THE POWER OF THE DARK LORD by Bert McKenzie Copyright 2010
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real person alive or dead is coincidental and unintentional.
Chapter II
The cab pulled up in front of a sprawling, split level, ranch house and four unusual looking men got out. Three of them were tall, thin and blond looking like Norwegian brothers, and the fourth was shorter with brown hair. They walked up the brick path and rang the bell. In a few seconds a big, beefy looking man opened the door. He had the physique of a professional wrestler, his knit polo shirt stretched tight over a big, barrel chest and bulging biceps. "Yeah?" he growled in a deep, bass voice.
"Is Alex Madison here? We were told he was shooting a film at this address," Scott explained to the mountain of human muscle standing before him.
"They ain't done yet. It's a closed set," the man said as he stepped out and shut the door behind himself. He folded his arms on his chest and looked defiantly back at the four.
Akuta started to take a step forward toward the brutish man blocking the door, but Rood and Robin pulled him back. Robin then spoke to the man blocking the entrance. "It is very important for us to gain entrance to this dwelling," he said in a soft, warm, almost seductive voice. "I understand your reluctance, my good friend, but you understand not our need." The physical body of the big man relaxed visibly as he listened intently to Robin, appearing to hang on the tall elf's every word. Scott smiled to himself, realizing that his lover was using the almost mystical, hypnotic power of his voice. It would work on any but the very strong willed. "My friend Alex is within and it is vitally urgent that we see him. You understand our urgent need and would be saddened if we were not able to enter."
The big man's face contorted and he looked for a moment as if he were about to break into tears. "Please, go in," he said with a catch in his voice as he stepped aside. "I didn't know it was so important." Tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Thank you. You are a good friend," Robin said as the four of them passed the door guard and entered the room.
"That was fantastic," Scott whispered to Robin as they slowly closed the door behind themselves.
"And totally non-violent," his lover smiled back.
Inside, the house was furnished in an expensive but tasteful décor with a Southwestern motif. The living room seemed empty, but they could hear voices coming from further back in the building. Crossing the room, they entered a small hallway which led to a large kitchen and family room at the rear of the structure. Glass doors off the family room provided an unimpeded view of the large back yard, surrounded by a tall privacy fence and lots of large, green vegetation. A swimming pool and patio-terrace occupied most of the back yard space. On the terrace were a number of men and a couple of women gathered around a video camera mounted on a tripod and dolly, with a small TV monitor on a metal cart sitting nearby. A couple of the men stood next to tall, white reflector panels which were adjusted to throw light into the pool. One woman sat next to a tape recorder which was connected to a microphone on a long pole, hanging over the water. In the shallow end of the pool, two men sat in the water, awaiting instructions while another man stood on the pool edge and absent mindedly played with himself, his hand shoved into the waistband of his tight swimsuit. Scott and his friends stepped to the open patio doors and looked at the people in and around the pool. Alex was nowhere in sight.
"Okay, let's do it," a thin, effeminate man standing by the camera called out. "Camera rolling, action!" The man on the pool edge pulled his hand out of his swimsuit to reveal a large bulge in the tightly stretched material. The two men in the water stood, revealing their naked bodies to the camera and slowly approached the man on the side. Each man in the water took hold of a side of the standing man's swimsuit and pulled, quickly stripping him. They then began to fondle and kiss his genitals.
"This is embarrassing," Rood whispered to his friends. "Must we watch?"
"We came to find Alex and he appears not to be here," Robin agreed as he started to turn away.
"Hi, guys. Mind if I join in?" a familiar voice called out from the pool area and Akuta noticeably tensed. Alex had stepped out of the nearby greenery to approach the poolside action. To Scott's relief, he saw that his red headed friend was wearing loose fitting shorts.
"Cut!" a voice screamed and everyone looked to the man beside the camera. The poolside sex came to a quick halt. "What's with the jams, Alex love?" the director asked sarcastically.
"Gee, I though they'd heighten the anticipation," Alex called back across the water.
"Take them off and let's try it again, the way it was written," the man said authoritatively. Alex turned and stepped back into the vegetation.
Akuta started to reach for the screen covering the doorway, but Robin held him back. "Let us watch this a moment," he told his friend.
"What can you mean?" Akuta demanded. "I have no desire to see my love couple with another! I shall slay them first!"
"Have patience. Let us see if he traps himself," Robin urged quietly.
"Action," the director shouted. Again the two men peeled off the third one's tight suit and began to stimulate him.
"Hi, guys. Mind if I join in?" Alex called as he stepped out of the greenery. This time he was indeed nude and slowly walked up to the three at the pool's edge.
"Cut!" the director yelled again. "Mr. Madison, didn't you read the script, such as it was? You're supposed to be excited. You're supposed to have an erection. Let's get it up!"
Alex blushed a bright red until his face almost matched the color of his hair. He had a beautiful body which equally complimented the physical looks of his co-stars save one small difference. He was definitely unaroused. "You need some help?" one of the men in the water asked and reached up to fondle Alex's sex organ. Akuta again strained toward the door.
"Sorry," Alex finally said as he stepped back away from the actor who was trying valiantly if unsuccessfully to stimulate him. "Guess I'm just not in the mood."
"You'd better get in the mood, Bucko, or your agent is going to get a call from our backers," the director said as he walked around the pool to approach the four naked men. "As I understand it, your agent holds a pretty big note from you. Unless you want it called in, you'd better be up and ready." The director was standing face to face with Alex.
"Go ahead and call him, dick face," Alex said and turned to leave. The director grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, then struck the red head across the face with the back of his hand. Akuta emitted a low rumble from deep inside his chest and grabbed the screen on the patio door. This time Robin stepped back out of the way, smiling broadly. Akuta yanked the screen off its track and quickly headed out onto the terrace.
"You see. Everything works out if you allow it time," Robin said as he smiled at Rood and Scott.
Meanwhile, everyone stared in surprise at the tall, good looking blond who rapidly approached the small group at the far end of the pool. No one was probably more surprised than Alex. "Akuta, how did..." he stuttered.
"Who the hell are you?" the director demanded as the fairy stopped directly in front of him.
"His love," Akuta said and swung a powerful fist to connect with the man's jaw, knocking him into the pool with a strong right cross. Everyone froze in shocked silence until the director came sputtering to the surface of the water. Then the naked actor at the side of the pool grabbed a small, decorative, wooden table sitting nearby and broke it over Akuta's head.
"That's our cue," Scott said and the three of them rushed out to help their friends. The confusion around the pool quickly turned into an all out brawl, the three fairies and two humans holding their own against two of the actors and seven of the production staff.
"Lynch, Lynch!" the director shouted at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, the big door guard burst out of the house and onto the terrace. He quickly took in the scene and wasted no time heading into the fray. "Call that guy's agent!" The director said to one of the women who were standing nearby watching the excitement with an amused look on her face. "He'll never work in this town again!"
"I think it's time we got out of here!" Scott shouted to Robin as he saw the muscle bound man heading their way.
"Get away from this place as best you can," Robin replied. "We shall create a diversion for you."
"But..."
"Go!" Robin shouted and dived into the pool, landing on top of two of the production crew. Scott knew better than to argue. Once Robin had decided something it took a miracle to change his mind. Perhaps that was what made him such a good leader, Scott thought as he headed across the terrace and through the house. A few minutes later he was on the street in front of the building waiting for his friends. As he stood watching the front door, a hand tapped him on the shoulder. Scott turned quickly to behold a wet and bedraggled group. Robin and Rood stood smiling at him with Akuta between them. Alex was apparently unconscious in his lover's arms.
"What happened to him?" Scott asked.
"I hit him," Akuta replied sadly.
"You?!"
"He did not want to come with us, and I was still very angry."
"I think we should depart this location," Rood said. "They will soon realize we are gone and may come looking for us." The four of them started down the street on foot.
A short time later they were back in the A-frame structure on the edge of the ocean. Akuta went to find a damp wash cloth after depositing Alex on the couch. The others stepped out onto the deck in back.
"Akuta," Alex said as he slowly came around.
The blond elf was bending over him, bathing his face with the cloth. "I am sorry I struck you, love," he said as he looked down at Alex. They stared at each other in silence for a time. Finally, the fairy spoke again. "It is difficult for me to understand the human heart. I have given myself to you and I thought you felt the same. I was apparently mistaken. If you wish I will release you from our union."
"But I do love you," Alex said softly as he pulled the damp cloth from his face and took Akuta's hand.
"You cannot for I saw you joining with another man."
"You couldn't have," Alex protested. "I admit I was going to, but only in a movie. But I couldn't. I kept thinking about you and I couldn't get it up."
"Why did you wish to be with those men around the blue pool of strange smelling water?" Akuta asked.
"I had to. Bernie, my agent, said if I didn't agree to make that movie he was going to tell you about my film career, and I was embarrassed. I didn't want you to know. You see, I owe Bernie a bunch of money and I made the mistake of telling him about you," Alex explained.
"So you were forced to couple with those men?" Akuta questioned.
Alex sat up and threw the wash cloth to the floor. "Why won't you listen to me? I didn't couple with anyone."
"I saw you," the fairy said as he stood and picked up the damp cloth, angrily squeezing a trickle of water from it. "We all saw you...on that box." He pointed to the TV set.
"You saw a tape," Alex said as he crossed to the television and picked up the cassette which was sitting next to the VCR. "This is a movie I made a year ago before I ever met you. This is what I didn't want you to know about."
"I understand it not. I saw you, alive. It was you, not just a picture. It had movement and sound and life."
"That's why it's called a movie or motion picture. It happened a year ago." To prove his point he shoved the tape into the VCR and turned on the set. In a moment the screen brightened to show two naked men locked in passionate sex. One of them was Alex. "You see? It's me, but from a year ago, not now."
"This is an image of the past?" Akuta asked.
"Well, yes," Alex replied.
"This is before we met?"
"Right."
"Then how could you love me if you love another?" the fairy asked as he sat down to watch the explicit action on the screen.
"That isn't love. That's only sex. Haven't you had sex with anyone else before me?" Alex persisted.
"Well..." Akuta looked down to avoid the intense look in the green eyes of his lover.
"You see? With us it's different."
Akuta suddenly looked at the TV screen in alarm. He turned to face Alex. "Did you and Scott join thusly before you met us?"
Alex blushed before responding. "Well, yes a couple of years ago."
"On this magic box shall we not see the two of you?" Akuta asked in shock.
"God, no. Scott would never be caught dead in a movie like this."
This seemed to allay Akuta's fears and he sat back, relaxing slightly. He reached out to take his lover's hand. "I enjoy watching you," he said as he looked at the TV. "Even though it is not me with you, I find it strangely...stimulating."
"I can tell," Alex said as he ran his hand down Akuta's chest and knelt between the fairy's legs. Alex slowly began to tug at the zipper of his lover's jeans.
"They will be alright," Rood said to his two companions on the deck as they looked out at the ocean waves.
"What makes you think so?" Scott asked.
"Because as I crossed the room to change into this tunic, I heard the distinct sound of their coupling. They are using the floor in front of the moving picture box to join." Rood had slipped into the house a moment ago to change out of his shirt and jeans. He had returned wearing a baggy muscle shirt that was cut very low on the sides showing glimpses of his well defined chest, and hanging down to cover the skimpy Speedo swimsuit he now wore. "I shall go for a swim in this ocean. Would you care to join me? We should give them some time," he said nodding toward the house.
"To swim sounds of fun," Robin said and began to shuck his jeans. He had completely stripped down before Scott realized his intent and made him sneak into the house to find some shorts. As he came back out he remarked, "In our world we worry not over such trivial modesty."
"Well, when in this world you'll dress appropriately. I'm not going to have you thrown in jail for indecent exposure. This isn't a nude beach," Scott argued. Robin leaned over to kiss him and then the two Tuathans headed down the stairs and out toward the water.
"These are must curious results, Dr. Sorenson," the man behind the desk said as he looked through the various documents scattered on the top of the file folders. "And you say this is what Dr. Blanc was working on?" The man wore a military uniform with lots of brass, stripes and medals. He also had various credentials hanging around his opulent office, including a couple of medical degrees. He was an older man in his fifty's with a large, double chin and short grey hair ringing his bald head. The fancy, wood-carved nameplate on this desk read, Gen. Horace Armond. "What about photographs and x-rays?" the general asked.
"We took them, of course, but they came out fogged. The x-rays were over exposed, as if the subject was highly radioactive, which he wasn't," Sorenson explained. "And the regular photographs had bright bands of color streaked across where the image should have been. It looked like a light leak in the camera."
"And you checked the equipment?"
"Yes, of course. It was all in perfect operating order."
The general leaned forward and drummed his fingers on the paper. He seemed lost in thought for a few minutes, his brown eyes focused on a far away spot, not inside his office. He then snapped back to the present. "I find it hard to accept these results, doctor. Laboratories do make mistakes after all. Look at this blood work. No iron, high concentrates of trace silver."
"It's all correct," the pudgy little scientist argued as he sat up in the leather chair that he occupied in front of the desk.
"These aliens then just showed up, killed Dr. Blanc, took away the specimen and disappeared?" The general was obviously skeptical.
"Yes, just as we said in the report."
"And what about this police report I have here detailing the outbreak of gangland violence?" The general pushed the reports aside to find another folder of paperwork. "It mentions a gang leader named Akuta, apparently from Eastern Europe," he said as he flipped through the carefully typed pages.
"Believe me, general. They weren't from Europe. They weren't from this planet at all!" Sorenson was becoming agitated over the obvious doubt of his reports and statements.
"And what about Dr. Strahan? Will he corroborate this unusual story?"
"There are about twenty five eye witnesses that will testify to..."
"And Dr. Strahan?" the general persisted.
Emile Sorenson paused for a moment. David Strahan had been his best friend, in fact his only real friend ever since the two met three years ago when Strahan first joined the institute. They worked well together, and shared many long hours in discussions of their studies, as well as spending some time together socially. Dave was a very likeable sort of person and had all but been adopted into the Sorenson family, coming over Sundays for dinner with Jeanine and the kids. But lately things had changed. Ever since that fateful night when a strange army of magical beings had invaded the institute, rescued one of their own kind and disappeared, fading like insubstantial ghosts in the night, Dave had seemed different. In the last two months he had grown strangely aloof, working on his own on private projects.
"Will Dr. Strahan support this story?" General Armond asked again, snapping the little scientist out of his reverie.
"Yes, I'm sure he will."
"Then I guess that about concludes our business here," the general said as he began shoving papers back into folders and cleaning up the mess on his desk.
"But what about our funding? What about the institute?" Nothing had been decided. Sorenson felt like a little school boy called before the principal and then just as summarily dismissed again.
"That's up to the board, doctor. They meet next month and we'll let you know of any decisions that affect you or your work." The general stood and came around the desk, holding out his hand. "Thank you for all this information, not to mention quite an interesting tale. Have a good flight home. We'll be in touch." Before he knew what hit him. Emile Sorenson was standing on the street waiting for a cab.
"Sheila, get me Tom at the MIO," Armond said into his intercom. "Then I want you to transcribe the tape of this interview and forward it to Jerry's office with a note to verify with Dr. Strahan, Blanc Institute at Waterford." It wouldn't hurt to checkout the story and put a few strategically placed observers onto the good doctors from the Institute. If there was anything at all in the outlandish story he had just heard, this could be as big as the Roswell, New Mexico incident back in 1947.