Faust 1997 "On Hallowed Ground" 9809.17 by Nytshaed. ©1998 Chaotic Works Inc. No part of the manuscript may be published, posted or reposted without explicit written permission by the Author. This story is of an Adult nature and is intended for persons over the age of 18.

AJ was rather proud of himself. Considering the lack of resources at his disposal these days, he was doing relatively well for himself. Five days after leaving the Hospital in Atlanta behind, he had managed to hitch his way to the Big Easy in three days, and 10 rides. Folks in the south were still as hospitable as he recalled, and his easy going charm and good lucks seemed to help. Despite being "powerless" He found he only missed his dark gifts on occasion. Having the ability to read minds during card games was especially amusing, and if he still had only that one, he would not have to be worrying about finances so closely. Standing now on the edges of Jefferson Parish, he looked at the sign welcoming him, and pushed back the brim of his worn cowboy hat and inhaled. Now was the time to seek out he top secret address he had hacked from Swan's database those many months ago with the help of his now long deceased guitarist Harris. Poor Harris, but at least his demise had been fast and painless, many of his predecessors had not been so fortunate.

Later that same afternoon, after asking directions he at last found himself in a quiet neighborhood on the edges of New Orleans, where the trees grew so high and wide they canopied the streets below. The house were Antebellum plantation style, and some still had some fairly good sized acreage around them, including the one he was seeking. He stood on the sidewalk looking at the white split rail fence that bordered the property and the gravel covered road that trailed back on to the property. Squinting and looking through the many trees on the land he could just make out the white multistory house that lay beyond. Looking around almost as if he expected to find himself being watched, and not finding that to be the case, he reshouldered his duffel bag, and started down the private drive. After nearly reaching the house, and suddenly succumbing to a case of nerves, he scaled a large magnolia tree just thirty feet or so from the front of the house, and stretched out on one of the large branches like a great cat. She was here, he knew that much, he could sense her even without unearthly help. Despite how she would deny it they were linked in a way that was unexplainable as it was undeniable. For the longest time he just lay there on the wide branch of the tree looking at the house. What would he say to her? How would she react? How would she react to what had befallen him? Would that make any difference now? Looking at the neatly manicured yard and the bushes made into fantastic topiary animals he could tell this was a place full of a force and life magick that was totally alien to him.

He closed his eyes, and listened to the sounds of the quiet neighborhood. The sound of a door opening startled him from a near slumber, and he peered out of the foliage at the porch of the house. His heart leapt at what he saw, Sophie. Her beauty and radiance lit up the already spectacular day. She was dressed in a simple white blouse, and black velvet broomstick skirt that just brushed against her pale ankles. Her long hair, now auburn flowed over her shoulders sparkling in the sun like copper colored floss. She laughed as she lifted up the infant in her arms to greet the late afternoon sun. AJ smiled, and sighed. He leaned his chin on his hands as he lay on his belly on the branch and watched her. She spread out a blanket on the grass not to far from the tree he was in, and set the small child down to play. The child was so much like her, a being of light and joy. The child was still very young, only about four or five months old, and wiggled happily on his belly as he reached for the colorful images printed on the blanket. Sophie leaned back and brushed her long hair back over her shoulders and inhaled the earthy smells of the coming fall. AJ tried to concentrate, to read her mind as he had done for years. He longed to know what she was thinking right then, although he know it was not of him. He was quite sure he was the farthest thing from her mind. Nothing. her mind like those of everyone else's was closed off to him now.

His passive viewing of her was interrupted about a half an hour later when the sound of tires on gravel approaching from behind him made him and Sophie look in that direction. A brand new Kelly green Jeep Grand Cherokee with plates that read "MRDI GRA" pulled into the driveway, and parked alongside the house in the carport.

"Look!!! Daddy's home!!' Sophie chirped and picked up the baby so he could see. AJ scowled, and watched as the driver's door opened and Stevie emerged. He slammed the door shut and carrying a guitar case started walking across the driveway towards the lawn where his wife and child awaited. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks, and slowly looked around.

"Stevie? What's up?" Sophie called out as she walked over towards him holding the baby. Stevie didn't answer her, he continued to survey the yard, deep brown eyes roaming in search of the thing causing the cold chill to run up his spine.

"Take the baby into the house." He drawled. AJ smirked, he was from Georgia and he had never sounded that bad. Or so he would like to think.

"What? Why?" Sophie asked, confused by his odd behavior.

"Take the baby and go in the house." He repeated, this time putting his hand on her arm and steering her in that direction as he looked back over his shoulder in AJ's general direction.

"Oh shit..." AJ muttered, realizing that he had somehow been found out. He froze, hoping the tree could provide adequate cover.

"Stevie!! What the hell is the matter with you?" Sophie continued to protest, hard headed to the very last.

"Don't make me repeat myself again..." He said escorting her into the house, and closing the door behind them. AJ waited.

Inside, Sophie followed Stevie up stairs. He went into their master bedroom, then to his walk in closet and removed something from the top shelf.

"Will you please tell me what is going on?" She pressed as he set the wooden box on the bed, and began to work the combo on the lock.

"I told you I would love, honor, and protect this family. Well, now it's time to do just that." He said as he took off the combination lock and flipped the box lid open to reveal a hunting cross bow set in a velvet lined box, complete with six silver metal bolts.

"Holy shit Stevie! What the hell is that for?"

Stevie pulled out the bow, and fitted two of the bolts into it before starting to leave the room. He paused at the door and turned to her.
"I'm going hunting." He said before disappearing down the hall. Sophie stood there for a moment in shock then quickly tucked the baby into his crib and went to follow Stevie back outside.

AJ had pretty much decided the coast was clear to drop out of his arboreal hiding place and get the hell out of Dodge when the front door suddenly swung open and Stevie reemerged with a look of grim determination on his face. AJ paled when he saw the ancient but effective weapon in his hands as he advanced towards the tree.

"Holy shit..." He said backing up to a crouching position on the branch and quickly looked for an escape route. Stevie continued to walk towards the tree and stopped about fifteen feet away to draw the first bolt back, looking it into firing position. Slowly he took aim and lifted the crossbow up to the tree.

"I know you're up there. She can't feel you, but I sure as hell can." He yelled. "Now show yourself you miserable bastard, or I'll run you through right now." He growled as he aimed the bow right at AJ. AJ swallowed as he felt the unfamiliar chill of terror fill his gut. There would be nothing to save him from this. He would bleed and die like any mortal now.

"OK!! OK!!" He called out. "What do you want me to do?"

Just then he saw Sophie come rushing out and stand behind Stevie as he continued to hold his aim on AJ's location.
"Stevie!! What the hell is going on?"

"We have a trespasser..." He said from behind clenched teeth. Sophie followed his gaze to the tree, and tried to see what he was looking at. "Drop outta there now!" He yelled.

"All right. Just don't fucking shoot me!" AJ called back.

Sophie could not believe the voice she heard coming from the tree she and her son had just been sitting under.
"AJ??! Is that you? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Getting ready to die..." Stevie said advancing on the tree. Suddenly, there was a rustling of leaves, and then AJ dropped from the tree, landing with catlike grace and slowly rising to his feet. He held his hands up in a move of surrender, this did not matter to Stevie, he fired.

AJ had only caught the slightest glimpse of Stevie's finger moving on the trigger, and dove sideways to avoid the path of the deadly missile. Sophie screamed as the bolt struck it's mark, although not in the center of his chest as Stevie had aimed for. With a wrenching scream, AJ dropped to the ground, the bolt imbedded in his right thigh.

"Stevie no!!" She screamed as he calmly and methodically fitted the second bolt into firing position and moved toward the wounded intruder to fire the killing shot. Lowering the point of the bow downward, it would be an easy shot as AJ lay writing in agony on the lawn, grasping at the steel bolt sticking out of his thigh.

"You son of a bitch!! You shot me!! I was leaving!! What the fuck is wrong with you??" AJ yelled in agony.

Stevie's emotionless stare never left AJ as he cocked the cable back on the crossbow.
"Heavenly Father guide me as I do your work. I act as your emissary, and I send this spawn of hell back to his master..." Stevie softly began to pray and he leaned in for the final shot. Sophie realizing he was not hearing her, rushed past him and put herself between AJ and Stevie's lethal arrow.

"Steven! STOP!!" She yelled using his full name as she dropped to the ground and blocked his view of the wounded AJ. "Steven!! Don't do this!! If you kill him they will take yo away, they will take you away from me and Nikolas!! Don't fall into his trap!!! Don't do this!!"

"Trap?! What trap?!" AJ choked, then fell onto his back, the pain so great he was on the verge of passing out.

"Move out of the way Sophie. It ends here. He is trespassing on my land, my home, our Hallowed Ground. I did not hunt him down, he is hunting us down."

"Steven! Listen to me!!! Listen to yourself, he is on Hallowed Ground!!! He is not affected by it!!" She said turning to look at AJ. He appeared to only be suffering from the effects of steel versus flesh at this point and not in any sort of distress the blessed ground he lay upon should be causing him.

Stevie blinked, and stared at her, suddenly hearing her for the first time since he felt AJ's presence. He continued to aim the bow in AJ's direction, but his stance softened. Seeing him ease slightly Sophie turned to AJ who was now, quite pale, and gasping for breath.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing? What sort of shit is this?" She asked him.

AJ was in such pain he could not even open his eyes. Forcing himself to speak, since it was his only hope, he managed to get out three words before passing out beside her.
"I'm mortal now..."

The silence that followed his simple explanation was unnerving. Sophie looked up at Stevie, as he swung the crossbow to the side , and released the bolt into the lawn with a loud smack. Letting his arm holding the bow drop to his side, he lowered his head, and shook it in disbelief.

Later, AJ lay on the daybed on the back porch of the house, still unconscious. Sophie wiped at his face with a damp rag while Stevie got to the unsavory task of removing the bolt. With a pair of pliers he gripped the shaft of the bolt sticking out of AJ's thigh and looked to Sophie before pulling.

"Get back in case he wakes up and goes nuts."

Sophie nodded, and stood up, taking a step back. Looking around, she grabbed hold of an old towel to use for a compress once he had removed the bolt, and waited. Luckily for AJ the tip of the bolt was a smooth target style, and not the barbed broad head style it would pull back out reasonably easy.

"One... Two... Three!!" He yelled and yanked with all his might, there was resistance, and the slight tearing of muscle, then a wet sucking sound as the bolt at last came free. Stevie staggered backwards at it came loose, and Sophie rushed in to cover the hole in AJ's leg that was now pumping blood . Stevie looked at AJ with a look of utter contempt, and turned to walk away. He felt sick to his stomach, but not from the gore spilling out all over his day porch. It was a perfectly fucked ending to what had been a perfect day.

Sophie was left alone to care for the injured visitor, she swore as she heard Stevie's heavy footsteps on the back staircase, then walk overhead into the master bedroom. She gingerly undid the fly on AJ's jeans and with a great amount of tugging pulled them down to reveal his injured thigh. The wound was still oozing slowly, and not having had much medical training, she did not know if he required hospital care or not. Looking back up at his face, he looked very pale, despite his tan.

"Mortal eh? How did you manage that one you idiot?" She grumbled as she went to get more damp rags and some bandages to clean him up. As she stood up, she heard Stevie start to play one of his guitars on the practice amp in their bedroom. Judging from the aggressive tune he was cranking out, he was pissed. Fine, let him stay there and not lecture her on the Evils of AJ. She got that sermon often enough as it was.

Returning to AJ, she covered him with a blanket, then removed his boots, and blood soaked pants, dropping them into a bucket nearby. She wiped at the wound then after putting a large bandage pad over it, wrapped an ace bandage tightly around his thigh to hold it in place.
"AJ? AJ?" She called softly as she gently wiped at his face again, trying to rouse him. Receiving no response, she thought about calling for help. "I think you need to go to the doctor my friend..."

Sophie suddenly looked up when the guitar went silent, and she heard him walking around again. "Stevie? Can you give me a hand down here? Please?" She listened, then heard what sounded like his voice. He was talking but not to her.
"Dammit." She swore, and after checking on AJ again. went to go see what he was doing. When she reached the bedroom, he was just hanging up the phone. Sophie looked at him angrily.

"Who did you call?"

Stevie looked at her solemnly.
"The police."

"What?! Why did you do that?"

"Because the Garbage man doesn't pick up today." He sneered, sitting down to pick up his guitar again, and switched on he amp.

"Stevie!! The man is hurt!! He needs medical help!"

"I know. I am sure they will take care of it." He said as he began to tune the guitar.

"What did you tell them?"

"That I shot a trespasser on my property, and he is wounded."

Sophie dropped down to sit on the bed beside him.
"Do you have any idea what this is gonna do? They are going to arrest you!" She said getting more upset. Stevie looked up at her, his large sad brown eyes filled with pain.

"Yes I do. But he has to go. I did not kill him at your request. That is the last concession I will grant him. He entered my home, and threatened the sanctity and safety of my family so I defended you and Nikolas."

"He did not enter our home!! He was in the tree looking at the house!" She protested, a bit too earnestly for his liking.

Stevie whipped the guitar strap off from around his shoulders, and set the guitar down on the bed before angrily switching off the amp. He rose and looked down at her.
"It pains me a great deal to see you defend him so. I suggest you reevaluate your loyalties and vows." He said turning on his heels, and leaving the room. Sophie watched him go, and swore under her breath as she thought about what he had said.

She sat there until she heard cars on the driveway, and a two way radio squawking outside told her the police had arrived. She thought about not going downstairs, and letting Stevie handle it all now, but wasn't her place at his side? There was no right answer at this point. Rising up from the bed, she carefully put his guitar away in it's case then went downstairs to add any help she could.

When she arrived down stairs, Stevie was in the parlor talking with one officer, relating his version of what had happened, while an EMT and another officer were checking on AJ. Stevie acknowledged her with a lift of his chin, and a slow blink.

"Is this your wife?" The officer questioning Stevie asked, pointing to her with the pen he was taking notes with.

"Yes." He said quietly, his eyes looking deep into hers.

"Did she see what happened?"

Stevie paused before answering.
"Yes." He repeated in the same quiet monotone, folding his arms over his chest.

"I'll talk with you in a minute ma'am. Can you wait for me in the other room?"

Sophie nodded, and after blowing an kiss to Stevie, left to go look in on AJ. The EMTs were succeeding in getting him to regain consciousness, an oxygen mask had been placed over his mouth, and they were examining the wound in his thigh. When they noticed her standing in the doorway, they called her over.

"Did you bind him up?"

"Yes I did."

"What exactly did he get shot with? A gun?"

"No, a crossbow."

The look of shock on their faces was amusing.
"A what?"

"My husband will not keep a gun in the house, but since he felt he needed some form of protection he chose a crossbow."

The officers nodded.
"Do you have the arrow that hit him?"

Sophie looked around, not seeing it.
"Uh... it's around here somewhere. My husband pulled it out of him, then I tried to stop the bleeding.

"Your husband shot him, then pulled the arrow back out?" The police officer asked her. confused by her answer.

"Yeah."

The police officer stood up from where he had been kneeling beside AJ, and walked over to her.
"Have they taken your statement yet?"

"No. He told me to wait until he was done with my husband."

The officer nodded and led her from the back porch area back into the kitchen.

"You better wait in here for them until they are ready for you then." He said pulling a chair out for her, then after she had sat down returned to the porch area. Sophie watched him go and sighed loudly. It would do no good to argue, this was obviously man's work. She leaned on the table, then remembering Nikolas sleeping upstairs, she went to go check on him. She looked down at the sleeping boy, and touched his back gently. As if he sensed her touch and presence, he stirred, and after making a few soft sucking sounds resumed his slumber. Sophie continued to watch him, drinking in every detail about him. His dark brown hair swirled about his head in light wisps, and his cherubic face in which she could already see his father's strong genetic influence. Several minutes later, she heard soft footsteps behind her, then felt a pair of hands lightly sliding around her waist to embrace her.

"How is he?" Stevie asked quietly, nuzzling his face into her hair.

"Sleeping still."

There was a long, awkward silence.

"The police want to talk to you. They went to know what you saw." Stevie said after a pause. Sophie nodded.

"What did I see Stevie? What did I hear?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know. You have to tell them. Tell them the truth."

Sophie nodded, and turned to face him. His brown eyes were as always, bottomless and his true thoughts unfathomable as she gazed into them. He smiled slowly, and moved his lips to hers. The kiss was soft, and full of the deep passions they shared. Sophie's arms found their way around his neck, and her body melted against his as he drew her nearer to him. She sighed behind his gentle lover's kiss as his touch pulled the tension from her. Sophie nuzzled her face into the palm of his right hand as it cupped the side of her face, and he broke his lips from hers ever so slowly.

"They are waiting for you. I will watch over him until you return." He said quietly.

Sophie nodded, then as she opened her mouth to speak, she changed her mind about the question on her lips, and turned to go.

"They are taking him away to the hospital. What happens to him now is out of our hands. Let's just leave it at that." He said, answering her unspoken question. Sophie nodded and let his word be the last on the subject of AJ as she left the room. Downstairs, the detectives were still taking her statement when the EMTs wheeled AJ out of the porch on a gurney. From behind the mask on his face he turned to look at her, his violet eyes looking so sad and hallow. If he was in fact mortal again, it did not wear well on him.

"I'm sorry." He mouthed to her just before he was taken outside. Sophie acknowledged his apology with a nod of her head, but nothing more.

An hour later, Stevie parted the gauze curtains covering the bedroom window and looked out at the setting sun as it cast it's ruby light over the trees and houses. He stared out of the window for a long time, then turned to look at Sophie as she cuddled the nursing Nikolas. He was still trying to convince himself he had not overreacted. It was his duty to protect his family from all threats, and AJ and his Hellish minions were at the top of the list. He wondered if what he had said was true, that he was mortal now. But how could that be? Sophie had seemed just as surprised by the revelation, and asking her would reveal nothing more he was sure. He left his post at the window, and sat on the bed beside Sophie and the baby. He reached out to brush the soft hair on the top of the baby's head and smiled.

"Lucky little guy, he slept through the whole mess."

"Yeah. He missed the whole thing." She said lifting him from feeding to burp him. Stevie grinned at her.

"Speaking of eating... You hungry?" He asked, reaching out and stroking her thigh.

Sophie smiled, and nodded.
"Yeah, actually. You cooking?" She grinned.

Stevie smirked. "Oh yeah. I make a mean Rezervatione du Antone." He chuckled.

"Ooh... Antone's... That does sound yummy. Dial them up!"

"Your wish is my command milady. " He said with an elaborate flourish of his hand as he leaned across the bed and picked up the phone to make dinner reservations.

Later as they sat at a secluded table eating by candlelight, Stevie looked down at Nikolas as he dozed quietly in the baby sling he was wearing. He always was the one to care for Nikolas whenever they went out, and he loved his little son more than life itself and never let a moment go by without lavishing love, and affection on the child. After checking on him he picked up his fork again and took a bite of his steak. He gazed across he table at Sophie, she was lost in deep thought. He didn't have to guess about what, or whom for that matter. He continued eating, at a loss for a topic to bring up that would upstage the events of earlier that day.

For the second time in under two weeks, AJ woke up in a Hospital Recovery Room. Looking up at the stark white ceiling overhead, he winced when he tried to move his leg, and the damage caused by Stevie's bolt, and cruel removal of said bolt reminded him of the encounter with Sophie and her man. He had to give the guy credit, He honestly didn't think he had the balls to fire at him, but he had been wrong, almost dead wrong if he hadn't dived out of the way at the last second. Then there was Sophie, not cheering Stevie on, but diving in to keep him from making what surely would have been the killing shot. He now owed her, he owed her big time.

"Mortality fucking sucks!" He grumbled to no one in the empty room. He would not underestimate Stevie again, that boy had resolve, and the will to put that resolve into action. Men of God such as he usually did. He was a good man though, he had defended his family and what was rightfully his without a moment's hesitation. No wonder Soph loved him, he thought. He had at one time had the chance to be that for her, and failed. So much in his life was failure, and only now could he see that without the cloud of immortal ecstasy that had cloistered him from the real world for so long. He reached up and rang for the nurse, he might as well get as much of the good drugs as he could before they cut him off.

Baby in bed asleep, candles and Frankincense lit, two sets of arms traced and explored, as mouthed joined in the moonlit bedroom. Kneeling before each other, one's touch mirrored the touches of the other. Hands on shoulders, on breasts, on smooth muscular chest, and slender waists. The kiss was soul deep, and by souls united. The Sun eased the Moon to her back, and traced a trail of kisses from her mouth to the hallow of her throat. Her pale hands wound into his long hair, and rubbed at his temples before his journey continued downward, and left wet kisses on each breast then covered her left nipple. His mouth gently sucked, then tasted her sweet mother's milk as it flowed into his mouth. Moon moaned happily as she felt him feeding from her, and stroked his head soothingly.

"Hmmm hmmm..." He chuckled, thinking how the milk tasted like that left in a bowl after eating a sweetened breakfast cereal.

Embracing her tightly with his strong arms, he continued to nurse until the milk left behind by his son had been emptied, then moved to give the same attention to the other breast. His feeding complete, his mouth returned to hers to share the sweetness before a gentle roll behind the deep kiss brought the Moon over the Sun as she straddled him. Her hands framed his gentle face, feeling the softness of his skin and the brush of his facial hair beneath her fingertips. Her mouth left his slowly as she covered his throat with kisses, and gentle bites, bringing gasps from him with every bite. Gasps turned to shivers as her mouth moved to cover his nipples and nip at them as well. Once they were as firm as the shaft beneath her, she moved farther down his body, tasting the light salt of his skin before feeling the smoothness of his cock's head as mouth mouth closed around him. Sun sighed and parted his legs letting her fall between them as her mouth glided slowly up and down his rigid length. Her hands skillfully moved over and about his body, raising the level of his arousal. As hungrily as he had nursed from her before, she now suckled at him, drawing the first taste of his seed from him. The more she pulled at him the more his urge to thrust, and meet her oral strokes came over him until at last he did so at her coaxing. Her mouth like liquid heat surrounded him, drawing him into her until only with incredible restraint, did he use his hands to ease her off of him. The secret smile they shared was identical. Sun rose over Moon, and now as he slipped between her milky thighs, he slid long skilled fingers into her to reveal her to him. His tongue slipped into her in one long stroke, then his lips curled around the nub of flesh at the center of her opening, and suckled it gently. Her strained gasps were cues to his successes. Two fingers were deep inside of her now, stroking and coaxing, drawing her to heightened arousal, His mouth then covered her to tickle her delicate lips with his bearded ones. She squirmed, and sighed as he probed at her with fingers and tongue until her hips began to move to meet his skilled laps. Removing his fingers from her to allow his face closer access, he slipped his tongue over and into her, tasting the salty wetness of her as she moaned his name.

When her hands entangled themselves in his hair, pulling him up from nuzzling deep inside of her, he smiled, licking traces of her from his mustache, and ran his tongue up the center of her belly as he pressed his body onto hers, Sun eclipsed Moon, and the celestial bodies merged. Her moan of yielding was silenced by his smothering kiss, and she hungrily accepted his tongue to dance with hers, as he brought the taste of herself to share. The gentle breeze blowing in the open window made the gossamer canopy surrounding the bed billow and breath like a living thing as the bodies within it's silk cocoon moved in a united rhythm. Sighs, and endearments passed from ear to ear, and lips joined in synchronized rhythm with the movement of his body within hers. When the pace increased Sun raised his head to take in the air he needed. Eyes closed, his face tense, and intense with passion. Her hands found his chest, and stroked the baby fine hair swirling over his chest. Her fingernails found his nipples in the dark, and she pinched both, making him gasp and buck his hips against her with a renewed fury. With his hands planted on the bed on either side of her, his body undulated against hers in liquid waves of glistening flesh. Tossing his long hair back over his back, he lowered his mouth to her neck and placed a deep bite on the exposed throat. The Moon cried out, and gasped as her body lifted to meet his, and then shivered with the climax he drove her to. Sun mouth moved to Moon's ear, and whispered, "My love, my life, forever." Then solar flares erupted and a primal yell tore from his throat as his heat filled her completely. Locked as one, the tears of love from lives devoted to each other seeped from their eyes, as a last long kiss was shared, and folded into each other, they slept.

Upon your lap, I rest my head. I thank my lucky stars that I'm not dead, yet. The fields of green the mountainsides, I fly beyond them and there's a sea of sorrow. Guide me to me rest, and in my Deepfreeze I am possessed. But life goes on, embrace the dawn. A brand new song awaits you. Control your fear, but keep it near. I'm melting down so take my mind. Slipping in a Deepfreeze, Blind, living with an uneased mind, doing what I damn please time and again. Sin, looking at the shit that I'm in, smiling with a Cheshire Cat grin. Ashamed of the places I've seen and been. Mind, slipping in a Deepfreeze, Blind, living in a Deepfreeze.

Time to go away, Escape confusion and disarray. I found a peace, tranquility. My newborn love, my secret mystery. My soul lives on, beyond the skies, my questions answered I say good-bye. But life goes on, embrace the dawn. A brand new song awaits your mind. Slipping in a Deepfreeze, Blind, living with an uneased mind, doing what I damn please time and again. Sin, looking at the shit that I'm in, smiling with a Cheshire Cat grin. Ashamed of the places I've seen and been. Mind, slipping in a Deepfreeze, Blind, living in a Deepfreeze." SB 1993

Rolling over in his terribly uncomfortable hospital bed, AJ slept restlessly. The pain medication was at last kicking in again, and easing the pain in his leg along with freeing his mind, and opening it to the thoughts of others. A warm touch on his arm, then a shaking motion at last wrested him from his slumber. Rolling over his eyes met with a familiar face.

"Soph?"

She smiled at him. A smile from his lost love! But there was sadness behind the smile. The gentle breeze blew at the diaphonous robe she wore. It was translucent, and opaque at the same time, lit from within. She took a step closer to him and again he felt the warm touch of her hand on his arm. Slowly he sat up, and reached out for her hand. Smiling again, she stepped back.

"Just talk." She said quietly in a voice that sounded like it was filtered through a vocal processor. The whole thing was so ethereal and unreal. Suddenly, fear gripped at his very being.

"Am I dead?" He asked, heart pounding in his chest.

"No. You are not dead, but asleep."

"Why? Why then?" He started to say, but a touch of her finger to his lips silenced him. Her touch was like a cool breeze on a hot afternoon.

"I had to see for myself you were all right. I do still care about you, even though I should not."

"I know. I could always tell that. Does Stevie know you are here?"

She smiled.
"No. He will not miss me. I cannot stay long. I came to check on you, and to tell you that you must go. Once you are well enough, yo must leave this place. It is our home."

"I know... I musta snapped old Bayou Boy into his own private Nam there huh?"

She nodded slowly.
"It did not have to happen, I am here to prevent more bloodshed."

Stevie rolled over in bed, and ran his tongue over his lips as he lightly dozed. The scent and taste of his mate still lingering there Tomorrow was a slow day, without a reason to rise early, why not touch again? Reaching out, his searching hand slid under the sheets found only a cold bed beside him. He opened his eyes, and looked around. The chapel candles cast flickering light over the serene bedroom, and glancing to the crib, he saw Nikolas sleeping soundly. His next look to the bathroom revealed the door open and the light off.

"Damn." He said quietly, then rose from the bed. Grabbing his robe, he closed his eyes and searched. The answer he sought came back loud and clear. "Dammit Sophie!" He cursed before leaving the room quickly.

"I cannot figure you out AJ. You will ever be an enigma to me. What have you done to yourself now?"

"I am not sure. I fucked up, as usual. Swan has tossed me out. I have no one or nothing. No home, no future..."

"No soul." She finished for him.

"Yeah, ain't that a bitch." He smirked then noticed he intense desire he had to touch her, just to hold her hand, and feel it's warmth. He started to reach out for her, then stopped, it was almost as if it was forbidden. Of course it was, she belonged to another now, or was it something else?

"You can still find your way. You need to find a Guide. They are out there AJ. Once such as that can battle for you and your salvation, but you have to want it, truly."

"I think I am beyond hope, redemption, what ever you call it."

"No one is AJ."

He looked away from her and noticed he was attired in entirely black. He was no longer in the hospital gown, but a robe similar to hers only it was black as pitch, so black in fact it seemed to be a void. He glanced to the side to see that he also was no longer in his hospital room or bed. They both stood on a precipice, in a landscape of barren grayness. It looked like a sunless, moonless beach that stretched as far as the eye could see. He looked at her again, and once more something deep inside of him was drawing him to her. Just a touch...

Stevie stood in the doorway of the room of the house that served as the meditation, and prayer chapel. Bathed in moonlight of the open window, there lay Sophie in a gentle recline in one of the easy chairs. In a heartbeat he was at her side. His hand on her arm felt the coldness of her skin and he looked into her deep blue eyes. Her eyes were open but did not see what was in the room. She was not there. Anger inside him was quickly replaced by the sobering fear of what could happen to her, the consequences were grave to say the least.

"Come home." He whispered in her ear, then placed a light kiss upon her lips.

Sophie turned from AJ, and put her hand to her lips as she felt the invisible kiss, she smiled.

"Come home." He repeated, making the words as light and seductive as he knew how.

AJ saw her turn from him, and felt the hunger grow, an ache, an emptiness. Redemption, fulfillment. She was all that. Just a touch, just an embrace. A kiss?

Stevie stroked the sides of her face with his hands and closed his eyes. Touching his forehead to hers, he kissed her again.
"Seek the light my love. Look for the light." He said as tears began to form in his eyes as the nearing cold crept into him as well. "Please. Go now. Come home." He whispered, talking in his regular voice would have conveyed his swelling panic into her.

Sophie smiled, and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of her lover surround her in a golden shimmering fog. She turned to look again at AJ.
"I have to go now. You have to go. You have to find your own path."

"Don't let her go! Touch her! Stop her!" The voice that had been quietly urging him to act shouted in AJ's mind. "Keep her. She came to you, now take her!"

AJ stared into her eyes, so blue and radiant, and reached out for her. When his hand lightly landed on hers, she shivered. A cold as she had ever known or felt stung her where his hand rested on hers, and the sensation began to chill her hand to point of numbing cold, and move up her arm. AJ closed his eyes briefly, and smiled. Warmth. Warmth began to fill his fingertips, and trace up his arm. Better than any drug, the sensations filled him with feelings and emotions not felt since before he had sold...

Stevie shivered at the sudden feeling of deathly cold as it gripped hold of him as well.
"NO!! Sophie!! The light!! Look into the light!!" He commanded her.

Sophie looked at AJ just as his eyes reopened. He could see the pain on her face, but he couldn't stop, he mustn't. Better, it was feeling so much better. Sophie tried to look from AJ's gaze but he held her there, transfixed like a deer in headlights. As the chilling pain grew inside of her, radiating up from her arm, a warming pleasure filled AJ from where he grasped hold of her. She tried to cry out, but her voice had left her, she was trapped. Then suddenly, she saw a light forming behind AJ, and her eyes rose from his to the growing brightness. As she watched, the light took a familiar form and shape. A smile, and a hand reached out to her. "Come home now." He beckoned.

Sophie smiled and lifted her free hand to him. His gentle touch sent a shock wave through her that shook her to her very core and blew AJ's grasp from her.

Angrily, he turned to look. "No!!" Don't take her!" He yelled. The voice inside of him yelled, driving him to react.

"I must take her, she is not yours." The light said to AJ as it drew her into it's volcanic warmth.

"No!!"

"You must find your own way. She is not yours." The light said, then grew so bright that AJ had to shield his eyes with his arms to avoid the searing brightness. Then there was again a touch on his arm. Heat, searing heat that made him scream and writhe in agony. "I am taking back what is not yours to posses." The light said, then was gone. He was suddenly left alone in the grayness, alone and feeling even colder now that the warmth of Sophie was gone.

Panting, and laying beside Sophie on the lounger chair, Stevie embraced his lover as she stirred in his arms. Her eyes slowly closed, and she trembled, her soul returning safely to her and him.
"Close.. oh too close." He whispered over and over as he held her tightly.

When he felt his strength return as well as his wits, he rose and lifted Sophie in his arms, returning her to the sanctuary of their bedroom. Once she was again curled in his arms beneath their canopy, all was right, and they slept.

It wasn't until Nikolas cried out of hunger that Sophie woke from her deep slumber. Sitting up, she looked around, still dazed and tried to orient herself. Autopilot took over, and she rose from the warm bed and Stevie's tight embrace to retrieve the infant. After returning to the bed, and setting Nikolas to feeding, she looked over at her husband as he slept deeply beside her. Gently she ran her hand over his bare shoulders, feeling the smoothness of his skin beneath her fingertips. He shivered at her touch, and reflexively rolled over onto his side to face her and cuddled up beside her. As she brushed hair hair back from his face, she noticed that something was different about it. Leaning over and looking closer, she noticed his lovely chestnut colored hair now had grey streaks in it, running from his temples to the tips of his lovely mane. She frowned, and wondered how that could have happened. Just then a flash of a memory, or was it a dream streaked across her mind. Light, bright light, a smile, and then cold, deathly cold and pain. She shivered, and removed her touch from Stevie. He slept on, and she was left alone to care for Nikolas.

After changing the baby, she put him back into his crib, and snuggled herself back into Stevie's warm embrace. He tightened his arms around her waist, and nuzzled his face into her hair, murmuring something before he and she both fell into a deep sleep again.

Sophie stirred several hours later, and rolled over. When she opened her eyes, they met with Stevie's looking down at her from above.

"Good morning." She smiled and stretched. She leaned up for a kiss and Stevie gave her what could only be described as the kind of kiss you give your aunt. Sophie frowned as she laid back down, and looked up at him, leaning on one elbow above her. The grey streaks in his hair were more apparent now in the bright morning light. She wondered if he knew about them. Telling him now could not possibly improve the sour mood he was obviously in.

"Sleep well love?" She asked, reaching up and stroking the side of his face. He looked away from her, and cleared his throat. "What? What's the matter?"

"Nothing, I didn't sleep well." He said simply and got out of bed to disappear into the bathroom. She waited for his return after the morning whiz, but when she heard the shower start up, she knew he was not coming back.

Staring into his hollow reflection in the mirror, and running his hand through his now grey streaked hair, Stevie was not particularly surprised to see the physical damage from the night before. After all, you couldn't exactly wrest the soul of a loved one from a soul sucking Demon and not have some battle scars to show for your effort could you? How could she have done something so foolish? Her naiveté' in such matters had almost cost her her very soul. He shivered, recalling how close AJ had come to succeeding, and how close he had come to failure.

When she peered into the bathroom, the room was already full of steam, and she could see the blurry outline of his tall lithe form moving in the shower, tilting his head back to wet his hair. Smiling, she shed her clothing and lit a pair of well used candles on the sink, before flipping the light switch off. Seeing the lights go out, he turned towards the door, and saw her as she entered.

"Room for two?" She smiled, sidling up to him, and wrapping her arms around his waist. The sad look in his eyes, and heavy sigh did more to put a chill in the room that a January wind ever could.

He stared at her and opened his mouth as if to reply, then nodded slowly and took a step back, allowing her access to the jets of hot water. He reached around her and took the shampoo down from the top of the shower door. Sophie realized he was bent about something but wasn't exactly sure what. Her memory of the night before was fragmented at best after the shock to her system and psyche.

Later at breakfast, she ate her breakfast while Stevie fawned over Nikolas, almost to the point of doing so as to avoid conversation with her. The temptation to push buttons to get a reaction like she had always done with men in the past was overwhelming. It was an infantile tactic, but his silence towards her was hurting her deeply, and making the desire to retaliate seem justified.

"Stevie." She said at last. Receiving no immediate reply, she repeated his name, louder. "Stevie!"

He slowly looked over at her from playing with Nikolas and a spoon full of applesauce.
"Yes?" He said quietly.

"Can I get some of your attention or am I on restriction today?"

Stevie took in a long breath and let it out slowly.
"Yes." He said simply, offering nothing more.

"Great. 'Yes' I can get affection or 'Yes' I am on restriction?" She repeated, wanting clarification.

"Yes, you of course have my love and affection always." He said quietly.

"Just not now." She said, her voice cracking at the last word.

Stevie sighed again, and looked down at the table.
"I just need some time right now..."

Sophie choked back a sob and swiftly left the room, seeking sanctuary, and solace elsewhere. Stevie watched her go, knowing he should go after her, but his frustration and anger at being betrayed, kept him where he was.

After he had finished his breakfast, he took Nicholas from his baby seat, and cleaned him up then went to go look around the house for Sophie.

She was not in the sitting room, their bedroom, or the meditation room. The back porch was empty, and only a dark stain on the aged wooden floor was any trace of the mayhem that had occured there earlier. Shivering he left the area, and walked back into the kitchen.

"Sophie?" He called out, receiving no reply. After putting the baby in bed, he went out the front door of the house, and looked around the large front and side yard of the house until he spotted her laying in the large hammock that was slung between two willow trees near the back of the house. He approached on silent steps, and arrived to find her sound asleep. Crouching beside the hammock, he placed his hand on the edge and swung it gently as if she were another babe in his care, which in fact she was... Gentle fingers brushed the fallen, dried leaves from her face, and traced the white salt marks left on her face from the trails of recent tears now dried.

"It was just a test, that's all. A hard one my love. You'll be stronger when this is over. His poison will be gone." He said quietly as he brushed stray strands of hair from her cheek, then stretched out and leaned over her to place a kiss on the salt trails. Halfway in doing so, he lost his balance, and fell over on top of her, sending the hammock spinning around, and dumping them both on the ground beneath with a jarring jolt. Sophie landed on top of Stevie, and quickly looked around trying to orient herself. Looking down at the body under her, as she sat on his back she snorted her disgust, then smacked him on the back of his head playfully.

"Goober!! What the hell was that for?"

Stevie was chuckling under her, his body trembling with the surpressed laughter.
"I was trying to kiss you. I missed." He laughed.

"I would say so. You damn near killed me!"

"Not my intent, I assure you." He said looking over his shoulder up at her. "Forgive me?" He asked, giving her his best doe eyed stare.

Sophie squinted her eyes closed and moved one hand backwards to slide it under the top of the jeans he was wearing.
"Maybe..." She smiled, hooking her fingertips over the waistband of his underwear, and gripping it tightly. Stevie felt the ominous touch, and his eyes grew wide.

"Hey now... I know what you're about..." He said trying to sound threatening behind his wide, nervous grin.

"Do you?" She grinned evilly.

At the same second, Stevie tried rolling over to reverse their positions, but her quick jerk on his underwear was faster, and with a mighty pull she lifted a full five inches of cotton Fruit of the Looms above the waist of his jeans before getting bucked off of him like a cowboy at a rodeo.

"Auugh..." He groaned as he rolled onto his back and lifted his hips up to pull the underwear down from the crack of his ass. Sophie rose to her feet, and smiled triumphantly down at him.