Kris Holden-Ried, my Justin. :)
Wha... where am I? Why am I strapped down? What's going on? Oh right, they think I'm crazy. Because I am crazy I guess. How in the name of all that's Holy do I have wings? Oh, wait I don't have wings do I? It's all a figment of my tired and overworked imagination. Or I'm totally bat shit crazy... I was staying up to make those International phone calls when I should totally have been sleeping. Buying truffles is a cut throat business, but only the best for Jessica's restaurant. No short cuts, only the best ingredients would do for her and running myself ragged, traipsing all over the other side of the city just for some ripe citrus had resulted in me losing it in some alley near that club.
Something happened to me that night. I don't know exactly what happened and I'm pretty sure if they just keep dosing me up here in this hospital instead of letting me talk to someone about it I'm never going to find out what it was... There's this feeling I'm getting, a buzzing in my ears, like I'm hearing another person's blood flowing through their veins, not my own. I really want to get out of here. Will someone please get me out of here? Please?
.........
"Gentlemen, I need you to be specific please. Who is it you're here to see?" The woman at the desk asked after we informed her why we were there.
"His name's Justin. He was brought in claiming to have wings." Scott said to her.
"Oh that one." She said batting her lashes.
Scott and I looked at each other, wondering why he was so memorable. Maybe something to do with his new abilities? She went on to say, "Cutie pie, and tall too." She said with a smirk then shrugged and turned to the telephone. "Dr Easterman? There are some people here who say they know the patient in Room 3. Do you want me to send them to your office?"
"Yes Sir." She said then hung up the phone and gave us directions to the Director's Office.
When we got there, Scott had a ready explanation for the raving, the hallucinations and if the wrong kinds of questions arose, a reasonable theory for why their tests didn't pick up anything in his bloodwork. That was if they had done any testing. They probably wouldn't have been checking for heavy metals. We knew they wouldn't have a complete medical history, so something with an easy explanation would be exactly what the doctor ordered for a quick discharge. It worked like a charm.
We were taken to Justin's room, he was strapped to a really uncomfortable looking bed and his eyes were nervously jumping between us and the doctor. His gag was stopping him from speaking and we knew Scott only had moments before the game was up if he didn't acknowledge us.
"We're here to get you out of here Justin." I said with a smile.
Scott nodded and used his ability to speak softly into Justin's ears alone, "Go along with us OK. You're not crazy and we can explain."
The guy on the bed nodded and when his restraints were removed he was eager to come with us. He was tall, yep that's right another tall hot guy. He had curly hair, the kind of short haircut that made it stick up all over like a lion's mane and this face scruff was kind of making him look a bit lionish all over. This almost made me laugh out loud considering he was actually some kind of supernatural creature with wings. What kind? I was hoping we could figure that out.
When he'd dressed and been handed his personal belongings, we led him out of the building. When we were out of earshot and sitting in the car, he finally spoke.
"So, are you guys really going to help me or are you just getting me out of the Looney Bin?" He asked. Giving him a reasonable explanation in the moving vehicle wasn't really in the cards. We needed to be facing him and ready to show him what he needed to see, not just tell him.
"We're hoping we can actually help you." Scott assured him as we headed for the Penthouse. "We do believe you about the wings. You did get that I was speaking to you in your mind right? We're not ordinary either, unfortunately your particular brand of extraordinary might just be our fault."
"Your fault? How?" He asked. "I don't know what's going on but I would really like some kind of explanation."
Scott looked at me in the rear view mirror and shrugged. The vehicle remained in silence for a while as I tried to figure out how to word an explanation without completely freaking him out. Then Scott pulled into the Parking Structure and stopped the car. Justin turned in his seat to look at me and I took a breath.
"We can't really explain here, but there's someone in our place who can probably explain better. So please come up and find out a bit more about everything that's happened." I said and he slowly nodded in agreement, then followed us into the elevator as we headed upstairs.
Iris was waiting for us in exactly the same position we had found her in when we came back the last time. She opened her eyes and smiled at the man we brought in with us, gracefully rose to her feet and then came over to sniff him. She nodded to herself then made him sit.
"Justin is half Siren and half Sphynx." She said confidently.
Well that totally explained the shaggy hair, but what was with the siren thing? Should I be worried? Were all the new gorgeous men I was attracting going to be something of the seductive variety? Vampires and a Siren, I guess I could get my head around it, maybe. Alex was the complete package especially in the bedroom. Were he and Justin the beginning of my Pantheon? Or would Justin merely be a friend? We'll... I did need more staff for the Club, but who's next? My personal security needs were pretty much met, I needed a chef, someone for front of house, a den mother for the people who were going to be living on the premises... plus others. Hold up, he hasn't responded yet. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows as if to say, 'You alright in there?' He seemed to be processing the information but how would he handle being told he wasn't human anymore?
"I'm a Siren Sphinx?" He sat motionless for a second and then burst out laughing. He seemed to be taking it really well for a second until his laughter changed to the kind that sounds hysterical. His eyes went really wide and then he bolted for the door.
His long legged gait got him to the door really quickly, but for me it was a cinch to reach the exit before him and block his path. He looked totally freaked out. What I wasn't expecting was the fist that he'd swung as I stepped in front of him. I had a second to decide if I would let it land. From his expression, he was definitely coming through me to get to the door, so I let it connect. He looked at me stunned, at the force of the blow he'd landed, the jarring sound of fist against flesh was nothing compared to the physical damage he'd have done to a human face. Also the fact that I was still standing after having him strike me with such force seemed equally surprising. I put my hand to my chin and cracked my jaw, smiled at him then watched him recoil as he thought the hand I raised was about to retaliate. Instead I raised my eyebrow and turned my mouth down expressing a thousand words in one expression. The most obvious was 'What did you really thing that would work?' The next thing I actually said was, "Do you believe us now?"
"You're still standing there. How are you not on the floor after I hit you that hard? How the hell did I hit you that freaking hard anyway?" He asked, amazed.
"I'm stronger than I look." I said with a short smile. "I'm not human either."
"Not human?" He said with a dazed expression, then frowned as he looked himself over. He looked at his arms, felt his chest and stomach and lifted each leg off the floor. Then he shook his head and said, "No, I'm still me. I'm just overworked. I shouldn't have agreed to all the extra shit she wanted to add to the menu. Should have just stuck to my strengths and done great food instead of trying to spread myself so thin for her fucking current trend shit." He put his hands to his head and swayed on the spot. I reached out and touched his arm. He looked at me, blinked and then said, "This isn't some crazy dream is it?"
"No." Came the succinct response from Iris.
"No Sweetie, it isn't." I said. I walked him back to the couch and he sat down again. Then he looked at me again and asked, "If you're not human either, what are you? A Siren too?"
I shook my head and said, "Vampire." The sound that he produced at my statement made me open my jaw and grow out my fangs for him. He examined my teeth and then turned to Scott and asked him what he was.
"A work in progress." Was the amused response.
"Do you have fangs too?" Justin asked. At Scott's negative response he looked slightly relieved then he turned back to me and asked the question he really needed an answer to. "So, what happens now?"
"Now you need a rather fast education about the Supernatural community, the rules and a new place to live. You can crash here tonight, Alex won't mind another body in the bed if you want to join him, or there's the sofabed. Tomorrow we'll get your things, sort out what you want to do with your belongings, your place and submit your delayed resignation at the restaurant. Then you can decide what you want to do. We'll help you to set up somewhere else if you don't want to stay, or you can come work for us at our new Club when it opens. We need a chef. Are you any good?"
He shook his head at the bombardment of information and his heartbeat started to race again. "Calm down." I said and reached out to touch his shoulder again. He flinched, but then rubbed his cheek against my hand and opened his mouth widely as his canines descended.
"Woah", Scott said with a slightly drawn out sound as he disappeared into the bathroom to get a compact mirror. He held it up to Justin's face and showed him his new teeth. "They're kind of cool." Scott said with a grin. I could tell Justin wasn't as impressed with them, but at least he wasn't hyperventilating.
"They're big." Was all he could manage for the moment.
"Well, so are you big boy!" I said with an amused smirk.
He quickly glanced at me with a frown that turned into a half smile. Then he examined them in the mirror again as they slowly started to retract into his jaw. "Will they come down again?" He asked.
"Most assuredly young cub." Iris responded.
"Cub?" He asked.
"Yes, you are a cub. You must be educated and trained so that you can assist the Vampire Zass as he becomes the Master of the City. You are part of his Pantheon now. He is a worthy employer and friend if you will allow him to be. Or you may just be his subject. Whatever you choose you are tied to both him and Scott now. You will complement them young lion. I am free to assist you on the morrow for I am also Sphynx. You will also need to be trained in your Siren side by Alli. She is quartered at Inferno and will be expecting you to see her, once I explain your situation. That is something that may wait for now. I will need to assist Scott and Zass tonight to shield their energy from the City in order to prevent more young ones such as yourself from being activated."
"Activated?" He asked.
"Yes, Cub. There was Siren and Sphynx in your genetic makeup. Your ancestry contained those strains of Supernatural heritage. They were woken up and became active when you were effected by Scott and Zass's... energy release." She said with a slight smile.
"Huh?" He asked.
Scott grinned and said, "You got caught in our 'Megagasmic Wave of Destiny'!"
I rolled my eyes at Scott and tried to explain so Justin could understand. "We both reached a different energy level recently and weren't aware that our..." I paused.
"Orgasms." Said another voice behind us. We turned to grin at Alex as he came in the door and joined our conversation.
"Well, yes." I said and then went on. "We had fantastic sex, and released a great deal of energy that night. That energy appears to have awoken both you and Alex up. Or at least the part of you that was Supernatural." I said.
Justin appeared to be bowled over by Alex, he looked at us as we sat on the chairs around his couch and said, "Are you all ridiculously attractive? Or is it just me?"
His appreciative face was met by three sets of very white teeth flashing in wide smiles and one set of rolling eyes. "You need to concentrate tonight Vampire Master Zass, or I will not be able to assist you. Maybe I should assist in your education another time?" She said as she rose to leave.
Scott, Alex and I all jumped up and shouted in the negative. She smiled and then said, "I can sense the frustration that you have been bearing since you woke Alex and decided upon abstinence as a counter to the energy force you unleashed. However that will not continue to be effective as I can almost taste the tension between you now. Alex, you will not be required for the first lesson." She stated and Alex's face fell. "Do not worry Ultimate Son of Hades. You will be able to join your lovers again soon."
She turned to Justin again and said, "You will need to remain here for the evening, Cub. I will continue your education in the morning. Alex will keep you amused until you chose to take your rest. Then we will attend to your personal belongings and your future."
Alex nodded and asked Justin, "So what do you like to order?"
"Actually," Justin responded, "Do you mind if I cook? I need to take my mind of the weird stuff and just get some stress out."
"You can cook?" Alex asked with a huge smile.
Justin nodded and said, "I'm a chef actually. I'm classically trained and I wanted to run my kitchen my way, but my boss Jessica's a bitch. So I wound up in proximity to these two when they were getting jiggy I guess, chasing my tail for her. I'm actually relieved that this whole situation means I can finally tell her to go to hell!"
Alex smiled and then corrected Justin's slight misconception. "Actually it was the three of us. But they're the ones who sparked my own transformation that night." At Justin's curious expression he added, "I already knew about the Community. Scott and Zass have been part of my love life for a little while now and I have a really close relationship with other Supes too. We're actually kind of figuring things out between us too. Having you around will be fun! That is if you're open to..."
His voice trailed off as we all looked at Justin, wondering what his answer would be.
Justin looked at me, Scott and Alex all in turn and then smiled mysteriously.
"Well..."