After a long hiatus, I'm back, and so is this story.  I'm sorry if anyone got annoyed with the delay.  They say that moving is one of the top most stressful things you can go through, and while this move was relatively easy, adapting yourself to entirely new living conditions, and an entirely new individual, even someone you care about, plays rough and loose with your established habits.  To say nothing of the fact that the dog seems to have hidden my mouse.

Yes, I'm living with a dog.  It's an entirely new situation for me, and it's taking some getting used to.  I am definitely not used to being woken up in the middle of the night because the animal has decided that my toes look like something fun to play with.  As long as the dog doesn't try any other sneaky tricks, like hiding all the pens, or my notebook, or being so ridiculously cute that you simply have to hug him, I should be back to updating this story pretty regularly just in time for my summer trip to come along and muck things up again.

Anyways, it's back.  Enjoy.  There's a bit of a naughty word in this part, so don't say I didn't warn ya.

    Lex continued to wander around the town.  He had no idea where he was going, and he didn’t care.  Either through random coincidence, or a subconscious desire, he found himself standing outside Changes.  As he entered the bar, he wished, for the first time in his life, that the contents of the sundry bottles behind the bar could provide him with some relief.

    Mel stood at the other end of the bar, scooping up a bit of cash a customer had left as a tip.  She saw Lex come in, flashed him a smile, and gave him the “one minuteâ€� gesture.  Lex glanced around the place while he waited.  It was nearly empty, but the few people there were regulars, and they were loud enough to make up for their small numbers.  Lex could smell the damage they were doing to their bodies, and it made him crinkle his nose in mild disgust.

    Mel appeared then, placing a glass full of ice in front of him.  “Diet?â€� she asked.

    Lex nodded and watched in fascination as she pressed a button on the nozzle and began to fill up his glass.

    “Where’s Aaron?â€� she asked.

    “Back home.â€� Lex replied, taking a sip.  “I needed some fresh air.â€�

    “Everything okay?â€� she asked.  Bartenders has a reputation for being good listeners, but rarely had Mel actually cared about her customers’ problems.

    Lex tried to look her in the eye, but couldn’t.  In his dream he had tried to kill her, and he still felt guilty about it.  “Everything’s fine.â€� he mumbled, staring at the glass in his hands.

    Mell looked at him suspiciously, she didn’t believe him.  She knew Lex as well as anyone else, and she could tell he was hiding something.  She also knew it was completely pointless to try and get him to talk about something he didn’t want to.  She carefully made sure to pay enough attention to him, in case he decided to talk, while not ignoring the other customers.

    As one woman walked away from the bar, she stumbled over her own feet and nearly fell.  Mel gasped loudly as the glass the woman had been holding flew through the air.  It was a new drink, completely full, and the liquid it held spilled throug hthe air in a broad arc, most of it landing on Lex’s shirt and in his face.

    Slightly tipsy, the woman began apologizing loudly, reaching out and patting the wet spots on Lex’s shirt.  Lex grabbed her hand and pushed her away roughly.

    “Stupid b****.â€� he muttered in a voice so quiet that only he, Mel, and the woman could hear.

    The words sent a chill through Mel, and, without thinking, she gasped again.

    “I’m sorry.â€� the woman mumbled softly, but Lex turned away from her.  He glared at Mel, who hurriedly handed him a towel.  He muttered angrily to himself while Mel looked on in shock.

    It wasn’t as if she’d never heard Lex curse, or seen him angry.  It was, as the saying went, not what he said, but how he said it.  She’d never heard him sound like that, yet, somehow, it had triggered a memory, something she didn’t like, but it was so brief she wasn’t even sure there was anything there at all.

    It took all of Mel’s will to stop herself from leaping over the bar and rushing after Lex as he slammed a few dollars down and stormed out of Changes without another word.

I really enjoyed the amount of description intertwined with plot points in this segment, Niktoma.
  You made the surroundings and actions easy to visualize, but the internal musings of Mel and Lex infused it with importance. Great job on that!
  I kinda envy your character development. You make it so fluid; it's like the characters just flow into my buddies list. I've tried to develop that with my characters, but I think the main problem is I don't give them enough difficulty to face. I need to figure out how to take care of that...
  Great job once again, Niktoma! Please keep it coming!

I'm baaaaaaack....  For better or worse.  Hopefully better.

    Aaron paced around the apartment, sighing heavily.  His first urge had been to grab his jacket and follow Lex, but one didn’t get to be a werewolf’s best friend without realizing that, every once and a while, they needed some time to themselves.  So he’d stayed behind, left to his own devices, quietly imagining all sorts of things happening in his absence.

    None of them were pleasant.

    Aaron remembered reading somewhere that the human brain was designed to find patterns in random events, to create order out of chaos.  He’d believed it was true at the time, but now he had proof.  All he seemed capable of doing was closing his eyes as his brain struggled to make connections between the changes in Lex’s personality.  Simultaneously, it tried to convince him that nothing was wrong.  Pattern-finding, and self-delusion, he realized, were arguably the two greatest strengths of the human mind.
   
    As soon as he heard the door open, Aaron leapt to his feet.  He’d fallen asleep, but was wide awake now.  He rushed into the kitchen, trying not to make a big a deal over Lex’s return, but failed miserably.  The tired, haggard look on Lex’s face stopped him in midstep.

    “Are you okay?â€� He blurted out, all pretense of nonchalance vanishing.

    “I’m just tired.â€� Lex said softly.

    “No surprise there,â€� Aaron said, rushing to Lex’s side, “you’ve been gone for…â€� he glanced at the clock, but seemed to have lost his ability to tell time.  “…a long time.â€�

    Lex shook him off weakly.  “I just want to take a shower and go to bed.â€�

    “Another shower?â€� Aaron asked.  This wasn’t making any sense to him.  “That’s your third one today.â€�

    “I got a drink spilled on me.â€� Lex muttered, his tone telling Aaron not to ask any more questions.  He trotted off to the bathroom, kicking off his shoes and letting his shirt fall to the floor.

    Aaron followed behind him, stunned into silence.  Without even thinking, he snatched Lex’s shirt off the ground, and moved his shoes to the mat just to the side of the apartment door.  He noticed they were still tied., Lex always untied his shoes before taking them off.  As he knelt down to untie them himself, he couldn’t help but notice the dirt and bits of leaf that clung to the sides.  “Where have you been?â€� he asked softly.

Here's some more.  I'm briefly back to a schedule that lets me write in the morning, which is when I actually have the mental clarity and energy to do, I feel, my best writing.  Let me know what you think.

    Mel sat shivering in her car.  It wasn’t very cold out, she shivered for her own reasons.  She tried to put her thoughts in order, but found she couldn’t.  Whenever she tried to think of Lex, her mind always made the jump to her brother, and a game they used to play.

    That she would think of her brother wasn’t exactly strange.  In the years since he’d been killed, she’d thought of him every day.  Just after he died, a host of family members and friends had told her that she was lucky to have so many memories of him.  They never mentioned the fact that, having so many memories meant that nearly everything she saw reminded her of him, and small things, such as a song on the radio, or a word or phrase, could fill her with the urge to weep.

    Still, to think of the game they used to play every time she tried to figure out what was wrong with Lex struck her as odd.  She used to leave a room while her brother remained inside.  While she was gone, Sam would rearrange, move, or hide something, and when he called her back into the room, it would be her job to figure out what he had done.  Sometimes she got it right off the bat, but as she grew older, Sam tried harder and harder to make the change less noticeable.  She gasped slightly.

    It was the same feeling.  The feeling of frustration, of helplessness that she had when she couldn’t figure out what was different, that something was wrong, and she didn’t know what.  She felt it now, with Lex, only she knew what was wrong.  Lex himself was different.  Sure, he looked the same, but something in the way he carried himself, in the way he acted, was different, if only slightly.  More than a room had changed.  Something was happening that shouldn’t happen, she was sure of it, and she’d never be able to relax until she’d figured out what it was.

    Mel tried to handle everything she encountered in life in a calm, logical manner.  This would have greatly surprised the sort of person who believed that women were incapable of acting this way, and Mel would have had quite a few things to say to someone who thought along those lines.  Now that she’d determined the problem that had been nagging her, she turned, as was her habit, inward.  In her mind, she began making a list, a mental evidence locker into which she piled neatly everything she’d witnessed about Lex that seemed odd.  Once she had finished, she knew one thing.  She needed to talk to Aaron, to find out what he knew, and continue putting the pieces into place.  She glanced at the clock in the car.  It was far to late to bother him now.  Tomorrow though, that was a different story.

    She started the car and drove off into the night, heading for home.

Last edited by Niktoma (2008-10-17 18:39:12)

Yay! More Fennel and Sorghum!

  I loved the idea with the childhood game giving Mel the observant capability to notice that something was different, something was not right with Lex. I also appreciated the pang of loss that haunted her, and yet she used the painful memory to her advantage to better understand matters at hand. Very nice!

  Quick question about the first sentence in this segment, however: Was both Mel and her car shivering? If so, which I think is a wonderful comparison, you may want to reword that first sentence to compare the two with a little more detail. Again, it's just a thought.

  Either way, it's great to read more from this story, Niktoma; thank you for returning, and please continue to bless us with your brilliant writing!

Yay!  More!  As always, feel free to rip it to shreds.

    About fifteen minutes had passed when Aaron heard the shower turn off.  He lay in bed, stretched out on his back, staring at the ceiling.  To an outside observer, he looked completely comfortable, however; he was anything but.  He still felt guilty for talking to Mr. Kolak.  In fact, he felt as if he was a child again, trying to walk the fine line between honesty and being a tattle-tale, and it made him just as miserable now as it did back then.  He could hear Lex brushing his teeth.  There was something strange about that one act, an island of normalcy in the turbulent waters that had become Lex’s actions lately.  Again, almost subconsciously, he tried to convince himself nothing was wrong, but his mind kept turning to the debris he’d found on Lex’s shoes, and to the dreams.

    The dreams.  Aaron hated them.  Lex would never admit it, but Aaron knew they had far greater impact than the few moments of fear Lex experienced when they woke him up.  Aaron would do anything to stop them, but he didn’t even know where to start.  How do you control someone else’s dreams?  You’re mine, Aaron thought as he heard Lex make the short walk from the bathroom to the bedroom.  You’re mine, and I’m not going to let anything hurt you.

    Lex had made the switch to his wolf-form already.  It was the only way he could sleep, much as Aaron, who had gone through his life without a tail, found it nearly impossible to lay down comfortably while covered in fur.  Without a sound, Lex slid under the covers and rested his head on Aaron’s chest.  Aaron held him tightly, repeating his pledge to keep Lex from harm.  In a few minutes, Lex’s breathing slowed, and he was asleep.  Aaron, however, lay awake for a long time.

    While eating breakfast the next morning, Lex had a hard time keeping his annoyance in check.  He’d slept through the night, but still felt tired and cranky.  Aaron, who watched every movement that he made, wasn’t helping much.  Lex glanced at him over the rim of his coffee mug.

    “Why are you staring at me?â€� he asked, setting the mug down.

    “Staring?â€� Aaron replied uneasily.

    “Don’t give me that.â€� Lex muttered a bit more fiercely than he’d meant to.  “You’ve been giving me funny looks all morning.â€�

    “Like this?â€� Aaron asked, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue.

    Lex sighed as his shoulders slumped.  “No.  Not like that.â€�  Aaron made another face, and in spite of himself, Lex felt a smile form.  “No, not like that either.  You’re a goofball.â€�

    “I find that offensive.â€� Aaron replied in mock indignation.

    Lex smirked slightly.  He stood up and gathered the breakfast dishes.  Aaron leaned his head against Lex’s side and looked up at him.

    “Are you okay?â€� he asked.

    Lex looked down at him.  Aaron’s expression wasn’t hard to read, he was completely serious, and seriously worried.  Lex patted his head gently.  “I’m fine.â€� he replied, moving away towards the sink.  “You’re going to be late.â€� he added, glancing at the clock.

    “Do you want a ride?  It’s getting chilly.â€�

    Lex shook his head.  “I’m fine.â€�

    A few minutes later they were outside, standing next to Aaron’s truck.  They hugged briefly, and went on their way.  Lex didn’t notice Aaron watch him walk into the distance.

Honestly, Niktoma, there's nothing to rip to shreds. You did a terrific job on the dialogue and the internal narration, and you also kept the trepidation of the circumstances alive. I think you did wonderfully.
  It's also nice to see that Aaron can keep a sense of humor readily available despite his concern. It shows good balance and strength of character, and makes the reader like his character even more.
  I also appreciated the idea that they have a preferred form for sleeping; that was really original and creative!

  Well Done, Niktoma! Keep it coming!

Very interesting, Niktoma.
  I like how you kept the dog thinking simple thoughts. Although the idea of the dog being haunted throughout the day by the darkened scent of the Familiar Man is a great bit of foreshadowing and adds tension well, fans of The Dog Whisperer might tend to grill you for it. Just a word of fair warning, really. It will be interesting to see if we get to meet Buddy again later on. If this is a one-shot deal, you may wish to keep the circumstances just from the human points of view, if only for the sake of consistency. Also, the similes used in the last paragraph may be a bit too complex for the simplicity of Buddy's thoughts, but I may also be over-thinking things again.
  Nevertheless, telling the story from the dog's point of view is creative, imaginative, and slightly leaning toward a steep level of cuteness. It will be interesting to see if you continue to explore that idea.

  Keep it coming, Niktoma!

Okay, so I reworked that last bit, following some of Grayle's advice.  Let me know which version you like better.

    Lex walked down the street, his mind wandering.  He let it wander, the more it did that, the less chance he had of thinking about something disturbing.  As he made his way through the chilly morning air, turning down street after street, his feet seeming to know the way without any conscious effort on his part, he looked forward to his favorite part of his daily walk to work.  In the distance, he heard the gentle tinkle of dog tags.  He smiled and began moving faster.

    Mr. Gibson walked down the street, as he did every morning, his dog, Buddy trailing along behind him, happily wagging his tail.  Buddy was always happy, and was easily the most popular dog in the neighborhood.  Friendly, gentle with children, and fairly well behaved, nearly everyone who came across the pair went out of their way to say hello to Gibson, and to pet Buddy.  It was difficult for anyone to imagine the town without the man and his dog.  Mr. Gibson could feel Buddy begin to pull harder at his leash and knew, without looking around to see his surroundings, that they were about to meet up with the young man who worked at the video store.

    Lex turned the corner and saw the familiar shape of Mr. Gibson and Buddy heading towards him.  The dog, his tail waving madly in the air, tugged at the leash, making excited little noises.  Lex grinned and jogged over to the pair, more to save Mr. Gibson’s shoulder from the strain than anything else.  He went down on one knee and patted the pavement lightly.  “Hi, Buddy!â€� he said, smiling.

    At the mention of his name, the dog threw his head back and let out a happy little bark, his tail wagging fiercely enough to throw off Buddy’s balance slightly.

    “Morning, Lex.â€�  Mr. Gibson said, grinning widely.

    “Good morning, Mr. Gibson.â€�  Lex replied politely, stretching one hand out to pet the dog.  At his touch, the dog reared back, whimpering as if in pain.  Lex looked at his hand in confusion, he’d barely touched Buddy, there was no way he could have hurt the animal.  “What’s the matter, Buddy?â€�  He asked, a split second after Gibson said the same thing.

    The dog eyed Lex warily, backing up until he pressed firmly against Mr. Gibson’s legs.  When Lex reached his arm forward in order to let Buddy sniff his fingers, the dog’s eyes opened wide in fear, and he moved behind his owner, trying to hide himself behind Mr. Gibson’s legs.

    “What’s the matter with you, Buddy?â€�  Gibson asked in a gentle tone.  “That’s Lex, you love Lex.â€�  He glanced up at Lex in confusion.  “I’m sorry, you know he isn’t like this.â€�

    Lex, feeling a little hurt by Buddy’s behavior, stood up and dusted the dirt off his pants.  “It’s no big deal, he must just be having a bad day.â€�

    “I guess we all have those, even dogs.â€�  Mr. Gibson replied.  He nodded to Lex and began to walk away.  Buddy, in an effort to put as much space as possible between him and Lex, walked in a broad arc away from the young man.

    Lex stood there for a moment, looking at the retreating dog in surprise.  Buddy’s constantly wagging tail was perfectly still, curved down between the animal’s legs.  The dog glanced at him over its shoulder, looking almost skittish.

    “That was weird.â€�  He muttered to himself as he turned around and continued on his way.

Okay, so here's a bit of a holiday gift from me to whoever would enjoy getting something like this.  This has been running about in my head for many, many weeks, and now that I've finally gotten around to writing it, I hope it isn't a disappointment.

For your enjoyment (hopefully), two scenes for the price of one.  Since I'm kind of in the zone, there might even be a third today.  If not, don't be surprised if this isn't updated until after the New Year.  As always, critique it to your heart's content.

    Aaron sat in his truck, rubbing his eyes vigorously.  He felt as if he were still asleep, and sipped at a large paper cup filled with strong, bitter coffee.  It would give him heartburn, he knew, but if it gave him some energy, it might be worth the discomfort.  He glanced at his watch.  His last job had taken much less time than he had thought, and there would be no one to let him into the house where his next job was scheduled for at least an hour.  Aaron stretched his long arms as best he could in the cramped confines of the trunk, closed his eyes, and dozed briefly.

    Some time later, the sound of a particularly loud car engine startled Aaron.  Unsure of how long he’d been asleep, he glanced at his watch again, and was momentarily confused.  The watch showed that no time had passed.  He squinted, and closely examined the timepiece, then cursed softly.  The second hand wasn’t moving, the battery had died.  Sighing to himself, and hoping he’d only been asleep for a few moments, he started the truck and glanced at the clock on the radio.  As near as Aaron could tell, the battery had just died, he’d only lost about twenty minutes and still had plenty of time to have it replaced before his next job.  Taking another sip of his coffee, which had cooled slightly, but was no less bitter, he put the truck in gear and drove off.

    Mel made her way down the street, carrying a small bag of necessities.  She appeared to be paying attention to everything happening around her, she moved out of the way when people passed her, and waited patiently to cross the street, but her mind was far away, preoccupied with the same thoughts she’d had the night before.  In fact, she could only assume she’d paid for the things she carried, since she had no real memory of doing so.  Her eyes moved over her surroundings, and relayed messages directly to her limbs, seemingly without any assistance from her brain, until her gaze fell upon a familiar figure, looking slightly lost, and heading towards a small jeweler’s shop.  She grinned and hurried to catch up.

    Aaron heard and felt someone approaching him from behind, and whirled around quickly, coming face to face with a somewhat disappointed looking Mel.  Before he’d become a werewolf, Aaron had been notoriously easy to sneak up on and startle, but, as Mel had just discovered, those days were in the past.

    “Just the man I was hoping to see.â€�  She said happily.

    “I get that a lot.â€�  Aaron replied, smiling.  “What’s up?â€�

    They chatted briefly as they entered the shop, Aaron relaying the story of his watch, and Mel looking for an opportunity to bring up her concerns about Lex.  Aaron left her for a moment to drop his watch off at the counter, and Mel busied herself by glancing at her surroundings.

    Bernadetti’s was advertised as a jewelry store, but that was only a small portion of what was sold there.  The walls of the shop were covered with shelves containing knick-knacks and decorations of the sort that grandmothers were apt to find charming, and, of course, every available spot was crammed with clocks of various kinds.  Bernadetti’s probably didn’t contain enough clocks to outfit every household in Diana’s Hollow, but if they suddenly decided to try, it would be tough to find a family left out.  The entire back wall was lined with a row of tall grandfather clocks, their pendula swinging stately from side to side, and wall clocks of every type, some handsome, others quite ugly, hung in groups between the shelves.  The incessant ticking of the countless clocks, each slightly different in tone and timing, filled the small shop with a constant, soft thrum, white noise that neither relaxed nor annoyed the people inside.  Each clock displayed the time, slightly before the hour, within a minute or so, and Mel shuddered at the thought of setting them all for Daylight Savings.  Aaron came up beside her, standing in front of a table filled with heavy, metal objects, designed to hold down stacks of paper napkins, in various shapes corresponding with the holidays and events they were made be used for.

    Mel looked at him silently, trying to find a way to form the question that filled her mind.  She watched him pick up a metal dreidel, recognizing it as similar to the one that Lex had bought for Aaron’s mother several years ago.  Aaron idly spun it between thumb and forefinger, but it was designed to hold down napkins, and not to be played with.  It clattered on the table and fell to the floor, making a dull thud on the thin, cream colored carpet.  With a sheepish grin, and brief glance about to see if he’d been noticed, Aaron bent and picked it up.

    “What did you get?â€�  Mel asked.

    Aaron looked at the dreidel in his hand.  “Nun,â€� he replied, “nothing happens.â€�

    Mel snorted a little.  “It’d be nice if nothing happened for once, huh?â€�

    Aaron grinned.  “Yeah, it would be a nice change.â€�
   
    Mel decided that there was nothing to do but speak her mind.  “What’s wrong with Lex?â€� she blurted, a little stunned by her bluntness.

    Aaron looked at her in surprise, and nearly dropped the dreidel.  “What do you mean?â€� he started to asked, but was interrupted by one of the grandfather clocks chiming the hour.  Soon, other clocks began to chime, and the little shop was filled with a cacophony as each reached the new hour and added its own chime to the growing wave of sound.  Aaron winced and quickly retreated to the front of the shop, where mercifully quiet rings and necklaces filled the displays.  Still, it wasn’t far enough, and with eyes clenched shut, and both hands clamped over his sensitive ears, Aaron threw open the door and dashed into the street, followed by Mel, her expression anxious and sympathetic.

    When the door closed behind them, the sound of the clocks was muffled, and Aaron, his eyes watering slightly, dropped his hands from the sides of his head.

    “Wow.â€� He muttered breathlessly.  “I should have seen that coming.â€�  Mel reached out and rubbed his shoulder to comfort him.

    “Are you alright?â€�  She asked.

    “I’ll be fine.â€�  Aaron replied softly.  “What makes you think there’s anything wrong with Lex?â€�

    Mel fixed him with a sharp glance.  “Are you serious?  Have you really not noticed anything?â€�  She relayed to him the story of the woman and her spilled drink.

    Aaron shook his head, as if unwilling to confront the obvious.  “There is something different, but I can’t figure out what.  He’s been sleeping poorly, having dreams, nightmares, really.  He can’t really describe them, but they upset him, wake him up in the middle of the night.  He dozed off watching a movie last night, and had one; it bothered him so much that he had to go for a walk.â€�

    “And you don’t know what they’re about?â€�  Mel asked.

    “It seems like it isn’t just what he dreams about that scares him, like there’s something deeper that he can just barely make out, and that is what disturbs him.â€�

    Mel, who had her fair share of disturbing dreams, thought she knew what Lex was going through.  “Have you told anyone else?â€�

    “Just Mr. Kolak, he called me last night, Lex has been worrying Vernon as well.â€�

    “Do they have any ideas?  There’s a lot of skeletons in that family closet.â€�

    “They can’t figure out anything, and Lex is hardly going to share.  I was going to go look at the Book, to see if I could find anything, but I feel bad going behind Lex’s back.â€�

    “Don’t feel bad.  I think you should check out the Book, you’re only trying to help.â€�

    They were interrupted by Mr. Bernadetti himself, poking his head out of the shop.  “Your watch is fixed.â€�  The old man said simply.  Aaron nodded and headed back towards the door.  The chimes had stopped.

    Mel grabbed his arm before he could go inside.  “Promise me that you’ll look at the Book.â€�

    Aaron nodded solemnly, and went in to pay his bill.  He realized he still held the heavy dreidel, and tried to figure out how to return it without drawing attention to himself.

    Lex sighed in exasperation, mentally cursing the slowness of the people ahead of him in line.  The bank had been completely redesigned after the explosion that had killed his mother, but no amount of renovation could change the fact that this was the place where his mother, his aunt, and his uncle, had been killed.  Lex rarely went there, but it was the only bank in town, and sometimes necessity overruled preference.

    It was standard procedure to sent two people to the bank with the deposits from the video store.  Normally, they would just drop the money into the night deposit box, but this time, they needed to collect a stack of validated slips.  Lex glanced at his partner in line, and she at him.  They simultaneously rolled their eyes at one another, which caused them to giggle slightly.  Lex had been employed at the video store long enough to see DVDs replace VHS tapes, and had watched the rentals dwindle to a precious few.  He had put out his feelers, and was preparing for the day when the video store closed its doors for good, overtaken by the internet and competition from companies that could mail DVDs directly to people’s homes, with an unimaginably huge collection to choose from.

    That day was far off, but not nearly as far off as Lex dared hope.  In the mean time, he did the best he could, hoping that through seniority and sheer usefulness, he could postpone his termination for as long as possible.  It was this desire that brought him to the bank, to stand in the line with ever-growing impatience, as the kindly, but sluggish woman at the counter slowly took customer after customer at a rate that moved the line, but barely kept pace with the new additions from behind.  Finally, it was his turn.

    “How can I help you?â€� the woman said, beaming a smile that failed to reach her eyes.  She was plump, and beginning to lose her battle against time.

    Lex casually dropped the canvas bag containing the deposits onto the counter and pushed it towards her.  He met her gaze, and muttered “Empty the drawer, and don’t try anything funny.â€�

    The girl from the video store and the teller both gasped.  Lex grinned disarmingly at the teller, and shook his head.  Why did I say that, he asked himself as he emptied the bag and asked for the video store’s deposit slips.

    The teller looked at the handsome young man before her, peering into his warm, green eyes.  She felt warmth spread in her, and a blush began to bloom on her cheeks.  Stop it!  She chastised herself, you are a grandmother, and have no business having thoughts like that!  Still, her pulse quickened, and her knees trembled slightly when the young man’s hand brushed briefly against hers as she took the deposits from him.  After he’d gone, she exhaled sharply, patted down her hair, and took a sip of water from the bottle beneath the counter before taking the next person in line, biting her upper lip as she tried not to watch the young man as he walked away.

More, you know what to do.  Don't hold back.

Aaron stood at the Kolak’s door, hesitating to press the doorbell, as usual.  He was very tired, the ease of his earlier job had been more than made p for by the difficulty of the later ones.  He’d almost used this tiredness as an excuse to avoid looking through the book, but such a task, once postponed, would be all the more difficult to attempt again.

    Despite his earlier conviction, he found himself unwilling to look for a reason to explain what was wrong with Lex, doing so would mean that there was indeed something wrong with him, and a good-sized part of Aaron was tempted to stick his head in the sand and continue to deny there was a problem at all.  Still, he’d made a promise to Mel, but that verbal promise was far outweighed by the mental promise he’d made to himself; the promise to do everything in his power to keep Lex safe from harm.

    The door opened suddenly, catching Aaron by surprise.

    “Are you going to come in, or just stand there on my doorstep all day?â€�  Mr. Kolak asked, glaring at him.

    “I-I-I was wondering if I could look at the Book, maybe find something to help Lex. “  Aaron stammered, following Mr. Kolak into the house.  He was at a complete loss to explain how, over the last few months, he’d come to fear Mr. Kolak, why he became a nervous wreck whenever the two of them were alone together.

    “I had hoped you’d come by to do that.â€�  Mr. Kolak replied.  I’ve been going through it over and over again since we spoke last night.â€�  The dark circles under his eyes proved that he was exaggerating.

    “Have you found anything?â€�  Aaron asked.

    “Nothing.â€�  Mr. Kolak replied.  “But you may have better luck, you are closer to him, you know him better.â€�  His expression softened.  “You always have.  If there’s anything to be found, if there are any connections to be made, you’re the one to do it, not me.â€�

    Aaron’s jaw dropped.  That was the closest Mr. Kolak had ever come to acknowledging the bond between him and Lex.  He looked at Mr. Kolak as if with new eyes, and saw not a towering, threatening figure, but simply a father worried for his son.  It was almost pitiful, he realized, to see such a devoted parent be so unable help his child.  Aaron felt a brief stab of longing, and wished for such a figure in his own life.  He nodded slowly.

    “You look exhausted.â€� He said, “Go lay down and get some rest.â€�

    Mr. Kolak nodded back, as if the idea had never occurred to him.  “Everything is out in the basement; let me know if you need anything.â€�  He went into the living room and stretched out on the couch.

    Aaron headed into the basement and began to search through the Book, looking for any mention of anything that seemed relevant.  He’d been at it for three quarters of an hour before he came across something that stopped him dead, and turned his blood to ice in his veins.  He could hear Lex’s voice in his head.

    It was cold, so cold.

    Before he even realized what he was doing, he heard himself yell for Mr. Kolak.

    Mr. Kolak leapt to his feet at the sound of Aaron’s shout.  With an urgency that did no credit to the air of dignity that usually surrounded him, he rushed to the basement.  There, he found Aaron, white-faced and trembling, righting the chair he’d knocked over in an effort to distance himself from the computer screen.

    “What is it?â€�  Mr. Kolak demanded.

    Aaron pointed wordlessly to the screen, and Mr. Kolak moved to examine what it displayed.

    It showed a picture, one of many scattered throughout the Book.  He was familiar with it in passing, but needed to read the passage describing it.  He looked back at Aaron in confusion.

    “That’s a picture of what Macias supposedly did to one of our ancestors.â€�

The picture showed a broken naked body, chained to a boulder, and surrounded by snow-covered trees.

    “Lex dreamed that.â€�  Aaron whispered.  “Lex dreamed how that man died, how the chains were pulled right until… until the bones broke.â€�

    “Aaron, the story doesn’t say that.â€�  Mr. Kolak replied gently.  “The body was there for weeks, frozen solid, before anyone found it.  We have no idea how he died.â€�

    “In Lex’s dream, the man was still alive.â€�

    “No one saw him alive, no one but…  Impossible.â€�

    “Impossible.â€�  Mr. Kolak whispered.  He’d said it several times, each time Aaron picked out a picture that matched something Lex had dreamed.

    “Aaron, you aren’t joking around with me, are you?â€�

    Aaron looked slightly insulted.  “I’d never joke about this.â€�

    Mr. Kolak shook his head.  “No, I don’t suppose you would.  I’m sorryâ€�

    “What does this mean?â€�  Aaron asked the older man.

    “I don’t know.  I’ve never heard of anything like this before.  I don’t even want to draw a conclusion.â€�

    “I don’t blame you.  I kept hoping this wasn’t a big deal, but it looks like something really is going on.â€�

    “Can you recognize any others?â€�

    “No, I don’t think so.  He doesn’t always remember the dreams, and he doesn’t always tell me about them when he does.â€�

    “What do all these pictures have in common?â€�

    “I can only think of one thing.â€�  Aaron replied, hating himself for doing so.

    The two men looked at one another.  Neither of them wanted to say the one name on their minds.

Last edited by Niktoma (2009-01-06 22:45:41)

Just caught up.

  And yet once again, your storytelling, attention to descriptive detail, narration and plot points mesh together like clockwork. Yes, pun intended, but my comment still holds true with the utmost sincerity.

  The developments for each character is easily followed and quite a delight to read. The tension builds each time the characters come together and discuss their concerns, but the discovery of Aaron and Mr. Kolak was also well told in bringing the tension to a new level. However, Lex's main problem, regardless of how believable the characters find it, is finally identified. The question is: what do they do about it now?

  Absolutely brilliant writing, Niktoma. I can hardly wait for the continuation. Keep t coming, okay?