“Blaine, can I talk to you?” Alex asked, coming up to me as I walked into rehearsal. I watched him make his way to me as the other guys stood at the opposite end of the rehearsal studio deep in conversation.
“Of course! What’s up, Alex?” I asked, setting my bag down and gathering my necessities.
“Come out clubbing with us tonight?” he asked, a pleading look in his eyes. I gave him a look, getting ready to turn him down yet again, but he interrupted me before I even had a chance to open my mouth. “Don’t you dare say ‘No.’ Blaine, I’ve watched you come in here every day, rehearse with us, and then, after everyone else is gone, you rehearse some more. I’ve seen you, so don’t even try and deny it. I’ve asked you to come out with us every time, but you always turn me down. I won’t take no for an answer this time. None of us have really had a chance to get to know you. All I’m asking for is a chance to hang out with you. You can’t stand there and tell me that it doesn’t get lonely rehearsing by yourself every night. Please, just say you’ll come out with us… even if it’s just this once,” he begged.
I looked into his eyes, searching for something. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I must have found it because before I could even register what I was saying, I was accepting his offer. “Alright, Alex, I’ll go with you guys.”
“You will?!” he asked, surprised that I gave in so easily. I simply nodded my head, giving him a small smile before Harris started yelling at us to get into our positions.
As soon as rehearsal was over, I raced as quickly as I could to the locker room so that I could shower and change before everyone else started fighting for the showers. It took me less than 10 minutes to get ready, so I decided to head out to the practice room to wait for everyone else. To my surprise, Alex was already sitting down on the small stage at the head of the room, lost in thought and waiting for everyone else.
“Hey Alex,” I called as I made my way to sit next to him.
“Hey girl. I don’t think I have ever seen a girl take a shower that quickly,” he laughed, picking on me.
“Yeah, well, I’m not your average girl,” I smiled.
“Can I ask you something?” he asked, his tone suddenly turning serious.
“You know you can,” I responded in a similar tone.
“How did you become such a good dancer? I mean, you are an amazing dancer, and something like that takes years and years of practice to perfect. It’s not just a talent, it’s a skill you have to work at,” he elaborated.
“My mom was murdered when I was really young. My father had no idea how to raise a child on his own. He was devastated by my mother’s death, and he was afraid that something might happen to me. So as a way to protect me, he enrolled me in every sport imaginable after school, and, every Monday thru Thursday, from six to eight, I was in dance class. When I finally got to middle school, I was on the school’s basketball team during the fall and then the soccer team during the spring. I kept that up all the way through high school. But through it all, I still had dance. Dance became the only thing in my life that was stable. It was the one thing I could turn to through everything,” I explained. Throughout my explanation, I felt a presence move nearer and nearer. I looked around, trying to spot the unexpected guest, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Brian, you can come out. I know you’re here,” I called, hoping to draw him out of his place of hiding.
Alex gave me a strange look, glancing around quickly before once again returning his quizzical gaze to me. “Blaine, no one else is here,” he told me slowly, as if he were talking to an insane person.
I was about to respond before it dawned on me that they had no idea about each other. “You don’t know, do you?” I asked, only serving to confuse him even more. “How is that possible? You’ve been in the same group for 14 years and you’ve kept it secret from each other for all that time? You must be really good at covering your tracks,” I told him, but he had no clue what I was referring to.
I gathered my strength, taking a deep breath before focusing my energy on the spot behind Alex where I could feel Brian’s presence. I held back my psionic blast as much as I could, only wanting to make Brian lose concentration and not actually hurt him. I focused on him, gritting my teeth through the pain as I absorbed the excess power. Finally, I saw Brian’s form flash in and out before he finally lost control of his invisibility completely, grasping his head as he became visible again. Alex sat there staring at Brian is shock, not believing that one of his band mates could possibly share the same secret that he himself had been hiding away for the last 16 years.
“Brian? How come you never told me? How come I never knew?” Alex stuttered, trying to wrap his mind around what seemed like the impossible.
I watched as they both looked at one another in shock, before the pain became too overbearing and I had to grasp my head, crying out in pain. My cries caught both of their attention as they tried to figure out what was causing me so much pain. “Are you okay?” Alex tentatively asked.
I took a moment for the majority of the pain to pass before answering. “Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t want to hurt you,” I turned my attention to Brian, “so I had to take the blunt force of the blast so that it didn’t end up killing you. My psionic blast wasn’t meant to be used in moderation. It was meant for one purpose only: to kill. It takes more concentration to control the power the way I just did than letting it run its course full power. Whatever I don’t send your way, I have to take the full force of. That way, if anything was to happen and my concentration had been disturbed, I would have been the one killed by it, not you.” By the looks of fear on their faces, it was obvious I had scared them, but the truth was, it took more concentration to control the powers than it did just to use them. And whether they realized it or not, our powers were dangerous and they could kill. I don’t think either of them ever realized the extent of their powers and how easy it would be to kill someone else or even themselves if they weren’t careful.
“How did you know…” Brian started, but I held up my hand, signaling him to stop as I sensed a familiar, yet dangerous presence approaching quickly.
“If you want to live, I suggest you hide now,” I told them, my voice conveying how serious I was.
Both of them shot me a look before Brian turned invisible with Alex following shortly after. So Alex has the power to absorb other’s powers, I thought to myself as I waited for the inevitable being to appear.
“Hello, Caleb,” I said just as a smoky figure began to appear.
The menacing smile on his face was enough to make me want to vomit. “Blaine. I told you I’d be watching.”
“What do you want?” I asked, my voice pure acid as I stared at the man who had completely ruined my life.
“Is that any way to talk to me, Blaine?” he sneered, only succeeding in pushing me closer to the edge.
“What do you want?” I repeated.
He sighed, seemingly in defeat, and his tone changed to one of love. “I’m trying to save your life, Blaine. Marcus will stop at nothing, and you know that. He will do whatever it takes to destroy you. I don’t want to see anything happen to you. Just join us and Marcus will leave you alone,” he pleaded. If I hadn’t known better, I might have actually fallen for it. If I didn’t know better, I might think he was being sincere.
“Cut the bullshit, Caleb. Why are you here? Why are you doing this?” I asked. I was tired of his games. I was tired of his lies. I just wanted him to leave.
“I’m trying to save your life,” he responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why?” I pushed.
“I love you, Blaine. I always have,” he told me.
I laughed a sarcastic laugh, trying to hold back the tears. “You don’t love me, Caleb. You can’t. You don’t have a soul, or did you forget that you gave up the ability to love anyone when you turned?”
He looked at me for a long time before revealing that evil smile that had been a permanent fixture on his face for the last 3 years. “You never did know when to just give up. You really think you can save yourself? You couldn’t save me and you couldn’t even save your own pathetic father. You’re life is worthless.”
“I’m stronger than you ever were Caleb, and I will NOT fold. You can go rot in hell with your soul,” I screamed at him. I hated how he could bring out the worst in me.
“You’re weak. You always have been,” he taunted, not relenting even for a moment.
“FUCK YOU, CALEB!” I finally burst. I couldn’t hold my anger in any more. “Leave. Now,” I ordered.
He smirked, giving me a little wave before vanishing in a puff of smoke. As soon as he was gone, Brian and Alex reappeared, staring at me, begging me for answers with their eyes. “Who the hell was that?” Brian exclaimed.
I looked at them with sad eyes, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a ball and cry for all that I had lost. “I don’t think I can go out tonight. I’m just going to go home, but you guys go out without me. It’s a Friday night. Have fun,” I told them before packing up my bag and heading out the door.
*Later that night*
Brian looked around the busy club, his thoughts once again drifting. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get her out of his head. The rest of the guys had given up on him, splitting off to do their own things. AJ, as always, was burning up the dance floor with his pick of the night. Howie had been called away on some club business. And Nick was chatting it up at the other end of the club with some fans he had met. Giving the club one last look, Brian stood up, downing the rest of his drink, heading toward the exit, only one destination in mind.
“Hey B! Tell her ‘Hi,’ for me,” Alex yelled after Brian as he fought his way through the crowd. With a wave, he was gone.
I sat there in my apartment, staring out the window as the people passed by on the streets below. My sixth drink of the night sat on the table in front of me while I smoked what must have been at least my twentieth cigarette. I had been trying to lose myself in a world of smoke and alcohol, but so far I had been unsuccessful. I picked up my glass, but stopped halfway to my mouth. Brian’s coming. I could feel him drawing nearer and nearer as I sat there, turning my attention to the front door. I stood up quickly when I felt him enter my apartment building. As soon as I felt him outside my apartment, I opened the front door, surprising him in the process. “How did you kn…” he began, but I cut him off.
“What are you doing here, Brian?” I asked, wearily.
“I came to see how you were doing. Can I come in?” he asked, making a move to enter my apartment, but I held my place, refusing to let him in.
“I’m fine. You can go home, now,” I told him, shutting the door in his face.
“I’m not leaving. I’ll wait out here all night if I have to,” he yelled through the door. I went back to my seat by the window, praying that he would just leave me alone. But no matter how long I waited, he never left. I waited for over an hour, but I could feel him outside my door the entire time.
“Why are you still here?” I asked, opening the door to see Brian leaning against the opposite wall staring back at me.
“I told you I wasn’t going to leave,” he smiled, using his southern charm to try and win me over.
I sighed before opening the door wider, my non-spoken invitation for him to come in. Not leaving me any chance to reconsider, he was already up and making his way into my apartment before I had fully moved out of the way.
“Wow! Your apartment is amazing,” he told me, letting his eyes roam. “I didn’t know you lived in the penthouse.”
“Yeah. I know it’s not as nice as your house, but it’s all I really need,” I told him, offering him a seat on the couch while I closed the patio doors, drawing the curtains.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I really love your place. To tell you the truth, my house is too big. I always feel so alone in it,” he told me, his eyes shining with sincerity.
“Thanks,” I responded, shyly, trying to figure out where to sit. Brian made that choice for me, though, when he shifted over slightly, patting the seat beside him, asking me to sit down. We sat there in an uncomfortable silence, neither of us sure how to break it. “So… ummm… can I ask you something?” I asked, deciding that while I had the chance, I would ask the question on my mind.
“You just did,” he smiled, shooting me his famous smile. “I’m kidding. Go ahead.”
“Why are you here? You hate me, so why do you care if I’m doing alright or not?” I asked, afraid to see the look on his face at my question.
“I don’t hate you… I never did. It’s just the opposite, actually. I was scared. I like you, Blaine, but it’s hard for me to admit that. Do you know what happened to Nikki?” he asked, trying to make me understand. I nodded. When I had first been offered the job, Harris told me that the reason they needed a new dancer was because the previous dancer, Nikki, had been killed in a car accident. “Did you also know that she was my girlfriend and that she died on her way to meet me?” he added.
“No. I didn’t,” I whispered, things suddenly starting to make sense. “You blame yourself, don’t you?”
He looked at me for a second before nodding his head and shifting his gaze to his feet. “She was running late, so she was speeding. She knew that I had to be at an interview. She lost control of the car as she came across a lone slick spot in the road,” he told me, looking at me as tears fell down his face.
“I’m sorry, Brian. I know what it’s like to carry that kind of guilt around,” I admitted, not quite believing I was opening up to him. He gave me a questioning look, urging me to continue. “Caleb, the guy you saw today, was my fiancé. We started dating during one of my tours. He was a techie on the same tour, and we fell in love. I was 19 when we met, and by the time I was 23, he had proposed to me. It wasn’t long after that before he turned. Marcus came to him and managed to convince him to turn. I tired everything I could to try and save him, but I couldn’t. Do you know what happens to a halfie when they give in to the evil?” I asked. He shook his head, so I explained it. “When a halfie turns, it takes 48 hours for the soul to die. It’s only when the halfie is completely committed to evil that the transition begins. Their soul dies, slowly and painfully, but once the halfie has turned, they still have their powers. However, if a halfie is forced to change, the powers die with the soul. Caleb was one of only a handful of halfies who have ever committed themselves to evil. Marcus, Caleb’s evil coven leader, tried to get me to turn as well. They started coming after me, but I refused to turn. Eventually I hid myself away, and they were unable to find me. They killed my father while I was hiding because he wouldn’t tell them where I was, but still I hid, knowing that it was too late for my father anyway and that if I gave in, his death would have been for nothing. I stayed in hiding for a year before Caleb did the most unimaginable thing to draw me out. He started killing innocent children, leaving his mark so that I would know it was him. Three children, Brian. He killed three innocent children,” I sobbed. I couldn’t go on. I couldn’t keep talking, but I knew I had to. “It’s my fault they are dead, and I swore to myself that I would NEVER be responsible for another innocent’s death, if I could help it. I came out of hiding and decided to fight back. So far, I have been able to protect myself against all their attacks, but I still have that ever-present guilt hanging over me. It will never go away, and I will always have that over my head.”
When I finally finished, I was too overcome with emotion that I couldn’t speak another phrase. Brian pulled me into his arms, hugging me close to him, as if trying to protect me. “It’s not your fault, Blaine. CALEB killed those children. He’s the blame, not you. You couldn’t know that he would go that far. You couldn’t know.”
“But they would still be alive if it wasn’t for me,” I sobbed, leaning into his comforting embrace.
“Listen to me. It is not your fault. You did what you had to in order to survive. No one is to blame except for Caleb,” he soothed, trying to ease the pain and guilt I had been carrying around in my heart.
I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down before looking into his caring blue eyes. “You should learn to take your own advice,” I told him, offering him a half-smile.
“I know,” he smiled back. When I was finally able to compose myself again, I pulled out of his arms and turned to face him.
“Thank you for caring, Brian,” I told him quietly.
“Anytime,” he responded just as quietly. “There’s something I do want to know, though,” he mentioned, asking for permission to ask what was on his mind. At my nod he continued. “How did you get so good at using your powers?”
“Brian, you have to understand what life was like for me after Caleb turned. For 3 years, I was on the run, trying to escape him. Once he turned and told Marcus about me being a halfie, Marcus sent him to destroy me. While I was on the run, I started practicing with my powers, training myself to be smarter, stronger and faster because I knew it was the only way I would survive. Self-preservation is a strong motivator, and I knew that if they ever caught me, they would force me to either turn or die. I pushed myself to become better every day, until I was finally able to control my powers and use them to protect myself. It’s almost like second nature to me now. I make sure that I am always alert and aware, especially my ability to sense people approaching. I don’t even have to think about it anymore,” I told him as memories of my past flashed through my mind.
He simply nodded, knowing there was nothing left to say as we sat there in silence, watching each other. It didn’t take long before we were both asleep, my head resting on his chest with his arm wrapped protectively around me.
