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  He felt it was part of his job in watching over her. She needed it in this world, and since she wouldn't let him be in it except at long distance, he chose to protect her in that world, The world of her dreams. It was only a few months ago that she had caught swine flu. The dreams that sickness produced had been the worst. She had a high fever from what he had heard, and he could believe it, as her dreams were everything one would expect from fevered dreams. Clashing colors, continuous sounds that never went away. People and things morphing continuously, and situations completely replaying themselves over and over. He could remember one scene where he took it to be from a TV show she had watched earlier that week. The scene was innocuous in itself, that was until it kept playing over and over, faster and faster as if it were some sort of crazy carnival ride. It had taken him quite some time to stop it from restarting. The effect of it was akin to some sort of crazy water torture. At least, it felt that way to him, as he too had to live through it.

  Carefully, he pulled himself off the bed in an attempt to not wake her. Somehow one of the blankets had wrapped itself around his ankle and refused to let him go. He could sympathize with it, as in truth he didn't really want to go himself. Unfortunately, he had things he needed to do. Today, he was going to have to confront these real life agents. He wondered if this was really such a wise decision on his part. As far as he knew, he had kept his 'abilities' secret so far. No one knew about the things he could do, and as his aunt had said, it was best that way for everyone's sake. He wasn't quite sure why people would freak out about him, after all, he was just as normal as they, or...at least mostly normal. He wasn't some dead guy who walked around attacking people for their blood. After all, he'd been born just as normal as anyone else. He had a perfect childhood, minus the dad, but these days that was almost the norm. Most of the kids he knew in school, or at least heard about, were single parent families. It wasn't that big a deal these days. Of course, he would have liked to know about his dad, even if he was a jerk who deserted him and his mom before he ever got to know him.

  His mother had said that was for the better, the fact that he had no memories of the man. He wondered if that was so, as he never really had a father figure to learn the normal things that boys his age would learn. Not that he missed any of that, but he couldn't help but wonder at times exactly what his life might have been like, had his father stayed around. Pausing next to the front window, Brian pulled back the curtain just enough so that he could see that the black SUV was still there. He really had hoped that they wouldn't be, that way there would be no risk of him exposing himself. He always felt it would be better to keep to himself, as he didn't want to freak people out, or become the freak himself.

  Some time after puberty the change began. At first they thought he had a tape worm, as he was always hungry. But as weeks passed by, he became more and more sickly. Auntie had wanted his mom to take him to see a doctor, but she had refused. As if she knew there was something different about him. Those days were hard, from what he could remember. He too had fevered dreams then. To this day he believed because of those dreams, he had unlocked his ability to invade people's dreams. His mom was the first to discover this unsettling power, as he tried to take refuge in her mind during this time. In fact, it was she who realized that the predominant feature that seemed to accompany him to her dreams, was blood. It's wasn't that long after that she came home with a plastic bag filled with the stuff. He never did find out how or where she got it from, but one thing that was sure. The moment she fed him some, the fever passed, and he began to make a full recovery.

  It was then that he was made aware of his condition. The condition that put him in self-imposed exile. Had all he ever needed was just to be given blood intravenously, then it wouldn't have been so bad. But instead he had to ingest it. It never had the same effect unless he ate the stuff. When he first had been forced to drink it, and a few days afterward he had gotten better, he found he couldn't continue to do it. But the thirst changed all that. With the thirst, he had no choice. Sickness and madness was all that awaited him without it, and he wouldn't be surprised if death also waited down that dark highway.

  The refrigerator held a good supply of the stuff at the moment. He could feel the hunger gnawing away at the back of his mind as he passed by it, and considered whether he would need a shot of it. Most likely not, as he was really only in a snacking kind of mood at the moment. Besides, he knew why he even considered drinking some at the moment. It was an attempt to delay the inevitable.

  He had hoped that the agent would have gone by now, but he knew that was never going to happen. Not if they really worked for the government. They would stay there until she returned, or something else changed. Today, that change was him. It really shouldn't be that much of a risk. Granted, going out and confronting government agents had a world of risk involve, but because he could just make them forget they even saw him, that should remove any kind of true danger to his secrets. Assuming no one saw what was going on. He couldn't see having to put suggestions into the entire neighborhood watch. That just wouldn't do. No, he had to be sneaky about it, and he was hoping he was up to the task, of course, at least some cover of darkness would help in this situation, and because of his dream walking with Heather, most of that darkness had seemed to pass, and daylight was fast approaching. Not that he had anything to fear from the sun. Admittedly, he had trouble working his own special mojo in daylight, but it wasn't impossible. No, his only worry was being seen by the neighbors. That was his only concern.

  He decided to leave the house by the back door. He had learned long ago not to make mistakes by taking dumb chances. What if there were other agents in the area, and they saw where he had come out of. That could endanger Heather, especially if they were to call in her possible location. Even if they didn't suspect her being there, they would definitely come for him if they saw where he came out of, which meant, just for safety purposes he was going to have to leave and sneak back in after this, just to be safe.

  He decided to come around from the back of the SUV, rather than allowing them the opportunity of observing him as he went up to them. He knew he could just make them forget that, too, but why take chances? You never know what could go wrong, and even if nothing ever did, it was better to be safe than take unnecessary chances. Listen to him. Talking about taking stupid chances. After all, what was he doing now? For a girl who more than likely wouldn't even talk to him in the morning, he was willing to risk exposing his greatest secret. If that wasn't taking foolish chances then he didn't know what was.

  In the end, though, he didn't see what other choice he had. He had brought himself into this by telling her to come to his house in an attempt to be part of her world, and now he was tasked with protecting her. After all, she hadn't done anything wrong. It was stupid Chuck and his friends that got her into it. They were the ones who should pay, not her. The agent in the driver's side noticed him first in his car door mirror. He watched Brian walk up alongside their vehicle, Brian could see he was talking to the other agent as he approached, most likely notifying him.

  He paused beside their door and knocked on their window as the two of them exchanged glances.

  "Can I help you?" The man said, as the window was going down.

  "I think that's my question?" Brian answered with a smile.

  The other agent opened his door and began to exit the SUV. I'm going to need to hurry this, I don't want to try to have to suggest both of them.

  Brian lowered his face so he could clearly look into the agents dark glasses, the memory of the other agent in Heathers dream came unbidden to him as he did so. He had to stifle a chuckle as he remembered what he had made the last agent do to himself.

  "Tell your buddy he needs to get back into the car." Brian said with a smile, just as the second agent rounded the back end of the SUV.

  "Son? Can I help you?" The agent in the SUV asked again.

  What the? Brian thought. He couldn't understand what just happened. he w
as sure he had just planted a suggestion into this mans head, but instead of complying, he had just acted as if nothing had happened.

  "I said, Tell your friend to back off." Brian concentrated harder the moment he thought the agent was looking at him. He couldn't remember ever having to concentrate to use his power of suggestion before, but he really didn't know what else to do.

  The agent frowned and started to open his door as well. Great, this is not working as I planned. I need to improvise.

  "Look, buddy, I don't know what you're creeping around for in my neighborhood, but I already called the cops, and they will be here soon. So you better clear out of here now."

  The second agent took up a position behind him several feet away, interlacing his hands at his waste, and stood with his feet spread apart.

  The first agent who Brian was speaking to pulled out a black wallet and flashed an ID card that had his picture and the words CIA in big bold letters across it.

  "Son, we are the police."

  That was a laugh. Since when did the CIA become part of the police enforcement? As far as Brian had ever heard, they were nothing but spies.

  "Oh... Well, what are you doing hanging around here?"

  Each of the agents looked at the other for a second, then the first who was now standing in front of Brian took up the same pose his partner had, except this one was a bit more relaxed as he leaned back on his heels as he answered.

  "Government business, Son. But if you want to help, do you know a Heather Thompson?" the man asked, as he now leaned forward as if to look better into Brian's face.

  "No, I don't know her. Why, what do you want with her?"

  This wasn't getting anywhere, and Brian was quickly losing control of the situation. He still had a chance to get out of this without taking too much damage to his secret, but that still left the problem that he was getting no information, and why these guys seemed to be immune to his suggestion.

  "I thought you didn't know her?" The agent leaned forward leaving the back of his heels and moving to the balls of his feet.

  "I don't, I was just curious, is all."

  "Well, the police seem to be remiss in their duties. How long ago did you call them?" The agent smiled.

  Alright, this needed to end, the question was, how? Should he try to take these two out, and risk the firestorm that would create, or should he just back out of the situation? He knew what his aunt and mother would say. He still had all his options, that in itself dictated his choice.

  "Well, actually, I...meant to call them. I was only bluffing because I really didn't know who you guys were." Brian began to walk to the side in an attempt to get away from the two.

  "Really?" The agent began to turn and walk with Brian " Exactly what is your name, in fact, do you have any identification?"

  "No, actually I don't, and I really need to be going."

  Brian turned to head down the street, he really just needed to get away from this, as his whole plan hinged on him being able to put a suggestion into their heads. That wasn't possible now, and he wasn't sure why. Perhaps the sunglasses somehow prevented him from doing it. Maybe he wasn't actually looking into the man's eyes? Either way, this was turning out to be a real bad idea.

  "Wait a minute, Son." The agent grabbed his arm and spun him around. "I think we have some more questions for you. Charlie check him for ID."

  The second agent's feet could be heard coming up behind Brian. Nope, this is not working out at all. Brian smashed his open palm into the first agent's chest, sending him flying backward, he could feel the cracking of the man's upper ribs as he did so. Before the second agent could react, Brian brought his elbow crashing into the man's face, breaking his nose as he did so, and knocking the man to the ground completely senseless. Well, at least that went a bit better. Not immune to violence, apparently.

  He had been willing just to get away, but these two had pushed him a bit too far. The first agent thrashed on the ground in obvious pain, and Brian watched as he tried to reach into his now open coat and begin to pull what he was sure was a gun from inside it.

  "None of that." Brian said, as he took the now exposed gun from the agents fumbling hand. Well, now what? he thought. This night had been among the best he could remember, and the morning was slowly becoming the worst. He had to get the two of them off the street, and the SUV was the best place to put them for the moment. Grabbing the second agent, Brian picked him up, and put him over his shoulder. The first one began to stand up, grasping at his chest. Blood was now starting to froth out of his mouth, as he turned and began to stumble away from the scene.

  "Not today pal," Brian threw the man's gun at the retreating agent, cracking him hard against his head and sending the man sprawling to the ground, where he lay face down and unmoving.

  It took only a few minutes for Brian to collect the two and throw them in the back of the SUV, where he to climbed in and shut the doors, just as a garage door across the street began to open. A quick search of the vehicle revealed nothing. It was as if no one had ever used the SUV before as nothing was in the glove compartment, or even on the floor. It was spotless.

  Another search of the two men revealed their ID cards, a bit of money on both, as well as keys. The second agent seemed to be dead. The blow to his head had been a little too hard. Brian had avoided fights most of his life, and to be honest he didn't know his own strength.

  The first agent began to move again as Brian tried to think of what he was going to do now.

  "Who are you people?" Brian flipped the agent over so he could face him. The man coughed pink spittle. "Talk to me, damn you, what's so important about Heather?"

  "You picked the wrong fight, boy."

  "I think you better take a look around and get a clue."

  The agent laughed and spit as he did so. Brian hated it when people laughed at him. They were always so smug about it, and he had to always put up with it, never being able to show them how much more special he was than they. Not today. Today, he wasn't going to put up with it. He hit the agent solidly in the face, in an attempt to wipe the man's smile off. A loud crack erupted from the agent's neck as his head twisted in response to the blow, and brought a sick feeling to Brian's gut, as he realized he had just killed his only source of information.

  "Damn it. Now how am I going to get any answers?" He sat back and studied the two dead men. His entire plan had failed. Two men now lay dead by his hands, and he had not a clue what was going on. Plus, he had to get rid of the bodies and the SUV.

  Could this get any worse? Idly, he licked the first agents blood from his knuckles, and considered where he was going to drop the bodies off at.

  Chapter 5

  The sounds of all the various birds hanging around outside filled the house with all their songs. Personally, Brian never liked them very much. Not only were they loud and bothersome, but they were too damn happy sounding in his opinion. Where were all the birds that were depressed? Surely not every bird in the whole world was that damn happy. He wondered what kind of sounds they would be making if the shadow of a hawk, or even a falcon, flew overhead. Would they still sound all chirpy? Too bad he couldn't shape change, like some of those vampires he'd seen in those old movies he used to watch as a kid. Then he could turn into a big hawk and fly around his house for a bit. I bet they would all stop singing at the top of their voices then.

  He shut the kitchen cabinet that he had just filled with possible breakfast foods his guest might want when she woke up. He began to wonder if she were ever going to wake up today. Perhaps he had put her into a coma and he needed to wake her up? After all, he hadn't ever actually told someone to sleep before. Do I have to tell them to wake up? He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to do, so he just headed up to see if perhaps she needed a little help in rousing herself. The sight of her laying there was enough to make him forget the reasons he had come up to begin with. There was something angelic about her, the way her hair reflected the sunlight as it streamed in from his ro
om's window. It made her hair look like transparent gold, as it lay there draped partially over her face. It really was a shame that he had to wake her. Not only did she look so good sleeping, but he was sure she was most likely dreaming, and of course he was missing it.