Forever and Always (2 page)

Suddenly I heard a slam! I opened my eyes and I was no longer on the airplane. I was having another vision, but, this time I was no longer at Dracula’s Castle. I was in a dark alley, one that seemed to go on forever
. Where the hell was I?

There was the stench of cigarettes and trash looming in the air with a touch of fresh lain tar. I looked around completely confused. The alley appeared to go on for miles on both sides. It was neither hot nor cold, almost as if I was indoors. But I wasn’t, I was clearly outside.  I could see the dark sky above me. The stars were bright and something was very odd about this vision. The setting appeared to be a fantastical place, unlike my other dream in which it was indeed real.

As I looked in the air, I saw a beautiful white hawk fly over me. It was circling me, almost taunting me to chase it. Then I realized that this magnificent creature wasn't taunting me, but was playing with me. It appeared the hawk wanted me to transition.
Could I transition in my dreams?
I decided to give it a go, and sure enough, my eye level dropped and I was instantly the great white eagle. The white hawk took off in the air above the alley. I hurried after it like a school boy chasing a girl at recess. There was a grace and beauty about this bird I was after, a trait you only find in the most elegant of women.

The hawk darted north and I continued to follow.  At times she glided across the sky, I was assuming by now this was a female bird. I carefully never got too close, I was gliding behind her just observing, not sure what this vision meant or who the hawk was. I was just in the moment, enjoying my surroundings.

This giant beautiful creature was almost as big as I was. Her wingspan spread out in spectacular fashion. I was mesmerized and taken aback by her beauty. She seemed to be flying with a purpose. I felt a tad apprehensive, but after all, this was a vision and no one can get hurt in a vision, right?

As I looked to the air from about 500 feet high, I noticed I didn't recognize anything. I wasn't sure if I was in an actual place or if this was a figment of my imagination. We continued north and I could see the sun coming up off in the distance.

We were headed towards a beautiful rocky mountain that seemed to be something Rocky Balboa would have ran up in one of his training montages. At the peak of the mountain was level ground and seemed like a safe enough spot to land.

The hawk glided down and landed in poetic fashion. I watched from above and was unsure what I should do. The hawk squawked as if to say, ‘Join me’.

I wisped down and landed about ten feet away from her. Was this hawk a Mani woman? I waited for her to transition, but she didn't. She waddled her way over to me and gently pressed her head against my breast. It was a gentle move, almost tender. I nuzzled back, and we just stood there on top of this beautiful rocky mountain cuddling in a way only two birds of our magnitude could do. I felt safe and peaceful.
This was a very strange vision.

Suddenly the hawk rose up, squawked, and flew away at the speed of light. Her speed indicated she did not want me to follow.

Instantly, I awoke on the plane to find myself in the middle of the worst turbulence I had ever experienced in my life. Helen reached out her hand to me and I held it, “What the hell is going on?” I said.

“Your guess is as good as mine. This is pretty bad turbulence.” I knew she was nervous also.

I didn't fly that much, especially across the world. Hopefully it will settle down, and sure enough it did. When all was calm, Helen let go of my hand. “My hero,” she said

“I'm not quite a hero, I was as scared as you were” I smiled and thought,
you have no idea what kind of hero I actually am.

I looked around the plane and noticed all the window panels were closed. That was odd considering before I napped-off, they were all open.

“Excuse me!” I called to the stewardess.

The stewardess got up and walked over to me. “Yes, would you like that drink?” she asked.

“Actually, yes. Could I have a vodka and Coke?”

“No problem, sir.”

“One more thing, is it still dark outside?”

“No, it’s not, we are about six hours in, and the morning sun is now out. We apologize, there seems to be a problem with the windows. They have all locked down, so if you were planning on looking outside you won't be able to.”

“So no light can get in here?”

“I guess you can say that.”

“And the windows are definitely stuck?” I pressed further.

“That's what I said,” she said, almost condescending.

What a break! I wondered if the Triat had something to do with it.  I sat back in my seat and smiled.

“This has been a very odd flight,” Helen said, leaning over to me.

“Oh, you have no idea!” I said laughing.  I looked over at Helen and noticed she was wearing a completely different outfit than she had on earlier. She was now wearing a colorful blue and orange sundress with her legs nicely on display. She had very nice stems. She must have changed in the bathroom when I was sleeping. Speaking of which, it is about that time for me also.

“Excuse me,” I said to Helen and unbuckled my seatbelt and sat up out of my seat. I made my way around Helen and noticed a strange scratch on the back of her neck.  I thought it was odd. “Wow, that’s some scratch!” I said.

Helen felt the back of her neck and said, “I have a pretty frisky kitty.”

“I bet you do,” I said, not sure if she meant anything sexual by her statement.

I went to the bathroom area of the plane.

Damn, it was cramped.

I took care of business and then checked my hair in the mirror. It was pretty messy. My hair was in serious need of a good haircut.

I decided to turn the water faucet on and put my entire head in the sink. It’s a quick trick I do to get my hair in order fast.

I took off my leather jacket and dumped my head into the tiny sink. I used paper towels to dry my hair off. I slicked back my hair using my fingers.

Why was I doing this? Was I trying to impress Helen?

She definitely seemed interested in me, but that is the last thing I needed to worry about. I had enough on my plate trying to get to Romania in one piece. Not to mention the whole I’m-in-love-with-Lena part.

Lena wasn't officially my girlfriend or anything, but she did tell me she loved me. I was pretty damn sure I loved her. But, there was something very intriguing and sexy about Helen. But that was as far as I was going to take it.

So there I was, primping in the mirror trying to look good for a woman that I knew nothing was going to come of it.

My blonde hair curled over with a little superman twist that would make Christopher Reeves jealous.  My eyes were looking especially blue.  It must have been the lighting. My face was remarkably mark free, which was a miracle considering how many life altering fights I had been in over the last few months. My black shirt was wrinkled from sleeping in a chair. I did my best to straighten it over my blue jeans.

I am a sexy beast! That’s for damn sure!

I stepped out of the restroom holding my leather jacket and walked back to my seat. The stewardess caught my attention and asked, “Would you like your meal now? You were asleep when I passed them out.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“You have a choice between meatloaf and chicken.”

“And what if I'm a vegan?”

“Then we can double up your sides.”

“Lucky for me I'm not a vegan. I’ll take the chicken.” The waitress shook her head and was not amused with my antics.

I stepped inside my row and in front of Helen. She was listening to her MP3 player and just scooted aside as I walked in front of her.

I sat back in my seat and flipped down the movie thingamajig in front of me.
Bridget Jones Diary
1 and 2? Are you kidding me? I am not a chick flick dude; Tommy was into movies like Fried Green Tomatoes and Prince of Tides. I swore I saw him crying during both films. I flipped through the movie list.
Are there any Action flicks?
Hell, I was an action movie all by myself. Someone should write my story and put it on the big screen
. I flipped through each movie. All there was were Adam Sandler flicks and British titles that I didn't even recognize. I sat back and sighed.

“Nothing good?” Helen said to me, with a sense of sarcasm in her voice.

“Nope! You have the right idea listening to music.”

Helen took her earplugs out of her ears and looked over at me. “We should be in London in a couple of hours.”

“It appears to be that way.” I smiled at her.

“So Josiah, what is a young man like yourself going to a country like Romania for?”

“You could say I'm going there on business.”

“What business is that?”

I grinned. “I'm in the business of kicking ass.”

Helen expected me to laugh or say I was kidding. She sat waiting for me to make another statement. “Oh, you're being serious. What the hell do you do?”

So this is where I now needed to lie to people. I haven't had to do this yet, so I wasn't even sure if it was going to sound good. “I'm a fighter. I'm going there for training. I’m meeting up with a trainer.”

Okay, so far that is the total truth.

“A fighter? Like a boxer?” she asked.

“Yes, I box. I also do other things.”

“What kind of other things.”

“I kick.”

“You’re a kick boxer?”

“No, I’m a mixed martial arts fighter.” I still wasn’t lying. I was technically still in the Commission.

“Oh, okay,” she said, nodding her head.  “That is very interesting.”

“That’s me,” I said. “I’m Mr. Interesting.”

Mr. Interesting? Are you kidding me? Why was I being such a tool?
Then I smiled like a total dork.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Josiah?”

I looked at Helen and wasn’t sure how to answer the question.  So I said, “That's the billion dollar question!” 

“A billion dollars?” Helen asked.  “Not a million? Damn, it must be complicated!”

“Not so much… complicated,” I said. “There has just been a lot of drama really fast.”

“Do you want the drama?”

“Not exactly. No one could be prepared for the kind of drama I’ve seen.”

“Why don’t you get out of the relationship?”

“The drama isn’t about her. She's not the one creating it.”

“Who is creating it?”

Here is where I say, the Triat, werewolves, vampires, and something like that. But, I don’t want her to think I should be in a mental institution, so I better say, “An ex-boyfriend.”

“Does she still love him?”

I paused. “That I don't know for sure. I suppose she does. But he isn’t exactly with us any longer.”

“He died?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I get it. And she still cares about him. Well, that isn't good.”

“There's a lot about the entire situation that I can't really explain.”

“Try me.”

“Something is constantly drawing me to her. Sometimes I feel like it’s beyond this world.”

“Something supernatural?” she asked.

“Actually, that’s exactly what I think it is.”

“Wow! You’re a romantic!”

I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing with her. “I’m not a romantic,” I said. “Trust me! I'm the farthest thing from that, but when something keeps staring you in the face, you eventually give in to it and consider it might be a higher power that has brought you together.”

“Uh oh... you're not a religious fanatic are you?”

“Not in the slightest. I will say this though, anyone who is a humanist and thinks this world
is
the beginning, middle, and end is greatly mistaken.”

“And how does Josiah know that it’s not?” she asked.

I looked at Helen and smirked.  I really wasn’t planning on getting into such a deep conversation with her. I was actually surprised that we were having a philosophical dialogue so quickly.

I don’t know why, but I think I trusted her. Maybe, it’s because when we talk, she constantly makes eye contact with me. Or maybe it’s the fact that she’s even interested at all. What I do know is that I can’t reveal too much to a random record producer I just met on an airplane.

“So Helen,” I said. “What’s your story?”

“My story isn’t quite that interesting. No boyfriend and I haven’t quite figured out the meaning of our existence like some people.” Helen winked at me.

Damn, she was cute. Stop it Josiah! Think of Lena. Remember her? You know, the girl who laid her body on top of you, while a seven foot werewolf was trying to kill you.

I decided to reel the conversation back in and keep it light. I found it very easy to talk to her, almost as if we were talking over the phone. We talked for the next couple of hours about movies, politics, and current events. It was shocking how we had practically the same opinion on most subjects. We both seemed to like the same things. It was effortless talking to her; almost like we had known each other forever. She was cute as hell, but my heart was with Lena.

Then the pilot came over the speaker to let us know that we would be landing at Heathrow airport shortly.

“Wow!” Helen said. “That was the fastest eleven hour flight that I have ever been on.”

“It did go by fairly quick, didn’t it?”

“Good conversation tends to do that.”

“Yes it does,” I agreed.

“You know what we did, don’t you?” Helen looked at me intently.

“What did we do?” I said, concerned.

“We had the all-night-talk.”

“What’s that?”

“You know when you first meet someone and hit it off; you spend all night talking to them on the phone. That’s what we had. We talked about everything.”

“It was fun talking to you,” I said.

Helen started to say something and then stopped.

“What?” I asked.

“I have this stupid dinner tonight, and it’s a couple’s thing, and I don’t have anyone to go with.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure you won’t have a hard time finding a date!”

Helen was quiet.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I don’t want to find a date. I want to go with you.” She had a giant beautiful smile on her face.