Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:31:30 -0500
From: Jason Gordon <jaygordon_1981@hotmail.com>
Subject: Things that Go Bump Ch 21

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction, which will include t/t and
m/m relationships, and probably some sex too.  If it is illegal in your
area to read this, or if you are not old enough to read this (you know who
you are), stop here.  Otherwise, please enjoy.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is a companion story to "A Light in the
Darkness."  The story lines are related and the characters occasionally
interact, and the frequency of this will be increasing. My sincerest thanks
go out to Tarton and Robert Redstorm who kindly edited this chapter.  And
thanks to everyone for writing such encouraging emails.

I am now posting my stories to a Yahoo!Group,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jaygordon_1981/ as well.  I'm putting them up
there a little in advance so I can make final edits before submitting to
Nifty, so if you are interested, you can check it out.  It's closed
membership to avoid spams and flames, so just let me know!



			Things That Go Bump, Chapter 21
				"Fear"


	Saturday afternoon, Sebastian and James returned from Richmond,
drained and tired, but also bolstered, from their morning training with the
boys and the angels, Raziel and Gideon.  The power they had seen in Chase
was magnificent and emboldening.

	Sending James upstairs to check in with Chris and Steve, who were
playing pool with some of the younger wizard warriors, Sebastian settled
into his office and logged on to the shadow network, sending Americ,
Christen, Musa, and Pedro invitations to join him for dinner on Tuesday
night for a "very special meeting."

	Then he checked his system for an update about the explosion that
had rocked the Buddhist temple in Chaing Mai overnight.  He had already
seen photos of the brutal murders of the monks, a sickening display of rage
that would soon be plastered over airways and electronic media outlets
around the world.

	When he had the temple booby-trapped, he also had it wired for
surveillance, and the images were now available.  While he could see that
Sammael and his minions survived, he could tell they were all severely
injured in the explosion, offering him no small measure of satisfaction.
Sammael and his network would be weakened, perhaps delaying the plan,
giving Sebastian time to counter.  Sebastian logged off the network with a
smile for the first time in a long while.

	Sebastian and his friends enjoyed the rest of a peaceful day
relaxing, playing games and talking.  Avery and Sarah disappeared for a
stretch in late afternoon, reemerging later with a distinct flush in their
cheeks.  Peter and Richard, however, were not to be seen, as Peter brooded
alone under Richard's constant care.  Peter was beginning to feel
restricted, restrained.  He needed an outlet for his feelings, something
more ... dramatic ... than a mercy-killing in the park.

	Ever since he had first overheard conversations about Sammael, he
had been intrigued, and had made a habit of snooping.  Something dark and
massive was congealing in his brain, an inchoate idea he did not yet dare
to form but that was already flirting with the darker corners of his
consciousness.  'Sammael,' he thought to himself.  He didn't even realize
that a dark smile flickered at the edge of his mouth.  If Richard had seen
it, he would have been chilled.  But he missed it, as his affection for the
boy caused him to miss so much that could have been crucial, early on.



	Sammael's fury was somewhat abated by his decision with regard to
dealing with William and his friends.  He was rather pleased with what he
thought to be a most elegant solution.  But his pleasure was short-lived.

	Andrew returned.  "The priests are ready, sir.  They'll begin the
ritual shortly, if you'd like to observe?"

	"Why not?  I haven't seen one of these in ... ages...."  With an
evil grin, he led the way down to the ritual space adorned with all the
implements one would expect from every tradition of dark magick known to
man and many long forgotten.

	At Sammael's nod, the oldest priest began to chant an ancient
Babylonian incantation: "Powers of darkness rise, through the earth and
across the skies....  Darkest heart and bloodiest intention call you hear
at this auspicious hour, to bring forth your long dead beloved child,
Resheph!  Bring in the sacrifices!"

	Dark robed priests led in thirteen nude boys and girls in their
early teens, mostly twelve to fourteen, all virgins.  As symbolically
powerful as a virgin sacrifice is, it pales in comparison to the ritual
murders of virgins who have been brutally deflowered.  Sammael's face
looked blissful as the breathed in the cries of the tormented children.
Their pain and degradation was like new life to him and he felt his power
swell, just a little.  He needed more, so much more, but it felt
... orgasmic to him.

	In short order, only the sound of thirteen quietly sobbing teens
could be heard, and that sound was silenced at a motion of Sammael's hand
as the priests drew their blades across the tender necks.  The blood was
collected and poured into the metal coffin holding the assembled remains of
Resheph.  The old priest chanted a few more words and all looked
expectantly toward the coffin.  It's contents remained motionless and
silent.

	"What's going on," Sammael demanded, suddenly more furious than
ever.

	"I ... I don't know," the old priest stammered.  "Something isn't
right...."

	Sammael had the guards drag the captive Streghe priests over.
"What's wrong, what's missing?  Why the hell isn't it working," he
demanded, almost shrill.

	"Nothing," the younger priest spat.  But then a smile spread over
his face, a smile of contempt and loathing, "Unless...."

	"Unless what," Sammael demanded again, striking his beautiful,
dark-skinned face.

	With a widening smile, the young priest taunted, "Unless you're
missing a part!"

	Sammael looked at the old priest, who shook his head, emphatically,
No!  Sammael's eyes narrows.  "Did you look inside?  Organs, bones?"

	"Well ... no...."  Sammael struck the priest hard and fast, and the
old man fell dead to the floor, his throat in Sammael's clawed fist.

	"Check him," the ancient demon hissed at the younger priests.
After a careful examination, they reported that they could find nothing
missing.

	Sammael thought and smiled a grudging smile, walking up to the
casket and prying open the rotting jaw.  "Damn you, Sebastian!"  Still, he
laughed his evil laugh.  He had to give it the upshot -- he had taken him
for a ride and not even broken his word.  Sammael got the head, but
Sebastian kept the fangs.

	He was too weak to retaliate, and he needed to think.  How could he
get what he wanted.  He knew, eventually, he'd have to hit his foe much
closer to home, where his weakness was magnified: James.  That could be
fun, he thought to himself.  But then he reminded himself that Sebastian
had shown himself a more capable foe than he ever imagined.  He needed more
power before he'd go after them directly.  And power meant drawing on fear,
chaotic overriding fear, and pain.  And his best tools for spreading that
fear and pain were fairly injured themselves.  Damn it all!



	By Sunday morning, Sebastian had all the arrangements made for his
advisors and a couple of others to arrive Tuesday evening for William and
Chase's "coming out" party.  He thought of asking Richard to prepare
something nice, but the man was very distracted by Peter, so Sebastian
decided not to bother him.

	Instead, he pulled Jean-Philippe aside.  The vampire had joined his
household, silently helping out wherever he could and keeping his head
down.  "Jean-Philippe, I'd like you to do some shopping and preparation for
a dinner part on Tuesday night, if you don't mind...."

	"Whatever you require, master," the man said diverting his gaze
subserviently.

	"Jean-Philippe, I'm afraid I've neglected you since you joined us,"
Sebastian said, looking cross.  "Otherwise you'd know.  Call me
Sebastian....  I know that you are bound to my service, but I do not
consider you a threat, or a former enemy.  You were mislead and a hapless
accomplice, thinking you were doing the right thing.  I don't blame you.
You are part of my household," Sebastian said.  "You were at my side for
some very ... difficult tasks and I appreciate that...."  Sebastian
projected his kind feelings through his hands, which grasped the man's
shoulders.  "In time, I hope we'll become friends...."

	The young vampire didn't raise his head to meet Sebastian's gaze,
but Sebastian could feel his gratitude.  It would simply take a while for
Jean-Philippe to forgive himself and open up to them.  He gave the man some
instructions and a shopping list and sent him out with a small contingent
of wizards.  After Peter, he was taking no chances with anyone.

	Peter, he thought, and his feet carried him to Richard's room.  He
knocked and, hearing no response, opened the door and stuck his head in.
Richard was out at the moment and Peter sat at the desk, staring at the
wall.

	"Are you alright, Peter?"

	"I wish everyone would stop asking me that," he retorted.

	"We only ask because we care," Sebastian answered softly.

	"No, everyone asks because they want to feel better," Peter
responded sullenly.

	"Peter," Sebastian said, trying to remain patient, "I know that
something terrible happened to you, but the world is so much more than
that....  Don't turn everyone away...."

	Peter turned and looked at Sebastian with hollow eyes ringed with
deep, dark bags.  "How can YOU believe that the world is anything more than
a sinking pit of suffering, a stinking mass?"

	Sebastian, trying not to look as startled as he was, responded,
"Because I have friendship, love, affection -- hope of redemption...."

	Peter smiled absently.  "Redemption....  There is no redemption....
Just suffering and the end of suffering....  Everything else is an
illusion...."  In less serious circumstances, Sebastian might have joked
that the boy had been reading too much Schopenhauer, but the boy wouldn't
have gotten it and he was, in any case, deadly serious.

	Sebastian shook his head and turned, closing the door behind him
coolly before letting a bit of panic slip in.  He rushed upstairs and
pulled James out of the game-room.

	Back in their bedroom, he said, "James, something is wrong with
Peter....  Do you know where Richard is?"

	"What?  Is he okay?  He hasn't done something to himself...."

	Sebastian shook his head and put a hand on James's shoulder.  "No,
no, nothing like that....  But, I was talking to him before and the look in
his eyes, the hollow feeling....  I felt absolutely nothing coming from
him.  I'm ... worried...."

	James looked at him with tears in his eyes.  "No," James said,
"you're scared....  I can feel it....  You saw something that scared
you...."

	Sebastian tried to look away, but James held on tight.  "Darkness,
blank, empty darkness....  Sammael I understand, pure congealed hatred.
Chang I understand, greed, ambition, pride.  But absolute focus and
passionlessness....  The way he looked at me was almost ... pitying...."

	James looked at him for a moment, then burst into action.  "Let's
find Richard, quickly and quietly...."  They combed the house but the man
was nowhere to be found, so Sebastian went out into the garage, and none of
the cars was gone.  Richard wouldn't be far from Peter, so he had to be
somewhere.  James found him sitting in the gardens behind the house and
sent a message to Sebastian telepathically.

	"Richard, we've been looking for you," James said as he sat down
beside him on the bench.  "Why didn't you come to us?"

	The man bore an anguished look as he leaned forward and put his
head in his hands.  "I ... didn't realize how bad it had gotten until
... it was too late...."

	"What has he done," Sebastian asked as he approached from the
house.  Richard hesitated, and Sebastian got testy, "Richard, I talked to
him this morning!  Good God, it gave ME the creeps!"

	"He's been going out hunting on his own....  He has a type....
They're young, small, they're ... weak....  They're...."

	"Suffering," Sebastian asked and had his answer by the way
Richard's head jerked to face him.  "Has he...?"

	"Yes, Friday night....  I ... cleaned up after him...."

	"That's not the point Richard!  You should have come to ME!  I
asked you and you lied to my face!"

	"I ... I couldn't tell you!  I couldn't risk ... like before...."

	"Richard," Sebastian exclaimed with an anguished half-laugh,
half-sob, "how could you think....  Young vampires have accidents all the
time....  Regrettable but...."

	Richard looked away and said, almost too quietly to be heard, "It
wasn't an accident....  He wouldn't let go....  He ... put him out of his
misery, he said....  I was scared...."

	Sebastian wrapped his arms around the man, "It would have been
alright....  He went against my way, but not the rules....  No
witnesses....  I'd have tried to help...."

	"I ... I am just so afraid there's nothing any of us can do....  I
think, I just don't know what I'd do...."

	"Well, we can't let it come to that....  We've got to keep him from
making a spectacle of himself, from violating the big rule...."  Richard
nodded and the three got up to go inside, to find Peter and confront him.

	But they found Richard's room in disarray, Peter's things gone.  On
the desk, a note:

	"Dear Richard, I know you mean well, and I know you love me.  But
... what I am, what I've become, what happened to me....  It's too much to
bear to be here with all of you....  I'm going, please don't come after me;
it'll all be over soon, all the pain will be gone.  I AM SORRY.  Peter"

	The note fell from Richard's fingers as he read it, so James had to
pick it up to read it.  He passed it silently to Sebastian.  "We all failed
him," James murmured as he sat on the edge of the bed.

	"I should have come to you," Richard sobbed.  "I should have
... GOD DAMN IT!"  His scream and the punch he delivered to the wall
brought a squad of battle wizards into the room at full alert.  Sebastian
waved them away and put his arms around Richard.  "What do you think he's
going to do?  DO you think he'll hurt himself?  It sounds like a suicide
note...."

	Sebastian said, weakly, "I don't know....  I don't think so," he
trailed off.  He hoped not.  On the other hand, he remembered the look in
Peter's eyes.  He had a very bad feeling.

	James and Sebastian spent the rest of the day with Richard,
comforting him and making sure he didn't do anything brash.  They all
agreed and Sebastian did send some men to track Peter if they could.  By
the middle of the night it became clear -- for now he had avoided them.
They had lost track of him.



	Monday morning found the house under a cloud.  The day was actually
sunny, but inside the mood was dark and dreary.  Everyone felt for Richard,
and so many of them had lost a friend in Peter.  The note DID read like a
suicide note.

	James and Avery returned to their training, and James, Steve, and
Chris to their studies with Horatio, but all of their minds were
... elsewhere.  When the time came to go train with William, James and
Avery went with heavy step.  The boy noticed immediately.  "What's wrong,
guys?"  James explained to him all that happened.  "My God!  I'm so
sorry...."

	James shook his head and raised a hand, but averted his eyes.
William ran up to the house and told Chase what was going on and brought
him down.  The boy immediately gave James a big long hug; Chase's hug had
an almost immediate effect and James relaxed in his thin arms.  They talked
for a few minutes before Chase suggested, "We should practice the spell
Raziel taught us," and he helped the other two perfect the technique.  By
the time it was time for dinner, both of them could manage a weak shield,
while Avery watched fascinated.  He himself tried but couldn't manage it.
"Practice," Chase said to the world's most powerful wizard with a cheeky
grin.

	Before Avery and James left, Chase pulled James off to the side.
"Tell Sebastian to FIND HIM....  He's got something important, something he
shouldn't have....  He's not going to kill himself...."

	"What is he going to do," James asked.

	"I don't know, it's not clear....  But he's got something we
need....  That's all I know...."

	James looked at him closely and said, "I'll tell him....  Thanks,
Chase...."

	As soon as Avery and James returned, James found Sebastian in his
office and told Sebastian what Chase had said.  Sebastian immediately put
out a worldwide alert for Peter and had some powerful wizards begin scrying
for his location.

	By the middle of the night they had nothing, which was very
confusing, since they had a very sophisticated intelligence network and
powerful wizards looking for him.  They had no idea that he had already
been picked up, but Sebastian's suspicion was that someone was shielding
his location magically.



	The phone of Sammael's desk rang.  On the other end, a renegade
vampire from Washington, D.C., who had worked for Chang, spoke into the
phone.  "I've got someone here I think you'd like to meet...."

	"Who's that," Sammael asked, testily.

	"A fledgling vampire named Peter Lively...."

	"What," Sammael asked, sitting forward with excitement.  "You've
got to be kidding!"

	"Seems he ran away from Sebastian's place, went on a minor rampage
down here, left a few bodies in a park....  Well, he walked into a vampire
hangout in downtown, and I talked him back to my place, I've got him
restrained...."

	"I'll have agents to you in hours," Sammael said with a grin.
"They'll have a reward for you...."

	Sammael sat back and smiled.  The luck!  This was just the kind of
leverage he could use to get what he needed.  Sebastian wouldn't expect
this in the least!



	When Tuesday came, there was still no news about Peter, and
Sebastian was very low.  He'd meant for dinner to boost his team, and now
he himself was in no mood for it.  James rubbed his shoulders silently and
kissed his cheek.  "Everything will be fine...."

	"You believe that?" Sebastian asked.  "The fact that Chase
mentioned him....  I have a bad feeling...."

	"You always have a bad feeling," James teased, squeezing him
gently.  "Have a little faith!"

	Sebastian snorted and rolled his eyes a little.  "If only....
Well, is everything ready for dinner tonight?"

	"Jean-Philippe is taking care of everything," James assured him.

	"Alright....  Would you mind staying on top of everything?  I'm
going to sit with Richard...."

	"No problem....  You go do your thing," James replied, heading out
to marshal the troops before he and Avery did their mid-day training.
There would be no session with William since the boys were coming to
Sebastian's that evening.



	Two dark wizards ushered the figure into a cell in Sammael's arctic
station, a black silk bag secured over his head, so he could neither see
nor be seen.  Powerful cloaking spells ensured he was permanently off the
radar.

	"Take this fucking bag off my head," the figure demanded loudly,
struggling again against his captors.  "Who are you?"

	Finally, the elder of the two smiled and said, "We've brought you
to Sammael....  You know what that means, traitor?"

	"Traitor," the figure demanded.  "Why the hell would I owe
allegiance to him?"

	"Not to him, to your kind!  You turn your back on the darkness, all
you who follow the 'shadow council,' bunch of white knights for the weak
and insignificant....  But now the master's come to turn that all on its
head!  And your kind is through!"

	"Take me to him," the figure demanded, surprising both wizards.

	"He's not ready for you yet...."

	"Tell him, he'll want to see me....  It's important," the figure
added, cryptically.



	"Your progress is amazing," Avery gushed as they finished their
training.

	James blushed, "I have a good teacher...."

	"No," Avery said, laughing, "there's something else....  You're
different from the rest of your kind....  We know that from the Oracle....
Child of love....  It gives you power, something like Chase's, though
perhaps not to that extent.  Like him, you can so easily access that part
of yourself, an infinite well....  Perhaps I could have touched it once,
but ... I've lost so much."

	James put an arm around the man's shoulders.  "You must have loved
her dearly, to forge a bond with her...."

	"She was ... like the other part of myself," Avery said, eyes
glistening.

	"Sof ... Sarah?"

	Avery smiled a sad smile.  "We've talked ... I've explained....
Sarah's a wonderful girl and I could ... love her in her own right, but I
don't know if I've got it in me to every really go there again...."

	"You know," James said, "love isn't like money....  You spend money
and it's gone, so you ration it out.  Love, you can give all you've got and
a little more, only to find that you have more than you've given left.  It
is an infinite well...."

	Avery smiled at him and wrapped his own arm around James, "Like I
said to Sebastian, who is teaching whom?"

	They found Sebastian and Richard in the living area, talking
quietly.  Richard looked terrible, and Sebastian had his hands clasped over
Richard's.  Sebastian looked at them and smiled, shaking his head to
indicate no news.

	James showered and dressed for company, before doing a last check
around the house.  At last, Sebastian too had to get ready and Richard
retired to his room.  Avery and Sarah emerged from his room looking
gorgeous.  Chris and Steve were going to enjoy a night alone upstairs.  The
colonel was decked out in his dress uniform.  Together the five of them
descended to the basement to open the portals.  Musa was the first to
arrive, decked out in the finery of an Arab noble, with a sexy young
European-looking vampire on his arm.  "Sebastian," he exclaimed, opening
his arms to receive his old friend, "it's been far too long!"  Sebastian
stepped into his warm embrace and shivered as he felt the man's lips in his
neck.

	"Enough of that, you dog," Sebastian said with a teasing laugh,
stepping back.  "James, my old friend, Musa...."

	Musa put a hand on each of James's shoulders and looked at him
appreciatively.  "So you are the boy who has won Sebastian's heart!  Lucky
dog!"  The man left it tantalizingly unclear which of them he was referring
to.  Turning to his companion, a vampire of perhaps a hundred years who had
apparently been turned when he was about seventeen, a light skinned, dark
blond with brown eyes, Musa said, "Allow me to introduce Simeon, my
personal assistant...."  All gathered shook hands with him.  "Avery," Musa
exclaimed happily, embracing his other old friend.  Avery introduced both
Sarah and the colonel.

	Christen arrived next with her husband Mark, and introductions
again ensued.  Mark was clearly overawed by the company, despite his wife's
high position; Sebastian and Avery were legendary to him.  Americ arrived
with his long-time companion, Melinda, who drew Sebastian into a big hug,
thanking him for making the decision to save her mate.  And last was Pedro,
who came alone.

	Sebastian ushered his guests upstairs and gave James a nod.  James
followed them up, but would return to the basement to open the door and
usher William and Chase into the mansion at the appointed time.



	The figure was ushered into a decadently appointed office.  "Remove
the bag," a silky and attractive voice commanded, and Peter found himself
face-to-face with Sammael.  Sammael stood a couple of inches taller than
the young footballer and smiled down into his face, his hypnotic blue eyes
piercing Peter.

	"I need to speak with you," the boy said, softly, "alone...."

	Sammael looked surprised and motioned for the wizards to leave
them.  "You ... aren't surprised to see me?"

	Peter looked confused.  "Surprised?  I ... came looking for
you...."  Sammael raised his hand to cast a spell, thinking the boy had
somehow smuggled something in with the intent of harming him, but he could
see on the boy's face that it was nothing of the sort.

	"Hmmm....  I was under the impression you were captured...."

	"I came to the city and went to a place where ... the bad guys hang
out ... and said I was looking for you...."

	Sammael chuckled and made a mental note to have that vampire
filleted.  "So why would someone like you come looking for that kind of
trouble?"

	"I ... needed to know if it's true...."

	"If what is true," Sammael asked, quite unsure of where this was
going.

	"Those wizards out there, they think you've come to restore the
dark forces to their 'rightful' place in the world, to dominate the
mortals...."  Sammael nodded.  "But Sebastian is quite sure you have other
intentions...."

	Sammael sat down in his chair and leaned back, smiling.  He
motioned for Peter to take a seat.  "And what does the leader of the white
hats think I have planned?"

	"He thinks that, as the sworn enemy of God, you've come to reduce
the world to 'primordial chaos.'  He thinks you're here to undo
creation...."  Sammael's smile intensified.  "So which is it?"

	"Why not?  None of these rubes would believe you if you told
them....  Sebastian is absolutely right....  I don't want to rule this
fetid rock, to lord over these pathetic, wretched masses....  I want to
reduce it to rubble and toss it all back in His Face!  Fuck the world!"
Sammael had risen to a fever pitch and his fist came crashing down on the
desktop.  He hid his surprise as Peter didn't even flinch.

	Rather, the boy reached relaxedly into his pocket and pulled out a
little velvet baggie and tossed it on the desk.  Sammael picked it up and
looked inside.  Then he looked at Peter with perplexity and surprise.

	"But why?"  Sammael's question was sincere.  He couldn't fathom it.

	"Since ... your people ... did what they did to me, I've had
nothing but pain and torment inside.  And I can feel it, feel it in every
creature.  The suffering, the agony of life....  It's screaming in my head.
I killed a boy the other night and realized that he died in bliss and his
suffering was over....  But no matter how much I try, I could kill many
night after night ... I can't murder the world....  But you can...."
Peter's eyes shined with sincerity.

	Sammael smiled, an authentic and pleasant smile, as he sat the bag
on the desk and walked around the desk, kneeling before Peter and wrapping
his arms around the boy.  "My brother," he whispered, as he ran a hand
through Peter's hair, lifting his head for a soft and loving kiss.  Peter
relaxed in his arms and let himself be carried away in the affection of one
who truly understood him.