CHAPTER TWELVE - TEXT MESSAGES
‘Please be okay, please be okay!’ Brian prayed desperately as he slammed the car door shut and furiously dashed up the path to his front door.
He tried to remain reasonable. If that man had been at the car lot, than he couldn’t have been at Brian’s house terrifying B… but it didn’t seem to stop him from screaming inside. He could feel every part of him crying out in urgency and a clammy, cold feeling had settled upon his brow.
He madly fumbled with the door lock, rushing to key in the alarm code before it could activate. He turned swiftly from the panel and ignored Tyke as he bounced up and down in front of Brian, hoping for a cuddle. He turned his face towards the stairs and he slowly rested his hand upon the banister rail.
“B?” he called, his voice sounding ominously empty in the big house. “BB? Are you okay?”
There was nothing. No reply. The only sounds were Tyke’s excited snuffles and snorts as he sniffed about Brian’s legs. Brian weakly patted the dog on the head and then began to climb the stairs. For a moment his steps were slow, but they soon accelerated until he was bounding up the steps two at a time as his heart rate increased frantically.
‘He’s okay, he’s okay…’
“Oh God…” Brian whispered to himself as a cold wind seemed to sweep by his body. For a brief second he felt dizzy and he thought again of that shadowed stranger that had watched him so carefully, unable to shake the eerie and unsettling feelings that his presence had embedded within him.
His legs were weak as they carried him across the landing and past little Sammy’s empty room. He hardly paid it any attention as his eyes focused on his own door beside it. He almost didn’t want to push the wooden door open, terrified at what he would see there. He should never have left him… what had he been thinking?
“B?” he whispered faintly.
He pressed his hand upon the smooth door and slowly pushed it open, taking a deep breath as he did so to try and clam his trembling hands.
“B?”
B was lying asleep in the bed, the blanket and duvet wrapped about him and his eyes peacefully closed. Brian closed his eyes for a moment, still trembling but this time in relief. What would it have been like to walk in here and find B gone…
He crept closer and could see the reassuring rise and fall of B’s chest as he breathed in slumber. He gently pressed a hand against his forehead and smiled in relief as he felt that the extreme temperature had dissipated. His face was still a little flushed from the fever, but it seemed to have died down enough to leave him in peace.
B murmured something very faintly as he turned and Brian withdrew his hand, anxious not to wake him up from his restful slumber. He needed it after the violent nightmare he had suffered from. It had terrified Brian when he first heard the screams. He had just awoken himself and dressed in the bathroom when he heard the cries and then he had returned to see that it was B. At least there was no sign of any nightmare now and there was no sign of any danger. Everything was exactly as he had left it.
The only ominous incident had been the strange man across the car parking lot and Brian had not even seen their face. He wished that he could shrug it off as paranoia, but it had triggered something deep within him when he felt that gaze watching him. So many powerful emotions ad flowed through his veins and he had almost felt as if he was ready to fight him for B. Though how he had known there was a connection between the two was unknown. Whatever that connection was, that stranger would soon learn that B was his now. He would keep an eye out for him and Brian really would be ready to fight if he came snooping around here…
He tucked the blanket in closer about B and gave him a soft kiss on the head, still pleased and relieved that he was all right. He would have to keep an extra eye out during the next few days in case that stranger returned. He wasn’t from this time, Brian was certain of that, and there was no way on Earth he was taking B away from him.
Quietly he crept out of the room, softly closing the door behind him so as not to disturb B. When he was a little better, Brian would make up the spare room for him instead of making him sleep in his own bed every night. He would be safe enough in the room opposite his own and when B was better he wouldn’t need Brian to keep watch on him during the night.
He stopped for a moment as he caught sight of the open door leading into Sammy’s abandoned bedroom. He could just glimpse the sandy carpet and the ocean coloured walls and he sighed as he stepped into the room, glancing about at the shelves of toys and the pictures Sammy had drawn to decorate the walls. He picked up one of Sammy’s stuffed toys and held it close to his chest. He really did miss Sammy and he felt guilty for not having thought about him much with B’s sudden appearance. He stared at the empty bed and felt a slight pang in his chest as he realised that it wouldn’t be filled until the end of the week. If only Sammy was here as well then it would be perfect, but which Sammy? He knew two of them; one young and one as an adult. It was so confusing…
He placed the toy down at the bottom of Sammy’s bed and tidied up a few loose toys on the desk. B would probably be gone when Sammy returned but Brian wanted them both. He wanted B to stay with them and be happy, but that wasn’t possible. Sammy was his older brother who took care of him and yet in this time B was the elder…
He ran a hand over Sammy’s jersey on the back of a chair and then closed the door as he crossed out to the landing. Sammy would be home soon, but right now he had B with him and he had to make the most of it.
He clambered down the stairs, suddenly remembering the medicine and the clothes he had brought for B that were still in the car.
He sighed slightly as he opened the front door, feeling the cool wind on his skin soothing all the panic and fear and blowing it far away. He had been paranoid. He was juts worried about B… the chances of Brian actually spotting an enemy Gerai right across the parking lot were basically non existent…
He retrieved all of the bags, hoping that they would fit B and that he would actually like them. Lastly he tucked the pharmacist’s bag under his arm and dashed back up the steps, shoeing Tyke inside before he could run out of the yard and attack next door’s cat.
As he pushed his way through the door, he heard the sudden beep. He frowned as he dropped the clothes bags onto the floor and then stared about him for the source of the sound. His eyes finally alighted upon his white cell phone on the shelf beneath the mirror. He picked it up and carried it into the lounge as he flicked through to see the who had sent him a text message.
UNKNOWN SENDER
That wasn’t right… He never gave the number out to anybody who wasn’t a relative or close friend… He pressed the button to read the message and then he felt the dread.
IS B THERE?
He could feel the sweat breaking out over his forehead to run down his face in cold, icy droplets that sent shudders through him.
He nervously stared about him as if expecting to see a pair of malevolent, scrutinising eyes watching him from the walls of his own house. Somebody out there knew about B and they knew he was here. That meant they were from the future, because nobody but Brian knew about B in this time. How had they gotten Brian’s cell number? Everybody he had ever given the number to was in his phone book and yet this sender was unknown, and he had been so careful about who he gave the number to.
He stared down at the message but it hadn’t disappeared or been replaced with one of Nick’s usual stupid texts. It was still clear and ugly upon the tiny screen, laughing at him for believing that B was safe with him. He bit his lip and then began to key in a reply.
WHO ARE YOU?
It would look suspicious if he did not answer and he had to know who this was. Maybe it wasn’t a Gerai… how could they have gotten the number!
He took a deep breath and then pushed the button to send the message. The phone bleeped cheerfully as it relayed the message, completely oblivious to the dire situation.
He set the phone done upon the table in front of him and then sat down upon the couch, his hands nervously clasped in his lap as he waited. His blue eyes were fixed upon the phone as if it were somehow sending him trick messages to frighten him.
He could hear the clock ticking the seconds away slowly and he leaned one of his hands against his face in anxiety. What if they didn’t reply? They were bound to know that B was here now…
Beep beep.
He seized the phone frantically and his clammy fingers clumsily pulled up the message, praying for some answers.
A FRIEND. YOU SAW ME EARLIER.
He suddenly thought back to the stranger’s gaze that had scrutinised him so thoroughly in the car lot. It was him. He knew it was and he knew that B was here. His fingers clubbed together to form a fist and he felt his nails digging into the palm of his hand as he felt the strange emotions bubbling up within him. He was almost shuddering in uneasiness as he thought of them. Why did they have such a deep effect upon him?
He pressed the keys to send another message. He wanted a more definite answer. He remembered that stranger and he didn’t think of them as a friend. To him it had felt like an enemy he had to protect B from.
WHO ARE YOU???
There was another beep as the message was sent and he leaned back against the cushions, the phone still in his hands Why was everything always so complicated? Why couldn’t he spend time with B as a father rather than a bodyguard. All he wanted was to be a normal family but every time there was someone who always tried to destroy their little family.
His phone beeped again and there was another message from the unknown sender.
A FRIEND OF SAMMY. GERAI ARE HERE AFTER B. B MUST COME HOME WITH ME.
Anger seemed to shake Brian as he stared at the message. How dare that man call himself a friend of Sammy’s. If he was a friend then why had Brian felt so strange when he looked at him? Why was there a feeling inside of him that desperately wanted him to keep B away from that man?
B didn’t belong with him, he belonged to Brian. His eyes narrowed as he used the buttons to compose his response.
B IS HOME.
With one push of a button, the message was gone and Brian hastily turned the phone off, thumping the button hard with the anger that seemed to have suddenly crept through him.
He opened a drawer and slammed the phone down, not wanting to have anything to do with that shadowed man. As far as Brian was concerned, he was an enemy and not a friend. B was not going back with him. Sammy was the only one Brian would hand B over to. Sammy was the only one he would trust… or possibly Nick, Kevin or one of his other future friends.
But B did not belong with that stranger.
He closed the door and stood up angrily, frustration having seemingly wormed its way into his very soul. His hands had clenched up again and he still had no idea why he felt this way, but he trusted his instinct. It had guided him well in 2023 before and had led him to save B and Sammy just in time.
He trusted it now when it shrank away in revulsion at the sight and thought of that stranger.
He stormed away into the kitchen, away from the messages on the phone and began to hack away at a thick loaf of bread to make B some sandwiches for lunch. With each thud of the knife he thought of that stranger and it was almost alarming at the hostile feelings he harboured towards a complete and total stranger. Normally Brian ignored any first impressions but these were too strong and powerful to ignore.
He gasped suddenly as he felt a burning pain rupture in his head. The knife slipped from his fingers and he placed his hands to his aching head as he leaned against the counter for support. Everything turned black for a brief second but Brian knew that his eyes were not closed. He cried out weakly as the stranger seemed to glide into his mind and he screwed his eyes up in desperation while his hands clutched at the counter in agony.
He wrenched his eyes open away from the burning darkness and found himself in his own kitchen once again, the headache rapidly fading. He rubbed his temples and gasped again at the vivid memory of the agony. He shook himself as it became no more than a dull throb and looked down to see that his hands had turned an alarming white. He unclasped them from the counter and found that they were visibly shaking. Slowly he fumbled for a cup and filled it with cold water, quickly drinking it to soothe him and clam him down.
He placed the cup down and breathed deeply, the cold water having seemed to vanquished the pain completely until it was nothing more than a bizarre memory.
He turned back to face the door and thought back to the phone in the drawer and the stranger at the other end. He shuddered as his mind seemed to put in a mental block on the image of them in the car lot so that he could hardly recall them anymore as anything more than a shadow.
He picked up the knife from the counter and cut away another slice of bread. His hands still shook a little but he forced his mind away from the odd incident and busied himself with the making of fresh, tasty sandwiches. He still didn’t know what B liked, but he remembered what B had eaten while they were on a picnic once and copied the ones he remembered B eating then.
“Dad?” a faint voice asked.
Brian spun around and he saw B leaning frailly against the doorframe, his face a little pale from the climb down the stairs.
“B!” he cried, rushing over to embrace him tightly as he felt the same possessiveness he had felt before. “I was worried about you,” he said as he pulled away from him. £”You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“I feel a lot better now,” B said smiling weakly. “I just wanted to see if you were home yet.”
“I came back a while ago, but you were asleep. I didn’t want to wake you,” Brian said, rubbing B’s shoulders in his hands. He was home… he belonged here with Brian and no one was going to take him away…
B yawned and rubbed his eyes with his hands. “I think I slept most of my sickness off. I really am much better and I haven’t had another nightmare.”
“Good. I’m just fixing you some sandwiches for lunch, okay?”
B nodded. “Okay, I’m hungry.”
“I’m not surprised. You didn’t wake until late and you’ve missed breakfast.” Brian carefully poured orange juice into two glasses and handed one to B. “Take that and go sit in the lounge. I’ll bring the food in.”
B sipped the juice and nodded as he slowly limped out of the kitchen on his bad ankle, but at least it didn’t seem to be causing him too much pain.
Brian finished the last sandwich and then piled them all onto a huge plate before carrying it in after his son. B had curled up on the couch with a cushion on his lap and Brian pulled the table closer and placed the sandwiches down upon it so that he could reach them easier.
“Thank you,” B said as he picked the nearest sandwich and began to nibble it.
Brian smiled at him and then quickly dashed to fetch B a big, pink blanket to wrap about his shoulders before he got cold. He didn’t want b to suffer a relapse of whatever he had this morning.
“I’m all right,” B protested as Brian carefully made sure it was covering him completely.
“Well, I think you’re still ill so you can keep that with you. I’ve got some medicine for you as well.” He held up the pharmacy bag for B to see, but the teenager merely grimaced. Brian ignored the look and pulled out a fat bottle of orange liquid. “Cough medicine. You can have it when you’ve finished lunch.”
“I don’t need it,” B croaked but his face had turned pale again as if he was desperate to stop himself from coughing again.
Brian smiled at him as he took a sandwich for himself from the plate and then he pointed to the clothes bags beside B. “I brought you some clothes as well. I don’t know if you’ll like them.”
B happily began to dive through the bags and Brian could tell that he was pleased as he pulled out a fluffy blue jersey. He thought of the tatty, brown clothes B had worn in his own time and guessed that he rarely had the chance to wear new, colourful clothes.
He smiled as B held the T-shirts up to look at them and he realised how right it all felt to be able to have B here with him, even though he didn’t belong in this time.
Brian didn’t care what his ‘friend’ said; B was staying here and Brian was going to look after him. The stranger said that the Gerai were already looking for him but Brian wasn’t even going to let them get their hands upon his son.
His eyes drifted over to the drawer where the phone was hidden and his eyes narrowed as if he could send a telepathic message to the man who had texted him. ‘He’s mine, not yours.’