Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 18:04:22 -0600
From: Katya_Dee <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: The Dreamtrap - chapter 32

This is a story of fiction, all resemblances (dead or alive) are eerily
coincidental. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved. Contains
descriptive sexual scenes between males, if you are not supposed to read it
then don't. Feel free to e-mail me.

****

- XXXII -


            Henry pressed hard against the old maple tree, making sure he
stays out of sight, watching the front door of the house like a hawk. Half
an hour or so later, he saw a cab pulling to the curb, and he watched some
man get out of it. The man looked like a nightclub bouncer, and Henry
immediately knew that he was one of Salamander's goons. His mouth twitched
in a small, satisfied smile.

   "Do I know how to make excellent plans or do I know how to make excellent
plans?" he murmured, knowing that now, it was only a question of time before
he gets the blond into his possession as well – he didn't care much about
Rayhe; he knew that Julian was by far more dangerous.

   He waited for the cab to leave, and then slowly peeled himself away from
the tree and started to walk away, looking for a safe spot where he could
leave this body, which would be unconscious for the next several hours.
Finally, he hid behind one of the larger fur trees, almost burying himself
into all those sweet smelling soft needles, and nodded to himself silently,
knowing that he was out of sight and safe.

   "Showtime..." he whispered and closed his eyes, returning his essence to
the mirrored prison voluntarily this time, anticipating the resolution of
his excellent plan.



 ****



   "Oh, this is not happening...!" Desmond growled when he opened his eyes
and found himself standing in front of the very familiar abandoned opera
house. "This is so not happening...!"

   "What..." Raven muttered, wildly looking around. "What... How... What the
hell?!"

   Desmond swore loudly and with envious imagination, his hands clenched
into fists, eyes shut. He swore nonstop for almost five minutes, and
finally, he ran out of air. He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes, his
expression pissed off and beyond dark.

   "Forty bloody hours...!" he growled.

   "Forty hours...?" Raven frowned at that.

   Desmond sighed and told him about his dream and Julian's theory, which
turned out to be correct.

   "Well, shit..." Raven said gloomily after the ex-assassin finished the
story. "What do we do now?"

   "No fucking clue!" Desmond spat out and quickly walked towards that large
wooden post covered with old posters and advertisements. He kicked the post
as hard as he could several times, and that seemed to help somewhat. He
kicked it one last time, and then stood still, his arms propped on his
sides, forehead one tight frown.

   They stood in rigid silence for a while, gritting their teeth in
identical manner, while trying to figure out their options. Suddenly, there
was some strange popping sound not too far from them, and they whirled
around at the same time. "Oh, hell, she's gonna start shooting at us again!"
Raven thought desperately. His eyes became perfectly round when he saw
Julian appearing from thin air, it seemed.

   "What the..." Desmond said incredulously, staring at the very
confused-looking blond.

   Salamander looked around, completely bewildered, his expression
blink-free and dumbfounded.

   "How did *you *get here?" Raven asked weakly, and Julian finally blinked.

   "There was a package in your name..." he said slowly. "Arrived to our
house, that's why I didn't smell the trap... There was a brooch in that
package..."

   "A brooch...?" Raven frowned.

   "Yes," the blond nodded, his expression still bewildered. "A golden
spider..."

   "Oh, bloody hell..." Desmond said desperately when he heard the word
`spider.' "Spider time..." He buried his face in his palms. "You touched it,
didn't you?" he asked in the muffled voice.

   "Yes," Julian gritted his teeth.

   "Goddammit," Desmond finally lowered his arms, dropping them onto his
sides, his entire posture redefining `desperation.' "That's what she
meant...! Spider time..." He glanced at mute Raven. "I guess she wanted to
throw that damn thing onto you once she finished me off on that freeway...
Oh, damn it all to hell...!" He kicked the post again, harder this time.

   Julian drew a slow, deep breath.

   "We have to figure out how to get out of here," he said in the even
voice, and Desmond threw him a very dark look.

   "Gee," he said. "You think? And here I was, thinking about relaxing for a
bit, enjoying the scenery..."

   "Just..." Julian interrupted him through his clenched teeth. "Save it,
all right? You got out once, which means we can do this!"

   "We got out of the labyrinth," Desmond said without looking at him. "That
was different; there were exits... I don't think the same rule applies to
this place..." Here he frowned. "I wonder if we will end up in the labyrinth
again..."

   "Nope," a very content voice interrupted him, coming from above.

   All three men slowly raised their heads. Magda (who was finally wearing
her original appearance) gave them a toothy smile, perching on the edge of
the roof of the opera house.

   "No labyrinth," she nodded slightly after getting their attention. "For
several reasons, actually..." She shifted slightly, as if getting more
comfortable, and crossed her legs, pressing one of her hands into the roof.
"First reason is that it would be quite difficult to recreate it without the
painting; and the second reason..." She looked at her fingernails for a few
seconds. "The second reason is that this plan is so much better," she
finished and gave them another toothy smile. "Actually..." she shifted
slightly once more. "I should've started with this plan, instead of
bothering with the labyrinth... But I couldn't figure out how to make the
spider to work until recently, so..." She shrugged. "God..." she laughed
softly. "It was a hell of a long, exhausting journey that got me to this
point, finally... You have no idea how frustrating that journey was," she
nodded sincerely.

   She uncrossed her legs, swaying the feet slightly, as if she were a
little kid.

   "After the fiasco with the painting, thanks to that little traitor," she
continued in the same tone of voice. "I honestly thought I blew it... I
mean, I could not get them out of the labyrinth," she threw a quick glance
at Raven and Desmond. "And without the painting, the labyrinth, as much fun
as it was to play with, was nothing but a trap; not just for them, but for
me also," she nodded again. "Because if they died in there, that would mean
that I had to start from scratch..."

   Julian stared at her without blinking, narrowing his eyes just a little.

   "I was freaking out," Magda continued meanwhile, paying no attention to
blond's eyes. "You have no idea how relieved I was when they managed to get
out, and how relieved I was that I decided to put the time frame into the
big picture...! After they got out, I made some major improvements to this
place..." She gestured somewhat widely. "Figured out how to make the spider
to work, finally, and came up with a fool-proof plan B."

   Julian's eyes narrowed more, a small frown slipping onto his forehead.

   "At first, I simply wanted to finish it right then and there, on that
freeway," Magda seemed oblivious to Salamander's facial expression. "Well,"
she snorted. "That didn't work..." She threw a quick, hateful look at
Desmond. "So I had to take the long way... That's okay though," she
shrugged. "It worked, so I am not complaining..."

   She shifted her gaze to Julian, who was frowning deeper by now.

   "Stop trying," she said in a low voice, her smile becoming wider and more
satisfied. "See..." She propped her elbows on her knees and sat her chin
into her palms. "You are in my sandbox, boys! My sandbox, ergo my rules!
Your abilities are not going to work here; this place is my creation," she
nodded slightly into her palms. "It does everything I want it to do; and
believe me when I say it, I do not want to deal with any of your
abilities... All three of you," she nodded again and straightened up.

   After hearing that, Raven frantically reached out for comforting
invisibility only to feel unusual and very unpleasant emptiness when there
was nothing. Magda gave him a small smile, watching him intently.

   "Seriously," she nodded again. "Not gonna work...!"

   Suddenly, Desmond's expression became rather thoughtful, and he frowned
while staring at her.

   "Trying to figure out whether I am telling the truth, aren't you,
asshole?" Magda asked in a low voice, shifting her gaze towards him. "You
are going to give yourself a hell of a headache from trying too hard," she
grinned. "I am telling the truth, by the way. No abilities in this place!
See, this..." She gestured around again. "...is not real. That means I can
do whatever the hell I want in here, which sort of makes me feel like God
itself, with creation and everything..." She hemmed. "I improved it in such
a way that it blocks everything, unlike the first time you ended up here,"
she threw a quick glance at Raven. "Neat trick, by the way," she nodded with
approval. "I didn't know you could cover someone else besides yourself."

   Suddenly, she jumped up on her feet and took a step off the roof. Instead
of crushing to the ground, she slid down gracefully, as if she were gliding
down smooth surface.

   "My rules," she nodded when she saw Raven's expression. "All right," she
propped her arms onto her sides. "By the way," she added quickly after
Desmond made a slow, small move. "Before you decide to jump me... Don't
waste your energy; you can't do anything to me, not in here. By all means,"
she shrugged. "Go ahead and try all you want, but you'll just make a fool
out of yourself."

   Desmond narrowed his eyes and stayed put. Magda shrugged once again and
looked at Raven.

   "Here is the deal, my friend," she started saying without a smile this
time. "We are all perfectly aware of what I want. A body," she nodded. "Very
simple. Now, it has to be your body," she fixed her gaze on Raven's face
without blinking. "Since you've been targeted and marked from the very
beginning... Frustrating, I know," she nodded energetically. "To be honest,
I would prefer a female body, but oh well..." Here, she smiled in the same
toothy way. "Right now, I will take anything! Plus, you are really
good-looking, which is a very nice perk!"

   Raven gritted his teeth.

   "Now you are probably thinking that there is no way in hell you would let
me get anywhere close, huh?" Magda cocked her head slightly to the right,
watching him somewhat thoughtfully. "That you'd rather get stuck here for
eternity than letting me have my way... Or something along those lines," she
shrugged. "This is why plan B is much better than plan A," she let out a
small smile, without any teeth this time. "See, right now, I have an awesome
leverage!" She threw a quick glance at the rigid blond. "Remember that
spider? Of course, you do," she nodded slightly and put her right hand into
her pocket. "Looks familiar?" she asked a minute later, when she pulled out
a small golden brooch-looking spider out of her pocket.

   She shifted her gaze away from Julian and concentrated on the spider for
a few seconds. She smiled gently when spider's eyes glowed dark-blue.

   "There are two spiders," she said almost intimately, looking at Raven
once again. "One is right here..." she raised her palm slightly, the golden
brooch resting there safely. "...and the second one is on his throat," she
nodded at Julian. "His actual, physical throat, that is," she added after a
second, and Raven's eyes widened. "Yeah," she agreed. "That's how I got him
here in the first place... Could care less about your mate," she glanced at
Desmond. "But I had to get *this *psycho out of the way..." She looked at
Salamander again, who was gritting his teeth silently.

   "See, if you say `no' to me..." She looked at Raven without smiling or
blinking. "Guess what's going to happen to your psychotic mate? He'll get
his throat ripped out, that's what," she nodded firmly. "If you say `yes,'
however, I'll let him live... Well," she sighed. "I am not going to let him
to wake up, of course, but both of you will stay here... For as long as his
physical body will last that is," she nodded. "I am sure that your mate
figured how to make magic streams to keep the body live and well..." she
glanced at Desmond quickly. "So yeah, I will go as far as promising you that
I won't kill him after I get your body," she nodded seriously. "As long as
he is in this place, he is no threat to me or anyone else for that matter,"
she hemmed.

   "Go fuck yourself," Raven said in a low, tight voice.

   "Oh, definitely," she agreed immediately. "And I will do that more than
just once, believe me... I'll do it later, though..." Suddenly, she narrowed
her eyes, looking at Raven with more intensity. "You think I am bluffing,
don't you?" she murmured thoughtfully. "Huh, all right..."

   She looked at the spider in her palm and carefully blew on it, her eyes
still narrow. Spider's eyes glowed with the same dark-blue light, and one of
its legs twitched ever so slightly. The minute it happened, Julian's hand
flew up to his throat, his eyes disbelieving and suddenly wide.

   "What is it?" Raven asked sharply, looking at him without blinking.

   "I..." the blond muttered, and suddenly, a quick grimace distorted his
face for several seconds.

   "Julian!" Raven's voice had those shrill, panicking notes in it now.

   "If you think *that's *something, watch this..." Magda said in a low
voice and winked at the spider in her palm.

   The golden creature jerked slightly, and all of a sudden, it leapt up in
the air, all of its legs twitching wildly. It landed on Magda's palm and
stayed in the same place as before, except all those legs kept twitching
rhythmically.

   Salamander let out a strangled, low moan, and his fingers clutched harder
onto his throat.

   "You won't see anything here," Magda said in almost business-like voice.
"He'll bleed like hell wherever he is right now, but here...? He'll only
experience pain... Of course, knowing him, he'll probably enjoy it," she
shrugged. "That's fine thought," she looked at the blond without a smile.
"Consider it a favor," she nodded seriously.

   Julian didn't look like he was enjoying this, however. He bit his lower
lip hard, his eyes squeezed shut, fingers of his hand all but clawing at his
throat. The spider in Magda's palm shifted just a little, digging its legs
into the pink flesh, and the blond let out another strangled moan and
collapsed onto his knees.

   "Julian!" Raven screamed, lunging towards him.

   "If I were you," Magda said in the same business-like voice. "I would
hurry up... I am not quite sure where *exactly *on his throat that spider
landed," she nodded when she caught Raven's helplessly hateful glance. "I
mean, there is a slight chance of it getting to one of his major arteries;
in that case, I won't be able to do anything," she shrugged. "So, yeah..."
she nodded. "If I were you, I would hurry up."

   "Julian..." Raven muttered feverishly, ignoring a strangely calm,
thoughtful facial expression from Desmond. "Julian...!" He grabbed onto
blond's wrist with desperate force. "Goddammit...!" he screamed when
Salamander let out a wheezing groan and jerked forward, his hand still
clawing at his throat, while the other one slammed into the ground. "Stop
this!" Raven screamed, looking at Magda with wild eyes. "Fucking hell...!
Stop this!"

   "Mm-mm," she quickly shook her head, still smile-free. "Not until you
kiss me."

   Raven blinked rapidly at that, and Magda let out an exasperated sigh and
rolled her eyes.

   "Good God..." she muttered. "Just how full of yourself are you,
exactly...? No, I am not going to fuck your brains out," she said in
somewhat annoyed manner. "I *have to* kiss you in order to switch our
places...! Another reason why this plan is better," she nodded. "I don't
need you awake for that!" She looked at Julian, whose eyes were squeezed
shut, fingers digging into his throat so hard by now that his knuckles
turned white. "Seriously, Raven," she said in a low voice. "Hurry up if you
want him to survive...! I mean, there is only *that *much blood he can
lose..."

   Raven closed his eyes for a second or two, never letting go of Julian's
wrist, and then he opened his eyes and looked at Magda with helpless, dark
hatred.

   "Fine," he said through his clenched teeth. "Stop this!"

   "Not until you kiss me," Magda nodded firmly, and her tone didn't leave
any room for further discussions. She would let the spider to rip out
Salamander's throat – that much was obvious.

   Raven gritted his teeth.

   "Fine," he said again without blinking. "Do it...!"

   "Ra..." the blond tried saying, clutching onto Raven's fingers with weak
desperation. "No..."

   "Hush!" Magda ordered with a small, reproaching frown, and blond grunted
yet again, digging his fingers deeper into the ground.

   "Stop...!" Raven said in a low voice, and stood up, shaking Julian's weak
grasp off his wrist. "Do it, I don't give a fuck...! Just stop this!"

   "Ooh," Magda sighed without a smile. "True love... Would be romantic,"
she nodded slightly. "But considering that it's you two... It's a bloody
miracle!"

   "Shut up!" Raven hissed through his clenched teeth and took a step
towards her. "Fucking do it already, and let go of him, you goddamn
bitch...!"

   "Sticks and stones..." Magda muttered and glanced at the spider again.
The minute she did that, its legs started twitching more slowly, making
Julian to draw in a shaky breath. "Come on, Raven," she glanced at the
seething man. "Make out with me...!" Now she looked downright mocking. "I
think you are a hell of a kisser, considering who you are with..." She let
out a small smile, and Raven closed his eyes for a second or two. "Hurry
up," Magda said darkly. "Otherwise, I swear to God, I am going to finish him
right here and now; and then I will get what I want anyway...! Therefore,
hurry the fuck up!"

   Raven gritted his teeth and took a slow, determined step towards Magda,
who looked like she just won the lottery of her life.

   "Fucking do it already..." he muttered and stepped even closer.

 ****

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