he killed
himself his child would be shunned as well. That's why your brother killed
himself Daryl... not because of you."
For the first time in his life, Daryl felt his faith abandon
him. Even after he had run away from New Hope, he had remained a believer.
Diana statement wiped that all away. He could no longer see any good in
his church.
"You hate me now... don't you? You're going to shun me as
well?"
"No Diana... I don't hate you. I hate our church for what it
did to us," Daryl said, as he hugged the woman close to him.
"What happened to the baby?" Daryl asked after a long silence.
"I don't know... when it came close for the baby to be born dad
sent me back to the mining clinic. When I came back I was no longer
pregnant and I had this scar." Diana said as she lifted up her shirt to
show it."
Daryl ran his finger down the scar as if not sure if it was
real. "They did a c-section on you." He whispered.
"Is that an abortion?" Diana asked worried.
"No...it's another form of delivery." Daryl said, a storm of
emotions raging through him. A part of him was very angry... angry at what
his adoptive father had done to his own daughter. Another part of him was
excited by the possibility that a part of his brother might still be alive.
If there was such a child, Daryl knew of only one person who would know
where such a child was... Brian.
"I need to talk to Brian... will you be ok?" Daryl asked.
"Yes... you are coming back home with us though, right?"
"Maybe... for a short time," was all Daryl could promise at
this point.
"Well?" Brian asked, puffing in his cigar when Daryl joined
him on the balcony, not prepared when Daryl punched him right in the jaw.
"How long have you known?" Daryl demanded.
"Honestly... I only figured it out yesterday," Brian said,
waving his bodyguards off. "Sis decided to take advantage of my absence
and run off on her own... with Stan's help I assume. Took Landon a few
weeks to track her down and when he did she was in pretty bad shape so I
had a doctor examine her. That's when I learned what a cesarean section
was. Knowing that dad most likely had it done at the clinic I had Stan
look into it."
"And what did you learn?" Daryl pressed.
"That the doctors removed a pair of twins from her."
"Twins!" Daryl said excitedly. "Where are they?"
"I don't know... the records don't say. As soon as I go back I
plan on question dad about it though. Care to join me in that visit?"
Brian said.
"You've thought of everything... haven't you." Daryl
accused.
Brian reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, pointing it
at his head. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring you back home
Daryl... even kill myself."
"Put that gun away." Daryl said with disgust.
After seeing Brian return the gun back to its holster Daryl
began to list additional conditions. "I can't just leave here you know...
I have patients of my own that need taking care of."
"I've already seen to that... tomorrow you will resign from
Memorial."
"But they need me there."
"Not as much as they need more money." Brian pointed out.
"After you resign I will see that a ten million dollar donation is made to
Memorial... more than enough money to hire twelve good doctors and nurses
to cover for you."
Looking back into the hotel room Daryl saw the nervous
expressions on the twins' faces. "Still, I don't know if I can leave.
I've fallen in love Brian."
Brian dropped his remaining cigar over the edge of the balcony,
embracing Daryl with his now empty hands. "I know Daryl. You don't know
how happy I am you have found the Nash brothers. I was beginning to worry
you would never let yourself fall in love again."
"Not jealous? Daryl chuckled.
"I'm green with envy." Brian said as he rocked his former
lover in his arms. "I like your new hair."
"Are you flirting with me or just trying to be funny?"
Brian tightened his hold on Daryl. "I've missed you so much
Daryl."
"I too... it hurts to see what has become of you. Maybe if I
never left..."
"If you had never left, I would have never gotten the courage
to stand up against the Father."
"I want you to stop the shunning of your sister." Daryl said.
"You know I can't do that." Brian sighed.
"Why not... you're the father."
"I tried Daryl... but our people have not forgiven her. They
still believe she is a baby killer. No matter how many sermons I could
give on the subject you know our people will never forgive her. Hell... I
can't even bring myself to forgive her. That's why I wanted to ask you if
you would take her in when you come back home. You were supposed to be the
one to marry her."
"Alright..."
"Good... how soon until you think you can settle your affairs
here. I have a jet waiting at the airport that can fly you and your
friends to New Hope at any time."
"I need to talk with Steven and Patrick first... but regardless
of what they say I should be ready sometime tomorrow."
"Then I will meet you at the airport sometime tomorrow." Brian
said, giving Daryl another tight hug before letting go. "Never doubt that
I still love you."
"I know..."
"Aren't you going to tell me you love me too?"
"After all you've done?" Daryl demanded.
"I'm willing to do a whole lot worse to get you to love me
again," Brian replied.
"Don't Brian... please don't."
"I think you should go now... your friends as starting to look
worried," Brian said as he handed Daryl a large cell phone.
"What's this?"
"Patrick's cell phone... the real one at least. You can also
tell him that he will find his gun toting friend back home, unconscious but
otherwise unharmed.
"What as I going to do with you Brian?" Daryl sighed not able
to stop his hands from touching the man's familiar face.
"So you do still love me." Brian smiled, nuzzling against
Daryl's touch.
"I loved you Brian... almost as much as David. I hate what
you've become but I can't stop feeling something for you."
"May I kiss you?" Brian asked, a tear rolling down his face.
Daryl didn't say a word, answering by closing his eyes and
leaning forward. Soon he felt Brian's lips against his mouth, the man's
warm wet tongue slipping out, letting Daryl taste the flavor of saliva and
tobacco.
Eventually pulling away, Daryl saw the tears that were now
streaming down Brian's face. "Are you going to be ok?"
"Now that you will be coming back home... Yes, I think I will,"
Bryan said.
*********************************************************************************
Well folks were getting near the end of this part in the tale. I do have a
sequel in mind but it's going to take some time to get done as I'm trying
to switch focus from net writing to publishing as I have two books
published, one going to a publisher, and one in the final stage of editing
before sending out. Still there are tons of stories still available on the
yahoo group, including some by several other writers who are great. There
you will also find Children of Mir, which is a rough draft of the soon to
be published book Son's of Mir. It is only half the length of Sons but
would give you a good idea where I'm headed and will hopefully perk your
interest in getting the final version of the book. The Centurion and the
Academy are still available on Amazon, now on sale at 25% off so now might
be a good time to get it. Will know how well the books have sold sometime
in the next few months so now might be your last chance to add to the sales
numbers for the midyears sales report. I'm hoping to have broken 100
books mark. Here's what one reader had to say about the series
*****************************************************************************
The Centurion Cycle a series of epic proportions begins with the three part
first book titled "The Centurion". It opens with the start of a war between
two great powers, Qul Tos ruled by the Ice Queen, Regent Eleanor against
the Domus Empire led by its famed Centurion General, Agamemnon. At stake is
the fate of their son, the young man Jason, who, because of his cruel
mother has been forced to live most of his life exiled in the Labyrinth
Tower, more of a prison than a home. For 21 years Jason lives without the
company of other men, a naïve, almost feral, youth, unaware of the world
around him until the day the besieging Centurion army finally discovers the
secret of the Labyrinth as save the young man from certain death.
Out of all the Centurions, it is Philip Helios, a military commander, who
takes over the guardianship of Jason, bringing him home to the capital of
Domus, the heart of the Empire. There Jason tries to understand what it
means to be a Centurion and a man, dealing with the unfortunate twin curses
his people bear, the shorten half lives of the Centurion and the long
fragile lives of the Legatio.
Jason, a hemophiliac Legatio, tried to aspire to become just like his
warrior saviors even with his blood sickness. And though he fails on
numerous occasions while attending school at the famed Academy, he never
gives up on his dream or on love as he develops his first crush on his
weapon's instructor, Varrus.
It is Philip however who proves to have the strongest hold on Jason's
heart. On the day of Jason's 21st birthday, after both he and Philip have
been forced to flee the Academy and return back to Qul Tos the two express
the ultimate sign of their love for each other and are forever transformed
by the sharing of their anima, the living elixir of their souls that is
responsible for both their strengths and their weakness, turning themselves
into the Angel and Demon of prophecy, forever bound together through love.
**************************************************************
As you can tell it is a fantasy series, a bit different from Love in
Passing but I think you will find it as enjoyable if not more so. It took
me five years of off and on writing to get The Centurion and The Academy up
to par and I really do feel they represent the hard won fruits of that
effort. So if you like a good romantic tale with plenty of action to keep
you heart going then I think the Centurion and the Academy are the books
for you. Take care.
JMH
trandar2002@yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adultwritingworkshop/