Well since you've gotten this far I'm assuming that you're enjoying the story. Either that or you're a very persistent person, or you're trying to win a bet. Whatever your reason, glad to have you hear. This is the fifth instalment and is the second to last that I've completely written at this point. Thought I've gotten a good handle on the seventh one. I've almost run into a form of writer's block. I have all the ideas I want; it's just that I'm starting to lack the needed imagination to put some of those ideas together. I know I'll come up with something, but it's sort of annoying. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
The disclaimer doesn't have anything truly new in it. Don't know them. If you're to young/it's illegal in your area/it offends you, leave. Just the same old disclaimer.
If you'd like to get a hold of me and let me know what you think of the story, and I'd like you to do that, you can send it to one of two addresses. Or both if you feel up to it. Mist_dark@hotmail.com or Mist_dark@yahoo.ca
That's all for now. I'd write more, but I'm sort of tired. Until next time, Rune
CHAPTER FIVE
The darkness hadn't alleviated itself any in the office. It was still gloomy, but its occupants didn't seem to notice. Or if they did, they didn't care. The woman sat in her place behind the desk. She still wore her hair in a French braid, but had changed her suit to one that was deep green. Behind and slightly behind her stood Ian and Katra, one on each side. Across from her sat a man and a woman. Each had deep red hair and bore such a resemblance to each other that they were most certainly siblings. The man was dressed in a white three-piece suit and his hair was cropped close to his head. His sister wore a skirt suit of identical colour and wore her hair long. Both of them watched the woman in front of them with some curiosity.
"How did your little trial go?" The woman asked.
"Well," the man told her in a deep voice. "The three humans were easily manipulated. They wanted to rob that restaurant anyway. I simply pushed them over the edge of doing it."
The woman nodded her head. "Kyle is right. It was simple. Though both of us question your motivation on seeking revenge on this man. He could not have possibly done something so bad that you are going to all of this trouble to punish him."
"What he did was more then enough to earn my wrath," the woman snapped. "I'm only asking for your aid in this matter. You will be handsomely rewarded if you do."
"Are you sure Mara?" Kyle asked. "My sister and I will help you, we would do that anyway. We've been bored for some time now, but we do want to make sure we aren't getting into a game that will kill us."
"You'll be fine, and I am sure of my motivations," the woman assured him.
"I see," Erin said. She smoothed her white suit and then asked, "What of the Oracle? What will you do if he involves himself?"
"He could be difficult," Mara said. "I don't want to risk the fury of a man that can see the future. We'll simply have to be careful not to give him cause to interfere."
"You could kill him," Ian offered.
Mara looked at him sharply. "Are you mad?"
"He's only one man," Ian defended his idea.
"To kill the Oracle is to have the wrath of fate visited upon you. Spilling the Oracle's blood will curse you for the rest of your life. You will be unable to die and every possible misfortune will befall you." She looked at the youth with scorn clearly written on her face. "During the French revolution a man was foolish enough to slay the Oracle." A wicked smile crossed her face. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have your head removed and not die? That man lived for thirty years with his head lying next to him. He couldn't die until the curse had run its course." She turned back to Erin and Kyle. "No I've no intentions of killing the Oracle."
"Nice lecture," Erin laughed. "Now back to business. We will need to follow these men more closely. Their bodyguards are very good at what they do, though I couldn't get any information from them. Kyle and I will need to do some more observation before we will be able to formulate a plan of attack."
Mara nodded. "Report back with whatever you find. Use Ian and Katra when necessary. They'll be useful for a while yet."
Disgust became clearly visible on the siblings' faces. "You wish us to use the services of animals?" Erin almost spat.
"They'll do what's asked of them," Mara said. "That was part of the agreement they made. You don't have to use them, but they do have their uses."
"I doubt we'll need their aid," Kyle said. The disgust that was visible on his face was also clear in his voice. "But we'll keep them in mind."
"What do you have against us?" Ian snapped. Katra had remained silent during the exchange, but she was clearly not impressed with the way the Erin and Kyle were talking about them.
"You're human for one," Kyle said. "And you sold your life for power that you can't possibly hope to contain. You don't have any power of your own, so you bought it instead. I cannot, and will not, respect something like that."
"So glad you feel that way," a voice said as the doors to the office opened. A man about twenty-five walked into the room and shut the doors behind him. He had dirty blonde hair that was in need of trimming. His choice of clothing was simple. A light grey shirt tee shirt and faded jeans. He looked very much out of place with the three people dressed in business suits, but fit in fine with both Ian and Katra. A grey wolf was tattooed on his arm.
"And who are you?" Kyle asked sharply. He spotted the tattoo and the possibility of respect drained from his eyes. The newcomer had been put in the same group as Ian and Katra.
"This is Paul," Mara said. "And he should not have come in until I called for him."
Paul flashed a wolfish smile. "I just got bored waiting. Thought I'd drop in and see what was holding everything up."
Erin rolled her eyes and snorted in disgust. "How many of them do you have working for you?"
"I only work with these three on a regular basis. Though I have worked with up to twenty at one time. The rest have met with their unfortunate side effects." Mara glanced at Paul. "His services will also be yours to call upon if you feel the need."
"Peachy," Kyle muttered.
"Can I ask you guys a personal question?" Deana asked. She and Sean were sitting with Joey, Justin and Josh in the lounge area of their suite. Chris, Lance and Cody had gone off to get some movies for the evening. They thought about just sending Lance and Cody, but due to Lance's inability to pick movies, they sent Chris too. And Chris had been more then willing to go.
"Sure," Justin said. "Can't say we'll answer it, but we might."
"Good enough," Deana said. "Is Chris gay?"
"Why?" Joey asked guardedly. "Does that bother you?"
Sean laughed. "Not in the least. But if he was then it would certainly clear up the little lookfest he had going at lunch."
Josh arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"You guys didn't notice?" Deana asked. "The way that Chris was staring at Cody. Well staring isn't the right word. Sneaking sidelong glances when he thought no one was looking. It was so obvious. And kinda cute too."
"What are you guys getting at?" Joey asked.
"Well you didn't notice it," Sean said. "You don't know Cody well enough, but he's interested in Chris. And if we're right, Chris is interested in Cody. So I suggest that we do something to get the two together."
"Cody's gay?" Justin asked. "I would never have guessed it."
"And unless you knew Chris well enough you wouldn't guess that he was gay either," Joey told him. "So we're going to try to get these two together?"
"I think we should try," Deana said. "Cody hasn't had anyone in a long time. He could use the companionship, and besides he seems to like Chris."
"Same with Chris," Josh mused. "But how are we going to do it?"
"Well they're getting movies," Sean said. "And all sorts of romantic things happen during movies. I say we just get leave them alone with each other and see how things go from there."
"Worth a shot," Justin said. "But how are we going to get Lance to leave them alone?"
"I'll take care of that," Sean said.
"Won't this sort of spark their attention?" Josh said. "I think I'd notice if everyone in the room suddenly emptied of everyone except the object of my affection."
"That's the point," Joey said. "Chris will pick up on the fact that we know he likes Cody and I'm assuming Cody will do the same thing for Deana and Sean. Right?"
"That's the plan," Deana said.
"Good, now all we have to do is wait for them to come back."
The credits started to roll on the television screen and the group started to stretch. No one had guessed the ending to Sleepy Hollow. It wasn't a horror film, but it certainly had the atmosphere to keep you on edge.
"Good ending," Justin said. He got up from the couch and walked to the bathroom.
"Gotta love him," Josh said. "Gets straight to the point and then goes to relieve himself."
Joey laughed. "Of course, that's why he's Justin." He stretched for a few seconds longer and then flopped back down on the couch. "What's the other movie you got?"
"The Princessbride," Lance told him.
"The what?" Josh asked. He looked at Chris and Cody. The two had 'nonchalantly' sat side by side. "You let him get what?"
"Hey," Lance defended himself. "It's a good movie. Just because you've seen it a hundred times, doesn't mean the rest of us have."
Josh had the good grace to blush. "Okay it is a good movie, but it doesn't fit the theme. And those two should have interfered."
"Cody hadn't seen it," Chris said.
"I see," Josh said slowly. "Well I guess we're watching the Princessbride next."
"What's next?" Justin asked as he came back from the washroom. Sean ducked passed him and darted in.
"The Princessbride," Joey said.
"Haven't you seen that enough?" He asked Josh.
"Yes, yes," Josh said. "Let's just watch the movie."
"Somebody's touchy," Lance grinned.
"Shut-up albino boy," the brunette threatened. "I can do such horrible things to you."
"But that's nothing compared to what I could do to you," Lance smiled wickedly. "Do remember I'm the organized one and I have access to almost every aspect of your life."
"I've noticed that," Chris said. He turned to Cody. "You'll want to watch him. If he sets his mind to it you could be bunking in the broom closet."
"I'll try to remember that," Cody laughed.
When Sean got back from the washroom they stuck in the second movie and started watching it. About the fourth utterance of 'inconceivable' Josh pulled himself to his feet.
"Since I've seen this a hundred times," he said. He looked directly at Lance. "I think I'll head to bed. See you guys in the morning." The group chorused goodnights and then he left.
Joey yawned a few minutes later. "Josh didn't have such a bad idea. I think I'll follow his suit."
"I'm tired too," Justin said. He helped Joey to his feet and the pair staggered off to their respective bedrooms.
Deana got up and without a word followed them. Cody looked over at her. "And where do you think you're going?"
With an absolutely straight face Deana looked back at him. "To tuck them in."
Sean laughed and the remaining four people went back to watching the movie. A couple of minutes later Sean got out of his chair and walked over to Lance. He extended his hand down to the blonde. A look of confusion crossed Lance's face as the singer took the other man's hand. "Time to go to bed Lance." Without waiting for a response Sean pulled Lance off of the couch and into a standing position. Just as smoothly he ducked down, tossed the blonde over his shoulder and marched into Lance's bedroom.
Chris and Cody watched them in silent shock. After the door closed Chris looked at Cody and laughed slightly. "Okay, that was odd. No other way to describe it."
"I'd have to agree with you on that," Cody agreed. "And it wasn't very subtle either was it?"
"Not in the least," Chris said. "What do you think they're up to?"
"Probably pushing us together," Cody said. "I think Deana and Sean noticed us looking at each other at lunch."
Chris blushed in the darkness. "You noticed?"
"Just once or twice," Cody said. "I'm surprised you didn't notice me doing it too."
"Guess I was busy doing something else," Chris said.
"Guess so," Cody responded.
"Wanna watch the rest of the movie?" Chris asked. "You haven't seen it all yet. And with the exception of the really bizarre exits, it's still pretty good."
"If I'm with you," Cody said. "I don't care." He stopped suddenly and looked at Chris before laughing quietly. "I can't believe I just said that out loud."
Chris leaned into his chest. "The feeling's mutual. The first part, not the out loud part."
Cody wrapped his arm around Chris' shoulders and continued to watch the movie. Neither one really watched the movie, but they enjoyed the parts they saw. After it ended they stayed where they were until the credits had finished rolling.
"What should we do about our lovely friends?" Cody asked suddenly. "They deserve something for pushing us together like this."
"I say we let them think we'd already gotten together before they started trying to do it for us," Chris suggested. "Though we'll have to take Lance down with it too."
"Why?" Cody asked.
"Well first off, he's innocent about the whole scheduled retreat. Or they organized it very well. There's no way Lance could act that surprised at will. Did you see his face when Sean picked him up?" Chris laughed. "That was priceless. But if we let him know about our little joke, then he'll want to play along, and that'll give us away."
"It almost sounds like you know what you're doing," Cody said. "But I guess you're right. They've all got to go down. Deana and Sean in particular. I can almost sense that they put the rest of the guys up to this."
"Upset?" Chris asked while toying with Cody's shirt.
"Not in the least," the bodyguard said and kissed Chris on the forehead. "But revenge against those two is always sweet. They've played some nasty tricks on me. But in all fairness I played some nasty ones on them."
Chris chuckled quietly. "Sounds like the guys and I. We've all played some good ones on each other. It always comes around and no one takes offence to it. But in the end revenge is always exacted."
"They'll get us back for this," Cody said.
"It'll be worth it," Chris said. He pushed himself upward to look Cody directly in the eye. "Won't it?" he said as he kissed him.
TBC
So what did you think? I do want to know. I think now is a good time to point out that I've only been getting e-mail from one person. And though I do thank him for the e-mail, I'd like to get some more. I know I'm begging at this point, but I really do want to know what you think of the story. Good or bad.
Rune