NB: The Search (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 34: Grim Brothers

Everywhere Nick goes he can feel it, Petrus is back.  He wants to run or hide or burry his head in the sand, but it doesn’t matter.

The air in his room reeks with the stale stench of weed.  He looks in the mirror, his eyes are so red.  He isn’t sure if they’re bloodshot from the drugs or the tears he’s holding back.

Nick looks at his watch.  He has to go.  He has an appointment with his dealer in twenty minutes.  He needs some stronger drugs.  Everything is just so fucked up.  How did Petrus get back? he thinks.  It doesn’t matter though, Petrus is back and it’s only a matter of time before Nick gets pulled into the war again.

Last time Petrus was on Earth, he forced Nick to do terrible things.  Now that Petrus is back, he is going to recruit Nick to his cause again and there will be lots more blood on his hands.

Nick is supposed to meet his dealer in the park where we train.  Often, he picked up drugs after our sessions. 

As he walks through the woods, he hears noises behind him.  At first he isn’t sure what it is.  He thinks it might just be an animal, or maybe the drugs are making him paranoid, but he quickly becomes convinced he’s being followed.

Nick turns around.  “Come out.  Show yourself!” he shouts.

The bushes to the side of him shake as an animal approaches Nick.  It’s a wolf.  He’s the creature who chased me through the woods when I first met Nick.

The wolf is Nick’s brother.

Long ago, Nick and his brother lived in a small village.  Nick was a great warrior and his brother was the village healer.  They made their home there for many generations, caring for and protecting their people.  In those days, angels didn’t have to hide their nature.  The people loved and respected their guardians even though they weren’t human.

   As time when on, new threats emerged.  Nearby, a demon king came to power and was raising a great army.  The brothers gathered a small group of soldiers and went out to confront the demon themselves.  It was a grueling battle and many of the soldiers died, but the demon was defeated.

The victorious brothers gathered up their surviving men and returned home.  When they got back to their village, they found that it had been raided.  With the warriors gone, a neighbouring village came and sacked their home.  The raiders took the food stocks, they raped the women, and they stole anything of value.  The villagers cursed their protectors for leaving them helpless.

The brothers were banished from their home, but they stayed and watched from afar through the entire winter.  They watched as everyone they knew and loved starved to death in the cold.

After the village fell, Nick and his brother wandered the land.  Everywhere they looked they found great evil.  There were powerful demons and even more horrifying humans.  The angels tried to do good, but the dark was unrelenting.

The brothers eventually found themselves walking different paths.  Nick joined with a group of like-minded angels who sought to bring light to the world.  They gathered together in order to bring a warrior to the world, a champion of light, Petrus.

Nick’s brother was afraid of Petrus.  He tried to warn Nick, but Nick wouldn’t listen.  “You cannot fix this world by creating more conflict,” he would say.  “He will merely bring the old war to this world.  He will crush the humans to kill his enemies.”

Nick was convinced that Petrus would see the value in humanity.  He thought Petrus would embrace bios.  Petrus didn’t.

Nick’s brother went his own way and kept trying to do good.  He kept seeking out those in need and trying to bring light to their lives.  Eventually the darkness overtook him.  The horrors of our world overcame him, and so he retreated.  He fled from humanity’s world and bound his soul to another creature, a fox.  He tried many forms, an eagle, a horse, a dolphin, but he tended to travel as a wolf.  As the wolf, he didn’t have to think.  He didn’t have to feel the darkness.  He could just live. 

Even as the wolf, part of Nick’s brother remained.  As Nick searched for me, the wolf could feel it.  He knew Nick was in trouble and so he made his way to the city.  When me and Damien were wandering the woods, the wolf chased us.  He distracted Damien to protect Nick.

Now, the wolf is watching his brother to protect him from the evil that seeks to control him.

“What are you doing here?” Nick says. 

The wolf can’t reply.  Nick isn’t even sure if it can understand.

“You’re a coward, you know,” Nick says.  “I hate you.  You follow me like you care, but you’re just an animal.  Can you even think?  If you really cared about me you wouldn’t hide in that wolf shell.  You’d be a man.  You would’ve saved me.  Maybe you would’ve killed me.  Really anything is better than just standing there.”

The wolf just stares at Nick.

Nick reaches for a rock and throws it at the wolf.

The wolf holds its ground and howls at Nick.

“I hate you!” Nick shouts as he picks up a bigger rock and hurls it at the wolf.

The wolf is knocked down, but it gets back up.

“Just go!” Nick shouts.  The wolf doesn’t move.  After a moment, Nick walks away.  His brother doesn’t follow.

The wolf had been right all along and now Nick is damned.  No matter what happens, his soul belongs to Petrus.  If there is any solace Nick can take in this world, it’s that his brother is still free.  He won’t let the wolf follow him, not down this path.