Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 13:21:21 -0600
From: Michael Yost <myost@charter.net>
Subject: Bite the Bullet!

Bite the Bullet! Copyright 2001 by Chris Yost

Louis' eyes popped wide open. They were lit up with bitter resentment,
"I want to go to sleep," he moaned, stretching his body which was along
side Daniel's. Daniel was dead to the world. He could hear someone
tapping on the French doors which opened  to the gallery.

"Go away, Leo. You're not coming in, and I'm not going out." He drove
his head under a pillow. "Now that I've finally decided neither you nor
Satan have any claim ticket on my soul the both of you can rot in hell.
Leave me alone!"

Picking up his novel from the bed stand, he started started to try to
read. He felt resentment oozing out from the pores of his skin like
cold, dry ice. Frustration filled his chest to the point where it was so
tight he wanted to scream every profane word from the  beginning of
creation and onward.

Jumping out of bed, storming to the white French doors, he opened one
partly up. His slender nose poking out. "Go away!" he said firmly.

A ray of sunshine streaked through, slamming the door shut, he quickly
ran to Daniel making sure he was covered up. The sound of rapping
clamored into the bedroom. "My God, Leo, Leo," Louis moaned. Going over
to the doors, he peeked out again.

"You have to come with me," Leo whispered, his words plaintive and
wraithlike, "I'm lonely. I have no place I want to go."

Louis could see a glint in the corner of Leo's right eye. A wanton,
fiery glint. Satan stared out from the tiny sparkle in Leo's eye.

A mocking, smug Satan.

"Leo,  since you have chosen to be comatose you have caused nothing but
trouble for us all. Come out of the grave and come back to us all."

"To you, I only would want to come back to you only. . What about you
coming to me Louis? We could rule hell together you and I. We could set
civilization right. We can make it disappear. I was born to be a prince.
We could take back the night before men became enlightened to sin. The
paradise where men were no more nor less than other beasts," Leo begged.
"It would be the end of heaven and hell!"

He could smell Satan on Leo's fevered breath. He knew now Leo was a sold
soul, buying into every morsel of Satan's feast of revelations and lies.
"I'm going out the door. I'm going to go with you, my love," Louis
addressed Satan, the devil in Leo's eye.

Pulling back the door, he quickly stepped into the grasp of sunlight.
Rising up into the heated air, he found himself the owner of angel
wings. Swooping upwards into the clouds he ripped into the sky till the
world below him became insignificant and small. He  danced upon the
currents of air skillfully. The thin air was his stage. His clothing was
a radiant gown covering his masculine beauty. Thunder heads erupted into
rain, and flashes of lightening. Leo naked but for black wings flew
right at him. Louis stood still in the air waiting to confront him.

Just as Leo was close enough to touch him, Louis moved deftly aside,
sending Leo to hurtle downwards.

Calmly, Louis watched  him fall. Leo swerved around jetting at the speed
of light right for him.

Louis slipped his hand right through his chest, pulling out from his
soul a sword which gleamed like a thousand exploding suns. Readying
himself, with one sweep, he sliced Leo head from his shoulders. Out from
the decapitated body flew Satan.

"You," Louis said with a furious look of pure murder, "have no control,"
he slashed arm. "No power." He hacked off the devil's other arm, "Over
me!" He thrust his sword right through Satan's head. Satan sizzled and
burned, the flames from the steel of Louis' sword eating into him.

Louis caught Leo's falling, headless body up in his arms before it hit
the earth. Slinging it over his shoulder, he then retrieved the
plummeting head. He flew to the hospital..

Laying it out on the hospital floor, he knelt beside it. "Leo, wake up
from your illusions about yourself. Be whole."

Leo's body and head glowed, bones, nerves were melding back. Louis felt
a languor of dying taking over him. No longer under Satan's influence he
fell on top of a sleeping Leo.

The next night he awoke. "Leo," he said urgently, "Wake up. He's gone,
Satan. You know you no longer have any excuse for being asleep." He
heard black wings rustling behind him, and low mocking laughter.

"Quite a grand stand play you pulled," Satan said, "Ah, but you mortals,
and you immortals, you all blame the devil for your foibles, do you not?
It's all been his choice! All of it was up to him and not me! I have
been nothing but the game board he wielded his strategies on, and I
watched him play. Why not? Leo's  an interesting man to watch. I knew he
never would take my throne as Prince of Hell. Meet my new prince."

"Mr. Louis Blue,  we have met," said a red haired angel. His face had
the glow of pilgrims at a shrine to it.

"Richard!" Louis gasped, dropping Leo's hand.

"Yes, no need to twist your face about in such fury. After all, you have
nothing to fear from the new Satan. You're not dead yet." Richard said
smiling, "And I have no bill of sale for your soul. As for Leo. Here."
he threw a parchment at Louis feet.

"I've decided after going over the book keeping of my newly acquired
post there is no need to live up to the impossible bargain of
delivering you to Leo. Honestly, it was more of a jest played on Leo
than anything else. Leo," Richard said, bending over the prone man,
snapping his fingers, "Deals off, there never was a real deal between
you and Satan. It was all but a joke on you and on all of us. And to
think I worshipped you."

"Me too," Trevor said slipping out of the shadows in angel weeds too.
"Hey Louis, meet the first lieutenant of the boss here," he smiled at
Richard, "Oh, we had to go through all the tortures and all that, I mean
we were burned, kicked around, but Satan took us for properly devoted
nuts, so he made Richard the new Satan. Cool, huh?"

"At last I get to retire!" Satan said happily, "So Louis, don't blame
the devil, you all should take the blame yourselves!" Satan disappeared.

"So, Christov learned how to love. I heard he is partnered to Henri,"
Richard the Prince of Hell said, "At last. Perhaps someday, another
time, another place. You never know." He evaporated along with Trevor.
Louis could hear their voices in the darkness of the hospital. "Meet you
someday in the afterlife."

"Leo," Louis said ignoring their last words. "You no longer have any
excuse." He shook him as hard as he could, "I've been such a  fool. This
is all been over ridden by your will. You never were Satan's victim.
You've been your own victim all along. Leo, damn you wake up!"

Gina, Leo's mother,  entered the room "How are you able to touch him?"
she said amazed, "How,  when did you come in here?"

Margaret came along said Pamela. Michael was beside her.   Daniel, Pete,
Josh came into the hospital room.

"Dads, we were all worried about you. Father called us, telling us you
disappeared." Trisha came in scolding, glad to be the one for once who
wasn't on the receiving end of a scolding. Her handsome partner Jesus
was beside her holding Angelica.

"Honestly, Louis what are you doing here?" Christov said strolling in,
"I've tried to wake him up. I've been sleeping with  him myself for
months. Don't get mad at me, but it's true."

"Leave him alone, Louis," Henri consoled, "Get on with your life."

Louis searched their faces. Haggard, miserable Gina. Henri and Christov,
their looks of pure pitying concern and love for him. Pete and his son,
Josh,  the way they touched each other  without even meaning to. Trisha.
his daughter,  and Jesus somehow both apologetic and not apologetic
about trying to squeeze back into the family they left behind.
Margaret's harried, tense expression.  Michael trying not to display the
compassion he felt. David came in with a puzzled and worried look on his
face. Andre and  Sybelle walked behind him, keeping apart from each
other yet inseparable. Alex and Jesse came in. They were no longer
making any effort to try to be in love with each other, now they were
the best of friends. Alex tapped the toe of his tennis shoes impatiently
on the floor. Alex saw the anguished look on Daniel's face. With
accusation in his eyes, Alex stared at Louis. Louis saw faults, he saw
frailties, disappointments, and failures, and he saw love, victories,
and strength, he saw a family.

"Damn you, Leo," he whispered. "Stay here," he demanded of his family
surrounding him and Leo. With preternatural speed he practically flew
out of the hospital.

"Where do you think he's going?' Daniel asked Josh.

"I have no idea," Josh worried.

Running into the hospital with breakneck speed, Louis soaked his family
with gasoline he stole from a hardware store. He danced around his
angry, protesting family,  splashing the oily, smelly liquid all over
them. Finally he stopped. Then he doused himself.

"Louis don't do this," Daniel swore, helping to wipe the gasoline off
the children.

"Damn it dads,  you have finally lost it," Trisha said angrily.

Before anyone could say another word, Louis sprinkled gasoline on Leo.

"Light the match Leo. Kill us all. I'm sick of this," he said tensely,
"You think we're so beneath you, or is it you think  we're so above you?
Then kill us all. Pass judgment on us all. Why not? We're all a pack of
sinners send us all to hell!"

"Fuck you, Louis" Daniel said in a deadly level voice, turning on his
heel, he strode out of the chapel.

"Daniel?" Louis cried confused, throwing the can down, he chased after
him.

"Leave me alone," Daniel said bitingly, walking down the long corridors.

"Daniel, Daniel stop why are you leaving?" Louis begged unable to keep
up with him.

Turning on him, Daniel yelled, "Because you still love him!"

"Daniel, I don't, I do. Daniel wait!"

Daniel tuned away walking quickly, "You put our lives in danger for
him."

"Daniel, I'm sorry, I was angry. Forgive me."

"For what! For wanting your lover back!" Daniel said, his throat choked
with tears, flying down the stairs outside of the hospital.

"Daniel, I don't want him back," Louis cried, grabbing his arm

"You want to know the truth, you scheming, fucking, stupid slut," Daniel
yelled, his face wet, "I never loved you. I just used you because you
were the best fuck in town. I think you're ridiculous. The men you
fucked, how many were there? Who cared? You were never nothing, but a
cunt to me."

"You're lying,  you love me. Don't Daniel, " Louis wept, "Please, I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I haven't slept with anyone else since
I came back to you. I haven't. I, listen to me!"

"You're incapable of hurting me any longer. You've always been incapable
of even caring about how I felt, I'm better off without you.   You never
loved me, I want this to be over once and for all!"

Hurriedly getting into his black Porsche, his eyes sodden to blindness,
he drove the car along side Daniel. "Get inside, we have to talk," he
pleaded.

"I don't love you, I don't love you, I don't love you," Daniel chanted,
swinging around he drove his fist into the wind shield, smashing it into
bits.

"What's going to happen when he wakes up Louis! Tell me! What's going to
happen!" He screamed.

"Nothing, nothing, I swear, please believe me." Broken glass coated his
flesh and clothing making tiny, little stabs which he was too frantic to
feel.

"Louis for my sake move on," Daniel said quietly.

Slamming his foot on the accelerator of the Porsche, Louis sent it
flying right at the Quick Stop Store's gasoline pumps.

The Porsche send a fountain of gasoline pouring out into the streets.
People ran to call 911. A whoosh of blue flames spread across the lake
of gasoline, sending off chain reactions of explosions and fireballs.

"Louis!" Daniel screamed running into the flames, pulling him
unconscious from the car, he carried him to safety. An explosion
followed in Daniel's wake. Bits and pieces of glass and metal misted
around them. A large shard of glass drove itself in Daniel's calf,
causing him to crumble with Louis in his arms to the ground.

Gently,  slapping Louis face, he finally was able to wake him.

"Why did you try to kill yourself, why?' Daniel wept.

"I didn't it. It was an accident," Louis whispered, a trickle of blood
flowed down his lips. " It was an impulse. You don't believe me? You
never believed me have you? I'm sorry for the way I treated you. The way
I lived my life with you. Why should you believe me about being in love
with you? You don't trust me. You shouldn't trust me. You're right, it's
over. " Pulling himself apart from Daniel, he unsteadily got to his
feet.

"Louis?" said a forlorn voice from the cover of smoke. Flashing lights
from fire trucks, police cars, ambulances broke into the haze and heat.

"Leo," Louis whispered, first walking, then running to him.

They stood apart, circling each other like two men preparing to fight.
Without a word, they closed in on each other holding each other tightly.
Leo lifted Louis off his feet, swinging him around as if Louis were a
child. "I'm back!" Leo cried.

Daniel watched then from afar, "Good bye Louis," he said softly, tuning
away. He walked back home, leaving them both to each other.

"Wake up, Louis," Daniel said, shaking him. "You're having a nightmare."

"Am I. Where am I?" Louis gasped, finding himself in Daniel's bed.

"You're here with me. Don't you remember? After you were done visiting
Leo in the hospital, you came over. You were so drunk you were
babbling."

"What about?" Louis moaned, putting his hand to his sweaty, pounding
head.

Daniel looked away, uncomfortably he said, "You told me you wanted to
get back together. Louis, you know me and Alex are happy together.
Please understand."

"I do,  I'm sorry. I dreamt that we were devils and monsters. Leo is
still in a coma from his car accident. I feel such guilt for throwing
him out of the house. He was laughing at me, he was telling me he was
going to leave me for Richard. Why should I feel guilty? I knew he and
his friends were too high and messed up to drive. I should have let them
stay over for the night. And Trevor, the guy in the car with him, dead.
Daniel, why didn't I let them spend the night?"

"Louis it wasn't your fault. At least Richard wasn't hurt. The only one
smart enough to wear his seat belt."

"I could have called him a cab, I should have," Louis said shakily, his
stomach turning over.

"He'll wake up from his coma," Daniel said kindly, handing Louis a mug
of hot coffee.

"I hope so, I hope so," Louis prayed, even through he was not a praying
man. "Daniel, I love you. I was wrong to leave you for Leo. I wish."

"Louis, you're frightened about having to go through this alone. You're
not going to go through this alone. Our kids, and our friends are here
for you, " Daniel said sipping his coffee. "I don't believe you love
me."

Louis took a drink of his coffee, then he coughed on it, spilling it on
his chin. "I don't know, Daniel. I know I love you. Pretend to believe
it. Live your life however, with whomever you want to live it with, but
please, pretend at least, I love you."


The End