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