35

  Susie

  “He’s not going to come” I said tapping my foot on the ground and rolling a half empty can of diet coke in my hand.

  “Christian’s smart, he’s going to get a bad feeling about this, you’ve seen how he knows when troubles coming,” Brad said as he opened the fridge and grabbed a doctor pepper, “He’s going to know it’s a trap,” he said, cracking it open and taking a drink.

  “This isn’t a trap, and he’s going to come,” Cody said, pacing back and forth in the kitchen, “I told him we were planning another trip, that’s all he thinks this is,” Cody said, rubbing his eyes and taking a deep breath waiting for Christian to show up.

  “Theres no way he’s going to agree to it,” Brad said, “The poor guy is gone, like gone gone,” he said.

  Cody turned to us and raised his hand, gritting his teeth, “Listen, we just need to lay out why this is a problem and why he needs to stop. He’ll listen, I know he will, we’re his friends. He’s told us about his family, we’re all he has,” Christian said.

  “We’re all he has over here,” I corrected him, “And three people who hang out with him because we’re all sharing this incredible secret don’t really hold a candle to Kings who want you on their council and Lords asking him if he wants to marry their blushing virginal daughters,”

  “It’s an addiction, like anything else, it’s like someone who plays video games too much. He’s wrapped up in this fantasy world because things just seem so much easier for him over there,” Christian said.

  “Yeah, except you don’t make a small fortune in gold coins playing fucking World of Warcraft,” I said, finishing my can of diet coke and slamming it in the trash.

  “He made how much?” Brad asked, “I’m still holding on to mine, you know to protect against inflation,” he said.

  Cody turned to Brad, “Brad, you have to sell them, no evidence of that world left, that’s what we agreed on,” Cody said.

  “But, it’s just gold, it’s an investment, it’s not like I took some one of those little fairies in a bottle along with me,” he said.

  “You’re going to take your sixty thousand in cash and you’re going to like it,” I stomped my foot, yelling at Brad, “Nothing left of that world, and we never speak of it again, that’s what we agreed,” I said, “Now let’s get that idiot to cold turkey this bullshit so we can move on with our lives and never speak of this again,” I turned back to the fridge, “I need another soda,” I grabbed one and cracked it’s top, I must have shaken it in my anger because a good bit sprayed out and I slammed the can right into the trash out of frustration.

  Brad got a napkin for me to try and save my top, then turned to Cody, “He’s not going to come you know, he’s going to know this is a trap, “Remember when we almost got ambushed by some brigands, he’s got a sixth sense for this kind of thing,” Brad said.

  “He has those senses in the other world, we all had things over there that we don’t have here,” Cody said.

  “Over here he can’t see the forest for the trees,” I said, “The hard thing is going to be making sure he doesn’t run when he realizes what’s happening,” I said as in finished wiping what I could off my blouse, “If he runs you can catch him, right Mr. Football players?” I asked.

  “I’m a fullback, not a wide receiver,” Brad said

  “He’s not going to run, and yes, if he does I’ll stop him,” Cody said, shaking his head, “I know that this is going to suck, not just for him, but for all of us,” Cody took a seat at the kitchen table. I saw this forlorn look on his face. He looked like doctor about to give someone a devastating cancer diagnosis.

  Before you go thinking I would in anyway excuse the actions that he was soon going to take, I did feel sorry for Christian in that moment. No, maybe sorry isn’t the right word, it was pity. I felt pity for him. This man, this pathetic man who couldn’t figure out how to live in the real and breathing world, had like so many pathetic men found an escape from it. Only instead of video games or fantasy sports, this just happened to be a supernatural fantasy world.

  “You make sure he knows what we’re going to do if he doesn’t listen to us, and if you wont tell him how hard he’s going to pay for not listening, I sure as hell will,” I said.

  “Listen, Susie, you need to calm down,” Cody said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

  I shook him off in an instant. He may have thought while we were over there he could smooth talk me, look like one of the dashing Knight’s those fools would have so much fun pretending to be. Just because over there he was able to charm and seduce me at a party, a party where I had too much to drink even though I told him I didn’t. If he thinks just because I may have let him touch me over there that meant he was allowed to touch me here, part of me wanted to reach out and slap him across the face to dispel any notion that what happened between us Somewhere Else was ever real. That world wasn’t real, that is the one point I was going to make sure we got across to Christian today, that Somewhere Else isn’t real.

  We just stood there in silence for a few minutes, the only sound any of us made was Cody taking a deep breath as we heard Christian’s car pull into the driveway.

  “Let’s do this,” Cody said, “Remember, above all, we’re his friends and we’re coming from a place of love. He’s going to be angry, but this is for his own good, that’s the point we need to stay with, that we’re doing this for his own good, we-”

  Knock-Knock

  Cody sighed, “All right, everyone in the living room, Brad you’re sure your parents aren’t coming home today?”

  Brad jumped over the couch and took a seat, “Yeah, they’re in florida for the weekend, won't be home for two days,” he said.

  “All right, remember, come from a place of love,” Cody said as he closed his eyes and took the door handle in his grip. He took a deep breath and opened, “Christian, what’s up man,” he said forcing a smile as he stepped back so Christian could walk right into the bear trap we had set up for him. Once he was inside, Cody stepped to the left to let him walk in and then closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it, and deadbolt it.

  “Oh, hey guys, I’ve been looking for a new adventure, I was thinking we could try to stop Rumplestilskin, you know, before he kidnaps that baby,” Christian said, he looked a little tense, a little more tense then usual. Maybe he did have that sixth sense that Brad was talking about. Christian smiled and likely thought those forlorn thoughts men who can’t act in the today always have when thinking about tomorrow.

  “Christian, sit down,” I said, leaning against the recliner at the corner of the room.

  Christian’s eyes went around the room, “Wait, did you want to get something to eat first? Maybe order a pizza? We don’t have to go Somewhere Else, staying here and just hanging out could be fun I guess,” I could see this guys heart rate start to climb. Cody went over and put a hand on Christian’s shoulder, trying to relax him, reassure him, “Hey, buddy, just sit down,” he said, leading him to a comfortable sofa before coming to the other side of the room with us, taking a seat on the couch facing him.

  “Christian, we are your friends,” Cody said.

  “I know, yeah, I mean everything we’ve been through, I’ve been meaning to tell you guys,” he smiled, and I swear I saw a bit of blush come across his face, “I’ve never really had friends like you guys before, I mean, I had friends when I was a kid, but just a friends by proximity thing, like they were kids of my parent’s friends and they were forced to hang out with me during a barbecue or something,” He looked up, and more of my pity for him grew, but I knew what we had to do, “I really like hanging out with you guys, I never thought I could have a group of friends like this, much less a group I could have such amazing adventures with, you guys, finding Somewhere Else has to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life, thank you, without you, Cody, I would have never found the only place I’ve ever felt at home,” he looked up, smiling.

  “Christian, we are your friends, and we care about you, that’s why we have to tell you,” Cody took a deep breath.

  “What? Tell me what?” he asked, I could feel the panic growing in his voice again, like he knew what was about to happen and desperately tried to deny that it was about to go down.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Christian, you have a problem,” Cody said.

  “What, oh, did I do something to embarrass you guys in school, I’m sorry, I know it probably doesn’t look good to be seen with me so much, It’s okay if you don’t want want me at any end of the year parties. I know I suck that those, I’ll make sure to mind my own business, but we can still have fun together Somewhere Else on weekends, like we talked about. Theres still plenty of work to do, lots of gold to make over the summer before you all head off to college,” he said.

  “It’s not that, we don’t mind people seeing you with us, no one cares, you’re not as poison as you think you are,” Brad said.

  “Then, what’s wrong,” Christian’s eyes darted between the three of us.

  I looked over to Cody, giving him a look that said, ‘You tell him or I will,’

  “Christian, you are spending too much time Somewhere Else, you have a problem,” Cody said, holding his hands clasped on his chin, “You have a problem, and it’s affecting your life, your real life, we’ve talked it over. We think that you need to stop,” Cody said. It probably hurt him as much to say it almost as much as it hurt Christian to hear it.

  “I got most of my absences excused, I got it covered. I know I went a little crazy for a while but I’m still walking at Graduation with the rest of you,” Christian said.

  “Christian, that place, it isn’t real,” This was before I knew what kind of man Christian actually was. It was real to him, I’ll give Cody that one courtesy in his defense of Christian, that world was real to him.

  “Who cares,” Christian said, he actually laughed, “Who even cares anymore, do you understand how much money we can make over there, coming back here with those gold coins, they’re worth thousands, who gives a shit about trying to go to college and get some job as an insurance salesmen or whatever, when we can make thousands of dollars in this world by taking a weekend having fun adventures, I have enough to move out the second I turn eighteen, with what I’m making I can get an apartment no problem, I could pay a year’s lease straight up, and still bank money, I could have a house someday, could you imagine that, owning a house before thirty, and not even having to go into debt to those bloodsucking college loans to do it. You may not think that world is real, but what it’s given us, just the gold alone, could give us more in this other world then we ever imagined,” he said, desperately trying to convince us that his addiction wasn’t an addiction.

  “The gold is nice, we all know it is,” Cody said, “But it’s not real, we’ve seen enough proof it isn’t real, do you want to end up like Morgan? She was probably just like you in the beginning, felt this longing for escape, and she got so wrapped up in it, in the power, it turned her evil, you’re a good man Christan, the power you have in that world can corrupt you, power corrupts, we’re your friends and we don’t want to see that happen to you,” Cody took a cautious step towards Christian, “If you stay in that world, with the power you’ve accumulated, you may end up destroying it. You say you care for this world so much, but we’ve seen that someone from this world’s influence on it can lead to destruction and death, do you really want to destroy this place you care about so much?” Cody was looking for any reason he could to keep Christian out of the other world. And I think he knew that through his whole speech I was holding the trump card right in my pocket.

  Brad spoke up, “It was fun for a while, we had a good run, but it’s not right for us to be there,” he looked away, “You’re right, how you think of that place, how it’s a beautiful place, if we keep running rough shot through it, we could end up destroying it, and I know you don’t want to see this place you love destroyed, you would never forgive yourself if we did something so awful to it that it would never recover. It’s a fragile ecosystem, our interference in may be doing more harm then the good you think you’re doing,” he said.

  “Brad’s right,” Cody said, “Christian, listen, we don’t belong there. I understand that you’ve had a hard life, I understand that you think theres something more to this fantasy world you’ve been playing in, but it’s just that, it’s a fantasy, you can’t waste your real life on some meaningless escapism just because things are too hard here,” Cody took a seat, clasping his hands in front of his face, It looked like this was just as hard for him as it was for Christian.

  “I’m sorry, I understand what you’re saying, but we did good there, I don’t know what's real or not anymore. From the stories we’ve heard, this world is just as much legend and myth as their world is to ours, but remember the farmers we’ve saved, and the children, and the evil we ended, we saved so many people, we did so much good. That good we did may not count in this world, but we did good somewhere, don’t you feel as fulfilled as I do knowing that lives were saved. The Dark Fairies would have overrun them if we, I, didn’t stop them!” Christian stood up, stood tall, stood proud, maybe for the first time in his life he stood up for himself.

  Brad stood, he was about six inches taller then Christian, a mile’s worth when men compare their heights, “Look at Morgan, look at what she became, she had all the same temptations you’ve had, she became as involved in that world as you may be if we can’t convince you to stop, think about what she left behind, think about how her parents feel, they haven’t seen their daughter in two years,” he said.

  “You want to talk about parents, you want to talk about how I’ll be leaving them with nothing,” Christian gritted his teeth, “My parents already have nothing, my mom just cruises bars looking for an affair to fulfill herself, and my dad just works his eight hours so he can come home and continue kill himself with a daily case of beer. If I did turn out like Morgan, if I did abandon everything for that world, and I’m not saying I would, I wouldn’t be leaving anything behind. No one on this side cares about me, no one on this side would care if I would just disappear, hell, it might be good for them if I was gone. It might give them a reason to just end things already. I could have a life in that world, and then maybe, without me forcing them to stay together they could have their own lives in this world. You all just don’t understand,” Christian said, he was always such a quiet kid, but you know what they say about quiet kids, never wake their anger.

  “We understand that you care more about a fantasy then you do about real life,” I stood now, it seemed that this intervention was going to need a bit of tough love “Real life is hard, get over it,” I wanted to scream that at him, but I gritted my teeth “Don’t you dare use your parent’s shitty relationship as a scapegoat to run off to la-la land trying to find a happily ever after that doesn’t mean anything,” I was furious at this point, “My parents are on the edge of divorce too, my mom is furious at my dad for fucking some secretary he had and she’s said she’s going to do everything in her power to make sure I can’t see him, and I love my dad, I have problems in this world too, we all do, but you don’t see us desperately looking for the exit to a place we don’t even fully understand in what’s just a desperate lust to have something different to care about, you’re pathetic!” there was a bite on my voice at the end of that.

  “Susie, calm down,” Cody said, looking to me, he was still trying to defend this pathetic excuse for a man, “We’re here to help him, not give him more reasons,” he said, staring at me with those same damn eyes that seduced me while we were all living out our fantasies of great deeds and high adventure.

  “Tell him what happens if he doesn’t stop, what we’ll do, what we all agreed we’ll do, if he doesn’t give up this damn fantasy of heroism and triumph he’s fucking addicted too,” my hands were balled into fist so hard I thought my nails might tear my skin.

  “We don’t have to do that,” Cody said to me, then turned to Christian, “We don’t have to do that unless we’re left with no other choice, Christian, we’re trying to help you. I know you think this is some kind of attack on you, an attack on your character, attack on you as a person, but we’ve seen the kind of man you can be. You can be a man who stands for principals, a man who fights with honor, and I know we’re asking you to take on the biggest fight you’ve ever faced, but it’s for your own good. If we keep interfering in this world, we could ruin it and I know you don’t want that to happen,” Cody closed his eyes, and took a deep breath most likely praying that Christian would see the right thing to do.

  “We’ll tell people,” I found myself blurting out, “We’ll tell people about the other world, if you don’t stop, if we know that you’re in there, wielding your power, destroying it even though you think you’re saving it, we’ll tell people about it,” I was starring daggers at Christian. I was ready to take news of an alternate world, and a gateway to it, all the way to the President of the United States if I had too.

  “Susie!” Cody turned and shot me a look that spoke of betrayal and anger.

  “It’s true, we all agreed to do it if he doesn’t stop messing with it,” I turned to Christian, “If you think our little adventures in this world hurt it in the slightest, and I know part of you must know they have, imagine what a platoon of marines and government researchers are going to do once they get in there, you keep saying you care about this world, so prove it,” I walked up to Christian and grabbed his shirt, “Prove you care about that world and leave it alone, their problems are nothing we could ever prepare for, nothing we could ever understand,” I said, “You said you saw the beauty in that world, you were fascinated by it, so leave that beauty alone, don’t walk on it’s grass and don’t leave the cigarette butts of our presence on it’s fields, leave it alone Christian,” I let go of his shirt, tried to collect myself, “If you love that world so much, then just leave it be, leave it to move on it’s own course, let the people their find their own destiny, don’t take it from them by merit of being another god damned outsider who thinks he can help. Don’t ruin the world you love Christian,” I felt myself getting calmer, trying to reason with this man who I would one day soon call a monster.

  “Okay,” Christian whispered, defeated and derailed from his righteous quest.

  “What?” I couldn’t hear him that first time, and I wanted to make sure he meant it.

  “Okay,” he said with a sharpness in his voice, “You’re right, you’re all right, I can’t see that world destroyed, I couldn’t live with myself if it was,” Christian found a chair and sunk into it, burying his face in his hands, “I’m sorry, I understand your concerns, I’ll stop going, but-”

  “But what?” I asked.

  “Just give me one more,” he said, “I have affairs over there, they’re important to me, “One more time Somewhere Else, that’s all I ask, just let me say goodbye,” Christian said.

  We all looked at each other, Cody was the first to agree.

  “One more time, if you swear you’re not going to go native and do something stupid,” Brad said, nodding.

  I shook my head, “One more time, and that’s it, you go one more time, and then we never speak of that world again, that’s the terms we’ll give you,” I told Christian.

  “Just got to get my last bit of gold,” he looked to Brad, “One more great play,” he looked to Cody, “And one more time to see what it’s like to be loved,” he said to me.

  “One more time, and then you’re done,” I said, at the moment I felt like I was being a bit hard on him. Granted with what happened when he came back, I would have let that world rot if I knew what the consequences were going to be.