Forever and Always (14 page)

Cyrus and Yari seemed to have a connection. They had been spending a lot of time together.  I guess it was a rite of passage to be in the group. All male members must go through Yari.  Yari was like a mongoose, she devoured her prey. Tommy and I both gave Cyrus a heads up about her, but he seemed like a smart fellow. I don't see him falling for our red-headed vixen.

My birthday was coming up and it was going to be on Saturday.  Yari was planning the biggest Mani party of all time. She claimed she threw one for Thomas Jefferson back in the day. Thomas Jefferson a vampire? Who knew?

Yari mentioned there was going to be over a hundred Mani and future Mani invited to the party. Future Mani, or FM, is a term that is used for teens that aren't fully developed yet, but have committed themselves to being a Mani when they reach 20 years of age. Most FM’s really don't have a choice, if they didn't choose to become a Mani; they would be killed because they knew too much. It's the Mani way; even I couldn't change the decree. I just know I won’t kill or order for someone to be killed unless they intend to harm a Mani that is loyal to our cause.

Yari was going ballistic putting together the party. I had one strong rule. No Tandra allowed at the party unless they were FM’s. I made the rule not because I hate humans. It was actually the opposite. I didn't want any of them to be in danger. A house full of feeding Mani was not a good place for any human being. To be honest, I wasn’t fully comfortable with a FM’s being there, but I could only throw my weight around so much.

Tommy and I have gotten really close again. Lena was becoming a distant memory; ok, not really, but as far as Tommy and I were concerned there was no mention of her or what had happened.

It was the day before my party and Tommy and I were having another epic Scrabble match on the dining room table. Tommy and I were extremely competitive. It didn’t matter what we we’re doing, we battled hard. He had my number, as of late, when it came to Scrabble. Today was no exception. Tommy laid down the tiles ‘xi’ on the board to close out the win.

“That's it Josiah. I win 342 to 321. You were once again owned by yours truly.”

“You're a stud at Scrabble, Tommy. What can I say?” I was bothered by the loss but was trying my best to be a good sport about it.

Tommy never makes that easy.

“You can say you are officially my ‘Scrabble bitch’. What does that make now, five straight times I beat you?”

Like I said, Tommy never makes it easy.

I tried to compose myself —but Dammit —he was making this hard. “Easy, Wolfie,” I said.  “Don't make me go all white eagle on your canine ass.”

“Is that a threat?” Tommy said, laughing —almost daring me to do something.

“No threat here,” I said. “As a matter of fact, I say we take it to the carpet.”

“Oh, Jo, you want none of me. Remember you’re a striker, and if we wrestle on the carpet, it's over.  I will take you to task.”

We both went into the main living room area. There were three couches and a coffee table that were worth more than most people's cars in the center of the room. They were definitely in the way. We both turned over the sofas and pushed them aside. Tommy picked up the coffee table and put it on top of the couches.

“What the hell is going on down here?” Yari yelled from the stairway.

“I'm about to show Josiah that a grappler always beats a striker.”

“Are you two fighting for real?” Yari yelled.

“Not for real, we’re just having some fun,” I yelled back to her.”

Tommy made his way to the middle of the room and began stretching and hopping up and down as if he was about to have a real MMA fight.  He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.  Tommy took off his shirt and threw it Yari.

We’re not doing this nude are we?” I asked, knowing full well we weren’t.

“Not this time,” Tommy answered.  “The last time there was too much scrotum flying around.”

I was wearing black basketball shorts with Kobe Bryant, Lakers jersey. “If you don't mind, I prefer to keep number 24 on.”

“Whatever floats your boat, Vampy.”

“Vampy? Oh it's on, my little Chihuahua.”

“This little Chihuahua is going to show you how it's done!”

“What's going on down there?” Hector yelled from one of the rooms.  Hector never says anything so we must have woken him up.

“I think we disturbed the Prince,” I said, laughing.

“I forgot he knew how to talk,” Tommy grinned.

“Tommy and Josiah are just flexing their muscles at each other,” Yari said. “It’s nothing to be worried about. They’re just seeing whose dick is bigger.  I actually know the answer, but we’ll let them work it out.  For the right price, I’ll tell anyone who wants to know.”

“It’s okay, Yari,” I said. “No one here wants to pay to know that kind of information.”

“Spoken by the man who obviously has the smaller wang!” Tommy laughed.

“Oh, it’s on, Chachi!” I circled Tommy. I looked up at the stairwell and now the whole house was watching. Hector, Wyatt and Cyrus had joined Yari on the stairwell. “I guess we have an audience.”

“I don't need an audience,” Tommy said. “As I recall the last time we did this, you saw stars.”

“Damn, those are fighting words,” I said back to Tommy. “Don’t forget I was still a Tandra when we fought that night. And remember, you were most definitely a Carni, so you had a slight advantage.”

“Doesn’t erase the fact that I beat you in front of the world on Pay-Per-View, does it?”

“It needs an asterisk.”

“The only asterisk is going to happen is me kicking your asterisk-ass.”

“All talk and no bite.  Oh wait you do bite… and howl… and bark.”

“Cute Josiah, I see you can still talk some shit. Any rules, Golden Boy?”

“Rules, hell when did we ever have rules?”

“We don’t want to kill each other. Let’s say no punching above the neck, we both look too pretty.”

I felt my chiseled jaw. “Agreed,” I said.

“And you can't use any of your wizard shit,” Tommy added, staring me down.

“Wizard shit? Damn! Is that is what you think of me?”

“God knows what you can do now. You could probably say Hocus pocus and turn my penis into Chapstick.”

“I don't have to say Hocus Pocus to do that!” I said, with an exclamation point.

“That was too easy.”

“You’re the one lobbing me up softballs. Don’t get mad when I hit them out of the park.”

Tommy nodded and we continued to circle each other. “Anyway, no Mani bullshit,” Tommy stated, “Just straight MMA, with no punching in the face.”

“I guess there's only one thing to say, Tommy boy. ‘Let's get it on’!”

Tommy and I circled each other for about another minute, sizing each other up, both of us waiting for just the right opening.

“Please don't break anything!” Yari yelled.

As I circled, I looked Tommy in the eyes. I began thinking about how bad he messed things up with Lena and I. I felt a slow rage grow inside of me. I tried to shake it off, but I couldn’t.  It was building to the point that it was boiling over. Eventually, I quit looking at Tommy as a friend I was having fun wrestling with in the living room. I was looking at him as the guy who gave me pain. He consciously put the moves on Lena knowing full well how I felt about her.   It was time for him to pay.

I lowered my body level, and shot my body in between Tommy's legs and caught his right hamstring with both my hands and picked him up. I did this at a speed that I had never experienced while wrestling before. Within milliseconds, Tommy was being lifted off the ground and I was carrying him in my arms around the living room like a sack of potatoes. He was punching my shoulders and chest trying to break free. But I wasn’t letting go for anything. I jumped up and slammed Tommy to the carpet. I knocked the wind out of him. I could hear him gasping for air.

I was holding Tommy down with my body, and controlling him with my legs.  Something had become quite apparent since the last time Tommy and I had fought, I had now become a lot stronger than him. A hell of a lot stronger and he knew it. He could feel my grip around his body. I could sense the uncertainty in the way he was breathing.  I should have had empathy. I shouldn’t have felt the way I did. I was thriving off his misery.

While I was on top of him, I whispered in his ear, “This isn't a fair fight, Tom. You need to be a werewolf to even have a chance. I'm controlling you like an infant. Come on Tommy, Mr. Superstar Wrestler, get out of my hold.”

“Fuck you, Josiah.” Tommy tried to spin forward to get out of my grip but had no chance.

“Aw don't be that way, little Chihuahua!” Now I was being relentless.  “It's hard to handle, isn't it?” I said as I tightened up my grip on the body.  I was controlling his every movement. I was riding him like a steed. “The young boy you trained can now kick your ass!”

With that, I let him go and he got to his feet. I came up at him and delivered an eight-punch combination hitting his shoulders, ribs and stomach. I pulled back and Tommy was completely hunched over. He was badly hurt. I normally would have stopped, because he was through. But not today, not after what he had done.

I stepped toward him and something snapped in my head. I don’t even quite remember doing it, but I was highly aware it happened.  I cocked my right fist back and I threw a ferocious uppercut and landed it directly underneath his chin and completely flattened him out. I broke the rule and I knew it. I didn’t care that I had punched him above the neck.

“What the fuck was that,” Josiah?” Yari yelled, as she came running down the stairs to Tommy's aide.

I walked over to Tommy and his eyes were rolled back. I slapped him on the cheek to bring him around. “Tommy, you okay?” Tommy eyes focused and he looked at me and said, “You hit my face.”

“I know. Now we’re even.” I turned around and walked outside the house and sat on the porch. It was dark now and I took a giant breath.  I wasn’t proud of myself, but I felt it needed to be done. I looked up into the starlit sky and I transitioned into the eagle and flew upwards. I flew into the sky at a wicked speed and I nearly rammed into another bird. As I swished past it, I realized it was a red hawk. She was one of our own.

I turned my head around, to make sure the hawk was okay. I kept going once I realized that the bird was fine. I continued to blaze across the sky. Then I heard a squawk behind me. I turned around to see what it was. The bird that I nearly hit was now following me. One might even say chasing me.

I glided up higher in the air and the bird continued to follow behind. She was not letting up.  The bird was definitely trying to get my attention. I allowed the red hawk to catch up with me, and as she did I saw the hawk’s eyes and knew who it was. It was Lena!