Author's Note:I hope you enjoy my first foray in writing fantasy fiction, no not THAT kind of fantasy hehe. The story starts out relatively dark, but is needed to set Steven on his path. I hope to share a new chapter at least once a week, the challenges of life notwithstanding. ~Rebecca

It had been an extremely difficult day for Steven, by the time he had arrived home that evening. He had known that today would be painful and depressing, but he wasn’t prepared for how lost and utterly alone he felt right now. He spent the next fifteen minutes pacing around his small house, one that he had once shared with his partner Ben, but now it was quiet and empty, which was a reflection of how Steven felt. He felt an overwhelming grief and had been for several weeks, then with the events of todays funeral that grief was quickly being replaced by rage.

He was too wound up to eat, and even though he knew he shouldn’t, he grabbed the half empty bottle of whiskey out of the freezer. Forgoing a glass, he collapsed on his couch with the bottle, after a moment he took a long drink and let the freezing cold liquor burn his throat. Setting the bottle down, he knew he had to be careful and not get drunk tonight, he had plans to make. He was planning for revenge, seeing he had given up any hope of justice.

Once the burning in his throat had subsided he leaned forward and picked up the album that was on the coffee table. Caressing the cover gently, he took another swig from the bottle before he opened it to the first page of photos. The first photo brought a smile from his face, but also tears. The first photo was of three teenagers on one of the best days of Steven’s life. It was just him and his two closest friends, or as they had dubbed themselves the underdogs.

The underdogs had consisted of himself, Ben, or Benji as he was called then, and then Kelly. They had attended school together since Pre-K and had formed a close bond almost immediately. They had never been considered part of the popular crowd, for one they all three had ended up being late bloomers and until the middle of high school had been left behind by the rest of their class. Both he and Benji wore glasses and had both been short and chubby until their final growth spurts, while Kelly would have been mistaken for a boy until her junior year when her body finally developed. Towards the end of their high school career all three would have been considered attractive, but it had been too late by then, their lot in life had been set as geeks and nerds by the time they were in middle school. There was no changing their class in school, so they became the underdogs, shunned by those in the popular clique.

The memories of that day brought Steven a small degree of peace, the old Polaroid was taken by the caretaker of the Dismals Canyon, an old canyon not to far from Phil Campbell, Al, where they had grown up. It was one of their favorite places to go, with the trails and waterfalls they could be lost for hours, and since it wasn’t a ‘cool’ place for high school students to hang out they didn’t have to worry about being harassed by any of their classmates in the small town.

Turned the page, the next photos were from a few years later during their senior year. While he and Benji were still wearing glasses in the first picture, they had both slimmed up considerably and almost could had been mistaken as preppy. Between them was Kelly, who by then was beautiful, the rail thin tomboy from the other picture had been replaced by a gorgeous young woman. While all three were smiling, he could see something in Kelly’s eyes, her smile wasn’t extending to her eyes anymore. Looking at the photo, he realized that her problems must have started by then, but neither him or Benji had known she was struggling with anything. They both were struggling themselves, and were afraid to talk to even their small group. He took another drink…

The bottom photo was of himself and Kelly at prom, their one attempt at dating, which ultimately failed. Steven blamed himself for that failure, and couldn’t help but blame himself for what had eventually happened to Kelly. Their relationship didn’t fail because he didn’t love her, he actually loved her too much. He had loved her ever since he realized what love was, the problem was he wasn’t physically attracted to her… He had known he was gay since he was around 12, but fear in the small homophobic community they lived in had caused him to hate himself and to try to hide that part about him. He had thought that if he loved her enough, he could make their relationship work, but the night of the prom when they kissed… They both knew that he had felt nothing but friendship…

The next few pages of the three was taken during their summer before college, in each one he noticed Kelly’s expression growing slightly more grim as the summer went on. Unfortunately, both he and Benji hadn’t noticed anything at the time. He softly cursed himself as he stared at the picture, had he not been so caught up in his own bullshit, maybe he could have noticed and helped her. Maybe things would have been different… He took another drink.

There were only a few pictures after that, with only Steven and Kelly in them during their freshman year in college. Benji had decided to go to a different school for pre-law, and had gone to Auburn instead of Alabama like they had. At least they both had gone there for a while, before Kelly flunked out and disappeared. He and Kelly had grown further and further apart, and the few times he had seen her before she left school, she was always drunk and hanging out with the party crowd. She didn’t just drop out of school, but out of his life, and her family’s life as well.

The next several years were a blur, and there weren’t any photographs of that time. Steven had concentrated on getting his business degree and had thought focusing on everything else but his orientation he could forget what he was… Upon graduation he had gotten a job with a small firm, and moved to Birmingham, trying to run from his home and from his past.

While he still called home occasionally, the only time he could bring himself to return to Phil Campbell was Christmas, and then he was only there for the day and made the two-plus hour trip back home. He had lost track of both Benji and Kelly and had thought the underdogs were a thing of the past, until he ran into Benji, who was going by Ben now, at their ten-year high school reunion. He had almost not gone at all, but there was hope that he could reconnect with his long lost friends, so he went. While Kelly was nowhere to be found, even her family hadn’t heard from her in years, he had reconnected with Ben. He had found out Ben was in real estate law in Birmingham, and didn’t live far from him at all.

The two wasted no time in rekindling their friendship, and quickly found themselves spending most of their free time in each other’s company. Over the next year Steven realized two things, one that he couldn’t hide who he was anymore, and the other was that he had fallen deeply in love with his lifelong friend. He had tried to bury those feelings out of fear, no matter how he felt, he didn’t want to loose Ben out of his life again. He kept up the charade for a few more months before he started making himself sick from constantly hiding his true feelings. Then he decided to come clean, no matter what happened, he no longer wanted to lie to the man he loved. At least then he thought he could be free, no matter what happened.

The night he chose to confess to Ben was a night he will never forget. They had gone to a movie and decided to have a drink afterwards and went to a local jazz bar. While Steven had been trying to get his courage up, Ben could tell that something was bothering him so he asked. After taking a deep breath, he confessed everything, that he was gay, he had known for years, how it had tried to hide and forget about it, then finally that he had fallen in love with his best friend. The moments he waited for a response seemed like hours had passed before Ben smiled at him. Steve was extremely confused, right up until Ben leaned over and kissed him. Ben then confessed the same feelings that he had been fighting, then they kissed again.

They had been inseparable ever since, they both came out at work, which unfortunately cost Steven his job. Ben was much luckier, working in a law office, everyone was much more liberally minded. They also were trying to hire an office manager, so Steven no longer had any job issues. The next several years they were every bit a married couple in every sense, other than legally. While they still had to deal with a lot of hateful people, they were living in Alabama after all, it was manageable. Then they decided to go to their twentieth high school reunion.

The moment they walked into the gymnasium, they weren’t prepared for the animosity that they received. There had been only a small handful of people who were amazed with them and seemed to accept them, but out of their class of 124 people, those accepting few only numbered in single digits. They almost left but by then they had already developed a pretty thick skin, and besides they were happier than most and wanted everyone to see that.

Then it turned from bad to worse, as they saw Kelly walk in with her husband. Their long lost friend, who had disappeared for almost two decades, stepped back into their life for a moment. At first they didn’t recognize her, while they frequently exercised, hiking and racquetball, they were healthy looking and looked much younger than their 38 years. Kelly on the other hand looked much older, whatever had happened to her had taken its toll. Gone was the gorgeous teenager they remembered, but a tired and dangerously thin woman who looked like an addict of some sort. For a moment, Kelly’s eyes brightened when she saw her two friends, and when she found out they were now a couple, her eyes faded. They both had tried to talk to her to find out what had happened to her, then her husband butted in and shoved them both back. When he spoke they then realized who he was. Back in high school Chad Moorland had been a rich preppy kid and the star quarterback for the Bobcats, he had moved on to playing for Alabama but blew out his knee as a redshirt freshmen. He lost his football career and then his scholarship, he now was a balding heavyset used car salesman, and he was angry.

Chad caught Ben with a wild punch before turning on Steven, but he was unaware that due to the harassment he had received in school, Steven had been practicing martial arts since college. The black belt holding Steven quickly disabled Chad with a few quick punches, but didn’t do much, if any, damage. Steven quickly helped Ben to his feet, while Kelly was screaming at them to leave. She even started to push them out the gym, and right at the last moment Steven heard her tell them to run, that Chad and his friends had prepared to do much worse. With a quick look he saw remnants of their old friend, before she started shrieking for the ‘faggots’ to leave. It was the last time that he had seen her. That had been just over a month ago.

Steven and Ben had both realized that Kelly was in trouble, and had vowed to help her. They started making plans on how to get in touch with her, when a week after the reunion their world was torn apart forever. As they were leaving a restaurant from having a date, they were jumped by five men in ski masks, with his training Steven took a beating but dished out more than he received, he even managed to break two of his assailants noses before they ran off. Ben on the other hand never regained consciousness from his beating, and passed away two days later in the hospital. Steven had given up all hope on finding justice, since the police department didn’t seem too concerned with two fags being beaten, even if one of them died. After three weeks there had been no recent developments, then he got the phone call that led him to this moment.

The call had been from Kelly’s mother, Kelly had apparently been drinking and driving. They found her car, and her remains at the bottom of a ravine not too far from Phil Campbell. That was why Steven’s grief was so overwhelming, he blamed himself for what had befallen both of his friends. He kept thinking that if he hadn’t ever been born, he wouldn’t have started Kelly down her path of destruction. She had started her decline shortly after their ‘date’ at the prom, so it had to have been him. Had he not been there, Ben wouldn’t have fallen in love with him. They both would still be alive. He had decided that once he paid his respects to his friend Kelly, that he was going to end his own. His life was just too empty to carry forward. That was before he saw Chad at the funeral, supposedly mourning his dead wife. It wasn’t the look of disdain on Chad’s face that caused him to realized exactly what had happened, but it was the slightly remaining swelling left over from a recently broken nose. The look that Chad had given him chilled him to the bone, Chad knew that he knew. That alone had given him a purpose and a reason not to kill himself, at least not yet… He had some work left to do before he could go.

Steven tossed the photo album back on the coffee table, and took yet another long pull of the whiskey. The pull wasn’t as much as he expected as the last bit of the still cold liquor spilled into his mouth. Looking dumbly at the now empty bottle he started silently cursing himself. He hadn’t intended to get drunk, he knew he had to stay aware of his surroundings. Chad and his friends realized that he knew that they had been involved in Ben’s death, so Steven knew that they would most likely try to silence him. While he relished the idea of his life ending so he could be with his friends again, it wouldn’t happen until he felt Chad’s life pass through his own hands. Angrily he stood up and started to stumble then a voice out of nowhere made him jump back.

“You know you’re in danger don’t you?” The melodious feminine voice stated.

Spinning around Steven saw a strikingly beautiful woman in his living room, she was tall and willowy, but what caught him off guard were her gold colored eyes, that and the sense of strength radiating from her. He jumped back and almost fell, but caught himself on the bar leading into the kitchen. He exclaimed, “Who the fuck are you?!?!”

Grimacing at his language, the woman spoke calmly, “Steven I’ve come to help you… You know they are on their way, they will be here in a few minutes…”

Steven started to feel sick, the alcohol sitting in a stomach that hadn’t seen food in days started to lurch. He started to move to the sink to empty his stomach, but only made half a step before he started to fall. They mystery woman instantly was by his side and caught him, before he was able to pull away she touched his chest with her hand and a soothing sensation passed through him. Moments later he stood up the sick feeling completely gone and his mind was once again clear. He quickly stepped back, and blurted out, “What did you just do?!?”

She softly responded, “Like I said before, I’m here to help you Steven.”

Confused, he asked, “Why? How? I mean… Who are you and why do you want to help me?”

She responded, “You can call me Michelle, I’m a friend… The why and how, we don’t have enough time to explain. They are only about ten minutes away Steven.”

Steve asked, “How do you know that? How do you even know what is going on?”

Michelle told him, “I think its easier if I showed you how I know, but you need to sit down first.” She gently took his hand, which he hesitantly drew back at first. Once her hand touched his, another soothing sensation passed through him.

The next thing he knew he was sitting on his couch with Michelle sitting on the coffee table facing him and looking him directly in the eyes. Her gaze made him feel small and insignificant, almost like he wasn’t worthy to stare into her golden orbs. He quickly let his chin fall and looked at the floor in shame.

Michelle gently grasped his chin and lifted his head so he could look at her, she told him, “Steven its okay, I can’t hurt you. I just want to help, but to do that I need to show you something. I just thought it would be best if you sat down first, this might be overwhelming.”

For some reason the timbre of her voice, and the way it gently filled the room, calmed him. He couldn’t help but trust her, so he gently nodded acceptance.

Slowly she leaned forward and placed her forehead against his, he felt a warm tingle when their heads touched, then visions quickly started flashing through his mind. He saw himself and his friends when they were kids, how close they were. He had seen them grow up and how their bond grow stronger. He then saw that each in their own way started dealing with their own struggles. He couldn’t see what they were, but somehow through the vision he just knew they were there. He then saw the night of his prom and the remorse in Kellys eyes after they kissed. He then witnessed the years of struggling that she had faced, turning from alcohol to marijuana, then to things much much worse. He saw Benji and his struggles, then the night they kissed and the years afterwards of complete happiness, but at the same instant he felt Kelly’s despair. He witnessed the assault upon them, but from an outside perspective. Then the moment that Benji passed away, Steven was downstairs in the hospital and hadn’t even been there when the man that he loved expired. The last vision though unnerved him, he witnessed Kelly fighting with her husband. She accused him of killing Ben… Right before he grabbed her around the throat and squeezed until she quit moving, then how he he placed her in her car and rolled it down the ravine, right after lighting the gas inside the car on fire.

When the visions left him he found himself shaking uncontrollably, with Michelle’s arms holding him gently. The tears were blinding him, but he knew now that what he was planning, was the right thing to do. He uttered, “I’m going to kill him for what he did… No one would ever believe me anyway… It’s the only way…” Then he thought for a second what had just happened, then he wiped his eyes and started into her eyes and asked, “How did you do that?”

Michelle grimaced at his first utterance, she shook her head and told him, “Steven I’m not here to help you kill him… That’s revenge, not justice, I can’t help you hurt him anymore than I can hurt you. I’m here to help you in another way. There is another way. I’m here to help you save them.”

Surprised he blurted out, “Help them?!? Why would I help them! They killed Kelly and Benji!!!”

Taking his hand again so she could soothe him, she said, “Not save them, I’m talking about saving Kelly and Ben…”

He wanted to ask if she was crazy, Ben and Kelly were dead. He had watched their dead bodies be buried. With what he had seen though, he knew there was something incredible about the young strange beautiful woman. For some reason he believed that she could do what she said… He simply asked, “What do I have to do?”

She smiled sadly at him and told him, “You don’t have to do anything, but be yourself. The hard part is up to me. I’m going to send you back, you will need to be there for them, but in a different way than you were before… To save them, the key is you Steven. It will be difficult, and your life will be difficult, more difficult than you could imagine… But you will save them…”

Oddly he didn’t even question about being ‘sent back’, what confused him was be there in a different way… “You can really do that? And that it would save them?”, he asked, to which she just nodded. Then he thought how could he be there in a different way, then he remembered when Kelly started being troubled. It was after they kissed, and how it had twisted their relationship. He had loved her, and he was sure she had loved him… That had to be what would be different. He then asked, “If you can send me back, I take it you have the power to change things…”

She nodded, but told him, “I can change a lot of things, but I can’t change a persons mind. Free will and all that jazz… A persons mind and heart I can’t force to change, I can only suggest. A person has to change on their own.

He thought free will? He blurted out, “What are you supposed to be an angel or something?”

She shook her head, and told him sadly, “No, I’m no angel… I’m nothing like what you would think an angel would be like…”

His mind drifted back to his other thought, that if he could physically love Kelly as much as his heart did, it would solve everything. If he was straight, they could fall in love, and then if he and Ben weren’t in a relationship there wouldn’t have been any reason for Chad to do what he did. He then asked, “Could you make it where I could love her, they way she needs to be loved? I mean I already did, err do love her, I just couldn’t…”

“You’re gay.”, She stated, it wasn’t a question. He just nodded dumbly, not even caring how she knew. She thought for a quick moment, she knew that he was gay, but it wasn’t a physical thing she could change. Him being gay was part of the energy that made him who he was, a soul as the humans would call it. She then looked calmly at him, “I think I can manage that, but I need to warn you… If for some reason you do fall for each other, it wont last… You’re destined to go your separate ways… You’re life will not be pleasant in the least… Kelly will eventually find her soulmate though, you can be thankful of that at least.”

He softly asked, “But they will both be alive right?” She just nodded, so he continued, “So do it, I don’t care if we don’t stay together… As long as they both are alive…”

Michele felt his grief and his desperation, but she reiterated, “You have to understand though, this is going to be hard Steven you have to understand…”

Steve interrupted her, “Like this is a bed of freaking roses?!? I have nothing in my life, but hate… Hate for Chad and his friends. Hate for myself for letting my friends down…” He started to sob, everything had just built up for so long. Michelle started to try to ease his suffering, but that thought was quickly interrupted by several car doors slamming…

She exclaimed, “They are here Steven, you have minutes left… I need you to understand…”

He grasped her hand, and told her, “Do it… There is nothing left here anyway.”

Laying her hands on each side of his face, she leaned forward. Just as the door was kicked in, her lips kissed his forehead and for a second time stood still.

Steven immediately felt his body being pulled in every different directions, he then felt his body spinning end over end. Suddenly a loud crashing sound filled his ears, and it was loud enough he felt it through his entire body. Then he felt an extremely sharp and powerful blow on his head, right before his world went dark…

Michelle stood quickly, and seconds after she stood, the room she was in blurred for a quick second. She then found the scenery had changed, even though she was still in the same house that she had been in with Steven. Now the furniture was different, the door was closed and not kicked in, and instead of Steven in the house there was now a family of four sitting on the couch and watching a Disney movie. It was obvious they couldn’t see her, so she made no effort to hide. She slowly bowed her head and prayed, desperate that something, anything might hear it.

She prayed for Stevens success, and that he would be strong enough to face what lay ahead of him, she prayed for several moments before another woman’s voice interrupted her.

“Sister why do you bother praying? You know there is nothing there to hear you…” The voice said harshly.

Looking up at the fiery red headed amazon that now stood beside her, the family still just oblivious to the newcomer as they were to her, Michelle told her, “Old habits die hard… Even we should still have hope… Hope is still a good thing.”

The red-head asked, “Why are you trying to save the girl? Do you really think it will matter in the end?”

Michelle stood up and glared at the woman, “We have been setting the board for this moment for thousands of years, it has to matter! She is just the first piece of the puzzle to be put down… We can’t fail… It all can’t be in vain…”

Much more gently the red-head told her, “Michelle… I know you still hope… It’s been so long since a lot of us had any hope left…” After a moment of silence between them the red-head spoke again, “Sister I hope now that you have pushed over you’re first domino, that the others fall where you intended… You know what happens if it fails…”

Michelle nodded slowly, then spoke softly, “I know what will befall us all if it fails… All I have left is hope Azrael, you know that as…”

Azrael, the red headed woman, just nodded and gently spoke, “Well then, I will stand by your side sister, no matter what transpires.”

Michelle’s body started to shimmer and said, “Thank you…”, before she faded away.

 
 
To be continued.