Against The Odds (27 page)

“
John is a magnificent man, Zane. Clayton has been singing his
praises.”

Oh no, now Clayton wants my man.

“
Really, why?”

“Oh, he was helpful with this party. Jono and Clayton were
trying to prove that they are not sexist and tried to do this on
their own. I think they figured they couldn’t do it, so John helped
them out. Relax. Clayton is
not
interested in him in
that
way.”

“
Well, you never know. John is so gorgeous that straight men
sometimes look at him. I find it quite disturbing.”

“
Oh Zane, he adores you. I don’t think you have to worry about
that.”

“
I guess you are right. Anyway, how are things with
you?”

“
Fine, Clayton drives me crazy sometimes, pushes me right to
the edge, then he is sweet and gentle again, you know?”

I do know, my dear, I do know
, thought Zane.

“
Poor thing. He looks so ferocious sometimes.”

Rebecca
laughed.

“
No, he is very gentle, actually, but very naughty.” She was
smiling.

Jonathan
was walking towards them.

“
Hello, my princess. I can’t call you that anymore. Clayton
has taken over that. Thanks for everything.” He was hugging
her.

“
No problem. I believe Clayton was a bit hard on
Jackie?”

“
Yes, but it worked. She is like a gentle lamb now. I must
thank him.”

Zane’s
eyes were wide.

“
What are you talking about? That sounds awful.”

“
Yes, it was.”

Jonathan
laughed.

“
Clayton knows exactly how to deal with Jackie. She had been
giving me a really rough time, fighting all the time. Clayton has
always known how to tap into her and has succeeded in getting her
back to normal. He knows exactly what she needs.”

“
Yes, it is wonderful. Jackie also knows how to deal with
Clayton. When he is out of control, I send him to Jackie and he
comes back as good as new.”

“My, that is very convenient isn’t it?” Zane was
flabbergasted.
They admit to all this? It is wonderful?
He excused himself and went to find
John.

~ ~ ~
~

Clayton
was tired, but he was a very happy man. He loved what Rebecca did
to him at the party. She would attack him as soon as he thought she
had forgotten. She really was full of surprises, this delightful
woman of his. He had never expected to meet her woman who would
deliciously shock him half to death, then gently make love to him
inside his head, while he was trying to concentrate on some
conversation. He loved the way she had taunted him, taking him so
far, and then, when he thought he would burst, she would pull back
again. Being a Protector had turned out to be a lot better than
ever. He watched her, sleeping soundly. He really loved her, even
when she treated him like an idiot who did not understand anything.
He eventually slept thinking how great it was that tomorrow was
Saturday and they would spend the morning in bed. I am the luckiest
man alive, he thought as he fell off to sleep, his arm possessively
over her.

Rebecca was enjoying the depths of her sleep when she saw
her Nana. Nana was not smiling. She looked at Rebecca, her head
tilted to one side, a quizzical look on her face. She was in a
large field, filled with bright yellow flowers.
What flowers are those?
Rebecca thought. Nana seemed
confused.
What is it Nana?

Rebecca, why do you do nothing? Why do you let your friend
pay the price of your love? Why Rebecca? When it is so easy to stop
it? Why? There are two Protectors, remember that my dear. Why
Rebecca?

Nana was
looking sad and confused. Then she started fading and in the field,
she saw a little baby girl, wrapped in a soft blue blanket, with
The Darkness flying around it. It went round in circles, flapping
its wings. She could hear the flapping, the hissing. In the far
corner, she saw a shadow, a woman. She tried to look closer at the
shadow, trying to see the woman, but she was fading away. Her body
was bent over, like she was crying. The images suddenly stopped.
Clayton was saying something.

“
Rebecca, please, wake up.”

“
Clayton?”

“
Rebecca, what is the matter? You are crying in your
sleep.”

She realized that tears were rolling down her face. She
turned away from him.
Oh no, it was starting all over
again
. She was crying
loudly now and Clayton tried to control his emotions. He was
getting angry, because she was giving him the silent treatment, but
he was so worried because she was crying so much.
Control yourself,
or she will just shut off.
But he eventually lost it.

“Rebecca, stop crying,
now
. Tell me what the fuck is going on. Now, Rebecca.
Now.”

She just
cried. He turned her around and she closed her eyes.

“
Look at me dammit, look at me!”

She opened her eyes and Clayton was completely astounded by
the fear in her eyes.
The Darkness is back?

“
Yes, Clayton, it is back.”

She told
him everything, every detail and every description. Clayton felt so
numb. He could not think clearly.

“
Rebecca, are you pregnant?”

“
No, Clayton, of course not. What are you talking
about?”

“
Where is the baby girl, Rebecca where?”

“
I don’t know. It was not my baby. I am sure of that, because
it was outside of me, some distance away. Clayton, the woman, she
was so familiar, her short gold dress, it moves with the flowers...
she looked...”

“
A short gold dress?”

Clayton
felt his heart sank. There is no other woman who wore a gold dress
with such remarkable grace.

“Jackie,” they said together.

“
Oh God, No, Clayton, no, that cannot be. That is not fair. It
is not right, no.”

“
How can it do that? Simply transfer to her? She is not
related to you.”

They
talked and talked, asking many questions and answering none. The
only thing they were certain of was that they would not tell
Jonathan and Jackie. They had enough troubles already.

“
I think Jackie has known all along. When I spoke to her, she
kept telling me that if something went wrong, it was on her head.
She knew, deep down, that something was wrong. That is why she was
so strange.”

“But,
Clayton, I think Jono feels it to. Do you remember he would not
want her to leave the house and she could not go
shopping?”

“Yes, I
remember thinking that Jono, the logical one, had lost his marbles.
What are we going to do, Rebecca?”

They sat
on the bed, well into the morning, their despair and fear making
them helpless to move. Finally Clayton phoned his friend and
fellow-Protector.

~ ~ ~
~

Jonathan
was having a leisurely Saturday morning with his wife. They
gossiped about the party and laughed at all the odd things people
did. They joked about Clayton, how they were relieved he had not
become a tiger and Jackie told Jonathan how Rebecca had seduced and
tortured Clayton with her mind.

“I know.
Clayton called me outside. He said he needed to get away from her.
It’s quite amazing, isn’t it, that she can do that to him? He was
enjoying it at some level, let me tell you. He kept saying, ‘that
incredible woman. Just when I think I know her, she pulls some
surprise’. He was totally trapped in the power of her
lust.”

“
Yes, it is too delicious.”

But
Jonathan was thinking how delicious his wife had been last night.
He was beginning to really like her pregnant. She was so horny all
the time and so creative. He wished she could be pregnant forever,
because this pregnancy was certainly doing wonders for him in the
bedroom department. He smiled, thinking how lucky they
were.

*****

Clayton read the spell over and over. He had been initially
shocked at seeing it in print, because it made everything so real
for them. All along, he had tried to pretend it was not real, that
there was a reasonable explanation for these strange events. Seeing
it there, in print, coming from his
printer, had made his hair stand up. Then as he
read it again, he had been mortified by the evil of it, that way
the words clever, calculated and deliberate. He had also never
fully appreciated, before that moment, how powerful the hatred and
evil had been which had created the spell. Now, his mind was
reeling over the last part.

Let this spell be so bound

To invoke the evil sight and sound

Of The Darkness which will give no love, joy or
celebrations

To all the allies and runt born of Portia McGuire for many
generations.

It
took him quite a while to reali
ze how significantly every carefully crafted word was
designed for impact.
He
had not been able, until now, to understand why Jackie, not related
to either of them, could be affected by the spell.
That witch had been very
clever.

‘To all
the allies....’ She had anticipated that others would try to help
them and she had realized that, through love, the ‘runt of Portia’
would be strengthened. That is exactly what Jackie and Jonathan had
done. They had given them so much support and help and had even
come up to the mountain to them. Now they were being punished. He
felt his anger rising again and looked at Rebecca.

She
looked like she was heavily sedated, sitting there, looking out the
window. She had tried so hard, like him, to dismiss the curse and
its implications. She was thinking how abnormal she was and he
could see her guilt at bringing Double J into the mess. He saw her,
sitting there, allowing her guilt to eat away at her. He could not
allow it. He needed her as strong as ever now.

“
Rebecca, come sit here. Talk to me, let it out,
Princess.”

For once
she did not argue. She told him her thoughts and Clayton, forever
the Protector, talked her out of her fears.

“Remember, Rebecca, that you are not responsible. We have
no choice in these issues. And that is what pisses me off the most.
You have never had a choice.”

She stood up and rubbed his shoulders.

“You are
becoming a tiger, Clayton. Relax.”

She
kissed him on his cheek and rubbed his shoulders until she could
feel his tension easing.

“
Clayton, we need to try and keep each other calm about this.
We need to focus on the problem. Okay?”

“Yes, I
am glad your father sent this to us. It makes it easier to work
through it. I understand why Double J are affected. What I can’t
seem to work out, is this last part. What does it mean,
Rebecca?”

Rebecca
looked at the words, unable to touch the page.

“That bitch. She called me a
runt
?”

“
Yes, it is rather odd, so derogatory. But, Princess, stop
fighting with some unknown dead witch. Every time you read it you
get upset again. Focus, remember?”

“
Okay, but Clayton, I want to get her, that bloody miserable,
vile animal.”

“
Princess, please. Please.”

She read
it out loud.

Let this spell be unbound and apart taken

Only by the energy of the power of love which remains
unshaken.

Let its power to drained and extracted

Only by the power of two Protectors, together
contracted

“So we only succeeded in the first part. All we did was
took it apart at the mountain. Clayton, I think my father was
right. It
does
seem to be
much weaker. I think that is why it attacked Double J. They are
second prize. When you and my father were here together, it seemed
to have disappeared. The key is ‘two Protectors, together
contracted.’ That is what seemed to affect it the most. The two of
you together. What does it mean?”

“I don’t
know. That is the part I cannot work out. How do we do it? Your
mother says we need to invoke the power of light, which can destroy
the darkness thingy. Rebecca, before you say anything, I want you
to listen carefully. We are playing around now. We don’t have the
time. Once that baby is born, we are back to square one and I don’t
think we or Double J can live with that. None of us want to
articulate the answer, but I am going to. We need to bring the
light again, together with your parents.”

“
Oh Clayton, I know. I have tried not to think about it, but I
know.”